I AM A GOD

Chapter 3

A crisp, angelic voice rebounded through the plane, and a being of pure light appeared before him.

"Who are you?" Henry demanded.

"Let’s say I had something to do with you not having a magic affinity. That is why I’m here," the being answered lightly.

Henry’s eyes widened.

A sudden, violent rage filled him. He lunged at the being, swinging his fists, but they passed through the light like mist. He attacked again and again until he was exhausted, screaming at the void.

"I have watched many mages," the being spoke, its voice sounding like a thousand chimes. "Most surrender after a few failures. You failed ninety-nine times and were still prepared to try again. Even after I sealed your magic affinity, you kept banging your head against a door that could never open."

"You sealed it?" Henry’s voice dropped for a moment before his rage exploded again. "You ruined my life just to watch what I would do?"

He charged at the being again, only to pass through its body and crash onto the ground.

"It wasn’t a test," the being said. "It was protection."

"Protection from what?" Henry growled.

"From the people who killed you the first time."

Henry’s rage stopped him where he stood.

"The first time?"

"Henry Maxwell is only the name of this human body. You are the Origin God, the first God born with authority over raw mana, reborn in human flesh."

Henry stared at the being, his anger slowly giving way to disbelief.

"Endless Evolution is your divine core," the being continued. "It can absorb every form of mana, learn every spell it comes in contact with and grow beyond every known rank. It was never given to you. It has always been yours."

"Then why don’t I remember any of this?"

"I sealed your divine core and your memories when you were reborn. The people who killed you still rule this world. If they had sensed your return before you could protect yourself, they would have killed you again."

"You had no right!" Henry roared, charging at the being once more.

"I kept you alive."

"And what changed now?"

"The people of your world pushed your body onto the path between life and death. Your divine core awakened to save you, and in doing so, it cracked my seal. Only its first layer has opened."

Henry looked down at his hands. "What can I do with it?"

"You no longer belong to a single element. Fire, water, wind, earth and lightning will all answer you because your divine core commands the raw mana from which they are formed."

"Do I still need incantations?"

"Your will is now your incantation. If your mind can understand the magic, your mana can learn and become it."

Henry squeezed his hands into fists. For the first time in his life, he could feel something moving beneath his skin, something endless and alive.

"Can I control it?"

"Not completely. You must grow in silence. Every source of mana you absorb will strengthen your divine core and loosen another part of the seal. But if those who killed you sense your return before you are ready, you will die for a second time."

Henry looked back at the being. "So, all this time, I was never worthless?"

"You were never worthless," the being answered. "You are the Origin God, the God this world was never supposed to awaken again."

Henry’s eyes snapped open.

He was lying in a hospital bed, and the room felt cold and neglected. There were no flowers, no cards and not even a lit fireplace to warm him.

Cold air pushed itself into the room through the open window, and Henry shivered beneath the thin sheet. His skin looked sickly and pale, while his feet seemed frozen to the bed no matter how hard he tried to move them.

Every attempt ended in failure, as though his legs had minds of their own.

His eyes moved towards the cold hearth.

Before tonight, even a first-year student could light it while he could not. But the words of the being returned to his mind.

Your will is now your incantation.

Henry stared at the hearth, half afraid and half unwilling to believe any of it.

‘If that thing was telling the truth, then light the damn fire,’ he ordered inside his mind.

Immediately, the hearth erupted into a roaring flame, and the heat washed over him.

Henry sat frozen, his heart racing as he stared at the dancing fire. He hadn’t said a word, yet the world had obeyed his mind.