I'm trapped behind a wall of glass. The space around me felt infinite. There was no way out of this glass prison. Around my feet sand was gathering, falling from above me. Hundreds of thousands of grains fell each second. I was trapped in an hourglass filled with space and time. Outside, the glass felt like the entire observable universe was in my sights. But that can't be true, can it? As I kept running around searching frantically for an exit. An exit to somewhere, anywhere else. I felt like I was missing something important. There was something wrong. It felt like an important piece of myself lost to time. Like... a part of my soul had been torn away from me, leaving naught but emptiness inside. I tried desperately to wrack my brain for just what it was that was missing, but before I could, my vision faded and I woke up in my classroom.
The first thing I noticed after waking was a power coursing through my veins. It felt cool in my veins, and as I looked over my arms, I saw a faint gold shimmer in them. The shimmer of my Divine Power, I could almost see the flow. No, I could feel it. The next thing I noticed was that the wisps of spatial energy in the air had become thicker, almost like strings connecting everything together. There was something else flowing through as well, a river of temporal energy, and I felt like if I touched it, something terrible would happen. Finally, after I had grown totally accustomed to my new power, I noticed two heavy things on my back. I reached behind me, confused, and felt the soft down of feathers. This strange sensation caused me to look over and I saw it; a large, ash grey wing, spanning about two metres. I found myself in front of a mirror and I finally saw myself. A rose gold hue now colored my once stress-whitened hair; my face had also become rounder, my cheeks fuller. Beautiful, deep amethyst purple irises and brilliantly white sclera made up my eyes. My nose had a thin base with a Greek bridge. The proportions of it fit my face perfectly. Finally, my lips had grown fuller and became a soft pink colour. I had grown a few inches taller and now I stood at six feet four inches. I wasn't gangly, though. I had filled out beautifully, making my figure well proportioned. The main attractions were the wings, though, each one being about two metres in length with a tiered feather system, making them look exactly like a gryphon's wings from the stories. Their ash grey feathers had streaks of gold and purple throughout them, matching my hair and eyes. I extended them, feeling my pectoral and back muscles stretch out. Each muscle played a role as they moved in slow, graceful motions. I went to fold them and realised that even folded they were way too big to be practical but, instinctively I knew that I could put them away if I wished. As they faded away, I saw tattoos spread across my slightly tan skin. I could see each grey feather extending outwards down to my fingertips. It was a picture of my wings ending at the tips of my slender fingers. I was breathtaking.
I turned away from the mirror and spotted my dad looking at me with joy in his eyes at my no longer emaciated and broken form. He came over and hugged me tightly, saying nothing. It was a cold embrace, but all I felt from him was warmth. I felt at home, finally. He pulled away again, walking back over towards the board.
"Alright kiddo, sit back down, we haven't finished the lessons yet." He said while motioning me to sit back down in my seat, so I did.
"Since you have fully broken your seal, let's talk about the next Realm. The Divine Concept Creation Realm. This Realm is more commonly known as the Concept Creation Realm and it is split into three Minor Realms, also known as stages. Stage one of this Realm is known as the Realisation Stage, which is where your power starts to realise your concept and begins the process of changing your power to fit the Concept. Stage Two is the Manifestation Stage which is when your Concept starts affecting your external Divine Power, this stage is when your realisation translates into everything you do. Finally there is no set name for the last stage, it usually takes on the name of your concept, but it's usually called the True Embodiment Stage. In this stage your Concept gains its name and you fully embody your concept, only once you become your concept can you move on. For example there was a Starlight Dragon whose concept was 'Absolute Navigation' which allowed him to be always correct on anything related to maps and navigation." He continues showing a picture of a stunning Dragon with pitch-black scales which had little streaks of silver like a night sky covering its body on the board.
"After that is the Divine Imbuement Realm which is when you start imbuing intent into your Divine Aura, as well as covering weapons in Divine Aura. This Realm is often characterised by 'Weapon Aura' and you reach the peak when your Aura fully embodies your Concept rather than just your power."
"The sixth Realm is the Divine Domain Realm, which is when you create a domain of Divine Power to encase the surroundings. When someone is within their Domain they become pseudo Divine Beings with absolute control over the area it encompasses. The larger the Domain indicates the higher Stage in this Realm. Going back to that Starlight Dragon, once he reached this Realm he was able to 'free' his Domain from his body and place it anywhere on a map he was holding. If he made changes to the map, the world where his Domain was would change to fit the changes, as his Concept was being absolutely correct about anything navigation related." I listened to him, absolutely enraptured by his explanations. Unbeknownst to me, an idea had started forming in my Divine Power, something integral to my identity.
"The final Realm before Deification is the Divine Fusion Realm, which is when you fully fuse with your Concept, Aura, and Domain extending your power to the planetary scale. When someone reaches this, they are the pinnacle of the mortal path, and depending on the concept, the user can even kill gods." He finished up and the board went inert again. He walked over to me and noticed a slight change in my Divine Power, which caused him to smile a little bit.
"Alright that's it for lessons today go have fun kiddo." He said before leaving the room. Leaving me in silence, alone with my thoughts.
"Heh, he shouldn't have left me alone here." I said, while a mischievous smile slid across my face like a Cheshire moon. So I reached out and plucked a purple string.