《The Land of Gods》 Chapter 1: The Time It All Begins A million years ago, in the room that can be called the highest and the purest place in the entire creation lies the only God that governs his creations. The God who have no image and form is sitting on throne that was decorated by the artifacts that is not known to any of his creations. The throne is absolutely beautiful that even the angel and demon created by him do not dare to watch the throne and they will be passed out just by seeing the light emits from it even from far away. That God is looking into his entire creations, he overseer them as he is the creator, the sustainer, the ordainer and the judge of everything in entire existence. He sees the universes expanding beautifully with the lights, stars, suns dancing happily in their own orbits. And into the billions of stars, he sees the being that was given a life that have ability to think or even go against him. There are also being that simply follow his orders. In addition, there are more than billions of them and it is uncountable for man but he knows the exact number for his creations. All of them live peacefully and this make the god feel happy. He who looks happy seeing his entire creation live in peaceful life suddenly feel saddened. And he murmured, ¡°the time of promise has come.¡± What is this promise? ¡°I want to see each of my creations and have a nice talk with all of them.¡±Stolen novel; please report. When he created them, he had given them choices whether to obey him or go against him. That is why he create a place called Heaven for those that obey him and Hell for those that go against him. The time of judgement has finally come. And then, the God make a gesture like putting up the fingers and a clicking sound was heard. The place that once is called the purest and beautiful suddenly destroyed like it was been absorbed by an unimaginable force and in just a instant that colourful place was like in a void or different dimension that only the God standing up. At that time, the God said ¡°The peaceful times has ended, can my creations withstand this trial? I already know the answer but You the one who have been given the ability, will You search for Me or will You abandon Me.¡± At the time the words ended, the God that once have no forms or shapes suddenly split up into 100 individuals. Each of this individuals have been given the thought and ability to do various things in the universe by the main body. In instant, the place that once like a white space was filled with 99 fragmented gods with the main heart missing. But, each of this individuals understand what happened and all of them split and go towards their own territories as ordered to. In the beginning, all of them able to reside in each given place peacefully without any conflicts but each of them is not perfect. This event is already known by the God who did this and he even know the ending but why he chooses this path. As the time passes and exactly after one millions years, each of the fragmented gods started to strive for power. With the ability to think and the ability to go against the original God, the conflicts began in each of the place in the universe. When the time the war and bloodshed intensifies between these fragments and all of the beings, the heart of God finally awoken in the unknown place. With no memories and abilities can he fulfill the promise that once he had made. Chapter 2: Unknown Place Chapter 2: Unknown Place In the middle of the jungle lies the beings that was created by that one god. Plants, animals, human being, beast and lot more beings that once live peacefully on the land given by that god. But the time of chaos came and struck them, all of the living beings who were once trusted each other and now remove that belief from their mindsets. The war, fighting and discrimination now become one of the most basic in the heart of this living beings. One million years ago, these kinds of belief does not exist as all of them are loyal to the god and are living coexisting with each other. As time passes, these values disappearing and the conflicts begin to occur. When does this happened? The answer lies within the heart of god who are missing at the time of tragedy. Stories passing from one generation to another and after a million years, that heart of god finally waking up from a long slumber on the trunks of an old tree. ¡°Fuaaaa¡± that heart of god opened his eyes. Confusion is stricking hard that heart of god, he the one who once has no form and now waking up as one of the being created by him which is a human male. Turning his head up and down, moving up his hand and touch the parts of body to see what kind of physical that he has. ¡°It seems I have been reborn has a human male. Where am I and what I am doing here.¡± The god asked himself. ¡°What I know is that I am the heart of god and my head will hurt when I try to search deep within my memories for the reason why I was here.¡± The god keep talking to himself With no memories and limited knowledge on the situation, the god decided to leave that unknown place and search for other being live in this place to collect more information. ¡°Hah! I know that one.¡± With a hand pointed at the small slimy beings crawling hard on the ground ¨C the slime. This being is said to be strongest being he have ever made when he was a god but this heart of god and the other fragmented god does not know this. That was another story and in the future this lowly life will once again rise and recognized as the strongest being in the entire universe. 100 metres. 200 metres. 300 metres. The god who is walking quite fast suddenly become slower and slower and he said ¡°What happened? Why I feel like my body is floating?¡± And the god collapsed in the middle of the jungle surrounded by a large tree and plants. The sound of insects and birds who are singing cheerfully suddenly stop seeing the god fainted. What will happened to him? Kojo Village Klank! Klank! Chirp! Chirp! Dang! Dang! Various sound can be heard from the village known Kojo or the village surrounded by plants. It is located far deep in the jungle. Human beings are working in the field, planting the crops and smithing equipments. Animals was kept as a livestocks and there is also a few dogs that was used as a guard. In the middle of the village lies the birds who kept chirping non-stop signalling that the time for lunch is coming. At the village chief house, there is a pair of siblings that are playing happilly with their grandpa the chief of Kojo Village. ¡°Grandpa! Grandma! What are we eating for lunch?¡± One of the pair who is tying her hair in twin tails asked the questions. ¡°Oh Sara! Today we are eating some breads with chicken soup.¡± The grandma replied.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°But please don¡¯t put red things inside the soup, grandma.¡± The girl with braided hair grunting. ¡°Sana. You need to eat that tomatoes or no dinner for you tonight! Besides, it¡¯s good for your growth.¡± The grandma raised her voice trying to teach the kids to not disregard a healthy food. ¡°Yay! I like bread¡± Sana replied. ¡°Me too! But I don¡¯t like the tomatoes in the soup. It¡¯s too squishy and make me tremble from eating it.¡± Sara with happy and unhappy face at the same time answered. The girl with twin-tailed hair is Sara and the other girl with braided hair is Sana. Both of them are identical twins, so the hair styles will differentiate them. Their father are gone due to the war and the mother dies when they are still young. So, they were raised by this loving grandparents. ¡°Oh yeah! Can both of you go together with your grandpa to get some ingredients for the soup?¡± ¡°We lacks of parsley..It is not far from the house and this plants is just beside your favourite food Sara¡± ¡°Hmm¡­huh! Tomatoes..¡± ¡°Okay.. but can you not put too much tomatoes in my soup, you can give my portion to Sana. She loves it.¡± The conversation between both the grandchildren and the grandmother continues while the grandfather getting ready to go out. With a long sleeve and thick jacket, together with a large hat worn by farmers, the grandfather is getting pumped up to go out with his grandchildren. ¡°Sara! Sana! We are going now.¡± ¡°Wait for us, grandpa.¡± Both of them replied at the same times. Just after they go out of the house, the grandpa was stopped by one of the neighbours, Mr.Han. He is a merchant who are travelling from town to town to sell his merchandise. Since he got some free time, he go back to visit his wife and his mother at home. He is a very kinf people and not a selfish man. He always help people and contributes to this village. This small village who is not known before this and now when people see Han they will remember that he came from Kojo Village. So, he been there really improves the villagers lifestyle. ¡°Where are you going in the middle of the day, Chief?