It had been a little over a year since the death of Spreta, and Minsol could feel his end approaching. All around him, the humans of the first generation were starting to die due to old age. He could see it in the aged and wrinkled appearance of Caeluma, and in Spreta's grave, placed right next to the first-ever gravestone, bearing two murals. The first depicted a hunter stealing a fistful of honey from a colony of grand bees and the second mural depicted the hunter locked in mortal combat with a stone-furred bear. Minsol could also detect the passage of time within himself. Where previously he was able to run up the stairs leading to the temple, he now was fully reliant on his powers for mobility. He floated up the steps and entered God's hall. He came before the statue and began a prayer.

After a few hours of praying, he felt His presence descend upon this room. "Is there something you need, Minsol?" Came the ethereal voice from above. Minsol smiled a tired smile and shook his head. "I am aging, God. I don't know how, but I can tell I don't have long to live. A few days at most. I simply wished to have one last talk with you, before I would die." Minsol kept his smile, yet God could feel a twinge of melancholy over their shared bond. "Hmm, very well. It has always been my favorite past time, to listen to you talk. Tell me, what has transpired in the mortal world the past few months." Minsol let out a weak laugh and began telling God of humanity's continued prosperity. How the population kept growing and how industry and innovation kept expanding. How there were troubles with nonbelievers in the south and how he had faith that his daughter could handle it.

He spoke of his joys and sorrows. He spoke of how Spreta had passed and how that had heavily impacted Caeluma. Once he had exhausted all recent news and thoughts, Minsol started talking of earlier stories, earlier impressions, and memories. Minsol kept talking and talking, reaching farther and farther back in his recollection. God as always remained where He was, listening to Minsol while giving the odd comment or two. Minsol spoke of his worries for his children, how he felt guilty towards Mundus, but still felt certain in his choice, how he had been unsure if they could handle the drake, and how he was unsure whether they could handle each other now. He spoke of his regret of letting Venator die, and all those that followed which he couldn't save. He spoke of his first meeting with Caeluma and how at the moment he had laid eyes on her, he knew that she was the one. He spoke of his lonely days, building the temple alone, with only God for company.

Finally, he spoke of the first memory he ever had, of him kneeling in the grass kneeling to God, proclaiming Him his piety. A scene eternalized within this temple with the two stone statues and one that was playing out once more in this very moment with Minsol kneeling and looking up to God. Once Minsol had said everything, a silence descended upon the hall. Minsol closed his eyes and took in a shuddering breath, before asking God. "God, on the day you created humanity, you told me that you were my God, but I was their king. God, tell me please, have I been a good king? Have I fulfilled my duties to You and humanity?" A slight quiver had entered his voice and God felt a certain unrest through their connection. Minsol had laid his entire life bare before God, showing the good and the bad, the glorious and the ugly, and now Minsol awaited God's decision. It had been long since the last time Minosl's heart had beat so fast and he had been sunken in such deep uncertainty. He felt like the next words of God would either bring him eternal bliss or misery.

God let out a weak chuckle. "While there were many moments in which you acted in your own interests rather than in those of humanity, you have still managed to establish a foothold in this world for humanity. You have led humanity to prosperity and had new cities be established under your rule. You have fulfilled your duties as a king. As for your duties to me... There never were any to begin with. From the beginning, I had told you there was no need for people to worship me. If I were to impose a duty upon you, it would be to live a full and good life, at the end of which you could die without regrets. Tell me, did you fulfill your duty to me?" Minsol felt like a massive weight had been lifted off him and took in a relieved breath he didn't even know he had been holding. He then took a moment to mull over God's words. Had he truly lived a full and good life?

Minsol took no longer than a single second to contemplate, before bursting into a wide grin, reminiscent of the ones he always wore in his youth. "Yes, God, I have fulfilled all my duties. Thank you, I am now ready to lay myself to eternal rest. I will leave my soul to you, in the hopes that I can worship you forever." Minsol, feeling God's satisfaction through their bond, stood up, before bowing once more. Afterward, he turned and left the temple for the last time. On his way out, he dragged his hands across the walls that he had carved himself. The weathered stone mirrored his weathered hands. He exited the main hall and descended the temple steps, the setting sun finally disappearing beyond the horizon, plunging the world into the uncertainty and darkness of the night. A month after God's dialogue with Minsol, the king of humanity, God's firstborn and the progenitor of the mythical human race died in his sleep. He was found in the morning wearing a peaceful smile. Caeluma, upon hearing the news died due to a broken heart within the next three days.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Meanwhile, at the center of the continent, a special soul was being brought to the trunk of the giant tree in the middle. This soul was special because it contained a large amount of divine blood attached to it. Souls were semi-real, as were divine cells, so when a soul left a body, the divine cells stored within the body would also follow the soul, making the soul of a mythical being far stronger than an average soul. The two consciousnesses inhabiting the tree felt this soul should be treated differently. They didn't recognize Minsol, for their memories were sealed by God. Their job was to choose extraordinary souls, to use them to create the new mythical race. God wanted them to be impartial, so He sealed their memories.

