INTERLUDE: A WHOLE NEW WORLD
** CLERGY COUNCIL **
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{00:00 ZULU TIME 1ST JANUARY 1ME
10:45 LOCAL TIME 1ST JANUARY 1ME}
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MOUNT EVEREST
DALI LAMA
A Tibetan monk sat Lotus Style while all the noise and tremors of the Breaking happened all around him. Mana started to suffuse his body, growing hair back on his head, and beard. As the last tremor finished, he opened his eyes, they glow with the pure blue of Mana, before slowly reverting back to the normal cloudy brown of old experienced eyes.
A prompt popped up in front of his face. He smiled softly and let out a breath. A young monk of East Indian descent, mostly balled, but with a long braided ponytail in the back, runs up to the head monk after all of the commotion.
“You’re holiness, it has begun.” The acolyte excitedly said bowing respectfully. The cloudy morning light, dull in the background.
“Acolyte Mohinder, calm yourself. I believe everyone is aware that it has begun.” The Dalai Lama leader of the Tibetan Buddhist monks chuckled at the acolyte’s embarrassed expression. “The question they will be asking next is more important, is it not?” The Dalai Lama said sagely rubbing his long white beard. He slowly but confidently stood up, turning to a view outside the temple overlooking the snow-covered mountains. He breathes in through his nose, and out of his mouth, Mana moving around him. “What is that question, Acolyte?
Mohinder who was on a knee bowing to the Dalai Lama looked up with a smile. “What happens next?” His smile disappeared as he realized almost right away he was wrong. The Dalai Lama always lets you know when you are right immediately.
Shaking his head, he turned back to the Acolyte as the sun started peeking through the morning clouds to the east past the mountains. “No Acolyte, what happens next will always be in the back of people’s minds. That is being human. But when major change happens, the first question is how are we going to adapt to it? Which essentially means, who will we become?” The Acolyte nodded sagely, listening attentively.
The Dali Lama walked over to a large mirror on the wall. As he got close the reflection warped. “Get the word out to all the Temples, Mosques, Churches, Monasteries, Synagogues, Gurdwaras, and other places of worship. Tell them with my Authority, they may awaken their Cultivator Councils and bring the gods back. The Pope and I will awaken the main Council and the rest of the orders will be passed down through mirror contact. Make sure our agents are checking in from all around the world. When we get a full count we can move on to phase two. Carry on, Acolyte.” The Lama finished just as the mirror came to life.
A short Mexican man stood in front of his own mirror looking back at the Dalai Lama. He was surrounded by Cardinals in full red regalia. Swiss Guards standby with intimidating heavy Armor and Halberds glowing with white light. “Buenos Dias.” He said tiredly, “We just finished midnight mass. Feliz Año Nuevo, my friend, your holiness. Live Well.” He smiled happily.
“So that we may Die Free.” He watched as the pope and his cardinals did the sign of the cross at the ritual words. “Bah, with the holiness nonsense. You are a Pope, not a Cardinal anymore, we are equals now. Happy New Year to you as well my good friend, it is a new era.” the Dali Lama said smiling back. “Have you activated all of your Stronghold buffs? I know you are new to the position, but the natural Mana Well that the Vatican was built upon is only second in depth to here in Tibet, so it will be a beacon for strong Beast and Monsters.
“Thank you for your concern Lama, we are very well protected. The Swiss Guard even got a Diamond Tier Stronghold Buff, and they are quite happy about it.” The guards in the back give off a light glow while nodding. “Shall we bring back some gods?” The Pope smirked. “I never thought that I would ever say those words. The amount of effort that was put into keeping all of this a secret was astonishing. I am truly blessed to be here today.” A cardinal places his crown on his head. The pope’s eyes glowed white.
“High Lord Buddha first, then?” The Lama asked
“Micheal first, we do not dare to bring back the Trinity. We will stick to angels. That was our mandate, passed down by the three.” The pope said.
“The powers they possess will be unfathomable regardless, and as long as they stand by the neutrality agreement, order will be restored sooner, rather than later.” The Lama added hopefully.
The Pope looked hesitant a little before continuing, “The major gods have loyal followers, but some of them may not want to go through with their summonings. The longer they wait the more power the first summon gods gain on them. It could lead to another Ragnorok.” He said warily.
“In a broken world like ours, the amount of Mana pouring into it is more than enough to sustain them all. They would be stupid to give in to their fear of being controlled over immortality. The world will slowly grow as Gaia wakes up, giving them even more room in the sky Realm. By the time she is fully awake, the Cultivator Council should be up and running. We can always travel to those other Mana Well locations and capture them for the Clergy Council. That way we do the summons and have their gods fall under us.”
“That is a win, win. We should start, I am excited to see a full-blown Cultivator, can they really fly?” The Pope asked beaming.
