Prologue I

Sam woke up suddenly, and then immediately shut his eyes again as a splitting headache struck him.

“Ah-fu-” he hissed softly, rolling over and clutching his head between his hands. It helped, somewhat, as the headache began to slowly subside.

What the hell did I drink?

He would have been fine laying there all day, letting his hangover(?) run its course. Unfortunately, as he came to his senses, he realized he wasn’t in his own bed.

Wait, this isn’t even a bed. Am I on a floor? Did I just pass out in the bar or something? God, that would be embarrassing. Probably illegal, too. Wait, am I going to be arrested?

With that he shoved himself into a sitting position—and, knowing he couldn’t put it off forever—he slowly opened his eyes. And immediately regretted it.

“Wha-?” he mumbled staring out into a place that was certainly not a bar.

There was just… endless white in every direction. No floor, no chairs, no sky or earth. Just empty white in all directions. He couldn’t even see the ground, the lack of horizon being much more disorienting to him than he might have otherwise expected. The only thing that he could see, was people.

And there were a lot of people.

Unfortunately, even the people were weird. Instead of humans, there were just these sort of… grey blobs. They were people—Sam was somehow certain of that, even if he didn’t know how—but they didn’t look like people. Just grey, misty, dead-silent, people-shaped blobs wandering around aimlessly, somehow looking just as lost and confused as he felt.

Ah, I’m dreaming.

It was really the only explanation. This obviously wasn’t anywhere on Earth, and he was pretty sure humans weren’t quite so grey, so this was obviously a dream.

Even if dreams didn’t normally come with pounding headaches.

So, deciding that, he closed his eyes. Hopefully next time he opened them he’d wake up at home. Or, at least, in a more interesting dream than this.

“Ah, good. All of you have finally woken up.”

Sam’s eyes snapped open, as a voice that reverberated through his very soul spoke up, piercing through the dead silence of the white place.

Standing up quickly (and stumbling slightly when his headache flared up again), he looked around for the source of the—of whatever that was.

“If you could all please look up here.”

His head snapped up, along with all the other grey people, and there floating above them was a person.

No, not a person. It looked like a person. It had two hands, two legs, and a face. But something about it, something just made him instinctively know that the thing above them wasn’t in any way human.

“Ah, excellent. Now that I have your attention, we may begin.”

The humanoid thing snapped its fingers, and suddenly the grey mist clinging to everyone disappeared, revealing that there were actual people underneath. All of them looking just as worried and confused as he was.

“You are all confused. This is understandable. So, allow me to clear up your confusion. Currently, you have all been randomly selected to participate in a… well, let us call this a social experiment.”

The thing’s mouth curled up into a smile as it said that, causing a shiver to run up Sam’s spine. Something about how the thing said that… it was wrong, that was all he could say.

“Currently, there are ten-thousand and one of you here.”

In the back of Sam’s mind, a number came up. 10,001 lit up in the back of his mind. He didn’t understand what it meant, but if it was anything like the rest of this, it wasn’t going to be a good thing.

“You will all be given three boons. The first shall be that of a role. That of Lords and Ladies, Kings and Queens. Each of you will be given a village of followers, planted on an empty world. What you do from that moment on will be your own choice.”

That… what? A King? A village? An empty world? What the Hell was going on!?

“The second boon shall be a boon of language. You all, and only you all, will be granted the ability to speak every language, to know every tongue. The language barrier was seen as an unnecessary distraction, and so it has been removed.”

“And the final boon, shall be a boon of immortality.”

What.

Just… what?

“This, you see, shall be the core of this experiment. That of immortal rulers, who will govern their lands for thousands of years. To turn mere mortals into gods who walk the earth.”

That was… he didn’t even know. What could he say to that? Some Being had just shown up, grabbed a bunch of people, and said, ‘Hey, I’ma make y’all immortal rulers. Have fun!’

Seriously, what the hell was going on!?

“But of course, you all need a goal. After all, what is an experiment that never ends? So, the goal I give you is simple. Ascension. On Earth, you will only be immortal. You will have no supernatural power beyond your boons. So, when the centuries have passed. When your numbers have been whittled down to almost nothing. When only ten of you remain, I will grant those final ten true godhood. Those final ten will ascend.”

Everyone started shifting uneasily, looking at the people around them. If they could talk, they might express worry or terror. Unfortunately, no one was allowed to speak, and so the oppressive silence following the being’s announcement remained.

At the end of this… experiment, only ten of the ten-thousand people here would remain.

That was terrifying.

Wait, Sam thought suddenly, we’re supposed to be immortal, and yet we’re also supposed to kill each other? How the hell does that make sense?

“An excellent question, Samuel Reed.”

Sam froze like a deer in the headlights. The Being could read his mind? It knew his name!?

“You see, your immortality has been granted an intentional flaw, and as such it is not perfect. Instead, it will be tied to this.”

With flourish, the Being raised its hand, and a small, golf-ball sized sphere appeared. It was hard for Sam to see from where he stood, but it looked like it was made of glass.

“This is what will tie you to the mortal plane. Call it what you will. A ball. A phylactery. A Soul. It is what grants you your immortality. So long as it is untouched, you will live forever. Disease will not touch you, Hunger, Thirst and Sleep will be optional, and Age will see you as a stranger.”

“However—”

The Being suddenly raised its other hand, and a person from further in the crowd flew up into the air. His eyes were wide with confusion and fear as he floated above everyone else, their eyes locked onto him.

“Should it break—”

It squeezed its hand, crushing the Soul with a ‘CRACK’ that echoed ominously around them.

The man who had been floating above them suddenly stopped struggling, his body tilting forward. As he fell forward, Sam could see that the spark of life in his eyes had gone out. His corpse fell down, dropping back into the crowd of people with a dull ‘thunk.’

In the back of his mind, Sam saw the counter turn from 10,001 to 10,000.

“You will die.”

Everyone stared at the body in horror, shuffling backwards, trying to get as far away from the body as possible.

‘SNAP’

Everyone flinched at the noise, the Being having snapped its fingers again.

Suddenly everyone’s bodies lit up with a soft glow. Sam looked down at his chest, staring at the pale green light that shone from it. He felt as some force curled through his body, reaching into places that should not be touched, pulling something out which should never have left his body.

A sphere pushed itself out of his chest, floating in front of him. It looked like someone had taken a light green emerald and polished it until it shined.

Sam reached up and grabbed his soul, feeling inherently colder in a way he could never explain.

Please, he begged, let this be a dream.

“That is all I have to tell you.”

The Being slowly floated upwards, higher and higher until it could no longer be seen.

“I look forward to seeing which of you rise to the occasion and follow me towards ascension. The rest of you will die, and I care little and less for those who do. So, I have only one more piece of advice for all of you.”

Sam’s vision slowly turned black, as the world around him faded away. But even so, he could hear the blatant amusement in the Being’s tone.

“Good Luck.”

10,000 God-Kings Remain