¡± ¡°We are going to get some parsley at the back of the house, we are going to eat some soup for the lunch¡± ¡°That¡¯s sound delicious. I am getting drooling just by listening to it¡± He grandmother of the siblings is the best cook in the village. Everytime they have a festival going on, the grandmother is the one that lead. Every food cooked by her will be finished in the seconds and even she once had received an invitation to work at one of the famous restaurant in the city but that was another story. ¡°Oh Han! Where will you go next for peddling?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going out in the three days time, in the town near our village.¡± ¡°Once you finished there, can you buy us some equipments for farming because it seems that most of them are old and dull? I will pay you for it.¡± The grandpa request it. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that, Chief. I will pay for it since it is my job to get the items and equipments and I don¡¯t want my family and the villagers to be starving because of me¡± The main reason is that Han is the only who have a horse to draw the carriage since it will take less time to go to the town. An average distance to town is about 20km so if by going by foots while carrying the luggage it will take more than 2 days to reach there but with a horse drawing the carriage it will take less than a day. After talking to Han, the family continue their business. They are walking side by side while singing cheerfully some famous song for the kids. In a few minutes, they arrive at the place where a lot of vegetables was planted. Cucumber, carrot, parsley, potatoes, tomatoes are the example of vegetables plants here. That¡¯s why the village is known as Kojo that gives a meaning of plants. This village is famous for these vegetables, since it war times, this village is soon gonna be targeted by the enemy. ¡°Grandpa! Grandpa! What is that?¡± Sana directed her hand to one corner of the farm that is looked like been destoryed by something. After finishing their business the family go towards the area and found that there is somebody lying there. And that was the heart of god. This meeting will greatly influence the fate of the village that soon will be pillaged by the bandits. That was another story. ¡°Sana! Sara! Help me hold the vegetables, we need to save him as soon as possible. I will bring him home.¡± "Yes, grandpa" Both of them agreed. Chapter 3: A Meeting With A Fragmented God Chapter 3: A Meeting With A Fragmented God On the bed of the chief village¡¯s guest room, lies the heart of god. It¡¯s already been 12 hours since he was brought here by the grandpa. The sun is going down soon and the moon will replaced the sun, the light that shine the day will be covered by the darkness of the night but the sun still illumintes the land through the reflection on the moon and the stars also does the same. That¡¯s show how amazing is the god who can create such an amazing feat that no one cannot do it. With the birds sleeping comes the crickets that creeping the night indicates that the time for dinner has come. Most of the beings have go back home and eat together with the family but there also who does the opposite it, working at night, resting at day. All of it depends on the individuals or beings that was given a thinking ability by the god. The grandmother is busy cooking for while the siblings are relaxing with the grandfather in the living room. The house has 3 rooms including the guest room, one kitchen and one living room. The house was made by wood that is strong enough to prevent to hold the roofs. The toilets was located outside and are shared together with the villagers. A good smell was brought through by the air and reach everyone. ¡°Uwah! It smells really good, grandma.¡±Sana who loves eating becomes excited. ¡°What are you making today?¡± Sara also join in the conversation. ¡°We are having a feat today since we got one more extra stomach to be filled. I believe the man will be waking up soon as he was fainted to the hunger and his life is not in danger.¡± Sara and Sana standing up and running into the guest room. Once they opened the guest room door, the good smell flying into the nose of the man who is the heart of god. The man who is sleeping suddenly waking up and start drooling destroying the image of a handsome man. The first things that he saw was the girls and he asked ¡°Who are you? Where am I?¡± The girls who are watching enthusiastically close the door and running to the living room calling their grandpa. ¡°Grandpa! That man has woken up.¡± Both of the speak at the same time. The grandfather goes to the guest room alone while the grandmother is preparing the dishes with the siblings helping her. He opens the door and asks the man who just wake up. ¡°Calm down, young man. You must be confusing right now but don¡¯t worry you are safe here. We found you lying in the field not far away from here.¡± ¡°Before that, can I know who are you and where are you come from since this village is quite far away from city and I can only guess that you come from the forest¡± The grandpa questioning while calming the man down. ¡°I.. I.. I don¡¯t where I came from but I am known as [Heart of God]. It seems I don¡¯t remember anything and I don¡¯t know why I am here. What I know that I wake up under a big old tree, and when I try to search for someone, my body suddenly feel sluggish and fall over. When I wake up I was on this strange thing and I saw two little human girls.¡± That god tried to explain.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Oh, Heart of God it is the named in the storytelling about the legend of the god one million years ago. Hmm¡­ Is the name real or is it just coincidence?¡± The grandpa muttered to himself. ¡°Young man or it is better if I called you as Hatokami, Hato as in Heart and Kami as in God. It is a good name for you who don¡¯t remember anything.¡± The grandpa who thinks that the situation right now is really matched to the story passing from one generation to another. It is about the coming of the heart of god when the world near to its destruction. Since the conflicts have rising at fast rate recently, he thinks that this man must be connected somehow. So, he wants to hide this information somehow since he knows that recently there is a movement or expedition searching for the heart of god. So, he tries to take the gamble out of it. Unnoticed by the villager chief, the call to disclose the information not only has saved the village but also the country. But, that was in another time. ¡°So, Hatokami, the reason why you are fainted is due to hunger.¡± The grandpa told the him. ¡°Hmm, Hatokami¡­., but do I have a name?¡± The god have been thinking hard searching for his memories but he found nothing. He also had been thinking about the word said by the human in front him ¡®hunger¡¯. ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken hunger is the condition where the beings unable to get and eat food.¡± ¡°Ohhh! Seem like I was wake up as a human, I must fulfill all the desires required by the beings ¨C eating, working and sleeping. But right now, I need to eat to get energy and search for any information.¡± Hatokami muttered to himself. ¡°Can I know what should I call, O old man?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Josh, you can just call me grandpa, since I¡¯m old enough and I got grandchildren stay with me here.¡± ¡°Alright, I think you must be starving right so come join us for dinner¡± With a weak body, Hatokami stand up and follow the grandfather to the table. ¡°Wah! You have wake up, come take a sit, today I cooklittle bit extra so it¡¯s enough for everyone.¡± The grandmother invited Hatokami while the kids were hiding behind her. ¡°This is my wife, Sandra and the two little kids there is my grandchildren Sara and Sana. They are twins, Sara the twin-tails and Sana the braided girl.¡± Hitokami does not talk much that night but he keeps eating non-stop, the siblings just laughing all-night and the grandparents just smile warmly. At the end of the day, the grandpa said that he wants to speak with Hitokami alone the next day. And the day at Kojo Village ended with Hitokami sleeps waiting for the dawn to come. Meanwhile, in the hottest region in the world, there is a discussion within the throne room. The being with three horns on top of the head, red-coloured large body and with the tails that looked like an arrow was sitting on top of the throne and giving commands. ¡°It seems that the heart of god has awoken¡± ¡°I want all of you to find him at all cost! You are dead if you fail!