《The New God》 The Court Of Themis Court Servant Bloody footprints, so murky they were almost black, were left in the place where the man had walked. The pristine robes of this mysterious man were slowly turning a nasty shade of red. It was the tainted blood of a man who sinned. I scrubbed ferociously at the footprints, and other servants joined in. We were the dead who could not pass judgement in Themis¡¯ Court, and were ordered to maintain the court. Forever. Or, until our minds gave out. I watched the man twitch as pain racked through him. I was impressed. Very few of those who were judged at the court could withstand the pain of the Cursed Shackles placed on them. Then again, not many had committed grievous enough crimes to be forced to wear them. The shackles originally gifted to the court by Styx, the personification of hatred and ruler of the Cursed River caused unbearable pain to the wearer. That the man was standing at all was a surprise, much less walking up the many pristine marble steps. The many, many steps that they were forced to clean. Now with as much of a pained expression as the robed man, I got back to work. But, despite my ferocious scrubbing, the tainted blood refused to go away. Looking around, I cautiously decided to use the one thing I still retained, even in death. Magic. I¡¯d long been taught that it was wrong to not clean, and torture had driven that into me. But, magic was something they didn¡¯t know about. I placed my hands over the footprint and muttered, ¡°Sanctum, munda.¡± A white light spread from my fingertips and wiped away the black blood. I grinned to myself, and stepped up a single stair, and got ready to clean. I had work to do. Prometheus The souls that couldn¡¯t pass judgement were cleaning. I would have felt sorry for them, as I was leaving a bloody trail, but didn¡¯t. They were sinners after all. True sinners, not like me. All I did was lead to the possibility for the downfall of the Titans. I noticed many of them continuing to scrub, but my blood couldn¡¯t be washed by normal means. I did, however, notice an unassuming girl managing. My eyes glinted at that, only very powerful human wizards could retain magic in death, and only magic could cleanse Titan Blood. I wondered who the girl was. I hardly ever paid attention to the antics of my children. The pain washed through me again, and agony spread across my face. No sound escaped my white lips. I dragged on, teetering up the steps. I was surprised to see, as I was halfway up the steps, a familiar face. I waited until we were next to each other before I whispered to Wodan. ¡°So they got you too. I have to wonder who did it, after all, they have no jurisdiction over Norse Boh. They cannot rightfully punish you.¡± At, there was another jerk on the chain. Not a pleasant feeling, but one you- well you don¡¯t really get used to it. But you do learn to cope. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.Wodan smirked at me and sent me, telepathically, ¡®We¡¯ll talk later.¡¯ I would have sent him back, but I was never very good at using a mental link. Instead I just thought repeatedly, ¡®For me, there will be no later. This is obviously just a matter of following their laws. After all, I could have caused their downfall, they will just send me to the pit.¡¯ It didn¡¯t get through. Wodan I chuckled, mentally at least. Who would want the guards to think they were crazy? Not someone sane. Noting that I made my chuckle audible. Then I proceeded to listen in at Prometheus¡¯ mad and rambling attempts to contact me. I watched through his eyes as Themis judged Prometheus to be innocent. As she was believed to be completely fair, and one of the 12 Ruling Titans, her word was accepted. I smirked, as Themis was fair. But the bind snake I placed on her mind temporarily altered out her memory of the situation. She thought that Prometheus had weakened the structure of Mount Olympus. Again. Magic was nifty, wasn¡¯t it? Now, with that under control, I went back to our plans for the¡­ I suppose he should be called the Reborn King. I think it fit. With that done I reviewed what we must do with the Reborn King. 1: Make sure the soul transfer works, so we don¡¯t have to start again. 2: Teach him. 3: Test him when they¡¯re ready. 4: Overthrow the Titans. With everything sorted in my head, I was ready for the hardest part of nurturing the Reborn King. The wait. Court Servant At last, I had finished cleaning the steps. They were returned to being spotless, however, I was drained of energy. Magic didn¡¯t come from nowhere after all. And then, of course, the man came walking back down the steps. Every single step staining the marble again. I gave up on magic and just glared daggers at the man. He must have sensed it or something, because he looked back at me, and waved his hand. Suddenly, like a glass of water filled from a lake, I was brimming with energy. I nodded at him, and got back to work. Of course I was still angry. But I would have had to do it eventually, there were no other magic users at this place. It just makes a difference of when I did it. So I repeated, ¡°Sanctum munda.¡± On every step of the stairs. Again. Journey Through The Underworld Merek ¡°No! Nonononono! Don¡¯t hurt her! Mom! Don¡¯t die mom! Please, please don¡¯t hurt her! No!¡± I screamed and cried miserably as the men took my mom. They were like giants, all around 190 centimeters tall, with muscles bulging out of their tattered clothes. A pockmarked man was holding me back, not letting me go help my mom, while she was dragged away. His dirty clothes rubbed their grime off on me, and his harsh breathing was right next to me ear. A repulsive stench wafted over as he spoke. ¡°Hehe, sorry kid. You¡¯re not getting¡¯ your mom back. Though you might eventually meet her in the afterlife. That¡¯s assuming her soul¡¯s not broken tonight. Hehehe.¡± His rough laughter was like nails on a chalkboard, and I could no longer take it. I had to ty to help my mom. ¡°Nooooooo! Mom, I¡¯m coming! You don¡¯t need to worry, I¡¯ll save you!