Chapter 70: Ch 70 : First Apostle

In a world of eternal peace and happiness, where thousands of souls resided, life was a state of perfect contentment.They didn’t need to work, nor did they have to risk their lives in unnecessary battles. They never grew hungry, and whenever they wanted to eat something, a feast would appear out of thin air, always tasting heavenly. But out of all the thousands of souls from various races, one human sat alone. His mind was always racing from one thought to another, a single question haunting his peaceful existence. "When did my faith waver?" The voice came from the mouth of Thorn, a profound sadness in his tone. He was still pondering the conversation he had with God Cosmos. He had been so blind, so comfortable in his blissful existence, that he hadn’t noticed the raven—his god’s message—for 15 years straight. "Why was I able to see it yesterday? Was it because of the guilt I felt?" His thoughts wandered, searching for answers. He thought of all the possibilities and came to a single, powerful conclusion. "I need to repent," he said in a deep, serious voice. His purpose in this world was clear: to do his god’s bidding and serve him till the end. He immediately rose and walked towards the gate of reincarnation. Beside the gate of reincarnation, there was another gate: the gate of rebirth. Whenever a soul was sent to heaven, they were told about these two gates. The gate of reincarnation led a soul to the river of reincarnation, where they would await the birth of a child. It was a random process, and a soul may or may not need to wait for a very long time to be reborn. But the gate of rebirth was an entirely different concept. It gave a soul two specific choices. The first choice was to become an apostle of a demigod. For this, both the demigod and the soul had to agree. The apostle would then be blessed by their chosen demigod, and other demigods could also grant blessings if they so chose. The second choice was to be reborn into a new body that would possess the previous talents of the soul, along with five blessings from random demigods. One was the choice to be reborn into an apostle other was rebirth with memories and talent. Thorn was already clear on his choice. He directly pressed "Option 1" on the system panel. The panel changed, and a new page opened with the names and roles of different demigods under Sunny. The text also explained what kind of work he would need to do as an apostle. He checked the role of every demigod, from the noble Uranus to the cunning Mammon, and then immediately pressed on an image of a mythical creature. The creature had a green, serpentine body that floated in the sky, a king of the heavens. Its body glimmered with a mysterious energy. This creature was the second dragon of Veridia, Shenlong. [Please Await Demigod Shenlong’s reply] A new line of text appeared, and now Thorn just needed to wait. The decision behind choosing Shenlong over the other demigods was simple. Thorn didn’t want other life forms to become like him, forgetting the god who created them, who protected them, and who gave them the strength to fight. He wanted to be like Shenlong, a being who protected the weak and showed them the way to be under the protection of God Cosmos. He wanted to spread the faith of his god and prove that he would do anything for him. "Master, your plan worked like a charm. Do you have a talent for manipulation?" Thea said, her voice filled with admiration for Sunny’s cunning. Thea was right; this decision of Thorn’s was not his own. It was a well-thought-out plan of Sunny’s. He wanted a few of his life forms to wander the world and spread the faith to others. Just as Shenlong was already doing, he didn’t want to create another demigod for a similar purpose, as this could create conflicts between them in the future. But if there was only one demigod per role, it created a whole ecosystem where they couldn’t use their powers to the fullest without the help of another god. It was not that Thorn was unfaithful towards his god, Cosmos. He prayed multiple times daily and was a devoted believer. But a single comment from Sunny had made him question his faith. Sunny’s plan was simple: he wanted Thorn to believe that he had been negligent towards his duty to Veridia. And the best way to do so was to prove him unfaithful towards Sunny. This would make Thorn do everything in his power to prove his faith in Cosmos. "I don’t have such a talent," Sunny replied, rejecting Thea’s train of thought. He felt a hint of sadness for Thorn. "I feel slightly bad for him," Sunny thought to himself. But it was not his fault; he wanted Thorn to be reborn into the world again, which would surely help the masses. He wanted Thorn to embark on a journey where he could spread the faith of Cosmos to other life forms. But to say it outright would be against his own motto of letting life forms live independently. Thus, he used this trick to make Thorn feel guilty and take this step on his own. A new message from the system arrived. [Demigod Shenlong has accepted your request] [Congratulations on becoming the first apostle of Shenlong] After this congratulatory message, the scene shifted in Thorn’s eyes. He was now in front of a huge container, huge enough to drown all the continents in Veridia. It even felt like the container was growing every second. "What is this? Where am I?" Thorn mustered these words, his mind unable to comprehend where he was. Suddenly, the shiny liquid inside the container stirred. A small part of it began to move and transform. It quickly morphed into a magnificent dragon. It was similar to Shenlong in size and physical features, but its green scales were replaced by golden ones, which suggested that this was not Shenlong’s real body, but only a temporary form created just to give blessings to Thorn. "I like your dedication to spread faith for my Master, and for this reason, I have accepted your request to become my apostle," the figure of Shenlong said in a majestic and deep voice, which produced ripples in the liquid.