A minor god? This easily? It was unbelievable. The only explanation we could think of was that he was the weakest of the bunch. But even then, the group was hesitating to advance. They must have been a group of weaklings that found strength in numbers until their pride and confidence became too big for their own good.

YOU KILLED A HUMAN!

HUMANS/MINOR GODS killed: 1/3

The person that had lost their arm finally died. That confirmed another doubt of mine. They had no healers. They were all damage dealers, focusing entirely on offense. As dangerous as that was, it was easier to deal with than a balanced team.

“Y-You maggots! Go quickly! They can’t outnumber us!” roared the leader as he launched a massive ball of stone at the building we were hiding in.

We ran outside and were quickly surrounded by people with terrified expression. They didn’t want to fight but did so out of fear. Agni and Kimberly spun around together and sent [Fireballs] at the nearest threats. Some hit their target, burning their bodies and incapacitating them, while others were extinguished by water users. I rapidly used Energy Sap to finish off the injured. Only two died before I lost my enhanced focus from [Spirit Focus]. It was enough however.

YOU KILLED A HUMAN!

YOU KILLED A HUMAN!

HUMANS/MINOR GODS killed: 3/3

After closing the window, another immediately opened.

You have complete the quest [Journey to The Top]!

A random item will be added to your inventory.

Choose a skill to level up.

I had no time to look at my new item and immediately leveled up Energy Sap. I felt my mind expand and understood the extent of the level up. Zeph appeared in front of the leader that had stayed behind and glared at him with cold, narrow eyes.

“Why are you doing this?” she asked the man, winds covering her entire body.

“What do you mean? We are gods, we must rule over those inferior.” he replied, puffing his chest.

“Looking down on me? I already killed one of your ‘inferior’ men. I wonder if you and your attitude will count as two kills.”

The man began laughing manically and a dark aura appeared around him. Zeph became visibly uncomfortable, her skin got goosebumps and her hair stood up. She began firing [Wind Blades] at the crazed god. She kept firing until she bled from her nose and moving her arms became difficult. No matter how much she tried, the crazed god didn’t receive any visible damage.

“Is that it?” the god questioned the exhausted goddess. “What a disappointment. You are no god. You’re even worse than a puny human.”

A ball of stone and metal began forming above the god. Dark aura flowed through the ball and the god was slowly becoming pale. He was being drained by his own skill.

“[Gaia Orb].”

The ball of matter flew toward Zeph as she stared at it, unable to move and cursing under breath.

“Run away! You bastards will suffer one day!”

The group of cowards surrounding the others quickly dispersed, only two staying behind. These two were knelt before Sam and Kimberly, who were riddled with wounds and on the verge of collapsing.

“I’m glad you want to join us. But first... Help Zeph, please.” I begged the two, flinching as I bowed because of the pain.

“Okay, but I’ll want those bones you promised later.”

“Yes! Oh yes! Right away!”

The two were minor gods. One was a wind god like Zeph and the other a water god. They appeared before Zeph through teleportation and they used skills against the Gaia Orb. The wind caused by the wind god enveloped the ball, making it stop spinning and slow down, and the water from the water god entered the cracks in the ball, making the holes creak and widen.

“You fuckers! How dare you! You know what happens to those who betray the Tyrant’s Apostle!” the crazed god bellowed as he bled from every orifice.

Kimberly and I ran as fast as we could to where the action was happening. When we got there, the god was already dead and Zeph was getting ready to fight her saviors.

“Wait Zeph! They’re on our side!” I shouted at her.

“Our side?! But weren’t they trying to kill us a second ago?!” she retorted, staring at me in such a way that sent a chill down my spine.

“Forgive us for that, we didn’t have much of a choice.” the wind god spoke, walking up to Zeph and grabbing her hand. “I’m Lop and my friend is Opal.”

Lop gently kissed Zeph’s hand and looked in her eyes. This made Zeph furious and she wanted to slice the opportunistic god into pieces more than anything, however she was too weak to do so. Opal just sighed and shook his head, already used to such a shameless scene.

We returned to our original building, it was the same as when we left it. Agni and Kimberly wandered off to their corner and began tending to each others wounds. Zeph, Lop, Opal and I stayed in one of the larger rooms. Killing intent was oozing out of Zeph as she glared at Lop.

“Ahem. Like I was saying Zeph. Lop and Opal have joined us. They were being used by Tyrant’s Apostles.” I tried to explain the situation to Zeph.

“Let me guess, they admired the goodness in your heart and magically joined your side. Listen idiot, people like that would have died already.” she countered. “You two. I want to hear it from your own mouths.”

“Alright, beautiful goddess. Like your human said, we were being used. But more specifically, our rings were in control of some of the humans he killed.” Lop said, smiling at me.

