LightNovelNovice

I apologize for the late chapters!
I've been swamped with long hours at work and moving into the new place has kept me busy, too.
As an apology I'm going to be publishing two chapters today!
After further consideration I've decided to instead release an extra chapter this week!

Thank you for reading!

The repetitive battles taking place on Ben's realm no longer hold his interest. After watching the third battle he sought something new.

"The Sandbox is nice and all, but it's time I create a proper planet."

Golden power stretches out from Ben's body as he pushes the edges of reality wider, and an unseen barrier forms betwixt The Sandbox and a newly made pocket of reality. This pocket is stretched many times larger than The Sandbox, and Ben uses a divine law to enforce gravity of a different variety than that of The Sandbox.

Gravity is controlled by abyss crystals, a mineral similar to void crystals but murky and translucent instead of opaque. Much like void crystals, abyss crystals are unaffected by gravitational forces. Abyss crystals are unique in the way they create an immense gravity field which pulls all things at a constant force.

"Hopefully this works as I intended..."

Ben surrounds the crystalline sphere with rock, and as layer after layer of the stuff builds there is mounting pressure placed on the spheroid. Thankfully Ben ensured the crystal is nigh indestructible, so the pressure of a planet doesn't faze it. The rock, however, melts into hot magma as the planet expands.

Mountains and valleys rise and fall across the surface of the new world, whilst sand and soil are integrated into the landscape. Water flows from mountain springs through winding riverbeds to fill the tiny planet's ocean, and with a  flick of his mind Ben populates the newly birthed planet with organisms. The heavy drain on his power gives him a lightheaded feeling while he consumes souls from The Sandbox to slowly recover.

After breathing in the energy of uncountable souls Ben's mind is stable enough to gaze upon his new creation. There's a small planet floating in a pocket of blackness, while various creatures stumble through the darkness on unsteady legs. Divine energy coalesces around the edges of this pocket of reality over several minutes; Ben's intent manifests as a divine law which creates a false sun, moon, and stars to light up the empty sky.

"It's... beautiful."

Ben admires the landscape of his tiny planet, and considers what to call it. Planetoid sounds a little bit too stiff for his tastes, yet Tiny feels too sentimental. Ben eventually settles on calling it Little Earth, and observes the animals exploring their new home.

The creatures on Little Earth are the same as that of The Sandbox, albeit there is a distinct lack of sapience here. There are no humans nor like minded equivalents, and that's probably the best for the planet itself.

"Screw harmony! I want goblins, and lots of them!"

Raw emotion bubbles up as Ben's control over his world gets to his head, and tribes of small green creatures with humanoid bodies manifest across Little Earth. These creatures bear sharp teeth and slightly large hands, with big noses and dark eyes being the norm for the species.

Of course Ben doesn't like the idea of his goblins being mindless brutes, so he ensures they get a healthy dose of knowledge in the form of shamans. These shamans are given a wide variety of knowledge directly by Ben, while the general population only gets enough to communicate with their brethren.

Ben's attention is pulled back to The Sandbox as he feels a nagging sensation in the back of his mind. He nearly forgot to deploy the next wave of soul seekers, and pushes his senses into The Sandbox to take stock of things.

"Hopefully no one died while I was busy..."

~

Bao's dark eyes snap open as he feels the breath of life fill his small body. He stands unsteadily whilst taking in his surroundings with a curious gaze, and finds a few of his kind in similar situations all around him. Some younger and some older, yet all of them are of age and capable of physically demanding tasks.

"W-Why?" Someone says.

The others all turn to look at the speaker, and find a rather small fellow with abnormally big ears looking at his gangly body. He inspects both his knobby hands as well as his skinny legs before grimacing in disgust.

"Why am I alive?!" The little goblin shouts.

"Calm down, boy. God willed us to be, and so we are." Bao says firmly.

The group of goblins seem emboldened by Bao's words, and many of them recognize him as the shaman they had been informed of by their creator. Language and a few other basic facts have been given to them all, and among those facts is the presence of a tribe's most knowledgeable sage: The shaman.

"I-I'm not a fucking goblin!" The boy snarls like a beast.

This strange statement causes Bao to raise his brow at the much smaller goblin. None of his knowledge gives him an answer as to why a newly created goblin would think he's not a goblin. The situation feels unsettling, and shakes his confidence as the god appointed shaman.

Several of the other tribe members look uncertain as to what the little goblin is on about, while others look to Bao for some powerful god given information to deal with the incident. Thankfully Bao has a natural poker face, otherwise the tribe would realize their shaman is out of his depth.

"Tell me then, what is your name?" Bao asks with paper thin confidence.

The small goblin glares up at Bao before glancing around the grassy field as if disgusted by the lot of them. He scoffs as if his name should be obvious before puffing up his scrawny chest.

"I'm Soul Keeper, of course!" Soul Keeper proudly introduces himself.

Everyone looks a little startled at first, but Bao's relaxed smile brings them comfort as the shaman seems to grip the reigns of the conversation without pause. He laughs a quiet pitying chuckle as he gazes down at what he is sure is a delusional boy.

"Soul Keeper, is it? Well what is it you did before you were a goblin?" Bao asks politely.

"I kept the souls! I've eaten hundreds- no, thousands of souls! I had an army of skeletal specters the likes of which you've never imagined!" Soul Keeper shouts giddily.

Bao shakes his head sadly as if pitying the boy's frantic ravings. Bao is certain now that the boy is either playing extreme make believe or simply has a broken mind, as God's power surely must have overwhelmed the poor boy's small mind.

"All souls return directly to God after things die, boy." Bao says solemnly.

Soul Keeper looks enraged by his words, yet the knowledge of all goblins makes it obvious Bao is the shaman of this tribe. The shaman has been told many things by God, and all of them are most certainly the most sacred truths.