A million different thoughts began flashing through my mind after I heard the god speak. All of them jockeying for position in my mind. Some of the forerunners are, how does a Persian god not know about Persia, how the hell did I get transported to another world, and how on earth am I going to get back home. Ultimately though I realize that I’m alone in this new place. Alone and if I believe Verethragna, in a completely foreign world and possibly even a foreign universe. Right now above all I realize that I need an ally and a god of victory offering to work with me sounds like the best opportunity I’ve ever gotten. So with making sure to keep eye contact with the deity, I confidently said.

“I will aid you Verethragna, can you please tell me the details of what we're going to do”. As a smile grew over the god's face he responded.

“You and I will enter a partial wielder contract, you will have access to all of my considerable power, which will only be limited to your own skill and how well you mesh with my various aspects. That being said we shall not bond as normal wielders and divine avatars do. This has its benefits as well as its shortcomings, but the end result is that after adequate training and experience you could become a significant power in this world. It is very important that you do fast, because many different factions from around the world would like to prevent my full ascension. Your quest is to bring my vessel to the remains of my true wielder who has already ascended this mortal plane of existence, when you do this I shall also finally ascend and my apotheosis will finally be complete.” After that mono log, I’m thinking that I may have made a mistake.

"But before I make any decisions, I need to know what's in it for me," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "What do I get out of all of this?"

"Of course, a victor deserves his spoils," Verethragna responded with a nod. "If you complete this quest for me, I will offer you a place as the head of my temple. And I will see if it is possible to send you back to your previous world."

I couldn't help but feel a flicker of hope at the mention of going home. But then he added,

"As I am now, I see no possible way for you to return to your home, little warrior. But I have not reached full apotheosis yet. You were sent to this world once, so it doesn't defy logic that there may be a way to send you back. I give no guarantees on this aspect of our deal, but I will try my best once we reach that junction."

I thought about it for a moment, weighing the pros and cons. The idea of returning home was tempting, but it was uncertain. And even if it was possible, it would likely be a long and difficult journey. But the prospect of becoming a significant power in this new world, and the chance to prove myself as a hero, was also appealing.

"Verethragna," I said, looking the god in the eye. "I, Paxon Summers accept your quest."

With that, the world around me began to shake and distort, becoming blurry. The only thing in focus was Verethragna's grin, which seemed to grow wider and wider until it seemed like it would split his face in two. And then, with a flash, he burst apart into golden fragments that flowed into me. And once again, I started to black out. But before I lost consciousness, I heard Verethragna's voice in my head,

"Our path to glory begins here, little warrior."

After the golden flash, I slowly opened my eyes and looked around. As I surveyed my surroundings, I realized that I was still in that strange cave. Looking down, I also realized that the golden sword that had once been plunged into the center of the cavern now rested comfortably in my right hand. As I lifted my hand, I was surprised to realize that moving the sword required almost no effort. I wondered if the time in Verethragna’s essence had been a delusion, so I casually swung the glowing sword at a nearby rock. Much to my surprise, the rock was cut cleanly in two. Smacking my face with my empty hand, I inwardly chastised myself for failing to focus. The literal god of victory had tasked me with something, and here I was acting like a five-year-old who got his first lightsaber. I needed to concentrate, I needed to get out of this strange cave.

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Luckily for me, the glowing sword was just the thing I needed to get through the cave. The glow it cast off was more than bright enough to light my way through the dark cave. As I thought about how dark it was, it really worried me, because I had no idea how deep underground I was. Thinking back to some of the stories I had read about cave exploration, I was worried that I could be miles underground. As time went on, I hoped that his grand quest to fully awaken a god wouldn't end with me dying of dehydration in a cave alone.

After traversing the cave for what felt like hours I finally heard something other than my own footsteps. It was a repetitive crashing sound, like someone was swinging a metal baseball bat at a rock. It must be a battle, I surmised and instantly a jolt of both fear and excitement coursed through my body in equal measure. On one hand, battle ment there were probably people nearby, but it also meant that danger of some sort was also close. Taking a much more stealthy stride, I eventually made it to a bend in the tunnel cautious of what would be around the bend.

As I approached the bend in the tunnel, the sound of a battle grew louder. I stopped running and cautiously crept forward, keeping my shoulder against the cavern wall and my sword held out in front of me. When I reached the bend, I peered around the corner and saw that the cave had opened up into a larger cavern. The light in the cavern came from a glowing lamp-like object that had been thrown haphazardly on the ground against the wall. In front of the lamp stood a masked humanoid figure, wielding a hammer in one hand and a broken sword in the other. He was surrounded by three large insectoid creatures that seemed to ripple with darkness. They resembled jet black cockroaches with praying mantis-like blade arms near their heads and six glowing red eyes. They appeared to almost fade into the shadows and were the size of large dogs. It was clear that they were getting the best of the masked figure in the fight.

It was quite apparent to me that the masked figure, whom I dubbed "Mr. Mask," and the roaches were engaged in a fight to the death. Surprisingly, Mr. Mask had allowed himself to get cornered by the roaches. I realized that he must have dropped his light source and was now desperately trying to defend it. He seemed to be having some limited success as well. Roach number one had lost two of its legs, but it also seemed that Mr. Mask had lost half of his sword. In addition to that, roaches two and three seemed to be steadily advancing on Mr. Mask. He tried to retreat but all he ended up doing was backing up against the cave wall.

This left me with a dilemma, whether to aid Mr. Mask or not. To be honest, this really should have been an easy decision. I didn’t owe Mr. Mask anything, in fact, I certainly questioned the sanity of a man who would run around in a monster-infested cave. The weapons he had brought with him also seemed to be quite subpar for the job of roach slaying. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to ditch this mask-wearing fool. I could even see the tunnel that the idiot had clearly come in from, as a backpack of sorts was dropped next to the entrance. If I chose to, I'm confident that not only could I get away, but I could also grab all of Mr. Mask’s supplies with minimal effort. I even had a straight shot from this passageway to the one that had a probable exit out of the cave. I doubt any of the combatants would even notice me running away, even with my glowing sword. In no time, I could be out of this earthen prison, one madman's backpack richer.

All that being said, I came to the ultimate decision that this was not the kind of action I could take. While common sense pointed to ditching this man, I couldn’t stand by and let him be ripped apart by super roaches. As much as he had clearly done something mind-numbingly stupid to get himself in this situation, by how hard he was fighting against the roaches, it was clear he wanted to live. After the incident that had left my mother dead, I was not the type of person who could let someone who wanted so desperately to live die. If I had acted then, perhaps she would be alive now, but ultimately, I now had something that could save this man. I had the sword of the god of victory! And while I may have almost no idea how to truly use it, as it was a large sharp object, I was good to go. So, gripping the shining celestial blade in an overhand grip, I left the safety, charging at the roaches just as they were about to overwhelm Mr. Mask.