Chapter 6: Deities and Sentient Races
POV: Statera Luotian (MC)
I chuckled at the Fae before me, staring me down like I was some kind of monster, his spear leveled at my chest. "How can I help you?" I asked innocently, tilting my head to the side in mock confusion. Of course I knew why this mortal was staring at me this way, my cultivation, as the mortals had come to call the Path to Immortality, was much higher than the man's even despite the fact that this was a mere incarnation of my true body -an extension of my divine will. In fact, said man hadn't even stepped onto even one of the many, many Paths. He was one of those souls that had accrued neither positive nor negative karma in any of his lives...someone completely unremarkable. Though, that could certainly change as more time passes.
"Who are you, and what is your business here?" He asked gruffly, shifting a little nervously, his leather armor making stretching sounds as he did so. I giggled slightly and shrugged.
"Who knows?" I echoed cryptically, and the man stiffened. His spear shifted ever so slightly, the metal tip glinting in the sunlight as he prepared for anything. Or so he thought.
"That's enough, you idiot." His fellow gate-guard, a green haired female Fae, said, hitting him over the head. "She's obviously a Fae, and a cultivator at that. Sorry for the hassle my idiot companion gave you, ma'am. He's new, and with all the illusion beasts around here we can't be too careful." She stated.
"True, true. How'd you figure out that I'm not one of them, though?" I asked politely. Said girl smiled and tapped the side of her head.
"My eyes are connected to Spirits of the Earth, and I've got a decent cultivation base...although it is still only at the Qi Gathering stage." She said with a smile. I nodded and rubbed my chin, accepting this answer. The silly mortals of this particular kingdom on the Pangea continent were convinced that the main and true path towards immortality lay with the Martial Qi path, which was basically storing Qi, the energy of Heaven and Earth (the Heavenly and Mortal Realms) in the passageways in their bodies -or in other words; Elvira's Path. They had systemized the entire process, though many, many undiscovered stages had yet to be named. Few had even passed the third stage, though with each successive generation the methods and such got better and more refined. They still had a long way to go, though.
"Don't rely too much on those eyes of yours. Many of the more powerful illusion beasts will still slip by them until you forge a stronger connection with the spirits of the earth." I told her, already moving forwards into the great, stone-walled city. They had built it out of necessity, after all normal mortals would not be able to survive in many of the tough environments on Pangea, and although the illusion-type mystic beasts around here were not inherently strong, nor did they have high cultivation bases, their inborn illusion abilities were extremely dangerous. Many tended to enjoy killing someone, and then casting an illusion over themselves to appear as their prey, so as to lure more prey in. That, or fake mortal injuries.
"I will keep that in mind." The guard said, motioning me forwards. I smiled at her and moved through the gates, a lone wanderer into the bustling city. Strangely, I was the only one moving into the city, there were no caravans or other people entering or exiting the southern gate. Humming a tune I skipped through the fifty-foot tall wooden gates, looking up and spotting a slat through which more guards could pour boiling oil in case of an invasion. For a civilization that was a mere two thousand years old (though the city was much younger), this was truly a marvel. Granted, I had helped a bit to ensure my people could survive on Pangea, as it is much less forgiving than the true planets, but still. I had expected them to go through a longer tribal stage, much like the Fae on Cradle. It had been about two thousand two hundred years since I created the Fae, and the tribes on that first planet were still that -tribes. They were relatively peaceful and had spread over much of the planet, barring a few continents, and had not run into too many difficulties, thus slowing their progress. Many Fae on Cradle walked more peaceful paths to immortality than the Martial Qi path. I was immensely proud of them.
