《The Birth of a God》 The Beginning This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. -- Life The mammals were fantastic creatures, they lived short lives but did so much in that short time, they managed to change Zero''s time perception, it was now way slower than before. The number of details perceived by him was huge. In a huge land of this planet, a new creature was born, a creature that had incredible adaptative potential, differently from other mammals. These creatures didn''t have claws or sharp teeth to defend themselves, they weren''t fast to run from predators, they didn''t have big muscles to be considered as strong as other species, what they had was intelligence. When other animals were hunting using their claws, these creatures were using tools, by sharpening rocks they made spears, from sticks and string they made bows. Zero decided to name these creatures "humans". The humans believed that someone created them, it was in their nature to find a purpose, and believing in what they called "God" gave them this purpose. Even though Zero didn''t create them, he thought he could be this supposed god, he gave them a purpose, as well as they, gave him one, protecting them. In 10000 years, the humans started to build their first civilization, in the south of this continent, between two rivers. They named it Mierna, the first building in this city was a shrine to worship their god, a fifth of the humans were uncertain to the existence of this so-called god, so they asked a priest how could they be so sure that a god existed. Zero wanted them to not be ignorant, he existed, after all, he did not know if he was what they called god, but he was indirectly their creator. He made a lightning hit the ground 10 meters away from the human questioning the priest, at the same time, Zero wrote his name on the ground, it appeared like the lightning wrote that. In shock, everyone bowed in reverence to the priest, the priest said: "This is a sign our God sent us, one of many, it means the infidels should be punished!". In ten thousand years Zero had sent numerous signs, all of them contained knowledge. The first alphabet was sent by him, as well as numbers, laws, schemes for building, but not a single one was misunderstood. He tried to show them their name, but instead, the priest said that as zero also meant nothing, the infidels should be reduced to nothing. As his time perception changed, everything Zero could do was done faster. In those ten thousand years, he learned how to fully control matter, he made countless tests in a distant world, the results always surprised him. Based on the human anatomy and his way to send information to every particle in the universe, he created an immortal body he could fully control, with a full understanding of this body, the creation of another one was easy. Zero decided what he would do, he would create a body in front of the priest and tell him what he truly meant. He wasn''t aware that the priest had purposely misunderstood the meaning of this sign, Zero was still not aware of the nature of the human race, they were selfish, they''d always be. Differently from other mammals, their leaders wouldn''t care about them, in the first opportunity they found, they would try to get profit. This was the time Zero discovered human''s true nature. He created the body in front of the priest and focused on taking control of it, Zero made this body with stronger vocal chords, the volume of his voice was huge, he shouted: "Did you misunderstood the sign I gave you?" If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. The priest fell, as his brain was part of Zero, he focused on it, his thoughts were horrific, he was trying to take full control of the city using the shrine, Zero had never focused on a human''s brain before, one of the reasons he didn''t understand their nature. He raised his voice and said "You choose to misunderstand the message, are all humans as selfish as you are? If so, this race is doomed. But I''ll try to remove this selfishness of your kind, rest assured that your people will be saved." He snapped his finger and the priest turned to ash, the people who were spectating bowed to Zero, the one they choose as representative spoke to him: "I''m sorry if I offended you God, we did not want to be forced to believe on someone that didn''t exist". Zero focused on this man''s brain, and everything he said was indeed true, his brain was so different from the priest''s, he only wanted the best for everyone, like many humans, exceptions to their nature. "No need to bow before me. I saw how you view your people, I appoint you to be the leader of this civilization, and after your death, you shall be rewarded with eternal life in the paradise.". Zero had been thinking about a place for the best humans, a distant planet, one he could populate with the immortal bodies he made, as every creature had a brain that resembled the sentience of Zero, if put into that body, they would survive. A