“Now that we have our rings back, we decided to give your group a shot after Sam’s proposition. It’s only a temporary thing because we want to get back more rings from one of the Tyrant’s Apostle’s commanders.” Opal added on.

It was hard to explain the proposition to Zeph due to her impatience but she understood it the first time. In exchange for bones, Lop would help us and allow us to use his skills, and Opal wanted to gain support skills to help Lop. The reason Lop wanted bones specifically was to progress his skill [Aero Bone], which required him to consume bones on a daily basis.

A few days passed and we were all able to complete the murder goal. After awhile without new directions, a quest finally came to us.

NEW QUEST!

[Destiny Selection]

Choose from the following options.

All future quest lines will be determined by your next choice.

- Power of Gods

- Mind of Gods

- Morals of Gods

Reward:

- None

The first two options were rather obvious. One focused on raising the body, while the other focused on the mind. The third option was somewhat off though. I knew which option Lop and Opal chose, considering the group they were in, however, Kimberly’s choice surprised me.

“I’m picking Power. We nearly died in that last major battle.” she said calmly.

“I... I guess I’ll pick Mind, to round our strength.” Agni said afterward.

They seemed to be certain about what they wanted. Zeph was no different. She picked Power the moment the objective was received. I, however, was still indecisive. I was curious about the Morals of Gods but also wanted more tangible strength.

“Morals it is, then.” I muttered to myself.

“Sorry Sam, but that seems like a silly idea. We don’t even know what that means.” Kimberly responded as she came closer.

“I know but since we’ve got four people on the Power path and one on the Mind path, I thought I could try the Morals path.”

Lop and Opal nodded as they belatedly understood what I was trying to say. Agni also nodded in agreement.

You have complete the quest [Destiny Selection]!

New quests have been added.

NEW QUESTS!

- Studying the Gods

- Biased Judging

The two quests I gained were much less cryptic than I thought they would be. What helped was the fact that they had a description.

[Studying the Gods]

Spend time observing and learning about the existences above you.

Skills learned from gods: 0/2

Reward:

- Skill level up

- Uncommon Item

***

[Biased Judging]

As a human, you are bound by your moral compass as you judge others.

Gods killed: 0/2

Gods saved: 0/2

Reward:

- Uncommon Item

- Weapon enchantment

I was starting to understand the path I was walking. By the looks on my companions, they also understood theirs. Lop and Opal acted as helpers since they had done a few quests of the Power path. The quests weren’t randomized so having someone that knew what to expect was extremely helpful. Zeph refused Lop’s help every time she could and every time he tried, she would either distance herself or push him with her powers. Kimberly, on the other hand, happily accepted the help of her seniors.

In the meanwhile, I gained a skill from training with Zeph. [Wind’s Armor] allowed me to produce light gusts around certain parts of my body and protect me from exterior threats. Unfortunately, it was a skill gained from an achievement and not one that Zeph had given to me. On the bright side, it meant that new skills could be learned by doing certain things.

Night came after a productive day. we all went to sleep after eating our fill of the usual grilled Hound meat.

“I see you’re back. Or maybe to you it’s the first time again.”

I was back in the fog realm, with the shadow floating in front of me.

“I remember you, don’t worry.” I told the shadow, releasing [Spirit Focus] to prove it.

“That’s good. And you’ve been training diligently. A Level 3 [Spirit Focus] is good, very good.” the shadow calmly floated to the ground. “Time to get serious then.”

I felt a chill down my spine at that instance. My mind was blasting warning signals, telling me to run away as fast and far as I could. I used [Wind’s Armor] but it wasn’t nearly enough.

KEEEUGH

I looked down and saw a hole where my belly should’ve been. I slowly looked back up at the shadow, whose form had changed into a multi-armed monster.

“Wind’s Armor? One day you might turn it into a useful counter. But in here it’s useless against me.”

The shadow began walking toward me. I was so scared I couldn’t think straight. The more my mind wavered, the scarier the shadow became.

“I... This... You...” I couldn’t form a coherent sentence as my thoughts were in complete shambles.

“Time for lesson number two. This will be important for your chosen path.”

The shadow swiftly moved one of his arms and a cut appeared across my chest, blood spurting out in great quantities.

“Tell me, why aren’t you dying?” the shadow asked, its glowing orb inching closer to my face. “Why aren’t you crying out in pain although you’re missing organs?”

I began thinking about its questions. It was right, I couldn’t feel any pain, I was still standing as well. Thinking rationally calmed my mind and with that the shadow’s form began turning back to its original humanoid form.

NEW SKILL!

True Sight Lv. 1

...

...

...

Skills gained from gods: 1/2