《Seeds of the Divine》 Prologue : Before the End In the beginning there was chaos. From the void came Death and Darkness. Everything else was empty, silent and never ending. Eventually Light emerged and alongside it was Order. Order and Chaos decided to fill the endless universe and with the others created Life. From Life and Death the first gods were born, they were the primordial deities. As long as their source of power, their jurisdiction was not extinguished in the universe they would never die. These primordial gods were able to create life just like their ancestors and filled the universe with their creations. However, they would all die before they could flourish, so the primordial gods asked for help from Order and Chaos. With the remainder of of their energy they created Time. From their sacrifice was born Love. Love and Time created the cycle of reincarnation. Satisfied with the state of the universe the gods of origin and the primordial gods left back into the void. Leaving the universe in control of their first creations the gods of nature. Thus, began the start of the Universe. As time passed intelligent beings reproduced and filled the planets with life and prosperity. As the oldest and most powerful beings ascended they too reached godhood. These were the creation gods, who were born after the creation of the universe. However, their power disrupted the order of the mortal worlds and made them come into conflict with one another. This led to the ruin of many planets many intelligent species ceased to exist. Sad at the death of their parent¡¯s creations they came together and banished those who feed on this death, anguish, and fear to the darkest corner of the universe. The remaining creation gods created the heavens and left the mortal world. The fallen gods renamed themselves the Demon Gods and created the underworld. The nature gods took away the creation gods right to give birth to new life. Instead, the gods of death who remained neutral were allowed to judge the souls of the dead. The heavens were entitled to the souls of the just, while the evil were sent to the underworld. Thus order was restored and the nature gods disappeared from the universe. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ It was an early Monday morning, yet an eeriness permeated the sky. Dark clouds began gathering and covering the earth, while the singing of birds and presence of other animals had all seemed to disappeared. ¡°Ah, what a beautiful day¡± said a young man. As he smiled, a couple of girls walking by took notice, only to scurry in another direction with a complicated look in their faces. He chuckled to himself, as he walked along the corridor towards his classroom. Along the way everyone else also avoided him, as if he was a ghost in a isolated world. No it was a little different, it was more like rejection, the world around him seemed to reject his existence. Their eyes always seemed filled with either dread, disgust or a mixture of both. He continued walking towards his classroom. As he began entering the classroom everyone ceased their laughter and avoided his gaze whispering among themselves as he passed them by. He sat down in the farthest corner in his seat overlooking the window. Facing the window he noticed the sky begin to become completely black, purple lightning light the sky. Once the sky had almost turned pitch black a giant hand came smashing from the heavens into the earth. ¡°Bang!¡± The giant hand hit the ground, the earth trembled while a sound wave hit the school shattering all the windows. As the people in the surroundings were struck with fear and confusion little did they know that similar events were happening all around the world. From this day, the modern world as they knew it was no more. 4 years before the End For Erin the beginning of this nightmare had started four years ago. After a tsunami hit his the town in which he lived in, most of the buildings suffered great damage. Many people died, and some of the buildings were completely unlivable. Unfortunately this was the case for his family of two. Him and his mother were forced to live in emergency housing provided by the government. At the time he was only thirteen too young to work the burden fell on his mother. This meant the living conditions of their surroundings weren¡¯t very good and crime was rampant. One day when he got home he found his mother being assaulted by two strange men in their living room. He found a knife near the table ¡°you bastards¡± he scream as he lounged at them. However, as adults that were a lot more muscular than him they caught his arm and twisted the knife towards him piercing into his heart. As he awoke shivers ran through his spine quickly he sprung to his feet. Erin looked around only to find his surroundings covered in deep red fog through which he could not see. ¡°Finally awake, Erin¡± said a voice. With tears running down his face he tried to get himself together. He remembered the painful feeling of a sharp object piercing his chest, then loosing his vision to darkness.¡°Where am I, I-I need to get back home, s-she needs me¡± he said anxiously. ¡°Now, now why in such a hurry we¡¯ve only just met ¡±, it said, ¡°Besides you happen to be a little bit dead, hahaha¡± it broke out in laughter. ¡°So I am dead, but I need to¡­¡± Erin cut himself off while clenching his fists. