As Leo was trying to organize the recently freed slaves, the gods were making moves of their own. They had long felt that Arthur was a thorn in their side, but it would be insulting for a divine to move for one mortal, even more so if he was a champion as they would be seen as a poor loser. Now however, the rest of the mortals were starting to fear him over the gods themselves, this could not be tolerated. After watching the destruction of Heliantis, they decide they could no longer remain idle, and started moving.
Some had non combat related champions, and decided to have them assist Leo. Others had their own pride, and simply decided to guide their champions to Leo and see what happened. A few, like Ares, found the current situation interesting and decided it might be fun to aggravate it more. While even fewer, like Athena, were regretting their choice of champion due to the fact that they were antagonizing the situation, but they had made a rule that once a champion was named, they couldn't be unnamed because of regrets. Some, like Venus, had made agreements with their champions before hand, but the rest couldn't change on a whim.
And so, the gods went to their respective champions, to spread their decrees.
***
A man stood on a mountain top, channeling his ki and the energy in the surrounding atmosphere, as a thunderstorm raged around him. He channeled the abundant lightning energy around him, and soon bolts of electric energy covered his body, waiting to be put to use. He continued drawing more energy, until he felt as if he was about to explode from having too much power in his body. When he could take in no more, he suddenly rushed forward and struck down on the ground to one side of the mountain, and discharged all the energy be stored.
BOOOOM
The entire side of the mountain received the impact, and faced utter destruction from it. The stored electricity shot through the ground, destroying everything in its path before being naturally negated by the earth. He stepped back to admire the destruction, before the sky flashed, and thunder roared. Others would want to run to make sure they don't get hit by the lightning, but the man closed his eyes agin and listened to the thunder, as if it was speaking to him. After several minutes of this, he opened his eyes agin and turned north before muttering,
"'Journey north to find what I seek' what I seek is vengeance, does this mean I'll find it in the north, or that there is a means to achieve it there? No matter, the journey alone would provide several opportunities to train, and it'll be a nice change in scenery after being here for the last twenty years."
Acting as if he didn't just destroy the entire side of a mountain, the man picked a trail and started walking.
***
In the castle of one of the human kingdoms three people were playing instruments, and the fourth was singing. The one singing bore a brand in the shape of a bow, the mark of Apollo on her arm, and the rest bore the marks of the three muses. They were hailed as the finest musicians on the continent, and many lords and kings competed for the chance to get them to play in their halls. The girls voiced carried like an Angels, and the entire audience was captivated by her performance.
As the last note died down, a subdued applause echoed out, and the four started to prepare their next song. Suddenly different notes echoed through the room, none of the audience seemed to hear them, but the singer and the three behind her froze as they listened. As the notes died down the four suddenly started playing their next song as if nothing happened, but they now had a directive from their respective gods.
As the singer started planning how to travel north, she was troubled as she was the only fighter among their group, using a bow. She eventually decided that it would probably take a while before traveling, as they would need to arrange proper protection. As she thought of all of this, she continued her song as if nothing had happened.
***
Two elven women walked through the gardens of the elven royalty, both smiling with their golden hair down. They looked exactly the same, except for the mark of a tree for Medeina one bore on her arm, the other a pair of torches for Hecate. As they walked the various forms of plant life seemed to simply make way for them, and the air shimmered around them as if with mystery.
As they were walking they both suddenly received messages from their respective goddesses, and their faces turned serious as they contemplated the message.
'A new ally and the hope of the elves has appeared'
They didn't hear who this new ally was, or where to find them. All they could do is wait until they appeared before them, and hope they would meet the expectations they now had of them.
***
Far to the south on a mountain range that could almost compete with the worlds crown, a young woman with blueish silver hair, rounded ears, and a fluffy tail, punched the man in front of her with strength one would not believe she had in her young frame. She had a ferocious look, as she turned to next man in line, eager to improve herself even further. She had received a message from the goddess Bast, ancestor to all cat related beast folk, and her goddess.
She wasn't sure what to think of the message, as it stated that one who was stronger than her would soon appear, and lead her people to freedom. She was a favorite to become the next warlords wife, and if this person would lead them, then it meant he would most likely become her husband. She refused to accept this without a fight, and decided to train herself to be unbeatable.
As she thought this, she launched herself at the next opponent, and missed only to hit the cliff behind him. As she did so, large cracks appeared out from where her hand impacted it, and rocks started raining down upon her. She didn't mind this though, and turned to her opponent with renewed vigor, and the poor man looked as if Hades himself came for him.
***
Meanwhile ares was looking to add some more conflict into the situation, and looked for his new champion. Because of his tendencies to drive his champions to constantly fight, they never lasted long. Though the one who came from the colosseum seemed promising, he didn't want one who already served another. As ares searched, he found what he believed to be the perfect candidate. He seemed naive, the kind of person who fought for fun, not for bloodlust. There was plenty of time to change that though.
The man in question was currently traveling along the road, looking for his next challenge. He loved the thrill of the fight, and was always looking for his next opponent. His dream was to one day get the attention of a God and to become a champion, he believed that it was the ultimate acknowledgement of his abilities, if a god themselves took interest in him. Suddenly he felt a headache, and his vision blurred.
"You seem quite capable youngster, how about getting a chance to really prove your worth?" He couldn't believe it, his dream was finally coming true, he was finally being contacted by a god!
"My lord, what would you have of me?" He asked, hoping they wouldn't change their mind.
"If you want to fight for me then I have two conditions, first one being that I want you to constantly fight, so build an arena to draw competitors in. The second, is that I won't accept pity to your opponent, so all fights must be to the death, no exceptions. If you lose and your opponent takes pity on you, then it is the greatest humiliation." To the man the two conditions weren't that big a problem, he was actually excited to build an arena and constantly get challengers. As for the other one, while he fought for fun to him the best fights were when both fighters fought to the death anyways, because it was only then that they both fought to their full capabilities.
"I agree, my lord." As the words left his mouth a brand in the shape of a sword and spear crossed over a shield appeared on his arm. While the young man was ecstatic about his new purpose, ares was laughing, as his new champion didn't know what he just walked into. He'd give him a few years, then he'll show him how he should've thought about those conditions a little better, as not all champions were fighters.
(A.N. As you can see lots of new characters coming up, but I have a small problem, I'm having trouble thinking of proper names for them. If you guys have suggestions for the characters above then please drop a comment