Ardonis Clearweave looked out at the grassy courtyard below from the window in his room. Then up, past the estate wall and to the grand golden city splayed out like an intricate spiderweb. Heaven, the main central city of Celestial, the realm of the gods. Lit up like an aurora borealis, the city was alive with life as gods of all sorts went about their day. Whether it be watching over planets, solar systems, galaxies, chosen champions, or doing something as mundane as paperwork for a Supreme god.

Or, like Ardonis had for the last century, going to school to learn and master their powers. Every god had their own inborn power that would bloom. Whether it be a god of love, life, animal, creation… so on and so forth. Ardonis himself was a young God of Magic, or rather, a prospective God of Magic. As there were others with the same power, however, there was a hierarchy to it. The more powerful the god, the closer they were to being the true god of whatever their inborn power was. The potential to essentially be one of the ruling gods.

A true God of Magic, for example, would be the ruler, boss, and god of all the other magic gods. A god of gods if you will, the rest under that are considered the lesser gods. And even further below them, those born in the mortal realm, are considered minor gods.

A prospective god, or godling, is one with the potential to become a true god but must realize that potential first. Among his peers, there were two other prospective gods of magic. Recently they had all graduated from their school, mastering the initial phase of their innate powers. Which was also the point where a god was considered an adult. Though their bodies reached maturity much, much sooner. Having the same bodily process as the mortal species. The difference was, the body of a god stopped aging once it reached maturity.

Which was also around the time the initial powers of a god needed to be controlled, trained, and mastered. Which typically took more or less about a hundred years. As not every power was equal or worked by the same principles, there was a slight deviation in the time it took to master. Ardonis had spent the last century mastering his magic. And not only that, each god was born with a unique power that most of the time, had nothing to do with whatever type of gods their parents were. Most of the time.

The reason it took a century in general for a god, when it typically took a mortal a few years, was the magnitude of power. A mortal had only a fraction of what a god had, therefore it didn’t take nearly as long to learn. But something Ardonis learned was that even mortals spend their life span mastering their gift to try and match the gods. Or they did once upon a time, those days are nothing more than fairy tales and legends he grew up with.

He turned around with a soft sigh, shaking himself from those thoughts. And looked at himself in the large mirror that was on the wall. His purplish-blue hair was relatively short, barely hanging below his eyebrows and currently slicked back. His eyes were a deep galaxy blue with many little light dots as if actual galaxies were contained within. Though gods were ageless, not all were born pretty or handsome, fortunately for him, he was. Then again, the gods who weren’t were in the minority.

His skin, though naturally fairly pale, was lightly tanned from all of the time spent outside. Most mortals wouldn’t believe it, but even gods benefit from such things in little ways like that. He wasn’t exactly the tallest though, standing at five and a half feet. Not that such a thing bothered him regardless, but his specialty was magic after all. Creating illusions that were real in all but name was a cinch for him.

His physique was lean and tone, which came more from his parents’ insistence rather than his own initiative. He didn’t care much about his physique, he’d rather study and read magic tombs instead if he could help it. In fact, he just so happened to perfect a way to do exactly that even while going through his parents’ ridiculous workouts.

He loved them dearly, but at times they could be a bit… much. His mother being a rather high-ranking Goddess of Health didn’t help much in that regard. Everything from fitness and diet to healing, naturally she was a major health and fitness nut. And his father… was a fitness nut in a different way. Being a God of War and Fighting, he was naturally headstrong about being in good health and fighting shape. Ardonis shivered at the memories of being forced to learn how to wield swords, spears, war axes and hammers, bows, knives, throwing knives, and even the weapons of more modern mortal worlds.

His mother didn’t care too much for his father’s war side, but she ended up falling for him anyway for his honorable ways. Ardonis sighed again and eyed the outfit he was wearing, a nobleman’s outfit. He did like to look proper, he was still a god and noble. Not even gods escaped certain orders and hierarchies of society. Although for them, there were no commoners, only high-tier nobles, mid-tier, and low-tier. A god couldn’t be a commoner after all. He was a mid-tier noble.

A knock on his door and it swung open a moment later, “There you are sir, your parents have been looking for you. Your teacher is here as well, I hope you are packed.”

“Thank you Luin,” Ardonis said the man who entered. An angel with wings as white as snow and a halo above his head. Well, one wing, he had lost the other in a war over five thousand years ago. He was not only the head butler, but also Ardonis’s bodyguard and personal trainer since childhood.

Angels were the servants and soldiers of the gods, though they weren’t the only ones, powerful spirits of mortals who found their way to Celestial were as well. They were a rarity though and Ardonis had only met a small handful in his entire one hundred and twenty years of life. “Of course sir,” Luin said. “You’ve turned into a fine young man and godling Ardonis, you’ve made me proud. And I’m sure your parents are even more so. I do wish you luck on your journey.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Ardonis couldn’t help but smile and pat the veteran angel on the shoulder as he passed by. Luin always was like a grandfather to him. Gaining the old hardass’s approval made him feel warm inside. “I promise I’ll return even better than when I left. With more knowledge and abilities to rule as a noble and true God of Magic.”

