The void.
A spaceless plane where nothing resides.
To all, the void is and will always be a mystery.
Many have tried to reach it, in hopes of increasing their strength beyond their limits.
As the only unexplored portion of the universe that remains there's no supernatural being whose greed isn't enticed by it.
No one knows what's in it, they can only speculate and throw guesses around.
Some say that the key to obtaining true omnipotence lies there.
Others believe that reaching the void would allow you to uncover the truth of the universe and all of its secrets.
And so, the list of speculations keeps growing as time passes, with no one being able to confirm anything.
….
In between the void and the ever-expanding universe lies a place that is vital for life itself.
One can't see it from the outside, and only a few gods can freely enter this plane. Only they would be able to see this dimension from within.
A white space beyond what the eyes could see encompassed the entire plane known as "Limbo", a plane where the souls of the deceased were examined and judged to determine their destiny.
The most benevolent ones would go to easy to live worlds while the souls of criminals and bad doers would go to hellish places.
One thing to notice is that no soul was erased.
What makes a person "evil" was not the soul, but the experiences that person goes through.
By sending souls that accumulated negative karma to these harsh places, these souls would be placed in a type of trial.
If by the time they came back to the Limbo again no positive change was perceived then that soul would be considered as impure and it would have to go through a process of purification, losing any remnants of any previous lives it lived.
A process that every soul at some point had to go through as it was impossible to remain good forever.
Purifying a soul was the closest thing to erasing it so it was a last resort in most cases.
After all, the more a soul lived the better its quality was but purifying it would reset these lives in a sense, making the soul inferior to how it was.
It may not seem like a big deal, but higher beings put a lot of importance on souls.
If their quality declined too much the energy these beings would collect later on would do the same.
This is why the strongest gods had the best souls residing in their worlds.
Countless souls were waiting in line as the ones in front were judged.
" Mmh, your karma seems fine, though I can see you had a significant drop in your last life. Mmh~ what to do , what to do ?"
A translucent being, a female based on her voice, sat behind what seemed to be a businessman's desk. As she examined the soul closely the latter remained motionless in place.
" *Sigh* Whatever, a neutral place will do for you. If you come back later on as a good boy, I might send you to a higher tier world. Bye bye ~"
With a swing of her ethereal hand the soul vanished and entered the reincarnation cycle of its appointed new world.
The female entity's day continued like this until she stopped at a specific soul, as a spark of nostalgia reflected in her eyes.
" You again?"
Contrary to the other souls, which seemed lifeless in front of her eyes, the one she was looking at right now moved around excitedly. As if recognizing the woman as an old friend it hadn't seen for centuries.
As it rubbed against her face the woman giggled and ultimately pushed it away gently.
" As lively as ever, aren't we? "
Melancholy was ever present in her voice.
But who could blame her?
In front of her stood the first soul.
A soul that has never been purified.
An ancient soul that never reached godhood like herself did.
In a sense, this soul was the oldest living being in history, yet it remained mortal throughout its countless lives.
Millions ? Billions ? Even the goddess can't account the number of times the soul reincarnated.
Because of this, the purity and amount of positive karma in the soul was beyond understanding. A purity that any god in the universe would go to war for.
"You know, I can't keep hiding you from them, right?"
The soul looked away as it … whistled?
" I see, as shameless as ever…"
The soul looked hurt, even some fake tears fell down from its spherical body indicating its sadness.
" After all these mega-anna you truly think I will fall for that?"
The soul couldn't help but feel embarrassed after the goddess saw through its deception.
'How the fuck is a soul blushing?'
If it was anybody else, god or not, they would be speechless at the display of emotions this soul was showing. But the goddess of time and space knew this little guy for too long to be surprised.
" Getting back to the topic. I can't send you to my sisters's worlds anymore. You have been reincarnated there too many times already, the other gods will start getting suspicious and might eventually find out about you."
The soul nodded hesitantly. Even though it didn't like the idea of reincarnating in a different world it also understood the goddess's position.
"But going to a different god's domain is not good either so~…"
The pause seemed to work in making the mood feel dramatic as the soul appeared to be a bit anxious.
" You have two options."
The goddess positioned two of her fingers in front of the soul.
" Either be reborn as a god or … "
The soul listened closely. The first option had been discarded already since this wasn't the first time she proposed this to it. Being a god seemed boring as hell.
" Enter the Void."
'…'
If the soul could speak its next words would be something like: " Woman, are you mad?"
After countless of reincarnations and gaining "intelligence" even in an incorporeal form, the soul started to retain memories from both its living times as a human and these instances as a floating soul right before it's next life.
Despite being a mortal the amount of knowledge it had collected over the years was nothing short of frightening, a knowledge that it could sadly only recollect in this bodiless state.
Perhaps this was one of the advantages of never being purified like the rest of the souls out there.
So, after hearing the goddess's proposal, it was hard for the soul to not react like it did.
After all, the void was unknown.
Very few things were proven as facts. And even these facts were meager.
"Don't look at me like that, little one. I'm not saying what I'm saying without a reason. A few decades ago, after many trials, it was finally discovered how to enter the void."
'?'
"Yes, crazy right?! It was a theory before, but it has been proven recently that the stronger the soul is the deeper one can dive into the void."
'!'
"Right! I thought so too! If this is truly the case, then any elder god should be able to enter the void. But, after one of them tried, all they did was dive deeper than the lesser gods before them, until the void eventually rejected them too."
'…?…!!!!!'
" Exactly what I thought!! The difference between an elder and a lesser god is the enormous quality difference of their souls! Soooo~ what if the most ancient and tastiest soul in existence attempted to go in?!"
'~!' The soul moved around as if trying to hide its "private parts" even though it didn't have any.
" Common~ it was a figure of speech. If I wanted to eat you, I would've done so eons ago."
'…'
"Right? So… what do you think, wanna give it a try? Worst case scenario you will be rejected as well. Then you'll have to become a god. It can get a bit boring but is not that bad."
'>.
" I know, I know! But I can't have you reincarnating around no more. If it comes down to it I will just take care of you, and you could even visit my world whenever you get bored, is that ok?"
'!!'
" Good. Then…"
With a swing of her hand a portion of space teared apart, leaving a sort of portal towards a dark barrier. The soul could feel an eerie aura coming out of it. An aura that seemed to pull him in.
"… Let's see how it goes."
As the soul moved towards the portal the goddess had a feeling that it would take a long time before she could see this friend of hers again. So, without letting the soul notice it, she sent a portion of her power toward it.
As expected, the power merged perfectly with the soul, and since the latter was entranced by the darkness that escaped from the void it didn't notice any changes.
" I hope you finally find your destiny little o-, no,
First Primordial Soul."