Grecia’s Capital, Inner City, Western Royal Palace…

 

At this very moment, that very child urchin from fifty years ago, the one from Greenlodge, was rushing through the halls of the royal palace like the wind, his eyes constantly flicking up at a yellow message that he wished was just an illusion.

 

[Arr’ya, The Goddess of Space has fallen!]

 

[Novik, The God of Fate, has issued you a quest!]

 

[Quest: Find the culprit responsible for the death of Arr’ya!]

 

[Reward: Nothing]

 

[Consequence of Failure: Death]

 

[Time Limit: 10 Years]

 

He no longer wore the ragged brown and tattered robes, but instead wielded refined silk robes and a grey goatee. There was no sign of the starving boy from Greenlodge left in this man. 

 

He was the personal advisor [Emperor] of Grecia himself, and they stood on equal terms, even if their public status would say otherwise. If word had got out that it wasn’t an elite-class [Seer] that had awoken in that town, but a champion-class [Child of Fate], he suspected that even the fifteen-strong squadron of [Bright Inquisitor]s wouldn’t have been enough to protect him.

 

As he flew through the Western Royal Palace’s halls and approached the throne room, his overbearing presence caused bypassing servants to slump to the ground, and foam at the mouth. 

 

His heart pounding through his chest, a feeling of dread that he hadn’t felt since he was a child urchin churned within his stomach. 

 

Why now!? 

 

As a Level 91 [Empyrean], he would—if fate willed it—live for the next hundred years without a problem! He was only ninety-three years old. That was considered young to him. He had even met an [Archmage] who was still alive and kicking it at three-hundred!

 

The [Emperor] and his [Royal Inquisitor]s detected the [Empyrean]’s presence long before he reached the throne room. And so his dramatic entrance as he swung open the doors with a gust of wind was met by little surprise. At that moment, a [Lord], merely a baron, was in an audience with the [Emperor]. 

 

“Emperor Nimbus, this lowly baron has little to offer in the way of words. Nobody saw the flood coming. It has wiped out all of our farms and we have yet to receive assistance from anyone, even my own sworn allies and fellow lords. If the Emperor would kindly receive my family’s heirloom in turn for assistance—”

 

The baron had just knelt down and raised a sword with an emerald blade when he was violently shoved aside by the [Empyrean]. 

 

“He caused the flood in the first place when he overdrew the [Weather Mage]. Take the sword and end his life with it. And send someone over to slaughter his family. Don’t spare the women or children either. His kind breed like rabbits.” The [Empyrean] barked his orders as he pointed at the nearest [Royal Knight], stationed beneath a marbled pillar on his right. 

 

Not a single person questioned the validity of [Empyrean]. Nor had he provided any evidence. 

 

When the [Royal Knight] noticed the [Emperor] give a subtle nod in his direction, he picked up the heirloom. But by the time he picked the emerald-bladed weapon, the cunning [Lord] had already made a scramble for the door. 

 

Cracking his neck, the [Royal Knight] took a step forward and activated [Blink].

 

His steel-plated silhouette turned into a blur as he flew forward. 

 

It took an instant to cross the thirty meter gap. 

 

A head with a blank look on its face rolled to the ground. The baron’s body fell to the ground right after. A concerning amount of blood soaked the red carpet. 

 

“Heath, my child, what brings you here on this delightful afternoon?” [Emperor] Nimbus asked, his tone dear, and his voice croaky like a frog. 

 

He talked to the [Empyrean] as if someone hadn’t just died. 

 

Standing tall without kneeling, Heath looked the [Emperor] dead in the eye and explained the message he received. 

 

***

North Star Magic Academy

 

Principal North had a grim look on his face as he laid slump in his chair. He didn’t need to explain anything since everyone in the student body had also received the message. Before him in the crammed auditorium sat over three-hundred people of all ages, prepubescent children, young men and women, and experienced veterans alike. 

 

Standing at the front of the classroom were the academy’s professors. 

 

There was a rising feeling of anticipation amongst them all as everyone waited for the Principal to say something. Anything. 