Chuckling, “Yes your holiness they can. At Silver Tier, all cultivators could fly unassisted, and they had to be at least Gold to be considered a god. Gold is the next rank up from Silver Rank. You will be there soon. The perks of attributes bonuses in our Stronghold will guarantee we will be cultivators in a few years a decade at the latest.” The Lama laughed.
“Then we could be flying in a decade!” The pope said hopefully.
“It won’t be that fast but, let us hurry so we can assemble the Clergy Council.” The Dali Lama said glowing the blue of refined Mana.
They both start to chant an elaborate incantation. Both speaking very different previously dead languages. The white light Mana building around the Pope. The Dalai Lama pure blue Mana builds as well.
They both finish by yelling,
“AWAKEN BUDDHA!”
** NOBLE COUNCIL **
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23:45 ZULU TIME 31 DECEMBER 2038AD
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LONDON ENGLAND
KING CHARLES III
The royal family were all gathered together watching over the New Year’s Eve celebration going on in the streets. Security was on very high alert already.
The King, Charles third of his name, dressed in a simple, but elegant suit, adorned with all his medals and his crown. Standing next to his wife, the Queen Diana, also dressed in an elegant but simple evening gown and flat dress shoes. They look over the balcony of the Palace, watching the people in the streets celebrating the new year.
It was a hard year for his country, the world really, and they had deserved a big celebration and the King was not going to miss this. Like all of the nobility, he could feel the magical pressure building in the world, it is why Nobility throughout the globe had started to secure more and more of their power back subtly, throughout the years for the last decade. The world was too busy dealing with the biggest pandemic it had seen ever to even notice.
The Dust Epidemic started a few years after the Trinidadian, Noble Peace Prize winning Engineer, Roger Jacob discovered Gravitons, and a way to manipulate them. With the help of nanotechnology Japanese genius Yayoi Hara. It was the missing peace in nanotechnology, virtual reality, augmented reality, even antigravity flight, and personal shields.
Medicine benefited first from the discovery purely by accident. When the Dust, the byproduct from the process of manipulating Gravitons, got into the eye of someone. The man woke up, and was able to tell the doctors exactly what was wrong with him, and could even project what seemed like a medical interface to others to prove that he wasn’t going crazy.
Naturally, the experiments began. The first guy wanting nothing to do with it left, but was brought in periodically to check for side effects. The volunteers came in droves and that was when the scientist realized that not everyone got the same enhancements. Enhancements were what the scientists called the plethora of powers that came from Dust exposure. Most enhancements were physical enhancements and about ten percent had Medical or game-like interfaces. Those ten percent changed medicine forever.
The problem was the safety measures put in place in Trinidad after the accident were considered too much everywhere else on the globe. The escaping Dust went everywhere. In small traces, it was fine, but negligence in properly storing the Dust led to literal tons of the concentrated material being ‘Stolen.’ The Joint Task Force or JTF was formed to be in charge of not only storing but testing any uses of Dust and graviton manipulation. Every major nation funded the JTF.
After the localized epidemics became a full-blown pandemic, finding out who was to blame was secondary to stopping the problem. The worst-case scenario for overdosing on Dust was your head exploding, and unfortunately, that happened a lot, a ridiculous amount of times. It was messy and very public. Think brain in the Thanksgiving stuffing, public. Think news anchors dying on screen from Dust in the middle of a sentence, public.
The other problem was the best-case scenario for withdrawal was your head exploding, more than likely what happened was what happened to patient zero. The Duster just gained an enhancement he had no control of, and went on a rampage in his own home killing his family, then his neighbor’s home, until the police had to kill him. By then he wiped out half a block with his bare hands.
Some of the wealthiest families in the world were devastated, as their children were the only ones who could afford the potent drug at first, and were the first to get addicted. So they used their enhancement and money, to get even more Dust, then watched their friends' heads pop like over-ripen grapes being stepped on by an elephant. That was when most people got off the drug until the withdrawal symptoms were even worse.
Dust became a drug that if you tried it once, you had to keep doing it or you die. Afterward, major families started making laws to protect their children. It made Dust legal if you had the money to buy the medical-grade version. It took Trinidad and the JTF almost a decade to make a cheap enough version to distribute to the masses. The death toll was close to one billion, by that time.
The odd thing was the productivity that having a medical interface, and certain useful enhancements, had actually allowed the world population and technology to advance even during the pandemic. Crime went down as technology got to places that had desperately needed it before. Every day on the evening news, there was at least one enhanced Duster that the JTF was putting down. It was like watching a bad but visually pleasing action movie every day. The last one left parts of Scotland looking like a war zone. A group of ten Dusters with all physical enhancements took on a company of Scottish troops, it didn’t end well for either side. Only two soldiers survived, some ripped in half by a rampaging Duster gang.