The streets of the city were lively, filled with cheering and the smells of cooking meat as they celebrated the founding of the city. Another year had passed since the founding of their city three hundred years ago, and coinciding with this festival was a coronation ceremony. The third lord of the city was to be named today, the current most powerful cultivator in the city, after the previous lord died at the ripe old age of two hundred and ten years old and a hundred and twenty year reign as city lord. I smiled and shook my head, thinking about the timeframe the Fae lived in. To the average mortal, a hundred years was more than a lifetime. To most of the highest-tier cultivators that had appeared, three hundred years was relatively ancient (for the highest that had appeared to-date, who had managed to gain a total of a thousand years of longevity, three hundred years was still a good portion of her lifespan), and yet to me and other deities, a thousand years was but a blink of an eye. They were so funny to watch sometimes, and now I was no longer hurt by the curses of mortals. After all, who listens to the screaming of a child? Well, I do, but it doesn't bother me anymore.
Tall stone buildings rose up along the cobblestone streets, and I wandered about between them, spotting cultivation shops, normal shops, weapon shops, and hundreds of other shops all occupying the first floors of the buildings, the lowest of which was at least five stories tall. Because the city was built upwards instead of outwards, so as not to disturb the habitat of and earn the ire of the illusion beasts, the city did not occupy a lot of space, even though a solid half a million people lived within the walls. It was quite the achievement for a race so young if you ask me, but I also understand that their above-average development was both out of necessity and because almost all deities and spirits were focused on them and their development. That would change in the next fifty or so years, when Elvira, Keilan, and Reika unveiled the sentient races they had been creating.
"...we celebrate not only our beloved city lord's passing, but also the rise of a new leader! Today, we celebrate both the death of Laudra, sending him to cross the River of Souls so Mother Statera can welcome him with open arms, but also the coronation of Dei, the new City Lord!" A man with an obnoxiously loud voice boomed, using some sort of mystic technique to bolster the sound. I stopped to listen to the speech at the very edge of the massive crowd that filled the city center. It wasn't very ostentatious, just a simple open space that would normally be filled with the various open stalls of travelling merchants and peddlers from the surrounding villages, but now a stage crafted of processed wood raised three people above the crowd. Two were archaic-looking, with greying hair and faded horns. The other was a young man in his early twenties, standing ramrod straight and staring out over the crowd with an emotionless expression. He gripped an ornamental spear in one hand, and long black robes draped themselves around his body. To their left was a coffin, prepared to be cremated so the previous city lord could turn to ash.
I furrowed my brows. Something about that young man seemed familiar...but I just couldn't place it. That in and of itself was intriguing. Just as I was about to step closer to take a closer look, my attention was caught by a pair of lovers –who were the entire reason I had sent this incarnation to the Mortal Realm in the first place. A smile flitted across my features as I watched them move further into the crowds, holding hands as if the two were afraid to lose each other. I, for one, knew that to be highly unlikely. They were the souls of the first two Fae I had created, and likewise were the first two to have been tied together through a red string of fate. In all of their previous lives they had been together, travelling throughout the Mortal Realm as one. It was adorable, but they were not without their bumps in the road. One was much more adventurous than the other, leading to that soul wanting to go exploring the world for all its worth, while the other always comes up with convoluted ways to 'test' their love, leading to many conflicts over their lifetimes. And, every time, their red string somehow managed to keep them tied together. Never have either of them stepped on the path to immortality, but I figure its only a matter of time. At that time, they will truly be tested.
"I henceforth name you City Lord!" The announcer yelled from somewhere off to the side of the stage, breaking me out of my momentary daze. I turned my attention to see one of the elders move forward and place a wooden crown atop Dei's head before I stepped back, having found the two lovers and intending on bestowing them a gift later. That is, only if they have the wisdom to accept it. A sudden tingling in the back of my head distracted me however, and I cursed mildly as I moved further into the alley. This tingling sensation was one that said my true body was waking up, and something required my full, undivided attention.
At some point I'd have to adjust this technique so I could multitask even further. As it was now, all ten incarnations of divine will it projected were running around, doing just the bare minimum of management while my true body prepared for the 'job' I had to do, stuck in a sort of meditative state. So, with a sigh I sat down between some boxes and closed my eyes, allowing this body to fade into the background, leaving a trace of Will so I could easily find my place again. Then, my incarnation faded into nothingness.
