Divine Encounter(Sidestory):
Steven grew up in a small, run-downtown where opportunities were scarce, and hope was even scarcer. His father was a factory worker, and his mother juggled multiple part-ti jobs to make ends et. From a young age, Steven learned that the world was a harsh place where the strong preyed on the weak. The family’s financial struggles and the constant stress of survival left a deep mark on him.
As a teenager, Steven beca adept at reading people, he could sense desperation, fear, and vulnerability like a shark slls blood in the water. He realized that in a world full of struggling people, there was a twisted kind of power in being able to manipulate others. He started small, borrowing money from friends with no intention of paying it back, spinning tales of dire circumstances that tugged at their heartstrings.
As he grew older, Steven's sches beca more elaborate. He’d hang around outside payday loan offices and liquor stores, where people were often at their lowest points. He would approach them with a friendly smile and a story of his own, how he too was struggling but had found a way out. He’d offer them a chance to invest in a "sure thing" that would double or even triple their money in a matter of days. The "investnt" was of course just a lie, but Steven’s charm and apparent sincerity were hard to resist for those desperate for a way out of their troubles.
People would give him whatever little money they had left, hoping for a miracle that never ca. Once he had their cash, Steven would disappear, leaving them worse off than before. He justified his actions by telling himself that if they were foolish enough to believe him, they deserved to lose their money. In his mind, the world was a place where you either took what you could or got taken.
Then everything changed with the system’s arrival. He now had a chance to gain so much more, and he would get it all just as he had achieved everything else in his life. He had chosen the heavy warrior class, feeling it was the strongest for those who didn't know how to fight.
His starting group was quite competent. He had a healer nad Caren, a warrior nad Andrew, and a mage nad Mila. Their first fights went extrely well, even with Mila still a child. They found a wasp nest and were able to easily farm the insects. Within three hours, everyone in his group had reached level 5 and was teleported to the next stage.
But sothing strange happened during the teleportation. Steven found himself in a giant hall, as vast as a cathedral, yet even more awe-inspiring. The ceiling was so high, he could barely make it out, studded with sparkling crystals that refracted the light, casting a white glow on the walls.
The throne was the centerpiece of the room. Carved from a single, enormous block of white marble and adorned with intricate gold decorations, it pulsed with soft, white magic shining brightly. The floor of the throne room was covered in a thick carpet of pure gold. On the walls hung enormous tapestries depicting scenes of ancient battles and victories.
The air in the throne room was filled with a solemn stillness. It was a place of power, authority, and history.
Then before him, a man stepped out of nothingness. Steven instantly felt that this man was not ordinary; he couldn’t sense him, like the bugs before. The man radiated absolute power and ancientness.
"Is this a god?" Steven asked himself. Then the being spoke, and his voice echoed through the hall with determination and unbound power.
"I am Solarion, the Blazing Emperor. You have shown potential, so I will offer you the chance to join the great Solar Empire."
"Yes, yes, of course. Are you a god?" Steven stamred out.
"I am one of the first gods that erged after the Apocalypse, over 500 eras ago," Solarion answered. "I will give you a legendary blessing. It will open new paths for you and give you the ability to baptize others, granting them access to classes related to . From what I’ve seen of you, I assu I don’t need to give you more instructions on how to benefit from this situation?"
"Of course not," Steven answered, now smiling. He liked where this was going.
"Now, since you are new to the system, I’ll give you a brief rundown of what you need to do. First, when I send you back, you will have the chance to change your class, and you will choose the Solar Sentinel, it’s the one that fits you best.
"Next, you will kill your comrades. You need solo experience to level up fast, and the credits and experience you gain from killing them should bring you up to level 9. For skills, take the Light Wing skill. Most at your level won’t be able to fly, which will give you a big advantage. Use it to hunt for weak parties you can kill alone.
