“My friend and I wish to become the godparents of those two children.”

“…What?”

What are they talking about?

“It’s not a bad deal! With both of us accepting them into our families, these children will have exceptional lives. They may even become gods of their own! You too will receive benefits from this. You will receive our full support in the coming dark days.”

W-What is happening? Why are gods so interested in my kids?

“I believe it will be easier to show him.”

The man, Nergal if I remembered correctly, snapped his fingers.

Immediately, a mass of darkness appeared before him that slowly formed into the shape of a woman, wearing a black butler clothes and a pair of round glasses sitting on her nose.

“This is Tabes, one of my daemons that works with me. She will be the one who will be taking care of the children and helping in their education. She is a rot daemon so the spores you emit should be like fresh air to her.”

The maid, slightly bowed, showed no expression on her face.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Aside from her, I will give my blessing to one of your children. Since he isn’t an apostle like you, he will obviously be weaker, but in this world, having any kind of strength is a must.”

Airmed looked at the maid, then she looked at me.

“Sadly, I am unable to offer a servant like that, since I am a minor god, but I can give them this.”

From her hair, several flowers flew out and gently landed on the sleeping kids. As the flowers made contact with their skin, I could see gold marks appear on their chest and arms.

“What did you do?”

“This is the Mark of the Druid. We can give this gift to children who are just born. As they grow up their connection to nature will deepen, becoming a great existence in the future.”

The woman leaned over me, with a radiant smile.

“So, what do you say? If you accept us as their godparents, then their growth will go exponentially. Don't all fathers want their children to grow up strong?”

The way she was freezing it made my skin slightly itch, but for some reason, I couldn’t find any fault in her words.

Yes, all fathers must protect their children.

“Alright I accept.”

As I said the world, the two gods reached out towards the kids, from their hands a rainbow-colored aura flowed out, that gently enveloped the kids, seeping into their bodies.

“Here. A gift.”

The masked god threw a wooden box before my feet.

“Right! It's a special day for you too! Ugh, but I haven’t brought you anything… I know! “

The goddess took out a flower from her hair and threw it in the air.

The plant looked like a white rose, with its steam somehow leaking a reddish liquid.

From my coat, my book flew out and collided with the plant.

When the two objects touched each other, they somehow fused into something else.

It was still a book; the cover had turned green with a drawing of a white rose on it.

“What did you call it? Book of knowledge? It’s a mouthful. ….Hmm, what about Librom? The library. Yes, that sounds nice. Now for the finishing touches.”

After moving her hands strangely in the air, the book floated before me.

“Congratulation. It is now a sentient artifact. it is able to fly, and once you retrieve your other book, it will fuse with it becoming bigger. You can even write into it, to safehold your research.”

The goddess smiled as her contours started to fade away.

In the name of the gods, we welcome you and your child amongst the go-“

I couldn’t hear the end of her sentence, her figure faded away too quickly, leaving me alone with the sleeping kids.

*****

“You are surprisingly sly, Airmed.”

“Oh? Why?”

“Don’t play dumb with me. I could tell that you sued one of the weird plants to make him accept us.”

“…He is too interesting. It’s been centuries since I met someone so unique. Watching him doesn’t suffice anymore. I want him. I want to be in his story.”

“Man, you are creepy.”

“You are the one to talk. Considering what you gave him. Some of us will be angry at you.”

“Bah, they will keep quiet till the things stay interesting. With your book, I am sure that things are going to be moving quite fast.”

“Heh, yes, quite fast.”

*****

Soon after the gods disappeared from my sight, the world slowly returned to normal.

If the maid, the flying book, and the golden markings on the kid’s body weren’t there, I would have imagined that I was on some sort of drug.

[Please, name your children so that their status can be made.]

I looked down on the still sleeping kids, who had no idea what just happened to them.

While thinking about the name, I heard a whisper.

I looked around, but the maid didn’t seem to say anything and there was no one else besides her.

Probably imagining it, I turned back to the kids.

“Their names are Tanya and Phil Right.”

I didn’t need the name Phil anymore and I had the feeling that this little guy deserved it more than I did. And as for Tanya… it just sounded nice.

[Names been registered]

[Creation of status windows…]

[Status windows made.]