When my true body opened its eyes, the memories from my ten incarnations flooding me, I came face to face with Randus, who had invaded my personal chambers and was mere inches from my face. With a scowl I waved him off, taking a moment to stretch and check and see if any of my surroundings had changed. The stone slab beneath me was cool to the touch, albeit glowing alongside every inch of stone in about a three foot radius of my meditation spot. It hadn't been doing that last time I woke up. Granted, that had been a century ago, and I had been channeling massive amounts of power here lately. The rest of the room was fine, however. Tapestries and pieces of art my people had created, from simple bone totems to great paintings and forged treasures, some of which depicted me creating the Fae (funny how they instinctively know their own history), were scattered about the otherwise bare-bones room. As a deity, sleep was unnecessary unless I expended massive amounts of power, so there was no bed.
"What is it?" I asked irritably. I still had another century of meditation planned before I would go out and manage the Four Realms for two centuries, before going back to meditation, and so on and so forth.
"Reika, Keilan, and Elvira are here to see you alongside a few deities you have not met." Randus said simply, stepping back further away from me. I looked at him and sighed, waving my hand and causing my trademarked purple and silver robes to appear on my naked form.
"Bring them in." I said, restraining myself from expanding my divine sense to see what the deal was. I do love surprises, and I had the feeling that my three children had many in store for me. Did they...perhaps...create their races ahead of schedule? The thought excited me beyond belief. My love of surprises, which only developed after I became an Origin Deity, was what led me to leave many things up to chance...perhaps more than is wise. However, micro-managing the universe is also bad...or at least that's how I rationalize it. When the six people entered my chambers they all paused for a moment to stare at me, sitting on my meditation pad surrounded by an aura of power and a circle of glowing blue stone. "Hello! What brings you here today?" I asked pleasantly.
"Father." Elvira said, bowing towards me.
"Mother." Keilan and Reika said, bowing as well.
"We have come to introduce three Higher Deities that were born in the past century to you, as well as show you our creations and gain your approval to place them in the Mortal Realms alongside the Fae." Keilan said formally. I chuckled and waved one hand, nodding to the trio standing behind my first children.
"Well don't just stand there then, introduce yourselves." I said with a smile. The three deities all stepped forwards, kneeling in front of me with borderline worshipful expressions. Two were male, one with shining golden hair and bronze skin which rippled with muscles, looking like a proper Hero, while the other was pale and sickly looking, with long, black hair and exuding and aura of darkness. The third was a girl with green hair that billowed in a perpetual wind. She was the only one who dared to look up at me while kneeling, her grey eyes meeting mine as if to say 'this is all you'll get out of me.' I chuckled at her nodding my approval. They are all my children, they do not need bow or kneel before me, but no matter how I attempt to compel them otherwise these new deities refuse to stand before me as my children, not subjects.
"I am Deity Sol, born in the heart of Your great Realm Sun, Your Majesty." The golden haired man said. I nodded in approval. It's about time the Realm Sun produced a deity. However, what was up with the Your Majesty? I'm not sure I like the sound of that.
"Deity Gilles, at your service, Your Highness." The pale man rasped. "I was born from the shadows of the Realms." He clarified, looking up to meet my gaze with his pitch-black eyes. I raised my eyebrows at that, before nodding with approval. Without a moon, or in this case a Lunar Star, to balance out the Realm Sun, it was only a matter of time before a deity of shadows appeared. Or, perhaps, it was predestined to occur the moment I created light.
"I am the elemental deity of the wind, Aeriel. It is a pleasure to meet you." The green-haired woman said. I smiled and nodded to each of them.
