"I should have asked about the system in more depth. I don't know how to turn it on..."
"Think about it then wait. That's a rather fair way to access the screen. It would be problematic if it was only voice activated."
"That's a really odd name. I guess I don't come from the same country as before, not that it really matters.
"I've been placed in India, okay. And from the looks of this, my family is supposed to be a double-edged sword," The introductory information contained geographical information and statistical probabilities concerning the time and date of his birth down to the second. It also contained a summary describing his ancestry, the religion that they followed, and the history of other members of the faith that his family of uncles and aunts (Related by faith, not blood,) controlled. Following the summary was a bullet-pointed list of dates and times that it would be best to engage with his flock or outsiders for the benefit of his religion.
"Death's plan for my placement is simply insane; It's based on too many assumptions. Next, their reasoning for providing this background, pros and cons, an overview of what to expect from my setting, blessing information, and a general statement regarding the future direction of my life. I expected nothing less than a substantial number of notes filled with their expectations, but this list just goes on, and on. I'll give this glorious piece of work the time it deserves, later. For now. Let me check my main status..."
<...>
Affiliation: Death.
Blessings:
- SOUL SANCTUARY lvl.1.
*RESOURCE: Bank.
} Simple Creatures, [Lesser Intelligence]:
0/100.
} Advanced Creatures, [Average intelligence]:
0/10.
} Superior Creatures, [Similar Intelligence]:
0/1.
"I wonder what separates the intellect of a soul," A more detailed understanding of the blessing filled his mind as he focused on the skill in greater detail. A sense of deja'vu filled his heart.
Intelligence: An all-encompassing score designed by the user as a catch-all term to evaluate potential threats or allies. Lesser describes a creature or entity, incapable of realizing they are at a loss or hold no redeemable value. Advanced creatures are those that understand the way the world works and show value in a self-benefiting or societal capacity. Superior is an approximation dictated by the user to properly calculate a creature of substantial intelligence, of which, it can mean the creature is purely autonomous and does not need the user's direction or monitoring.
"That description is poignant. But, to see how the description takes after my innermost thoughts, I can only assume this particular blessing is my preference? To control others of lesser intelligence? Or does it simplify pre-established terminology into terms I can relate to? That would mean the blessing does something I wouldn't understand but attributes actions and value to words I do know. Either way, I should see the rest of the status board..."
<...>
[Classes]:
[Equipment]:
[Skills]:
- Spirit walk: Travel along or through ambient spiritual Energy or the consolidated Force of the soul.
"Ah, I think I understand what was meant when it was said that we have already chosen our benefits. The free skill or piece of equipment that we received as a starter package is based on a skill or ability that left the largest impression on us in our first lives. This is a pretty good skill considering it's most likely a replica of Maven's Lift. If our choice wasn't based on emotional impressions, I would have chosen something else to be more efficient in this new life."
The faded outline, who recently found out his name was Aaradhya, compared the theoretical application of [Spirit Walk] to the power in his memory. Maven was a main character in a famous children's cartoon in his youth. The Lady was a detective that developed a penchant for speed and intelligence to overcome adversity, creating railways of energy that she could travel across to avoid disastrous situations and build up her own power, using them as blades or traps when needed to escape scenarios that wit and speech were unable to overcome.
"Asd. Tra rsjucl myutot ceodie. Tew dovaje nghure hsz dustpahd. He chensz nwa fre snim ou onne..."
"What is that," the faded soul was hit, like someone plunged and twisted a knife in his stomach. Weirdly enough, the sharpness dulled as a golden burst of energy flashed through the abyss that he found himself in. All in one moment, as if awoken from a pleasant dream, the faded soul both questioned his current state and reveled in being alive once again.
"Focus. Focus... I am okay. I am, where am I? A story? In a story? What am I doing? Didn't Big G say that it would take around months for our memories to come back? I have to do something," memories clashed and entwined, threatening to break his mind entirely under the stress as the fog stirred. If he was a fortress, the memories that flooded his mind was the rain that seeped in through the gaps.
