Sol's Story [1]

After dropping their farm tools aside, Rowan and his wife Maria entered the house through the front door. They were used to hearing painful groans and cries each time they returned home, but this time the house was silent.

The couple exchanged terrified glances as their imagination ran wild. They quickly ran through the small living room and rushed into Damon's room.

It was already dark, so they had to rely on the small light from Rowan's candle. 

As soon as they approached the bed, they were stunned to see Damon awake, quietly staring at the ceiling.

"Damon?" Maria called out timidly.

Even with the light, there was no reaction, so they were worried Damon must have passed on with his eyes open. For the past few weeks, his condition had gotten worse, so they suspected he was nearing the end of his life.

They had inwardly accepted the loss of their child and were only waiting for it to happen.

"Why are you scared?" Damon suddenly spoke up, startling the duo.

Maria quickly rushed over and gently embraced Damon, while Rowan gently caressed his hair. Her light sobs could be heard while her tears drenched his clothes.

Damon's lifeless eyes observed Maria's silent sobs for a while before he slowly raised his hand and patted her head. 

"I need food, get me something to eat." Damon said.

"What?!"

Maria abruptly jerked her head back in shock, while Rowan blinked at her in surprise. Damon's condition made him lack appetite, so he never asked for food. This was the first time it was happening, so they were stunned.

"Hold on! I will heat the soup right away!" Maria responded with a dazzling smile as she scrambled to get on her feet.

Rowan jumped on his feet excitedly, he also wished to help prepare food for his only son.

"No, you stay with him!" Maria quickly rejected his attempts to help.

"Don't worry, I'm fine now. You don't need to watch over me all the time anymore." Damon said, even before Rowan could respond.

The couple looked at him, unsure if to believe his words. It was already stunning, Damon could speak without crying out in pain or requesting food. Those were signs of improvement, but they still felt apprehensive about his condition.

"You leave me here every day to go to the farm. Leaving me for a few more minutes to cook won't kill me. Relax." Damon said in an annoyed tone.

Rowan and Maria could only exchange glances before nodding and running out of the room. Their reaction would have been amusing to anyone, but Damon's gaze remained lifeless, as if he were looking at mere items and not humans.

{Hey, my parents are good people. Be Nice!} A voice rang in Damon's head, causing him to squint due to discomfort.

It was the real Damon!

After his short conversation with Damon, Sol decided not to kill him. While taking over the body, he preserved Damon's soul and maintained his consciousness. 

The real Damon was watching the God of Death live through his own eyes. While he could not control his actions, he could experience them first hand.

This arrangement was way better than Sol's original plan.

'You should be grateful I decided to keep them alive.' Sol responded, subtly threatening Damon.

With nothing else to say, Sol focused his attention on Damon's body. After several years of malnutrition, inactivity, and side effects from his condition, Damon's bones had become fragile.

His entire physical makeup was no different from that of a five-year-old. That explained why he was bedridden all his life.

{I forgot to tell you that this body is too weak to use. But since you are an all-knowing God, I'm guessing you have a plan.} Damon said.

'Of Course.' Sol responded smugly.

Sniff!

Sol inhaled deeply, causing a warm and comfortable feeling to spread across his body. His deadly pale face blushed red, revealing some color for the first time in a long while.

It looked like the common air he breathed was the breath of life.

"World Energy. As refreshing as always, but it is not as abundant as before." Sol muttered with a frown.

{What's world energy?} Damon asked.

Initially, Sol planned to ignore the talkative voice in his head, but he had a change of heart. Since he decided to spare Damon's life and allow him to witness the journey of a God, he might as well let the boy understand what he is witnessing.

"Tell me, what do you know about the world?" Sol asked.

{I only know the things my dad and mum told me. Like mana, magus, and the church.} Damon answered honestly.

{My parents told me Magus are really incredible people with amazing spells they can cast with magic. They said mana is fuel for all magus and the world in general.} Damon explained.

Listening to him, Sol concluded Damon knew nothing about the world. He wasn't surprised, since he was a boy born into a family of peasants. 

How would he know anything?

"Alright kid, pay attention. I will give you five thousand years' worth of history and knowledge. Most scholars would kill to get the information, but since you are my scribe, I will share it with you." Sol said.

He could feel Damon bubbling with excitement within his head. Even now, the boy was only a consciousness; he still had the playfulness and purity of a child.

Maybe that's why Damon was fond of him.

"The planet we live on is called an Õnis, meaning Realm of God." Sol began.

{What does that mean?} Damon asked.

"It means a planet created for the sole purpose of creating Gods." Sol responded quickly.

{Creating Gods ?… The Sanctuary of the Fourfold Vigil worships the four sacred weapon Gods. Does that mean our Gods were born in and created in this world ?} Damon threw out another question as soon as he got an answer.

"Yes and No… Yes, your Gods are creations of this world, and no, the Gods which that little church worships are not of this world." Sol responded but sounded slightly pissed.

Sol wasn't annoyed by the question, but the memories it brought. With no other choice, he decided to share his story with this mortal to help shed light on this situation.

"When this Õnis was young, it selected four New God candidates amongst its creations. As pioneer inhabitants of this world, we learned its secrets as we slowly cultivated our power and gained our inheritances. Within the first century of existence, we obtained the title of True Gods." Sol began his story.

"Unfortunately, the safety we enjoyed was short-lived. Our Õnis was found by old gods of a forgotten world that had fallen to ruins. These old gods are the deities of the Sanctuary of the Fourfold Vigil. While we were bestowed with incredible power, we lacked something all new creations lacked. Experience." Sol continued.

{So you guys got your ass whooped by a bunch of old men?} Damon blurted out.