"Raise your head, Sol. You need not bow to me." I commanded. Said man raised his head slowly to look at me, and I gave him a smile of satisfaction. "I expect a lot from each of you. Treat each other with respect and perform your duties well. Sol, Gilles, I wish for you to both remember that without darkness or shadow, light has no meaning, and without light, darkness cannot truly exist. Your respective domains are, like everything, two parts of a whole, while being whole themselves. It is important to understand your own powers and that which is opposite to it, only then can you truly begin to advance. And Aeriel...I can already tell that you will be as carefree and unrestrained as the wind which blows through all realms." I said with a chuckle. Said woman blushed only slightly, a smile tugging at her lips. "With your existence, the elements have finally completed their first full circle. Earth, Water, Wind, Fire. While there are many, many other elements, remember that none of you can maintain balance without the others. Each elemental essence can be derived from the primordial chaos that surrounds the Four Realms, so in truth you were all once one in the same." I told her. "Now go! Don't let me keep you! Go explore the Four Realms!" I said, waving them off.
Aeriel needed no further prompting, as she flew out the door with a gust of wind, followed closely by Gilles, who faded into the shadows. Only Sol remained, standing up and stepping off to the side as my other three children moved forwards, anticipatory smiles on their lips. As for me, I was practically bouncing in my seat. Reika was the first to present her race, or should I say races, as when she waved her hand six full-sized, soulless bodies appeared in front of me. Each objectively looked like Fae, having the same body structure and such (except for one which was made out of the essence of water, as that one looked more like a mermaid.) Reika, however, had taken the 'elemental body' literally. Each body was crafted from a different element; fire, water, wind, earth, shadow, and light respectively. Upon inspecting them closer, I realized that they were not only crafted from their own element; the passageways I had created from Elvira's realm, along with their minds, were created from a collection of all the known elements, including those without deities -meaning more of these beings could pop up whenever a new element gains a deity.
"They're beautiful." I whispered, reaching forward and touching the light elemental. "Individually they are unbalanced, but as a whole they all balance each other. That is truly a unique solution you came up with, Reika. And are they half Spirit? That's fascinating...they'll be much more in tune with the natural world than the Fae, at least on a base level." I said, nodding and giving her a winning smile. "You have my approval, dear."
"Thank you, Mother. Though, will you name them...?" She asked tentatively. I blinked in surprise at the question, and nodded slowly.
"Yes...but are you sure? You are more than capable of naming them, and they are your creation." I told her. She smiled and nodded.
"I would like you to name them." She affirmed. I hummed.
"Alright, if you say so. Hmm...there is only one name I can think of that will encompass them as a whole; the Elementals." I said. Reika thought it over for a moment, tasting the name.
"I like it. It suits them. The Elementals; my children." Reika said with a fond smile, waving her hand and drawing the Elementals back to her. "I will bestow upon them souls, and spread them across the Mortal Realm. Thank you." Reika bowed slightly, and I smiled at her before turning towards Keilan and Elvira, nearly bursting with excitement.
"Well? Bring them out! Both at the same time, I can barely stand the suspense!" I told the two, earning myself a wry chuckle from my children. They had gone to great lengths to protect their creations from my eyes over the past two thousand years, and who was I to undermine their hard work? Hence, I truly had no idea what they had created. Nodding to each other, Keilan and Elvira waved their hands, causing four beings, a male and female of their two races, to appear in front of me in much the same fashion as Reika's. Elvira's was the spitting image of her, albeit with a few more feathers. They had a pair of powerful wings on their backs, in contrast to the four Elivra had, a single feathery tail, feathered ears the same as Elvira, and hair made out of feathers as well. They were created mainly by Elvira's power, their fleshly bodies created solely from the Heavenly Energy, while their minds held a spark of Keilan's realm and their cultivation passages, or meridians as they'd come to have been called, were formed out of energy from the Spirit Realm. Keilan's was much the same as him as well, and for a moment I blanched upon seeing them.
