"Thousands of monsters live in this dead domain," he said. 

I frowned, and he chuckled lightly. "Ask away," he said. 

"What's a dead domain?" I asked. 

"It's the land of a dead G.o.d," Omega replied. "Ulmir died long ago. I watched him breathe his last." 

So the G.o.ds I scoffed at existed all along! What's worse, Ulmir, the G.o.d millions of people in Kozag wors.h.i.+p, has been dead for a long time. I t.i.ttered. Omega tilted his head to the side and stared at me inquisitively. 

"How did he die?" I asked. 

"Decay," Omega replied with a grim face. "As I told you while you lay suffering on your bed, it's a sickness that even G.o.ds aren't immune to." 

I stared at my feet for a long while. The sickness that crippled my mother killed G.o.ds. It was a sickness I knew all too well now. I couldn't understand how my mother survived for so long. I was about to ask the question when I saw Omega frowning at the distance. 

"Here's your chance to prove your worth," he told me as he got to his feet. 

I looked back. What I saw made my mind go blank. I saw a mushroom, or at least a humanoid form of a mushroom, wobbling toward us. It was three times my size. It had big fat arms wrapped in th.o.r.n.y vines. Its eyes were but slits in the mushroom's cap, which I a.s.sumed it was its head. 

"Find a way to kill that thing," Omega told me. "Do that, and I'll tell you how you can become as strong as a Fragment bearer." 

That was enough to get the adrenaline rus.h.i.+ng. I drew my sword and observed the beast. Omega flew to a branch up above to watch the fight. The beast hadn't noticed me yet. It kept wobbling toward me with its short, stubby legs. Its eyes seemed to look beyond me. 

I took my time a.s.sessing my chances. One hit looked like it could deal considerable damage. The monster's flesh looked weak to slashes and stabs though. I kept observing it as it walked toward me, oblivious to my presence. 

I could surprise it… But Omega would never ask me to fight the mushroom if it were an easy win. 

I took a deep breath then charged. The mushroom noticed me then. It turned toward me. Its eyes glowed. I saw it lean forward, but I didn't see how it got close to me. It threw its fat arm at me and hit me. It felt like an anchor had just fallen on my chest. 

Luckily, I had willed my energy to block the punch just in time. It was more of a reflex, actually; one I developed while holding the time Fragment. Instead of using a time s.h.i.+eld, this time I just put a barrier around me, using what meagre energy I had. It wasn't the strongest, but it was enough to soften the blow.

I flew backwards and braced for impact. The mushroom beast didn't even let me crash against a tree. I felt its heavy blow collide against my back. It would have broken if I hadn't protected myself earlier. I was now flying upwards, with no control over my pace and with no sense of direction. 

My energy reserves were running low as well. I'd realized just then how weak I was compared to that beast. Even my inevitable fall was bound to kill me. I hoped Omega would intervene, but as my body came to a standstill mid-air; as I lost momentum and was about to fall back down, I saw Omega smiling at me from a branch. 

Had I flown this high?

Before I began my descent, I saw Omega wave me good bye. 

'Here's your chance to prove your worth,' Omega's words came back to me. 

My body turned as I began falling. I saw the mushroom beast waiting for me down. It looked like an ant from up here. If Omega wasn't willing to help, I might as well risk it all. I held my sword in both hands and pointed it at the beast below me. My body picked up speed. My hair flapped against my eye, and violent winds howled violently at my ears. 

I used every ounce of energy left in me to coat myself with two layers of protection. This was my one and only chance. I had to get that stubborn Celestial to teach me. I had to give it my all or die trying. 

Again, the beast had different plans for me. Once I got sufficiently close, I saw it jump toward me. It had one fat, th.o.r.n.y arm outstretched. I saw a slit open in its torso. Razor sharp teeth glistened against the fait sunlight that reached them. 

We were about to collide…

I had to act quickly. At this rate, the beast was sure to break my bones. Even if I were to cut it a little, I wouldn't survive its blow. Even if I miraculously did, I'd fly in the air again and fall to my death. As a last, desperate attempt to prevail, I directed all the energy coating me toward my arms. I had gravity to my advantage, but not strength…

I braced for impact as we got dangerously close. I kept my arms steady and hoped my energy would help me carry out my plan. My sword cut through the spongy flesh of the mushroom beast. Fibers flew around, as though I'd just cut through fabric and all the taut threads snapped. 

I heard the beast howl as I tore through its arm all the way to its stubby shoulder. I landed on the beast's chest and drove it down with me. 

As we quickly descended toward our inevitable doom, I removed my sword and stabbed the beast once on each eye. Gray goo came out with each stab and smeared my face and hair. We were about to collide with the floor then. I stabbed the beast once more in the head then braced for impact once more. 

The impact never came. I opened my eye to find myself floating inches away from the ground. The mushroom beast whimpered as its remaining hand clutched its eyes. Omega was standing on the wet gra.s.s, his forefinger extended toward us. 

He flicked his finger and I softly landed on the floor. He vanished, only to instantly reappear next to the mushroom. He placed his hand on its head and the beast let out a frightened squeal. 

"Rest now," Omega said then squeezed the mushroom's head. It exploded, sending goo and fibers flying everywhere. Omega's hand stretched in the blink of an eye and caught something my eye hadn't noticed. He turned to look at me then. His lips pursed into a faint smile. 

"Do you finally realize the difference between you and me?" he asked in a condescending tone. 

I silently nodded. He effortlessly killed that beast as though he squashed an insect. 

"It's time to reinforce that core of yours," he said after he wiped all the goo from his face and hair. "Open your third eye." 

I obeyed. Omega was holding a glowing orb the size of an egg. He threw it in his mouth and it disappeared. I couldn't see through the Celestial's energy. It felt as though he had none. I deactivated my third eye then looked at my master with an inquisitive frown. 

"Beasts in Ulmir's Domain have delicious cores," Omega said, licking his lips. "All the corruption and never ending bloodshed reinforced their conduits. They would have never been able to achieve this growth if they weren't in constant strife. Ulmir was wise to pit his own creations against each other.

 "The beasts you'll encounter in this domain will be ten times, sometimes a hundred times stronger than this thing." He shot a disgusted look at the beast's remains. "A champion like Samuel Avourel can crush all of Ulmir's Domain's beasts in one day."

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