place he named paradise was possible. -- The paradise Zero created was a planet three times the size of the earth, with exactly 75% of its surface covered with land and 25% with one ocean. After 68 years, the first leader Zero chose died and was the first person to enter this so-called paradise, he noticed the death of this man created a huge amount of energy. This energy carried all of the information about this being, and it didn''t fade away. Even with an immortal body, the brain could still die, it was human after all, so Zero decide to use this energy he named "soul" to bring people to the paradise. The process took a while, he was the first soul he brought to heaven. Differently from the brain, the soul never faded away, but it could get corrupted if not inserted in a compatible body. The earth was filled with new creatures, all born from this corruption, most souls corrupted into a green goo, something the humans named "slime", but a strong enough soul could use this corruption. Zero named this process of using the corruption to form a new body "reincarnation", using the corruption a soul could reincarnate into a humanoid being, it would not retain their memories, but one could have many lives. Of course, this process used a lot of said energy and the strongest of beings could only do this process twice. Zero waited patiently for the man to wake up, he decided to make a body to represent himself, changing bodies every time he needed would be a problem. He required a constant body, so he made one, one he thought better represented the word "god", a body extremely tall compared to other humans, being 235 cm (7''7") tall, with a long white hair and beard, deep red eyes, and a face bore with a calming expression. The man woke up and Zero immediately said: "What is your name son?", the man was first startled, he thought his life had ended, but he looked at the calm on Zero''s face and controlled himself, then said "Dian Lantriarch" With a snap of his fingers, Zero emerged a city from the ground, "This is the first of what I hope can be many cities in heaven, every great leader will receive it''s own city in heaven, and the opportunity to reincarnate." Dian wanted to ask two things, "What will happen to my family? And who will be the new leader of Mierna?" those questions weren''t expected, even after his own death he still thought about earth? "Rest assured, your family still lives, they are destined to great things in this world, and for the leader, I will soon appoint a new one." -- Back on earth, everyone was panicked, their first chosen leader was dead, what would happen to them? The priests got together to resolve this dilemma, but as well as the first priest Zero encountered, they were corrupt. "Will the city be divided between us four?" "I believe so, Zero still hasn''t chosen anyone, we better hurry if we want to control Mierna." Zero fully understood human nature at this point, understanding does not mean accepting, he still wanted to save humankind, but fighting the nature of an entire species was something only time could do. Zero decided to show his new appearance to mankind, in the same spot as before, the first shrine built in the world. He created his body, and many were praying, his arrival wasn''t noticed. He entered the shrine and focused on the mind of the priests, and as he suspected, they were planning on taking control of the city. "You shall be punished for repeating the mistakes of the last priest. The city shall not be controlled by someone as selfish as you. As punishment, the shrine that created the corrupt priests shall be destroyed, and you executed, your souls will be doomed to turn into slimes." And again, with a snap of his fingers, the two priests and the shrine turned to ash, grabbing the attention of everyone near it. Zero said "Not a single shrine shall be built in my name, I''ve seen what humans do when they are given the slightest power.", and turned his back to the crowd. He focused on trying to find the Lantriarch family, Dian''s children were potential leaders, their father taught them everything he could. Once he found it, he saw how humble they were, even though they ruled over the first human civilization, they still lived on a small house, Dian truly was an honest man. Magic A hundred miles away from Mierna, Sinfl sat on his throne talking with two of his generals, a young Ifrit and an Orc, both were the best of their races. "Did Phoenix report back? Any news on Zero? What about their army?" Sinfl asked directly to Ungrab, anxious. Phoenix was their eyes on Mierna, the best at gathering information. Ungrab said with an angry tone "Yes sir, Zero was seeing back with the humans, their army was left unmoved" "Thank you Ungrab, you can leave now," said Sinfl while getting up from his throne. Ungrab proceded to walk away, not before bowing before his king. "Do you think I should send the shifters? It''s our best hope after all" said the young Ifrit, he did not want to partake on