"Nonsense. All of this is nonsense. Think clearly as you've always done. I am William Laeke. Not Wilfred Leno. I died and was given a chance to become the hero from a story...", memories of two lives that matched up in nearly every aspect separated in a violent clash.
"I am currently being reincarnated, this is real, oh my, this is real! Backup. I have to follow Death's instructions to survive this ordeal or I'm going to end up like Leno. On the streets, struggling to survive. Ah, but what is this mindscape? Is it a part of my blessing? If it is, shouldn't there be a notification for it," William parted the fog around him. One side showed his life and the other showed Leno's, the original Aaradhya. For the time being, he kept his concentration up to keep the fog separated. A few moments were all he needed to make out the insanely minute differences in the fog as the memories of his own life solidified and fell into the abyss. In the distance though, the balanced swirls of Leno's memory swerved in different directions, like a balloon that had been punctured. Upon getting a good look at the fog that had images playing within it, he happened to pick out a different cloud of energy that had a different weight to it and color distribution as there were hints of yellow and lime green in whatever intruded upon his mind.
"Ultimately, remembering my past only happened because of some outside influence. Something or someone is disturbing my mind and soul. But, I didn't get anything from my blessing because it was not through my own effort that something happened. On that note, the story explained the situation outside so I'm in a rather precarious dilemma. If I don't do something now, I will be mistakenly seen as dead and get carried away by that old man like Leno in the story," William grit his imaginary teeth.
The imaginary image of an infant being burned inside of his mother's corpse as she turned to ash, left a bad taste in his mouth. The only reason Leno didn't die in that situation was because the person holding the cremation rite looked inside and saw him being covered by some glittering energy beyond normal understanding. The cremator believed Leno was the incarnation of Agni but even then, the character called Leno fell into a coma only to be awakened years later, horribly late to the game of the Gods and at a severe disadvantage due to some unmanaged burn wounds that claimed one of his arms and disfigured half of his body. But getting back to the issue at hand, Leno's version of Aaradhya burned for hours and barely survived due to the spiritual energy flooding out of the kiln, then he struggled to catch up and surpass the others.
"I will absolutely not be in the same situation! What can I possibly do to prove myself to these inhuman animals," with knowledge of some aspects of his blessing, William assumed there should be a viable solution to his current predicament. Death wouldn't leave him in an impossible position, that is, if the story's small little description of their true personality was to be believed. Thus, he went back to the
"Since it's like this, I should try to use my blessing as Death suggested, even if it might not work since I have no experience in something like this," William focused and dragged his thoughts through a field of mental haze.
"I should take a moment to observe and calculate," as he tried to access his power, the less awake he felt. The sapphire fog extended beyond his view but as it did so, it thickened around him almost turning into a liquid around whatever his consciousness was attached to. As the fog became denser, he felt less connected to his body. Leno's memories and thoughts also clouded his judgement as they influenced his resolve but Willaim pushed through with the intent to survive. He likened himself to a moth chasing a flame, but unlike a moth, he pulled back from wantonly trying to approach his target, a pale light in the distant sky that he could swim through as though he were a fish in water. Instead, he fell back and took stock of his experience as his imaginary foot dipped into the endless darkness below.
"I get it. The memories of Leno's Aaradhya have overlapped with information I was given to help guide me forward. As I access them, I become more proficient in using my blessing, simultaneously, I lose who I truly am. This tightrope would be exhilarating if not for the fact that my personality and being could die if I forget that there is a distinction between me and him...", William ignored the "dissipation of self" and followed the outside influence instead by following where the sapphire mists turned into droplets in the waters below. A few seconds moments later, he found the source of the disturbance in the fog a few meters ahead of him, the pale light in the distance. A woman's glowing body flickered in a world of boundless darkness, ejecting small, almost negligible amounts of baby blue mist that contained large yellow and lime green spurts. Like a flame, she illuminated everything around her in a golden light, but her body released greenish particles that floated up into the sky where it vanished from William's view. Every few seconds, a single grain of blue sand would build up near the woman's heart and would fall into the inky waters below.
