Children of a Lesser God

Chapter 288: A Brief History Of A People Long Gone

Laz had no idea what was going to happen in 72 hours, what this creature was or even if anyone found a way to open the door back. The only thing he did know was that if they didn't find a way to leave within 72 hours, they would never leave.

And that was not a comforting thought.

Be that as it may, Laz wasn't going to freak out because there was a lot more he needed from this creature in front of him. For the first time since Laz had awakened those year ago, he finally found someone who knew more about him than he did. This kind of opportunity wasn't something he was going to pass up.

:You have many questions?: The voice asked.

:Yes.:

:Well, I've got nothing but time I suppose. After all... I've been dead for a long time...:

:YOU WHAT?:

:HA HA HA HA. Didn't know that, did you? I can see that your small mind thinks of death as only an ending and a very final one at that. Well, you're only half right, little one. In truth, even after death, if you are strong enough, you can live on.:

:That's....:

:That's not something you need to worry about for now. Let me tell you a bit about your ancestors, my people.... our people.:

Inside Laz's head, he suddenly saw many pictures and thoughts that went along with it. Although it was a bit of a strain, getting information in this way, it wasn't uncomfortable. And it was also a much faster process than if the dead Asura in front of Laz had told him word by word.

The Asura people used to be located on a beautiful planet, a very long ways away. Looking at it form space, the planet, due to it's special life forms, had a purple tint to the oceans while the landmasses could be many colors, depending on what kind of plant life they contained. The Asura were war like from the beginning and constantly fought with each other. Empires would rise and fall all over the planet, sometimes within days.

It was all they knew for the first part of their history.

But all of that changed with the rise of one man. His strength was unmatched, his rule was iron clad but not without compassion and his armies were like nothing the planet had seen before. Within only a few short years of conquest, the last independent nation fell and for the first time in the planets long history, it was united under one ruler.

They finally had peace.

But peace was a very foreign concept to the war like people.

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The grand ruler understood this and knew that his people, his planet, was restless. Due to being united, the strength of the average person soared to new heights, not to mention the ruler's armies. As such, they needed a new enemy to fight. Looking out upon the planets in his solar system, they decided to spread the empire out to the stars. Although this didn't give them anyone to fight, it allowed them a goal that everyone was keen to work on. There was more than one planet within their solar system that could support life and they were going to make it theirs.

They made the first contact with a foreign species on the final planet they could inhabit. The creatures were large but gentle, low in population and not a challenge for the invading armies, so even though they loved war, they weren't going to commit a genocide just to see blood. These new creatures greatly resembled whales that could fly through the air. More interestingly, they also possessed an intelligence that could match the Asura people. During conversation with these creatures, the Asura learned of a gateway, located on the planet that was considered a place off limits for the native species.

This peeked the Asura's interest greatly.

And this also started their peoples venturing out into many other galaxies and the beginning of their galactic empire.

As the half body showed Laz all of these images, like a movie in his head at an incredibly fast speed, Laz felt like he was there to witness the rise of this emperor, the movement out to the galaxy, discovering new worlds and people and going to war with empires much older than that of the Asura..

Laz could feel his blood responding to the story.

On and on the narration in his head went, until they come upon a dark galaxy that had no star and no light. Originally, the Asura ignored it, thinking that it couldn't support life, but soon that decision would lead to a war that would decimate the empire.

Within that dark galaxy resided an ancient and vastly powerful people along with their subordinates. If one were able to completely map the entire length of the universe, they would learn that this dark galaxy rested right in the dead center of all creation.

While the Asura were at war with another huge empire, both sides occupying a third of the known universe, enemies unlike anything that had ever seen started pouring out from the dark galaxy, laying waste to everyone that stood in their way.

The empire that the Asura were fighting were targeted first and fell within what could be considered the blink of an eye. Seeing this, the Asura started joining hands with every other major power that they could find, trying their best to hold back these unstoppable creatures.

For what the could be told about them, they were like shadows made corporeal. They could survive anywhere and everywhere. The creatures that fought at their sides were also strange, beings made of wind and water, ground and fire. A peaceful, green planet would find themselves swarmed with fire creatures that destroyed the planet within days of arriving while a frozen wasteland full of strong and sturdy bodied, barbarian like creatures would find themselves assaulted by beings of wind and water that would turn the entire place into a giant, frozen ice ball, truly devoid of life.

But the Asura could hold their ground almost anywhere, causing the elemental creatures to have to retreat until their masters arrived.

As the story seemed to near it's conclusion, Laz was able to view the final battle between the shadow like creatures and the Asura, one that decimated the center of the universe, cutting off various areas from one another. In it, the Asura who Laz was currently hanging on the wall in front of Laz with was a warrior of great renown and valor, leading his armies into battle. He fought until his body broke in two and the spatial tears ripped the place apart, causing him to be separated from the few remaining warriors left alive.

This was almost the last scene to play in Laz's head. The final scene was one of the Asura floating in space dead, while his soul still remained attached to his body. He seemed to be waiting for his people to come find him, only to eventually be picked up by a massive starship of non-organic creatures.

This lead him to be brought here. He had no idea how long had passed since that final battle, or even since he arrived where ever he was. Time was hard to measure for a soul.

Laz felt the sadness, despair and even longing from the creature in front of him. It was hard to miss it. The sadness and despair were easy to place, but he was unsure of what the longing was.

:And that is our story. A history of hundreds of thousands of years, many different rulers, all now in the past.:

:Are there any of us alive out there?: Laz asked back. Having been a witness to their history, he felt more and more like one of their people as he accepted it as a part of his heritage.