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.¡°You know I thought, you would be a little bit more¡­. overwhelmed over your death instead of caring about your dear mother, it kind of takes the fun out of it ¡± it said in annoyance. Swoosh! The fog dispersed and Erin found himself in a large hall. To both his sides were rows of giant lifelike statues of men and women holding different weapons and armor. They all looked fierce and emitted a faint scent of bloodlust appearing ready to skin him alive. Among them there was one of a man wearing a lions carcass around him as a coat. His statue was the largest and fiercest. He looked up at the mans face and felt an air of familiarity about him drawing him in. He hesitated for a second but began walking towards the end of the hall towards the direction of the voice. Drawing closer in a corner there was a man sitting upon a throne of bones smiling. He smiled as if he was a mischievous child who had just found a new toy. Many things were going through Erin¡¯s mind at the moment.What had happened after he died, who was this person, why was he here, and where was this place. But the most important thing was why had this man summoned him at the moment he died. Erin could tell he held some special status. Some things we amiss first of all he was the only person in sight. Second there was something about this man that made him feel like he should bow down before him , as if a noble aura was pushing him down. The closer he got the more he felt his presence. All he could do was try his best to stand. ¡°Who are you, no what are you, and why did you bring me here¡± he asked nervously. As he sat above his throne of bones he examined him, suddenly Erin felt something invade his body suffocating him. Then after a couple of seconds the feeling was gone. He was worried about what had happened bud didn¡¯t dare ask or complain before the man spoke. He looked down at him and said,¡± I am Hades one of the gods of death. And the reason I summoned you is very simple you died, and I thought I would give you a second chance at life¡±. Erin just looked at him skeptically and said, ¡°but why would you help me, what do you want in return¡±. ¡°Of course nothing is free in life or in this case death¡± he looked at me smugly. ¡°I want you.¡± he said. ¡°. . .¡± ¡°. . . Wait, wait thats not what I meant. Please don¡¯t look at me like that Erin. Haha what I meant was work for me.¡° ¡°Soon there will be great changes to the world and many people will die. The gods of this world are each able to choose a certain number of followers to help guide the humans of this world. I have simply chosen you as one of them.¡± Hades said in a serious yet tired tone. ¡°You see at one time this world was full of mana, and magical beasts dominated the lands as its rulers. This world was inhabited by many different intelligent species. The forests were ruled by the proud elves who lived alongside sprites and different spirits of the forest. The mountains were ruled by the dwarves who dug deep tunnels and build their marvelous cities underground living in coexistence with the dragons who ruled the skies. Other creatures roamed the rest of the world of which humans were the weakest. All they could do was pray to the gods for protection and the power to fight these creatures. Amongst the gods there were those who pitied the humans. So they gifted them the ability to use a part of their powers. In return the humans built them temples and prayed to help helping them grow in power. However, one day a war broke out amongst the gods in the universe, many worlds were destroyed by them. Those that lost the war were banished by the true rulers of the universe and we were forced to move into our own dimension. From that day forth all gods were not allowed to enter the mortal plane. This war brought great destruction to earth a lot of species went extinct, a couple of continents were even blown into space with their inhabitants. However, the worst part was the destruction of the mana veins which caused a lot of species which relied on mana to degenerate into beings of little to no intelligence. In order to prevent this from happening some gods took the more powerful beings into their dimensions. However, the humans and other species were left behind. To our surprise the humans were able to regain their intelligence and some of us were even able to communicate with them after they found our temples or were within our jurisdiction. My jurisdiction is death which mean I was only able to talk to you at this moment. Unfortunately, I can¡¯t give you too much details all I can do is give you a bit of my power so you can prepare for whats to come. So Erin Valor will you join me and accept me as your god.