After the soul remnant of Spreta examined Minsol's soul and memories, she decided to stuff his soul into a cocoon housing an unborn being. Just as she finished with that, another soul appeared. This soul was an ordinary soul, and by all accounts should continue its cycle of reincarnation. However, Spreta's soul remnant felt heartache when seeing this soul here and desired it to stay with her. Therefore she used all the energy gathered from the collective human memories of a few decades and stuffed that soul with the energy into another unborn being. These unborn beings were fruits haninging off the canopy of the great tree. These fruits would cultivate the body, before giving birth to a complete form.

God had decided that the purpose of the divine tree be twofold. The first was to establish the cycle of reincarnation, and the second was to create a new mythical race. This was because God wished to massively increase his production of energy. For that He had found out the best method was creating a large amount of divine blood. The fastest way to create divine blood was to let it accumulate in the bodies of living beings and to allow these beings to reproduce, creating more individuals with divine blood. After countless experiments, God had made a few conclusions. Every time an offspring was conceived, a small amount of divine blood would flow from the parent to the child, forming a seed. As this child would then grow up, the amount of divine blood would naturally increase. The longer an individual lived, the more divine blood they accumulated. This also applied to the semi-real Mana particles found in the atmosphere, as with time their total number would increase.

It is due to these two factors, that God's initial plan to create a mythical race that was short-lived and reproduced quickly failed, as within a few generations the total amount of divine blood within an individual would be so little, that the following generation wouldn't inherit any, leading to this species to lose their mythical status. It is therefore, that God created the divine tree to create a new race. This race would be born of fruit and look like humans, yet they would have certain differences. For one this race would have an absurdly long life span, ensuring that the production of divine blood would continue. The trade-off was that they would have trouble conceiving new children, but that simply meant that each child was virtually guaranteed to possess divine blood from birth. The last difference was more subtle, simply changing the biology of the species by a certain amount. Humanity was based on the "base humans" as God's memories recorded them, yet within their code lay many imperfections. God used his extensive knowledge of biology to tweak their genetic code, making them naturally stronger, faster, and giving them better perception abilities. They would be resistant to most diseases and would be able to see in dark environments and hear even the faintest sound. This did lead to some cosmetic differences between humans and the new race. To human standards, the new race would be incomparably beautiful, as they would all lack the minute imperfections that every human bore in their DNA. The second difference is that they would have pointed ears, allowing them to hear better, and glowing eyes, allowing them to see better.

Based on His memories, God named this new race the elven race, a race comprised solely of mythical beings. The first two elves to be born would be Minsol, who would inherit all of his divine blood accumulated during his life, and Caeluma, who received all the energy converted from memories of every single human who had died until now. This energy would be converted into divine blood which would be gifted to Caeluma while she was still developing as a fruit. The elves would first grow as fruits on the divine tree, yet they could also create offspring on their own. The memories of Minsol and Caeluma had been wiped, as would all future reincarnated elves. This would ensure, that no one would continue a grudge even after death, so in a way death truly was permanent. The elves would be born as children, yet they would inherit the personality of the soul used to give life to their fruit. Only exceptional souls would gain the privilege to become elves. Those deemed normal would continue the cycle of reincarnation.

If the soul possessed divine blood upon death but was deemed unfit for becoming an elf, then their divine blood would be stripped from them, just like their memories and the blood would be given to a different more promising soul. The exact criteria of what made a soul exceptional were handed over to the remnant soul of Spreta. She was to become the trunk, due to her caring and northerly nature. She was fierce when it was necessary, yet caring to those she considered her children. And she would have a lot of children soon. While God was completing his plan, chaos was breaking out in the human world.