Year 215 of the Immortal God, northwest coast of the country of Silan.
Grimz, a being that cannot be compared to the other races, was emerging from the depths of a small yet deep cave, situated at the edge of a great cliff overlooking the sea.
"Again... nothing." He whispered with a sigh, watching the faint light emanating from the end of the narrow tunnel he was in. "Where did you go, Silan? Where are you, and what are you doing there?"
Thoughtful, Grimz began planning his next journeys in search of traces of his old friend, while thunder rumbled in the distance, announcing the storm raging outside. As he stepped out of the cave, his focus was not stolen by the chaos unleashed on the cliff nor by the whirlwinds dancing in the distance, but by a familiar mana, one he could never mistake.
"That mana... It's Father's! But why?" Grimz wondered with a surprised expression, looking up at the sky as his elegant clothes became soaked by the rain.
Smiling, he knew what to do from that moment on.
"It's strange for it to manifest so far from the planet, and for it to do so after so many millennia." He whispered to no one, shifting his gaze to the raging sea. "But if he did, it means interesting things are about to happen."
Raising a single hand, the mana coursed through his body until it altered the very nature of the weather, stopping the storm entirely within a few seconds. The clouds, the sea, and everything to the horizon had calmed, making the atmosphere itself feel confused by the sudden change.
As the clouds parted, the sun's rays soon reflected on every inch of the wet ground, making the entire scene beautiful and serene to behold.
With a more animated demeanor, Grimz leaped into the deep waters of the sea before him, but upon touching them, he did not sink; instead, he walked on them as firmly as if they were solid ground, all thanks to a familiar technique he knew.
"Alright, once I find Silan, I'll have to make several visits."
Walking on the sea, his humanoid figure gradually faded as he moved toward the horizon, vanishing completely after a few hours.
…
Year 248 of the Immortal God.
Once Grimz was able to track down his friend Silan, the Demon God, he set foot on the lands of Alister again after hundreds of years—the country where some of the spirits his Father had brought had arrived.
"Yes... now that I'm here, I can feel it more strongly." He commented with his eyes closed, sensing the faint traces of his Father's mana. "Two of the spirits that Father sent to this world ended up in this country."
With two destinations ahead, Grimz decided to venture first into the desert to track the one located in the eastern part of Alister.
After walking for over a week, he passed through a small rocky area, where he saw from afar several people excavating part of the desert, uncovering various weapons and corpses near the place where the spirit had arrived.
"Interesting, it seems its arrival was special." He said to the air before diverting onto another path. "The spirit arrived there, but it seems to have primarily been in this other area since Father's magic dissipated over there."
Walking for a few more hours, he reached a small plain, where, after using a spell called Timeseer, he witnessed a projection of the past with his own eyes—a greenish, faintly detailed vision that covered the entire area around him.
Smiling, he joyfully watched a dragonkin family of three—or rather, four, counting the spirit that had taken over the baby.
"Honestly, I didn't expect to find something like this." He muttered to himself, watching as a part of the Dragon God's Divine Spark was bestowed upon the baby.
"If Father knew this would happen, it means the Twilight of the Gods is near." He continued, before fast-forwarding the vision until he saw these people pointing at a map, indicating the city of Birton in the Kingdom of Flok.
"I suppose I'll have to pay them a visit once I'm done investigating the other spirit."
Satisfied with the information he had gathered, Grimz walked westward until, at dawn, he was intercepted by a group of twenty individuals of various races, surrounding him immediately.
"Stop right there!" Declared a deep voice from afar, coming from a human standing atop a fennet—a ten-meter-tall beast resembling a fox.
"Ohh…" Grimz muttered under his breath, instantly recognizing the person before him. "A pleasure, Dued of the White Foxes. I wasn't expecting to run into such well-known bandits in this part of Alister."
"Eh? So you know us!" Dued shouted before bursting into hearty laughter, glancing at his men. "Hahaha! Listen up, guys! We're famous even in Alister now!"
"Since you recognized us, we won't kill you! On one condition—you hand over everything you have and go spread our name across these lands." He added in a loud, cheerful voice, before his expression suddenly shifted.
"Thanks for the offer, gentlemen, but I'm in a hurry, so if you'll excuse me, I'll go meet my destiny." Grimz declared, walking across the sand toward one side of the circle of men that had recently formed, stepping out of it while everyone remained silent.
"Damned bastard!! Who do you think you are to reject our boss's offer!?" One of Dued's men shouted from behind him, raising the enormous mace he carried in his hands with the intent to kill him.
Grimz, slightly annoyed by his actions, stopped his attack with a single hand, with such ease and gentleness that it made it seem as if the strike had no strength at all.
"Dued! You should control your men better." Grimz shouted, letting the mace drop to the side, crashing violently onto the sand.
"Step aside, Kason! I'll handle him." Dued shouted before jumping into the arena from his Fennet, with a mocking attitude. "What a surprise! I never would have thought that someone with such fine and well-kept clothes could so easily stop my subordinate's attack! And he's of Expert rank!"
"I suppose we misjudged you." Dued continued in an exhaled voice, closing his eyes and stretching out his hands with open palms, expressing his mistake. "But resisting is useless, after all, I am a Semi-God rank, the highest rank possible!"
Turning again, Grimz stared at him, watching as Dued pulled out the massive axe he carried on his back, displaying a smile of complete confidence.
"Let's see if you can last long enough to serve as my warm-up." Dued finished, pushing Grimz's patience further.
"Listen, this will be your last warning. Do not stand in my way, or I will kill you all." He said in a serious and slightly irritated voice.
Laughing, Dued turned back to look at his companions for a moment, loudly mocking Grimz's words. "Can you believe it!? This guy says he'll kill us all! All of us!!"
After saying that and turning around, the laughter didn't take long to echo, along with several taunts from some of his men.
"What an idiot, you never—." Dued continued, only to fall silent when he realized that the laughter he was hearing around him had suddenly stopped, confusing and irritating him at the same time.
"Huh? What's going on?" He whispered before turning again and seeing his men kneeling, with a physique different from what he knew.
"Ch-ch-guys?" He stammered, feeling a powerful instinct telling him to run.
All his men were on their knees, with dry skin, thin muscles, white eyes staring into nothingness, and showing no signs of life.
"Guys! Uriel! Cayden! Audrey!! Answer me!!" Dued shouted desperately, watching as his comrades lay lifeless, their bodies collapsing onto the sand.
"862 years, not bad for some bandits." Grimz commented, sticking out his tongue as if he had just finished eating something. "Now, let's see how much you have."
"Y-y-you, who are you?" Dued asked, feeling more fear than he had ever felt before.
"I remember you said earlier that Semi-God was the highest rank, but you're wrong. There is one that surpasses it." Grimz replied, smiling as he slowly walked toward him. "No, don't tell me…."
"That's right, human, I am a God, the Immortal God."
"BASTARD!!" Dued screamed with all his might, lunging at Grimz, gripping his axe with both hands. But just as Dued took two steps, he managed to see, without his body being able to react due to the speed, how Grimz was already upon him, grabbing him by the neck and draining every last drop of life he had left.
"What insolent mortals. The good thing is that they won't bother anyone else in this world, in my world."
Satisfied with the number of years he had obtained, he continued on his way westward to Alister. There, after finding and speaking with the other spirit that had arrived in these lands, he once again felt his father's mana, five years after arriving in Alister, changing his journey toward the Kingdom of Duria, which lay north of the Kingdom of Clifland.