I opened my eyes to a bright light, like I was staring into the sun. I instinctively sat up as I found myself lying in what seemed like a hospital room. I looked around and found it to be rather empty and featureless other than the lights built into the ceiling's infrastructure and a single mirror. Then I looked in the mirror, seeing myself in a pair of green shorts and an unbuttoned green top. My chest was clearly visible and on it was a large light brown scar that nearly blanketed the entire flesh. That's when it came to me. Diablo, he had beaten me in one attack, a clean cleave through my chest as if it was nothing. The worst part is that I know his power was heavily suppressed.
This loss had given Zephyr insight into how much stronger he needed to get. He was lucky that the angels were there to save him.
"Wait; am I where I think I am?" He asked, somewhat frightened at the answer.
"Oh yes you are." Spoke a voice as a portion of the wall opened up.
Through it came an elderly but distinguished angel draped in a finely tailored white suit. The jacket, tailored with seamlessly fit perfectly; its sleeves cascade gracefully leading up to a velvet necktie. Trousers tapered elegantly, lead to polished black footwear. Around his neck a pendant rested, emanating a soft reminiscent jade glow. His flawless, white skin and youthful eyes were countered by gray hairs that had developed over time, or rather, due to stress.
As he stepped in his golden wings folded onto his back. He paused for a moment before his gaze intensified.
"So, Zephyr would you mind explaining how you were able to achieve such feats and attain such power." He asked, genuinely curious.
"I'll tell you after you answer a few of my own questions." I responded.
He seemed to smirk right before continuing.
"Well, it seems you aren't as dull as I thought."
"Excuse me?" I asked feeling insulted.
"Well, you did charge at the strongest person in existence with your measly power." He retorted.
"Measly power? I'm pretty sure I'm stronger than every soldier you have up here." I proudly announced.
Circuitel remained quiet, acknowledging the truth in what I said.
"Regardless, I am quite curious as to how your vital organs and core were completely destroyed yet your soul remained intact, refusing to leave your body." He said inquisitively.
The question came as a sudden shock, but it was only natural that he'd be curious; Zephyr was supposedly mortal after all. For a brief moment I stood there weighing the pros and cons of telling him the truth, eventually coming to a decision.
"How about I tell you after you answer a question of mine?"
He paused for a brief moment before continuing.
"Very well, what is it you wish to know?"
"Have you ever heard of any entities outside the realm?" I asked.
"Hmm, as far as I know there are none, but that doesn't mean there can't be; the void outside creation is truly endless so it isn't out of the question. Whilst I'd like to know as to why you'd want the answer to such a question there is something I'd like to know even more." He said as his glare intensified.
"Now answer my question." He commanded.
Looking for the best way to avoid exposing the system I gave only a partial truth.
"Let's just say I ascended past the concept of death; only full-on erasure could probably put me out of commission for good."
Circuitel looked astonished by what I had said, as he fell to his knees and bowed.
"So that means it really is you. Our Lord has returned, in the flesh and nonetheless has achieved his long desired goal." He said, but something felt off.
I put my hands on his shoulders and urged him to get back on his feet.
"Look, I know I might be the reincarnation of the Lord but I am not him. I know nothing of him or how he made all of this; you brought me into a safe haven, treated me and gave me a place to rest."
Zephyr stopped, giving off a pure joyous smile.
"Thank you, I am in your debt." I said.
Circuitel then bore a look of satisfaction on his face, showing just how joyous he is at the moment, but it somehow felt forced.
"Well then, I assume that you would like to know more of the soul you inherited." He asked rhetorically.
"Well, all this stuff is pretty new to me. How about explaining Qi and how it works alongside that?" Zephyr inquired before sitting back down on the bed.
FLASHBACK
Billions of years ago there was nothing, no time, space, matter or energy. For an eternity the void of non-existence covered all, but then a miracle birthed the dawn of creation. An orb of energy manifested and as it did celestial waves of energy began to outpour. The orb was a radiant fusion of pristine silver with hints of red and blue. It released the first ever traces of anything, pure Qi. Intricate golden particles flowed towards each other as they were being released, clustering together. On the other hand, velvet colored particles which were also being released coalesced together. This would be the first time such an event would ever occur; this moment marked the birth of consciousness. Out of the two clusters emerged the primordial gods of creation, their majestic figures emerging from organized Qi were perfect in every way. Their minds emerged fully developed, their eyes opened for the first time to witness the genesis of everything.
The orb, now known as the light of creation was not satisfied with an arbitrary display of power as it continually released massive bursts of energy into the empty void. The two conscious gods instinctively soared towards the energies that matched with their own; and with divine precision they crafted more celestial beings out of the primordial chaos. Finally applying the same intelligence that had formed within them to their creations, the most powerful subordinates to ever exist had been formed.
The 6 archangels;
Michael, heavens greatest warrior,
Gabriel, the celestial strategist,
Chayyliel, the progenitor of martial arts,
Araqiel, the defender of all that is just,
Raphael, the divine healer, and
Uriel, the wisdom of the Lord.
Then the barons of chaos;
Null, the formless enigma,
Azriel, the shadow knight,
Diol, the prideful anarchist,
Grim, the death of all who are below him, and
The undead king, the dark lord, the Reaper.