¡± The being commanded. An uproar occurs at the castle as most of the being there goes out and search for the heart of god. There are being who crawling, some of them running out of the castle and there are some who are flying heed for the command of their king. In one of the holiest room in the cathedral, the pope came out and commanded the priests. ¡°O¡­ my followers I just received a word from our God that the heart of god, the evil has come out from slumber and will haunt us soon. Go spread out this word and catch anyone suspicious that will destroy this peace of ours.¡± ¡°O¡­ my Lord we will amend your command¡± In the other region far away separated by sea, a happy laughter came out from the dining hall. ¡°Huhuhuhu¡­ It¡¯s seemed that my husband has arrived.¡± At this time, all the region in the worlds even far away from this place feel the presence of heart of god and all the fragmented gods who have been stand still have start their own movements. But in the deepest part of the jungle not far away from the Kojo Village, an old man who is being tied to the stone rejoiced the coming of the god and said. ¡°O my only god! You the One who create me, the One who give Me power, come search for Me and I will forever follow your command. I who is the weakest without You and I need you to guide this poor Me.¡± The writhing of an old man inside the cave. Will their fate collide or will the evil come first? Chapter 4: The Truth and Lies Chapter 4: The Truth and Lies The chickens chirping on top of the house shows that the dawn have arrived. The fallen sun now is rising beautifully, shine the world from the darkness. The wind blows through the leaves, shakes the trees to remove the old leaves and is replaced by a new leaf. That was the repetition of live given to those who are not involved in the trial of god. Animals, plants and all of the being that does not given the ability the think all are given exception. This is the reality of life in the current world. Far inside the village chief¡¯s house, in the guest room, Hatokami the one who is revered as the Heart of God, is slowly adapt being a human. Eat, drink and sleep are the most important activities required by a human. Now, Hatokami who first experienced the taste of hunger when he woke up and the feel of sleeping when he tired. Because the god does not sleep or eat as he always watched all of his creations days by days. The door was opened by Hatokami and he was greeted by the siblings who were washing their faces. ¡°Good morning, Hatokami onii-san.¡± The siblings greet him. But he just shakes his head up and down because he does not know what to say in return. As his memories still not return, he does not know how to react in that kind of situation. Then, the grandpa who saw this scenario said, ¡°Oh good morning, Hatokami-kun. You must be confused right now, ¡®good morning¡¯ is a greeting we do in the morning, you say ¡®good afternoon¡¯ when you meet someone in the middle of the day, ¡®good evening¡¯ when the sun is almost falling down and ¡®good night¡¯ when it time to sleep.¡± Having absorbed all the information he just gained, Hatokami then turn back to the siblings and say ¡°Good morning¡±. It looks like a stoic but Sara and Sana both of them looks happy. Then, it times for Hatokami to wash his face, as he thinks that it must be done when you are wake up from sleep. On top of the sink, with a faucet, lies a mirror that stand still on the wall. Hatokami saw his face for the first time. A medium long straight hair, clear brown eyes with a medium long eyelash, a lip that can almost captured any girls¡¯ heart and a kind of pure brownish skin colour. All of it describe the face of a handsome man that is wanted by all opposite genders. The height of the man is about 170cm which is the average of the human height. A body that neither too large nor small but it is enough for the man to do any medium weight works. Then, the morning came. Two sliced of breads with an egg that is perfectly fried is been prepared on top of the table. The families sit down together with Hatokami and said in unity, ¡°Thanks for the food.¡± After eating the breakfast, grandpa ask Hatokami to follow him to go out for a morning walk. Since it is still early in the morning, the temperature is around 15-20 degrees Celsius and it is quite cold since it is summer time. Han-san, the neighbour is away to the jungle to get the required herbs and ingredients for his next peddling expedition. And then begins the serious conversation between, the Heart of God and the old wise human. ¡°Umm, Hatokami you said that you do not remember anything, right?¡± Hatokami nodded. ¡°And you also said what you remember is that you are Heart of God, is that right.¡± Having been stared intimidately, Hatokami nodded again. ¡°Haaaa¡­.¡± The grandpa sighed. ¡°It seems that the legend is true after all.¡± The grandpa muttered to himself but enough for Hatokami to listen. Taking a long breath to calm down, the grandpa begins his long story about the legend of god. ¡°Hatokami-kum, let me tell you the story that had been passed to us since one million years ago, a story of enraged god who want to reclaim back what he had lent.¡±Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°One million years ago, there lies a single god who sits on the throne and that god was watching happily every single being of his creations. Based on the story, that god loves his creation so much that he always gives whatever his creation wants, peace, wealth, health, everything what they wish for.¡± ¡°But, it is said that one day, the day that we called as ¡®The Time of Beginning¡¯, one single being that have the higher rank than the angel said to him that the human being tried to usurp the god and reclaim the throne. That was the devil, a being that was made from fire and his jealousy of humans that being loved by the god and his arrogance attitude make him to take the action.¡± Hatokami just silently listened to story. ¡°Based on the story, the god was initially do not believe about the devil reclaim. But one day, that devil shows that the human who is given everything starts to go against the god. The war, the slaughter, the rape, any acts that is forbidden by the god.¡± Hatokami was quite surprised heard about it. But, the grandpa still continues the story. ¡°At the end, the god who seeing all of that become upsets and the devil who seeing that smiles and said there lies some beings that does not believe in the god and now there are trying to search away to prove that the god does not exist.¡± ¡°Heard that, the god becomes upsets and said ¡®The time of judgement has come, now I will reclaim back the everything that I have given to you¡¯ and after that the gods split up into 100 pieces and goes to reclaim what we call as ¡®The Land of Gods¡¯.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the end of the legend, Hatokami what do you thing about it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure about it but I think that the action of the god in the story is different somehow. I think there must be some reason for that¡± Like he knew the answer, Hatokami gives what he thinks about. Surprisingly, that answer was correct and but both of them does not know about it. ¡°Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you what happened about the god split up.¡± Grandpa begin his story again. To make it short, the grandpa said that once the gods split into 100 parts but only 99 parts was presence and only one part is missing which is the Heart of God. There are a lot of views on this story. Some of them say that the Heart of God is the wicked compare to the other 99. The other thinks that this Heart of God really hates the human and want to take revenge on him on the cruellest way as possible. But, there are some opinions that thinks that this Heart of God is the saviour from the world destruction. To sum it up, the grandpa lies in that category, he believe that the story is nonsense that tried to hide the actual truth and he also believe that God of Heart is the saviour and he also believe that Hatokami-kun is the Heart of God and he believes that Hatokami-kun came to restore the order of the world. ¡°I believe in you, Hatokami-kun. Maybe you do not know, but I¡¯m sure once you reclaim your memories you will remember me.