¡± I bit down hard on the man¡¯s arm, meanwhile, my winter boot came up and slammed into the man¡¯s privates. I heard a satisfying grunt, so I turned. I saw the man hunched over in pain, cradling his crotch. I smiled in both anger and hatred, and slammed my knee into his face, pushing him over. Now free, I ran up to my mom, who was still being dragged away by the 3 cruel men. The ringleader, a man with only slightly tattered clothes and tattoos covering his thick neck, laughed. ¡°Haha! For you to get beaten down by a litte kid is really pitiful, John. Perhaps you should have killed him earlier, before you got your balls squished into paste!¡± It seems as if these men aren¡¯t very good friends. Either that, or that¡¯s just how it works ¡®on the streets¡¯. I charged into the fray, with a flurry of punches and kicks. Alas, fighting three drunk grown men as a 12 year old child is¡­ very difficult. Very very difficult. Every single one of my attacks was accurate. I hit the neck, the stomach, the crotch, the temple¡­ and none of them worked. Not only was I too weak, my body weighed too little. I was naturally scrawny, and these guys were built for fighting. Even if they just flailed their arms around, and they did, they were still going to beat me. I knew that too. I had no chance. I knew that from the start. But, if the tussle can cause enough noise, perhaps a cop will come along. I just need to buy my mom time. The good part about being scrawny is¡­ you¡¯re super agile and compactable. I avoided every one of their flailed attacks, whether it¡¯s by dancing around it, dodging, putting someone else between us, anything. But eventually, I¡¯d get tired. The grim picture was becoming grimmer, as I was already huffing and puffing. But that was okay, a cop would be arriving any time now. I knew this, how? Well because the sirens were ringing in my ears of course? The police were here! ¡°Screw it. We don¡¯t have time to tussle with this kid. Let¡¯s take him out before the cops catch us.¡± The ringleader said to the muscle heads, and they nodded. I felt a foreboding feeling, something that went along with the piece of black metal that came out of one of the thugs¡¯ jacket pocket. I heard a bang, and felt a rush of heat. Then I was encompassed by a warm darkness, like a mother¡¯s hug. The last time I would feel such a thing. Death¡¯s embrace. I woke to a draft of cool wind. Not cold, but chill, refreshing. My eyes opened to see plains. It seemed kind of empty, just endless green plains, dotted with the occasional tree. It was bleak and dreary, without color, emotion, or life. It was barren in the very sense of the word. I stood up, blinking. Before I was knocked unconscious, I had been trying to save my mom¡­ MOM! Where was she? I swirled around and around, looking but saw no one. ¡°Mom! Where did you go?!¡± Wait¡­ before I was knocked unconscious¡­ the man had pulled out something. What was it..? What was- gun. He pulled out a gun and shot me. I was dead. Then would that mean that this was the afterlife? Then¡­ because mom wasn¡¯t here, did that mean she hadn¡¯t died? Wait, no, because more people have died in this period of time that just me¡­ so what was happening? To the left of me, an old white man popped into existence with a blissful smile on his face. I didn¡¯t know him¡­ but if he was here, then, where was my mom? And where was I? ¡°Wait, what? Where am I? Hey kid, what¡¯s your name?¡± He asked me, and I absent mindedly replied, ¡°Merek, sir. And yours?¡± He smiled and nodded. ¡°I¡¯m Arthur. Tell me, Merek, do you have any idea how we ended up here?¡± He seemed nice, I thought, while my mouth was talking. ¡°No sir, I don¡¯t. Though I suspect that we may have died. This is very possibly the afterlife.¡± ¡°What? Nonono, that¡¯s not possible. I was just talking with my daught-¡°. He paused, with a look of fear growing in his eyes. I assumed he had remembered something. ¡°I¡­ I¡­ I died? Did I really die? But my grandson¡­ my daughter¡­ I won¡¯t see them again? I¡­¡± I felt sorry for the man. It seemed like he had a lot to live for. A daughter, a grandson, a son¡­ he must have lived a good life. I just hope that my mom, if this is the afterlife, doesn¡¯t join me. It would be such a bitter sweet thing. My mom coming back to me¡­ but only by dying with me. I was silent while the man cried, just waiting. I wish I knew what I was waiting for though. With another pop, a woman appeared. She was unconscious like I had been, but soon she woke. When she opened her eyes, they were calculating, like everything had secrets scribbled on top of them, if you just looked close enough. The thought terrified me. She stood, and without a single tear, asked a single question. ¡°Did I die?¡± I nodded, and she followed suit. ¡°Car crashes. What can you do?¡± That made me smile, and a smirk made it to her lips as well. Kind of funny. She¡¯s a grown woman, speaking morbid jokes about death to a 12 year old while a grandpa sobbed in the background. Maybe death was just a way to crack jokes with strangers. And, yet again, with a bang, another person was popped into existence. ¡°Welcome, weary travelers. Welcome to the Desolate Plains of Darkness, where you shall spend the rest of eternity!¡± We welcomed the arrival of the stranger, although he felt different. It was like an unseen pressure revolving around him, repulsing those who would draw near. Frightening. He looked up from his feet, and to my astonishment, his eyes glowed a miraculous shade of violet. I don¡¯t just mean that he had violet eyes either, I mean that they glowed with a violet light. It was disturbingly inhuman. The man spoke. ¡°No, mortals, I welcome you to the Plains of Judgement. Those few good people who die will be sent here, and this is where they will be tried to see what world they are reborn into. For you to be here means it is already one of the Heavenly planes, but which of the 3 is yet to be decided. Now, follow me to the Judgement Scale.