Story

[You have passed the Trial of Wisdom.]

The sage and Adonis sat face to face but now, the dynamic seemed to have changed. There was just something in the air that seemed to tense the atmosphere, as if the two would erupt at any moment.

Feeling this tension, inwardly, the sage madly grinned.

He'd lived for longer than he cared to count and in his endless years of travel, he'd never found anyone worthy of becoming his disciple let alone a child who was able to assimilate all his heritage in such a short amount of time.

The Adonis that stood before him was the same and yet, he was a totally different entity. All the boons of the trials added and stacked atop of one another to give Adonis a rebirth no one would ever be able to fathom.

"Tell me about that book." Asked the sage, ignoring the fact that the trial was over.

Adonis looked at his reflection within his own cup of tea and sighed.

"It's called Heaven's Sire. It was written after the last war by a general that was using art as an outlet. An outlet for his guilt perhaps."

"It's the story of this girl that's born in a clan that's hated by the world because their ancestor is a demon that killed countless humans in order to ascend to the position of a God."

"A sacrifice?"

"Kinda? It's not so much about how many he kills but how much sorrow he brought by killing. That's why he targeted specific groups and people to make sure his acts would cause enough despair and hate."

"Anyway, because he became a God and she's his descendant, she's a Demigod, a really powerful one that can control time and blood. A weird mix but it allows her to absolutely dominate."

"Her bloodline makes her particularly hateful so just like her ancestor, she's spiteful and seeks to ascend to Godhood via the sorrow of the dead but unlike before, this time, the other clans are prepared so they do everything they can to stop her."

"A good chunk of the first book is just her running around and hoping to find artefacts and legacies that'd allow her to rise ever faster and enact her so called revenge."

"Eventually, she gets powerful enough and begins her ascension to Godhood. So, she kills, violates, destroys-everything considered bad? She did it. Her ceremony was even bloodier than her ancestor's."

"All goes well but at the last minute, the bloodline that led her to the top suddenly ignites and she dies."

The sage chuckled hearing this and allowed Adonis to continue.

"Obviously, this isn't the end. Her time element allows her to go back in time and she wakes up in her baby body but the only difference is that this time, she isn't a demigod nor is she under the influence of her ancestor."

"Instead of rejoicing, she absolutely breaks down, realising she led a life of debauchery and hate due to something that was beyond her."

"As you can guess, the second book focuses on this timeline where she tries to do as much good as possible and attempts to plot against her ancestor to right the wrongs done during his ascension."

"Unfortunately, the people of the world still hate her so she's treated like trash and undergoes some of the most gruelling and disgusting challenges to prove herself but eventually, she's accepted by the world and they unite under her banner, hoping to fight against her ancestor."

"But the catch is that…"

The more Adonis spoke, the more the sage found himself enthralled as after a while, he was truly captivated.

"The point is that her suffering is eternal and will never end. She's stuck in an infinite loop, forced to commit sins she has no choice but to commit just to repent and be mistreated by the world."

"It's a bit of a retelling of Sisyphus' story but with more context."

"What I like about her is how she deals with tragedy and her overall outlook on life, one of my favourite quotes from the book is…"

[As I fell from Heaven, the winds tore my wings and the sun burnt my pupils. Blinded, I fell into the abyss, enraged, I roamed the abyss and enthralled, I ruled the abyss.]

[I do not seek to escape the Abyss and return to my throne in Heaven, no, I see the depths of the abyss, its extremity. I wish to see what lies below it all, I wish to conquer it, make it mine, burn it into my soul so I do not forget the errors of my ways.] 

[The flames born from my tragedy will render me to ashes and I shall blanket over the world, my sorrow acting as the spark to a new era. An Era of Peace. An Era of Oblivion.]

[I seek the Abyss. Direly.]

As Adonis spoke these words, a smile bloomed on his face.

"Ah whatever, I'm just rambling. Point is, I really like the book, try it if you can."

"Who would've thought you'd be such a bookworm. You look like a thick headed brat at first glance."

"Can one not be both?"

The sage chuckled.

"Well, I didn't really have much else to do as a kid apart from study and train. My mother was really into literature so she made me read all her classics and more. It's a hobby I hope to pick back up in the future." Uttered Adonis as he stood up and the world around him began to fade.

The sage smiled and downed his cup of tea.

"Thank you, sage."

"Oh please, there's no need for any of these formalities. You're my master now, after all. I simply fulfilled my duties."

With a smile, the sage faded alongside the world of darkness around him as he returned to the grand gate he'd used to enter his trials.

The air was fresh, the world bright and the atmosphere serene as he returned and he took a deep breath in.

"I'm finally alive."