:Perhaps. Even if they killed off most of us, I doubt they could have found all of us. And arn't you standing before me? There must of been one member of our people who lived long enough to become your ancestor.:

Hearing this, Laz realized something. The longing that the Asura in front of him felt was for that of his lost people. As of this moment, Laz was the closest thing he had to his kind.

:Is there anything I can do for you?: Laz asked. He felt kinship to this person who's name he didn't even know.

:Had you been stronger, you could have taken my soul with you. When I felt the resonance of our blood, I thought that maybe they had come for me. But instead it was you. I won't lie and say that I am not saddened by this, but at the same time, I wasn't going to be able to hold on long enough to find a new body anyway. Had I been weaker, my soul would have long dissipated. But I guess my strength was a blessing when I was alive and a curse now that I am dead.:

If souls could sigh, Laz felt like he would have heard one. But they didn't have a breath to sigh with.

:I'm not sure if I will ever meet our people, but if I do... is there any message you want to pass on?: Laz wanted to do anything he could for this fallen brother.

:There is. But that can wait a bit. My soul won't survive that beasts awakening, but at least I have this time to fulfill one wish of mine.:

:What is that?:

:I used to lead my men into battle while never taking the time to have a life to myself. We are a people who thrived on battle, but that doesn't mean we never wished for a life otherwise. I never had a family. You might have guessed it, but we, as a people, have low birth rates compared to other people. So the birth of every son and daughter was a blessing to us. It's one of the reasons why in the early days of our people, even when fighting each other, we would never slaughter a family. If anything like that did occur, everyone, regardless of affiliation, would hunt down the murderer and end them. So now... looking at you. I wish to take you as my first and last disciple.:

:Me? You... me?: Laz was surprised. Based on everything he had seen, this Asura before him was one of the greater existences of their people. For him to want to take Laz as a disciple seemed pretty far fetched.

:Had it been any other time, a lower mixed blood like you would never have entered into my eyes. But since I will soon returned to the grasps of our gods, I would like to not let everything that I have done in life be for nothing. And besides, you still do have our blood running through you, even if it is only a trace. That makes you at least worthy of what I can teach you.: It almost seemed like the dead man was laughing at Laz while still holding a bit of warmth while he spoke. And it was as he said. If the Asura was back in his prime, Laz would be nothing to it as there would have been scores of others looking to it for learning and guidance. It just so happened that Laz was who was standing in front of him right now, at his end.

Laz felt overwhelmed, but he also knew that this was a great opportunity that could only come once. Although he didn't know what it would entail, at the very least, Laz hoped it would give comfort to the dead man. And besides which, it could be considered repayment for the amazing story he had told Laz.

Not know what to do to accept, Laz remembered a few stories he read where the disciple would bow to his master. For Laz, that felt a little weird and not enough respect, so instead he got down as though doing a superhero landing on his knee and bowed his head.

Seeing this, Laz felt like he heard the creature in front of him laugh before his voice rang in Laz's head.

:Not like that, young one. We Asura are a proud race. Even to our ruler, we would at most bow our heads as a sign of respect. He or she would never ask more that that either since they wouldn't insult the importance of their people. Instead, you should salute with your hand in front of your heart in a fist. For us, it shows that you are willing to fight and die for the one you are saluting. That is the way the disciple acknowledges the master. Of course, I won't expect you to die for a dead man.: The Asura seemed to laugh even more at his own joke, showing a rare sign of actual happiness. He had given up hope, yet in his final moments, he was brought such a precious gift.

How could he not be content?

Laz, taking his words to heart, stood and placed his fist against his heart while lowering his head.

:Good. Very good. Ah ha ha ha. Now then. We don't have much time, especially if I am to help to to improve. It seems like you have already broken two blocks in your foundation realm, but the third one is leaving you stuck. Well, that's easy enough to fix...: With just a thought from the Asura, Laz felt the last binding disappear... even without the answer. His already solid foundation was suddenly pushed forward, arriving at the peak of the foundation realm without so much as a hiccup.

:But how...?: Laz was confused. He had found the keys to open the blocks randomly before, but now it just disappeared as though it didn't exist. Looking at his base, Laz could see a long line of runes stretched out a along the bottom. The part that was confusing was that several of those runes were ones he had never seen before.

:Confused?:

:Yes...:

:There was never a block. It was simply your lack of understanding of your Asura blood.:

:My lack of understanding?:

:Why do you think that a few phrases were enough for you to advance?:

:Then what's different now?:

:Now... Now you understand yourself. What I gave you wasn't just our history, it was us, as a people. You understand who we are... and that helps you to understand who you are. What you saw was only the surface story. But there was far more buried in there that you will understand in the future.:

:What does that mean master?:

:Ha... There are no shortcuts on this one. But don't worried. As your master, I have a few presents for you before I send you off.:

:Oh?: Laz's interest was peeked.

:But these gifts don't come without a price...:

:If there is a price, are they really gifts?: Laz asked, obviously a little turned off not.

"Of course. Gifts are gifts, it's just not all gifts can just be given. For this first gift, you will need a pay a price in pain.:

:In... pain...?:

:Scared?: Laz's new master seemed to be very amused at the moment.

:What? Scared? No... no. Of course not. What is a little pain after all?:

:HA. Good. As expected of my only... kind of forced disciple...:

:When you say it like that.:

:Well. Whatever. Alright. For this first gift, what you have to do is very easy.:

:Whenever your ready master.:

:Good spirit. Now... dig out your eyes!:

:WELP, FUCK THIS SHIT I'M OUT.: Laz turned around to walk away.