this fight, there was no use in fighting the humans, in sheer strength the humanoids far surpassed any human, but their numbers only grew. Humanoids could not reproduce, they were the result of reincarnation. Even though every human death was a potential humanoid soldier, their numbers and intelligence could not be beaten by pure strength. "Not yet, Zero would surely notice a shifter in the middle of humans, we need a plan. Bring the lamb" Anthropomorphic animals were called by the animal name, of course, some exceptions existed, like Orcs, they were anthropomorphic pigs and even Sinfl was an exception. Sinfl was the only known member of the Slime King race, anthropomorphic slimes. Fintan left the room for a few minutes and got back with an old looking lamb. Sinfl asked the lamb "What do you think Weise? What should our next step be?" "I have made a plan, the two main goals are to get the attention of Zero and the iron mine southwest of Mierna, correct?", Sinfl nodded. "First we should get Zeros attention, he has helped humanity too much in the last hundreds of years, maybe he is an impartial God." Meanwhile, outside the throne room, a whole city was being built, the city of Hiera, house to all sociable humanoids, Ifrits, Anthropomorphic creatures, Nymphs, Shapeshifters, countless races. Cattle were used to carry the material, Ifrits worked all day on blacksmiths, Nymphs took care of the crops, Orcs could be seen training, every humanoid had a role in that society. -- In a tower far away in the countryside, Ariel made a breaking discovery, by an extended period of meditation, full control of the ability to send information of the DNA could be used, a mistake made by Zero.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The DNA was so similar to him that the ability to control particles was basically engraved in it. She needed a conference with the king immediately, little did she know the king was dead. The reason Zero was in Mierna, to choose a new leader. Ariel was but a child when she left Mierna, and besides the iron mine, nothing in there was of absolute importance to the city so the news didn''t spread to this place. She decided to try her new powers, or "magic" as she called, her first test was a very basic porcelain mug, and it turned out not as good as she imagined. She had a look of disappointment in her face when she saw a pile of cracked porcelain drop in the floor. Training was needed in order to make actual shapes, but what if it didn''t require any shape? What if she wanted to make a raw material? The second attempt was a gold nugget. If she succeeded, the human world would change forever, or at least she thought. The attempt was a success, a lump of gold fell on the ground. She was stunned, how could this be so easy? Far away, on Mierna, there was an explosion just outside the Lantriarch house, Zero changed its body to a completely black color, he was infuriated, someone had used his powers. He immediately materialized a body in front of this human, "Human, what have you done?", to what Ariel answered, in shock "Who are you?". The last appearance of Zero on earth was 68 years ago when Dian was chosen to lead Mierna. Ariel was only 25 years old, she had never seen Zero before, but she knew he existed. "I''m Zero, your creator.", she immediately bowed before him, Zero didn''t like that attitude, human worshiped anything that could threaten them. "You used something I created, I want to know how you did it." "It''s something imbued in our DNA, we can exchange information with almost anything, but the ability to do so is the result of a long period of meditation." Zero now understood his mistake, he made the DNA too similar to himself. "Child, you have my gratitude for finding this, but I have to take it out of the human race." He was ready to change the entire human race because of that discovery, but before he could do so, he focused on her mind and saw that she wanted nothing more than to help the human race. "Actually, it is your discovery, but it needs some limits, no one should be able to create something out of thin air." He decided not to destroy this part of DNA, but rather change it, limiting it, instead of sending information to anything, one could choose one specific thing to focus on. Air, fire, earth, water, those were the fields that that limitation created. One could only work with one element or with a combination of two. A combination wouldn''t allow for the use of the original field, earth and water magic could be used to create the nature magic. If someone focused on that field, that someone would never be able to use earth or water magic. He changed back to his original appearance and said: "You''re now a wizard, spread the knowledge you''ve acquired, you have a brilliant future ahead of you." After Zero left, she tried creating another gold nugget, but with no success, he had changed something in her. Ariel felt an instinctive attraction to water after they spoke, so she tried using her