“It feels like we will become whole tonight doesn’t it my love?” He smiled softly to his wife, she was beautiful, his mother was never a fan of his wife but being the heir to the throne, she had allowed it. She wasn’t in the picture anymore but her guidance got them here. He silently prayed for her peaceful rest.
“I sure do hope so, it takes more and more Dust to sustain us and the children.” She said worried. Nobility funded a lot of the JTF so they could have direct access to the dust. Lately, the JTF has been becoming too independent. Tonight there will be coordinated attacks on most of the noble-controlled dust depots. That should flush the families with Mana or at least dust for years. Their family was the largest family to hold out from trying to take on the JTF, but with over eighty percent of the Nobility on board, they didn’t want to be left behind. Even with their secret Dungeons they were still not producing enough Mana to sustain their high-classers.
“Worry not my love, we are chosen, and our powers will grow as our nations grow. Life will be fun again when we are players in the GREAT GAME.” The king said while gazing at the full moon. The light bathes the city ominously in an unusually clear London winter night sky. “It is our new roles that we have to get accustomed to. We have to get the Noble Council together, they will challenge our lead since we were late to join their cabal. We cannot let them. Once the cultivators show up, and the other Dungeons are formed, we will have more access than any other Royal family.” He continued with a smile, he turned to her as the countdown started to the end of an era. The Common Era made way for the Magic Epoch at midnight. He kisses her as...
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00:00 ZULU TIME 1ST JANUARY 1ME
COMMON PERIOD
MORTAL REALM
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A cacophony of shattering glass that is deafening. It is as if it was heard throughout the entire world. The ground rumbles as the lights all go out everywhere...
The chaotic yells of all the younger family members of the nobility can be heard over the noise of people in the street who had just counted down as the city lights going out. The fireworks going off drowned out the building panic among the partiers.
The king and queen continue kissing in the dark until their skin starts to glow white with Light Mana, and their features begin to get younger as they finish. They look in their late fifties now. They pull away and look at each other with love in their eyes. It was time. Charles looked at the rest of his family, they were on one knee bowing to the Royal Couple. “Rise and set up all of your Character Sheets and then activate your Stronghold buffs. After that, consolidate your allies and get ready for a whole new world.” The King stated magnanimously “Let us make sure our enemies Die Free!”
The family all say in unison, “So that you may Live well!”
** CULTIVATOR COUNCIL **
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00:00 ZULU 1 JANUARY 0ME
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MOUNT ATHOS
GREEK PANTHEON
The ground rumbled as the lights all went out.
The monastery was lit with candles that gave off a warm orange light. The shiny black light of Dark Mana suffused the body of a Monk in simple white, traditional, Christian monk garb. The Protos was the head monk of the Athonite monasteries which are scattered throughout the snow-covered mountain range of Mount ATHOS Greece.
The orange flame of the candlelight flickered wildly as an invisible force worked against it, like a breeze, but without the ability to put the flames out. The light bathes the corners of the room, and hallway in shifting shadows and light. Dark Mana from the shadows was siphoned into the Protos leaving the shadows noticeably lighter. The shadows build around him. He opened his eyes, the sclera and pupil were completely black but the iris of his eyes was the normal light brown of the people of the Mediterranean. The black of his sclera slowly retreated from his iris leaving his sclera a unblemished white, except for a small black ring at the 12 o'clock of both his eyes above his irises. A third eye opened slowly on his forehead with the Hindu-Arabic number 1 glowing black in the center of the iris-less eye, before disappearing.
The Protos looked over to the door as nineteen other similarly dressed monks walked in calmly with their hoods up, and hands together in prayer. The Protos looked at his fellow monastery leaders in approval. Their duty has been kept secret under the guise of zealotry, and worship for years, but that guise ends today. The monks knew their ultimate duty was spreading the word of God. But bringing back the old gods was only known by these Monastery heads.
“Happy new era my brothers. All of your sacrifices have come together for this glorious moment. We will bring back the old gods of the Hellenic Pantheon.” The Protos said a little too giddy for his age which was pushing eighty. The other monks slowly removed their hoods with as many varied expressions as there were faces. Most were some level of giddy, some anticipation, all were duty bound though, their chance at immortality made any protest obsolete.
“Let the local Clergy Council begin.” A second head monk stepped forward.” His impatience can be felt by some of the others.
“I second” A third added. The young heads look at the older ones confused as to the hurry.
The Protos sighed “Very well, no preamble I guess.” He looked at the older Heads. “I know you feel like you lot could die any second now.” He said chuckling. “The EXP that we get from each summoning will give you more time. But please be patient. We have to get the order right.” The Protos finished by addressing the others.
