4 With God's Blessing

Psssssheeeww

A noise was heard, as a grand feast of light blinded everything. Or it would have been everything, if everything everywhere weren't already just a vast space of light.

A body emerged, fading into existence at the core of this blinding light. A circle of intricate detail slowly faded out of existence equal to the rate of the body coming in. It took only a dozen seconds before the lights died down, and the body took complete form.

The body laid there on the ground. A minute passed until the body gained consciousness, or realized that it was conscious all along.

'I feel', was the first thought it had, opening its eyes.

"So you've arisen", and the pleasant voice of an angel were the first words the body had heard.

Silas got up, feeling no need to correct that only now, has he arisen.

Before him stood the magnificent figure of a female, dressed in transparent white cloth, accentuated by her peerlessly pale skin, perhaps only less whiter than her hair. Despite the pale porcelain mask she wore, revealing only her gleaming red eyes, it was apparent that she was inhumanly beautiful, to the point she radiated a form of otherworldly authority.

Between her figure, her breasts, or the few aspects of her face that was revealed, it all seemed perfectly sculpted, and the perfectly rounded mask only served to veil her in a luminous mystery. As though whatever lay behind it was too extraordinary for mortal eyes to bear witness.

'Did I.. hit him?', he tilted his head to the side, trying to sort out his thoughts. Reminiscing of his last ditch effort before death, all while multitasking, talking at the same time.

"So I'm dead… Right?", Silas sought immediate confirmation, staring into her deceitfully red eyes.

"Stop", the voice commanded, her head tilting upwards as if looking down on him; her long white hair, cascading down to her hips, dangling around her shoulders as she did so.

Silas continued thinking to himself, 'if he were on top of me, did I hit myself, or him'.

While speaking again, "whatever do you mean?".

"That", she replied irritatedly, expecting Silas to understand whatever she was talking about.

"That, could be anything", he retorted.

"That, is what you have stopped, doing. Thank you", she spoke sarcastically.

'???'

"Now. You must be quite confused by your immediate circumstances. To answer your prior question, you're not dead, but you're not exactly alive right now either. You hang between the balance of both, as the inner working of your very being. As a soul. As a… Second chance. But one bound by a duty, here in my… This, other world"

"That's…", he looked down, witnessing his ethereal form.

"My body… No before that", Silas shook his head, clenching his teeth, "what I did. Leo. That…. That fucker, did he die?"

"The one that beat you?", she giggled. It would have been cute had she not been mocking him.

"I wouldn't know. He seemed pretty beat up from last I checked"

"But not dead? Then check again"

"Unfortunately, I don't have direct privilege to access your world"

"Tsk", 'no fucking help'

She stiffened, and her tone shifted into a serious one, "I'm all the help you'll need".

Silas was about to speak, but she cut him off, asserting, "and whether I like it or not, you're the help I need. At least you're a hound that can get his hands dirty. I need one capable of funneling their feelings into something productive, unlike the last mutt"

Silas contemplated the meaning of her words, disregarding her sudden demeaning nature, "there was another before me?".

"Yes", the goddess crumpled her nose in disgust, reminded of the past.

"I've spent the last 20 years watching a mongrel grow a pair, only to get cucked like the craven beta fuck he was. Weeping in solitude and costing me half a kingdom of devouted pups. The other fuc…", she paused to fake cough in an attempt to hide her uncouthful platitude. 

"Excuse me, that was unbecoming"

Silas shrugged, noting that she appeared a bit unhinged. But he continued to listen, understanding the importance of this information. His initial impressions weren't the best, but judgment could wait until later.

The Goddess flicked her wrist, a blue screen manifesting before her. She clicked some things on the screen, the screen being transparent and read both ways. But everything appeared backwards to Silas, not to mention in another language, making it hard to read anything.

Finally she clicked on something making the screen turn large, playing video footage. With the circle of her finger, the screen rotated 180 degrees, appearing before Silas for ease to see.

On the screen appeared to be a movie, a first person view where screams resounded, where brutal looking beings, monsters of distorted nature and others he was reminded from fantasy, were crushing the heads, sometimes eating them, from fleeing humans dressed in peasant attire. The wails were ghastly, the impact sounds from the monster violence were booming.