Similar to the story that Big G gave him, he took a cautious step forward. Leno's Aaradhya couldn't tell the difference between what was abyss and what was simply mist-covered ground but there was, as small as it was, a difference between him and William. His caution served well as a tiny blue platform left an imprint of his foot in the darkness. Maven's lift, or rather, Spirit walk showed its passive nature in this moment as the blue droplets in the depths shattered and floated up to his feet to create crystalline platforms. Leno's Aaradhya instantly fell into this Abyss as he approached the disturbance and nearly lost his chance to follow Death's directive.
"That is my mother's soul. Should be at least," The abyss under foot, rippled out with each step he took to get closer. The splashing water dissipated his mother's soul even faster as the dark substance washed over some parts of her body. William, having skimmed over Death's plan, confidently walked over to the soul and skipped over the first major hurdle Leno had to deal with. Upon falling into the abyss, the storybook character had to deal with his past memories and understand himself, only clawing his way out after his mother nearly completely dissipated, leaving nothing but a blue heart crystal that fell into the abyss as soon as he extricated himself.
"Mother? I understand what happened to you, I'm sorry it did, but I promise, I'll make it up to you...", The image of two moments overlapped in William's mind.
First it was the contents of the book Big G gave him, a description of what happened, "A ghoulish green fire broke his mother's golden soul and burned it into small particles that dived into the depths of the abyss like a hand reaching for salvation. Instead, this hand chose damnation. Aaradhya's mother cradled her son's body and lifted him back up and above the abyss, saving her son as a mothers last wish." The second and current vision was that her golden body was slowly being chipped away. Purposefully, the woman opened her arms and wrapped them around William. Her body had not erupted into flames nor had it been mostly dissipated, but this one action. This connecting of souls and melding of final thoughts made William accept two things....
By this point in time, Aaradhya willingly let go of her final wishes as most of her body broke down into blue sand that fell into the abyss. Tiny green sparks of fire floated up and away from her back in shimmering waves, similar to the wings of a cicada under direct sunlight.
"The system called my mother a failed soul huh. I wonder what that distinction implies. Beyond that, it seems my actions have had an impactful difference on my mother's passing," Aaradhya sighed as he accepted his new identity. Wilferd didn't know how to approach or even that he could interact with other souls this early on in the story so his mothers soul simply dissipated without giving him much of a benefit.
"At least she knows I won't end up like the other children in my position and passed on peacefully," he resolved the incompatibility with his newfound, conflicting emotions and decided to survive through any means, a belief that both he and the original hero shared. On that note, the system was refreshed.
Upon seeing that message, a tiny sapphire light shone out of the dissipating whirlwind of green embers that was left behind by his mothers passing. Aaradhya pulled it out and raised his brow as a blue orb the size of a marble sunk into his skin. The blue heart described in the novel was really just an orb or echo of someone's soul, apparently, and instead of it falling away to never be used, Aaradhya collected it.
"Oh. That's interesting to say the least. But, regardless, I am sorry that the love for your husband and for the child that could have been your redemption, has gotten you killed. I wish that your true soul finds peace wherever it may be or go," Aaradhya spoke with true sorrow but being under a time limit, he forcefully recollected himself. And so, the yellow and green fog in his immediate surroundings turned from incomprehensible images into his mothers memories. He could actually see outside of wherever he was, at least everything his mother saw in her last few moments alive.