magic to attract water from a nearby pond, and somehow it worked. The next test was changing the state of the water, she floated some water in the air and tried changing its state, she stopped moving it, the temperature of a molecule is based on its movement, so a completely still water molecule would freeze. Her hypothesis was correct, the water started freezing quickly, which led to the idea that friction would change the state again. She tried creating friction between the block of ice and the air and somehow succeeded. After this last test, Ariel felt exhausted, as soon as she got back to the tower, she fainted. Farewell Ariel woke up the next morning confused as to what had happened. She immediately tried using the magic she discovered. It still worked, the last day had been too surreal, she couldn''t believe her own memories. Ariel decided to take one last stroll through the town after packing her bags. She walked around saying goodbye to each and every one of her neighbors while training her newly discovered magic. The town was lively, people walked to the only store to buy seeds for the seasonal change while others worked on the fields. People looked at her with fear and admiration, she was using something never used before. "Hey, girl, what is that you''ve got there?" Asked a man working on the stables, just in time for her to finish the first shaped object created, an ice knife. "It''s something I discovered, old man. I call it magic." She proceeded to show off this magic, floating water in the air and changing its state, the old man was static for a moment. "Hahaha, we always knew you''d be able to achieve great things kid!" She said one last thing before walking away, "Please prepare a horse for me, I have to go to Mierna to share this with the king." He looked at her with a puzzled expression, as he said, "Haven''t you heard? Dian was found dead on his bed with a knife on his back." ''Is that the reason for the return of Zero?'' She thought he wasn''t seen in 68 years. "I need to go to Mierna sooner then. Please hurry, I''ll be back in half an hour." Ariel wanted to say goodbye to her father. It was about time for his break, so she went to the mines. Her father stared at her and the floating ice knife and ran in her direction, that knife resembled the weapon that killed his wife. A snow fairy was the only known humanoid that could make such dagger, humanoids had magic abilities ever since they were born, but they always had the limitation. -- "You will remember this scene for the rest of your life, Richard" The fairy was holding Catherine''s hair. Tears fell from her face as her head was being severed by this maniac "Take care of Ariel." She told Richard moments before being decapitated. Her head rolled on the floor as blood spurted out of her neck. "You see Richard, the law of retaliation, only one eye for one eye, or whatever it is you humans say. You took the person I loved the most, so I took your love away." He ran as fast as he could to reach the fairy in time, but as soon as he reached her, she vanished, dropping her ice dagger. Richard hugged Catherine''s lifeless body and cried. A cry of pure despair. -- He picked up the knife and shattered it, he bore a traumatized expression during the whole situation. "Did you see a snow fairy, Ariel? Where did that knife come from?" She said nothing and proceeded to show her dad what she discovered. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Ariel told him that she was going to Mierna. "I can''t make you stay here forever, can I? Go ahead, Ariel, I''ll be praying for you." "Goodbye dad, I hope I can see you again someday." She waved at her dad as she ran towards the stables. "Is the horse ready, old man?" "Yes Ariel, it''ll be one gold coin." She gave the man fifty silver coins, joking, "You owed me fifty, remember?" And proceeded to run away with the horse. -- Weise waited patiently in the center of the throne room for Sinfl to order him to speak. "What do you have to report Weise? You interrupted me in my hunt." "Sinfl, a human on the southwest settlement discovered something that could raise the probability of the humans winning this war." The humanoids had spies all over Mierna, but as the mine was one of their main goals the best spy was positioned there. "Somehow, humans can control the ability to exchange information, but differently from us, they can choose which path they''ll follow." "Weise, this cannot become public. Send Eirwen to kill this human as soon as possible." Weise nodded and proceeded to walk away. Sinfl was left alone in the throne room. ''Zero helped the humans once again, will he ever help us? What have we done wrong?'' -- The Lantriarch family was shocked by the explosion that happened in the previous day, the kids suspected it was an attack made by the humanoids, while the mother thought it could be a group of rebels. In reality, it was neither, Zero''s fury made him explode. Back on Mierna, he was trying to find a new leader, someone