"I have already given my divine blessing. My Chosen is currently in another tutorial. I want you to dominate yours and gather an army for when you exit the tutorial and reunite with my Chosen on the newly integrated planet."
"Yes, of course, I will do as you desire," Steven answered obediently. "But wouldn’t it be better to let my party live if my goal is to assemble an army later?"
"No. The most important thing is that you grow strong quickly. You can gather subordinates later when you find a strong enough group," Solarion answered coldly.
With that, the god raised his hand, which glowed white, and Steven felt power rush through his body. Then the god handed him sothing, it looked like a white crystal.
"Eat this. It will boost your vitality and strength, as well as your light affinity," the god said.
Steven did as he was told and felt another rush of power run through his body, though not as strong as the last one.
"One last warning," the god said. "Many gods will bless beings from the newly integrated universe. The competition will be fierce on the last floor."
With that, everything went black, and a system prompt appeared:
Through unique circumstances, you are allowed to change your class
Do you want to change your class now?
Steven naturally chose the Solar Sentinel, a legendary class, and soon after, he appeared next to Andrew. He imdiately drew his sword and stabbed it through Andrew’s head from behind, instantly killing him.
"What are you doing, Steven?" Caren roared, though there wasn’t much else she could do as a healer.
Steven stord toward Mila, who was too frightened to do anything. She pleaded with tears in her eyes, "Please don’t kill , please!" She couldn't say anything more before he plunged his sword into her left eye, ending her life.
"Why are you doing this?" Caren shouted. "How could you kill a child?"
Steven didn’t bother to answer as he attacked Caren. She tried to run, but it was too late. He sliced her head off with a single stroke of his blade.
You have killed a human Level 5
You have killed a human Level 5
You have killed a human Level 5
You have reached Level 9
Skill selection available
He took the Light Wing skill:
The caster's body becos suffused with radiant energy, causing a pair of luminous wings to sprout from their back. While granting flight, the wings also act as a conduit for powerful healing spells. The wings' healing power is directly proportional to the caster's mana reserves.
With a big smile, Steven activated the skill and soared into the air. That day, he reached level 14. He got lucky, the survivors were just easy prey, most not even surpassing level 5. The bad news was that he didn’t get much experience from killing them, but that wouldn’t stop him. They had around 500 credits, which was his main objective.
In six days, the system shop would appear, and he would make sure to buy the best for himself. He already had over 5000 credits.
So, he spent the days hunting low-level humans. In the last two days, many survivors had entered the second stage, which was great for him. The only downside was that he had to find the newcors quickly before they had a chance to join one of the bigger camps of refugees.
Nevertheless, everything was going well for him. The night before the shop’s arrival, he was at level 23 with 42,310 credits. He only had to flee a few tis, once from a group of elves and another ti from three vampires, but with his wings, no one could catch him.
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So, he sat in a tall tree, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the system shop.
Solarion sat on his throne, glaring into the vast multiverse. This ti, he was lucky. He found a good Chosen on the first day of the tutorial, and not only that, but he also managed to enlist 13 new followers for his Chosen to fight the other Chosen for supremacy after the tutorial.
The reason gods were so adamant, at least the stronger ones, about giving out blessings was that with each evolution, the blessing would absorb a little bit of endless energy, which was a mix of vitality, stamina, and mana, but so complex and powerful that no god could recreate it.
The amount of endless energy that could be absorbed increased with the rank of the blessing, though the cost for the god also increased. It could even weaken them if their Chosen or higher blessed died.
The tricky part was that a god couldn’t extract the blessing after four safe evolutions. No, it would remain with the blessed until they beca gods themselves. Only then could the god receive their reward.
Until now, most gods had held back their blessings because the only opportunity to bless soone ca when they advanced in stages. Also, the system didn’t allow gods to see much, and most didn’t want to make such crucial decisions with so little information. But that would change with the appearance of the system shop.
"Let the war for the 501st universe begin," Solarion said, deep in thought.
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