¡± The woman and I interchanged nods, and with a shrug, followed the violet eyes man. The crying man fell behind, but eventually followed as well. All of the hills we walked over would have us expecting to see something special, but on we walked. It was completely unremarkable, just a hike through the plains. We didn¡¯t get hungry, or tired, or thirsty, or bored. We just walked, like that was all that we really could do. And in truth¡­ it was. It seemed like days passed, but with not a sun or a moon, I had no way of knowing. It was just walking. A ¡®journey through the underworld¡¯. At long last, we arrived at what I assumed was the Judgement Scale. Well, it was really the only thing in the entire Plains of Judgement that wasn¡¯t plains or people, so¡­ I assumed that it would be the Judgement Scale. It was like the scale you would be weighed with at the doctor¡¯s office. It had the adjustable knobs and everything, but instead of saying a measurement for weight, like lb. or grams, it measured with ¡®Sin¡¯. Whoever God really is¡­ maybe he should be rethinking how he measures naughty and nice. This is too¡­ odd. The man who hadn¡¯t spoke for days, turned and opened his mouth once more. ¡°This is the Judgement Scale. I would like each of you to be weighed on it. First, Sniffles, the one who was crying the whole way over, you¡¯ll be first.¡± This violet eyed man seemed to have a sense of humor, however cruel and twisted it was. Who was he, anyway? The old man stepped on to the scale, and the ¡®Sin¡¯ became unbalanced. The violet eyes man adjusted it to where it was perfectly balanced on 64. Apparently he had a sin of 64, whatever that meant. ¡°Could you please tell me what exactly that does? And maybe who you are?¡± I suddenly blurted it out, though I immediately regretted it. Sometimes I failed to restrain my mouth. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. The man chuckled good-naturedly. ¡°For your first question, this measures how much burden you have on your conscious. Because right now, you don¡¯t actually have physical bodies, it of course doesn¡¯t weigh your body. It weighs your guilt over whatever sins you¡¯ve committed. As for your second question, no.¡± Hmm. Grouch. But the first part, weighing your sin through the burden on your mind. Odd way of measuring, but then again¡­ I didn¡¯t even know half of what he was talking about. Who was I to judge? ¡°What were you talking about earlier, when you said which of the three Heavens we¡¯d get into? Are there multiple? And does it correspond with the amount of burden you have on your mind?¡± Now is when the woman spoke out in curiosity. I admit that her questions were probably better and more thorough than mine but¡­ I¡¯m 12. How much can you ask for? The violet eyes man, still smiling, replied quickly. ¡°There are 9 planes of the universe. Plain 1, the Demonic Plane. This is a plane reserved for the worst of the worst. Only completely evil and corrupt existences are sent to the first plane. It is a plane where even dying is impossible, where you are constantly tortured in many gruesome ways. Plane 2, the Malicious Plane. This is similar to the Demonic Plane, but less severe. For example, you can die. It just takes a lot more than for normal humans. Plane 3, the Sinful Plane. This is where you are like normal humans, but everything that can go wrong does. For example, you find a red sock in a load of whites. After the load is done. Or, your engine breaks down as soon as you start a family car trip. The first 3 planes are known as the Planes of Hell. Next, you have the 4th Plane, the Plain Plane. This is basically just a plane where everything is uninteresting. Bland. The 5th Plane is called the Material Plane. This is basically a middle plain. It is right in the middle, where people are very mixed. You¡¯re good, or bad, or depressed, or anything really. This is for people who don¡¯t really earn anything better, but don¡¯t deserve anything worse. This is where you all come from. And the 6th Plane is the Spiritual Plane. It¡¯s where if things can go well, they normally do. It¡¯s basically where you¡¯re always lucky. But other than that, it¡¯s normal. These three planes are called the Physical Planes. And finally, we have the three Heavenly Planes. Plane 7 is called the Magic Plane. It¡¯s a magic plane with not much technology, but something that none of the other planes have. Magic. Other Planes might have qi building, but this is the only one with magic, as in you say a word and something dies. Other than that, it¡¯s just like the 6th plane. The 8th Plane is called the Rustic Plane. It only has qi building, but it is the most beautiful plane of them all. The sights to see are glorious, untainted. This is also, by the way, the Plane that you get into, old guy. You only have a two-digit burden. That is worthy of the 8th plane. Nice job.¡± The man paused his speech to congratulate the old man on making it to the second highest plane. I smiled at the man that still only looked up hopefully while sobbing. At least he had been listening. The violet eyed man then restarted his speech. ¡°The 9th plane, called the Pure Plane, is a plane where everyone is rewarded a ¡®super power¡¯. It¡¯s completely random, and until you get it, you don¡¯t know what it¡¯ll be. It is however dependent on your personality. Other than that, it¡¯s like the 8th plane but a little bit less pretty. Oh, and you live really long. Although, I doubt any of you will make it to the 9th plane, it requires a single digit sin to get in. That is very difficult. Now that I have answered your questions, allow me to continue sending you off to your next life. Now, you, the woman who asked those questions, come weigh yourself.¡± With the speech over, the man was once more stern and strict. The woman stepped forward and onto the scale, and was weighed a 134. So she got to go to the Magic Realm. Good, she seemed like she¡¯d like to examine magic. Finally, it was my turn to be weighed. I stepped up to the scale, but when I stepped on¡­ there was no change. ¡°Try stepping off then stepping back on.¡± The violet eyed man suggested, looking worried, so I did. I stepped off, then back on, and still¡­ there was no change. I jumped up and down, but it did nothing. I, apparently, had no burden. I turned my head, looking at the violet eyed man, and asked, ¡°Does 0 count as a single digit number?¡± I was meant to be a joke, but he shook his head in shock. That kind of confused me. If 0 doesn¡¯t count as a single digit number, then where was I going? The violet eyed man stuttered to a start, ¡°T...t...to t¡­ tell you all the t¡­ t¡­ truth, there are actually 10 planes. But the tenth is reserved for people who have not a single bit of burden on their consciousness. The 10th Plane is known as the God Plane. It is where gods live.