Alas that was not the end of the miraculous session as the light did not cease its ethereal release of Qi, till the point that there were massive clusters of it that seemed to go on infinitely. The light of creation then ceased to release more energy as it became dormant. At this stage no one knew what to do, until one of the gods spoke.
"I believe we should make a dwelling place for ourselves, should we not brother?" The Lord asked.
"Huh, it seems appropriate, so why not." Diablo responded.
So, with the use of their might they gave order to the chaotic energy, structuring them into solid particles and assigning laws onto how they'd work. Three realms emerged from this order, the celestial realm, the chaos realm and the mortal realm. Each with its own laws and attributes the three universes were given under the jurisdiction of one of the two brothers. Diablo uninterested in the mortal realm took his barons and went off to his domain.
The Lord, however, chose to breathe life into the mortal realm, sculpting unique species and nurturing them with the moral laws he set in place. After six eras of creation he finally made admittedly his favorite species: humankind. Then as one might expect he took the light of creation and sealed it within the celestial realm, finally resting once he did so. From then onwards he would be recognized as the keeper of light and the amazing power that came with it.
FLASHBACK END
"Hmm so Diablo is a god huh? Well, that's news."
"Well, what did you think he was a demon king summoned from another world?" He chuckled.
"Well at least that would've been expected." Zephyr sighed.
"Then how about Qi, is there any info you could give me about it?" He asked.
"Oh, well I was just about to get to that part."
"Many discoveries had been made of the nature of Qi during this period of biological genesis, most of which were made by me, Chayyliel, Uriel and Michael. In totality we discovered all there is to know about the strange particle, such as its types and how it relates with itself.
For example, there are three types of Qi, Divine Qi, Mortal Qi and Demon Qi. The only true difference between them is their sub-physical spin."
Circuitel is interrupted halfway.
"Sub what?" Zephyr questioned, it's not as if he was taught the basics after all.
"Right, excuse my carelessness; I forgot that you were not raised here. Usually, I'm educating young angels on this subject matter."
He continues, proceeding to explain the term.
"Sub-physical is a term used to quantify entities that operate on a level beneath the physical realm, entities such as energy and subspaces or pocket dimensions. Contrary to what you mortals think energy is a particle and a wave simultaneously; when in large amounts or circulating the body it flows seamlessly and no particles can be discerned from it. However, when a small amount is isolated in a vacuum with only space-time present it appears that energy is highly cohesive when in small amounts, forming a particle which has a spin direction.
Divine Qi has a clockwise spin as you'd call it on Earth while demon Qi has an anticlockwise spin. That's about the only difference between them."
"What of mortal Qi?" I asked, wondering what state normal energy was in.
"Well mortal Qi has no spin; that's why mortals are generally weaker due to the very energy they have being inferior. It is also why mortals readily accept divine or demonic energy as their own energy can be pushed into having a spin of its own."
Zephyrs ears perked up, when he heard this. It was an explanation as to why they were so looked down upon by demons and even angels.
"So is that why I can use both divine and demonic attacks? It would explain why some of my opponents were surprised cause mortals shouldn't be able to access other energies on their own right?" I stated.
"I suppose that is true, but I also find Qi flow to be strangely efficient. Even if you are my Lord reincarnated, I doubt you would have his knowledge of energy control." The angel questioned, and justifiably so.
He walks over to Zephyr, clenching his fist as an energy sphere generates within it. Sparks of electricity scatter across the room as his fist opens up, releasing a blinding light.
I tried to move but all this while my body was completely drained of energy.
'Had he been sapping me of my strength this whole time?' Zephyr wondered.
[Danger Sense Active]
[The Host is in Danger]
Circuitel looks right at the weakened Zephyr with a stoic expression.
"Who taught you those techniques, was there an angel on Earth who helped you without ever attempting to inform us; or are you secretly working for Diablo and one of my fallen brothers enlightened you instead."
He genuinely seemed ready to erase Zephyrs soul, and a wrong answer was guaranteed deletion.
"So all that my Lord is back talk was just an act, you never once trusted me."
"I needed some more time for the room to drain all the energy you had." He said seemingly pleased.
"And it's not that I don't believe that you are him, but that doesn't make you any less mortal. In fact, that gives me more reason to be wary as you could simply be doing this to reclaim your long lost kingdom."
Zephyr heard him and was infuriated by the amount of disrespect just being mortal allotted. He knew that one day he'd prove him wrong and wipe the pride off of all of them. But for now, he needed their help.
"Alright calm down, we can talk this out peacefully." I said while gesturing for him to put his hand down.
He then placed his palm right before me; and from the look in his eyes if I didn't say what he wanted to hear it would be over. Giving me no choice if I wanted to move forward.
"I was born with some sort of system that only I can see, one that allows me to access a ton of information, power and skills but at the cost of completing missions." I blurted out.
His palm dropped and the energy attack dissipated. His previously serious demeanor had broken as he fell to his knees once again, but this time it felt genuine.
"You really are my Lord through and through." He started.
"He was the only one who could access the system and activate it." Tears rolled down his face.
"And I can't believe the system worked, it was a lost cause." He said as tears overflowed.
"Huh….. sorry but could you backtrack on that please?"
I felt my jaw drop; did he actually create the system? If so, could I use it to the fullest and unlock all its power?
I put my thoughts in order, put my arm forward and placed it on his shoulder.
"Tell me more."