[

Name: Tanya Right

Race: [ Kayeri ] (LV: 0/50 (0/50)

Main Class: None

Sub Class: None

Hp: 230/230

MP: 60 /60

SP: 32

Blessings: [Blessing of Nergal] [Blessing of Airmed]

Active Skills: [Basic Spirit Voice] [Aether Vision] [ [Mold Manipulation] [ Decomposing touch]

Passive Skills: [Symbiosis] [Mold Sinergy] [Plant Sense] [Medical Sense]

Affinities: [Mold Affinity] [Medicine Affinity]

Titles: [Blood of the Mold Father] [First Daughter] [Marked by Nature] [First Pure Blooded] [Goddaughter of the Gods]

]

]

Name: Phil Right

Race: [ Kayeri ] (LV: 0/50 (0/50)

Main Class: None

Sub Class: None

Hp: 300/300

MP: 30 /30

SP: 32

Blessings: [Blessing of Nergal] [Blessing of Airmed]

Active Skills: [Basic Spirit Voice] [Aether Vision] [ [Mold Manipulation] [ Decomposing touch]

Passive Skills: [Symbiosis] [Mold Sinergy] [Bloody Nose] [Beast Sense]

Affinities: [Mold Affinity] [War Affinity]

Titles: [Blood of the Mold Father] [First Son] [Marked by Nature] [ First Pure Blooded] [Godson of the Gods]

]

“Not bad.”

Getting a cramp in my arms, I gently put the kids on the floor, which was slightly warm due to it belonging to a living organism.

as I was about to let them go, they both grabbed my fingers with their small hands as if they were afraid to lose me.

“Don’t worry. I will be back.”

I gently freed myself from their grasp. I observed them for a while, to make sure they were fine, then I breathed a sigh of relief, only noticing the wooden box that was still laying on the floor.

“…It can’t hurt.

I took the box and opened it.

“What is this?”

I slowly grabbed the crystal and examined it.

It was warm and the light emitted from it seemed to pull as if it was a heart.

[Congratulation]

[You found a drifter item]

[[Blessing of Nergal] is activated]

[Commencing dimensional dive]

[Prepare for reality shift]

[User is set to be transferred into: [The Sanken Beauty, Central Reality]]

“Wait-“

Before I could finish speaking, the scenery started to shift around me, becoming so fast that I couldn’t even describe what was happening around me. The only constant thing that I saw was the notifications that were popping up before my face.

[Scanning…]

[Sou been strengthened through evolution]

[Strengthening dimensional avatar.]

[ Dimensional avatar strengthened]

[Dimensional drift complete]

[User compatibility with the world: 70%]

[Time till return: 2 hours]

[New system been detected]

[Creating a status sheet using the already existing one.]

[Error]

[Language is incompatible with user]

[Dimensional translator will require time to adapt.]

[Incompatible skills and items have been locked]

[Synthesis complete]

When the last of the notifications appeared, I found myself lying on a very cold floor.

“Ugh…. My stomach… I am going to…”

After vomiting in a corner, I looked around, quickly making sure that I was in danger.

From what I could tell I was standing in the middle of a dark corridor, which seemed like it was made from metal.

“The hell did they bring me?”

I slowly walked a few steps, only just realizing something.

The last time I traveled into another world this way I was a spooky cape that floated in the air.

I looked down at the ground, thankful for the dark vision I had.

What I saw was the ragged cape that had multiple stitches on it, but this time I could see a pair of bony feet poking out from it. To be sure what was happening I lifted my hands up.

Turns out, the cape I was wearing became a robe for some reason, because it had slews, made from the same ragged fabric. As for my hands, they were nothing more than black bones that were held together by thin strands of black mold.

I clenched my fingers a few times to make sure that everything functioned properly, before continuing walking.

“Yeah, not impressed.”

Being surprised by only turning back into a skeleton, after everything I have done and seen? Please, don’t look down on me.

I followed the corridor, till I arrived at a spacious room.

On a corner I saw a glowing blue rectangle, looking like a switch of some kind.

“I fuckin’ hope this will not explode in the face. I had enough problems for a lifetime.”

I pushed the rectangle and with a rumbling noise, one of the walls parted away like the automatic doors of a supermarket, showing me the outside.

“…Get out.”

What I saw was… well I can’t even get an analogy for it.

