[IMPORTANT NEWS! The First War of Gods has broken out]
"A War of Gods?" Oberon repeated aloud, his voice filled with confusion and shock. "What is a War of Gods?"
He tapped the black and yellow system screen with his finger, prompting another screen to appear before him.
[Thousands of newborn gods, affiliated with the Godly Authority of the Sun or Fire, have begun waging war against each other to spread their divinity and make their names known to the world!]
Oberon read the brief description the system had provided. He was shocked by the method, gods waging war to increase the reach of their Godly authority, not just for power, to engrave their actions across the world through divine acts.
"Brilliant!" he exclaimed, before his initial excitement faded and he let out a quiet sigh.
"But war... are my fellow gods really fighting each other now? Isn't that... too much?"
His eyes grew somber as memories of Earth flooded back, memories of the devastating consequences war always brought. And the system had said thousands of newborn gods were taking part.
How many of them would die?
"Haa..." he sighed again and let himself fall back onto the soft grass, eyes staring up into the endless darkness of his domain. His thoughts wandered toward how he might spread his own divinity.
It seemed the other gods had already begun to perform miracles.
With that in mind, he turned his attention back to Osirs, just in time to see him gazing at the sun as it slowly split into seven pieces.
The view was beautiful... but also deeply sad.
Because Oberon knew exactly what it had cost the gods to create such a sight.
It had cost them their lives.
Although he didn't fully understand why the sun had split into seven pieces and taken on different colors, Oberon knew it must have something to do with the gods' divine authorities.
But as he continued thinking about the sun, he noticed it had already become night and like Osirs, he now saw the six moons for the first time, each glowing with a slightly darker or lighter hue.
"So that's how they're establishing the spread of their divinity, huh?" he murmured. "Something every living being can see. A divine display visible to all."
He sighed, then muttered thoughtfully, "But in my case… it's far more complicated. After all, what is the beginning and the end? Right now, it seems like we're in the beginning, of the era of the newborn gods. But the end… shouldn't that represent the end of this era and the birth of the next one?"
Oberon pondered his godly authority, Beginning and End. It was difficult to grasp. Even he, the god who possessed this authority, didn't truly know what it meant.
He understood the words, of course. He knew what "beginning" and "end" were, in definition. But he didn't yet understand them as concepts, not in the deep, divine way a god was meant to.
And yet, even with that shallow understanding, he could feel it.
A strange connection.
A thread tying him to this authority, something primal, something ancient.
"What a weird feeling," he muttered. "It's warm and comforting… but at the same time, cold and unbearable. I can't understand it."
Shaking his head, he opened the livestream to check on Osirs and saw that it was already the next day. Osirs had broken through to the Body Tempering Stage.
"I should definitely increase the reward for the challenge," Oberon said with a small smile.
With that, he sat down in a lotus position, closed his eyes, and began drawing threads of mana around him, shaping them carefully as he prepared to manifest his will into the real world, outside of his godly domain.
At the same time, Osirs was at the training ground when, to his surprise, a small tournament among the students was announced. He was briefly stunned, then quickly came to a realization.
"So this is why the God of Light gave me that challenge… He already foresaw this tournament!"
A smile crept onto his face as he raised his hand toward Teacher Volved.
"Yes, Osirs? Do you have a question?" the teacher asked.
Osirs's smile widened.
"Teacher, I reached the Body Tempering Stage just yesterday! I don't think anyone here can fight against me, I'm far too strong for my fellow classmates!"
"Body Tempering Stage?" Teacher Volved repeated, his eyes widening in shock. He wasn't the only one.
A few of Osirs's classmates turned to stare at him as well, some with amazement, others with confusion, clearly not knowing what the Body Tempering Stage even was.
The surprise lasted only a moment. Teacher Volved composed himself and stepped toward Osirs, holding out his palm.
"Hit this with all your raw body strength," he instructed.
Without hesitation, Osirs formed a fist and struck the teacher's palm with solid momentum. Although nothing outwardly happened to the teacher, his eyes widened slightly, and he nodded in approval.
"Indeed... no one else here is at the Body Tempering Stage. You've already surpassed them."
He paused before continuing.
"But, since it would be clearly unfair to let you fight from the beginning, your body is simply far stronger than the rest, you'll only face the winner of the tournament, if they choose to fight you."
Hearing this, Osirs simply nodded with a confident grin.
Only one fight stood between him and becoming the strongest in his class.
So Osirs simply sat and watched the tournament.
Many great fights took place before him, some were close calls, others were decided by luck. A few fighters completely dominated their opponents, while some were too exhausted to continue.
But in the end, one victor emerged.
His name was Soue.
Normally, Soue was considered the strongest among them. As the son of one of the village elders, he had been trained since childhood. Under ordinary circumstances, he would have easily been the best.
But who could have expected that Osirs would receive a method to reach the Body Tempering Stage so early? Normally, only adult Averze were capable of enduring the pain required for such a breakthrough.
But Osirs had endured it and his success spoke volumes about his pain tolerance and determination.
Soue now stood in the middle of the training ground. Having rested enough from his earlier matches, he looked directly into Osirs's eyes.
Osirs smiled at him.
With that, Osirs stood up from the ground and drew his sword as he walked toward Soue. Their gazes locked, neither looking away.
When Osirs was about ten meters away, the two stood in complete silence.
A few moments passed.
Then Osirs moved first, he took up the stance of his mastered Averze Basic Swordsmanship.
In response, Soue did the same. His eyes narrowed and sharpened, his expression turning serious.
The final fight was about to begin.