as just as Dian, Zero intended on choosing one of Dian''s kids, but keeping one royal bloodline could be disastrous. He started analyzing every brain in Mierna, and he found a perfect leader for the city, one that would be listened to and had purity in his mind. A virtuous man in Zero''s eyes, but a beggar in human''s mind. He materialized in front of the man, and to his surprise, he didn''t even flinch. He instead looked at Zero with a respectful expression. "Hello, Zero, do you have a matter to discuss with me?" "Indeed, but first, can you tell me your name?" "My name is Fadil Akram." Zero snapped his fingers and teleported them to the castle, he had high hopes with this man. "I appoint you to be the new king of Mierna." Hearing the position proposed from Zero, Fadil was not surprised, and humbly answered, "I''m but a humble peasant Zero, I''m not fit to rule." "What you are little matters to me, you are virtuous, you can lead this city in the path of justice, that''s why you were chosen." Fadil bowed, not in the way everyone did, he bowed in respect. "Thank you, Zero. I''ll lead this country forward." Zero nodded and returned his body to heaven. He wanted to test a few things. First, Zero wanted to have another one of itself, a clone per say, so that he wouldn''t need to regularly create new bodies and transfer souls to them. He used his knowledge of souls to create one with his conscience. To his surprise, it was easier than he thought. But limits existed, he could only create a soul with part of his conscience, so he decided to make a hundred of them, each one had a specific purpose. He decided to name them Demi-gods. He started imbuing the immortal bodies with the souls, but he noticed, some parts of him could be morally evil, so he decided not to give them full control of his powers. He limited them, not as much as humans, but enough that they would only be able to change their respective areas. The second thing Zero wanted to test was giving magic to someone, and he had the perfect subject for the test, Dian. Demigods Zero planned to create more worlds like the earth, with creatures different from humans. Planets already existed everywhere, but the ones that caught Zero''s attention were the binary stars. Two stars gravitating around each other. They seemed to dance together in the vast universe. He sent one demigod to every binary star near the Earth and when only fifteen remained, he stopped. Three were left on Heaven, he named them Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael. Uriel guarded heaven, Raphael imbued immortal bodies with souls and Gabriel created the bodies. Six were sent to earth to live like humans. They had the knowledge on how to access magic. One would be by the king''s side, and another would accompany the current wizard. And six were stored. -- On the road to Mierna, a horse sped through villages to get there fast. Riding this horse, was Ariel, anxious to see who the new king of Mierna was. After two days on the road, Ariel found herself on a meadow, her horse refused to move past this point. It was already dark, so she decided to camp in that meadow. While setting up camp, she heard a loud noise coming from the woods nearby, but she didn''t think much about it. Before going to sleep, she created some darts made out of ice. After some time, Ariel was woken up by the sound of her horse falling, she immediately burst out of the tent and saw a tall humanoid by the side of the now dead horse, a snow fairy. Ariel did what she thought was best, she hurled a dozen darts in the fairy''s direction, and when they hit her, they shattered. "Pathetic, using ice to hurt a snow fairy? Are you trying to be killed?" Ariel didn''t answer, she had brought a sword with her in case an emergency happened. That was the time to use it, she launched herself forward, aiming for the fairy''s heart. The fairy created an ice barrier in front of her, and Ariel''s sword got lodged in it. She made a knife and started breaking the ice. The sword was soon freed, but it was no use, the snow fairy created a spear and threw it at Ariel. No sound was heard, not a scream, nor an impact. Just a cloud of dust where Ariel had been. Once the dust had settled, a man was seen,, as tall as the fairy. The spear had vanished. He snapped his fingers and materialized a sword, asking, "Can you speak, beast?" "Who are you calling beast? My name is Eirwen, and who are you supposed to be?" He appeared behind Eirwen and in a swift motion severed her head. "My name is Oya."If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. He turned to Ariel and said, "I was sent here by Zero, I''ll accompany you on your journey for knowledge." -- Zero received a report from the wizard-god, the first report from the human gods, where he mentioned he had slain a beast that was attacking Ariel and it spoke with him. The humanoids were rational, something he never expected. If he had known, he would have been helping, they were probably suffering