12 Dmitri Vladimir

One week has passed after the incident, and Aurum still hasn't woken up. Dmitri was mentally exhausted at the thought where his Master would skin him alive and heal him repeatedly. However Mazda, who used Aži Dahāka's soul, became worried as each day passed by. Although all of the ancient gods are in the same faction right now, he couldn't help but think about what would happen if Angra Mainyu heard about this. For him, Angra Mainyu was the only god who he couldn't win against in a straight fight.

Now that Mazda has used a part of the soul of Mainyu's son, surely he would throw a fit if he knew about this. All these time, the ancient gods were sealed up in different locations throughout the globe. Although even they were sealed, some powerful ancient gods can still use a fraction of their soul to pass through the seal giving, them a temporary freedom. When a part Aži Dahāka's soul went out of his seal, Mazda, who was passing by, saw that he was weakened. Hence, Mazda had the grasp of his soul.

"Master, we should go to our temple and wait for the time when Aurum wakes up," Dmitri hesitated a little before suggesting this.

"Yeah.. You're right, little Vlad..." Mazda replied with a hint of exhaustion.

Dmitri carried Aurum's new body while burning the old one into ashes. He cloaked himself with using invisibility. Meanwhile, Mazda didn't need to do anything because he has nothing but a soul. They flew up and went to go to the temple.

After fifteen whole minutes of flying, they finally arrived at the temple where Mazda was once revered. When Dmitri saw this temple, he remembered every single thing that his Master did for him upon he coming here before.

============================================================

Millions of years ago, there was a child, shunned by people around him. Everyone who was close to him will either die or get crippled. Hence, he was called 'the cursed child'. Every year their village would always give some offerings to Ahura Mazda. Usually, they would offer the blood of their first hunt, their first harvest, or even part of their wealth. However, on that day, everyone was nice to him. He was treated the same like the other kids, which made him happy. When it was about time give the offering, the child saw nothing on the altar. Then, he was suddenly dragged to the altar by an adult. Being a naive kid that he was, he didn't sense anything wrong. Instead, he was happy as he could finally do something to help his village.

In spite of that, when he turned around to look at the others, what he saw was their hatred and disdain. He was confused on why everyone looked at him like that until the the villager who dragged him shouted.

"Oh, great God of Creation! We give you this child as our offering! Please continue to bless us for countless of years!"

After saying that, every villager present kowtowed to show respect to their god. Suddenly, storm clouds started to gather above their village. A god descended from heavens and looked down on them. The god who descended was none other than Ahura Mazda. He took a glance at the offered child, and he felt as if the people who offered him, was trying to humiliate him.

"INSOLENCE! YOU DARE OFFER THIS FRAIL LOOKING BOY TO ME?! HE ALONE CANNOT SATIATE MY HUNGER! IF YOU ALL WANT TO LIVE, GIVE ME YOUR FOOD AND RICHES!" Ahura Mazda was giving off a unbearable aura, it was as if a meteor shower was about to happen any second.

Many of the villagers started to tremble upon hearing his words and did not dare to waste a single second. However, there was only one of them who was indifferent. It was the offered child. Instead of being scared, he was radiating murderous intent towards each and every single one of them. He swore to himself that if he can survive this disaster upon him, then he would come back and slaughter each one of them.

Therefore, Ahura Mazda, who can read people's thoughts, became greatly interested in the boy. He took another look at him and decided to raise him instead of eating him.

"Forget it. This boy will do... I will bless your village again for two years. You don't need to offer me anything else anymore. However, after two years, you must be able to survive on your own," Ahura Mazda took the child, Dmitri, and left the village.

The people were rejoicing for Ahura Mazda who took the cursed kid away and even gave them blessings for two straight years, "Surely we would flourish in these two years without any need to pay tributes to that damned god," they thought.

========================================================

When they went inside the temple, all they could see was nothing but remnants of the past. One could not recognize this place even if they lived here before. Mazda didn't mind it and didn't bother to fix it, for he would just waste his time before his fragmented soul dissipates.

If someone would look closely to him, it could be noticed his soul was wavering and was just trying hold on. Dmitri was pained to watch his Master go through this. He was pretty sure that Mazda was experiencing intolerable pain at the moment.

"Little Vlad, why don't you relax? I'll handle this on my own," Mazda said assuring him.

However, how could Dmitri let his Master watch over Aurum? He couldn't bear the thought that he would be spending his time leisurely while his Master is worrying.