"So. That psychotic priest is my father... mother noticed that he was hiding tears behind that frightening mask. Those hooded figures in the back must be various elders, my aunts and uncles, of whatever this cult is. Mother specifically disliked those two over there huh, I can see why. Their eyes remind me of stuffed vulture's. And those in robes at the far back must be the core believers of this repulsive religion...", William physically recoiled at the prospect of such a following existing in his original world. For reference, the only images he saw in his mothers final moments was a picturesque snapshot of a ceremonial dagger flash spectacularly before darkness. In that millisecond worth of time, he managed to pull out an impressive amount of information from the background. A testament to his observational ability and processing.
"Death believes this place will let my blessings flourish. Disgusting. Practicing blood libel and the torture of pregnant women to revive the dormant divinity within a human. An old faith that is based on a twisted mix of paganism, Hinduism, and Catholicism. I wish I could leave this place right about now," Aaradhya went back to read the background information Death left for him and cross referenced his decisions with what Death explicitly planned out one last time. This moment would decide if he would follow an omniscient guide or repeat the actions of the Hero that he was supposed to embody.
"The only way for me to survive in the long run, is with Death's support. I am not Wilfred Leno. I have to do exactly what Death wants me to do and surpass the original hero only after I have gotten a grip on my power. At least until I have the power to overcome the first testing trial in five years and impress them," he concluded.
"Sadly, as much as I wish to accomplish everything, I cannot. Thus, I should take advantage of this fully fleshed out system. The original Aaradhya, Leno, failed to activate the 'Automatic Assistant function', as early as possible. I should do that before anything just in case," he quickly went into and changed his system settings. Activating a self learning automated assistant was his top priority as he set it to maximize self-preservation in all circumstances. The effects were almost instantaneous as his powers, as far as he understood it, moved on their own.
"Interesting," He noticed the fog in the back of his mind rolled back along with an influx of notifications that told him how the system restricted his blessing and diverted his resources to ensure that there was an excess of spiritual energy.
"Alright. My blessing. How do I change the activation requirements for my skills? 'Emotional Response' and 'Conscious Thought' are at a 90/ 10 split? No, I want to get rid of any emotional input, it is inefficient and unpredictable," he immediately noticed the weight of his choice the moment he adjusted the slider in the system settings. Before, he intuitively grasped the surface of how to use his blessing and skill. Now, that warm 'feeling' vanished and what replaced it was his cold, analytical, methodical, and structured 'notion'. Similar yet vastly different to a random feeling if you get down to the specifics.
"Okay. Well. This is more difficult than I thought...", Aaradhya tried his hand at understanding the idea that he used to access the blessing and his spirit walk. The warm, almost fiery connection he used to approach and contact his mother's echo turned into an oddly discernable thread that he could sense and sort of see as a near invisible haze.
"This is similar to plucking at the strings of a mangled harp. Odd," he noted. His proficiency grew at a noticeable rate from the simultaneous usage and application of Death's notes and the memories of the original hero. In the abyss, the blue droplets shattered in the depths then bubbled back up to the surface of the abyss. It stretched out underneath him until it developed into a wide platform. Following Death's Instructions and the video-like mental descriptions of Leno accomplishing the same feats, William knelt down and tried to pull at the floor which was wrapped in blue light, the physical sapphire liquid slipped through his fingers as he failed to accomplish his goal.
Meanwhile…
"Skop tisz. Ahd rhrual ahd ealkd", one distinctly annoying voice managed to say.
"Eas. Buo eehd oi ahd ehis ouw", another odd but rather funny voice spoke out.
"SILENCE", a very powerful and very heroic voice yelled.
Up until now, Aaradhya ignored the droning buzz of voices he did not understand and focused on grasping the faint light that was created by the blue haze that surrounded and followed him. He reconnected to the blue thread that poked out of the darkness but didn't try and feel out for it more after his initial pulling, rather, he evaluated nearly every facet of his actions and the reactions thereafter. Through that reflection, he noticed his body, or the spiritual body that interacted with the fog around him was a bridge on an individual level. He took a figurative step back. The abyss was a spiritual representation of his subconscious, the depths of his mind and soul that he shouldn't or couldn't touch upon in normal circumstances. The blue crystals within the abyss were likely an extension of something more than a soul, which lay beyond his subconscious and at the core of his very being.