"My kingdom, my pups… People. Have been left demoralized and without a hero to lead them. In a world ripe with war, demons continue to invade, wrestling control of the lands I've blessed. Trampling upon any authority I held, all because one fucking mongrel decides to take inaction upon heartbreak… I'm sorry", she gestures, waving her hand.

The current video's perspective showed them getting grabbed and eaten, but her simple gesture changed that perspective to another. This one stood amongst others clad in armor, charging towards the swarm of beasts.

As Silas watched the movie, idly listening to her words, it dawned on him as he questioned, "these… These are real people? You can peep in on whoever you want?".

She confirmed, "these are my pups, they make of me as I do them. Their souls were baptized, blessed in mine name, so that I may bless them with miracles, and give them salvation in death. They worship and entertain me in exchange".

"I see…", but while she seemed proud of herself, Silas had a nagging feeling, almost like an itch of a premonition.

He didn't want to become like that, a devout puppet, bound by her strings. He wasn't about to exchange himself a bully with an overlord. It didn't matter that she was a God. He was an atheist anyway.

But while he already knew where his convictions lay, his curiosity of the proceeding events pressed him to learn more. So tilting his head to the side, he requested the matter that concerned him the most.

"But why me?"

"That's the question I wanted to hear", she praised, proud of things going her way for once.

"You're a hero-"

"I figured that", Silas interrupted, wanting to be more specific.

He was apathetic to the idea of being rude to one supposedly superior to him. He was tired of being looked down upon and rather preferred to think of himself as having equal grounds in this exchange with a higher being.

"I've read a few novels with this premise in the past, before I lost my home…", he clarified. 

"But why summon me out of everyone else, and why not use your own people?"

"... You've…", she took a deep breath to calm herself from the interruption.

"You're not the only one. You're not that special. There are other heroes in other kingdoms, each of whom originate from your world"

"From my time period as well? From my nation?"

"No, that's… Well I don't know. No, since they had to die recently it would have to have been from your time period…", she mumbled.

"But they could be from any culture of your world", she reaffirmed herself, "that's not what you should worry about anyhow, you must be wary of them. Not just the threat they permeate but of the kingdoms they belong to"

"...", Silas stood there with his hand holding his chin, in thought.

"Battle maniacs, the lot of them. Any goodwill they show you is a ploy to manipulate you, never trust them as they won't you. Even if an alliance may be necessary, always watch your back around them. Their incessant squabbling of wealth and land was what allowed the demons to fester into power in the first place. Trust only in me. And my people"

'But those kingdoms you speak so ill of, if they're not your people, then are they another Gods?'

"Yes… And those fools are no better. They merely watched, unfulfilling in their duties as my people were wrought by demons, unmoving in the face of such injustice"

"... And you would do otherwise, had it been another kingdom?"

"Hold your tone, boy", she spoke with an heir of authority.

Silas scrunched up his face but sighed, and covered his face with his hand, hiding his expression and relaxing his temples. If such a question warranted such disrespect, how was he to learn of anything? But he pressed on.

"I've an idea of all that, but I'm going to need you to elaborate how exactly that affects me. How am I to be your salvation?"

The Goddess sighed, clearly annoyed he wouldn't take things at face value, "my people's, salvation you mean… But well…".

"You've lived in a greater class world, your existence tempered, your soul more durable. Your power isn't limited by this world's will, and that means you've the capability to be so much more than a mere mortal. You're a being with a soul that can host many different gifts, or powers you may prefer to call it. You've the potential for endless growth, if a God… If I. Choose to invest in you, which I have. Granted you swear your… Soul to me"

As he heard his premonition come true, he couldn't help but shake his head.

"Okay, yeah…. I'm sorry, but I've decided. Take me back to my world, I still have unfinished business there", she gave him a glare, but he continued.

"I need to confirm Leo's death. I need to resolve myself… I can't… Move on, without knowing", he opened up in a rare moment of vulnerability.

"And frankly… I don't deserve to anyway…"

"Oh I'm not asking", she spoke, "the choice has been made".

"...", 'there's always a choice', he kept his poker face, but thought irritated.

"There isn't", she immediately denied, glaring at him sternly.

Some time passed in silence, until he brought up his arm, rubbing his temples. He reasoned while trying to approach his goal from another angle.

"You're telling me to sort out your problems. For what? What do I get out of this?".