without a god. He searched around the world for them, and to his surprise, they were just a few hundred kilometers away from Mierna. They had a shrine to him, although he never helped them. He focused on their minds, and they were different from the humans, they were charitable by nature. Of course, exceptions existed, most snow-related humanoids had a nature similar to that of humans. Zero decided to send the other six demigods to this city, the only problem was their appearance, they looked like humans. He changed their bodies and each one received a distinct humanoid form. They received the bodies of an Ifrit, a Nymph, a Dryad, a Slime King, a Fairy, and a Pantherian. They were immediately sent to the city called Hiera to aid the humanoids. -- Weise waited patiently for his appointment with Sinfl, the shrine he asked to be build was finished. At the time the entrance to the throne room had been opened by , six figures materialized in front of it. All of them seemed humanoid, but they had an almost angelic aura. Sinfl witnessed the scene. When they entered the room, the Ifrit said, "We were sent by Zero, he has noticed your efforts and your true nature, we will be his representatives in Hiera." He couldn''t be happier, the god that created everything noticed their existence? "Zero also wanted to reward the humanoids for having such pure nature, state your wish, and if it is reasonable, it''ll be granted." Sinfl pondered on that, he first thought about asking for a way to win the war, but a better idea appeared in his mind, "I want to form an alliance with the humans." A bright light flashed in the center of the room and Zero appeared. "Hahahaha, you''re interesting, Slime King! You could''ve asked for anything, yet you ask for peace?" "I think we deserve nothing else, that''s all we want, peace." Zero recalled the snow fairy that had attacked Ariel and asked, "Was the snow fairy called Eirwen associated with you?" Sinfl knew she was dead, killed by a mysterious man that appeared out of nowhere. It was probably someone sent by Zero, but he didn''t want to lie. "Yes, I had no choice at the time." Zero turned to Weise and asked him to enter. "I want both of you to witness this." He snapped his fingers and created a small snow fairy, and imbued it with Eirwen''s soul. "I want to give this fairy a second chance, I refuse to believe her nature is bad." Sinfl rushed to hug her, she was his best friend after all. He looked at Zero with tears in his eyes and said, "Thank you Zero, but what do you think about the alliance between the humanoids and the humans?" "That''s not something I can decide, I''ll arrange a meeting between you and the current human king, but I can''t promise anything." Sinfl nodded and thanked him again, Zero vanished and the six demigods left. Weise, Sinfl, and Eirwen were the only ones left on the throne room. "I told you he would soon notice us, he is our creator after all." Ruins A group of Hiernians walked around a destroyed castle, skulls decorated the place. A single thing was left untouched, a golden throne with a sign underneath it. The sign read Fadilia, the name of the city surrounding the castle. Named after a fair king from hundreds of years ago. This was but one of many scattered around the Earth. The youngest Hiernian of the group tried touching the throne but was interrupted by what seemed like a human. The Hiernians immediately took a fighting stance, they seemed experienced in battle. The supposed human did not respond to that, he just said, "Please don''t touch this throne, it''s one of the last artifacts of the human kind." They watched him warily as he moved to the throne and sat on it, he waved his hand, and a screen appeared. It showed scenes of an enormous war between the Hiernians and the humankind. Ifrits set balls on fire while Cyclopes launched them from catapults, fairies provided support, and in the vanguard, a Slime King fought alongside them. The humans were on the losing side. They surpassed them in numbers, but were excelled in strength. A few of them studied magic, but only one had mastered it, the human that discovered it, Ariel. He stood up and said, "I''m not one of them if you were wondering, I am, or rather, was a human-god. My name is Oya." Time had changed him, he was no longer a demigod, his soul had deteriorated. Now he was comparable to a human. "Have Zero returned to Hiera?" An old Hiernian answered, "No, he has left for more than 150 years." The constant war between species anguished Zero, his creations killed each other for no reason. His last actions were the almost extinction of the humankind and a parting gift for the Hiernians. The few good humans, the ones that didn''t partake in the war, were reincarnated as Hiernians. They lived Hiera just like all of the others. Without humans on the earth, the Hiernians were doomed to extinction, they never gained the ability to reproduce. That was his parting gift, independence. Oya looked at the ruined castle and started projecting memories of a king, deemed fair by Zero himself, the founder of Fadilia, the only ally of Hiera, Fadil Akram. His society was failing, few humans thought allying with Hiera was a good idea. Fadil did not listen to them, he decided that was right, humans started this war, Hiernians were merely victims.