[VOL. 1] Chapter 6: Godlings (1)

It has been five years since the birth of godlings. Ezekiel, a ten-year old child wearing plain purple prison clothing, woke up early in the morning before the sun rose. It wasn’t because he’s a morning person, but it’s because it was getting hard for him to breathe.

His codename is Habagat, named after the God of Wind and Rain from Filipino mythology. His gift is called Aerokinesis according to the scientists. He has the ability to create, shape, and manipulate air. Because of the lack of air underground, it was the absolute worst for his breathing.

He occasionally removes his oxygen from his body whenever he sleeps unintentionally, hence why it is difficult for him to live underground. Over the years, he has gotten used to the “lack of air” situation but it was still pretty difficult. He cannot use his gift whenever he wants because of it. He has limited use.

“Psst. You’re awake, Kiel?” A boy asked him from the next cell.

Ezekiel sat down near the semi-transparent glass to converse with the boy, “I’m awake as always, Corey. Y’know it’s difficult for me to sleep at night.”

Corey chuckled while playing tricks with an illusion of a dagger, “It’s sad that those men don’t care about you because your abilities are C. They failed to realize that your performance is hindered by the lack of air.”

The boy is Corey, Ezekiel’s best friend since five years ago.

His codename is Loki, named after the God of Mischief from Norse mythology. His gift is called Hallucikinesis. He has the ability to manipulate illusions which causes anyone to see, hear, or touch things differently from what they truly are.

Like Ezekiel, his ability was deemed worthless. It was given a D. In the past, Corey had attempted to escape the laboratory using his abilities but the guards weren’t fooled by him due to his lack of understanding of his own gift.

He was wearing plain white clothing due to his tier. Each of the colored prisoner clothes represent how valuable or powerful one’s powers are. Yellow is S, Magenta is A, Blue is B, Purple is C, White is D, and the ones with an F do not have any shirts on.

“But they’re not lying. My gift can only manipulate air. It cannot be weaponized from their perspective.” Ezekiel deemed his gift weaker compared to the other children whose abilities far exceeded his own and Corey’s. “Anyway, what do you think the guards will do to us today?”

“I don’t know. It could be anything.” Corey answered before casting an illusion of a ball and played with it. “Hand-to-hand combat training, sparring, endurance training, practical tests, and so on. Personally, I hope it isn’t the third one. I’m terrible at it.”

“Yet you excelled at stealth training. You’re practically among the best.” Ezekiel pointed out.

Corey smiled proudly, “I guess so. It’s too bad they still deemed me weak because of my gift. Well, it’s their loss. They don’t know that it may be more powerful than they can imagine, but then that’s just my wishful thinking.”

After the clock hits 6:00, several Fatherland guards stand in front of different cells to escort the children to the cafeteria. Ezekiel and Corey walked together while two guards were staring right at them from behind, which intimidated them.

As they made their way to the seats, Ezekiel saw a beautiful girl from afar at a different table. He hasn’t told his best friend, but he had a crush on her for five years. He couldn’t resist her fiery beauty. He was then snapped back to reality by Corey.

“Kiel! Are you okay?” Corey asked.

Ezekiel shook his head before slapping himself lightly, “Yeah, I’m fine. Did you say something?”

“Sheesh. You really need to have a good night’s sleep one day. You’re gonna collapse.” Corey pointed out. “As I said, it seems that we’re gonna have hand-to-hand combat lessons today.”

Ezekie groaned, “Great. Prepare to hear the ranting from my trainer. He’ll be so disappointed that my skills haven't improved much.”

“How could it? You’re literally struggling to stabilize the air in your system. It’s their idiocy for failing to realize your condition.” Corey defended his best friend. “Hey, at least we aren’t going to have a spar with other godlings.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, weakling. We are going to have a face off. Better hope you aren’t fighting me.” An unknown boy walked in their conversation with three of his buddies standing behind him. “You don’t want to end up like Guanyu. Hiding behind force fields, what a coward he was.”

