Tarous, стр. 66

“I’ve never told anyone this, but throughout my time as the God of Time, I have killed over twelve other gods. Despite that, I was unable to become an Elder God like the others. With the power of Space everything has changed. I was transformed into the Elder God of SpaceTime.”

SpaceTime… Hadn’t Einstein or someone mentioned that before…?

I thought absorbing the power of five other gods was the only way of becoming an Elder God. I had never heard of a different method to becoming an Elder God, though in all fairness I was rather new to the whole god gig.

“I do have a gift.”

In his hands he suddenly held a glass orb with a forest green mist swirling inside of it.

“This is the power of the God of Nature. He was one of the gods who ambushed us. I killed him, but his power is useless to me now, so I have put it in this orb.”

The glass orb floated over to me and I carefully grabbed it. I instinctively took the orb and held it up to my nose. I took a deep breath and breathed in the flickering green mist. It smelled like freshly mowed grass. The power of nature was invigorating as it flowed through my body. A black leaf tattoo appeared on my ankle near the snowflake.

I appreciated Cronus’s thoughtfulness. With all of the other gods having the advantage of centuries of training, I needed all of the raw power that I could get.I was now even closer to becoming an Elder God.

I tried to imagine how it would feel to become even stronger than I already was. The strength in my body right now was amazing, but an Elder God was far more powerful. I was excited by the thought, and I wanted even more power. If I could kill just one more God, I would finally be able to transform into an Elder God.

“Cronus, what was it like becoming an Elder God?” I asked eagerly.

Cronus carefully considered the question.

“Well… That is a rather personal question.” He rubbed his chin in thought. “The topic is kind of like asking someone what it was like going through puberty. “ He looked directly at me. “It is considered taboo among Elder Gods to talk about the experience. The truth is, though, that it is different for each god and the experience is determined by a combination of thousands of factors.”

I thought that was a rather strange answer, but I decided for the sake of our friendship to let the matter drop. I hadn’t really received a clear answer to my question and it made me even more curious. I guess the only option was to wait and experience it for myself.

“I actually have a message from a friend of yours that was sent through Nyxra. Bob apparently came across an old document detailing an ancient temple on another planet called Elfin. Nyxra and the witch council reached out to us and let us know about this discovery and requested our help. The academy helped them fund an expedition, and with our help the expedition team was sent to the planet. Just as the document said, the temple does exist, but we have been unable to enter it. Above what appears to be the main entrance are symbols and after translating those symbols we discovered it was the title for the temple. We believed you would be interested in the temple’s name.”

“Why?” I knew nothing about the temple so why would I be interested in its name?

“The title above the door was,” he paused for dramatic effect, “‘Temple of the God of Death’.”

I blinked twice. That was not the answer I was expecting. Though in truth I hadn’t managed to think of anything at all.

Cronus smiled at my surprised look.

“I went over to Elfin and checked it out myself. With my powers I can tell that the temple is old. Like billions and billions of years old. I think this was a temple to the first God of Death, and it might even have been built by the first God of Death himself. We really have no clue at this point since we are unable to get into the temple. We tried to see if we could find any clues nearby, but so far no luck. If you want, I could take you to the planet, unobserved. No one would know you left the safety of the city. You don’t have to answer now. The other reason I came here was to get some of Zan’s legendary mammoth steak and candied Ansault pears.”

I considered his offer while he went back into the kitchen to talk with Zan. We could probably go to the planet Elfin and be back before anyone noticed. Yes, leaving the city would be a risk, but since no one knew I was gone I should be completely safe.

I wanted to learn more about the previous Gods of Death, so I decided to go with Cronus. During my stay in the City of the Gods, I had managed to gleam scraps of information from some of the older gods in the city, but none of them knew much about the previous Gods of Death. The previous Gods of Death, despite the rather larger than life title, were all really low key. Unlike the God of Wine, who had an entire wing of the city library dedicated to him, the God of Death tended to shun social gatherings.

“Let’s check this temple out, already.” I told Cronus after he had finished his meal and rested while chatting with Zan and me.

Taking a deep breath, I stood up and followed Cronus as he began to walk out of the restaurant. As we walked through the doors, Cronus swept us up in his power and delivered us to Elfin. It didn’t take long, only the time it takes to blink your eye, and we were there. With Cronus being the Elder God of SpaceTime, emphasis on space, we