“I have no doubts that you will,” Luin said with a final bow as Ardonis left to go meet with his parents and teacher. When he reached the office, they were all waiting for him as he had been told. “There’s my baby,” his mother said with excitement before he suddenly found himself in her tight embrace.

His father chuckled at his expression of asking for help, “You will never change when it comes to our son will you Milina?”

“He’s our baby, it doesn’t matter how old or powerful he gets,” she said, squeezing him tighter.

“Hi Mother, I love you too, now can you please let go of me before you crush me to death?” he asked as he struggled to breathe.

“Oh all right,” She said as she reluctantly let go of him with a pout and he sucked in a few gasping breaths. His mother was a woman who was slightly taller than him, with golden long hair, eyes, and an athletic figure. His father had short crimson-red hair and a scar on his forehead, a bit more muscle on him, but he also had more of an athletic build. His eyes were a deep emerald and he had a commanding presence about him. Even if it was currently masked by the love for his family.

The third person in the room, a short black-haired man, cleared his throat, gaining everyone’s attention. “I hope you are prepared for your journey Ardonis, it will be long and arduous, but once you return, it will have been worth it.”

“Thank you, sir, it has been a great pleasure learning from you all of these decades in magic. I know this journey will take a few thousand years at the least, but I won’t let that hinder me.”

“Good, this multiverse is vast, and you will experience a great many things on your journey. This is the last leg every god goes through to find who they really are and what their potential is. Your goal is to return as a true God of Magic, a goal that your peers also strive for. Especially the other two prospects, only one of you will return as the true God of Magic. For this multiverse dictates balance, and will not allow more.”

Ardonis nodded, “I won’t back down from the challenge, if there is anything I have in common with my father, it is my tenacity and honor.”

“This also means you can’t go easy on Lucy just because you have a crush on her godling,” his teacher teased.

Ardonis felt his cheeks warm, “You don’t have to bring that up here.”

“Ardonis, you have a crush?” Milina asked with excitement and stars in her eyes.

“Come on kid, whatever happened to that ‘I’m gonna make her mine’ attitude? I know that’s how you’ve been acting, so don’t try to deny it. And you aren’t ever this embarrassed when I bring it up with you.”

Milina gasped, “Is my baby finally grown up now?” she ran up and grabbed Ardonis by the shoulders, “I want at least ten grandbabies by the time you return.”

“Mother please calm down, I have no such plans or intentions to do that. Besides, what Master Tin said is right, I can’t go easy on her just because of a little crush. Besides, I don’t even know if she feels the same,” he said as he somehow broke free from her grasp.

“Maybe so son, but not going easy does not mean you can’t pursue her. It just means you’ll have to do a bit of juggling, that’s all. Just follow your heart my boy, and she’ll have the same feelings, mother’s intuition.”

“I didn’t know you were a Goddess of Love now too,” his father teased with a laugh.

“When you have one as a sister-wife it certainly makes such predictions easier. Besides, some things are just known by women and mothers, Jake.”

Jake sighed, “If you say so,” he looked Ardonis in the eye, “Your mother is right about one thing though, follow your heart. Don’t worry about your destiny or anything else.”

“But what if my heart is torn two ways between my goal and someone I love?” Ardonis asked, the secret, or supposed to be secret, was out, no point in trying to hide it now.

“Then choose the one that will make you happiest,” a new and feminine voice said from the doorway. “Or, if you have the grit and willpower, choose both. A harder path to be sure, but we are gods, “have your cake and eat it”, as I’ve heard mortals say. It will prove your resolve further and make all involved stronger.”

“Mother Anny,” Ardonis said with affection as his second mother gave him a quick hug before sitting down on the other side of Jake. Harems were of course common among gods, some chose not to have them, others chose not to have anyone at all. But harems were not strange to be seen. It was a sign of integrity and strength to a god to have or be in one. His father having one with three women.

Mother Anny was more mature in nature than his birth mother, she was also a Goddess of Love. Not a true goddess, but she certainly wasn’t weak by any means. She had slightly glowing long silver hair and two pools of blue eyes, her figure could only be described as supermodel, even by the standards of gods. Who were all typically handsome, beautiful, and ageless. “Just think on it and take my words to heart. Whatever path you decide to take, we will always support you.”

“Thank you, Mother Anny,” Ardonis said with a light bow, he turned back to his teacher. “I’ll set off tomorrow as promised sir. I have some more thinking to do and some last-minute preparations to make. Like doing a few things in the city.”

“As long as you are ready for the journey ahead you could take an extra month if needed. It is merely advised to get an early start for your own sake. Fall too far behind your peers and you’ll find it tough to catch up.”

With a final bow, and squeezing hug from Milina, Ardonis left the room and headed for the manor entrance.