How It All Started

Thank you, DereckESCL, for the 2 Power Stones. As promised, this will be one chapter. I hope you enjoy it and have a good weekend.

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

Death stood by a large window, gazing at the world below. He watched as the world's inhabitants went about their daily lives, and his curiosity grew with every passing moment. With his ability to see the death of every known being in the universe, including even the Void Emperor, he was surprised to see nothing when he looked at this world.

"What's this world called?" Death asked as he turned to face his two prisoners. 

Within the depths of the Void Emperor's domain existed two beings of vastly different origins. One was a Yggdrassian, a species that was once free until the Emperor enslaved them and forced them to give birth to new worlds. Despite the harshness of their existence, they possessed an innate resilience evident in the cracks of their bark-like skin as they struggled against their bindings.

The other was a Devourer, a parasitic race that roamed the void, always searching for matter to consume to sustain their existence. This creature was a writhing mass of thousands of arms that flailed about, seeking to break free of the chains that held it down. Their hunger was insatiable, and their primal drive to consume everything in their path was a constant reminder of the dangers of the void.

His mission from the Void Emperor was to hunt down an escaped Yggdrassian known as Mother and bring her back to face punishment.

Curiosity struck him as he witnessed Yggdrassians and Devourers working together above a world that evaded his eyes despite being mortal enemies.

The entity known as Father, the Devourer, spoke in a multitude of voices, "Why should we reveal anything to you?"

Death, the ominous figure draped in a long, black robe, approached Father with a slow and steady gait. As Death reached out with a bony, skeletal hand, Father's eyes widened in terror. The touch of Death was like a jolt of electricity, causing Father to let out a blood-curdling scream. He thrashed about frantically, but his bindings held him firmly in place. Meanwhile, Mother stood frozen in fear, unable to do anything but watch as Death's touch began to take hold. Father's once robust and lively body began to wither away, his skin turning ashen and his muscles shrinking. It was as if he was rapidly aging before their very eyes. 

"Ineilall!" Mother shouted as her struggle intensified.

 Death removed his hand from Father, who slumped over, either unconscious or already dead. He turned to look at Mother. 

"Tell me about this world." He said. 

Mother relaxed when he removed his hand from the parasite, and he took note of that. 

"We found this world about ten cycles ago." She said. 

"Continue." He said.

 "When we got here. We were about to seed this world with M3NA. But we discovered that this world already had MANA." She said.

 Death took a moment to process what she said. Mother had escaped the Void Emperors roughly fifteen cycles ago, which meant that within five cycles, she had met up with Father and discovered this world.

 Suddenly, he froze when he realized what she had said. 

"Lies." He said, unleashing his killing intent. 

MANA was a myth and a myth the Void Emperor was determined to make true. If word got out that this world existed, it would have significant implications for the different factions. It may even result in said factions rebelling against the Void Emperor. 

"It's not!" She hurriedly said in a shaky voice. "We ran extensive tests and did multiple experiments. The results indicate this world has naturally produced MANA." 

"Show me." He said, waving his hand.

The bindings around Mother disappeared, and she slowly stood up before turning to check on Father. But before she could take a step, a giant scythe appeared, blocking her path. She looked up to see Death, whose hand was glowing ominously. Suddenly, Father started screaming again, and Mother quickly turned to check on him. The area where Death had previously touched Father began to glow with the outline of a hand-print.

 "I'll show you, just stop." Mother pleaded. 

Death released the spell and followed Mother to a computer near the center of the room. She pulled up a few files and showed him. 

"We tried extracting the MANA from a few test subjects. But each time, it failed as it became corrupted." She said, pulling up another file. 

The file was a video showing how they tried to 'extract' the MANA from a test subject. Although gruesome, it didn't bother Death in the slightest. 

"How did you accomplish it?" He asked after the video ended. 

"We discovered that we could tether ourselves to a 'champion,' as we call them." Mother said as another video began playing. "Once we are tethered, we can absorb the MANA through them. But it takes a toll on the champion, and they die out quickly." 

Death watched as a connection was established with an individual, and he witnessed as it took less than a rotation for said individual to wither and crumble to dust. 

"Have you refined the process?" He asked. 

"To an extent." Mother replied. "We discovered that while the world and its people had MANA. They had no concept of it. So, we spent a cycle and secretly introduced how they could adapt it to their bodies. This strengthened their bodies and allowed us to absorb more." \"Did you suffer damage when the champion you were bound to die?" He asked. 

