Teogonia: Volume 1 (Premium)

by Tsukasa Tanimai

  Part 1 — The Boy from Lag

  1

  That day, it seemed the killing would never end. The boy’s breath quickened as he felt the heavy presence of the god of death grip his heart. His vision was obscured, making it difficult for him to keep his footing; he avoided stepping on a corpse but then found himself treading into muddy ground that upset his balance.

  Here and there the ground was sodden as if rain had fallen that day on the harsh, dry land known as the borderlands. But of course, there had been no rain. The ground was wet with blood and bodily fluids from the foul-smelling bodies of the dead.

  “Shit...”

  The boy held his breath and then suddenly threw himself to the ground based on some instinct.

  A moment later there was a whoosh as a giant boulder flew through the air where his head had just been.

  The physical strength of the demi-human macaques that would ravenously rampage through human territories was fearsome. The boulders they were occasionally throwing from the edges of the forest carried enough force to shatter a hardwood shield into a thousand pieces. Needless to say, a direct hit would have split the boy’s head open like a melon.

  Even as he fell, the boy kept sight of the backs of his squadmates and desperately scrambled to keep pace with them as they seemed likely to leave him behind. Members of the human race, to which the boy and these other frail foot soldiers from the village of Lag belonged, had to band together or they’d be killed before they could put up a fight. With their spears held in-line and ready, they charged as one toward their powerful foe.

  Humans were incredibly weak compared to the stronger types of demi-humans. Without knowing how to fight as a group rather than as individuals, the humans would have had no chance of defending their land against the stronger demi-human they were facing.

  “Let’s show ‘em the glory of Lag!”

  The squad roared in response.

  The boy stood near the center of this squad of five humans, where it was his responsibility to aim for the legs of the enemy. To his left and right, other spears were held slightly upward, aimed at the heart and lungs. Their spears formed a barrier of high and low spearpoints that couldn’t be avoided by jumping or crouching. Their assigned target was a warrior-class macaque, a high-ranking creature that was much larger than the others and had faint dotted markings in its fur.

  The macaque sensed their killing intent and swung at them with the stone axe held in its hand. The swing came at the tips of their spearheads from one side, causing the two upward-facing spears to be pushed aside along with the soldiers who held them. The remaining three soldiers dodged past their falling squadmates and rushed forward.

  The boy put all of his momentum behind the spear as he drove it into the tough fur that covered the shin of the macaque.

  Kill it..!

  The fur was as tough as metal wire, forming a natural defense against the spearhead and threatening to direct it off course. The boy forcibly corrected the course of the spear and drove it into the macaque’s inner thigh. Then the boy prepared himself for death as he pushed against the macaque with all his might. He could feel the gouging of flesh.

  Just as his spirits were buoyed by the success of his attack, he was knocked down by his stumbling squadmates and the precious spear slipped from his grasp.

  The moment the boy realized he’d lost his weapon, his body reacted spontaneously as a result of his intense training: in one smooth movement he drew the cutting knife that hung at his waist.

  “Fucking die!”

  The macaque was leaning forward with its posture broken as the boy chanced his life on a single upward strike aimed at its throat.

  The other soldiers each followed after him, their eyes wild. In an instant, the macaque’s body was covered with deep wounds. Its howling was loud enough to rupture an eardrum at close range, and its apelike arms flailed wildly.

  Not deep enough...!

  It still wasn’t enough to deliver a fatal wound.

  The enemy’s long flailing arm hit the boy and launched him into the air like a frog kicked by a spiteful child. As the ground and sky were spinning in his vision, the boy felt as though he was someone else, simply watching.

  Time in the borderlands was measured by dividing the day into twelve periods known as toki. The approach of sunset meant that half a toki had passed since the start of the battle.

  A few moments spent flying through the sky above the borderlands felt like an eternity, but it abruptly ended when the boy’s body struck the ground and rolled. Even then, he still felt like he was someone else.

  The smell of blood at the back of his nose mixed with the scent of grass and soil. Realizing that this broken body was in fact his own, he finally accepted that his death was approaching. For those unable to move on the battlefield, there was nothing left but to wait to be dealt with by the victors.

  “Damn, I’m hungry...” The boy muttered to himself as he grew concerned about the pain caused by his empty stomach.

  Satisfying meals weren’t given to useless foot soldiers who couldn’t even handle their weapons properly, let alone kill an enemy. When it came to food, the situation was equally grim for every village in the borderlands.

  Just let me eat one onigiri...

  The boy didn’t even know the meaning of the word that came to mind as he drank the blood flowing from his nose. Even his spilled blood was precious if it could mask the feeling of hunger.

  Just one onigiri before I die... Somehow, the boy was sure that whatever an onigiri was, it was both satisfying and delicious.

  2

  The country belonging to the human race was on the verge of a crisis that threatened its very existence.

  For someone like the boy who lived in a village in the borderlands, the very concept of a country was vague. Needless to say, he had absolutely no concept of national crisis.

