11 Darkfall Conjecture IV (1/2)

”Welcome to the Underworld.”

The shadows sealing off the upper area of the thrones vibrated mildly from the sound of the voice of the Arch-supreme himself before releasing a pulse of energy. As silence took over from the energy pulse, the older deities knew that the silence meant that lord Hades had departed as with the tradition, and that, other honoured rulers had followed suite. Those were the ones that could leave the conjecture directly from their thrones which also served as portal.

This was an indication of the coming to an end of the awakening rite. The judges gave the signal for the high savant to round up with the young participants. The high savant turned towards the young deities before raising his voice.

”Now that you have all undergone your awakening, you have now become true deities. As such, I also welcome you to the Underworld. As Underworlders, we are all fortunate to be part of this amazing world of chaos. As young deities, you are the future pillar of this world, but only, if you live long enough. Why is that? This has nothing to do with you personally. It was imply because of the nature of our world. There is no other world that can match our extreme chaos. That is why only the strongest survives in this world.

”Remember this, as you leave this place, the only universal law protecting you and at the same time could harm you in this world, is the Darmora law. As long as you are not in any form of contest or contestable situations, you will not be challenged. And as of now, this law also protect you from the throes of higher level deities. For now only the deities of your level can challenge you if you are in a contestable situations. When you become a ranked deity, starting from the Premier stage, you can be challenged by any ranked deity for any ranked position and contest. You may invoke the Darmora law and give up the position or contest, thereby, living to fight another day.

”More importantly, before you challenge others, you must consider carefully. There are many higher level deities who go about the Underworld in a simple deceiving way of life. Once you issue a challenge to them, there would be no going back. If you are not strong enough, you will just die.

”That been said, if you believe you are strong enough in the future, you are free to challenge me at any time for my position as the high savant. But, for now, I welcome you to the world of deities.”

With that, the informality of the rite was finally over. The school representatives started giving out their tokens to the young deities while other deities were making alliances and acquaintances. Notable deities would be securing their foothold in the Underworld through different agreements. In simpler words, today was a free day for the deities to achieve any of their peaceful objectives while they were still gathered on the conjecture premises.

Ethera looked around as the young participants were receiving their invitation token from the schools assistants. Quite a number of them were even receiving tokens from more than one school. The young deities that manifested the most coveted paths and rings, were receiving their invitation tokens from all the present schools. The prestige of these young deities to choose the school of their making, was something Ethera couldn't relate with as she continued to look around anxiously.

As soon as the tokens were given out and collected, the school representatives as well as the young deities and their families, were immediately leaving through their portals. Gradually, the conjecture was becoming more and more empty as even more deities were leaving. With great apprehension, Ethera glanced at her parents who continued to pat her gently on the back in a soothing comfort. They continued to wait as the hours progressively wound down.

Just as they had given up all hope of securing any token, and were about to leave, they were approached by an old deity who was donning a yellow and white robe. The white part of the robe was a perfect match with his long beard and hair. His sharp and keen eyes, were a contrast to his old appearance. Although, aged appearance showed years of experience, it was simply deceptive when it came to physicality of a deity. Many deities just preferred to display the effect of the passage of time on their physical bodies like the mortals of the Outerworld. Probably same with this old deity too, but, there was a hint of authority in him.

”Greetings to you, my notable lord and lady. And to you, my pivotal young lady.”

”We greet you too, salient lord.”

Ethera's parent replied in unison while Ethera could only bow her head in reply. Even from his words, they could feel his substantive nature. But who could he possibly be? He couldn't be seeking to form an alliance with them when they had nothing to offer in return, could he? Could he be a school representative? If not, this would be a wrong time to be entertaining any deity for any other reasons. Breaking free of his thoughts, lord Hargoven gently cleared his throat, strategically.

”Mm. Is there anything we can do for you, salient lord?”

”Adoghar, that's the name. And yes, there is. I was thinking if it will be possible for me to entice my pivotal young lady here, with an invitational token.”

”What?”

Ethera asked with wide eyes that would send the sun into hiding. Could this be true? She would be going to a school? With eyes still wide in utter surprise, Ethera stared at her parents who couldn't stop themselves from throwing obviously warranted questions.