 

When Principal North had teleported into the room, they had only received the message for a few moments. 

 

In front of everyone hung the same daunting message.

 

[Arr’ya, The Goddess of Space has fallen!]

 

[Space has grown unstable and chaotic!]

 

[All class abilities and skills related to Arr’ya have been removed. There are no refunds for points spent to level up abilities and skills]

 

[All space magic and their related skills are now separate from the system]

 

[There is now a vacancy amongst the pantheon!]

 

[Hilden, God of Magic, has issued you a quest!]

 

[Quest: Find the culprit responsible for the death of Arr’ya!]

 

[Reward: A single wish from the God of magic]

 

[Consequence of Failure: Nill]

 

A few ambitious and ignorant idiots were salivating at the thought of taking the vacant spot amongst the pantheon, and ascending to Godhood. But it didn’t take people long to connect the dots and realize the devastating effects this would have on their magic. 

 

They weren’t even a part of the system anymore. All their skills and abilities were gone. And that included their non refundable system points. Unclassing and choosing a new one was possible, very expensive. But it was only done in the case a newly initiated child had made a mistake or immediately regretted what they had chosen. 

 

It wouldn’t bring back their points. 

 

All of them, except for the professors that had truly mastered space magic, were doomed. The process of learning natural, unassisted magic was far more difficult than learning via the system. 

 

In truth, North Star Magic Academy was actually all one big clan. Everyone was related to each other, even if it was only very distantly. Principal North was the current Principal, and although he was a Level 110 [Void Archmage] himself, he wasn’t anywhere close to reaching the threshold of Level 125—the maximum level—that was required to ascend to godhood. 

 

The world they lived in was vast and seemingly endless. So he wouldn’t be remotely surprised if somewhere far away, an old hermit that was living out the end of their days had turned ecstatic at this moment. 

 

For this reason, he could only set his sights on the Quest before him. A wish from the God of magic…

 

If he thought of the right thing, that would be enough to allow his North Star Magic Academy to flourish for the next thousand years. 

 

Eventually, he spoke. His words reverberated throughout the hall like thunder. 

 

“Academic activities will be put on halt. Instead, all efforts will be dedicated to finding the culprit who killed the Goddess Arr’ya.”

 

***

In a slave mine…

 

He had been mining away at the copper ore when a long string of messages from the system appeared in front of him. 

 

He snorted and dismissed them without a single afterthought. 

 

***

In the world above…

 

Arr’ya’s soul was fractured. She only continued to cling onto life due to her accumulated divinity over the last twenty million years of her rule. But it was running out fast. 

 

She had been offering an amusing, yet very peculiar mortal a class when something—a monster—stormed into the pantheon’s domain, slaughtered thousands of their scions in an instant, and then decapitated her. 

 

Against that overwhelming force of nature that could effortlessly suppress her own divinity, she could only be slaughtered like an animal. 

 

Now, standing around her were the fifteen other pantheon members. Playing a sad, melodic tune to soothe her pain, the God of Fate, Novik, sighed. He was at a loss as to why his threads of fate were unable to predict the attack. 

 

The other pantheon members felt similarly useless. How could they have let this happen?

 

No one had been able to stop it. 

 

If they tried to…then they would’ve gone down with her. There was simply no resisting that…thing. For the first time since being mortal, these mighty and invincible Gods felt weak and helpless.

 

Just what had killed their beloved sister? 

 

On death’s door, Arr’ya, the Goddess of Space, understood just what type of power she had offended. She chuckled, having found herself in a position that only a “stupid mortal” would end up in. 

 

She had always felt the space move around Milo in strange ways; shifting and distorting in ways that even she couldn’t replicate. 

 

It had felt like the longest ten years of her life up until the boy initiated. She immediately gave into her curiosity and touched his soul. She had glimpsed inside—but only for an instant. 

 

It was a miracle that Arr’ya had held out for so long, despite being literally decapitated. 

 

Arr’ya died in silence. This silence would continue for the next hundred years.