GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?



"Can we go now?" Guntu asked carefully.

"Yes, we should. I understand why Ghastorix asked for me now. I mustn't be late." Hadrick said then it pulled itself out of the ground.

The forest began to rumble. The shaking earth made the trees in the forest sway about. Birds and animals ran about looking for shelter. It looked like an earthquake was passing through the forest. The city above didn't notice anything. Its foundation is not anchored to the ground but on top of arrays so the vibration from below wasn't transmitted to them. 

The ten origin gods waited patiently as Hadrick pulled itself up. Some of the short trees scattered throughout the forest sank into the ground and were pulled toward the main trunk. The roots that had been dug far below into the earth and all over the plane were also extracted. All of them were drawn into the main trunk. It took a lot of time because the root network is extensive. Hadrick has established them over millions of years after all.

Guntu tried not to complain as they waited. But he allowed himself the freedom to complain inwardly, "This is what we should have started with when we came. In fact, this should have been done before we came."

This waiting is a waste of time to him. It is grating on his nerves that he has to wait for something that could have been done before they got here. But it wasn't. And instead of it being done when they came to get the ancestor, the ancestor had to have them waste time chatting. 

He kept his opinions to himself and waited with the others. Nothing can be done to speed up the process after all. Hadrick wasn't in the mood to chat as it coalesced its existence. So the origin gods spoke amongst themselves for the hours it took. 

"Alright, I am done," Hadrick said after packing itself up. "I'll enter the prepared artifact and you move me."

The main truck didn't increase in height as it gained mass. Instead, it widened and became thicker. It remained 1 meter tall while it got as thick as 100 meters in diameter.

Guntu nodded and produced a black box. He inputted energy into the box and it began to expand in size. He dropped it to the ground and moved away from it to allow it to grow. The black box grew bigger and bigger until it became bigger than Hadrick's weird stump tree form. A black swirling portal opened beside it which Hadrick forced itself to enter. Then Guntu touched the cube again and willed it to shrink.

The black box shrank and Guntu picked it up. He said to the other Origin gods. "I've got the package. Let's move."

His tone was very serious despite the fact that he is itching to play a prank with the box. He held himself back from doing something that he will regret. He has been trusted with this important responsibility. It is of the uttermost importance to the Ghastorix family. Messing with it in any way will make him offend a world god. He was already afraid of the Ghastorix ancestor before he became a world god and there are very good reasons for that fear. Things will get worse for him if he makes a mistake now with this mission.

'I'll just save it for later. Besides, I don't want to offend another will of the realm. They are all mean and drunk on power.' He said to himself.

He promised himself to prank others later. He can't prank Hadrick anymore. Hadrick wouldn't have moved if Ghastorix hadn't needed it and if Hadrick too didn't want freedom. So he can't mess with the wishes of a world god and the freedom of Hadrick without facing dire repercussions.

The black box was personally forged by Hadrick to ensure its safety. If he tinkers with it or with Hadrick in any way then he will have offended the future will of the Ghastorix world. He has offended Hadrick before and also mother high heaven. Hadrick always retaliates but its punishment has never been as severe as the punishments of mother high heaven. That will change soon so he better not offend Hadrick in any way.

His words reached all 100 Origin gods. They got into formation with him and escorted him into the world above. He also secretly contacted the Origin gods in the void and told them of their progress. All ten Origin gods left the forest and went back into the city. They didn't draw any attention to themselves. Even the Sovereigns of the family didn't know that some Origin gods were moving about in the city. The Ghastorix family did this to keep their mission secret.

Some people noticed the Origin gods. They are all Origin gods themselves so they were able to notice the soul force fluctuations of the covert origin gods of the Ghastorix family but they don't know what they are doing. Not a lot of people know about Hadrick and those that know about the plant living underneath the city don't know about what's special about the plant. 

The only person other than some world gods of the racial council, who noticed the Origin gods and also knew what they are doing is Soverick. He was standing on a mountain very far away from the city. The top of the mountain he is standing on is covered with thick dark clouds so his figure is not visible. 

There is not much to see even if he can be seen. There is a black cloak covering his entire body. It conceals his figure and makes it difficult to tell what race he is much less how he looks and what his identity is. 

The cloak has a hood that covers his head. Beneath that is a gray durable fabric wrapped tightly around him from head to toe like a mummy. He has a white mask on his face with the number 2 written in black on it.