¡± The grandpa said while his eyes got a little bit wet. The world that is said to be near its end and the chaos the occur in every part of the world. It all started when the gods came to the world. Hatokami-kun who seems to be understand a little bit about the world and change the mood and ask for information regarding the world and where he can search for more information. The grandpa who sensed it, try to be more cheerful and inviting Hitokami-kun goes to the field to see the villagers working. On the way there, grandpa tells everything started from the establishment of the village to the development of the countries. According to him, in one year, there are 360 days, with 30 days per month, 24 hours per day. Every 3 months the season changes from summer to fall to winter to spring and back to summer again. According to his knowledge, the world has 3 known regions, far to the north lies the region that is separated by magma river. The beings living there is unknown as no one have ever go to that place. Far to the south lies the region that separated by iceberg, it also unknown but it is the coldest region in the world. The Kojo Village was in the Kingdom of Maple. East to the kingdom lies the Republic of Maple. North to the Kingdom of Maple, in the mountainous area lies the country of mercenaries. To the west of it, the country based on guild is formed. Opposite to the Republic of Maple lies the extremist country, The Empire. And far to the east separated by sea lies another region but its existence is based on the children story. There are more countries that are hidden and are waiting for the best time to show themselves. After a while, there reach at the field, a lot of villagers had already started working but Hatokami eyes is on one individual. ¡°Umm¡­ Grandpa! Can I know what does that guy is doing?¡± Hatokami asked while pointing his hand to a farmer that doing some kind of action before he working. ¡°Ohhh! That was a ¡®ki¡¯¡­ Ah! I forgot to tell you about it¡­ the things that changes the world.¡± What does the words of Grandpa referred to? Chapter 5: The Changes CHAPTER 5: THE CHANGES Before the fragmented gods reached the land after the incidents, the broad evolution occurs on the entire world. The land which has been flourish turn upside down, the animals who have been living properly suddenly become fierce, untameable and some of them evolve into a monster that destroy and reproduce at fast rate. The beings in the world that once live in a peaceful time, and now living for survivor. A law of jungle had been used in that time in which only those with power and strength survive the outburst of the monsters. Then, the fragmented gods landed and give all the beings in their respective region of control, the powers and blessings to fight the monsters. At that time, the one that given them power was revered as a god and was worshipped. Each fragmented god give different kinds of blessings. Martial arts, magic, strength and many more. All of these create a division between the gods. Initially, there are nothing happen as all the beings lived only for survivor. But as soon as they overpower the monster, a new desire ¨C the greed of the beings cause the conflicts to happen. Hatokami is standing silently while hearing to the story of village chief. Based on the story, there are a few gods landed on the world that they are living right now. It is proven by the ability of the beings live in the world known as Axial. In Axial there are three known regions to the people, the north, the east and the south. At the north and south region, it is unknown what ability does those beings have. But in the east at the region separated by the ocean, there was an old manuscript that say the beings that live there have the ability to control water. The beings are not referred only to human but half-beast, fairies, dragons and many more. But in the centre of Axial world, the people that live in Kingdom of Maple, Republic of Maple, and the Empire, all of them have the ability to practice ¡®ki¡¯. But there are also people who have the ability to use magic, these people came from the guild country. No people have the ability to use both ¡®ki¡¯ and magic even if the offspring come from the father who have ¡®ki¡¯ and the mother who have the ability of magic. The offspring will inherit the most prominent ability from the parents. Having listened to it, Hatokami now understand that the world he stands right now is called Axial and there are fragmented gods who are in this world. From the story, so far there are three fragmented gods ¨C the one who give the ability of ¡®ki¡¯, the one who give ability of magic and the one who give ability of water control.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. In order to search for his memory, he needs to meet all the fragmented gods. But he needs the power as the Axial people have the ability to fight against monster. In his current state, he can¡¯t even beat the children. So, he asked the grandpa to teach him the ¡®ki¡¯. ¡°Very well.¡± The grandpa answered. He then told Hatokami the basic of ¡®ki¡¯. ¡°Listen Hatokami-kun, ki is actually relate to an energy. Usually, when you are doing some work for example carrying a box, you need the power to do the work.¡± ¡°So everything you do required ki, is it right?¡± Hatokami asked. ¡°You are half-correct, Hatokami-kun. Yea, it is right to say that any work required ¡®ki¡¯ but doing work without basic is just waste of energy. You are going to be tired before you finished your work. A man with no basic of ki used more energy than a man with an understanding of ki. This is because the man who understand the ki knows how to focused his energy more efficiently.¡± ¡°OK, did you understand what that man is doing right now?¡± The grandpa pointed towards the man Hatokami asked before. ¡°No.¡± ¡°The technique that he used is called ¡®ki¡¯ control, by feeling the existence of energy in the surrounding, he is able to absorb some of it into his body, then from that energy, he dispersed them into one point on his body. In this case, it is the hand because the work that he is going to do is digging a hole. So by applying some ki to the hands, the strength of the hands will increase, then his work rate will increase as well. It is really simple.¡± Grandpa also told him that not all people can master the ¡®ki¡¯ technique. In the Kojo Village, no one mastered the ¡®ki¡¯ technique. What they know is only the basics, so they do not have the ability to beat the beasts or monsters. Luckily, up to now, no monsters have ever come to the village. One monster can totally destroy the village. Listen to the explanation, Hatokami asked him to teach him the basic of it. Grandpa nodded happily and asked him to follow him back home. Then, grandpa when inside the basement and take out an old box full with a rust and completely surrounded by the webs. He then brings it in front of Hatokami and unlocked the box. Inside it, there is a book that is quite old and the front page is tattered and the word written on top of it cannot be read anymore. ¡°This is the book of guidance given by my ancestors. This book is used to teach the villagers about the basics of ki and how to control it. I will lend it you first.¡± Hatokami hold the book and surprisingly he feels a weird sensation when touching it, it is like the book urge him to open it. Then, with a desire to know, he opens it and suddenly a gust of energy came out and surrounded his body. That energy is then had been absorbed into his body and he no longer able to detect the presence of that energy. ¡°Um¡­grandpa, do you feel anything strange when holding it?¡± He asked a question to solve the mystery. ¡°No, for me it just a normal book. Even though the book is quite thick, we are only able to read the first chapter. After that chapter, it is a blank paper like it is an incomplete book.¡± Unknowing by the grandpa, Hatokami the one who is able to sense the presence of the book, is able to see the words in the remaining chapters. What is written in there? Soon, the practice begins. Chapter 6: Ki Training CHAPTER 6: ''KI'' TRAINING Kojo Village. At the back of the house, under the shade of the roof made up of stacks coconut leaves, I the heart of god was sitting while holding the book. Grandpa and the others do not know, but in the front page of the book, ¡®The Guide for Aikido Mastery¡¯ was written. The words do not show up when the grandpa take it out from the box because what I see at that time is just an old tattered book smelled a bit like a rotting wood. When grandpa pass it to me suddenly I feel a surge of energy came out of it, surrounded my body and in just a few moments, it had been sucked into my body. When I realised all the energy surrounded my body is gone, the words appear on top of the book. At that time, I think that this book must be special and there must be some secrets inside it. I do not know the word ¡®Aikido¡¯ written on it. Nevertheless, it is a guide book, I will try to master it since I need to power up first before going on the journey searching for all those gods to recover my memories. So, I make it my top priority. First chapter of the book describe what is ¡®ki¡¯ and how to feel the ¡®ki¡¯ from surrounding and from inside the body. Based on the book ki is very natural as it flows in and out of the body like a wind blow through the space between the leaves or the blood flowing through the smallest veins in blood vessel. The concept is similar but a good practitioner need to be able to detect and feel this flow. By the time I want to start my training on detecting ki flow, the siblings, Sara and Sana came to me. ¡°Hatokami onii-san, can we join too?