¡± That left us all gaping in shock. The plane¡­ where gods live? None of us really believed him, and me least of all, but¡­ why would he lie to us. Did it really matter if we thought there were 9 planes or 10? He could just send us to random planes, there is no point in telling us this anyway. So¡­ was he telling us the truth? The woman asked another good question, ¡°Gods? As in, plural? So¡­ which polytheists were right? What religion was true?¡± Hmm¡­ I know I didn¡¯t think of it. She seemed to be a smart person. ¡°All of the religions are true. Well¡­ originally there was a single god, known as the King. He created and ruled over all of existence. But, then different people started believing in different religions, and that split him into multiple pieces. Now, every god that people believe in exists. There are also the forgotten gods that no longer have any believers. They have weakened to the point where they are practically servants to the gods. For example, have you ever heard of the god Rallentheus?¡± The woman and I replied, ¡°No.¡± at the same time, while the old man was still crying. I had no respect or sympathy for him anymore. He was spineless. The man nodded. ¡°That¡¯s because I was forgotten.¡± Then he made a gesture to the side and 3 holes opened in the space that was open air. They looked like black holes, but they had no suction. Just empty places. Meanwhile, we were all thinking about his last 3 words. ¡®I was forgotten¡¯. Does that mean that he was the god Rallentheus? But there was more to it than that. If every new religion split the gods even further, then wouldn¡¯t there eventually be too many gods and not enough power? Does that mean, that eventually the gods would actually become mortal? ¡°Does that mean that eventually, gods will become mortal or die because they don¡¯t have enough power?¡± The woman arrived at the same conclusion as me. But¡­ the violet eyed man, Rallentheus, gave no response. He just addressed the old man. ¡°This is your portal to the 8th Plane. Just walk into it, and you will be reborn.¡± The sobbing man finally calmed down, and stepped into the black space. And with a pop like earlier, he disappeared. ¡°Next you, lady. This is a portal to the 7th Plane. Oh, and I guess I¡¯ll tell you that you lose your memory.¡± The woman just nodded, and turned to me. ¡°Kid, I think I¡¯d like to know your name. You know, in case we meet each other in these planes again.¡± She smiled, and I followed her example. ¡°I¡¯m Merek. I hope to see you again, Miss¡­¡± I trailed off in question. Her smile broadened. ¡°You can call me Rebecca.¡± She held out her hand and mirth gleamed in her green eyes. I took it in my own, and pressed my lips against her knuckles. My mom always encouraged me to use the manners of the 1700s. Don¡¯t know why, but I think I like it too. More personal than the handshakes of today. ¡°Miss Rebecca, I bid you farewell. I hope to see you again.¡± With the smile still on her face, she stepped into the portal and disappeared. ¡°Because you got into the 10th plane, I have to grant you the benefits of that. First, your superpower. You get that just like how you¡¯d get it in the 9th plane. You also get knowledge of a Special Skill. This is like a super power, but you have to learn it. However, when you do learn it, it will be much more powerful.¡± Rallentheus walked towards me, and placed his hands on my head. His left hand was on my face, with his thumb pressing against my temple. His right hand was on my head, on the front of my right side. I felt something, strange, special, pass through my skull, and then I knew new things. I knew that if I cultivated my special skill, I would be able to fuse the elements to make cool things. And this is more than a fire tornado, or fire-quake. This is something like fusing darkness and water to make ice. Or fire and water to make steam. It seemed kind of weak, but imagine someone hurling a ball of fire at you, and you fuse it with water to make steam. Or you could fuse it with air to make it dissipate into a cloud of ashes. The man removed his hands, and I looked at him. His face revealed no expression, and he gestured with a hand towards the portal. I nodded, and walked towards it. Just before I entered, however, I looked back. He had begun talking. ¡°The forgotten gods have a belief, a religion, as well. We believe that there will be a person, who is the Reborn King. He will defeat all of the gods, and join their power into his own. He will connect them all, forgotten gods and unforgotten gods alike. We will be one, and the universe will be whole again. He will save us all from death.¡± I stayed there, thinking for a while. Then I spoke. ¡°I hope your Reborn King will come in time to save you.¡± And I meant it. Rallentheus looked into my eyes and smiled. ¡°I hope so too. And I hope that you¡¯ll find your mom again.¡± And I think he meant it. This is when I turned and walked into the portal. I felt a tugging sensation, and when I looked back, I saw nothing. Reborn King Hey everyone, so this is the third chapter, and I''m having issues with my decisions. Basically, I''m suffering from writers block for this story. I have two other stories that I will be posting the first chapters of, and I need your help to tell me which I should continue writing on. Just comment on which story you think is best, and I will devote myself to that story. Please help me, I''m feeling so conflicted. And thank you to everyone who has followed this story, it means a lot. I felt like there was something pulling me somewhere, and I got this image in my head of a clean white room, with women rushing around, busying themselves, while one hovered next to my vision, I assumed that was my mother. They were all dressed in white robes, with golden sashes around their waists. It seemed to be from an era similar to the time of the Greeks. While I had that image in my mind, in truth, all that surrounded me was darkness. Just, nothing. That is, until, a giant white hole opened up in front of me. A saw a face through it, a weathered face with many lines carved into it from age. It was the face of a stern looking man, with a white beard on his chin, and a bare lip. His wispy white hair floated in streams around his head, while his blue eyes seemed to bore their way into my head. They saw whatever I kept there, things I didn¡¯t want to see. They saw the last scene of my life, the scene I myself watched not too long ago. But I mentally shut my eyes, for I feared that my mother might have died, and I didn¡¯t need that reminder. That¡¯s when the stern face smiled, and I saw a golden hook solidify inside of the blackness. It pulled at me, and I was tugged into the open air. But, the scene I saw was not one of nurses bustling around. It was a different scene, I saw that we were in a forest, surrounded by mighty oak trees, and wavy willows. Mossy boulders dotted the landscape, and around us flowed a bending river. We were on a small island in a great river. In front of me was the man who I had seen before, with the same blue eyes and the same wispy hair. I tried to speak, ¡°Hey, who are you? I was supposed to be reborn into the 10th realm, but this doesn¡¯t look like what I was suspecting?