¡° ¡°If, If I help you can-¡° ¡°Don¡¯t worry those nuisances have been dealt with, once you return both you and your mother will be safe, you have my word¡± said Hades as he stood from his throne and extended his hand towards Erin. ¡°I accept¡±, said Erin. Suddenly a dark light enveloped Erin. Within him something resonated with the dark light and enveloped his soul. He opened his eyes and found himself atop a puddle of blood. On the floor were two bodies filled with holes with shocked expression of disbelief. And in the corner of the room was a woman shivering in fear with stains of blood on her clothing. Prologue : Before the End Part 2 ¡°You can come out now¡± yawned hades. While in the middle of his conversation he could feel the intense bloodlust coming from the shadows. This was his domain few would dare act presumptuous here and they were all arrogant high gods. They were all troublesome for a variety of different reasons. He turned his head towards the statue of the man with the lion cloak. From the shadows arose a woman covered from head to toe in golden and white armor. On her right hand was a sharp golden spear complimented by a giant shield held in place by her left hand. A golden breastplate covered her silk white robe complementing her white and pure skin, while an ancient looking helmet covered her face. As she took off her helmet her face revealed long hair which appeared as if made out of pure gold, and deep blue eyes. Her eyes displayed deep anger and disbelief as she came before him. ¡°You have some nerve, corrupting him,¡± she spoke as her voice resonating with her surroundings, shaking both the throne of bones and the giant statues. ¡°Why, you knew how long I had looked for him. The hardships I faced in my search.¡± ¡°I had no other choice¡± ¡°If he had entered the cycle of reincarnation his chances of surviving whats to come would be greatly diminished. Even if we could save his soul this would also have affected our plans to save the others, you know what he would have wanted¡±, he said. ¡°If, If he falls, I will hold you responsible¡±, she said in sadness as she left in defeat. ¡°I know¡±, he whispered the look of indifference leaving his face, as he took an amulet depicting a deer a look of sorrow,guilt, and regret filled his face. His face started to turn uglier as he looked at the outer edges of the amulet where dark spots exuding an air of corrosion we left. (POV Erin) As I looked around I noticed that the knife I had been using was no longer lodged into my heart. I was instead holding it in my right hand, it was bathed in blood which dripped down into the floor. My clothes were a mess, I was covered from head to toe in blood, but not my blood. There was no visible wound in my chest, yet it I felt pain as blood was pumped through my body. I was shocked upon seeing the bodies in the floor, yet for some reason the rapid beating of my heart began to stabilize leaving me with a feeling of indifference. Thats right they didn¡¯t really matter, she did. I then tried to approach her happy that she was still alive, I didn¡¯t know what he had done but it didn¡¯t matter. Or at least I thought it didn¡¯t, but little did I know it did matter, well at least to her. When I tried to greet her she shook back in fear. I didn¡¯t know what to do, what could I do when the only person you care about looks at you with fear in their eyes, like you are some kind of monster. After that the police arrived and questioned us, and I was charged with excessive self-defense. I was told I was lucky I was that i didn¡¯t get charged with something like manslaughter. Ha, it was them who killed me first I thought, not that anyone would believe me. Perhaps if she testified at my trial. Well there was no one there on my side so I just kept my mouth shut. In the end it was decided that I was to be sent off to some correctional facility for 3 years since I was a minor. The majority of the people there were the trash of society, it was filled with everything from gang members, to thieves. However, not even a week after entering I pissed off someone I probably shouldn¡¯t have. He said it was because of my eyes, apparently he didn¡¯t like that I didn¡¯t look down in fear to avoid his gaze every time I passed by him. Once this happened his group would make trouble for me every time they saw me. I fought back but they were to many of them and I was always blamed, even when I suffered bone fractures. However, my wounds always healed at a rapid pace annoying them to no end. Eventually, I was removed to the other end of the facility. There I encountered something I never thought I would again, persons I could call friends. The first was Robert an orphaned thief who had lived his life in the shadows society, living on the streets until his last run in with the law ended him up here. Next, was Leo he had a tough looking face, so trouble always followed him. He had beat up some rich kid who had good lawyers. Last was John, he never talked about his past, but I know something seriously bad must have happened because of, uh , his behaviors. All I know is his father was a great man who loved nature and that john had avenged his death. