The grass beneath his feet was warm with the slight touch of dew. The sun shines brightly above trees whose canapes were far beyond reach. The foliage was thick and the world seemed to shine, from inside out, but just barely.
Around Mark were many groups of people. Some happy, some sad, and a couple of solitary figures.
A cacophony of voice rang through his ears as he attempted to gain his bearings. Some conversations rang clearer than others.
"I died from a truck." a meek voice spoke, she seemed to be right behind him.
"Oh, damn did you try to save your lover? How cliche." A much more gruff voice responded. "I at least died by a large and mighty tuna."
"A tuna? How do you die from such a docile fish?" A third, much more aggressive feminine voice chimed in. "They don't even have mouths!"
"Maybe where you're from, but in my world they were monsters filled with teeth. We had a fleet about 10 sailors wh-- Who is that guy? Is he new?"
Mark blinked a couple of times before turning around. His slouched shoulders and forward tilted head turned towards the group in curiosity.
"Me?" When marked turned the Gruff voice belonged to a tall red-head whose muscles were thicker than his head. Mark was around 6' and get this man stood a whole head above him.
"Yes, You!" He slightly cocked his head, giving him the appearance of a gangster. His words might seem intimidating if not for the fact he was naked.
'Why is he.. Wait.. Is everyone naked?'
Mark glanced around and noticed the swinging vine beneath the red-heads legs. He glanced and noticed the voluptuous figure of a much smaller blonde woman, and the small hills on the figure of the brunette.
"It's rude to stare, asshole" The brunette spoke with the same aggressive tone as before. Her jaw was slightly angled but her piercing blue eyes caught Mark, who immediately looked down.
"Well, it looks like he's in shock, Sarah. Remember when you got here? You were covering yourself and hiding your eyes." The much more soft spoken blonde chimed in.
"Well, I have nothing to be ashamed of, isn't that right Ishi?" The Red-Headed man struck his hands on his hips and laughed loudly, pushing his hips forward as if begging the world to look.
"Well, Yursha, it's.. Rather small isn't it? considering your size?" The blonde, Ishi, noted quite loudly.
"Eh..Well.. it's.. It's cold out. No reason to be ashamed of nature!" Yursha attempted to rebound, but even Mark whose head was turned down could hear the embarrassment in his tone.
"You," Mark felt a hand clasp his shoulder. He looked up to find it belonged to the Red-Head, whose jawline seemed so strong it could break glass. "I'm Yursha, That's Ishi, and that's Sarah, What's your name?" He asked after pointing to both the blonde and the brunette respectfully.
"Mark" He said shifting his body from the man's grasp and scratching his chin. "What are we all doing here?"
"Waiting. For what? who knows. The longer we stay the more arrive."
"I was the 3rd one here." Ishi spoke. Her watermelon bounced as she walked towards them. Mark kept his eyes firmly planted on Ishis brown eyes. She had a nice face with freckles scatter on her cheeks and the bridge of her nose.
"Sarah was 9th and I think Yursha was 10th, and you're the 12th" She continued before extending a hand to shake. "Nice to meet you, Mark!"
"Yeah, nice to meet you too." Mark accepted the handshake and waved a hand at Sarah. "Nice to meet you as well."
"Like-wise, 12." She clicked her tongue and moved beside Ishi, so the group was standing in a small circle.
"How did you die, 12?"
"We--"
"Fuck you, man! Throw up the fists and let's go! I can do whatever here, right? This is heaven ain't it?" A loud voice cut Mark off.
A man slightly smaller than Mark, with dark black hair charges towards another, taller guy with grey hair. The fist moved right past the grey-haired guys body as the black-haired man tripped.
"Ooh, nice moves" Yursha commented.
"Did you see the leg sweep?" Sarah asked.
"Leg sweep? Didn't he just move out the way?" Ishi turned in astonishment.
Mark was lost. He kept his eyes focused on the fight as he listened to their commentary.
"He did, but at the same time he swept his foot underneath the charging guy to break his momentum."
"Wow, such a great move! I didn't even notice, did you Mark?"
