A hero is someone who stops evil before it starts, reveling in the shadows where no one can witness their achievements.
A hero is someone who is incomprehensible to others; his mission is incomprehensible to other people.
A hero is someone who acts as a shield for humanity to go on even if it costs him his life.
A hero is someone who is burdened by responsibilities; every choice he makes costs a hundred lives.
A hero is someone willing to sacrifice everything for those he cares to protect, someone who forsakes his own health.
Riddled with burden, where every choice requires a life, he sacrifices his own for the betterment of the future.
No one can understand him; no one can help him. He will be left behind after his mission has been accomplished, with no one to recognize his sacrifice, his blood, years, and sweat.
***
In the forest of a remote village far away from civilization, only people who were born here would be aware of it.
Here, they devote themselves entirely to a god whose name is despised by other deities.
It wasn't out of fear for his powers but out of anger from what he did; he was someone who "betrayed" causality.
An old man sat in a lotus position, a symbol for a ritual to grant peace to his mind and a way to figure out his problem.
"Aaaaaaah!" A loud voice of an old man erupted in the largest building in the village, not out of pain, pleasure, or anything of the likes; it was almost emotionless.
His eyes widened as if wanting to jump out of his eye sockets; his mouth then opened in an exaggerated manner as if something wanted to crawl out of it.
Then a blinding yellowish light erupted from the old man's gaping mouth and bulging eyes, making the lights visible far away from the village and possibly reaching outside the forest.
"A revelation! A revelation! God has given us a revelation!" A villager screamed as he prostrated himself to the ground, devotion blooming in his eyes.
Then as the blinding light increased its luminosity, the rest of the villagers scrambled to their knees, be they the old people or the children.
Before long, the light began to fade, then the skies darkened, and the elderly man's features softened before he closed his eyes.
The housemaids immediately entered the room as the man returned to normal; they lifted the old man's resting body before placing it on a soft and comfortable bed.
Then the ordinary village activities resumed as if what had happened didn't matter to them, but in truth their hearts were pounding as if seeing the revival of their saint and for a good reason.
For the entire evening, it was just silence; no adults muttered a single word, though the children were confused about what was currently happening due to their ignorance of God.
The foragers returned from their adventure in the woods with a bit more prey than what was mandatory in the village as sacrifice to God.
The elder slowly opened his eyes as he saw that he was resting on a bed—
He then tried to stand up, struggling in the process as his arms failed to support his upper body, and when he did, he tried to run but failed due to his old and frail bones.
The wood under his feet clicked from each step; his steps were hurried, almost trying to hop.
Before long, he came to a large door that was marked with unusual hieroglyphs and distinctive artwork that set it apart from the rest of the world.
A cacophony of other elderly men's voices echoed through the door.
The old man opened the door in an exaggerated manner.
"The Lord has given me a prophecy!" The old man knelt on all fours, lowering his head to the floor.
"We heard about the Lord's grace; now tell us what you have heard from the Lord," an elderly man said with a commanding tone.
"I shall do so, your excellencies!"
***
The courier waited for a crowd to form, and when it did—
The courier yelled, "All of those under the age of eighteen must participate in a challenge of minds; the elders have issued a decision."
"They are to receive no help from anyone other than themselves, and after a fifteen-day period, all participants must create something that has never been seen before!"
Then he departed, giving the villagers time to process what he had said.
Rumors started to circulate; if the prophecy was the reason, others believed it was just a coincidence since the gods wouldn't have planned something so pointless.
Humans were simple creatures; they wished to find the truth and deny what they could not accept as truth.
There are some that were smart enough to not interfere with an all-knowing being, while some are dumb enough to believe that they are smart enough to not interfere with the plan of an all-knowing being, given their naive little minds.
They are stupid to believe that they amount to God, to believe that they won't foil his plan! If he had told you what his vision was then it would've mean that you will not be able to scramble his plan, and if he had not told you then that means you'll destroy what he had built in centuries, maybe Millenias!
It was a rollercoaster of viewpoints; some wanted to know the truth, while others thought it was better to keep it a secret in order to avoid deviating from what their god had predetermined.
Days passed as the challenge had been declared, inside the council hall—
"High elders, the town is in chaos right now!" His voice worried.
"Fear not, as all of this has been foreseen by our Lord," a resolute high elder declared.
"Your Excellencies! The prophet is dead!" A loud yet devastated cry resounded outside the council hall.
"Impossible! The man was in good health! I personally saw him getting tested!" A high elder said with panic in his voice.