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Fadil studied magic to it''s fullest, and after many years, he understood something Zero didn''t. He created the magic to control reincarnation. That magic gave him the choice of what he''d become and would allow him to maintain his memories. Oya showed the moment he died, the moment a king was betrayed by one of his subordinates. A few humans were reporting the status of the conflict to Fadil, and at that moment, someone jumped at him and stabbed his heart. No human in that room had witnessed a reincarnation before, and to their surprise, it happened. A light irradiated from Fadil''s soul, his body fell to the ground, and a new one started to grow in its place. A body covered in black scales, with wings sprouting from its back, huge claws in its hands and feet, a Black Draconian. Zero had gifted Fadil with a strong soul, one that could reincarnate many times, but instead, he created a body amazingly strong. "Watch as your king become the very thing you swore to destroy!" He flapped his wings and flew directly to the human that killed him, and in a swift motion cut his head. That action set a chain of events that led to the destruction of Ladilia. That finished the projection created by Oya, he said, "Thanks for your time, and again, don''t destroy one of the last human artifacts" and vanished. -- In a planet a few light-years away from the earth, humans created what seemed to be a simple machine. It used coal to evaporate water that set in motion a cog. The gear was connected to a magnet, and when in movement, it reacted to another magnet placed in the extremity of the cog, creating electricity. On that planet, it was considered a discovery as great as magic was for the humans on earth. This planet was one of the many colonized by the demigods, the humans on this planet wouldn''t reincarnate and didn''t have magic. They worshipped many imaginary gods. Gods they thought were real. A few demigods were tasked to build a planet and create life, but after that, they should just observe. A few wars were fought because of said imaginary gods, but no one changed their opinions. Their gods were still supreme to them. The demigod sent reports to Zero, but in the last 150 years, he didn''t get any response, so he decided to take control of the planet. He took control of a kid born on that planet and decided to have some fun. He made what the humans called Miracles. He cured blindness, he resurrected the dead, created bread and wine to give to the poor. He decided to write a book in the time he spent on that world. The Bible, a holy book, where he wrote all the things he thought made a human worthy of heaven. Little did he know Zero destroyed heaven because of the humankind. In its place, Zero created a place he called Hell, a world filled with magma and volcanoes, with constant torture for its inhabitants. All the souls from the extinct humans from the earth were sent to Hell to be tortured. They were put into immortal bodies almost identical to the ones in heaven, with a slight difference. The only difference was that the pain was enhanced twofold compared to normal. Good humans still existed, but they were the minority. Zero decided to give them a second chance, not sending them to heaven, but instead reincarnating them. The reincarnated humans from all the 76 worlds were sent to live on earth, a place where humanity no longer existed. Time While sitting atop the peak of a mountain, Amser trained in the magic he himself had created. A training he had repeated many times in the past. He took a step towards the precipice, and let himself fall. His fall was slowed down by the effect of his magic, he waited until almost reaching the ground, then, he clasped his hands together and caused the time to be slowed down. He could still move as normal, but everything else couldn''t. When he arrived at the bottom of the mountain, he proceeded with the second part of his training. Again, he clasped his hands together, and time started to wind back without a problem. Never before this magic had worked as expected. Amser would always get halfway there, but never manage to get back to the top. This time, however, it had worked. He started flying up, and soon he got back to the peak of the mountain. "After five hundred years, it''s finally done. Time Magic, my life''s work." As soon as he said this, tears started streaming down his cheeks. "I can finally end this war before it could even start." A lightning struck by his side and a figure appeared. A figure no one has seen since a long time. "No matter how many lives you have, you always try to do this..." "I thought you''d appear sooner or later, Zero." "Every human got stripped of their souls and killed. You know the reason for that, your kind was the cause for its own demise." Amser looked up at the sky, how long would Zero take to forgive humanity? "Of all the races you could have been, you choose that one?" "My soul was almost depleted, this was the only option that offered me what I wanted." Amser looked at his own body, he stood 5 meters tall, his appearance resembled that of a human. One of the biggest difference was his skin, it had cracks all over it, and seemed old.