¡± But there was a problem. When I spoke it sounded more like, ¡°Hashel relk yonow? I as suposled o e ebon te teth eal ut is doent ook ike as uspeting.¡± I raised my hands in front of my eyes and saw that they were short and pudgy. I was a baby. A toothless baby. Of course, it made sense. I was reborn, why would I be reborn into a body that was already 12? That wouldn¡¯t make sense. The man spoke with a voice similar to his eyes. Cold. ¡°Hello, Merek, my name is Wodan. Well, Wodan, or Odin depending on where you are. Actually, in the Demonic Plane I am known as Frost Burn, but that¡¯s just because I am known to torture people by freezing them in such cold temperatures that their flesh burns. Anyway, you are one of the few pure souls to ever exist, so be proud. I suppose I got lucky since I only had to wait 8 years before you came here. I would have expected a wait of a few hundred years. So, to cut to the chase, I have been monitoring the teleportation from the Plains of Judgement to the 10th Plane. You came along, so I plucked you out and pulled you here, the 7th Plane. Here I will teach you and train you as soon as your body is able. Once you turn 10, I will let you leave this wilderness, and you can integrate into the society of this plane. Once you defeat the Gods who rule this plane, we can continue to defeat the other planes before challenging the 10th plane. The whole process should take about 1000 years. I think that about covers most of what I have to tell you. Once you can speak the language of this world, you can ask questions. I will help you out with that a bit though with that part¡± Once this guy finished speaking, a single thought was running through my mind¡­ ¡°Rambler.¡± Well, that, and the thought that I was talking to Odin the Norse God. That part was kind of cool though. Eventually, I just sat there staring at him until I finally fell asleep. It had been two years since the day I met Wodan. After the first three months, I had learned the language of the planet well enough that it was comparable to most of my prior vocabulary. Some of that was because of Wodan¡¯s easy learning spells, but I still did a lot. I was proud. After 6 months, not only did I have enough teeth to talk fluently, I had developed the ability to walk, and write. By 7 months, I was reading and writing fluently. At 10 months old, I started a regimen of running and squats, as well as climbing up the trees on the island. When I was a year old, I doubled the load on my workout, and Wodan began to teach me to cultivate both battle power and mana. By 18 months, my mana was the size of a large puddle, about three feet across. My battle power at that point was the size of a rock, way past the pebble of most 10 year olds. Not only that, but my body was comparable to the average 4 year old, but more muscular. I was too young to have actual muscle though, so what I really had was a streamlined body that showed that my youthful body had endured lots of exercise. Now, at two years, Wodan was teaching me both spells and ways to use battle qi. My mana and qi was at a level comparable to an above average 16 year old. Of course, I was still only at the level of genius 14 year olds, but still. Impressive. Through all of the two years of my constantly changing regimen and training, one thing had stayed the same. Wodan had always been like the most stern coach you¡¯ve ever had multiplied by 100 times. The second I did something even slightly wrong, I would be yelled at and punished according to the severity of the mistake. For example, if I accidentally slowed down while doing my sprints around the island, then I would be forced to stand on a tiny rock in the fast flowing river without moving. Whenever this happened, the water would come up around me, nearly encasing me, giving me no room to move. Wodan also, using the same technique, would make it swirl around me with intensity. I would get injured if I moved, and this entire time I had to stay in the Standing Tiger position. That is, with one leg up, on the toes of my other foot, with my arms crossed at different elevations in front of me. But, however strict Wodan may be, he was an amazing teacher. If I did something wrong, before the punishment, he would show me how to do it perfectly. The amount of skills I learned so far under him wasn¡¯t many, but I was so good at the ones I knew that low level techniques were comparable to top level techniques. And I was learning top level techniques. My days were divided between battle power training, mana training, physical body training, eating, and sleeping. I woke up with the sun every morning and ate a quick breakfast Wodan had prepared. This took 15 minutes. Next, for about 5 hours, I trained my body. I would then eat lunch, 15 minutes again, and train my mana for 5 hours. I would then spend 2 hours and 30 minutes training my battle power. I would eat dinner in 15 minutes, then train my battle power for another 2 hours and 30 minutes. And, with the final 15 minutes, I would map out what I would take time out of the next day to preform my punishments. Wodan made it always be one of my meals, or maybe my physical body training. This is only because the punishments are usually physically taxing. I was now 5 years old. For the past three years, I had trained about 3 times harder than previously. Everything