Lucius remained kneeling beside the stream. The surface of the stream shimmered gently, reflecting fragments of sky and drifting leaves.
Slowly, he brought his hands together.
An action he had performed countless times throughout his life. He lowered his head and his blond hair fell over his eyes.
"O Goddess Celestia," he whispered, his voice steady despite the ache in his chest. "Goddess of Balance and Judgment… am I still your apostle?"
The words lingered in the air.
"I have died," he continued quietly. "My duty has been fulfilled. Yet I stand here once more, in a new life. If it is your will, then guide me again. Walk with me, as you once did."
His hands trembled slightly.
"Protect me once more from the evil that plagues this world."
Silence followed.
Then—warmth.
Lucius lifted his head as a soft golden aura began to form around his body. It wrapped around him gently, like sunlight through morning mist. He felt it, once again Goddess Celestia warmth embraced even after death.
His body changed. He was no longer weaker than an average child. The malnourishment had faded, and skin looked healthy with a gentle glow.His weak body began to fill out, but it was not to the strength of a trained person.
Gold shimmered briefly in his vision before fading away.
She had not forsaken him.
A bright smile spread across his face, the loneliness in his chest easing for the first time since he had awakened. He pressed his hands together once more, his voice softer now.
"Please, Goddess Celestia… grant Selene your protection, even in death. Know that I will always love her."
He swallowed, emotion tightening his throat.
"And one day," he whispered, "let us meet again."
The stream flowed on, peacefully and the wind blew the golden locks of Lucius' hair revealing his eyes now filled with determination. He was no longer alone. He still had a purpose to fulfill his Goddess will.
.
.
.
Now, Lucius could be seen walking along a narrow dirt path. On either side of him stood houses that could barely be called homes.
Some looked as though a strong wind might be enough to bring them down entirely.It did not take long for him to understand where he was. This was a village stricken by poverty.
Lucius clenched his hands at his sides.
The sight unsettled him more than he expected. In the lands he once lived in, poverty had become a distant concept, something spoken of only in old books. Under the will of Goddess Celestia, balance had been enforced. Everyone had food. Everyone had shelter. Hunger had been seen as a failure of judgment, something that simply could not be allowed to exist.
Yet here, it was everywhere.
The hollow eyes of villagers and their thin, frail bodies. The way children clung to worn clothing as it draped over their small bodies.
The scene stirred memories he wished would stay buried. The Demon Realm. The vast difference between the demons who ruled and those who suffered beneath them. Power hoarded at the top and misery festering below.
A low murmur drifted through the air.
Whispers overlapped one another—soft, uneasy voices filled with curiosity and caution.
"Who are they…?"
"They really came…"
"Maybe one of them will be chosen…"
Lucius followed the sound.
Ahead, a small crowd had gathered in an open space between the houses and most were villagers, who were the residents of this poor village. He could see how much hardship they must have faced with their frail bodies.
But they all had a look of awe and hope towards one direction.
Lucius slowed.
He glanced down at himself.
The white shirt he wore was clean and his black pants were neatly fitted. Compared to the villagers around him, he looked painfully out of place.
His jaw tightened.
Beyond the crowd, he saw them.
A group of five youths stood together, each looking around sixteen—his current age. They stood stiffly with nervous energy clinging to them. Some swallowed hard while others clenched their fists. But their eyes all burned with hope or fear.
Before them stood a middle-aged man.
The difference was immediate.
The man wore a spotless white robe of fine material, embroidered with faint patterns that caught the light. His posture was straight and his expression was calm and composed. Even his hair and beard were carefully groomed. He looked nothing like the villagers.
Lucius moved closer, slipping into the edge of the crowd.
An elderly man beside him turned and studied him with gentle curiosity. His face was lined with age, his eyes kind but tired.
"It has been a while since I've seen a new face around here," the old man said softly.
Lucius met his gaze. "I arrived recently."
The man nodded, then asked, "How old are you, boy?"
"Sixteen," Lucius replied.
At that, the elderly man's eyes widened slightly. He quickly gestured toward the front of the gathering.
