1 Prologue

Somewhere in the astral world, a majestic garden sprawled out in all directions as far as the eye could see. The garden was bursting with life, beautiful and colorful plants grew everywhere and animals that both existed and didn't exist played amongst the plants.

In the middle of this vast garden stood a rather small but infinitely beautiful palace with white pillars that seemed iridescent, and fog that shrouded the marble floors beneath it. Green vines with vibrant flowers wound around the pillars, and colorful creatures fluttered around them.

In the middle of this palace stood a marble statue of a woman with a nude upper body and a swath of cloth around her waist that extended down to her ankles. A resplendent crown of flowers, wheat, and weeds wound around her head. Her eyes look downwards, a soft smile on her lips. The soft lines of her face and her serene expression gave the impression that she habored immense compassion for whoever it was that knelt before her.

She was the goddess, Mother Earth, and the one who currently genuflected in front of her was Ashra, a Rank 2 Blessed of Mother Earth.

His tone was full of respect, reverence, and cloaked wariness as he spoke.

"Mother, I have finally returned to your embrace."

The statue did not move but Ashra who had his head bowed and his eyes fixed on the Goddess' feet heard her clear, soothing voice resound in his mind.

"My Blessed, do you not want to be beside me anymore?"

Ashra had to suppress the twitch of the corners of his mouth as he tried to say as seriously as he could. He immediately knew where this was going.

"Mother, I have spent three lifetimes with you. I fear you will tire of me."

"Ashra, you are my most blessed descendant. I could never tire of you. So, I will grant you life and watch over you once more."

"..."

Mother, if you are not tired of me, I am tired of you...

If he wasn't in the presence of the goddess, he would be howling in injustice right now.

He had lived three lifetimes so far. It was fine the second time, but by the third, he was ready to commit suicide, but he knew he would just end up kneeling here once again, ready to be rebooted. Life is good because it is short. Even the best delicacies taste like sand the hundredth time around.

Just remembering his last life, Ashra almost had a physical reaction as he felt extreme repulsion to the idea of being reborn.

He would very much rather die!

Unfortunately, his mother the goddess was selectively deaf.

Without a shred of pride, he resorted to pleading.

"Mother, I can't do it anymore! It really is too hard. Fighting all the time is truly tiring. Please..."

Once he got his repressed thoughts out in the open, he felt his shoulder lighten and the edges of his mouth relax. But, just when he naively thought the goddess might miraculously listen to him now that he had laid out his thoughts, she said.

"Live for me. Just one more time."

Ashra resisted the urge to clean his ears. How could his mother turn so shameless at the drop of a hat?

"Mother, you said 'one more time' the second time..."

The goddess choked and then cleared her throat, regaining her faux-ethereal tone.

"I mean it this time."

"You also 'meant it' the third time."

The goddess choked once again.

"... Let's negotiate."

"Okay, let me die."

The goddess gave up on putting on airs in front of this child of hers. Her tone became full of petulance and her unrestrained nature started to show.

"I refuse! You are the only one who truly understands me. That booger head Maric and his bloody sister are clueless brats. You are my greatest creation. How could I possibly let you die? Not happening!"

This woman... Ashra grit his teeth and resisted to urge to outrightly cuss at the deity. She may love him endlessly, but if he dared to cuss at her openly, a stray lightning bolt might greet him.

Not like it really mattered, though. In her divine kingdom, especially regarding her Blessed, any thoughts directly pointing to her were not private and she was aware of them. But there was a difference between saying and not saying.

The goddess spoke, her voice pleading but forceful.

"Ashrahal, will you really, really not stay by my side this time?"

Ashra was on the verge of tears. He had been with the goddess for his three lifetimes, two thousand eight hundred years in total. It could be said he knew her more than her other Blessed and even more than the other deities, except the goddess' sister.

He knew that, although most of the time she was mature, benevolent, caring, moderately strict, like a mother, the goddess was actually quite childish when you got to know her. And know her, Ashra did. He was one of three Blessed borne from the Goddess and he had stayed with her the longest. He was truly familiar with the different faces of this deity.

How could he not know what she would say next?

"Okay, if you insist, I will compromise. You are my beloved Blessed, after all. How about you reincarnate, but from the beginning. No powers!"

Although he had expected it, Ashra stilled. Brimming with frustration, a tear almost leaked out of his eyes. If he was going to live anyways, he wanted to keep his powers. This deal was not a deal!

The goddess probably felt his suffering and quickly added.

"No missions, too!"

"..."

Ashra finally felt like he had seen the light.

No missions?

Ashra immediately dropped his one knee that had been up in his genuflective pose and bowed his head even deeper.

"Praise the goddess!"

The goddess was silent for a while like she was taken aback by how fast he had accepted it.

Afraid she would suddenly change her mind, Ashra said again with more force.

"Praise the goddess, mother of earth and all life within it!"

After a moment of silence, a dry chuckle resounded in his mind as the goddess finally recovered from her shock.

"You really are too much like me, it's almost sickening. Alright, alright, I will give you a new life. No powers, no missions. A clean slate. I will also seal all your memories, but I will leave some important things so you don't wander too far away from me."

Just as Ashra was about to rejoice, she said.

"But, for the next hundred years, you will stay here and play with me."

Ashra's mood dimmed but soon perked back up.

He had live for almost three thousand years. What was a hundred more?

Also, he believed that, if he were to reincarnate in the conditions the goddess laid out for him, it was as good as the current him perishing. He would only have a few memories so as to not be clueless. That was actually more ideal than having no memories at all!

He had lived half of his second and his whole third life tired and weary, craving repose. Life had been tiring because he kept reincarnating with fully intact memories and nothing was exciting or surprising anymore. Although having his memories sealed was not his first choice, it could be a close second.

On the one hand, he believed if he started again without prior memories, he had a chance to live a normal mortal life and die at the ripe age of eighty or ninety, after experiencing the wild and momentary thrill the short-lived mortals enjoyed.

On the other hand, if he was reborn with no memories but still having the status of a deity's Blessed, a lot of problems would arise. So, it was best that he remembered this identity of his.

Thinking like this, he got up, his knees sore, and sat cross-legged on the lush grass , ready to listen to the Goddess gossip about the various other deities, as usual.

And the goddess did not disappoint. Like she had been waiting all this time to tell him, she started off with a bomb.

"Can you believe it, Nari actually gave birth to that donkey Apsat's descendant! How could anyone stand that misogynist? What a load of..."

As she rambled on, Ashra felt the corner of his lips twitch uncontrollably.

Did he actually think he could survive a hundred years of this... he might have overestimated himself.