“Tsk. It’s good to see you too as well, Aster.” Ezekiel greeted the boy reluctantly.

Aster. He is one of the strongest godlings that is favored by the Fatherland.

His codename is Jupiter, named after the God of Sky and Thunder from Roman mythology. His gift is called Electrokinesis. He has the ability to create, shape, and manipulate electricity, a form of energy resulting from the movement of charged particles or something. His prison outfit is yellow, showing how powerful his abilities are. He has a big ego because of it and deemed the godlings who aren’t in yellow, magenta, and blue as weaklings. He has been bullying and teasing other godlings after showcasing his ability four years ago, along with his buddies. The guards didn’t care to stop them.

His girl buddy chuckled, “I heard a rumor that both of you will be facing an A or S-tier godling. I wish you luck… not.”

Corey rolled over his eyes, “Thanks for the ‘support’, April.”

The girl is April. Her codename is Terra Mater or Terra, named after the Goddess of Earth from Roman mythology. Her gift is called Geokinesis. She has the ability to create, shape and manipulate the earth. Her prison outfit is magenta and the strongest among the A-tier godlings.

She was once a crybaby five years ago until the Fatherland praised her ability which made her into an arrogant and prideful godling, though she is a saint from everyone’s perspectives compared to Aster who is much worse than her.

The boy buddy sighed in annoyance, “I hope my opponents aren’t you two. My gift is wasted on you.”

Corey smirked, “What? You want to face a stronger godling? Why don’t you face Atsuko again? Last time that happened, that didn’t end so well.”

He slammed his hands on the table in anger, “Do not attempt to mock me, weakling. Your words won’t work on me.”

Corey raised his eyebrow before staring at the hands that slammed the table, “I beg to differ, Sethos.”

“Stop it, Corey. Just let him be.” Ezekiel said. It’s early in the morning, so he doesn’t want to get into a fight early, especially when he and his friend are much weaker than these guys.

The boy is Sethos. His codename is Set, named after the God of War, Chaos, and Sandstorms from Egyptian mythology. His gift is called Sandstorm Generation. He can create a strong, turbulent wind carrying large clouds of sand, dirt, and other forms of dust.

Like April, his prison outfit is magenta. He also had an arrogant and prideful personality until Atsuko snapped at him for ruining her mood and beat him to a bloody pulp a month ago. He has been slightly terrified of her, but wanted to seek revenge on her for destroying his pride someday. He prefers to fight godlings that are equally strong as him, not weaker or stronger, because of her.

“If you’re my opponent in the ring, little trickster. I shall let my monsters feast on your hands. The Fatherland doesn’t care about you or your gift anyway.” The third buddy said while laughing at the thought creepily.

“Yeah, yeah, Maskim.” Corey said before laughing at the name. “Oh boy, whoever named you that must’ve really hated you so much.”

Maskim raised her eyebrow, “What does that mean?”

Corey smirked, “You don’t know the origin of your name, do you? That’s alright. You’ll find out soon. I don’t want to ruin any surprises.”

“Do not make a fool of me, trickster.” Maskim warned him.

The third buddy is Maskim. Her codename is Lamashtu, named after the Goddess of Monsters from Mesopotamian mythology. Her gift is called Monster Summoning. She has the ability to summon monstrous beings from other places or worlds for a variety of reasons.

Like Aster, she is wearing a yellow prisoner outfit to show how powerful her ability is. She terrorized godlings with her “beloved” monsters for four years until the Fatherland forbade her as the godlings wouldn’t improve much if they kept being chased by an aqrabuamelu or mushkhushshu. She has been close friends with Aster for five years, even having a crush on him.

“You better watch yourselves. This place is a survival of the fittest for us, godlings. The Fatherland has no mercy for the weak.” Aster reminded them about the harsh environment with a smirk. “Of course, it’s not a problem for us. We are a prized collection for the Fatherland after all. We are going to bring countries down to their knees. They’ll be at our mercy. Praise the Fatherland.”

“Praise the Fatherland.” His buddies followed him.