¡± With an innocent face, they asked me. I agreed by nodding. Then, both of them came closer and sat beside me. Sara is on the left and Sana is on the right. ¡°What type of training do you do, onii-san?¡± Sara asked me. I told her that I was worked on the basic of ki which is detecting ki flow. ¡°Oh!! It¡¯s easy. Let me show how it is done¡± Then, Sara demonstrated it. She sat in the seiza position and breath normally, then surrounding energy gathers around her in no time at all. I gaped my mouth seeing something amazing. Then, again the energy disappeared like it being sucked by something. Since I do not understand what happens, I asked Sara to explain it for me. But what I got is only a vague answer since she just replied, ¡°You know, I see it, collect it and absorb it.¡±A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Ponpon! Sana knocks Sara heads twice and glared at her. ¡°That¡¯s not the way you explaining to someone, it¡¯s the reason why Grandpa don¡¯t want you to teach other children even though you are skilful at it¡± Sana raised her voice to Sara. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Sana and Hatokami onii-san, but it is how I done it.¡± ¡°Well, onii-san, Sara always like that, she is good at it but bad at explain it.¡± Sara told off the dejected Sana ¡°Onii-san did you sense the ki energy surrounded the Sana when she demonstrated it to you¡± I nodded at her. Then she explained it to me step by step. Ki energy can be found anywhere and it can even be found in the surrounding or in the air. The problem is how to gather and take control of it. She told me the first step is find to find a comfortable seating position, then, straightened up the body posture which is keeping the spine straight. Sara did all of it through the seiza sitting position. Next, relax and calm down the mind which is to be aware and control the emotions. Finally, be aware of the breathing, inhale and exhale. ¡°It¡¯s difficult at first but once you continuing these meditation, one day you can sense the surrounding ki flow easily.¡± Sara finished the explaination. ¡°Sara, how about the collect and absorb?¡± I simply asked her. She told me to focus on this first because I need to sense it freely before I can gather it. It¡¯s almost midday, so without wasting any more times, I follow each step carefully starting from seating position, relax my mind and body, and be aware of surrounding by controlling my breathing and emotions. Surprisingly, when I do it, it seems that my mind was floating in the air, I can sense the air blowing and the sounds of the birds chirping and insects hissing and buzzing from the near bushes. As my minds merge with it, I sense something familiar in the surrounding, the same ¡®ki¡¯ energy that came out from the books, this ¡®ki¡¯ is somehow different compare to the ¡®ki¡¯ energy surround the Sana earlier. It is just I feel really nostalgic somehow. Then, I move near to it and imagine a hand to touch it. Let alone touching it, my minds suddenly merge to that ¡®ki¡¯ energy reaching the state of unity. That ¡®ki¡¯ energy flow around my body for a while and again it disappeared after being absorbed by my body. I do not know where it goes but I know that it was inside my body. As I mediating, the sun already goes down turning to day to night, only the lamp oil bright the area where I sit. I do not notice it and continue mediating as the time stop moving. Without eating nor drinking, time passes day and night a few times and when I wake up it¡¯s already been a full week. But I do not know this because I think it is on the same day. When I go inside the house feeling very hungry, the families who are sitting in front of the table all have a shocked expression on their faces. But I do not know about it. Chapter 7: First Battle CHAPTER 7: FIRST BATTLE In the same evening, when the Heart of God, Hatokami ended the meditation, a war has started between The Republic of Maple and The Empire. The war that started three days after Hatokami doing his training, The Empire strike with an army approximately 50000, 30000 foot soldiers, 10000 recruited mercenaries armies, 5000 recruited magicians and 5000 soldiers responsible for handling sieging weapon. That war only occurs for 2 days with a lost to the Empire side. The Empire unable to break the walls that surrounded the Republic of Maple that already protected the country for more than a century. It is said that the walls were made up by a material known as graphene, the strongest material ever known to man. Explosive magic, sieging bomb and sieging weapon all of them have been thrown towards the walls but not even a scratch formed on the walls. Besides that, the defensive side is also strong because they had high class magician working for them. The barriers created by him able to protect the country from being destroyed by an air-strike [fire magic combining with a simple cannon that can move further and higher than the walls]. The Empire who want to monopolize these materials believe there must be a dungeon for graphene mining somewhere inside the Republic of Maple. Since, Republic of Maple is self-sustainable country, the Empire believe that sieging against them is useless and they will be in losing side since their country is opened to be attacked by others. That was the end of the two days wars but a new type of movement has already been made by the Empire. Kojo Village. A shocked expression was shown on the face of each of the village chief¡¯s family members when Hatokami entered the house. Unaware of it, I only greeted them and smiled. A loud growl sound coming from my stomach break the silence and a cackle like laughing resounded in the house. I turn down my red face, and face it up when the laughter subsided. Sara is the one that laughing the most and I will remember that. ¡°Hatokami onii-san, do you know how long have you been training?¡± Sana suddenly asked me a question. I felt confuse hearing that question because I think I just mediate for a few hours. Then, the grandpa explains to me the events that happen for a week I have been training. First, about the war between the Empire and Republic of Maple. Second, about how a pure ¡®ki¡¯ energy have been surrounded me. According to him, a pure ¡®ki¡¯ energy is the one most desired energy for each or martial artist practitioner. This energy is so special that a person who got it can enhance the body capabilities hundred times more than a normal martial artist. But, this ¡®ki¡¯ is so rare that no one have been able to find it in a hundred years. Lastly, he tells me the changes that happen to the village. There is a rumour going around the villagers that some of them have seen the beast near the village. The credibility of the story cannot be confirmed since nobody had been attacked yet but they are now conscious of it. Hearing all of that, I just nodding as usual but¡­ ¡°Grandpa, do you where does the ¡®ki¡¯ energy go away? It seems that after for a while lingering around my body, that ki presence missing all of the sudden, I don¡¯t understand about it.¡± ¡°Oh, you really a fast learner Hatokami-kun, in just one week you are already been able to master the basics of sensing the presence of ki. Your next step should be accumulate the ¡®ki¡¯ again but this time, you must control it with your own will and try focusing the ki energy to your hand first.¡± Grandpa seems satisfied with my progression as a normal person required one year to achieve that state. After eating, I go inside the guest room again and revise the events that happened just now. Sit on top of the wooden floor, straighten my body, calm my minds and again try to sense the ¡®ki¡¯ energy surrounding me. This time, I easily able to do it but the ¡®ki¡¯ that surrounding me is not the same as before and it seems that these energy is been rejected from entering my body but it still can gather around me. Listen to grandpa said just now, a normal person can enhance the body by applying the ¡®ki¡¯ energy to specific part of the body, hand ¨C improve the strength and speed of the punch, leg ¨C increase the agility and speed, body ¨C increase the toughness and defensive abilities.