Over the next years, Humanity slowly found its footing in this new world. There were many dangerous animals, that could kill even the strongest man. Whenever a hunting party caught sight of a dangerous animal, they immediately reported their finding to Minsol. Minsol would then venture out to remove this danger. So it came to be, that bears, wolves, and other dangerous animals would instinctively start to avoid this region. This world had many animals similar to those in His memories because God had created these species while researching life. It was because of the knowledge that He had gained during this process, that He created a complete base human from the first try, using only His memories and His experience. While He was at it, He created some interesting creatures, such as the horned rabbit, or the stone-furred bear. He was even experimenting with creating certain fantasy creatures such as a dragon, though at the moment He hasn't had success just yet.
On a particular day, a stone-furred bear had severely wounded a hunter before Minsol was able to arrive and deal with it. This hunter had a great chunk of his ribcage gouged out by the bear's claws. The hunter's spear had no effect on it, as the bear's fur was too tough to penetrate, even with the sharpest obsidian blades. Its fur was covered in keratin spikes, similar to a hedgehog. The spear strikes would merely glance off these spikes and find no foothold upon the bear's fur. Looking at the injuries it would be evident to anyone, that this young man wouldn't see the next sunrise.
Minsol, after dispatching the bear with a single thought, became extremely distressed at this, clutching the hunter while his blood made the grass underfoot slippery. The smell of copper was in the air. The bear's corpse was entirely forgotten about. Many other humans surrounded the two, but none stepped too close. One hunter was dispatched to call the wife of the wounded hunter. The wounded man, seeing the distressed Minsol, gave a pained smile. "Don't worry my king, it only looks bad." The hunter coughed, spitting out blood. "Be still and conserve your energy." Minsol didn't wish for this hunter to be hurt. He didn't wish for anyone to be hurt. He looked over to the crowd of onlookers. Above their heads floated God, unseen by anyone except for him. Minsol bowed before God. "God! Please save this man. He is of devout faith and an excellent hunter. He is well-loved and well-respected among his people. Please don't allow for him to depart yet." But God didn't respond.
After the silence started to stretch, and the onlookers started to shift nervously, God spoke. "I am your God, but you are their King. Either save him with your own power or give him eternal rest. Only you are my firstborn." While no one else was able to hear God's words, everyone noticed Minsol's changed expression. For a moment, it seemed as if he had frozen, with widened eyes and a slightly ajar mouth. After a second he closed his mouth and sighed in resignation. He turned to the young hunter and clutched him in his arms. "God has declared that the challenges of mortals should be solved by mortals. I am sorry, but there is nothing I can do for you." The hunter smiled bitterly as he coughed out another lungful of blood. "Don't worry my king I understand. I am simply happy that I was able to hold off that bear for long enough, for my companions to escape." It is as the hunter said, had he not held off that bear, then it would be unknown whether a single person would have survived at all.
The hunter's breathing was starting to become more shallow when out of the crowd a woman broke through. This woman appeared to be pregnant and due within the next few months. When she laid eyes on the hunter, she screeched and pounced on the hunter. With tears streaming down her eyes, she embraced the man, ignoring Minsol, who was sitting next to her. "Venator what happened to you? Please talk to me." The wounded hunter looked up at the woman with a gentle look in his eyes. In a half relieved, half pained voice he spoke "Spreta, my beloved. I am sorry, but it seems I won't be able to witness the birth of our child." Spreta, the woman, stiffened for a second before she pleaded with the hunter. "What do you mean, Venator? Of course, you'll witness our child's birth. Minsol is right here, he'll fix you, right?" At this point, she gazed at Minsol, who was still sitting next to her husband, with a gaze containing a mix of desperation and hope. Seeing this, Minsol hung his head and remained silent. The onlookers couldn't see what kind of expression he was making. Venator let out a bitter chuckle. "The king said, that God has decided not to interfere in the world of mortals. Let it be, Spreta. I have lived a good life. It was an honor for me to bask in God's glory." He coughed once more. His breath was raspy and shallow. "Spreta, you must not blame the king." With these final words, Venator the hunter, husband to Spreta and soon-to-be father, breathed his last. He was the first human to die.