"Master, I don't need to rest. A servant, like myself, dare not to be presumptuous as to take a rest while you constantly worry about young master."

"Hahaha! Little Vlad, you never change, do you? Well, that's good though, I like you better this way than those ungrateful rascals," Mazda replied with a hint of satisfaction.

====================================================

Ahura Mazda took the child with him on a whim, thinking about how interesting it would be if this child continues to grow and live. He thought that if this child is useful, then he can keep him, but if it's the opposite, he would kill him on the spot without a second thought. Ahura Mazda didn't need anyone useless on his side. As the God of Creation, how could he want someone who does nothing?

When they arrived at Ahura's domain, the child was greatly astonished, as he cannot imagine that the god before him has such wealth. Previously, the child thought that the god before him was simply powerful, yet after seeing his domain, he just realized how naive he was.

"You like it here, little boy?" Ahura asked.

The child didn't say anything but just nodded. He would not dare to act presumptuous before a god. If he did, he surely would be killed by him without even noticing it.

"Good! If you want to live here, then you must earn it. Little boy, let me tell you this, nothing is free here in my place, you understand?"

The child still didn't answer him but just nodded. Ahura Mazda didn't really care as long as he is going to be useful to him. So he just ignored the child's attitude towards him.

On his two years on Ahura's domain, his view towards the world was now widened as he saw that many humans pray to him. He also saw many people in his domain but he was told by Ahura that they were not gods but his Celestial Beings. The child didn't talk that much to others, that's why he was often bullied by them.

However, Ahura knows that every day, the child won't be able to fight for himself if he didn't train and learn enough from the others around him. Many Celestial Beings would always mock him and would try to degrade him, but he kept his persistence and just focused on his goal. One day, a female Celestial Being, could no longer tolerate what the others were doing. She went and protected the child by herself from the jeers and the belittling of others.

When the child saw this, he was shocked. Not because she helped him, but because he couldn't feel any malicious intent on her. Being bullied every single day, the child was able to discern one's inner thoughts just by looking at their eyes. The child immediately became attached to her.

"Excuse me miss, what's your name?" the child asked.

When the others heard this, they were stunned. They never heard him talk to anyone before, not even to Ahura, yet she was able to make the kid open up to her. The woman was initially shocked, but immediately recovered her bearing and smiled to him.

"My name is Raskreia Kinesis, what about you? What's your name young man?" she took the chance to get the child's name given that nobody knew what his name was.

"...I-I don't have a name..." the child answered while lowering his head.

Raskreia was sad to hear that this child didn't have any name at all. When the other Celestial Beings left, Raskreia went to Ahura herself and asked him a favor.

"Master, can you bestow our youngest with a name? It seems that he doesn't have any name at all."

"Raskreia... You know what you are doing, right? You have the audacity to ask a favor at me when you just want to give him a name?" Ahura asked while giving off a tremendous aura.

Raskreia visibly trembled but her voice was still firm, "Yes, master," she replied.

"Haha! Now that's more like it! You are all my children the moment I took you all in! I've already thought about what his name should be, but didn't give it to him as I don't have the time to do so. However, now that you asked for it, you will go bring that child in front of me," Ahura Mazda was really happy when he saw that Raskreia was willing to do anything just for a bestowal of a name to a human.

=====================================================

"Master, it has been three days since we came here, but there is still no signs of him waking up," Dmitri said.

"It's okay, little Vlad. I believe that sooner or later, he would wake up"

This is one of the reasons why Dmitri followed Mazda. He would not give up easily on them as long as he knows there is a possibility to save them.

"Little Vlad tell me... What happened to her? What happened to my last daughter?" Mazda asked for he didn't know what happened to her after the post battle of the Great War.

"Master.... She is safe... She went somewhere to look for a way to break you out of the seal. The day after you were attacked by those old geezers and was sealed by them, she already told me that she would go to the upper world," he said with a hint of sadness.

"Sigh... that girl. She's too hot headed."

==================================================

Raskreia brought the child with him towards Ahura's throne. While they were walking towards the throne, the child kept on talking to her. However, when they reached the throne room, where Ahura Mazda resided, Raskreia was shocked at the sudden change of attitude from the child. The child no longer have the look of a naive kid that he was showing earlier. Instead, it was like a desperate man who just wanted to live.