from the punishments to the taste of the food was harsher. However, it all has paid off. My mana pool is now the size of a large lake. This is comparable to an average 20 year old, or a genius 17 year old. My battle power was at the level of boulder, and a very large one at that. This was comparable to the average 19 year old, or a genius 16 or 17 year old. And my physical body was at a peak physical condition. It was at the point where I most likely looked like a fish I was so streamlined. What muscle my body had developed was bulging and so clearly defined that you might think I was a fully grown hobbit. I was disappointed when Wodan told me there were actually no hobbits in most worlds, including this one. When I was 3, not only was I given a sword, I was given a wizard¡¯s staff. The sword was simple, but was sharp enough to cut off an arm with as much force as you would use to chop carrots. It was silver, but apparently enchanted by Wodan himself. Silver made like that was referred to as God Silver, a fact Wodan told me himself. The staff, too was simple yet powerful. It was made by the Greek god of nature and given to Prometheus as a gift. However, Prometheus had an equally powerful staff, which he gave to Wodan. Now, Wodan was giving it to me. It was made from the heartwood of a dryad, enchanted by the nature goddess, then adorned with a Compass Star. A compass star was a great treasure by itself, as it could tell what kinds of mana or battle power were being used. Earth, fire, wind, water, light, abstract, or darkness. It would also tell where, as long as it was nearby. But when the Compass Star was put on the staff, it greatly enhanced control over the elements. Wodan had told me the only difference from a weapon and a lump of materials was what you called it. So I had named my weapons. The sword was called King¡¯s Blade, to live up to my title as Reborn King. The staff was named North Star. I turned 9 a while ago. To be specific, 11 months and 29 days ago, I turned 9. And tomorrow Wodan would take me to the nearest human city. He stressed the human part, because apparently there were different races on this planet. I rose out of my silk bed with a peaceful smile on my face. I left the simple stone cottage Wodan had prepared for me, and stood in front of the tallest tree in the island. I didn¡¯t recognize what type of tree it was. Either it was similar to an exotic tree from Earth or it was a completely different kind. It had pine needles for leaves, but the tree was shaped like an oak tree on Earth. It was one of those things that shocked you no matter how often you looked at it. I only waited for about 3 minutes before Wodan came, emerging from the shadows the tree cast on the ground. It was odd, but he had explained to me long ago that once reaching a certain level of skill, you can rip a hole in the plane, and create a mini-plane. Places like the Plains of Judgement are mini-planes. The only thing is, unless you¡¯re really powerful, it¡¯s not permanent. Apparently, a god named The Great Spirit, head of a religion known as Spiritual Way had made the Planes of Judgement. Wodan made this one. I had no idea what it looked like, or what it was, but every night he would go there, while I slept. And every morning, when I woke, he came from out the tree¡¯s shadow. He told me though, that he could access it from anywhere there was a shadow. But I assumed that he liked the dramatic flare of melding into a tree¡¯s shadow and disappearing. ¡°Good morning, Apprentice Merek. I believe that it is time for your test.¡± This was normal. Every morning, he would say the same words. ¡®Good morning, Apprentice Merek. I believe it is time for your training-¡® wait, what? Test! ¡°What do you mean by test, Master Wodan?¡± I asked, curious. Wodan just smiled, saying, ¡°Follow me.¡± Then he sped away, at a pace I could only keep up with by using my battle power. But his speed was by using only the power of his body. I had a long way to go. We turned to go to the northeastern side of the large island, and I just followed along. After only about 10 seconds, we arrived at the beach. He kept going. I kept following. Once we entered the lake the water seemed to part around him, creating a column of vacant space in the water. I followed behind him, all the way down to the murky bottom of the river. There, I saw a spark of flame, eagerly devouring the oxygen in a ball of swirling air. Around the pocket of air was a cover of pure blue water. This ball was half sunken into the mud at the bottom of the river. The lighting was off, and half of the ball was cast in shadow, while the other half was lit up. This ball of elements was the size of 2 grown men. Wodan turned, and looked at me. ¡°This is the entrance to the 6 Elements Hall. It is a miniature plane made by a Goddess called Athro. She happens to be my cousin, so she told me the technique for creating an entrance to it. 6 Elements Hall is used for testing new gods and rating their strength. This is used to determine which plane they watch over. Because there are 10 planes, there are 10 levels. Level 1 is the easiest, and if you can survive in the first level for 1 minute, you pass my test. You will undoubtedly be injured, so for the rest of the day, you will be recuperating.¡± At first, I was elated. I was getting to be tested as they would test a new god. But then, I realized something. I was comparable to a 20 year old talented person in my fighting capabilities. That wasn¡¯t anywhere near as powerful as a god. Perhaps this test was a bit cruel. And a lot harder than I expected. But still, I spoke out. ¡°Could you please approximate my chances of passing this test as I am now?¡± Wodan, still looking at me with that still face, replied, ¡°I couldn¡¯t beat the 8th level. I am merely a 7th level god. To me, the 1st level was about as hard as it would be for you to climb a mountain in 1 minute. You just have to survive for a minute though. So I would give you a 40% chance of succeeding as you are now. However, if you do pass, then I will let you go to civilization tomorrow. If you fail you won¡¯t get to do so. I also have a special surprise for you if you can pass.