Spreta let out a piercing shriek. Collapsed over her husband's corpse, she sobbed uncontrollably. Minsol stood up and left, not turning around. As soon as he left the inner circle, the onlookers rushed in to comfort Spreta. In silence, Minsol walked slowly to the temple. After God had spoken He had left, presumably to the temple. It was this very same temple that Minsol was now ascending. Once he ascended to the topmost floor, he entered the main hall. There he saw God looking at the carving made by Minsol. Usually, God would either be experimenting with life inside the outer courtyard of the temple, or he would sit at the foot of the temple while listening to Minsol's stories of humanity's current progress. Whenever Minsol would look at God, he would see a distant star, outside of time and space shining and projecting itself into this world. It felt like while God created this world, He wasn't truly a part of it and needed therefore the power of creation to interact with it.
Usually, Minsol felt like the light from that distant star outside time and space was warm and soft, but at this moment, Minsol felt like that glow had taken on a cooler and darker tone. "Has humanity angered you, God?" Minsol's heart was beating at a rapid pace, and time seemed to stretch while he awaited God's answer. He dreaded the answer, but he had to know if God was mad. "No, Minsol, Humanity has done nothing to anger me." The answer made Minsol feel light and ecstatic, however immediately afterward Minsol felt like something was wrong. He even felt guilty for the relief he had felt previously. Though if it was guilt for doubting God or for something else, no one could say.
"Then why did you refuse to save Venator?" Minsol rarely questioned God. It even felt unnatural to question His actions, but this was an instance, where he had to know the truth. "It is as I said. You are their king. It is also your responsibility to look after them. Do you plan to come to me any time someone is injured? What about old age? Will you ask me to save everyone from that too? Let me restate this. Only you are my firstborn." Minsol's heart wavered, but after mulling over God's words, he steeled his gaze. "I understand. The people are your gift to me, but ultimately also my responsibility. I will see to it, that they are well taken care of."
After Minsol left the temple, he organized and held the first-ever funeral. At this ceremony, Minsol spoke of his promise to humanity, to protect them, to never allow such a thing from happening again. The people were saddened but were uplifted upon hearing Minsol's speech. In one corner of the gathering, Caeluma was comforting Spreta. She was hugging her, and whispering platitudes into her ear, telling her how she should be strong for her child, and how Venator was now together with God. Spreta simply sat in a daze and nodded absentmindedly. However, once Caeluma mentioned God, a shadow seemed to pass over her face, though one couldn't say for certain, whether it was a trick of the light, or whether it had deeper implications.
After reciting a prayer, and sharing stories of Venators life, they buried him at the foot of the temple. At his gravesite, a stone was erected depicting a mural of Venator's two greatest achievements, stealing a fist full of honey from a grand bee colony, a feat only Minsol was able to replicate. The second mural naturally depicted him locked in mortal combat with a stone-furred bear. The legend was thus passed down, that Venator had slain a stone-furred bear using nothing more than an obsidian spear. Future historians would thus recite, that in the sixth year of the mythical era, when God walked alongside humans, Venator the hunter was the first human to ever die, being the first to join God in the afterlife. The death of Venator also set off a chain of events that would end in an unpredictable manner.
As the years passed, Minsol brought many achievements and made good on his promise. Using the knowledge that he had inherited from God, he created a writing system based solely on consonants. While it was crude, it allowed one to write any word they wished by sounding it out. This writing system was mainly used by Minsol and hunters who would roam far from the city. Minsol and these hunters would carve messages in boulders within the wilderness to either warn or inform each other of what was to be found within a certain region. This writing system was also used on stone tablets, to record history, though murals were still preferred. Minsol would regularly use his ability to fly and scout the surroundings, ensuring that no threat remained in the area.