One of the youngest heads raised his hands sheepishly, “Protos what happens when we level up, and why is it important for older monks?” The youngest head turned and looked at everyone near him who was younger like him. Young being relative since he was in his early fifties. But the seventy-five plus elders heads had more time to understand their roles.
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The Protos smiled. “Elder Christos you have only been in your position for half of a decade. I can take some time for a quick lesson.” They all groan. The groaning was loudest from the oldest Elders
“Malakas!” The Second Elder said a little too loudly. He looked at the Protos “Apologies, continue Protos.”
Chuckling at the second Elder he turned back to Elder Christos. “Leveling by itself for most players in the GREAT GAME means more power. Once you specialize, however, you gain longevity depending on class and titles. Every time you Tier up, you gain at least ten years of life extension. At your Class's second specialization, you gain the Vitality Pool which tells you how many years you have to live.” He shrugged “That would be approximate of course, I will guess the biggest killer of man moving forward, will be Monsters. Beast shape ones, and human shape ones.” He paused for dramatic effect, and the second elder groaned. “But as long as you can keep your head, not a pun, literally keep your head as a Celergy member and as an Elder, we will have special access to classes.”
“Not to mention the strongest beings this planet has ever seen, will be our protectors. So we can level up faster than other Caste save one, and we are not capped with our classes we are capped with the planet, however. If we max out our classes we will all gain at least seven centuries of life extension. Look what we have accomplished in a tenth of that, without magic.” The second elder interjected.
The Protos shook his head at the second elder disappointingly at first, but more approvingly as he finished. “The second Elder is right at least about the time and the potential of leveling up faster. The Cultivator Council is not OUR protectors however, they protect their region from people who gain power too quickly and try to commit atrocities. They also will Ascend at some point, around the Rare Period as the Heavenly gets closer to Earth, so we will have to request their help at that point. So we can’t count on them to ‘save’ us.” Protos added.
“They also fight the other gods.” The first elder snuck in.
“And they also fight the other gods.” The Protos nodded to him.
The man in his late eighties and the only Head of African dissent stepped forward. “First Monk we must decide the order of summoning before the other Pantheons decide to come and take our Mana Well.” He said wisely. They had wasted to much time and they were surrounded by enemies.
“You are quite right first elder, we must be fast, we can have these conversations after we summon at least one of our protectors.” The Protos chuckled out.
A sigh from the darkness quieted the assembled monks, they all turned as one as a man casually strolled through the wall of the monastery walking on air in an incorporeal form. “I was wondering what was taking so long usually the Greek Gods were first.” He said with zero emotion.
All of the monks take a knee and bow their heads to the speaker. “Lord Cultivator how may we assist you?”
The silence that followed stretched on for minutes before Yehudah moved his gaze off of them to something outside. “If you wish to die only a few minutes after waking up Jupiter, you should definitely continue flying this way.” There was a loud thunderclap retreating and the speaker turned back to the monks.”Romans am I right?” He dryly chuckled. “Rise servants let this be the last time you postulate to me, for I am not worthy. My name is Judas, and my given name is the Sage of Redemption.”
The younger monks were all startled by the revelation. The Protos and the top two elders had no reaction at all. Judas looked at them as they all tentatively stood. “I must say you are taking that revelation, very calmly,” Judas said in his deadpan voice.
“Three things Lord Cultivator…” The Protos started before being cut off by Judas
“Just Judas leave out the honorifics please.” He sounded bored.
The Protos started again with a smile. “Very well three things Sage Judas, 1.” Pointing at the two elders. “We are old, life and experiences have made any revelation a possibility. secondly,”
The second Elder took over from the Protos in practice ease as if they were giving a lecture or participating in rap cipher. “You just stop what would have undoubtedly been an enemy we could not stop without sacrificing everything. So we do not care about your past, your presence is all we care about. Besides, stories are often exaggerated.”
“Mine was not!” Judas grinds out through his teeth, the words escaping before he can help himself.
“Thirdly...” The first elder came to his rescue he thought. “You are a high-tier cultivator I am guessing at least Aura Rank?”
“Sage Rank, that is Saint Realm actually. It is in my name.” Judas said absently.
“Right...so if you wanted us all dead it would be nothing but a thought or a flick of a finger, we are much too weak to oppose you. Most humans can’t fathom the power of a cultivator yet or ever, but death is sudden and often at our age so you were either going to kill us or not.” He finished his statement with more confidence.
“Right,” Judas said dryly after a beat. “You should start with your summonings. I have to go, I have wasted too much time here. Do NOT, summon Zeus first, he is a selfish prick who won’t let you summon his brothers and sisters until he is tired of spending time with all of the willing women of in this era, and believe me there will be a lot of willing women, that god’s charisma is ridiculous.” Judas added off-handedly before popping out of existence.
