Chapter 2 - Realm of the gods

"Allow me to welcome you Lucas, my name is Gabriel. God of Wisdom. And welcome, to the Realm of the Gods." He said to me with a smile on his face.

I was momentarily stunned as I didn't expect this kind of response. I was finally able to recover and I accidentally asked.

"Is this that infamous 8th-grade syndrome case?"

"8th-grade syndrome? what is that?" He asks me.

"I heard it's that thing where someone gets delusional about having some strange abilities that came from an otherworldly entity. I think the term for them is chuunibyou"

Perhaps, shocked again by my response, his eyelids twitch as his smile became stiff. *"Hmm? Did I say something wrong?"* I thought to myself as the atmosphere between us became rather awkward.

"Apologies, I accidentally spoke my mind" I said with a straight face. His words indeed surprised me and I replied in a rather rude manner. But if I think about it, me dying and getting greeted by a self-proclaimed 'god' seems to make sense... I think.

In any case, I think I really spoke in a rude manner to someone who I just met, I was about to apologize when suddenly I heard him speak.

"Ahh, you don't need to. I totally get your situation, living in a world without a god governing it and magic. It'll be really hard for someone like you to understand what's going on. And also, please don't mistake me for a 'chuunibyou', it hurts my feelings you know?"

He spoke in a rather aggrieved manner. But even so, I still find it hard to believe the situation I'm currently in. I should've died without a doubt, but I'm still in my body, still intact without any injuries. No matter how many times I try to make heads of the current situation, what he said seems to be the only situation. Especially since I've been feeling all kinds of energy that never existed back on Earth for a while now.

As if he was able to read what I was thinking, the man in front of me replied to my thoughts. "You're not dead. We pulled you here from Earth with a summoning ritual, in other words, you're still alive."

"What do you mean?" I replied in a confused tone.

"If you want to know more about your current situation, this is not the place to talk. Please follow me."

Gabriel waved his hands aside and the golden gate magically opened. He proceeded to walk forward while I quietly followed behind him. I still have more questions waiting to be answered, but I guess that will have to wait.

As we entered the gate, the plain grasslands that surrounded us disappeared and were replaced with floating islands in the sky. This sight is utterly fascinating, it gives me the feeling as if this place is not something that exists somewhere on earth. Breathtaking, that is the only word that formed in my mind as I was in awe of my surroundings. I can't help but ask the person walking in front of me.

"Excuse me but, how do you travel from one island to another?"

"Oh that? some of us fly, while some use teleportation. Since you've just arrived, let's take our time flying while I show you around."

I just nodded quietly in response. As we reached the edge of the island we're currently at, Gabriel's body started floating, and mine followed suit. Although it felt strange for a few seconds, I was able to get accustomed to it and after a few seconds more, I became able to control myself freely. As always, the speed at which I master things is really absurd. Seeing the development at his back, Gabriel had his mouth wide open, looking dumbfounded.

"If there are any flies in this realm, I suggest you close your mouth, you wouldn't want to swallow one" I told him while looking around.

Hearing my words, he immediately regained his usual composure, but there's still a trace of confusion in his eyes.

"H-how are you able to control it at will? The mana used to execute the magic originated from me which means that you'd have to have a high level of mastery to take control of it. He asked as if he just saw the impossible.

I was confused for a moment. Magic? Mana? it looks like those fictional powers really do exist huh. Anyways, is it really that much of a surprise? The principles of this thing called mana is pretty easy to understand compared to ki, it's like a simplified version of it. Using the principles of ki as a basis, I was able to learn how it works moments after it entered my body.

"Do you know of the thing called 'Ki' right?"

"Ki?"

"You don't know it? Then how about 'Internal energy'?"

"Internal energy? I apologize but the knowledge from your world is restricted to me, so I might not know a lot of things. The only thing I know about your world is that it's much more advanced compared to others when it came to science."

It looks like the Gods are not aware that this kind of energy exists. "Too much for being the God of wisdom." I thought to myself.

"Why does it feel like you just dissed me in your head? If I wanted to, I can read your thoughts you know?"

"It's just your imagination, come on, lead the way already."

"What a cocky brat, ordering a god like me around", Gabriel thought to himself as he smiled wryly.

"Still, this place really is beautiful. No matter where I look there's only beautiful sights."

"Well of course, This is the work of my master after all, it goes without saying that everything my master creates is beautiful."

"I see, may I know who this master of yours is? Which God of is he?"

"Everything."

"Everything?"

"My master is the one who created everything that exists, and when I say everything, I literally mean 'Every thing'. In short, he's the Absolute being."

My eyes widened at his words, the Absolute being? I can't find words to describe my surprise.

"Surprised? hahaha, I knew you would be, after all it's the God of creation we're talking about."

After this brief conversation, I pondered for a moment about what this God looks like and how powerful he really is. I don't know why, but at this moment, a certain woman's figure appeared in my mind.

"Mr. Gabriel, is your master a man?"

"You can drop the honorifics, just call me Gabriel, as for my master, she can be whatever he wants, his existence is something beyond gender and sexuality. But she prefers to take on the appearance and gender of a woman. Why?"

"Ahh nothing, I was just a little curious. Thank you"

We continued our travel for around 6 minutes more in silence while I take in the scenery around us with Gabriel trying to introduce me to some place occasionally. And finally, we arrived at an absurdly huge floating island with a Kingdom of some sort in the middle.

"Here we are. Welcome, to the Kingdom of Edelia."

What arrived in my sight is a heavenly view. Just the imagery of this kingdom gives one the feeling of peace and harmony. I guess it's to be expected of the place where the Gods reside.

Shortly after, we landed at the huge front door of the Huge castle at the center of the entire kingdom. Beside this door are two giant knights. One holds a sword, the other one holds a large shield. Seeing the arrival of Gabriel, the two of them pushed open the huge door for us.

Gabriel turns towards me and gestures for me to walk forward.

"Let's go, the Gods are waiting for your arrival."

I just nodded lightly at him and we proceeded to walk in. I heard a loud boom behind me and the doors were now closed.

Just like the scenery from the outside, the interior of this castle really gives me the vibes of Holiness and majesty that can't be found on Earth. It's simply too large and breathtaking even for me who already saw all kinds of building structures. We walked for another 8 minutes before reaching the doors of what seemed to be the main hall. There were 3 guards clad in silver knight armor guarding the hall from the outside, the moment they saw Gabriel, they knelt on one knee and opened the doors to the hall.

And what my eyes saw were around a thousand gods in the huge hall, having a party. All of them are dressed in elegant clothes while exuding majestic auras, I can't help but inhale deeply for a second there but I managed to regain my composure immediately.

One of the 3 guards from earlier slowly came up in front of us and shouted in a loud manner which seems to envelop the entire hall.

"The God of wisdom has arrived!"