That said, the blue fog around his spiritual form while the yellow and green fog above the abyss was likely the barrier between the outside and his own body, like how clothes protected people from the elements. That analogy stuck in his mind as he guessed that most people were surrounded by the yellow and green fog while the blue was somehow representative of the individual's own power. For a moment, Aaradhya didn't know what to do since his goal was to pierce the fog and get the thread within his hands into the outside world, beyond his own body. Having no other choice, he attempted to pull the thread once more, but not with his hands. He cupped some of the fog into his hands, and quickly dipped the fog into the abyss. Almost instantly, like a geyser, blue threads exploded out and turned into a pillar that cleared out all of the nearby fog. Interestingly, the fog that immediately hit the pillar erupted with a ghoulish green flame that ate away at the structure. With the same analogy, his soul was bare naked in the elements that were the outside world. Over the course of a few seconds, the fog in his immediate surroundings took on a blue green hue that was surrounded by horrifying explosions of emerald flames. As the pillar rose and thickened, and as the fog adopted a lighter azure tint, his vision expanded along with the tint. Regardless of what he could see within the off representation of his soul and mind, he focused and immediately got to work as he cupped the fog and patched the holes in the abyss by patting down its edges.
"That must be my father. How loud did he yell to get his voice in here so clearly? Thank you, you mentally unhinged shell of a man, for giving me the necessary time to save myself," Aaradhya moved on to the next step on his road to survival and evaluated everything his mother had seen and felt within her last moments until he could comfortably say, he knew what it felt like to live in her skin... as horrid as that sounded. Then, he used his pseudo experience to activate his blessing using the guidelines the Death laid out and the process described in the story. Similar to stretching out a hand to help someone up , Aaradhya wrapped his hands around the entirety of the small pillar and pulled. He focused all of his attention on the cord as he guided it up and out of his own body.
If anyone could see spiritual energy with their physical eyes, then they would have noticed that this thread shot out of an unborn baby's belly button, coiled around the umbilical cord and snaked its way all the way towards the mother's body. That odd thread, in Aaradhya's world of fog, swirled and coiled in on itself so many times, so quickly that it left odd imprints of its path in the dark beyond the glowing sapphire fog that clung to him at all times. Everything Aaradhya could see beyond the fog, was painted in a blue hue and even that was only available wherever the thread touched. Just above the abyss, Aaradhya wrapped the thread around his arms and slowly pulled it apart as he tried to expand the singular thread into two. It left him screaming in pain as some green sparks splashed onto his golden skin.
A frightening emptiness racked her body and for a moment, confusion left her in a state of shock. The only fragment of warmth left in her body came from her lower abdomen which turned her shock into an overwhelming need to move. An instinctual and primitive fear exploded as a single protective urge moved her cold and dead hands. Like a puppet being controlled by strings, she staggered to protect the fading warmth that grew within her frail and rigid body. Deep within her soul, she realized that her actions were not her own, rather, they were an echo or a dream given a final moment of realization. Afterall, how could she still be alive when the love of her life slashed her throat and stabbed her heart in one swift action.
Aaradhya's blessing silently gained a counter next to the Bank: Simple creatures' storage. Going from 0[100] to 1[100]. Aaradhya did not see the change in his status but rather, he felt something change within his soul. Luckily, the effects did not reach him yet...otherwise, his already feeble concentration would have shattered, along with his life. That said, the thread in the sky snapped and shattered all the way down to the line of separation between the world of fog and the abyss. The abyss automatically cut the line and closed up the geyser once Aaradhya couldn't control the thread. That said, the blue fog imploded as everything was sucked back into the abyss as a sapphire rain of sand, allowing the fog to roll over Aaradhya's body as he was mercilessly thrown back.