A pressure that the monks didn’t even know they were feeling went with the pop. “Hera First then?” The first elder asked.
“Hera is a healer, maybe we summon someone who can counter his lightning.” The Protos proposed.
“Athena.” All the monks say in unison.
Nodding the Protos, and head elder agrees. “The goddess Athena it is.” they all arrange themselves in a circle around a glowing Core on a pedestal. They all start chanting voices low as their power grows.
“GODDESS OF WAR AND PRACTICAL REASON...
“AWAKEN ATHENA”
All of the monks’ Mana Pools drop to zero, they all also lose one hit point in the form of a drop of blood that is drawn from each, and into the Core.”
Long black hair flowed out of the Core, followed by a battle helmet with wings at each ear. The goddess’ body was covered head to toe in matte black armor that seemed to be absorbing the light in the room. As she finished becoming solid all of the monks level up restoring all their pools. They kneel again this time with smiles on their faces, even in their exhausted state.
Athena blinked while getting her bearings which for a cultivator of her level was not just her immediate surroundings. She looked down at the young men in front of her, she smiled at them. She stood just under seven feet tall with a slender muscular form. Her eyes have no irises just five multicolor concentric circles in each of them signifying a Gold rank Earth Cultivator. The circles in her eyes combine into a brown iris on her left and a metal iris the color of her armor in the right. “Rise servants, as you serve me as equals, I will serve you in battle.” Her voice is firm with leadership. Her eyes were unfocused as she read a prompt confused. “I am the first, you truly must be wise in this time. My father would have had you wait a century before summoning us. Well done children, well done.” She smiled, and the old men all felt her sincerity in her aura touching them. Each of them got a prompt telling them their constitution went up by fifty and any lingering ailments disappeared. They all stood new men.
Looking a little sheepish the Protos stared at the goddess. “Expert Lady Athena we can not take credit for the order a Sage gave us the advice.” He said respectfully calling her by her rank Tier.
“Well, fortune is a hidden Attribute you know.” She laughed in a comforting tone.
“Really?” Elder Christos asked semi-seriously.
Athena smiled, “No Elder Christos, or maybe yes, that has been up for debate for centuries, millennia even. I will begin patrolling soon, what is the Capital now?” She looked north sensing something. “Hmm.”
Smiling the first elder looked at her and proudly said “Your namesake is still the capital Lady Athena.”
She smiled even bigger looking at the boys in front of her. “I must visit sometime then, we will set up the trade city in Thessaloníki and then reclaim Mount Olympus as soon as the dungeon there forms. Who will you wake up next?
“We figured you would have some recommendations.” The Protos hedged tentatively.
Athena shook her head. “Anyone but my Dad.” She hurriedly states then flies down the hallway at a speed impossible to track for the low-level monks.
“Poseidon?” The First elder asked questioningly after a few seconds.
“Let us do him, then Hades, and then Zeus.” The Protos said
They chant the names in that order. They all leveled multiple times. Every time, they had the Mana to summon back to back to back. After Athena, the gods just got out of the way, and let them continue, indifferent to the monks. That was until Zeus was summoned.
The air crackled with static, the Mana started getting denser, and the Elders felt like they were in water and began to move like that. The brothers Poseidon and Hades finally react with more than just indifference. “We apologize in advance, our youngest brother was originally an Air Cultivator so he was always playful and carefree. But once he got the Lightning Elemental Concept CORE he became uncatchable, so we have to give him responsibilities to keep him tied down. He is duty-bound and honorable, but he is the youngest so he is a little... childish, and flighty.” Poseidon sighed in advance, trying to keep a smile down. He was a little over seven feet tall, and dark blue, water armor covered his whole frame from head to toe. His trident started to form from the water next to him.
“He is a prankster as well, so watch your shoe laces, belt straps, or even coin purses.” Hades' rough voice had a little mirth in it. The god was just as tall as his brother, but his armor was living Flame, a massive flaming scythe floated out of the flames around Hades solidifying shortly afterward. “Stop it, Zeus, we can all sense you Malaka.”
A loud laugh was heard throughout the monastery. “Hades, my brother, you were always my favorite.” A young handsome, olive, olive-skinned man, with long white matted hair, dressed in rags that made a homeless man look like he was at the Met Gala, coalesces out of the static electricity. The monks look at the five foot seven inch tall, teenage-looking god, dressed in rags that look like they were going to fall apart at any second, confused. “Where are the ladies at?! Ooohh, I can make it to Alkebulan, I wonder what Neith’s up to these days, I always loved those pyramids, if you know what I mean.” He elbowed Hades who facepalmed. “Why can’t we make those? Oh right, gifts from Olorun.” He said all other questions and answers in one breath, a grin on his face. “Oh, Yemoja too, she is in Timbuktu. We have to get going before the world expands, a Breaking huh? I have never been in one of these. Sounds like fun.”