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Of course, accidents still happened. Death is just another aspect of life, but this time could be described as humanity's golden age. Under the protection of Minsol and basking in God's glory, humans had everything they needed to be happy. And so it came to be that Minsol and Caeluma had seven children. They had four sons and three daughters. All of them inherited Minsol's powers though each to varying degrees. Some could barely lift a few larger rocks, while the youngest daughter could easily lift several boulders. The eldest son had inherited most of Minsol's power. That being said, in comparison to Minsol, all of their powers were quite minuscule, but simply the fact that Minsol's power could be inherited was a major revelation.
With the birth of Minsol's and Caeluma's children, God was able to test His hypothesis. With the birth of each new ability user, God's generation of the power of creation increased by a certain amount. Each time the increase was proportional to the amount of divine blood and semi-real cells that they had. However, this increase didn't always happen at the birth of each of Minsol's children. Sometimes the children would be born without powers, and only awaken them later on in life. For these children, a significant emotional event was required to activate their powers. God could always tell once such an event occurred, by feeling the new connection that He had gained. However, these connections were significantly weaker than the one He had with Minsol. His mood would not be influenced by the emotions of Minsol's children, only God's firstborn had that right.
The two most promising children were the firstborn son Mundus, and the youngest daughter Stella. Mundus meant the world, signifying Minsol's expectations of his firstborn. Stella, meanwhile meant star. She had been given that name, as she had that same twinkle in her eyes as her father all those years ago. Mundus was slightly more powerful in regards to Minsol's power, but he was also reckless in how he ruled. It seemed that his philosophy was sacrificing the few for the good of the many. Stella on the other hand, had less raw power but showed more compassion towards the subjects of Minsol's kingdom. Minsol was faced with the decision, as to whom to choose for the next position of ruler of humanity. To come to a decision, he chose to devise a challenge.
In recent years, the population has ballooned from a few hundred to over three thousand. The city at the foot of the temple could hardly contain the total of humanity anymore. In the earlier days, the city could be sustained simply by hunters and gatherers. But after a particularly harsh winter, Minsol decided to create a more stable food source. Using his inherited memories and after conversing with God, Minsol introduced the concept of farming to humanity. There were a few setbacks, but with the help of his children, everything got settled, and during the next winter they had plentiful food.
It was during this time that Stella caught Minsol's eye. She was only ten at the time, but she was able to intuitively understand the needs of the farmers and was able to help out that way. She helped level out farms, allowing for better crop growth and nutrient distribution. She also helped dig a channel from a nearby river, allowing for easier access to water for watering. Meanwhile, Mundus helped by defending the farms from dangerous beasts. He was also an excellent hunter and fighter. If Minsol were not to use his powers, his son would be able to defeat him in combat.
The reason why Minsol was struggling to decide a successor, was because of the varying abilities of Mundus and Stella. Judging simply based on one criterion would be unfair to the other. So this leads back to the previous issue of overpopulation within the city. Minsol decreed, that Mundus and Stella were to build two new cities. It would be left to them, where, how, and with who to build these cities. They would need to source the necessary manpower and materials themselves. The only thing they weren't allowed to do, was to ask God for help.
God would often reside in the temple allowing others to enter and seek His counsel. If He were in a good mood, He would help others and explain certain things. Even so, Minsol's children never went up to the temple, as they believed Minsol had a special right to have an audience with God, and that they were intruding upon this right whenever they spoke with God. The last time God spoke with someone other than Minsol, was with Stella three years ago, when they talked about smithing and how to make bronze. Ever since then, Stella had been searching for ways how to create bronze, and she felt like she was close to a breakthrough. Now, however, she had to halt her research to found a city.