"Naw I only saw the trip...."
"Calm down, Oshaha, I don't need to kick your ass Infront of so many people." The man who was standing spoke. His voice was smooth, calm, and collected but his muscles looked inhumanely defined. Where Yursha went for quantity, this guy went for quality, as far as Mark was concerned.
"Fuck you, Urshad. You can't control me, this is heaven! I can touch whatever, or whoever, I want!" Oshaha stood and charged once more, going in for a tackle.
Urshad reached out and grabbed the guys hair with one hand, grabbing one of their hands with the other, while simultaneously stepping forward into the tackle, somehow flipping Oshaha onto his back. The second Oshaha felt the ground against his skin, there was a naked foot stepping on his neck.
"I wonder if you can die in heaven," Urshad raised his foot and was about to stomp on the neck when a bright light suddenly blinded everyone.
As quickly as the light arrived, it disappeared and a man whose head was one of a rabbits was standing between Urshad and Oshaha. Both men lifted by their necks dangling like fish.
"Ohh ho ho, we have a feisty group this year. Lotta moxy, lotta jaz in this group. I like it." A jovial voice sounded from the rabbit man as he tossed the two aside like Ragdolls.
Oshaha fell on his back again, but Urshad has somehow managed to land on his feet.
"I'm Jack, your tutor before you start your tutelage at the Gods Academy! Think of me as the new body bouncer, to see if you are worthy of entering the Academy."
"I thought we were worthy the second we signed the stupid scroll." Oshaha moaned as he slowly stood up.
"Hmm. I see why you'd think that, but no." Jack tapped his chin as he spoke. "We need each of you to actually awaken your divinity. So..."
Jack snapped his fingers. When he did so 12 structures appeared that reminded Mark of Birdbaths. Each one filled with a liquid that was as black as the void above the Gods throne he met and each lined up neatly in a row.
"Come come, each one for each person. Stand Infront of one and let's make a god of you! Don't drink it though, or touch it, or taste it... Don't do anything until I say, or well.. I'll eat your soul." Jack clapped his hands and ushered the confused group of people around him.
"This seems fun, Let's go guys!" Yursha was the first to step forward, followed by Sarah, Ishi, and then Mark.
Mark took up the Dais at the end and stared down at the twinkling void-water. Ishi, who was too his left leaned down close as close as she could, fascinated by it.
"Guys, it has stars in it!!! And Galaxies!!" Ishi spoke loudly, which broke the silence of the groups.
"Correct, Young Lady! This is Mana, or Divine water! This is a collection of the purist energy throughout the multiverses and realms, it composes all things and births all things, even Gods! Crazy, right?" Jack nodded his head furiously as he stared at the group.
"Now! Each one of you stick your hand in the Mana, and your Divine Name, as well as your Godly Rights will be given to you."
Slowly but surely, one by one, each person out their hands in the water. Mark stared down the line and could see some people's faces contort in pain, while Yursha and Urshad seemed unphased. Ishi even released a small Yelp after her hand went in.
"Hurry up boy! We've got things to do! This is just the first step!"
Mark slowly put his hand into the darkness, at Jacks urgency. The flesh slowly fading away into nothingness before a sharp pain filled his mind.
Even with his eyes open, his vision filled with darkness. A deep warbling came from within and a small like with it. The light, tiny at first, grew larger and with it an image shown before him. A circle with a single dot in the center.
/Divinity Acquired
/You meet the necessary requirements
/Scroll found
/Analysing
/Divinity of Efficiency Chosen
/Initiate
It felt like someone was typing in Mark's mind. A loading screen going through his blood. As if his body was being defragmented and built back together. Something was scanning and changing him from within.
Status
[Name:Mark]
[Divine-Name:Emerys]
[Domain:Effiency]
[Rank:0]
[Strength:5]
[Dexterity:5]
[Constitution:5]
[Wisdom:5]
[Intelligence:5]
[Charisma:5]
[Divinity:1]
[Divine-Ability: Efficient Operation]
'What the fuck, is this real???'