God Fragments

Roger recoiled at Lila's words as if the very idea that the gods could be shattered was foreign to his mind.

Thoughts rushed through his brain as he tried to cope with the information that the gods he had been praying to were all actually dead. Even back in the prison, everyone talked about them as if they were real, although Roger did not know anything about them, only that they were real and very fickle.

He had even prayed that if a god freed him, he would dedicate the rest of his life to their worship. 

Now he knew why they never responded.

Lila watched his face pass through dozens of emotions, seemingly understanding his sudden panic and confusion. Once Roger had gathered enough of his thoughts, he began his barrage of questions.

"What? How? Why? When? How is that even possible?"

Lila nodded with every word as if she had expected them, her golden blonde hair bouncing with the action. 

"I understand it must be shocking to you, as many of you factory workers are very religious, but the gods have been shattered for centuries now. Turned into dozens of shards each and scattered across Avar, although a few have been collected."

That only added even more fuel to the confusing fire raging in Roger's mind.

"Shards? So they were actually shattered, not just killed? You can find just pieces of a god lying around? How does that work? How did the Archon even manage to kill them? Killing a god isn't something you can just do!"

Lila laughed at that.

"No, you idiot! They aren't just lying around! They are either granted by the System or hidden in dungeons, the strongest at that. No one below Sigma rank can even begin to consider trying to challenge one, so get rid of that notion right now! As for how it works, it just does. When the last Archon shattered the gods, he scattered their shards across Avar and then used some of them to build a bridge to Earth to try and repopulate the planet. We don't know how he killed them or built the bridge, only that some of his notes were left behind proving that he had a hand in it all."

Lila suddenly looked a little embarrassed. 

"At least, that's what we believe. The last Archon seemed to have died before the bridge finally connected, which we think took centuries to do. There are some groups that question the validity of the entire claim, pointing to how untrustworthy the first few magi were, and their inability to provide many of the notes they claim they read."

Roger ran his fingers across his smooth head, feeling his hair beginning to grow out. The action that usually comforted him did little to calm his racing heart. Questions about the gods and Archons mixed to create a medley of incomprehensible queries that Roger couldn't begin to parse through. 

Realizing he had not spoken for at least a minute, he tried to press Lila for more information.

"What do these god shards do? Have humans used any?"

Lila, who had dismissed her blade recently, gave him a flat look and shrugged.

"I don't know the specifics as every shard is different. They each give powers related to the god they originate from, which we only know as a few have indeed bonded to these shards. They quickly became some of the most powerful magi, and still are. They have been spearheading humanity's efforts to conquer more of Avar to build up civilizations here, but the progress keeps being stalled by increasingly difficult beasts. The System really likes evening the playing field."

Roger calmed himself down as Lila spoke, acknowledging he couldn't change any of this so there was no reason to freak out about it. 

As his panic waned, his excitement grew, as he began to imagine himself gaining one of those god shards himself.

'Imagine what I could do if I was granted the powers of a god? I could take revenge on the government and no one could stop me!'

The dream was a satisfying one, if a little unrealistic.

Lila smiled like a shark looking at a small fish it planned to eat for lunch.

"I know that smile, that's the smile of someone thinking about gaining incredible powers. You might as well grind the dream into dust now and rid yourself of the notion! Only four shards have been gathered so far, and two of those were part of the same god. They learned that once someone bonds to a god's shard, no one else can bond to any other shards of that god."

She gestured at the two of them.

"For us to have any hope, we would both need to have the necessary potential to reach the higher echelons and even if we did, it would take decades to rank up enough. By the time we make it to the power level to even think about taking on a Godly Trial, what the historians call the dungeons that grand god shards, all twenty-four gods will most likely have a champion. That's also implying both of us have the necessary potential to even reach those ranks, which will take decades. After that, all shards will just be funneled into those lucky bastards."

Her eyes shot open wide as she realized what she had just said.

"What I meant was, after that, all shards will just be given to those lucky magi."

Normally Roger would have been curious why she corrected herself, as he didn't know anyone who would care about her being a little vulgar, but he was too preoccupied with the incredible revelations he was gaining that day.

When he first came to Avar he had never known the planet existed, and now he knew some of the key details of its history and how Earth came to be intertwined with it.

He also had a new goal, however far-fetched Lila felt it was; he wanted a god shard.

He had no clue what they actually did, only that it gave someone the powers of a god. To Roger, that was more than enough to make the journey worth it.

'Besides, aren't we in a higher-ranked zone? Isn't Omicron pretty dangerous? I wonder if we could find a Godly Trial here and beat it! Lila keeps saying the System is fair, so won't it balance things out to help us have a shot?'

Even as he thought it, Roger knew it was a long shot. There was a large difference between being fair with someone in the wild and rebalancing a specific and valuable event for a few teenagers was a little much.

Roger had to remind himself that hope was a poison. He had seen that reaffirmed throughout his entire life, and he shouldn't lose sight of that just because he hears some fanciful tales.

His smile faded and his mood slowly soured as he remembered all the lessons life had taught him. Lila seemed to notice but didn't comment on it, leaving Roger to his own thoughts. Seeing he wasn't going to say anything further, she smiled awkwardly and walked around him to continue working on the Mind Wraith.

The fifteen-year-old boy, meanwhile, felt strangely defeated.

He knew it was stupid, but hearing the incredible story of someone defeating all the gods and then leaving their powers just lying around to be claimed quickly made him envision himself as one of those mythical warriors, rising up from nowhere to inherit some ancient legacy of power and authority.

'That's not the life of a prisoner, Roger. You were always meant to work for someone else's benefit, not change the world to your designs.'

As the depressing thoughts took root, a strange memory struck him.

The vows he had made after fighting that eel on his first night.

He had vowed to never be a prisoner again.

He had vowed to never be abandoned again.

He had vowed to grow so powerful the government would regret imprisoning him.

Roger's hands balled into fists as he replayed those vows in his mind over and over again, reminding himself of his promises. 

His oaths.

He had to hold onto them and keep them close, or else he would quickly fall into the despair and lifelessness of his life in chains. 

Chains he had just had removed.

He was free now, and couldn't go around viewing himself as someone who would accomplish nothing else in his life. 

He wanted to change destiny, to be a prisoner who left his cage only to conquer his jailers.

If he had to be a hero, a villain, or a jester to make that happen, he would happily fill whatever role he needed to.

He looked up into the blue sky with his renewed sense of purpose. His young face split into a wide smile as Roger felt something he had thought long gone.

Hope.