"A new set of humans have arrived everyone."
A melodious voice echoed throughout a wide-open chamber.
Large statues of warriors holding swords and various weapons were positioned neatly against the walls.
The room was filled with magic and runes creating an ethereal atmosphere that most would think they were in the world of dreams.
Placed directly in the center of the room was a table split perfectly in black and white, no legs supported the large circular table, but rather it levitated in place by a blue embedded in the middle.
Sitting was an assortment of 12 beings that sat in accordance with strength and status—the white half with beings of divinity and the black with beings of miasma.
Lesser gods stood at an appropriate distance and sat in specialized chairs behind their associated chief gods.
Responding to the woman was a middle-aged man with a luscious white beard and a stoic face.
"How many have arrived."
"2,000."
"2,000? last I recall there were 10,000 from the last set. Why so few?"
"This generation seems to have more potential Zeus, therefore the system deemed the quantity appropriate for this century's generation."
A man clad in dark armor responded.
"More potential? Hahh! Humans having more potential means nothing in this world. We've all seen it, potential is nothing in the face of reality. If they can even pass through the tutorial trials, then I shall personally bow my head and apologize."
"Just cause the last set of humans failed, doesn't mean everyone else is incompetent, god of thunder."
Sitting two seats on the right an old man with an eye patch and two ravens on his shoulders retorted.
"Humans in this day and age have gone soft Odin. You know that yourself. Only a thousand came out alive from the trials with a group of 10,000. And their talents were barely enough to reach the standards. What will 2 thousand do? Albeit somewhat more talented, I'll be surprised to see even a fraction of them survive."
He paused momentarily and looked at everyone with a prideful smirk.
"Matter of fact I'm willing to bet The blade of the gods that none will come out."
The divine gods grew silent and the gods of miasma had a hint of desire in their eyes upon hearing about the blade.
The woman had an expected smirk on her lips.
"I'll take you on that bet, sure your words have meaning right Zeus?."
The gods turned their heads immediately toward her with various faces.
Zeus looked at her, his face neutral.
"Lilith, what are you planning."
Lilith ignored the man clad in darkness and confronted the prideful god.
"I for one believe that everyone will survive."
As soon as her words finished, a boisterous laugh echoed throughout the room.
"You believe that these snowflakes will survive? PFT-HAHAHA, Lilith you out of all of us should know. These modern humans aren't built for this world."
"So you're afraid."
"What?"
"I'm willing to relent my territory and my weapon. If every human survives then you must give your weapon away."
The gods had an intrigued look on their faces.
Except for one.
"You really believe that they will succeed?"
"Yes, I swear on Erebus."
The room shuddered as a powerful force emanated from her body. A black shawl of darkness covered her body momentarily. The darkness had no divinity nor miasma, feeling this black shawl, the lower gods shuddered in fear.
None of the ancient gods were surprised as they have seen this before, but Lilith's behavior made them vigilant.
"You're swearing on a sacred oath?"
"Yes."
Zeus directed his eyes toward her face seemingly trying to pierce through her body.
Lilith stared back without backing down, confidence in her eyes.
Zeus stopped glaring at her and leaned back in his chair.
"Fine, it seems this new batch might be a little fun. If you're so willing to relent your territory, then I must relinquish something equal in value."
Zeus stood up from his chair and his body turned transparent gold. Streaks of yellow lightning covered his body as his eyes glowed white.
He lifted his hand out in front of him and a bright ball of divinity lit up the room. Moments later a great sword appeared on top of his hand.
Every being present in that room opened their eyes wide.
Sensing the severity of the situation the gods had serious expressions on their faces.
"Zeus…"
The man clad in dark armor spoke up with aggression in his voice.
Zeus grabbed the sword and his body vividly shook. His hair rose from his head, whilst lightning bounced off of him.
He closed his eyes and transformed himself back to normal.
But lightning still lingered around him.
"I, Zeus, swear on Erebus, to relinquish The Blade of the Gods, should every human survive the trials."
"I, Lilith, swear on Erebus, to relinquish my land, and myself, that every human will survive the trials."
All the gods shook in surprise.