Which finally snapped her strings, sending her on a tirade.

"Watch your tone… Pup. You're a mortal. Less than. Your body was left behind in the transferral of your soul. You live only because your existence is meaningful to me, do you get that? I paid for you to be here. I could have let you die, but I didn't. I saved you. I own you"

Silas frowned. He'd heard talk like this before. The mocking tone, the pet names, the air of authority speaking down on him. This case may have some merit to it, as a God was not conceivably on the level of a human. But Silas was no religious fanatic. He was an atheist. Proven wrong in his beliefs of course, but she wore a humanoid figure, a fleshy body, and spoke the language he understood with her voice.

He didn't perceive her to be much different than himself, despite reason dictating otherwise. And he didn't like the idea that she was simply better than him. He loathed the thought of living life always having to look up for others, always at their beck and call, at their whims.

Life was all about choices, choosing how to engage or disengage with others of varying social statuses. In life, he chose to confront, no. Tear away. That privilege that separated them. In death…?

Silas felt a strange and hot energy pulsate upon his hands. While he didn't lose eye contact with the Goddess, he started to feel a familiar sensation in his hands, as he tightened his grip around it.

"And you can't go back… So just be grateful", she agonized, calming herself down once again.

She seemed to have to do a lot of that, for a mere mortal that didn't know his place. But she knew how confusing it was for one in his position. She was used to it, and thus decided to be the bigger woman.

The Goddess swiped at the screen displaying her gruesome video, making it disappear. She proceeded to continue, turning around, ambivalent to the feelings of her summonee, and oblivious to the energy he permeated.

"But. What you get… Is a new body, completely identical to your soul. I'll make it for you with my div- You'll probably understand better if I call it my holy power. It'll be vastly superior to the one you held before. A body, fit as a weapon for war. And, if. When, you follow my orders. You'll hold authority greater than kings"

She swiped the air with her hand, another blue screen appeared in that space before her, only this time as a status screen, and with a language he could understand. She pinched with her fingers and widened, making the screen appear bigger for him to see clearly.

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Name: Silas Martick

Race: Human

Gender: Male

Age: 18

Attributes:

Strength: 9.7257… | Dark Steel

Dexterity: 14.1323… | Bronze

Agility: 13.5963… | Light Bronze

Endurance: 10.4434… | Light Bronze

Fortitude: 19.1084… | Dark Bronze

Perception: 24.9707… | Light Silver

Intelligence: 16.6385… | Bronze

Affinity: Metal - 80%

Gifts: Blade of Judgment (Type: Metal), Grade - Light Iron: 0% (Max - Light Platinum)

--- Click for Description ---

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"Light Platinum grade? That's the equivalent to an A- in your world… Not bad, considering what I paid for you", she muttered under her breath, "but you'll grow to heights beyond when you're mine".

"...", Silas didn't look at the screen, and kept silent.

He didn't even think in his head. Instead looking down, confirming the familiar sensation of the knife in his hands, it looked similar to the kitchen knife he used on Leo.

He didn't know why, or how it manifested. But he took it as a reason, or a sign. To confirm his growing belief, that if he is to ever be his own man, free from burden, free from restraint, free from being looked down upon. Then it would have to start from confronting the very beings that brought him, and confined him here.

While their interaction was short, it didn't matter how she made him feel. Because this was his turning point, he needed to act. He'd had enough of being used and abused. Was it not his turn now? His chance. Even if that sounded ridiculous, he'd take it.

Just that was enough for him to maintain his conviction, gripping the knife that sat comfortably in his hand. Staying focused upon his new found belief. He looked up. And took his first step forward.

'Oh', as well as to stare at the screen.

"Oh indeed, for when the ceremony is complete… I will gift you your own status system, allowing you to monitor yourself and others"

He took his second step, a great stride, as he brandished his knife. Gleaming in the open light from all sides.

"A great power bound to your soul, that will aid in your journey. You will pick your fights with certainty, for I have set you up for success", she consoled in a soothing voice, as if to make up for her anger from earlier.

There wasn't much distance between them in the first place. The distance that remained, meager, as he realized his ethereal form didn't permeate sound.

"I will not be complacent like last time", she turned her head back to Silas, or where he should have been, to express herself with certainty, "I will ensure you do not turn out like that mong-"

Only to be surprised when he came slashing down with all his might. Startled, she propelled herself forward with her divine power, moving near instantly. But the blade had already befell her.