¡± Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Hmm. 40% isn¡¯t that depressing. I still have a fairly large chance of passing. And, a special surprise, as well as getting to leave the island and go to civilization. It was a sweet deal, to me. You can only gain, right? I nodded and stepped/jumped into the ball of elements. I felt the tugging sensation that I had felt when I had left the Plains of Judgement, then I was in a different place. I got a sense of vertigo from the instant shift from one place to the next, and as soon as I did, I heard a growl. Looking ahead, I saw an average sized mountain. It didn¡¯t look to treacherous, and I could probably climb it in those 5 minutes if I tried really hard¡­ but there was no time limit. The problem¡­ there were monsters everywhere, blocking my path. Immediately, I knew that every single one of them was as strong as me, a few stronger. And there were hundreds. They came in all shapes and sizes, although most of them were large and with a lot of teeth. There were oddly proportioned fiery wolves, bears with needles like a porcupine¡­ the list went on and on. This all led me to a single conclusion¡­ run. And run I did, like a fool, I sprinted around the area. I knew, that to pass, I would probably have to reach the peak of the mountain. Or kill all of the creatures. Or both. But I didn¡¯t have to pass, all I had to do was survive for a minute. The good thing about me, was I was very well balanced. While there were some creatures stronger than me, some creatures faster, or had wings¡­ I was average in all of those things. Flying creatures would attack from above, but I could kill them because their defense was weaker than mine. Fast creatures would track me down, but they didn¡¯t have very much attack, so I could defend myself. And the strong creatures couldn¡¯t keep up. But, there were hundreds of them, and one of me. Eventually, they started to work together, to trap me, to kill me. I knew, of course, that I could always say exit, and escape, but until the hope was all but gone, I refused to say it. We ran in circles around the mountain, though it was more like I ran in circles while they stayed within 10 meters of where they started. That was enough. While the fast ones chased, they would heard me in the direction of the strong ones. Meanwhile, the flying monsters would swoop down to attack, leaving myself almost at their whim. 30 seconds had passed since I entered, and not only my body, but my mind was feeling the strain of constantly surviving, avoiding the monsters. Somehow, I doubted that I would be able to make it out of this. Although I did realize they were gods, I thought it was absolutely retarded that this was something the weakest god could accomplish. I could hardly survive for a minute here, and they could defeat it? But then I remembered how I had been training for less than 10 years. That brought me to my senses. ¡°Well, Wodan, maybe you have overestimated me when you gave me a 40% chance of victory. I¡¯d need something special that¡¯s exclusive to me. An ability¡­ A thought struck me. Something that I had forgotten for a long time¡­ a special something¡­ my power to control rocks! I was next to a mountain! I connected to that little strand of knowledge that told me how to use my special ability. Hmm, it was simply described as ¡®think¡¯. So I did. I imagine the process of a great boulder soaring over from the mountain. The boulder crashed into multiple monsters on the way over, not killing them, but throwing them off course. It continued on to me, until it knocked away every monster in my direct vicinity! Finally, I had found what gave me an edge over the monsters. My ability! I stopped running, and took time to have a large clump of dirt, rocks, and stones. As the huge clump flew over to me, the larger ones taking longer, they all clumped together. As soon as it was all in the spot where I had been- I had run away by now- I started compressing. All of the material I had pulled there tried to scrunch in on one spot, the resulting pressure bearing down on the stones in the middle. One the process was complete, a me-sized glowing red clump of some hard material I couldn¡¯t name was floating in midair. My pride and joy, the thing that would keep me alive. This me sized rock then started flying around, ramming into every strong monster it could find. It knocked the weaker ones out, and damaged the stronger ones. Everywhere, monsters were flying. Although the faster ones could avoid the rock, they were too busy trying to survive to kill me. It looked like I had one. Of course, because I¡¯m me, and for me to be as powerful as a weak god is impossible¡­ all of the surviving monsters started to tear through the air towards one point, much as my rocks had collected at one spot. But the animals didn¡¯t compress, they changed, becoming pieces of a huge, and living, puzzle. Eventually, it was a gigantic lizard with scaly horns all along its back. I assumed that it would normally have wings, but I killed most of the flying creatures, so it just had stumps. The mouth and claws were made of the strong creatures, the fast ones the legs, the rounded ones the body and tail¡­ and the poisonous ones formed the fangs. I was screwed. Then I became super-duper screwed, because the mountain stood up. It shook off all of those trees and dirt, and became a lizard similar to the other one, but taller and thinner. I had no chance, but my internal clock told me I only had to survive for 5¡­ The lizards came running, sprinting unusually fast for creatures of their size, 2 times faster than myself. And there were, of course two of them. Crap. 4. They reached me quickly, despite my full speed running, and all of my attempts to dodge. They batted their paws towards me from both directions, and I sunk down into the hole I made in the ground. 3. I tried running underground through a column I created in the ground as I ran. But apparently, they still knew where I was, as their footsteps pounded above me. 2. A thick, oily green mist billowed through the original hole I had created, quickly catching up to me. I knew I probably shouldn¡¯t touch it, so I hopped up through the recently made hole in the ground. 