A green dragon hovered over the heavens, its body of spiritual energy now fully transformed and brimming with vibrant life force. This life force spread across the land, causing plants to grow and mutate at incredible speed.
Though Muria had not deeply delved into the domain of Life Laws, he possessed considerable mastery over the Laws of Death. Life and Death, twin forces intricately intertwined, are less opposites than two halves of the same whole.
Like death gods who govern the judgment of souls, many also wield authority over rebirth. The arrival of every newborn often bears an unseen connection to the god of death.
Through his dealings with the Seven Abyssal Demon Gods, Muria had ventured into the realm of Death Laws, granting him a significant understanding of Life Laws. While he couldn't rival deities who specialized in life, he had more than enough skill to stimulate plant growth on this scale.
An Epic exists beyond the rules, where mastery of any law depends solely on desire, not capability. This freedom stirs both envy and resentment among faith-bound gods who remain confined to their roles for millennia without progress.
Using a fraction of his understanding of Life Laws, Muria fulfilled the prayer of the upright ape tribe: freedom from hunger. Wild fruit trees and grains, previously untamed and unharvested by the apes, flourished across the land, their growth visible to the naked eye.
The remarkable changes captivated the apes, who stared in astonishment as fruit trees grew at miraculous speeds, interspersed with grasses they could not yet understand or use.
This wonder eased some of their earlier discontent, as they realized the Sky Lord had answered their plea and caused the fruit trees to grow.
However, a few apes still harbored resentment. Though the fruit could stave off hunger, it could never replace meat in their hearts.
"Your prayer was to escape hunger!"
Muria's voice resonated as his dragon form, now faint and ethereal, surveyed the gathered apes. His blazing green eyes locked onto the tribe's shaman, whose expression burned with newfound zeal.
"I have granted your wish!"
The green dragon circled the sky once before dissipating, leaving behind a concentrated beam of emerald light that sank into the shaman's brow.
"The Way of Agriculture!"
The shaman knelt motionless for a moment, his mind reeling, before suddenly realizing what had been bestowed upon him. His face lit up with ecstasy.
"Praise the great Sky Lord!" The shaman, trembling with joy, prostrated himself repeatedly on the altar.
Muria's gift was far more than a single meal—it was the knowledge to ensure his tribe would never starve again.
Farming.
This was the legacy Muria chose to leave as he admired the wild, untamed beauty of this primordial world. While the tribe had been preparing for a feast of meat, they now faced a meal of fruit instead.
But it would be unfair to leave them with only short-term sustenance. So Muria gifted them the cornerstone of civilization: agriculture.
Hunting and foraging were precarious and unreliable, their success tied closely to environmental factors. Farming, by contrast, offered a stable and sustainable source of food—an essential foundation for civilization.
The shaman could not comprehend the long-term implications of Muria's gift. All he understood was that it would provide his people with consistent food, freeing them from the fear of hunger—a boon more valuable than anything he could imagine.
In the vast, primitive wilderness, where the spark of intelligence had only just been kindled, the ability to reliably feed a tribe could have transformative consequences for the world's trajectory.
Muria found himself enchanted by the unintended power of his actions. A minor gift could reshape a world, birth civilizations, and rewrite destinies.
Such is the allure of power—to alter the course of history with the flick of a hand. Muria, a newcomer to the realm of Epics, reveled in this playful exercise.
More experienced Epics would never bother. They generally ignored the prayers of lesser beings, even when aligned with their own strengths. To expend power answering such prayers would be considered a waste of time and energy.
Muria, however, had gained something from this encounter: the coordinates of a newly formed world brimming with potential.
"Still, it's not very useful…"
Muria sighed as he strode through the void along a golden path, gazing at the projected coordinates of the fledgling world.
Newly birthed worlds like this were of little interest even to destructive entities like void gods. The creatures within such worlds were physically formidable but lacked wealth or resources. Destroying the world would barely break even.
For Muria, the encounter had been purely incidental. He'd heard the apes' prayers and responded out of curiosity and boredom.
As he approached the heart of a cluster of life-filled worlds, Muria began hearing countless voices—a chorus of prayers drifting through the void.
These faint and varied pleas were a hallmark of proximity to inhabited worlds. For beings of great power, these voices were a constant background. The stronger the entity, the more numerous the prayers they attracted, often from across realms.
When Muria first became an Epic, he had spent little time in the void, instead moving rapidly between worlds. As a result, he had left few traces of himself, rarely hearing such voices.
Now, after prolonged journeys through the void, he had left his mark on existence. His presence intersected with the myriad information streams emanating from countless worlds, forming the voices now audible to him.
While his name was not yet widely known across the multiverse, this did not prevent others from contacting him. Many rituals aimed at "void gods" did not target specific entities, instead casting a wide net to maximize success.
Amid the cacophony of voices, Muria felt the pull of another prayer. He resolved to respond a third time.
"Who shall it be this time?"
He scanned the projections before him: hundreds of extraordinary beings, each vastly different in form, life force, and strength.
Here, appearances played a significant role. Those who resembled insects or grotesque horrors were ignored outright. Muria gravitated toward beings he found aesthetically pleasing.
"This one looks good. Let's go with her."
With a slight ripple of space-time, the image of a blood-soaked girl appeared before Muria. Along with her image came an almost overwhelming wave of despair radiating from her soul.
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