"Then go," he urged in a hushed voice. "Go closer. The esteemed immortals have arrived."
Lucius paused, the words struck him. "Immortals?"
The old man nodded eagerly. "They are here to test the children. To see who has the talent, to cultivate and one day fight against the heavens."
Lucius followed his gaze back to the robed man and the youths standing before him. He stood at the edge of the gathering. The old man's words kept echoing in his mind.
Immortals.
The term felt strange to him and almost unnatural. In all the teachings of Goddess Celestia, immortality was never something to be claimed or seized. Life had weight because it ended. Judgment had meaning because souls moved on. To pursue endless life was to reject balance itself.
And yet—
Fight against the heavens.
That phrase unsettled him far more.
Lucius lowered his gaze slightly, his hands slowly curling at his sides. The heavens were not an enemy. They were order laws and balance in the world one must oppose. To fight against them sounded dangerously close to heresy—an outright defiance of everything Celestia stood for.
He could only hope for these foreign concepts like cultivation, immortals and ascending beyond mortal limits. They all sounded like words a pagan would speak of. Words Goddess Celestia never thought her believers.
It all felt deeply wrong.
Still, he did not act on impulse. If there was one thing his battles had taught him, it was restraint. Perhaps this was why he had been brought back. Not merely to live again, but to understand this world. To uncover whether these so-called immortals were protectors… or tyrants no different from the demons he had erased.
If they were corrupt. If they dare trample on the balance of the world and preyed upon the weak.
Then he would judge them, in the name of Goddess of Balance and Judgement.
Lucius lifted his head and watched as the test continued.
One by one, the five teens around his age stepped forward. They were young boys and girls with hope trembling in their eyes. Each placed their hand upon a glowing blue stone held by the middle-aged man. The stone would glow faintly, flicker… then fade.
"Not qualified."
"Not qualified."
"Not qualified."
The words fell without emotion.
Each rejection drew quiet disappointment, some youths lowering their heads as they stepped away. Lucius observed closely. The man showed no cruelty, but no compassion either. To him, these children were little more than possibilities to be sorted.
Finally, Lucius's turn came.
He stepped forward calmly.
The middle-aged man's gaze lingered on him longer than the others. His eyes swept over Lucius's clean clothing, but the way he carried out himself. His posture was straight and he held a composed expression.
"Ohhh...You stand out a lot," the man said flatly. "Far too much to be from this village."
Lucius gave a soft hum, agrrrreding with the man statement.
"I recently arrived," he replied simply.
The man studied him again, this time with sharper interest. "You don't look nervous."
"Well let's test you and see if you qualify to cultivate."
Lucius once again heard the term cultivation. Maybe it was similar to the process of absorbing mana. But Lucius could not help but ask, "What is this test for?"
The question made the man pause.
For the first time, confusion flickered across his expression. "You don't know?"
"I do not," Lucius said honestly, with the same expression even a slight smile forming on his face.
The man narrowed his eyes and gave a hum. "This test determines whether one has the ability to absorb qi," he explained slowly, as if reassessing Lucius entirely. "Those with talent may enter the Clear Sky Sect and begin cultivation."
Lucius absorbed the words in silence. To him, qi sounded little different from mana—another name for the energy that flowed through the world. Mana was simply the act of drawing that power into oneself, shaping it from the mana that permeated the land. It was the same energy the Tree of Life had released into creation eons ago in his own world.
Yet mana had never granted immortality.
Humans were bound to short lifespans, though there were rare ways to extend one's years. The Apple of Immortality Selene had obtained for him, from her mother. Stood as proof of that truth.
The elves understood this better than most. They were guardians of the Tree of Life, a race born directly from the Tree themselves. Their long lives were not the result of cultivation, but of origin and blessing
Lucius's thoughts stilled as the man raised the glowing blue stone, its surface pulsing faintly with energy.
"Place your hand upon it," the man said calmly. "We will see whether you possess talent."
Lucius stepped closer and he reached out but felt something stir deep within him. As if someone was watching him take his first step into a whole new world.
He hesitated for only a moment before placing his palm against the stone and the blue light trembled.