  All he understood was that the land they’d inherited from their forefathers, the land that produced the food needed to ensure human survival, was gradually being taken from them by the demi-human races that surrounded them. The borderlands was quite literally an area of land that lay at the edge of the country, so it was only natural for this area to form the front line in their bloody conflict. This was the simple way that those affected understood their situation.

  Next time... it’d be nice if I’m born in a world where I can eat enough to feel full.

  The village elders had taught him that this place was just one of the worlds that souls in the cycle of Samsara could spill out into. If the boy died here, his soul would return to the cycle of Samsara and he might begin a different life in a different world.

  “I want an onigiri.” His stomach growled as he tried saying the words out loud.

  A fuzzy image of something black and triangular came to his mind, but he couldn’t imagine what type of food it might be. He’d heard that memories of past lives could sometimes come back to people, so he realized that he must have gained some of those unexplained memories himself.

  As a vague memory of the taste came to him, he began to salivate.

  Then someone struck his head.

  “How long are you gonna be asleep?”

  For a moment, the boy blinked, unable to understand the words.

  The figure who spoke saw the boy react, then looked about to walk away as if he wasn’t particularly worried about him.

  “I’m not asleep.”

  “If you wanna live, get up. If you’d rather be ape food, you can go back to sleep.”

  “I want to live.”

  “Well, get the fuck up then, dipshit.”

  The boy recognized the toothy grin looking down at him. It was Manso, a fellow foot soldier fiv
e years his senior. In his younger days, Manso had always been a quiet child who rarely complained, but lately he was becoming foulmouthed and arrogant. Manso had an imposing presence, so his squad treated him as their leader.

  “It looks like we won this one.”

  The boy somehow got to his feet even though only one of his arms was capable of supporting his weight.

  At first, the thought of them winning didn’t make sense to him. His body swayed, causing waves of dizziness that made it hard to think about the situation on the battlefield around him.

  He saw his concerned squadmates looking over at him, and at their feet a small mountain had been formed by the remains of the macaque warrior that they must have somehow brought down.

  And then the scene beyond them... The killing continued across the battlefield. But now, they seemed to have more human soldiers than they’d started with.

  It could only mean that the neighboring villages had learned of Lag’s crisis, and had all sent reinforcements rushing to their aid. The air was filled with cries such as, “House Tempel has come to your aid!” and “House Bofoy is with you!” as flagbearers attempted to win gratitude by waving flags displaying the crests of their respective houses.

  With the tide of the battle turning against them, the macaque forces decided to retreat, making shrill cries as they withdrew from the battlefield. They hoped to escape into the forest where more of their kind were hiding.

  Then a loud noise that sounded like two hard objects being slammed together got the boy’s attention. He looked over and saw an unusually large macaque with distinctive fur engaged in combat with a single human soldier.

  It was clear from its size and the stripes of its fur that this warrior was renowned even among other macaques. The soldier taking on this toweringly large macaque was a tall young boy with his long black hair held back by a decorative round hair accessory.

  This was Olha, one of the generals who led Lag’s soldiers. He was the eldest son of the baron, and to Lag, he was an invaluable guardian bearer. The blessings of a land god gave him inhuman strength and made him one of their most powerful weapons.

  “Get a look at this... there’s a bastard ape taking on Olha.”

  “Well, yeah, even demi-humans have guardian bearers.”

  The striped macaque swung its stone axe at Olha, who caught the powerful blow on his iron sword. The sound of their weapons colliding reverberated in the boy’s guts, and an unnatural dip began to form in the ground beneath Olha’s feet.

  It was a meeting of two exceptional powers. A battle between two guardian bearers was a battle like no other, and such battles were like sacred rituals in which outsiders were forbidden to intervene.

  Olha leaped to one side, letting his blade slide across the axe, and then he swiftly began his offensive, pinning his opponent down with a series of strikes that were too fast to be seen.

  The villagers knew a strike from Olha carried enough force to shatter a large boulder. Even when girls of the village would sing his praises, no one would disagree with them. His features were pleasing and his physique exceptional, and to top it off, he was the likely heir to his father’s house. In all, he was without match.

  “Olha’s kumadori markings are starting to show on his face. They’re about to see what our guardian bearer can do.”

  “Olha’s really something else...”

  Though his long sword was forged from unrefined iron and weighed as much as a child, he wielded it effortlessly with the force of his entire body. Each strike carried Olha’s incredible power with it, but each was countered by a sideways swipe from the crude stone axe of the macaque warrior. A barrage of sparks was sent flying each time one incredible force met the other.

  With a heavy metallic clang that could be felt in one’s skull, an invisible shockwave created a gust that violently shook the grass around them. Again and again they exchanged blows until finally the stone axe shattered and the iron longsword broke halfway along its length.

  While Olha was still stunned by the loss of his precious sword, the crafty macaque warrior seized the opportunity and sent a shower of small rocks flying with a kick before swiftly turning to flee. The macaque must have reckoned that it had already bought its brethren enough time to escape. Olha appeared to be about to give chase, but then the handle of the stone axe came flying at him like a parting gift and he missed his chance.