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. If someone to asked me what is ki energy and how does it look like. To be honest, I don¡¯t understand it but I know it is around and I can sense it but I can¡¯t describe how does it looks like. By releasing my mind, I wake up from the meditation and goes back to sleep. The morning came, I go out of the house before the sun rising and go for a walk. The cool morning breeze, really calm my minds. The leaves looked fresh and wet covered by a morning dew that is formed from the condensation of the cold the blowing winds. I walked past the houses, the farms, and went to a place where I first awaken in this world. Arrive at the place, I survey around the area searching for some clue that can help me recover my memories. Suddenly, I felt a murderous gaze coming from the bushes near the that same tree. ¡°Shreek!¡± The bushes move and what came out from it is a large wolf. That wolf is not normal and it looks like a mutated wolf. That big body is covered by a blue black sharp fur like a porcupine but I believe one touch can make anyone bleeding. On top of its head, there is two red horns and in the middle of its forehead, there is a shining crystal. Accompany with the sharp white teeth, that wolf looks intimidate enough for a normal people to run with the tail between the legs. ¡°Wuuuuuu!¡± A loud piercing howl coming from that wolf, then two similar menacing wolves came out but its size is smaller. I was so frightened that my body shaking non-stop, my heart beat faster and my breathe become quicker, I try to decide either to run or to fight. If I run away, there is the possibility for the beast to attack the village and somebody may die because of my decision. Even though my body still shaking, I decide to fight the wolves. This may be my first time experience a fight. Unknowingly, it really the first of the first the god having a fight. Since he is the most powerful and the one creates the world, nobody dares to challenge him but that was another story. I took a nearby strong looking branch on the ground as my weapon. I make a basic fighting stance for aikido which is kamae like describe in the guide book. Put my right leg and right hand forward while lower down my body posture to achieve a stable stance. Holding the branch like a sword with my right hand while my left hand is ready for a block. Having calm down, the large wolf howl again and at the same time the howl ended the small wolves attack me. Even though its leg is short but the speed is quite fast. They ran in opposite direction of each other and circle around me to attack from both sides. I don¡¯t have the basic in fighting so what I can do in that situation is just waving my weapon around without breaking the stance. The wolves came from my right and left sides at the same time, the wolf at the right jumping with a mouth open trying to bite of my head while the other wolf keep running towards my leg. In a split second, I raised the branch with both of my hands to protect my head but my leg was left unguard. I can¡¯t dodge because the wolf is fast enough to catch me, so I just gamble for the best. Fortunately, my head remains intact but the weapon ¨C the branch completely destroy and I felt some kind of pain coming from both of my hands and my left leg. A blood gushing out of the bite mark but the condition of the leg is much worse since a flesh can be seen through the bite. My head is spinning around like the first time I experienced it before this due to hunger. My body feel sluggish and waiting to fall down, the wolves are running at me again for the finishing strike. I think it¡¯s the end. My journey will end soon. I already know the ending so I try to remember back the memories that I experienced when I reborn in this world. With no clothes walking around to search for someone, seeing and hearing the animals in the forest, and fainted due to hunger. See two girls who looks identical when waking up, the old man who tells me everything and the old lady who cooks a delicious food. Walking around the village, listening to the legend and learning the ¡®ki¡¯ energy. ¡°Haaa¡­. What a good life I got? I think I can die smiling.¡± Like already been surrendered to the fate, Hatokami, the heart of god again experiencing the life. What will happen to him? END OF CHAPTER 7 Chapter 8: A Fated Meeting (1) CHAPTER 8: A FATED MEETING (1) My minds flew away in the vast space like a bird flapping its wings to conquer the sky. I, the Heart of God who had just surrendering myself to the fate, clear away my brain and think why I was here in the first place. Powerless and amnesia were the only traits that I can describe myself. What is the meaning of Heart of God? Am I the heart? What am I supposed to do here? Searching deep within my memories for the answer for those questions. Iwas so calm that I can even hear the sound of the blood flowing through the veins in my body. Moreover, I even can sense the pure energy inside my body so I focused on it, but nothing happened. Like a controller, I directed my mind to enter my own body, through the skin, through the flesh and enter the blood stream. I swim through the blood, following the direction of blood, moving across large veins which are known as the inferior and superior vena cava. I let my body floating inside the tiny cells that carry the oxygen and I arrive at the heart. ¡°Wow! How wonderful is this? Who creates all of this? Nobody can do it except for those with great power, is it a god? Does the god even exist?¡± With a great force, I got pushed by the heart through heart pumping and reached at the place where the cerebrum located which is the brain the mother of nervous system. There, I saw millions or billions of complex doors connecting a path to each other. From those millions path only one door that shine alternately like it invited me to pass through. When I camecloser, I saw a complex scribble written on the door, I can¡¯t read it but it looks like a circle at the outer layer, inside there are some words, ¡®ÕæŒg¡¯written on the right side with the left side completely unreadable. ¡°What type of writing is it? What does it mean?¡±Moving up my hand to touch the word, just before my hand reach it, the wordsshiny red come up from those words and the door opened. Idon¡¯t think that I activated it but someone wants me to go inside. Walking step by step inside it, I saw nothing. The door tooutside disappear and I was in the place that is as white as sheet, nothing in front of me. Wandering around aimlessly searching for an exit. The result is NOTHING. No exit whatsoever. 5 mins. 30 mins. 1 hour. 1 day. 1 week. 1 month. 1 year. 1 decade. That is the duration of me walking in there, I don¡¯t feel hungry nor tired during those period, but I keep searching for a way to get out. Sometimes I ran, sometimes I walk and sometimes I crawl but the result is the same, I found nothing. When I closed to give up, I think back why I was here in the first place. I was supposed to be dying 10 years ago after been attacked by those wolves. ¡°Wait a minute, am I dying in the first place? Is this a test?¡± Confusion struck my head, but this time I¡¯m calm because I have been trapped in here for almost 10 years with nothing to do, I can¡¯t even sense any ¡®ki¡¯ energy around here. Like a meteor struck a planet, I heard a loud sound coming not far away from me. A light that shine colourfully replace the white space with different colours coming from that place. I was shocked to see this improvement, is it because I realised this is some kind of test.