The gravity of the room shifted. “Father,” the voice drifted into the room soft but deadly. Zeus’ grin disappeared just as he tried to turn into lightning a large rubber-booted foot stepped on him slamming him into the ground. His lightning dissipating as it does. Athena’s massive nearly seven-foot frame and metal bulk easily held down Zeus. “No, you don’t.”
Under Athena’s foot, Zeus struggled playfully. “Daughter, it is great to see you.” He said happily not even fazed by the fact that a few tons were on him. “Do you mind not suppressing my Aura, please? I was just coming to see you and everything.”
“Oh and all those other goddesses you mentioned before mine and mother’s name was just a what?” She sighed, “Summon my mother she will deal with him.” Athena nodded to her Uncles who respectfully nodded back. “It is great to see you two, after all this time. It is going to be a fun, fun Epoch.” She smiled mischievously not unlike her father.
The monks start to chant again, smiling at the actions of their gods
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00:30 ZULU TIME 1 JANUARY 1ME
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NORWAY
NORSE PANTHEON
The northern lights paint the snow blue and ethereal green. Three gods float softly off the snow while they watch the lights for the first time in an era. Sol, the Human flame melted the snow below her. She was just over four feet tall in her current form. The flame that was her body never went out. The five circles in her eyes burn blue hot, while her body was in its red flame form to keep the heat down. She looked on mesmerized by the light.
Thor, a tall blond man reaching close to eight feet looked at the lights, while two different massive hammers made of lightning orbited around him. He stared stoically at the raging color show. He relaxed his broad shoulders, then turned to his Father.
Odin stood a little shorter than his son Thor holding an intricate pole arm, a crown on his head, and a golden eye patch over his right eye. A pair of black and golden ravens sat upon his shoulder with five sets of eyes, each with six circles in them. “The Asgardian dungeon is ready shall we my children? Remember we are bulwarks against the Giants of the south.” One of his Ravens flew off towards the lights.
Sol’s flames become yellow and she grew a foot or so. “You have my flame, Sage of eyes!” Odin nodded approvingly.
Thor’s hammers start to crackle lightly with energy. “You have my hammers father. Shall we Live Well?” Odin looked at his son.
“Or we will Die Free protecting what is most precious. Let us go!” Odin opened a black and gold portal in front of them, it shimmered with liquid Mana. They casually walk through it.
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00:45 ZULU TIME 1ST JANUARY 1ME
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MOUNT FUJI, JAPAN
JAPANESE PANTHEON
Amaterasu hovered off the ground in the morning light. She wore a flowing dress that fell a little short of her bare feet. The local flowers growing on her, stand out in the snow-covered mountaintop she lazily floated over. She looked to Tokyo seeing it clear as day through the morning fog.
A massive humanoid turtle comically waddled towards her. She smiled at him as the water in the crown above his head spilled a little freezing in the frigid air and hit the ground like it was thrown from a massive building. The turtle stopped at the noise.
“It is okay King Kappa the humans below will be too worried about surviving monsters, than a little earthquake.” She said smiling at the funny turtle man.
“Call me Kuzenbo Lady Amaterasu, I gave up that role when I became a Gold rank cultivator.” He replied. Any creature that makes it to Gold gains full sapience. But King Kappa had always had his.
“King Kappa, Goddess Amaterasu. It’s a pleasure as usual.” Both gods look up to see an archer decked out in magically glowing gear, and a half mask covering the right side of his face. His large bow orbited around his hands constantly shifting size so at any angle it was useful.
“Lord Hachiman! As respectful as always, good to see you.” Kuzenbo said. All three of the gods bow to each other.
“Where to my goddess?” Hachiman asked
King Kappa chewed on a cucumber from his shell storage.
“Kyoto.” She replied “After I am done talking to the Emperor we can fly there together. Kuzenbo do you mind making the Skyway from here to there?”
“It will be my pleasure, do I get the taxes?” The turtle smiled.
“Of course, we have to Live Well.” She floated up and patted his nose.
“Or we will Die Free of debt!” The other two gods say smiling.
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00:45 ZULU TIME 1ST JANUARY 1ME
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XI’AN CHINA
CHINESE PANTHEON
Two gods, one an eight-foot tall archer, with a mask covering half of his face, the other a beautiful seven-foot tall woman with beige skin, jet black hair, and a long flowing, simple nightgown, embrace in the fading moonlight before the dawn.