  The macaque warrior darted away with incredible speed. Its long arms served as additional legs as it used all four limbs to move along the ground with great leaps. A human running on two legs couldn’t hope to keep up.

  “Ah... It got away.”

  If the enemy’s guardian bearer had been brought down, the result of the battle wouldn’t have just been victory, it would have been a major triumph. Olha’s frustration was visible as he watched his opponent’s retreat.

  A nearby foot soldier came to retrieve the broken blade, but Olha stayed him with some instruction, and then he raised his hand high to the Lag soldiers to indicate that the battle was won. As the soldiers saw his fist rise into the air, it was as if the gesture itself had unleashed their loud cheers that followed.

  “The bastard apes fled! Lag has won!”

  “Let them hear our cheers of victory!”

  Roars of celebration erupted across the battlefield.

  The reinforcements from neighboring villages shared their excitement. They knew that the village of Lag would repay soldiers who came to their aid with some wheat. Though they’d been rescued, the gratitude of the Lag soldiers was dampened by the thought of the food they’d have to give up.

  Now that the time seemed right, Manso and squad exchanged nods and gathered around the corpse of the macaque they’d brought down.

  As their leader, it was Manso who drove his knife into the beast’s heart and then signaled to the others that it was dead without a doubt. The group cut open the body of the macaque in multiple places and plunged their hands into its flesh in search of something within. Then one of the men cried out with glee as his hand found something about the size of a fist.

  “I’ve got its godstone!”

  In this world, a rounded lump of matter could be found within the bodies of most living creatures. The stronger the creature, the greater the size of that lump. Naturally, a similar lump could also be found within the body of every human being. This object was actually a part of the skeleton, formally known as the jewel bone.

  Manso took it in his hand and then showed it to the rest of the squad. With their unspoken agreement, he then broke it open against a rock on the ground. With the top half removed, the thick, amber-colored, marrow-like substance inside was visible. Manso used the tip of his knife to scoop it out and share it between his squadmates.

  “Praise be to Mother Earth!”

  “Praise be.”

  “And we give thanks to the brave spirit of the land god who resides here in the land of our forefathers.”

  “We give thanks.”

  With their brief prayer finished, the boys began to devour the amber marrow.

  The spiritual energy accumulated by a living creature would condense within the marrow of its godstone. The theory behind it was unclear, but consuming this substance made creatures in this world stronger. When this happened, it was just like leveling up. The boy felt heat inside himself in a place that must have been his own godstone. “Level up” and other strange words that were coming to his mind felt like more residual memories from a past life.

  Somehow, I’ve lived through another day.

  The boy was thankful to be one of the lucky ones as he savored the taste that filled his mouth and let it spread across his tongue. Opportunities to eat marrow from a godstone were rare, but for many, the rich flavor made it their favorite food. It didn’t just make people stronger, it also tasted great. For soldiers who’d been on the brink of death, a small helping of this substance was enough to make them forget their complaints. For these reasons, godstones were considered one of th
e most important treasures of this world.

  Naturally, the godstone of every single fallen macaque was recovered. More than half of those would be given to the baron’s house.

  Flocks of honks soon appeared and began to peck at the abandoned corpses of the macaques, as if they’d been sent to clean the battlefield.

  “Let’s go back to the village...”

  With that, soldiers from Lag collected the bodies of their fallen friends, and at a slow pace, they left the battlefield behind. A total of eighteen bodies were recovered. They had been a force of 138, but now they were reduced to 120.

  For a village like Lag with a population of not even 1,000, the loss of so many capable workers was a heavy blow.

  “Looks like our little one can’t walk. Let’s get him on the cart.”

  “I’m not that small,” mumbled the boy as he let them load him onto the cart. He didn’t enjoy being treated like a child by his squadmates, but he was the youngest, and, as much as he hated to admit it, he was glad that they cared about him. For a boy who had lost his parents and had no relatives, they were something like a family to him.

  After being placed aboard the cart alongside long-cold corpses, he could feel dead flesh moving as they traveled, and it wasn’t exactly pleasant. It may seem odd that he didn’t feel a great sense of disgust, but since becoming old enough to fight as a soldier just a few months ago, the boy had been repeatedly thrown into bloody battles, and he already felt worn down and numb to it all. The boy kept his gaze fixed on the sky so that he didn’t have to look at his “fellow passengers.”

  The boy’s name was Kai.

  Kai turned 13 this year.

  3

  Lag was located in the eastern part of the borderlands. The population was a little less than 1,000. In a place as sparsely populated as the borderlands, this village was one of the larger settlements. Expanses of meager farmland starved of moisture surrounded the village, and the surroundings also held several forms of grazing livestock for producing food and clothing. They also produced a dry form of cheese known as queijo, which some might have considered a local delicacy, but this was otherwise a poor village with no unique qualities.