"The MANA we absorbed offset the damage we received." Mother replied as she became suspicious. "Why all these questions?" 

"How does the M3NA and MANA react within you?" He asked, ignoring her question. 

"It's strange," she began with a heavy sigh. When the two compounds interact, the MANA purifies the M3NA. It's as if the M3NA had been diluted or synthetically produced." 

Suddenly, Death's hand shot forward and grabbed Mother's face. He activated his ability, Death's touch, and she hardly had time to react before she became limp in his hand. Releasing his hand, she crumbled to the floor and did not rise. 

A world that escapes my eyes and produces MANA. He thought while stepping over Mother and activating the computer. 

With his fingers flying over the keyboard, he sifted through countless files, piecing together a plan that could change everything. He knew this world could reignite the Emperor's desire to conquer the stars and plunge the universe into chaos again. But that wasn't the only danger. If other factions caught wind of this world, it could lead to a universal bloodbath, with wars raging across the stars. He had to tread carefully, for the universe's fate hung in the balance.

 Death's shadow began to move. The darkness seemed to writhe and twist as though alive with some malevolent force. Suddenly, a low rumbling sound filled the air, growing louder and more ominous by the second. Then, with a sudden burst of movement, countless skeletal figures emerged from his shadow, their bony frames clacking and rattling together as they spread around the room. A host of other monstrous creatures came alongside them: twisted demons, writhing tentacles, and other horrors beyond description. 

"Get this facility running to full capacity." He commanded his minions. 

The undead said nothing as they began about their task, and Death returned his attention to the computer and the files it contained. 

Half a cycle later. 

He was finished. His minions had gotten the facility running at full capacity, allowing him to run his experiments and refine the MANA extraction process. 

With a satisfied nod, he held out his hand and watched as a teardrop-shaped flame appeared. Taking a moment to place his free hand on his chest, he pulled what looked like a thread and attached it to the blue flame. 

After observing the flame for a moment, a memory returned to him. He recalled an incident in which the individual had died before his time. Death had tried to rectify the mistake by offering him a job as a reaper, but he refused, claiming that the role sounded boring.

So, Death made him a deal. He will allow him one more chance at life, but when the individual dies again, he will become a reaper. Of course, the individual had fine-tuned the deal. It had to be a world with mana, and he should be able to use magic. 

Death didn't consider the consequences of his choice, assuming any world would suffice. Later, he realized that a world with M3NA was insufficient to fulfill the terms of the deal.

Until now, as he looked at the soul quivering with excitement in his palm. He tilted his hand and watched as the soul fell from his hand and disappeared through the floor. 

 *** 

The soul, filled with an inexplicable sense of anticipation, began its search. It scoured for many years, longing to find what it yearned for, but to no avail. Every vessel it came across failed to satiate its desires. As time passed, the soul grew weary and was about to succumb to hibernation. But then, a vessel appeared out of nowhere, catching the soul's attention. With a sudden rush of energy, the soul propelled itself towards the vessel and observed it closely.

The original inhabitant of the vessel lay weak and feeble, barely holding on to their fleeting existence. The soul watched with curiosity and concern as it felt drawn to the one tasked with attending to the vessel. For months, the soul had been a silent witness to the attendant's tireless service, even during the many times when the vessel made the attendant cry. The soul couldn't help but feel a twinge of empathy for the attendant, who seemed to be pouring all their energy into caring for the vessel, day in and out.

Sometimes, the soul felt as though the attendant was staring right at it on nights when the attendant would gaze up at the night sky. It was as if the attendant could sense the soul's presence, even though they couldn't see it. The soul wondered what the attendant must be thinking during those moments of quiet contemplation. Were they pondering the mysteries of the universe, or were they taking a moment to catch their breath and gather their thoughts? 

As the days turned into weeks, and the weeks turned into months, the soul watched on, its curiosity growing with each passing day. It longed to speak to the attendant and offer encouragement or comfort. But it knew that it was powerless to do so. All it could do was watch and hope that the attendant would find the strength to carry on in their difficult task. 

Finally, the time came when the soul had left the vessel's body, and it decided, as its last act before being reborn, to attack the soul as it rose out of the vessel. It was instant, as the soul was already weakened and hardly put up any defense. The soul claimed the weakened soul and consumed it, strengthening its soul in the process before entering the vessel.