"It seems that I have unlocked something rather important by forcing my actions," Aaradhya laid atop the abyss as [Spirit walk] flickered underneath his body.
*Chime*
*Chime*
"What? Second," Aaradhya questioned the words that seared into his brain.
A childish scribble of a name just rang out inside of his mind with a jingle, "GoST- God of Something". After the lettering vanished, another message popped up in his mind that said,
"System, open the Store. I better not burn from this. My actions should've been enough to convince those fools outside," he seemed to pierce the veil but before he could see the store, the abyss swallowed him whole as [Spirit walk] turned off due to his lack of concentration. A sharp and cold pain racked his body and spiked against the back of his mind before it all simply... vanished.
OUTSIDE and not too long ago…
"I am sorry my heart. Please forgive me...", a tall and lean man with oddly delicate hands caressed the beautiful face of a woman that could be considered drop dead, as in gorgeous. A precious gem, a little less refined than the woman's impossible to describe features, shone on her forehead. She exuded elegance, beauty, and strength, but in this moment, all anyone would see of her is a sacrificial lamb.
"My love. I go in peace and without regret. My soul and your heart will live on in our child so shed not a single tear for me. My life with you has been more than anything I could have hoped for," the woman whispered.
"...I...", the devil masked man could not gather the right words to say and chose to say nothing.
"Give this child the love of a father and mother. He will do great and wonderful things," the woman laid herself down onto a stone platform covered in silks, flowers, and countless jewels. An elder already said the necessary words of scripture to proceed.
"Proceed with the sacred ritual. The time for divine rebirth is upon us," one of the annoying elders said with an objectively disgusting smile. This elder snapped his fingers and musicians lined up around the altar to play a fervent tune of love, life, death, and rebirth. Dancers followed up on platforms leading up to the main altar and writhed in madness.
Without any outward hesitation, the ceremonial dagger within the devil-faced man's hand reaped the life of the woman at the height of the music's fervor. Four strikes flew out within a second. Each one carefully planned and executed. Wrists, throat, and heart were sliced and pierced in one circular motion. The priest had a single goal: to cause an instant and painless death. His precision and speed were so spectacular that it was unlikely that the woman even processed all four strikes. The priest stood in silence next to the platform with blank eyes, like he killed himself rather than the love of his life. Nothing was on his mind other than his own horrid actions. Two minutes later one of the elders, the one who ordered the ritual, whispered, "This year ended in failure as well. Time to end it," The old man cleared his throat to speak out loud but stopped when another elder spoke to him in hushed tones.
"Second elder. We should allow the full time to pass this year. As a consideration to the high priest's unwilling sacrifice," a man with a funny voice. More than just one or two other elders also spoke up to voice their support. They all, however, knew that the chances of the child's survival would be slim to none if there wasn't a divine "Sign" right now.
"Unwilling? Bah. This is a great honor for everyone, I don't see the reason to be lenient. I will end this now...", the decrepit elder returned without even considering the emotions of the priest. This particular elder of this nameless monastic order had never been forced to offer any of his unborn children or his Partner because he never had either to begin with and thus, did not understand the hopes placed on such a slim chance of survival. Most of the other elders did sacrifice something precious at some point in life, willingly or not be it a lover, son, or daughter, so they all despised this old man who only got onto the council of elders because of his immeasurable wealth.
"Little second...", A cherub-faced elder spoke up and whispered, "Let's do it. We wouldn't want him to lose faith and cause any problems for us later on," the skeletal second elder nodded with a change of heart and said, "High priest, continue to use your strength to safeguard the sanctity of this most sacred of holy days. There may be some success yet." He spoke with a grand voice at the start of his speech and ended it with a hopeful spritz of joy as he motioned for the celebration to continue. The followers were swayed and also began to pray even more ardently. The high priest, in the eyes of the elder, disrespectfully ignored the order and just stared at the woman's body. Another 3 minutes passed and all of the followers who had hopes for success felt momentary weakness when the limit for the ritual passed. There was no physical way for the child to be born without severe issues, if at all.