One other god an eight-foot-tall, male, humanoid, with a crown, monkey features, a long tail, and a double spiked end staff on his shoulder, looked on in annoyance. “Faerie of the Moon Chang’e, Lord Archer Hou Yi, I know it has been some time since you have embraced on the Mortal realm,” He said for what seemed like the thousandth time. “But it is our duty to get stronger, so fight me.” He smiled mischievously at the pair who just ignored him. “Oh come on!” He cried exasperated.
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01:45 ZULU TIME 1 JANUARY 1ME
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GIZA EGYPT
EGYPTIAN PANTHEON
The full moon shines down on an army of undead skeletons standing around the base of the pyramid of Menkaure while a dog-headed humanoid hovered above the murky obsidian capstone at the top. He looked over to the next place of Power a little envious of his neighbors.
A black-skinned beauty, with a body of supple, but defined muscles, hair tightly and thinly dreaded that blew in the breeze as she sat on top of webs the color of starlight and darkness, creating a mosaic similar to a galaxy, spinning over the capstone of the pyramid of Khafre. Her outfit consists of tight-fitting galaxy colors as well. It makes it difficult to see sometimes through her webs as if she were a massive nebular at the center of the Galaxy. She played the strings of her bow-shaped instrument lazily until a glowing light caught her eye from next to her. She turned to the source smiling a radiant smile, even the universe in her webs brightened from the light. It revealed some scary creatures that go bump in the night. “Ra,” She said with love and pride in her voice. “You were always better with light and fire Mana than I was my son, welcome back.”
A golden falcon-headed humanoid with what looks like a floating sun above his head stood proudly on top of the pyramid of Giza. The gold capstone amplifies the sunlight. “Mother, you are too kind, I am humbled by your casual display of power.” Ra waved his hands showing off his mother's web galaxy with his generated light source.
“Goddess Neith?” The dog face god asked.
“Yes, Anubis my wonderful grandson,” Neith answered
“Do you mind telling your son to take the power down he is melting my army,” Anubis said like he was a bored fast food employee repeating your order back to you.
Neith looked at the base of Anubis’ pyramid and his skeletons were melting slowly under Ra’s light. “Oh my, that is some nasty stuff. Ra please get better control of your Aura you are no longer under a millennia old and we are in the Mortal realm so temper your power. As good as you are with light and fire, you are equally as bad at using your aura my son. You better slot more aura Core skills or you will never make it to master rank in this avatar.” She said playfully.
“Well, I usually don’t have to worry.” He whined. ”Who doesn’t like sunlight?” Ra asked annoyed.
“Many people my son.” She admonished. “More importantly, if you ever want to become a Jade rank cultivator from the Gold ranks, you will need better aura control Ra. Look Anubis has his aura thinly touching all his mana constructs.” Two Banshees vanished from a section and Anubis leveled up a Core. One of the black circles in his eyes rotates clockwise from ten to eleven. “Did you just offer a quest for two banshees? Who has the mana for that this early?” She asked impressed.
A doggish grin covered Anubis’ face, and praise from the Sage of Webs made his tail wag a little “A very resourceful noble, they will bring us-”
The Sphinx’s eyes started to glow as the three gods’ heads snapped to look at it now on high alert they powered up their Cores and tapped into their places of power.
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00:45 ZULU TIME 1 JANUARY 1ME
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NEW MAYAN EMPIRE
MAYAN PANTHEON
In the afternoon sunlight two gods, chased a bus size, winged serpent god, as the serpent flew around three brand new, Mayan pyramids made of three different colors, one was yellow with Air Mana it was the tallest, the widest was the brownish-green one the Earth Mana pulsing off of it, and the blueish dark purple one which shined with Water and Gravity Mana. One of the gods was an eight-foot-tall warrior, with a massive axe and helmet, he yelled at the serpent every word made the blueish-purple pyramid pulse. “Kukulkan stop this very moment you deranged dragon, you can not eat a Dungeon Core.” The warrior thrusted his battle axe in the sky causing perfectly painted clouds to form instantly as rain began to fall on the winged being from the frozen clouds.
The serpent turned to his pursuer, visibly slowed by the rain. “Ah, Chaac really? A Picture you really used a Picture on me, and Cabrakan, I was just having a little fun, we have been locked up for centuries relax my guy.” The serpent pled
The ground rumbled below Kukulkan right before it sprung up and trapped him in stone. Behind the stone trap a Picture of a stone jail cell floated above the captured Serpent.
“Great job Cabrakan.” The rain warrior god Chaac said. Cabrakan encased in rock and dirt just nodded his head.
The rain stopped, as Chaac walked up to the now trapped serpent God. He put his hand out, the other holding his axe. “Spit, it, out, now!” He growled.
Kukulkan rolled his eyes and opened his mouth a rainbow-colored, perfectly smooth gem the size of a beach ball, flopped out of his tongue covered in slimy saliva that crackled when it hit the ground. “Happy?”
