Looking at the thin middle aged man before him, Siege couldn't help but realize that his father was getting old. He was by no means an old man, but it was obvious through his labored steps and numerous wrinkles that life had not been kind to him. This thought made Siege grimace internally.
They were being led by a young looking security guard towards Siege's designated vault room. The guard remained silent the whole time, but he repeatedly glanced back at Siege with pity.
However, Siege himself didn't care about that, but felt the walk was both far too long and far too short for his liking. He had nervous excitement in his eyes as he weighed his odds of even surviving this whole morbid ordeal.
Though deep down inside, Siege recognized that he was too scared to think of what would happen if he died.
In contrast, his father's warm brown eyes which Siege had inherited, shined slightly with unshed tears. He believed that he was walking his son to his death. That the cement and reinforced metal walls would be his son's coffin and grave. This thought truly terrified him.
After all, the only two options were death or godhood, and godhood wasn't something easily achieved.
....
The gods revealed themselves over a century ago after they went to war with the grotesque invaders from the outer boundary of existence known as the eldritch.
This war led to the deaths of the majority of the gods. No human alive knows what the really eldritch are, or their purpose.
Due to the war pact between the pantheons, the legacies of the dead, be it heroes or gods, were to be given to beings deemed worthy to be their successors.
Thus the Oracle System was established to run independently of the gods after their deaths and review all viable creatures and test their worthiness.
But failure means death and your corpse turned into a horrific monster due to the lingering power of the eldritch between the realms of consciousness. A living, but soulless body was a perfect vessel after all.
The battle between these powerful beings tore reality and changed the structure of the earth itself. Mere echoes of their battles across the realms lead to catastrophic natural disasters.
About a quarter of all animals and people were corrupted by the traces of the eldritch and became monsters that roamed the devastated terrain. This cataclysmic war is now widely known as Ragnarok.
It was the emergence of these new mortal gods that restored a semblance of peace and order. Siege had no desired to rule the world as a god of course, he was only envious of their magical abilities.
For an average person, being chosen by the Oracle was just as risky as it was rewarding. Children learned survival skills and fighting techniques in school, and well-off families hired private tutors.
Those from the new pantheons even had access to powerful abilities from their bloodlines so that even without being chosen they still had a chance at godhood.
However, that had nothing to do with Siege until a couple of days ago when he began to loose consciousness randomly for longer and longer periods of time. This was a symptom of being chosen by the Oracle.
Soon he would loose consciousness and either wake up as a god in the making, or not at all.
Siege stopped going to school when he was fourteen in order to get a job and help support his Dad. His Dad was extremely furious at him and yelled at him anxiously for quitting school.
He wanted Siege to live a better life than him who had never even received an education and worked in the slums as a trashman.
Unknown to Siege, his father cried himself to sleep that night.
If even those who had received elite education and training, and already had innate magical abilities could die easily, what chance did Siege, who had none of those things have?
...
A little while later, Siege was zoning out while several guards were putting him in formidable looking restraints.
Although what he was laying on looked like a regular hospital bed, it was actually made of hundred reinforced steel, the best mundane metal.
The clamps and chains on his body were made of the same steel as well. Siege felt that it was a bit overkill, but he understood why they did it.
After all, the whole room was made of the same stuff. Each thick. imposing, armored was was a reminder of what he would turn into if he failed.
Soon the vault door opened and a middle aged police officer with black hair walked in. He had a the worn look of someone who had already done this too many times, but his eyes were calm. He checked the restraints then grunted.
"How old are you, kid?"
"About 17."
"Name?"
"Siegfried."
"That's a cool name. Mine is James."
Siege smiled and tried to adjust his position, but failed.
"In the slums it's pretty common for people to name their kids after heroes. Trying to manifest destiny and all that. You can call me Siege though."
The officer smiled at him, but his eyes showed that he was not truly happy.
"Alright Siege, how much do you know about the Oracle?"
"Not much. Just that you do a trial, kill some monsters, and either you become a god candidate or die."
"It's a little bit more than that. When you enter the Oracle it will automatically pick a legacy most suited for you and you will have some access to it during the trial."
The officer continued.
"This legacy can be anything from a mortal farmer to the god kings themselves. Therefore, it is extremely important that you check your legacy as soon as the trial starts."
"How do I do that?" Siege struggled to ask. It's already getting hard for him to concentrate.
"It should come instinctively to you once you start the trial. In addition, if your legacy is combat related things will be relatively easier for you. Once inside there won't be just monsters but also people."
"They're not real though right?"
"No. they're illusions conjured by the Oracle. Your trial will either be myth based or unique. In myth based quests you will complete the quest or storyline of a mythological figure. You should have learned about these stories at school. For unique quests, there is no task, but you are graded on your performance and impact on the world."
"How will I know when I'm done in a unique quest then? Does it just send me out whenever?"
"The Oracle will automatically extract you when it deems the trial finished. Although, you are...uh...disadvantaged due to your situation. I can tell your a smart kid. You'll be fine."
Siege couldn't hear the officer anymore at this point.
"If you die, you'll turn into a monster that me and my officers will have to kill you. So Siege, you cannot die...please."
Siege's world began to fade to black, but a voice like the whispers of an accent forest, or a roar from the abyss called out to him.
[Prepare for your awakening Quest...]