"Little boy, I will ask you a question and you are to answer it right now. If I gave you the chance to go back to the human world without worries or the chance serve me eternally, what would be your choice? I want to hear the answer from you and not just a nod," as soon as they got there, Ahura Mazda immediately asked him a question.

The boy didn't hesitate and immediately kowtowed in front of him and said, "I would rather serve you eternally than go back to those traitorous bunch of trash."

"Haha! That's a good answer! However, nobody can serve me that easily, little boy. If you can prove that you are useful to me, then I will officially accept you."

"Then in that case... Would you please grant me the honor of being a Celestial Being for a day?" he asked.

Ahura Mazda and Raskreia were both stunned when they both heard this. They never thought that he would ask Ahura to ascend him into a Celestial Being for a day.

"Fine, I will do that, but if you don't satisfy me tomorrow, then I shall kill you ten thousand times," Ahura said.

After the child ascended temporarily, he walked out of the throne room. Raskreia was worried for the child's safety and she can't help but ask Ahura.

"Master, isn't this way too harsh on him?"

"It's not. Remember this Raskreia, there are times where one must harden their hearts in order to achieve the things they desire," Ahura advised her.

Ahura waved his hand then the space in front of them crippled, then it turned into a mirror that reflects what is currently happening to the child.

The child instantly went back to the village and didn't bother to hide himself. He pretended to be someone who just recently escaped hell. When the villagers saw this, they were initially shocked, but then it turned into rage.

"That useless god let this cursed child escape!"

"He is not omnipotent after all."

"That god who appeared before us was just a hoax!"

Many villagers instantly cursed Ahura as soon as they saw the child escape. They were about to dispose of him when they heard him say, "You ungrateful bastards don't deserve to have the blessing of our god! All of you will perish by my hand!"

They initially thought that the child before them was spouting nonsense. One of the villagers grabbed his hand and attempted to drag him, but to his surprise, he couldn't feel the hand that he used to grab him. Meanwhile, the other villagers saw how the child use his little hand to slice away the hand that grabbed him.

The child then started his slaughter without any regard to their screams of mercy. He decapitated them one-by-one until everyone died. When Raskreia and Ahura saw this they were stunned. They didn't know the reason why the child chose to do this at all.

When he came back the day after his slaughter, he kneeled in front of Ahura and Raskreia to show his respect.

"Little child, why did you do that to those humans?" Ahura asked.

"They slandered you when you gave them your blessings and even tried to denounce your name in front of me. For doing those things, it is enough reason for me to kill them," he replied.

"Hahaha! Although you love the mortal realm, you despise those humans. You have the potential to become a ruler who can guide humanity to the right path. You also showed me that you are worthy to be my servant. From this forth on, you will officially be one of my servants and I'll name you as Dmitri Vladimir. You can learn how things work here in my domain by following Raskreia here," Ahura declared while pointing to Raskreia.

"Wha--" before she could reject this she heard Dmitri respond to Ahura immediately.

"Many thanks, my Master!" he said it with a passionate voice.

Shortly after his ascension, the great war started. Many Celestial Beings and gods that he didn't know of, were killed before his eyes. He survived the Great War with Raskreia and before he noticed it, he was slowly falling in love with her. After the Great War, the other gods immediately launched an assault towards their Master. Both Raskreia and Dmitri tried to seek help from their fellow Celestial Beings but they saw them siding with the other gods. In the end, Ahura was sealed and Raskreia went to the upper world, leaving Dmitri alone.

==================================================

"Tell me, Dmitri. Do you still like her?" Mazda asked him seriously.

Dmitri was shocked when he heard Mazda's words because first, he didn't know that he knew about his love towards her, and second, it was the first time he called him by his first name.

"Yes, Master. After she left, all I could think of was about her and her alone... Of course, I still kept thinking of many ways on how to unseal you, but I can't find any clues. Now that the answer is right before me, naturally I wouldn't hesitate to help him grow," Dmitri solemnly replied.

After saying that, both of them remained silent. Mazda didn't say anything because he wanted to support Dmitri to pursue Raskreia. Meanwhile, Dmitri was silent because he was very embarrassed after saying all those things to his Master. Suddenly the mood was broken when they heard a voice beside them.

"Oh? I never thought that I would live to see the day to see a embarrassed reaction from you, Dmitri!"

When they turned around, they saw Aurum looking at them while grinning ever so slyly.

======================================================

Hi guys, Sic here.

-Sic Parvis Magna