“No,” Chaac said flatly with a disgusted face as the excess saliva flowed over a shimmering personal shield around his hand.
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01:40 ZULU TIME 1 JANUARY 1ME
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TIMBUKTU MALI EMPIRE
YORUBA PANTHEON
A voluptuous dark-skinned goddess with five blue rings around her iris less eyes waded in the rising water of the Niger River. The full moon made it feel like daytime outside. The riverbank was fresh with new growth and that growth continued to expand outwards turning the desert into lush green land everywhere the spray of water touched.
A balled tall black man in a long simple white robe, with seven glowing circles in his galaxy-colored eyes, looked at her work with the pride of a father. “You will break into the Jade ranks faster than any of the others Yemoja. I see that you are Living Well.”
Yemoja smiled and walked out of the water as easily as walking up small steps. Every step she took brought her body up as if the water was solid under her feet. When her feet hit the bank her Aura leaked some of her excess Essence causing new plant life to spring up at an accelerated rate. She went to one knee when she reached him. “Olorun, Sage of Light and Life, it is good to see we didn’t Die Free in our slumber.” She said with a perfectly manicured eyebrow raise and playful smile.
Olorun kneeled in front of her and embraced her. “The pleasure is all mine daughter.” She hugged him back, she hated being locked up between Eras. A flash of light interrupted their family reunion. The two gods disengaged and turned their eyes on the newcomer. “Sage Olorun, Lady Yemoja, I am Mansa Musa the Merchant of Light and Trade.” The opulently dressed former king of the Mali Empire said the sheer amount of gold he had on was outrageous. Each piece glowed with power, however, so they weren’t just for show. The man’s dark brown eyes had six rings in perfect concentric circles around his irises.
Olorun looked at his eyes “You have maxed out all your COREs why haven’t you advanced to Saint Master Cultivator Musa?” The oldest of all the gods asked.
“I am seeking a title before I move past this rank Sage.” The Jade-rank cultivator answered respectfully with no more information.
Olorun nodded sagely. “I see. You seem to have a plan to reach Sage, it must have cost the monks even more power to summon three peak-tier Cultivators.”
“It did, but I left instructions after my reign to do just that.” Musa walk onto the water “This land is Africa, we used to call it Alkebulan. The land of Dungeons in the old language.” He said with a knowing smile. “We have a chance to combine the powers of all of the pantheons of this continent, instead of fighting petty battles and playing the silly games. The Breaking gives us a unique opportunity to mold the world and raise humanity to new heights.” He turned back to them the moon at his back putting his face in shadow. “We must make it to other solar systems or according to my prophecy we all die.
“Outside of the LAWs, I am unmatched on Gaia,” Olorun said confidently. “I see no need to rush.”
“Father, that may be true but Musa is right no one will fight us because of you, but we can’t fight them without you, and since you are such a pacifist...” Yemoja left the rest unsaid.
The Sage sighed, “What do you propose Master Musa?”
The six rings tightly ringing Musa’s iris glow brightly as he looks East North East. “I say we reach out to the Egyptians first. Ra and you are great friends I heard Lady Yemoja. With that alliance secured we will have two of the most powerful Pantheons on the great continent allied. Everyone else will rush to join before we get too big. The longer any pantheon waits the less they can negotiate for when they finally decide to join, and they WILL decide to join. One of the first rules we gods learn in the GREAT GAME is overwhelming power will always overwhelm. They will join just so they don’t get swallowed up. The process will be fast I believe.” He laid out the plan. “Also is it me or has the earth seemed to have shrunk significantly?”
Olorun smirked. “Celestial bodies when they hibernate slowly shrink to conserve power. You must be very young indeed if you don’t know that, I am impressed you made it to Master Cultivator in one Era, that is a 1 in 1 billion chance, well done.” He looked in the same direction Musa was looking, the Master Cultivator blushed at the praise from his Supreme Patriarch the founder of his pantheon. He began a long chant and hand signs so fast that anyone under the Heavenly realm wouldn’t be able to see it, not that it mattered the magic of the GREAT GAME made it impossible to remember the hand signs for Techniques and Spells. A portal opened up looking at the desert, the view changed as the Sphinx turned to the Egyptian pantheon which looked on warily. “Neith?” Olorun said with a surprised smile.
Neith’s smile was predatorily looking back at Olorun. “Adept Olorun, what does an Over Sage want with our little ole pantheon? Or is this a personal call?” She said seductively.
Musa cleared his throat reading this situation quickly and adjusting on the fly. “Sage of Webs, Lady Neith, I am Master Practitioner Musa, and I think I have a proposition that will greatly benefit both of our pantheons, the Alkebulan continent, and Gaia tremendously. So that all of our people can forever Live Well.” A Cheshire Cat smile followed his words.