She was outside the city, digging up different minerals when the scout reached her from the city, holding the king's decree recorded on a mud tablet in his hands. Language and especially the written system had evolved, now featuring vowels as well as consonants within the written texts. The scout halted at the edge of the massive pit and peered down. The hole that Stella had dug was several meters deep and a few meters wide. She was currently at the bottom, examining a seemingly shiny stone she had dug up. This shiny stone was in actuality copper ore. "Your Highness, the king has issued a decree. You and your brother Mundus are both to establish new cities. The king will decide on his next successor based on who builds the better city." Stella looked up from the ore she had been examining and thanked the scout for delivering the message. After the scout had left, she carefully studied the tablet that the scout had left. After reading through all the contents, she let out a soft sigh and mumbled, "So that time has finally come, huh?" Minsol choosing a successor meant that he felt the end of his life span approaching. It didn't mean that he would keel over and die within the next few years, but it also meant that he felt that moment coming. She looked to the midday sky, feeling like a lot of turbulent events would unfold before the evening of the sun's little brother would come.
Meanwhile, Mundus was marching back to the city after another successful hunting trip. A whole group of animal carcasses were floating behind him, as he used Minsol's power to make the carcasses float and follow him. As he was closing in on the city, another scout approached him from the direction of the city. Similarly to the first one, this scout was also carrying a mud tablet with him. "Your Highness, I bring a decree from the king." Saying so, the scout knelt and presented the tablet to Mundus. The tablet floated up and glided over, halting shortly before Mundus. The scout kneeled in silence as Mundus read over the contents of the tablet. "So it is finally time for the king to decide on a successor." The scout remained silent while Mundus kept mumbling to himself. "That means that my chance has finally come. I must go speak with Apernora." Saying so he released his control of the animal carcasses and took the stone tablet in his hands. The carcasses thumped to the ground, kicking up a small dust cloud. "Take these back to the city." With these words, Mundus floated up and flew in the direction of the city. After Mundus left, the scout stood up in front of the pile of animal carcasses, which was as high as he was and many times as wide. The scout let out a sigh.
Mundus flew directly to the palace, that he and his wife Apernora shared. The palace was built in the style of the temple hall that was at the top of the temple. After the incident with Venator, Caeluma befriended Spreta even going so far, as to invite her to live with her and Minsol. This was done, so that Spreta could take care of her at the time newborn daughter. Later when Mundus was born, he and Apernora, the daughter of Spreta and Venator, spent their entire childhood together. Once Mundus came of age, he and Apernora married in a grand ceremony. After landing in the outer courtyard, Mundus headed toward the inner garden. There he found the love of his life, as she was tending to one of the anemone flowers. She wore a leather garment, made from the skin of a certain stone-furred bear. Her hair cascaded down her shoulder and onto her back, as she was kneeling to tend to the flowers. Her demeanor was soft and warm, though those well-versed in reading people would find something gloomy hidden underneath.
Once she heard the footsteps approaching her, she turned as a smile bloomed across her face. "Mundus! Why are you here so early? I was told you would need another half a day to reach the city. I haven't even prepared myself for your welcome yet." Saying so she stood up, dusted herself, and turned towards Mundus. Just as she wanted to approach him to embrace him, she noticed the grim look on Mundus's face. "What's the matter, dear?" Mundus halted before her and showed her the stone tablet. "It is time. The king is holding a competition between me and Stella to decide who the next ruler of humanity should be. The chance for your wish to come true... has come." Apernora halted upon hearing his words. After a second she hastily scanned the words written within the stone tablet. "This is excellent! If you become king, then humanity will no longer have to worship a God, that has abandoned us. With your strength, we will finally become independent." These shocking words, which would have caused massive turmoil anywhere else, were spoken so casually here. "I know my love. The injustice that your father and mother suffered will no longer come to be. No longer will we pray to a God that doesn't answer our prayers. We will take our destiny into our own hands." Mundus gripped his fist as he gazed lovingly into his wife's eyes. Their piercing beauty shook him to his core, making him feel like he could do anything if only to get another glimpse of those beautiful eyes. "Well said my dearest. But before you can lay claim to the throne, we need to build a grand city. Grand enough, so that even Minsol couldn't deny its greatness. That way, he would definitely appoint you as his successor. Come now, there is much we need to do if we wish to emerge victorious." Saying so, Apernora turned and left leading to the inner hall. Mundus swallowed and followed eagerly behind her. Up above, the midday sun was briefly covered by a stray cloud, casting a cool shade onto the city at the foot of the temple.