He wanted to run away but unfortunately didn't have the strength to do so anymore. His body and the floor were also wet, running away in such a muddy place was only day dreaming.
He looked up at the center of the explosion, the mist obscuring his view was suddenly blown away by a powerful shockwave as, a young teenager in his middle teens stood there with a casual smile on his face.
His upper body was exposed, revealing his tanned and well defined upper physique, the bow behind him was glowing slightly golden while his hair drifted in the air, despite no wind blowing down the slope.
What was even stranger was that, no scratch nor a drop of water could be seen on the youth's body. It was a picturesque scene, where even the old man had to admit.
It was pure godly.
The youth combed his hair backwards and subconsciously caught the farmer gawking at him. He was about to greet the man, but the man already knelt down before him and murmured.
"Great god above."
• • • • •
Middle Realm
Middle Empire, within the slums
Two small girls, covered in rag cloth and covered in unknown fluids, bruises, blood and other substances, lay there half dead. Their bodies were already damaged beyond repair, and their wills as well, perhaps broken.
Nobody knows what exactly had happened to them, but with their age and ill-like conditions, surely... the deed wasn't done on them right? How twisted can people be, if so?
Tan, who was close to losing her last breathe, couldn't help but tear up as her face was looking at her best friend, who was probably put in more misery because of her beauty.
She sniffled and sobbed as she felt her vision get darker and darker. She couldn't move nor open her mouth due to the continuous torture they had been put in the past weeks.
For kids their age to survive for weeks under those dog's hands, their endurance and vitality was surely above average. Especially considering that they were still underaged, and tortured daily or even hourly.
But as her vision continued to darken, a bright light suddenly appeared out of nowhere within her darkness. Her consciousness kept drifting towards the light full of warmth.
She believed she was dying, and she was at peace with that. The only regret she bore, was that her friend was dying as well, and she was the reason for that.
The guilt was too potent, as whenever she remembered the suffering her best friend went through, which was tenfold her own, she would feel even worse.
Just her own thoughts, and regret were corrupting her soul, and tainting it black with miasma, almost opening up a portal to Hell instead of Heaven.
She then heard a voice, a voice so heavenly and ethereal she never heard one like it before. She even doubted if such voices existed in this dark world, "What is it you desire the most?"
"What... I desire the most?" She quietly asked herself. She could now move and speak, since this was her consciousness and not her real body. Nor did she entertain if this was Hell or not.
Her real body might probably be out cold and this was a goddess she was talking to, she presumed.
"Yes, what is it that you desire the most? Life? Strength? Revenge? Or peace?" The heavenly voice kept guiding her towards the light as it continuously asked her questions.
The small girl, 12 years at most, wanted to cry out revenge immediately, but managed to hold back her tongue. She remembered her friend, she was nothing like her.
While she liked doing dangerous things and was mostly social, her best friend was humble and a bit antisocial. This time around, her antics led to their deaths, thus she felt like her best friend hated her. But she wouldn't blame her either.
Instead, she felt it normal. That was why, her deepest wish right now— Whether it was rationale or not, whether it would bring more suffering for her friend or not, whether her friend would like it or resent her more, she didn't think about those reasons.
She was still only 12, and on her death bed, such deep thinking was something she was currently unable to think of. She only felt it natural to give the life that she took, back to her friend. Even if she didn't have to live as well.
"I want life." She said, but then she raised up her small head, one that had no life in its eyes and further added, "I want life for my friend. Please bring her back to life in a better family, dear goddess!!!"
She knelt down and begged with all her might. She at least had to do this much, even if she meant selling her soul away. But the goddess' respond didn't make sense to her.
"How strange, the other lass also wished for you to live on longer. Are mortals of this world really this compassionate and simple..? I see, I see, In that case, I, as the future Queen Mother, shall accept you two as my children from now.
"I'm sorry sweetheart, this process might hurt a bit. Keeping your memories, no, I'll erase these for now, creating new bodies for you and injecting my bloodline might really waste me dry. I might have to slumber for fifty years at most. So, I'll use a few tricks up my sleeves."
The goddess said as the light immediately embraced the small girl. Her previous name was Tan, but she was now Reincarnated, what would her new identity be like under the goddess' embrace.
Back at the slumps, a beauty in white Orienten traditional clothing, smiled and looked at two small balls in her hands. The balls looked more like an ovum that was experiencing fertilization, but on a more deific scale. Not something like human reproduction.
Her eyes slowly turned back from gold to their original green, as she got out of her stupor. "Argh, not again. What is actually wrong with me? And what is this? Eggs?"
• • • • •
Middle Realm
Central Magoi, Library of Sages
Close to the Middle Empire, a large tower pieced through the Heavens and flexed its glory to the world. For such a structure to be in the Era of a thousand gods, shows just how powerful this place was.
The top of one the wizard towers, a Middle aged wizard stood there and looked up at the sky. Hundreds of wizards behind him stood solemnly as they followed his line of direction.
"Lower your heads, the goddess is about to descend." The middle aged man, with pupil-less eyes whispered to the wizards behind him. He had used magic to make the sound travel through the wind to everyone's ears.
They all immediately followed and bowed down on one knee. Space then shattered before them and gently sounds could be heard from the inside.
Sounds akin to the hills leisurely clicking over a glass floor. Within the silence, it was especially quite loud... a bit too, loud.
The middle-aged man had seen a vision, though the price was at the cost of all his powers as an oracle sage wizard, he felt it to be worthwhile.
As long as he could serve such a unique type of a god, he could finally ascend to Immortality as well very soon.
"Strange, why are there mortals welcoming me, instead of the seniors Jill told us about?" Ethereal voices, of multiple beings drifted out of the void as they entered everyone's ears.
Just the sound alone helped them experience slight epiphany, imagine if she sang an entire song to them. Everyone bowed reverently and did not dare to show disrespect to the goddess or goddesses at all.
"Greetings my lady, this is the oracle tower of the seven towers of Magoi, we wish to pay praise and worship to your beautiful figure and do your bidding. My only wish as your servant would be for you to help us inherit the Magoi tower." The middle-aged man said.
He also bowed, but not on one knee but two knees and kowtowed at the void as he said those words. Even the wizards behind him were shocked, let alone a juvenile true goddess like herself.
"Haah~" Athena appeared above their heads and looked down on the people bowing down before her. She felt like her luck was a tad bit too good. From the Spartans that her father gave her as followers, now she had another hundreds of wizards to boot?
Not like she would reject them. The school said that collecting faith was harder than it seemed. Such free faith might not be a regular thing even among her peers as well. Unfortunately...
"I'm not even a wizard or mage god. Helping these people would desire much more faith points than others. But wizards do fall under literature right? Then all is good.
"Stand on your feet mortal, declare your name and swear allegiance to follow me, and I shall swear to make your wish come true." She sternly said as she looked down on them.