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The next time the group of idiots came to ask for trouble my cellmate Leo suddenly punched one of them and a full brawl started, Robert soon came to help. Although we were outnumbered we were putting up a good fight or so I thought. That was until John joined the fight, I didn¡¯t even see him until I heard one of our opponents suddenly scream. Apparently John had shown up with a well crafted makeshift knife and stabbed one of the guys while laughing. The fight was soon stopped and we were each thrown in a room with only a barred window and forced to stay there for some time. We were eventually let go, well at least the three of us we didn¡¯t see John until several months had passed. During that time I realized that even here we were considered outcasts. Everyone else had formed various groups to survive this place but each one of us had been alone until the others found us. Thus, we stopped being lone wolves and became like family. They were also able to pick up on my strange, actions. More than once had they caught me looking in random directions. They said I had mentioned names of people who I wasn¡¯t supposed to know. And all of them had one thing in common they were no longer among the living. The first time they were really freaked out was when I kept looking at someone that suddenly became really ill and almost died. When I tried explaining to them that I could see the shadows of the dead or dying I suddenly felt a knot in my throat and was unable to speak for a week, reminding me that what had occurred was more than just a nightmare. However, they never let it bother them as they also had their inner demons. Eventually, my peaceful days in the facility came to an end as an unexpected visitor came to get me upon my release. Outside a familiar face greeted me, mothers old friend, and as he told me new husband. He was the living manifestation of justice an ex-marine who always took a no nonsense approach to things and had gone on to be a federal investigator. Even I had to admit he was a decent man as I accepted to move into the apartment he had gotten me. I had met him when I was a child and was even friends with his daughter during those days. He hoped I could start life anew and live like a normal citizen, going as far as changing my last name to his own. I knew of his intentions, but I knew it was to late for that. Every day this passing year I had been feeling more and more anxious. That stupid god should have at least given me some form of preparation, or information on what I was supposed to do. All I could do was try to wait. Well for now id try to at least go back and try to fit into society, I had always been ahead of my peer intellectually so I was allowed into my junior year of high school. Of course I ended up isolated from the others, not that I cared. As the days went by my anxiety kept increasing, until it turned into fear of what was to come, then excitement in anticipation of the end of my boring life. Then one day, while I was sitting in my desk a familiar aura of death enveloped the atmosphere. From the window a dark little man with wings flew inside. flap! flap! flap! He moved towards the board, taking out a knife he cut his hand with the knife and then used the knife to begin writing on the board. Too long have the living wasted their days, disrespecting those who came before them now dead, the corrupted land will be destroyed, bringing with it the end, those who disrespected it be afraid, as soon the dead will eat the living instead As he finished he moved towards me. ¡°Young lord, the master send his respects and told me to tell you , seven days. That is how long you have to prepare¡±, he said. Before I could press him for answers he flew out the door, leaving me with only the sudden screams all around me. Prologue End Chapter 1 : A new beginning Present Day In a funeral home in the outskirts of the city. ¡°Mommy, mommy look grandma is waking up¡± said a little girl in a black dress. ¡°Dear, I¡¯m afraid grandma is going be asleep forever from now on she- ¡±the woman stopped speaking as she saw her dead mother slowly get up from her coffin and look in her direction with a blank look in her face. ¡°"AARRGH!¡±she screamed and fainted. Similar events occurred around the world. Those who were the closest between the border of life and death started to move. For the last six days everyone was going crazy apparently the message had also appeared in various different parts of the world. Some of them even appeared in important ancient temples. There were also cases of people being brought back from the dead. This was not confirmed as the police were in the middle of their investigations. People had different reactions, some had started cults preaching the end of the world, others thought it was some new terrorist group. People started to avoid the outdoors, and school was canceled for several days. In the mean time I had prepared a couple of knifes, smoke bombs and perishable food in a bag I always had on me. The next morning I slowly walked to school, around me the world seemed to be covered with an almost unnoticeable dark glow. I had seen this before on several occasions, this meant whatever it was covering was dying. I called it the embrace of death, this glow would turn darker and darker until whatever being it was died. But I smiled as this wasn¡¯t always the case, like that boy I had seen at the institute I knew the earth could recover even from the brink of death. As I entered the classroom I could hear my classmates whispering behind my back. ¡°Maybe it was him, you know the rumors about him, who else would be crazy enough to use their own blood?