It was space.

I was in space.

I saw stars shine in the darkness, with what I could tell was a brown planet dotted with red dots.

With a distant rumbling, something flew by, turning out to be a spaceship resembling a hunting airplane. Further away, something that resembled a high-tech aircraft carrier was floating slowly, several ships entering and leaving it.

“Incredible.”

I pressed my hand on the glass, engrossed by the view, imagining all the possibilities out there.

“Alien technology. Extraterrestrial life. Planets with unimaginable resources. All out there. All waiting for me.”

This place was nothing short of a treasure trove. If I could replicate even a fraction in my home world then I would head an unimaginable head advance against the apostles.

Maybe I could take my race up in the stars, colonizing a planet for just us.

“Planet Darwin. I quite like it.”

“AAAAAAAA!”

I heard a scream, with a loud thud behind me.

In fright I turned around to face a humanoid creature, wearing a blue military uniform-looking clothes, with a crate laying before its feet.

“The thing was muttering something as it was staring at me in complete fright and shock.

“Oh shit. You can see me?”

*****

??? POV:

Sitting on a throne made from dark stone that had glowing purple patterns on them, the woman opened her eyes, which were gloving in a purple light.

Slowly she stood up, the sound of stone retelling accompanied the sound of chains tingling.

She walked to the balcony, which overlooked the still destroyed city, covered in the mold.

In the distance, she could feel something approaching.

Something that wanted her dead.

Gently she caressed the book that she was holding in her left hand that seemed to be made from stone, with glowing purple patterns etched onto it.

“So, you came back, Phil. You came back for my treasure. Well, I shall not give it. This book shall be the key to the future. The future of the new kingdom of monsters. And whoever stands before us, shall be crushed like the pebble it is.”

As she was monologuing to herself, the shadow at her feet lengthened and from it, a figure crawled out without a noise.

The shadowy figure was tall and ghostly with its eyes and mouth gloving in a purplish light.

The thing smiled crookedly and spoke in a voice that no one heard.

“Yes. It's time. He is here. The one who shall finally set us free.”

*****

Mythology of Tabes:

Phthisis (Ancient Greek: Φθίσις, phthísis; 'wasting away'; Roman name; Tabes), one of the Nosoi/Pestis, was the personification/daemon of rot, decay, and putrefaction, in Classical/Greco-Roman mythology. I am calling here Tabes, because her Greek name doesn’t sit well on my thing and it’s easier to write down.

*

*

*

[

Name: Darwin Tim Right 'Plague Father'

Race: [ True Kayeri (Mechanically Augmented)] LV: 1/10 000 (1/10 000)

Main Class: [Dark Apostle of Putrefaction]

Sub Class: [Father of Biopunk]

MP: 60 000/60 000

Blessings: [Blessing of Nergal] [Blessing of Airmed]

Active Skills: [Basic Steady Hand] [[Hive control] [Hive Absorption] [Hive Repulsion] [Mold Field] [Basic Spirit Voice] [Aether Vision] [Steam Engineering [Mold Manipulation] [Fly manipulation] [ Decomposing touch] [Rot Embodiment] [Inorganic conversion] [Plague Mist] [Face Switch] [Organic Matter Comprehension] [Organic Matter Manipulation] [Cellular Mutation Inducement]

Passive Skills: [Body Knowledge] [ Plant Knowledge] [Medicine Knowledge] [Stamina Enhancement] [ Movement Enhancement] [ Reflex Enhancement.] [Superior Sponge Mind] [Perfect Stomach] [Hive Mind] [Music Instrument Knowledge] [Healing Hands] [Medical Senses] [Medical Mind] [Surgical Precision] [Mechanical Skeleton] [Toxic Air] [ High Regeneration] [Organic Clockwork] [Demon’s Presence] [Sight of Blood]

Affinities: [Basic Farming Affinity] [Basic War Affinity] [Basic Pestilence Affinity][ Basic Fire Affinity.] [Basic Life Affinity] [Basic Death Affinity]

Titles: [The One Who Saw a Thousand Worlds] [Knowledge Driven] [Chosen by Flies] [Medicine Pioneer] [Hive Master] [Giver of Life] [The 13th Dark Apostle] [Father of New Race] [Exclusive Class Holder]

]