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. "An Immortal, the failed race I thought would work..." Amser started laughing and said, "It seems not even you are flawless." "Old friend, it''s time you stop this hopeless pursuit of the human race." "Zero, please let me bring them back. They failed you many times, but so did everything else. Even you failed yourself with many failed experiments. I''m one of those failures." "Indeed friend, you are my worst failure.. and yet you are also my biggest accomplishment. But I guess you''re right, with the right ruler, humans can change." "Thank you Zero." "Dian, teach the humankind how to respect, they would be perfect if they knew that." "I haven''t been called Dian ever since I''ve left the heaven." -- Fadil awaited patiently in his dragon form for the king of dragons to arrive. They were about to create an alliance between Hiera and Draak. After the extinction of humans, the Hiernians divided themselves into factions. There were five great factions, and those were divided into sub-factions. Ignis, Glacies, Solum, Caelum, and Draconia were the great factions. Each one represented one of the basic elements. While any element-aspected Hiernian could enter the Draconia, the other factions were exclusive to their elements. They weren''t in any sort of war, instead, Draconia controlled the largest copper mine in that continent. Ignis was in extreme need of copper, as the newly created machines needed a lot of it to operate. A gargantuan dragon with scarlet colored scales was flying in their direction. It was Sanguis, the Dragon King. Fadil was also a dragon, but he had decided to join the Ignis instead of the Draconia. "Sanguis, long time no see!" "Indeed, more than a century. Let''s talk about business, I don''t have much time." "Of course, time is of the essence." As soon as Fadil said that, a bright light irradiated from the sky. An Immortal and a dark-robed man descended from it. When they arrived on the ground, Sanguis and Fadil assumed their fighting stances. Fadil barked, "Who are you?" The robed figure didn''t answer, instead, he made the robe vanish. Fadil immediately realized who that person was. Sanguis didn''t know who the two were, after all, he had been born after the extinction of humankind. "Zero, old friend! And that must be... I can''t believe it! King Dian! You have finally returned to us." Tears began falling from the dragon''s eyes. Sanguis asked, "Who are they, Fadil?" "Sanguis, you''re too young to know them. I met them when I was still human. Dian was the first human king, and Zero is our God. Pay some respect!" "God? The one that left us alone? Why should I respect someone that left their creation behind?" "You don''t understand Sanguis... Zero, I invite you to Hiera for the negotiation." "You haven''t changed a bit Fadil, how long has it been? Five hundred years? -- In a distant world, a demigod sensed the presence of a great being.. he sensed that Zero had returned. The observer demigod. That world didn''t have the presence of a god, religion didn''t exist. Different from the earth and the Christian planet, their technology was as advanced as it could be. They developed computers that could transport information through multiple planets. They also created a huge dome over one of their suns, its function was to drain its energy. That dome gave enough energy for the whole solar system. Magic didn''t exist in this world, just like on the Christian planet. As they never had a god, they could dedicate their time entirely on science and art. A probe detected a huge amount of energy on a distant planet, the one called Single-1278. Scientists thought it was a natural explosion, but further exploration was needed. The ship Arcadia was the one they would use in this mission. It supported around 5000 people, it was used for long travels. The most recent technology on that planet was transportation, or rather, teletransport. A gate between two points was used, but you could only point it in a specific direction, not to a specific point. The crew for that mission consisted of 1500 scientists, 3000 soldiers, and 100 medics. As soon as the preparations were completed, they set sail for that planet. A light canon shot in the direction of the planet, cutting the distance from 1000 light years to a single light year. A Knife to your Throat You know very well. Hahahaha.¡± A Knife to your Throat You know very well. Hahahaha.¡±