¡± said a girl with dark red hair. ¡°Are you an idiot unless he is some type of ghost, or is able to turn invisible how could he have done it.¡± someone else said. ¡°Even if it was him what are you going to do confront him about it, even if he did you know who his father is he would probably get him out of trouble, just like he got him transferred into this school¡± said a tall boy with messy hair. ¡°Step-father, don¡¯t lump in Emily with that guy¡± said the red head angrily. As they were busy arguing, I sat in my desk in silence. Fools they didn¡¯t even pay attention their surroundings and how they were changing rapidly. Looking out the window I suddenly saw a golden hand coming down from the sky in the distance, no in the distance there was more than one. I panicked as I noticed something creating a shadow around the school and its surroundings. ¡°Shit, get down !¡±, I screamed. Everyone looked at me with confused expressions. ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang!¡° The earth shook and suddenly everything including the school building was pushed down into the earth. We all feel downward only after what seemed like hours did we come to a stop. ¡°It finally stopped¡± said Michelle the pretty red head with a large chest. Talk about stating the obvious.I knew who she was since she was my step-sister¡¯s friend and used every chance she got to trash talk me. I found it amusing since she was the only one with the guts to insult me to my face. Soon others started to gather it seemed no one was seriously hurt. This probably happened since after falling for a while our velocity started to decrease then came to a stop. However, there was not enough momentum to ruin the sturdy school building. ¡°Is everyone okay¡±said Mr. Albert our biology teacher. ¡°Luckily I have a flashlight and you guys can use your phones to look at your surroundings, look around and make sure everyone is okay,one, two, three,. . . ,twenty-four, it seems someone is missing¡± he said. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°no, um, teacher I don¡¯t think you counted Erin¡± she said the class president, Lauren awkwardly. ¡°I see¡± he replied in an embarrassed tone. ¡°I don¡¯t know how far we fell but the building was somehow able to handle it¡± ¡°Well, after all this school was built to double as a emergency evacuation center.¡± ¡°For now let me see if I can get to one of the other classrooms and gather some of the other teachers¡± ¡°Its dark everywhere and we can¡¯t see outside, so for now stay here¡± he said as he stumbled into the hallway towards the next classroom. Staying here doesn¡¯t seem like a good idea. As I recalled the ghoulish looking creature had told me to prepare. The respectful tone he used almost made feel bad for wanting to ask what I needed to prepare for. As if it was a cowardly question that would fail his expectations, by the time I tried to ask he had left. Anyways as soon as I can I should try to explore the outside. While in thought about my next move suddenly a blue message popped up in front of me. Ding!
New Message: Hello Everyone, This is god, well one of them anyway. Unfortunately, your peaceful(or not) lives have come to an end. The energy in this world has been in a constant decline for the last few millennia. You see the energies in this world were supposed to prevent this destruction from happening for at least another 500 years. However, the pollution caused by humans literally killed the earth. The earth was unable to heal itself, and a imbalance in the world happened that will make the world go Kaboom, taking all of you with it. The good news is that I and some other gods like humanity or at the very least find you guys amusing. Because of this we tried to move you all to a new planet. While we did find a suitable planet we can¡¯t interfere with it directly. It is a primal planet where only the strong survive. Some of us had already invaded this place with our creations, who made it their home so we are able to teleport some of you there. The bad news is that this connection is two way meaning other gods are able to send their creations to earth. While most gods there will not care about our world, it so happens that we are not the only gods trying to make this world our home. We can¡¯t directly intervene and neither can they, that means you¡¯ll have to duke it out with their followers. ps. There are 7 billion of you so at least some of you should survive. We will try to teleport the ones with greatest potential to our temples in the other world. Those who stay behind will have to gather enough energy to teleport to this new world. Not all gods like humanity, some think of you as a cancer, so be careful of their creations. p.p.s. I mean really,really be careful they have like dragons,leviathans and chimeras, they will use them to wipe you out.
Ding!
Warning you¡¯ve entered the temple of Huitzilopochtli (Dungeon)
Ding!
Quest: get out alive! You have entered the domain of the great god Huitzilopochtil, enter his temple and offer him sacrifice only then will you be allowed into the new world. Time limit 3 days failure means death!
¡°What!¡± everyone screamed.