Sssswip

"Aiiieeeee"

Splash

"I wouldn't be so sure", Silas spoke after the Goddess yelped, stepping past the bright blue screen.

A fresh splash of blood sprayed upon the fluorescent white floor. The brightness, contaminated by a red hue. Her blood was slathered across his face, sticking to his ethereal form. Absorbing into his translucent pores.

"So she bleeds, just as I do", he spoke to himself half mockingly while trying to hide his growing nervousness, but the other half leaked a pure semblance into his inquisitive nature. 

She seemed to be just as human as her figure led him to believe. Frail like his own body, but with the speed that she moved at, it was obvious she was concealing a great power. And such a power was what he needed to face now that he failed in his sneak attack.

The status screen behind him updated, unseen by either party, as their eyes gazed only at each other. The screen read:

-----------------------------------------------------------

Affinity: Life - 20%, Metal - 80%

*Evolved: Includes new effects, new restrictions*

Gift: Blade of Fons Et Origo (Type: Life, Metal), Grade - Bronze: 0% (Max - Dark Orchalum)

--- Click for Description --- (new)

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The Goddess ignored his ignorant tone, a tear dripping from her eye, unused to the pain. She exclaimed, flushed red in embarrassment and shame, "a.. A mere mortal… Thoust' dareth?".

She touched her back, feeling the wound that arced across it, and winced. Her face slowly distorted, her shame turning into anger. A great amount of holy energy radiated around her, as a white aura clouded her silhouette, and her injury healed in an instant.

"You most ignorant mongrel! Everything you could have had! That we could have fixed?! Untainted I've gone beyond centuries! Yet thou tarnish mine holy flesh?", her figure left the ground as she started floating before him.

Silas ignored the pressure growing around him, realizing the distance between them was great. Had she not instantly teleported that distance, he could have cleaved through her neck. Beyond that of course, he had no concept of what may occur after. But knowing he missed, he could only estimate what would befall him now.

'Death', he thought to himself, but smiled.

Leo was his be all, end all. He couldn't finish him, he couldn't be sure if he did. As such, he couldn't conceive the thought of living another life while he remained unperturbed, unable to complete his revenge on him.

He may move on in time, yes he knew. But he wasn't about to be ordered around and played like a puppet by another supposed higher being. Not again. He didn't desire death. But he had certainly primed himself for it. He had already lost all that was worth living for anyway.

The Goddess quickly nodded her head, eyes glaring like heated missiles at him.

"You think you know everything huh? An omniscient mortal. You ignorant mutt"

Silas only pushed his knife out in response, as his last stand, pointing it at her with his hand stained in her blood. Though strangely the blade's colour changed from a gleaming silver, to a dark bloody red. In response to this, the blood that surrounded him started floating, catching the Goddesses attention.

Silas followed the Goddess's gaze with his peripheral vision, realizing the next strange phenomenon occurring around him. He quickly shifted his gaze back to his target, trying not to distract himself, as he promptly drew his knife in an arc downward almost instinctively. Whereby the blood shot forward towards the Goddess.

"Hmph", she retorted.

"Party tricks"

She flew around the blood shots that took to speed like a bullet. It trailed off into the distance somewhere unseen. But she was slow in her preparation for her counter strike. She wasn't very skilled at battle, after all, who would dare to fight a God? She simply didn't need to be.

In her wind up phase, Silas figured he had to close the distance, taking to a sprint to reach her. But in a mere few seconds later, her hand swatted across her body in a swift and elegant manner. An invisible force befell Silas, swatting him to the side, throwing him far into the air. Before he could even land, the Goddess curled her fingers into a fist, clasping Silas in the air unmoving. A tight force squeezed at his body.

"If you wish to be all knowing, hear this", she sneered.

"While I cannot harm you within mine realm, yours is a fate, I've already decided"

She threw her hand down, Silas being thrown into the ground, but that was not all. As the ground welcomed him, and he fell through it, being consumed as if it were a portal, instantly disappearing through a similar light that first brought him into this plain of existence.

"Begone from my sight"

Were the last words he heard before his sight turned white, his consciousness snuffed in an instant. The only thing left in his place was a single otherworldly kitchen knife.