Kroft let his body droop. He couldn’t stay afloat anymore so he allowed gravity to bring him down. He lay panting on the ground. It can be said that he had only come this far with aid of his low-grade origin bow that now laid beside him. The beautiful weapon was a gift he made his father acquire for him. He had selected a long-range weapon because he wasn’t willing to fight in close quarters. He didn’t think he would ever need it back then, it just looked good to have. So he has never been trained on how to properly use it. His level of skill was abysmal at the start but the endless enemies pushed him to make strides in his archery techniques. The threat of death plus the high learning capabilities and innate perfect body control of transcendents can push one to greatness. Without the powerful weapon and his improved skills, he would have long died.
“Nothing can stop me from greatness.” He shouted to rouse himself.
A single fight was nothing to him, but after several of such energy-draining fights, he was spent. The plane doesn’t have Origin energy for him to replenish his strength with. Everything was acting against him and nothing is going his way ever since his father abandoned him. It honestly felt like something was blocking him from reaching the divine alliance. He hadn’t heard about the war because his communication device had been locked. It is one of the many privileges that has frozen after the absence of his father. So he was bent on reaching the divine alliance to carve out a place for himself. He was sure that he would be well received because the gods are always welcoming extra allies. The suppression of the spread of faith is common knowledge so every transcendent knew the end of the gods is just a matter of time. It is rare for a transcendent to opt to become a god even in the face of that eventuality but there are a few desperate ones.
As he was enjoying his short rest, his senses noticed some rising energy waves in the distance. He extended his divine sense and what he saw made him pale in fright.
“I give up.” He said and prepared to run for it.
A new opponent was coming straight for him. The energy level of this strange being is way higher than his level. So he chose to give up even before battling.
“It has to be at the level of a lord of law at least.” He tried to estimate the threat level and it wasn’t looking good even by his lowest estimate.
It was not something he could handle with any sort of confidence even with his Origin weapon. But like most bad things that have been occurring to him, he couldn’t get away from the approaching entity. Unlike most times, when he is either trapped, blocked, or ambushed, such that he isn’t able to get away from trouble, this time his speed is simply too slow to create more distance between them. It proved that he was outclassed and had no hope against this enemy.
The approaching entity continued to gain on him. He was beginning to panic. Just as he was about to bring out one of the forbidden one-time use weapons of mutual destruction, he noticed something peculiar. Due to the proximity, he could finally sense the particular type of energy that the entity possessed. He realized it was divine energy. This means that whatever the entity is, it is either a god or is related to one. Divine energy is the unique energy of the gods.
‘Could it be that they sent someone to pick me up? That can’t be true. I am not that important and I didn’t tell anyone my destination. How will they know where to find me? They are gods anyway, they are capable of a lot of things. They might be able to track me. There is only one way to find out.’
He had a belly full of questions. He decided to wait and find out. It wasn’t as if he could escape anyways. If things turned out well, then he would have a ride towards the divine alliance or even better a liaison with one of the gods. Getting the help of such a strong entity will make his journey smoother and his aim for Godhood more likely to succeed. He had his mind focused on his spatial device just in case he will need a deterrent if the negotiations fail and violence becomes an option.
The glowing entity continued to approach him. It didn’t even respond to targeted mental transmissions or broadcasted messages. The fact that it wasn’t willing to communicate with him filled Kroft junior with dread, but there was no other option other than to wait and see. This dread began to increase sharply when the entity didn’t stop at all, it seemed like it wanted to ram into him.
He jumped sideways to avoid the entity. It was a narrow miss but the blast from an explosion hit him from behind at full force. He was catapulted high into the air which made his crash into the ground very unpleasant. This time he lay on the ground without any thought of standing back up. His body was too damaged to put up a decent fight so he gave up all thoughts of resisting. Even if he used the runic bomb he planned to use, he wouldn’t be able to escape from the blast radius. Any way he looked at the situation, it was either death or whatever the entity planned for him.
But seconds turned to minutes and minutes turned into more minutes without anything happening. The entity didn’t approach him or try to communicate with him. He felt the energy level of the entity falling rapidly, it didn’t seem normal at all.
‘Maybe it is dying.’ Kroft junior thought to himself.
This period of rest afforded him enough time to rest but he couldn’t recover energy at all. The lower plane doesn’t have origin energy for him to recover from his earlier usage. When his energy fully depletes, he won’t be able to use his Origin weapon anymore. There is no way to replenish origin energy apart from Origin essence. That’s how the cities with Origin energy get it. Through the dilution of Origin essence. He might have been rich but pure Origin essence isn’t something that money can buy.
The earlier crash seemed to have scared away any beast, but he knew it was just for a short while. The disturbance will attract curious and confident beasts to come and probe later. He didn’t want to be here by then so he decided to start moving.
But first, he wanted to see what almost crashed into him. He walked towards the crater that the crash created. A fire had already started to burn and spread fiercely. The wood the fire was using as fuel empowered the flames to terrifying levels. To save energy, he created a simple barrier to protect him from the flames but he had to reinforce it several times as he got closer to the center of the destruction which increased his energy consumption.
What he saw at the center took his breath away. It was a beautiful orb glowing with divine light. It was simply glorious. Only one word came to his mind to explain such divine glory.
“Godhood.” He muttered uncontrollably.
Godhood looks like different things to different beings. it might look like an object, a concept, or an idea. What can be agreed upon is that it will look like your greatest wish. It could look like a mountain of wealth, a bevy of mates, an unstoppable power, or an irreproachable influence. It will beckon you to it by using your innermost desires and longings and promise their fulfillment. In a way, it is similar to the temptations of a devil. It will also accept your soul for the exchange, except that Godhood will fulfill all these conditions and more without ill intentions.
If Kroft were a creature beneath the level of transcendent he would have become hypnotized by the orb on sight. He would be salivating if he had saliva in his mouth. Even now he could feel the allure of power. The orb was whispering promises of evolution and glory to him. His entire being was also yearning for it. It felt like he was thirsty in a desert but he came upon a small oasis of water. All he had to do is just bend down and drink. A harmless and instinctual reaction.
Kroft wasn’t hypnotized by the orb to come forward because of his strength, but he went forward himself. His desires pushed him to move closer and closer.
“To think I faced calamities upon calamities on my way. I had to fight with everything I had just to stay alive. The blast almost killed me but I didn’t die. It was like the world has been against me but I persevered. Now Godhood has come to me itself. This must be my fate. I am destined for greatness.” He wept in relief as he moved forward. This Godhood is the answer to all his problems and he agreed wholeheartedly. What’s not to agree about?