"High Priest. It is time to end this. I, as the second elder of our beautiful faith, declare that this ritual has come to an end," the old skeleton said.
The followers were escorted out by the enforcers of the elders. Then, out of curiosity, a single follower turned around. Like dominos that were set up next to each other, all of the followers fell over each other, stopped, then turned to see their faithful priest stand vigil against the unbelieving elders that prattled from on high. In some eyes he bared himself in defiance, but to most he exemplified stalwart faith. Voices of dissent spread through the ranks and reached a crescendo as two more full minutes passed by. The followers became uncontrollable in a different but just as worrisome kind of way as a torrential wave of ideological fervor swept them up. The musicians didn't play what they were forced to practice, instead, they played the sorrow, anger, and prayer deep within their hearts. Emotions they didn't know as the fervor of the faith drowned out everything. The dancers moved to the chaotic rhythm as if it were normal music they danced to every day.
"This is what I feared, first elder. The followers are blindly following the high priest instead of the council. It has been this way for some time now," The elderly second elder with wrinkles on his wrinkles and body so thin he looked like bones, whispered to the cherub-faced first elder with a hiss.
"I will fix this second brother. Stop this nonsense and end the ritual now high priest," The baby faced first elder yelled after clearing his throat.
"Though I hate agreeing with you, this must come to an end, we cannot maintain this trespassing into the divine," the old man with the funny voice sighed, unable to actually tell the priest to stop. He truly believed the craziness that the religion offered but at the same time, he knew the grief and depth of the priest's actions as he once held that mantle and did the exact same thing.
The second elder, fed up with the theatrics, continued to command the priest to stop as the rest of the elders remained quiet. The ravings of the followers increased in volume despite the orders. It all reached its peak when the enforcers/ guardians/ religious crusaders/ and police of the faith tried to approach the priest with ornate but razor-sharp blades. In one clean swing, the priest severed the carotid artery of two different men. The rest stopped a few steps back and silently waited since they didn't want to actually die.
"SILENCE...", the priest yelled in a heroic and deep voice. He was drenched in blood and wore the mask of a demon with bloodshot eyes. To others, it appeared as though an unquenchable zeal or madness consumed him. Only the woman whom he had personally slain would know that it was his way of crying, his way of releasing an endless amount of remorse. He'd personally slain his wife and child for a belief he knew was corrupt but could not help holding onto as it was ingrained into his very bones since birth.
He raised his blade once more under the stunned gazes of everyone present, the tip pointed toward his own heart. Out of nowhere, the woman's bloodless arms cupped her own protruding stomach in an attempt to protect her unborn child even in death. The priest, hoping for a miracle right until the end, brought his dagger down and carved the woman open with the precise motions of a surgeon with decades of experience. He possessed far too much familiarity with the human body for it to be normal. Within a handful of seconds, and with a few extraordinary and semi-impossible movements, the child was removed from the woman's body.
The priest's eyes seemed to glow after the child was taken out. Everyone else only saw a bloody and deathly pale newborn baby with blue skin and a priest with glowing bloodshot eyes. The priest said nothing and cradled the child with fresh silk sheets. Blankets that were always prepared for the ritual but never used, generation after generation. He left the altar with the child, leaving everyone stunned by what just happened. Most of the elders shook. Some from fear and others in anticipation.
"THIS IS IT, FINALLY!", resonated through the elders as almost all of them shook.
"The child is a corpse, are we to start worshipping a corpse?" An elder spoke of blasphemy and was immediately struck by the second elder.
"The child was breathing. Is it a miracle or warning," the funny voiced third elder frowned. The followers cheered in a violent wave. After so long, they were the generation to summon their god. Most of the elders, however, knew that their religion (that existed for hundreds of years on a made-up divinity) would soon be rocked from the ground up with the first successful birth through the insane ritual.