1. I knew there would be something waiting above me, so I encased myself in the compressed dirt that I had made earlier, after taking in a huge breath. I felt the rock I had made shudder, and be moved, and I knew¡­ I had been swallowed. As the poison started corroding the rock, the long awaited buzzer rang, as my body clock hit 0. Using my last breath of air, I yelled, ¡°Exit!¡± and I was gone. I came back to the 6th realm unscathed, although tired, much to Wodan¡¯s surprise. ¡°So you made it, huh. I¡¯m assuming you remembered to use your ability then?¡± Wodan grumbled as soon as I was back, rock suit left behind. I nodded, ¡°I guess 40% was enough for me to win, right?¡± I said, proud in a way. I survived a minute in a ranking test for gods. That¡¯s not something normal people can do. ¡°You believed me when I told you 40%? Hah! You had a 0% chance of success if you didn¡¯t remember your ability. However, if you remembered, you had a 100% chance of success. I gave you a 40% chance of remembering.¡± I looked at him, and my face creased into a frown. ¡°If you knew I had the ability to succeed in your test, then why did you not tell me? What difference does it make?¡± The smile on his face was wide with laughter, ¡°I just wanted to see if you would manage to remember. Although, you did exceed y expectations a little. I expected you to be injured before remembering your power. I thought that the pain might trigger the memory.¡± The grin which I thought was already huge enough, widened an impossible amount. Scary. Meanwhile, the frown on my face deepened, ¡°Be careful, your face might crack.¡± I remarked. His grin didn¡¯t ease up one bit, actually, I thought it might have gotten minutely larger. I didn¡¯t growl at him. I roared. ¡°Oh come on! I thought you were the stern guy who stresses training! What happened to the guy who set me to work immediately?! I want him back, the new you is annoying!¡± Hmm. Not my best angry screech, but I didn¡¯t get much practice yelling at my mom. She was good at raising me, and even if not in the perfect condition of rich kids, but still comfortable. And we got along much better than those rich brats did with their parents. ¡°By the way, what test did you get?¡± Wodan suddenly asked, and I tilted my head. ¡°What do you mean? You said there was only 10 tests and I took the 1st.¡± Wodan gave a thin smile. ¡°Actually, there are 7 tests for each level. The one you get is random. They get harder with each one, starting at 7. The seventh test is an obstacle course in a volcano, the sixth running away from a horde of poisonous bugs, the fifth dodging man-eating worms underneath the ground¡­¡± He took a deep breath, ¡°The fourth is killing everything in a pond infested with sharks, crocodiles, serpents, and eels. The third, you had to fight a huge monster. The second, you had to fight a simulation god that is as powerful as the weakest of the gods, and the first, you had to fight thousands of monsters about as powerful as you. Once you possessed an overwhelming advantage over the monsters, they would reform into a giant monster, while a second monster would come out from hiding under a mountain. Which one of these did you get?¡± I groaned. ¡°1.¡± I replied, sad at how easy an obstacle course would have been. Wodan grinned again. ¡°Okay, so you might have had it harder than it could have been, but remember, I¡¯m giving you a special treat. Well, 2 special treats actually.¡± I perked up, wondering what he would give me. Wodan spoke, ¡°Your first surprise is that you get the rest of the day off even though you weren¡¯t injured. The second is something that is rightfully yours.¡± I gave him a blank stare, not comprehending his limit when it comes to cruelty. I shook my head. ¡°What¡¯s rightfully mine that you took? I can¡¯t remember anything that you took from me¡­ other than my sanity of course.¡± He smiled. ¡°Before your soul inhabited this body, it was formed from holy energy, the energy produced by prayer. However, this prayer is a god¡¯s prayer. That makes your body super powerful, 10 times stronger than even a normal god¡¯s body. However, to enhance your training, I took this property away temporarily. Now, I¡¯m giving it back.¡± Wodan reached into his training silks, and pulled out a shiny black key, handing it to me. I smiled at him, though I was shaking my head inside. He would actually do such a cruel thing just for a laugh. Completely unreasonably insanely cruel to all life he came into contact with is the only way I know how to describe him. I did feel somewhat happy that I would be getting a 2.0 body, though how much of a difference could it make? Although, now that I think about it¡­ what makes a god so powerful? How could the weakest god be two times stronger than the strongest human could ever be? Could it be their body? I accepted the black key, and as soon as I touched it, it entered my body. I felt it moving around inside me, and finally it exited my body. I looked at it, then at my hand. I flexed, but didn¡¯t feel anything different. ¡°Try jumping.¡± Wodan suggested, and I did. I crouched down, then like I was on a trampoline, launched myself up. I soared up over the trees, only slowing down after I was just over them. Even then, by the time I actually stopped my ascent, I was looking down at a thumb sized Wodan and laughing. It felt so free to be unrestrainedly floating. I started falling, and hardly felt any wind lash as my body descended. This body was awesome! I came down to Wodan¡¯s thunderous applause. ¡°And you didn¡¯t even use battle power or magic. So you just saw your strength. But the main gift of your body is the defense you now possess. An example? Let¡¯s go to the river. You can run it.¡± So I did, I launched off with my feet, my every foot step heavy with my strength, allowing me to maneuver around obstacles with ease. I was also extremely fast, because all of my strength propelled me forward with every footfall. Seconds later, I was at the river again. I walked in to about shoulder height, and kicked out with my leg. I watched in glee as the water propelled out from my foot and launched 15 feet into the air. So strong. And my defense was more powerful than that? Who could harm me? Wodan smiled at my childish display of power, while internally, he was astonished. This far surpasses our predictions. His body is so powerful it is almost unbelievable. And he¡¯s not even using battle power or magic!