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. I ran as fast as I can towards it but what I saw in the middle of those destroying area was a single gem. That small gem that shine brilliantly and looks like antiques object but it is not completed because it seems it have been crushed into pieces but there are no flakes around it. If I was to measure its size, it is as big as my tooth, it¡¯s so small and the shape is triangular.As I pick it up, a sudden gust of winds seems to attacked my minds. Like a flashback, I saw a lot of scenes from my minds but at the end I saw someone who is neither can be seen or notlike it has no forms, and he muttered two words one of it, I can hear it clearly, ¡°the time of promise has come¡± and another one looks like an unfinished sentenced ¡°I want to see¡±. As the words ended, I woken up from those dream and I saw twowolves were charging me at a very fast speed, showing all of its sharp teeth. Like a time has been stopped, only I know what happened inside my minds. For the ten years, I have been wandering. As nothing happen, I was in the same situation, both of my hands were bleeding and my left legs can¡¯t move at all. But inside my hands, there was a gem that looks similar to one that I took from those white space. I¡¯m not sure what happened but that gem colour changes from colourless to red and at the same a lot of ¡®ki¡¯ energy is been sucked to it. Unnoticed by me, those ¡®ki¡¯ wrapped my body. I don¡¯t understand this phenomena at all but I still remember the words from grandpa that ¡®ki¡¯ energy can be a weapon as it can enhance a person capabilities and strength. Those concentrated ¡®ki¡¯ energy wrapped my body in blue aura. Both of my wounds on the hands and left leg recovered like a time goes backward and the bitten hole was closed. My body can move again but this time, I felt a surge of energy came from my body and I believe my fist struck can destroy anything close to me. Those wolves still attacking me, again it came from opposite sides from where I stand. That same wolves whose speed is faster seem to move in a slow motion in my eyes. As they came closer to me, I step my foot to the right, hold up my fist and punched it to the face. Like a glass bottle, its face was totally destroyed and its stopped moving. I fall back it a little, I rushed towards the other wolf with a speed 10x faster than the wolves movement. This time, I used the same leg that was bleeding in a while ago and kicked it the body and split it up into two. No blood whatsoever, those wolf turned into shadows and returned back to the large wolf. I dashed towards it but this time its roar totally stopped my movements. I was paralyzed, like my strength improvement in front of it is nothing. That wolf does not attack me but it lowered its head once and turned away like inviting me to follow it. ¡°Ah, I can move again¡± I muttered to myself. With a desire to know, I followed that wolf who is already move across the bushes behind the tree where it came from. What is awaiting the Heart of God behind those wolves? END OF CHAPTER 8 Chapter 9: A Fated Meeting (2) CHAPTER 9: A FATED MEETING (2) After that short fight, I was baffled by the behaviour of the large wolf who seemed to avoid killing me for a reason. He heads down his face like an indicator that it wants to show me something. To be honest, I¡¯m not quite sure what to do but I believed I just need to follow it as that wolf have the ability to kill me in a split second. Like a servant, I follow it carefully as we go through a bush, then crawling inside a small hole, swimming across a wide river and running again. This action seems to be repeated for to be going for a while. I¡¯m not quite sure how far I already go but I remember the way back. Regarding that triangular gem in my hand, it already turns back to colourless and my body is no longer surrounded with aura. The gem is really wonderful as you can see through it like it crystal clear but the cracked surrounded it make it visible to my eyes. After a while, we reached at the destination. A dark hole surrounded at the mountain feet. That wolf turned to me, and again and nodded its head once. ¡°Hey, where are you going? Am I supposed to go inside this cave?¡± The wolf disappears in front of me like a ghost. One situation leads to another one. This is what lingering in my minds right now. Everything that happen here is not coincidence but it must be a fate that drives me to go this place. Yeah, when I sleep last night, I still remember a dream that I have, that same dream repeated again and again, as it won¡¯t want me to leave this village right now. That dream keeps showing of me waking up on the ground on that old tree, and then behind those tree, there is someone which face that I couldn¡¯t see keeps calling for me. It¡¯s just a short dream but it repeated over the dream that I have yesterday. And now, I already passed through that tree, so I don¡¯t have any clue what is going to happen to me soon. Gathering my thought and calming my minds, I stepped into the cave that the wolf shows me. This cave is quite big, with the stalactites located all over the place and it looks like a backbone of a monster. Sometimes, a drop of water sound can be heard coming from inside the cave. It is quite dim with only a few skylight coming up from the cracks of the wall. The length of the cave is about 500m. How I do it? I shouted and listened to how far the echo of my voice can pass through the cave. To be honest, this cave is quite creepy because as I move my legs inside it, the sound or the voice of any animals diminished, it is like I have arrive in a personal space. ¡°What is this?¡± There are some scribbles all around the cave, the floor, the side wall and even the ceiling and it looks kind of sealing spell. It is written in red and from those pale almost like dry blood, I guess this has been written for a long time. What inside this cave? I questioned myself. Suddenly, I heard a loud noise coming from underground. ¡°Damn! What¡¯s now?¡± An eerie sound like a person cracking the teeth coming up from the shaking ground. The cracks open up and a right hand can be seen moving up from those holes. ¡°No, it¡¯s not a hand but a white skeleton with no flesh and blood.¡± After the hands, the head coming up followed by it body. It¡¯s a skeleton, no, it wears an old armor to cover up his body, with a helmet to protect his cracked head and gauntlets on the arms. It¡¯s totally look like a skeleton knight equipped with two swords.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Today is really my bad day, first the wolves and now this skeleton knight. Is this some kinds of trial like the previous one?¡± I really need to find some weapon right now, last time it¡¯s only a branch and I hope I found a proper weapon to be used to this time. ¡°Klang! Klang! Klang!¡± A sound of metal collided can be heard. ¡°Dang!¡± That skeleton knight throws away a sword towards me. ¡°Am I lucky or not?¡± I picked it up and hold it with my right hand. Like an experienced warrior, that skeleton rushed straight to me, with one holding the scabbard and another one holding the sword, truly looks like a warrior. But this time, its speed is much slower than the wolves. Maybe because of those fight, my eyes can see its movement but since the cave itself is dim, the battle becomes difficult. It strikes from above, with my left hand holding the tip of the sword and my right hand holding the sword holder and placed it in horizontal, I protected my head from been slashed. It strength is quite hard, I can feel the weight from those strike. Again, it moves up the sword and strike from my right side, I pulled down my sword and position it to vertical to counter the slash. Its weight pushed me a bit behind. This time, it strikes my legs, I rolled backwards to evade it. Even though its movement is slow, I can¡¯t find a way to escape because it attacks me non-stop, I have been wasting my stamina defending and evading already. ¡°Oh shit! If this continued, I¡¯m gonna lose for sure. My energy is almost drained because of those heavy blows. I need to think for a way to fight this guy.¡± I fall backs for 10 metres, and this I will try to watch its movement carefully. And again, it dashes straight into me, and just before its coming, I focused my eyes on its shoulder. Its right shoulder moves backwards a little bit meanwhile his left moves forwards. ¡°It¡¯s the right strike!¡± Knowing the attacks, going to come from my left sides, I prepared the counter-attacks. I must not miss this timing, as the strike coming down, I move backwards a little evading the tip of the sword from slashing into my stomach and with all of my strength, I move up the sword and slash it into its vulnerable right body. The attacked connected, a crispy sound coming up from the broken bones, totally demolish that skeleton knight¡¯s rib and split it up into two. ¡°Hah! Hah!¡± I take that opportunity to attack it again and again, cutting its head, its hand and its legs trying to disable its movement. ¡°Haaaaa!¡± A long gasped coming up from my mouth, it¡¯s a long battle and my stamina totally drain out. When I thought, this case is over, that skeleton moves, all of the destroy parts or small fragments of that skeleton fuse and turns back into a skeleton knight. Then, it stands up again. ¡°Damn! This will never end. I will never be able to beat it.