Tarous, стр. 53

“He tried to kill me first.”

Cronus appeared as well and had heard the last part of our conversation.

“You’re a new god, which means you are weak. The God of Shadow is a weaker god. He must have wanted to kill you before you learned how to fully use your powers so he could absorb them for himself. The God of Death is not a weak god. The previous God of Death with his centuries of experience was a truly formidable opponent. You on the other hand…. have a long way to go.” Cronus explained with a sigh.

I wasn’t sure if I should take offence to that or not.

“It would have been nice if you had warned me. A simple, ‘be careful you’re a new god and the other gods may try to kill you so stay alert.’ Any kind of heads up would have been nice and appreciated.” I said accusingly.

“There was only a chance it would happen, that is why we decided to keep an eye on you. Luckily for you we did.”

Funny, I didn’t remember them showing up in time to save my life.

“Now that you have the power of the God of Death and the God of Shadow, without the centuries of experience most gods possess, even more gods will be coming after you.” Cronus continued.

“What happens if someone absorbs several other gods?” I decided to ask.

Cronus looked at me tiredly. “That has happened before. Usually once a person absorbs five main gods they are considered an Elder God. Ten gods and you are considered a God King. No one has ever been allowed to absorb more than ten gods before all of the remaining gods have gathered and slain them.”

“Main gods?”

“There are sub-gods based on specific skill areas. Gods of cooking, the sword, the saber, etc. The main gods are powerful forces of the universe. Earth, fire, wind, water, earth, time, space, faith, and even luck. You kill a main god and you get their powers. If you kill a sub god, the one most talented in that area becomes the new god, not the one that killed them.”

“What kind of power does being the God of Shadow grant me?”

“You already saw how the previous God of Shadow could travel through shadows and become incorporeal when he wanted to,” said Cupid.

Wait. If he had seen my fight with the shadow, why hadn’t he appeared sooner to help me? Stupid lazy love god. I didn’t get a chance to call him out on it before Cronus continued.

“He could also create a shadow clone with almost the same level of power as himself using his own shadow. He could create a bubble of impenetrable darkness that completely negates all forms of sight, normal and magical. Oh, and temporarily paralyze someone by grabbing their shadow, but that doesn’t work on other gods,” said Cronus.

“He could also spy through any shadow. He could create a weapon or armor from shadow. He usually chose a knife since in his human life he was an assassin, but you could create anything.” said Cupid.

I had experience that power first hand. I liked the idea of creating shadow armor. Armor would be really useful, especially if other gods would soon be targeting me. I thought about what I wanted and I was instantly covered in a suit of armor. It was black and shiny and seemed to absorb the surrounding light.

I decided I didn’t want to wear a helmet, so it disappeared with a thought. I thought it was a bit of a waste not to be able to use the power as both armor and a weapon. As if reading my mind, the fingers of the gauntlet lengthened into claws. With a thought they turned back into a normal looking gauntlet.

I wondered how far I could take this ability. With another thought, the five fingers merged and lengthened into a long blade before returning to normal. I could summon claws or a blade and I suspected it was capable of even more. In the back of my mind I thought of numerous possibilities, including wings. Flying armor, how cool would that be?

I knew the power of death had to be far more powerful than shadow, but I was really enjoying my new powers. The power of two full gods now flowed through my veins. The very person that had once lived waiting to die now had the possibility of living forever.

“Tarous, it’s no longer safe for you to be here. We need to take you somewhere safe until you are stronger,” said Cupid.

“Give me one day to get things in order and I will go with you.”

Cupid and Cronus turned and looked at each other. Eventually they seemed to come to some sort of agreement before turning back to face me.

“Fine. One day, and then we return.”

They both vanished. Cronus in a flash of white light and Cupid in a puff of pink smoke.

I decided to find Bob. I would tell him that I was leaving first. I hadn’t spent as much time with him as I should and as much as I hated to admit it, Bob was sorta my best friend. Bob… Bob that is a necromancer who is scared of dead things. That Bob… is my best friend.  Where did I go wrong?

I was reflecting on that scary realization when a shadow detached from my own shadow and began to grow in size. What started as a tiny dot of a shadow began to grow upwards, gaining a humanoid form. In its arms was an old book, the cover worn and dirty. He handed it out towards me and I took it. The humanoid shape descended back into a shadow and dispersed.

It was covered in a really old leather. I opened to the first page and read, “Heavenly Emperor World Technique. Nice.”

I flipped through the pages, old and yellow, and I was surprised it was still in one piece. I rubbed the corner of a page between my fingers. Whatever