Chapter 7: Godlings (2)

Corey proceeded to mock Aster with confidence, “Are you seriously repeating what our history instructor said? Can’t you be more… original? Oh right, you can’t because ‘Jupiter’ is just a mere copy of ‘Zeus’ created by the Romans. How sad.”

“Why you-!” Aster despised being called a “copy” by anyone. He doesn’t know why the Fatherland gave him the codename “Jupiter” rather than Zeus, but he won’t question their decision nor be mocked by his fellow godlings for it. “You’ll pay for that.”

His eyes glowed purple. He was about to unleash a devastating lightning bolt at Corey. Both Ezekiel and Corey were about to run until Aster stopped after being interrupted by a girl. The same girl who Ezekiel has a crush on.

“What is going on here?” The girl asked.

“Do not interrupt me, Shu.” Aster told the girl off. “I am about to teach these weaklings about messing with their superiors.”

“Oh?”

The beautiful girl was Shu Qiang. Her codename is Zhurong, named after the God of Fire from Chinese mythology. Her gift is called Pyrokinesis. She has the ability to generate, shape, and manipulate fire. She is the strongest among the S-tier godlings so far.

Everybody feared and respected her, especially the Fatherland. It seems that she has a sense of loyalty towards the Fatherland and deemed everyone weak according to all of godlings’ assumptions. Nobody attempted to mess with her nor wanted to befriend her, hence why Ezekiel thinks he is out of her league.

“I suggest you back away from these ‘weaklings’, Aster. They aren’t worth your time… unless you want to be burned by me before the sparring match?” Shu threatened him while her arms were beginning to ignite in flames slowly.

“Tsk. You’re protecting these weaklings!? I thought you share the same ideal as me!” Aster yelled at him, which made everyone in the room frozen in shock including himself.

Shu’s eyes glowed in a fiery color, “You’re ruining my mood by messing with them, Aster. I want none of that. Now get back to your seats or face my flames. You don’t want to have scars like Boris the other day, would you?”

Aster sighed in annoyance, “Very well, Shu. Come on guys.”

“See you in the training area, weaklings.” April said.

The four of them then departed from Ezekiel’s and Corey’s table.

Ezekiel sighed in relief, “Finally. They’re gone. Thank y-“

“Save your thanks, weakling. I simply wanted to have a moment of peace. Continue whatever you are doing, but don’t interrupt me.” Shu then departed from their table as well, leaving a small fire in the table before it dispersed.

Corey whistled, “That’s one fiery girl. At least she isn’t as bad as them. We can finally have a chat in peace.”

“Yeah…” Ezekiel stared back at Shu who was having a peaceful moment alone at her table. His heart was beating rapidly while smiling at her. She may have a nasty personality like the guys from earlier, but he could tell that she has the soul of an angel from his perspective.

“That was epic. Lady Shu actually defended you. She has never done that before.” A seven-year old boy joined them at the table while holding a soda.

Corey groaned, “Don’t you have beverages to make for the Fatherland, Syr? Why are you here?”

Syr yawned, “Taking a break of course. I’ve been making different types of beverages for 27 hours non-stop, so they decided to let me take a 30-minute break.”

The eight-year old enthusiastic kid is Syr. His codename is Dionysus, named after the God of Wine, Pleasure, and Fertility from Greek mythology. His gift is called “Brewing Mastery”. He has an innate knowledge and skill in brewing beverages such as beer, coffee, liqueur, tea, and wine.

He wasn’t wearing a shirt because his gift is marked as an F-tier, but he was considered useful to the Fatherland due to the beverages he could replicate without having to buy expensive bottles of beer. Because of his usefulness, he is the only godling that is exempted from training or sparring.

“And because the strongest person in the room defended and interacted with you guys, I want to make a wine in honor of your names. What do you think?” Syr asked.

“Uh… are you even allowed to do that? I’m pretty sure you aren’t.” Ezekiel said.

“Bah. These guys don't care what I do as long as I make beverages.” Syr reassured them. “I can do whatever I want in the kitchen without any supervision. Considering you didn’t say ‘no’, I’ll go ahead and make them.”

“Wait. We didn’t ag-“

Syr left the table immediately with a lovely and innocent smile on his face.

“There he goes again.” Corey said. “Gosh, how is he so carefree in a situation like this?”

Ezekiel stared at him with chuckles, “Says the one who made fun of Aster and his friends.”

“Oh yeah, well, I’m an exception.” Corey said before finishing his meal with a drink.

A few minutes later, all of the godlings were gathered in the lobby. We were grouped according to our tier colors. The ones with yellow, magenta, and blue tier continued to boast their rank at the lowest tiers.

Kiara, who is the assistant of Alam and the security watcher of the godlings, was the one giving the roll call this time. Yesterday’s roll call was Darren Padraig, a huge asshole to the godlings that are weak, and the other day was Andrea Gianna, a flirtatious woman who hits on the guards and seduces some of the godlings like a succubus.

The announcement that Miss Kiara gave was the same old message that they kept hearing everyday with the difference being the training schedule. She told them to become stronger no matter how weak their gifts are in order to fulfill the Fatherland’s ideal which is to have a world without technology. A world where the godlings rule over the people on behalf of the Fatherland.

The higher tier godlings are always eager to conquer the world whenever they hear that apart because it’s their destiny to rule over the pathetic humans who don’t follow the ideals of the Fatherland while the lower tier had negative thoughts about whether or not they could make the organization proud with their weak gifts.

“All right, everyone. Please proceed to the training area.” The head guard, Alexander, said.

All of them headed towards the training area. The higher tier godlings kept picking on the weaker godlings by bumping into them on purpose or pinching them by the neck.

Ezekiel and Corey were about to be picked on as well until Corey produced an illusion of a tarantula on one of their hands, causing them to freak out in fear. The guards were certainly not happy with him doing so, beating with an electric baton multiple times before letting him continue heading towards the training area with Ezekiel waiting for him.

When all of them reached the room, there were several giant humanoid automatons standing guard everywhere. They occasionally keep seeing these automatons anywhere for five years.

“Today’s training will be different, godlings! As some of you have grown stronger over the past five years, we have decided to increase the level of difficulty as most trainers couldn’t keep up with you anymore!” William Hudson, the head trainer and the most aggressive member of the Fatherland, informed them. “These automatons were provided by the generous woman, Anna Althea, from the Philippines in a form of collaboration.”

Aster raised his hand, “But sir, isn’t collaborating with someone who invents technology to destroy the ideal of the Fatherland?”

He stomped his foot on the ground aggressively, “Do not assume already, Aster! As some of you know from your history class, the ancient world was filled with automatons to serve as protectors from opposing worshippers until Ragnarök came to be! Aster, you’re one of the strongest S-tier godlings in this room. You must learn everything you can! Do you understand!?”

“Yes, sir.” Aster lowered his head in embarrassment before glaring at the beaten up Corey who was laughing at him.

“Anyhow! Are you ready!?” William asked.

The S, A, and B-tier godlings yelled in excitement while the C, D, and F ones were worried as it’s already impossible to take down an ordinary human for them so a giant automaton will prove to be more difficult.