¡± Accepting my lost, I ran deep into the caves, that skeleton also moving towards me. At one area, that skeleton now longer following me but it moves back to where it came. ¡°Hmm¡­ what happened right now?¡± Somehow, the surrounding air becomes so thick, it¡¯s hard to breath in this place. I got goose bumps all over my hands like something terrible going to happen soon. At the end of the cave, I saw a lot of small papers with something written on it. These papers have been patched all over the place. I move slowly towards the end where the size of the cave became smaller and smaller. I saw an old man with chained hanging with those papers totally accumulates onto him. ¡°Klank! Klank!¡± The sound of chain moving and at that moments, the old man open his eyes showing a really sharp, bottomless eye light an eagle eyes. And a tear coming down from those eyes. ¡°O, my Lord! It¡¯s been a long time, I really miss you¡­¡± END OF CHAPTER 9 Chapter 10: Gurds CHAPTER 10: GURDS Tears coming down from those eyes, washing that dry face of the old man. If I look closely, apart from being chained, that person with a mummified white hair, the face that already been ravaged by time, a very thin body that you can see the shape of the bones from the skin. A trembling voice came up from those mouth trying to tell something. ¡°O, my Lord! It¡¯s been a long time, I really miss you¡­¡± The tears coming down even faster like there is no limit to it even though he already looks like a man with not enough nutrition. But the words said by him really go deep into me. ¡°Does this old man know me?¡± I muttered with a low voice. The chain moves again creating a sound of collision, that old man moves his hand and tears down the papers that been pasted to him one-by-one. Slowly but surely, the spells that¡¯s been focused on him started to diminish and returning back his form. From the old face, the skin structures start to change, it became more young and energetic. The hair that¡¯s like an albino for a while ago, falling down, and new yellow roots grows up and just like that the hair grows uncontrollably until it reached the heads, creating a long blonde hair. The eyes do not change but with a sharp looking eye, he¡¯s totally looks like a dangerous person. The body of the old man totally recovered from malnutrition in just a second. A body build that about the same as me. The pale skin colour return to its original brown colour return. And on top of his head, there is a small horn pointed up. With a small move, the large chains that totally locked him down shattered into bits, removing any obstacles that tie him down. That blonde hair man moving up to me who is totally clueless figuring on what actually happened, and he lowers down his knees and knelt down to me like a slave bow down to his master. Lowering his heads to the ground and he speaks with a young voice different from to what I heard earlier. ¡°O, Lord! I have been waiting for your arrival. My name is Gudrs and I am a part of you ¨C the fragmented god.¡± ¡°Hey, wait a minute! What do you mean by Lord and I am not even know you? Who are you actually?¡± A lot of questions came from my mouth to solve the riddles in front of me. ¡°O, Lord, you are the Heart of God, and I am one part of you.¡± He repeated the same words. ¡°You may not remember this right now, I have always been with you, no, I am a part of you. But the time will tell this. Do you know this?¡± Gudrs raised his hand, showing a small piece of gem that look exactly like the one that I had with me. The gem holds by him suddenly shining and the one in my hands also shine. Both of them, moves up to the sky and fly before combining into one and fly back into my hand. As the gem returns, a word that I do not understand come out from the forehead of the young man in front of me. After some time, it returns to normal. ¡°This is a small piece of the gem known as Sansara who holds all the secret about the entire universe. It was created by you, who left a part of its into our body when you divided yourself into 100. It is a prove that I am part of you and it is my duty to serve you again.¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Wait a minute, are you crazy? There is no way that I am the person you are looking for, maybe you are mistaken me for someone else.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not mistaken my Lord because I have been with you for a long time, so I can sense your presence here but there is a reason why I am not moving from here until you found me.¡± ¡°Then, what is my role in this world, what am I supposed to do right now?¡± ¡°You are the only one who know that, my Lord. My role is undecided since you are missing during the gathering, my Lord. But I believe that my job is give supporting when you reach the land.¡± Again, I can¡¯t find any answer to why all of these happen. He said that his name is Gudrs and the object in my hand is called Sansara. It¡¯s hard to believe this so I try to ask other question like regarding my dream, the wolf and the event when I was lost in my minds. ¡°Gudrs, can I ask a few questions.¡± ¡°Yes, my Lord.¡± ¡°First, are you the one who summon me to come here just now and yesterday from my dream.¡± ¡°No, my Lord. I never do that because I¡¯m the one that waiting for your arrival.¡± ¡°Do you have a wolf as your familiar or close aid?¡± ¡°The answer is no, my Lord. I was here since hundreds of thousands year ago. I have not met anyone or talk to anyone in this vicinity when I confined myself in here.¡± Once again, confusion struck me hard. Who is the one behind those tree in my dream and who is the owner of that wolf? ¡°Then, why you trapped yourself here? I don¡¯t understand any motives behind your actions. Besides, it is impossible for you to be alive for hundreds of thousand years without eating nor drinking.¡± ¡°I was created not as human but an oni. So, I don¡¯t really have the desire to eat. I put all this spells on myself in order to protect myself from being corrupted and detected by the Jinn.¡± ¡°Huh! That¡¯s nonsense and who is this Jinn anyway?¡± ¡°Very well, my Lord. Maybe because you lost your memories when you were reborn here that you do not know who is Jinn. Let me tell you the truth, we (99 fragmented gods) are not the only one who were sent to the land, there are many other beings who were sent here during those times. For example, the angel and the Jinn. All of them are your creations and they are not supposed to be on the land. Angel is your most loyal retainers but right now, all of them are hiding from the Jinn. Jinn is also your creations. But they are the one with the most power in this land, and they have announced that you, the God as the number one criminals and they have intention to kill you because they know that you are vulnerable right now and they want to usurp the throne of God.¡± ¡°Jinn¡­¡± I¡¯m thinking hard about it. ¡°And we do the same as the angel, but not all of us managed to avoid that as right now, approximately more than half of us who were already been corrupted and now, they viewed you, the Heart of God as the number one enemy and they followed the command of Jinn.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I was here, I seal my power in order to avoid being found by them because I¡¯m also powerless right now. But, with you, my Lord here, I believe we can fight them back and at the same time, search for the answer and the truth to what questions you have.¡± ¡°So, Gurds, do you know what I should do next?¡± ¡°For the moment, we need to find all the remaining fragmented god and restore them back. Before that, we need to move further away from this place as its already been targeted by the evil doers who knew your coming in this land. Since I will be joining you, our next stop should be the city of Lumines, one of the fragmented god was also there, hiding together with the humans. It¡¯s been a long time, but now we have you, I believe she will be more than happy to see you.¡± After that, I asked him a lot of question regarding the characteristics and personalities of the being known as Jinn and other creations that was send here together with me. For now, I acknowledged that I am the Heart of God, and my answer will be found in this journey. Leaving the cave, I brought him together with me to Kojo Village before we started our next journey to Lumines City. Not far away from the village we saw the black smoke going up in the direction of Kojo Village. I feel weird somehow like there is something bad going on right now. I told Gurds to speed up to return to the village. END OF CHAPTER 10