The gods of miasma instantly took a stance.
To retort, the divine gods stood up from their seats and brandished their weapons.
The man clad in darkness exposed his aura and voiced his opinion.
"Lilith, what are you doing."
"Well, I'm simply reciprocating what he said. I'm giving up something of equal value."
"Lilith, you understand what you're doing right."
"Yes I do, Diablos."
She looked at him with eyes that seems to say losing was never in her mind in the first place.
Diablos stood there silently for a few seconds then said.
"Do as you wish."
The pressure from his body disappeared and he sat back on his chair.
The gods of miasma also wanted to voice their opinion, but seeing as Hades, one of the strongest gods there, backed down, they did so as well.
The divine gods sat at their seats seemingly enjoying the reactions of the dark gods. They were in full support of Zeus knowing they have the advantage.
"Then have we come to an agreement, Lilith."
"Yes."
"Then, in accordance to the gods, let our lives live in eternal."
Every god in that room was filled with anticipation for the upcoming trials.
The light gods were expecting victory so their faces were filled with malicious joy, while the dark gods had shadows cast on their faces, knowing if they lose. Lilith, the goddess of the underworld, and progenitor of all demons will be taken away, shifting the tensions between the two powers.
The room reverberated with power as a beam of pitch black darkness and pure efflorescent light shot to the sky.
A great fate or omen is to befall the realm of the gods and the universe.
—————
Luke's pov:
Oblivious to the doings of the gods, Luke found himself floating in darkness. His eyes opened begrudgingly.
'What is this?'
Right as his thoughts ended, visions of women, wars, and galaxies flashed endlessly in front of him.
Time ticked by in this empty void and each second began to feel like hours as more and more memories defiled his consciousness. Feeling overwhelmed tears of blood streaked down his face.
'Ugh, what's going on!!'
Visions of himself and people familiar to him appeared right after.
He saw himself fighting dragons of great power, monsters large enough to destroy entire cities, and he saw himself lying on a soft bed with a woman whose face was blurred, lying next to him.
Watching them increasingly becoming embedded into his own memories, he realized, these were his memories of the past, more appropriately his past lives.
Breaking the cycle of what seemed like an eternity was a flash of bright light. Immediately the memories stopped flowing and a faint glimpse of a woman's hand lingered in his eyes.
Luke soon found himself standing amidst hundreds of people. He looked around his surroundings seeing giant walls made of stone and large stalactites on the ceiling. Lanterns lit up the cave so brightly that only a few were hung around them. The cave was easily large enough to accommodate more than a thousand people, but only a couple hundred were there. He looked down to see the dry ground beneath his feet, devoid of any life.
Luke touched his face to wipe off the blood, but the tears magically disappeared and his mind was clear.
Recovered, he slowly recognized the people around him, his long-time friend Laura, his childhood friend Sylvia, and his classmates.
As soon as he was about to open his mouth, a beautiful woman floating in the sky appeared.
Her appearance basked the people in warm light and overshadowed the bright lanterns hanging on the walls. The people's attention was immediately captured by her beauty.
Luke looked at the figure with an unknown gaze. He had no recollection of the woman in the sky, yet the more he looked, the more he felt like he knew her.
Breaking him from his stupor were the hundreds of people murmuring and admiring the beautiful woman.
Sensing the atmosphere becoming chaotic, the figure in the sky spoke.
"Greetings everyone, I'm sure you're all surprised and are wondering what's going on. So please, go ahead and ask me any question."
As soon as her words stopped, a single hand came up faster than everyone else.
A long slender arm full of muscle and veins was extended fully amongst the crowd.
The goddess was surprised but an expectant look was in her eyes as a small smile appeared on her lips.
She opened her mouth with a chuckle and said.
"Oh, you're quite fast fufu. Then, what is your question, Luke."
Luke's face froze momentarily, shocked that the person above knew his name, but he quickly forgot about it.
He opened his mouth to ask about the situation he, alongside the hundreds of people around him, is doing in a place like this stripping them from their daily lives.
But as words were about to come out of his mouth, his mouth moved involuntarily.
"Can I have sex with you?"
"…"
"…"
"…"