Scene 2 - A man never goes back on his word!

Collecting his thoughts, Vince stood steady and spoke out forcefully under the immense pressure, “I came to increase my magic capability, or at least that’s what my teacher told me. I never thought I’d meet the old Gods, please excuse my intrusion.”

Vince bowed slowly and kept his head down; his first master told him that the old Gods were powerful Creatures born from chaotic space! The glorious new gods had driven out the old gods for their evil crimes, or so said the Church of Heavenly Light. Although Vince’s master knew the truth, that the old gods weren’t evil, crazy yes but not evil, and that the new gods, in their endless greed, seized power from the old gods in a cunning plan!

Vince’s old Master was one of the few who knew of this information and passed it on to his disciples, long before their separation these ideals had been planted deeply in Vince’s mind so he wasn’t afraid.

Reveera stood there with an enchanting smile pointed at Vince, “Hmm, it’s been a thousand years since I last saw a mortal with such talent.”

Reveera scanned Vince's body and could feel his attunement with gravity, the highest level she had ever seen in a human. He was the perfect apostle for her to use, only there was one problem that came to mind.

She saw a shadow of death over his soul that seemed to tie his destiny together with an omen of death. With a simple movement of her hands, sporadic lines of memory flickered into reality, all streaming from Vince's soul. She carefully picked through his river of memories, trying to figure out what made him tick and what tied him to death.

After a few moments of searching, she frowned, “Why protect a girl who will kill you eventually? Even to go so far as to place a one-way soul bond between her and you?”

Vince’s face turned dark. Filled with bitterness, he cursed inwardly, ‘Damn god why must she pick though my memories!’

He looked her straight in the eyes, speaking in a calm voice and smirking with a fierce expression, “That is none of your concern!”

“If you don’t tell me, I shall shatter your magic and make you a cripple!”

Vince was overcome by shock. He knew the gods were crazy, but not this crazy! It seemed the rumors were rather undersold to the actual reality...

Seething in anger he shouted, “If you can read my memories why must I tell you!”

Reveera’s enchanting voice filled the air with a demonic aura, “I can only see parts and hints of your memory, the deeper meaning of it is shrouded in self-hatred that I can’t see, though. If you don’t give me a satisfying response I shall shatter your magic!”

Vince’s body shuddered all over as he glanced over at Rashaka in the hopes he would interfere. Rashaka stayed silent as a rock, clearly keeping out of Reveera’s way. In the back of his mind, he also wanted to know why this mortal had this ‘shadow’.

With no choice, Vince grit his teeth and roared, “It was my own and my father's wish! I shall carry it out until the day I die, or may my soul be shattered by the heavens!”

Chuckling coldly, Reveera became intoxicated with how stupid this mortal was, “Even when it was your father and clansmen that killed her entire clan!”

Vince nodded in determination, “Even if it takes ten thousand years, I shall repay the debt that I owe her! Even if it kills me and shatters my soul, I shall not stray away from my path!”

Reveera shook her head, filled with misgivings, “The path you are following will lead to your own death. It’s such a pity for your talent to be wasted, won’t you reconsider?”

Vince stared daggers at the goddess and shook his head, “A man should never go back on his word even if it will lead to his death, or he is no man at all!”

Reveera outright laughed in Vince’s face, “Haha… Mortals are such fools to tread the path of destruction knowingly. Fine! I shall bestow upon you a unique magic! I brand you with !”

With a flick of her wrist, Reveera sent out a Gray orb of energy that in a flash directly entered Vince’s mind. A roaring flood of information accompanied by intense pain that turned his skin pale and caused his black eyes to glow and gray hair to turn steel silver filled his mind.

Roaring with pain, Vince fell to his knees as the information was branded into his very soul. His body convulsed for a good half hour before he shakily stood up in a cold sweat with a hint of bewilderment in his eyes.

Rashaka nodded slowly and sent a ball of yellow energy into the terrified Vince, “I, the God of Earth, shall bestow upon you… !”

The tearing pain wracked his body again as the new information branded to his soul. After two hours passed, Vince stood up with his face covered in both joy and fear. It seemed a change was occurring to his soul like another gateway had opened upon him. A cool essence filled every inch of his body, turning his hair ocean blue and his eyes the color of the sky. It seemed as if he had gained another element, that of water.

Reveera’s eyes gleamed, “Oh? Gaining another element? What a freak of nature you are becoming, Mortal! Haha! But now that our Magic has been branded into your soul, we have one favor to ask of you.”

Vince instantly went on guard, he didn’t want to fall into some trap laid by these crafty old gods, “What is it you need? If it’s within my ability, I shall see what I can do.”

Rakshka’s expression grew solemn as she spoke in a grim tone, “We used to be the gods of this world before the humans became too strong and overthrew us. They killed many of our brothers and sisters and killed most of our worshippers.

Now we can only exist in this accursed sub-plane. We only ask that if you grow powerful enough, you will help us out and fight with us against the humans that proclaimed themselves gods.”

Vince was about to speak up, yet Reveera cut in, “We are not demanding your help just because we branded you with magic, it was just a favor we hoped you could do for us.”

He thought for a while and wearily shook his head, “I thank the wise old gods for the gifts you have given me and if my power grows strong enough I shall try to aid you in your fight. After all, where were the new gods while the people were suffering so much? Where were they when my mother died? Stuck in the heavens mocking us mortals, no doubt.”

Rakshka let out a small smile while Raveera grinned and bowed her head a tad, “Thank you mortal. We can only give you these two magical gifts otherwise your soul, at its current level, would explode.

We shall leave. Don’t waste a moment being idle and begin training by gathering the elemental energy in this space. Time runs faster here than the outside world and you only have three days here at your current level before the laws here would consume your body. The good news is twelve hours here is equal to an hour in your world, meaning you have a total of 864 hours. Use them well.”

With a wave of their hands, the old gods disappeared from Vince's sight. Surrounded by the dense elemental energy he was most suited to absorb, Vince didn't waste a moment. Sitting cross-legged, he began to gather the energy into his body, purifying it in the process. Half of his body was filling with Earth Magic and simultaneously the other half filled with Gravity.

It didn’t take much effort to gather and refine elemental energy with Vince’s level of affinity. Eventually, his mind began to wander and he thought about Rune, ‘Rune… I know what my family did was wrong. Even if we were feed misinformation, we handled it poorly. My father even expressed how we got the information reports from our scouts was weird.

Almost like we were duped … Even if you should find out what my family did, I don’t mind giving you my life to atone for the sins we have committed. We may have locked away your memory to protect you from all the scars, but I shall always remember the day I saw you smiling in the field of water lotuses. If the day shall come and you remember me… I shall be ready.”

Vince closed his eyes and smiled as he thought about the memories of the past, wishing to change what happened.