They looked exactly like the stereotypical Demons from Earth's fantasy genre of literature and entertainment. Sweeping black horns curled from their foreheads, scaly, prehensile tails sprouted from their backsides, and, on the male, great bat wings stretched from the shoulder blades. The female was instead gifted with innate beauty and fearsome claws that could be retracted from their fingertips. Their bodies were formed much from Keilan's power, with touches of the elements to hold it all together, while their meridians were crafted from a small portion of Karma itself. To them, the more positive karma they had, the more exponentially powerful they would grow. And while that was relatively true for all races in the Four Realms, it would be infinitely more so for this race.
"What do you call them?" I asked, still eyeing the demon-like race. Much like the Karmic Realm, I'd have to think of a suitable name for them if Keilan did not come up with one that was not synonymous with demon.
"Avians." Elvira said proudly. "I wanted to call them angels, however I was told that wouldn't be the best idea." She said, and I nodded. Whoever had told her that would have been right. That could've backfired very harshly when angels really start to appear in the Four Realms. It would've created a conflict of beliefs. A few spirits were starting to get close to becoming angels, so it was only a matter of time, and I couldn't wait. Once they appeared in large enough numbers, much of the workload on myself and the other deities would be lessened.
"That is a good name, Elvira." I praised her. She nodded and flashed her pearly whites as I looked at Keilan expectantly.
"Karae." Keilan said, turning away slightly. Was...was that embarrassment I saw? Wait -Karae?
"Karae...Karmic Fae?" I asked. A blush crept up on Keilan's face, and I was silent for a moment, taking that in, before bursting out in laughter.
"I like it! Karae it is! On this day, three new races have appeared in the Four Realms! The Elementals, the Avians, and the Karae!" I barked out.
Creation!
Your children have toiled for millennia to create sentient beings worthy of walking alongside the Fae. And now, as a result of their hard work, three new races have appeared in the Four Realms.
Elementals
Created from the Elements of the Four Realms, the Elementals are part spirit and part mortal, giving them elongated lifespans from birth. Many more types will appear as the Four Realms expand, making them one of the most adaptable races in the Four Realms.
Avians
Crafted from the energy from the Heavenly Realm, the Avians are the spitting image of Elvira, the deity of said Realm. With impressively strong fleshly bodies and innately talented in magic, the Avians are sure to dazzle the 'cultivation' world in all aspects.
Karae
Labelled as 'Karmic Fae,' the Karae were born from the blackness of the Karmic Realm, and tied tightly to Karma as an incentive to do good in order to get stronger. Thus, they are also extremely sensitive to said power, and will thusly attempt to help others understand Karma, and to gain the positive or burn the negative.
Total Number of Sentient Races:
4
I nodded as I read the notification, agreeing with the very basic descriptions. They in no way encompassed the entirety of the races, but they were certainly correct.
"Good, good. Go, spread them already! What are you waiting here for?! I wanna see what they're going to do! Go! Go, go, go, go, go!" I shouted at them, all but throwing a tantrum. Reika giggled, Elvira outright laughed, and Keilan attempted to suppress a smile at my childish antics, backing away and taking their creations with them.
"Goodbye, Mother. Thank you." Keilan said as he left, barely containing his urge to shoot off after Reika and Elvira, who had teleported to the Mortal Realm without so much as saying goodbye. They tried to hide it well, but they were as childishly excitable as me at times.
"You are welcome." I said, watching as he faded away. Sol turned into a streak of sunlight as he followed them, and I sighed, closing my eyes once again as I prepared to cast my divine technique. There was much to do still, as my incarnations had unfinished business in all the Realms (especially the one looking for the two lovers, I was, personally, most interested in that even though I couldn't interfere with their affairs...much. Giving out enlightenment every once in a while was no big deal.) However, most importantly, I needed to continue to amass and increase my power. After all, creating the Lunar Star (or Realm Moon, if you want to get technical) was no easy task.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone