Chapter 2: An Offer

It's been an hour since Akash came into the space crack but he was confused.

He was wondering whether everything going on right now is reality or some sort of illusion. A Godly turtle beast that doesn't have any sort of name, claiming it existed since the beginning of everything.

The Turtle understood Akash's situation and as such it spoke in a friendly manner.

"I'm not going to kill you"

Even though it ceased its domineering aura and thunderous voice it still sent chills down Akash's body when he heard it.

Soon after Akash recovered from his dazed state and stared into the eyes of Turtle. Its eyes were twinkling as if entire galaxies could be seen within each of them.

Akash finally gathered the courage to speak. On the outside, he was trying his best to wear a poker face yet his body was trembling and his heart was thumping, both out of fear. Even his other organs weren't safe from this instinctual and primordial fear.

He bowed and said.

"I apologise for disturbing your peace, Ancestor Turtle, I will accept any punishment as long as you forgive this lowly fairy".

The Turtle looked at his attempt at a poker face. Of course, The Turtle knew how scared he was. How could a normal fairy hide anything from this Godly Beast?

The turtle smiled in a strange way which gave Akash the creeps and it said.

"Ancestor Turtle, what a good name it is. Hahaha, indeed I'm an ancestor of you all in a way. Call me Ancestor Turtle from now on."

Akash was curious about what he meant. I should call him Ancestor from now on? Won't he kill me? Akash was full of questions.

He was still bowing when the Ancestor Turtle spoke again.

"Stand straight, I won't kill you. If I'd wanted to kill you, you wouldn't have even been able to enter this dimension just like everyone before you.

Akash understood what the Ancestor Turtle meant because he knew that before him whoever went into the spatial rift, regardless of their race, never came back, not even their body.

Akash's fear lessened after thinking about all the possibilities because one thing was clear, The Turtle wouldn't kill him.

Even though he came here to end his life. He was unable to do anything due to the instinctual fear instilled into him by the Primordial Beast.

Akash respectfully stood up straight with his hands folded in his sleeves. He spoke

"As you wish Ancestor Turtle."

Turtle looked at him and said

"I'm starting to like you, even though you are not talented in cultivating cosmic power, you are at least well disciplined"

Akash nodded his head in agreement because he knew The Turtle was right. He didn't have a high aptitude for cultivation. His aptitude was mediocre, that's why he didn't focus on his cosmic cultivation and power, instead, he became in charge of the 'House of Knowledge', a special place for the fairy race, where they kept all the martial art technique scrolls as well as alchemy among other things.

"Ancestor Turtle is right"

The Turtle smiled.

"Won't you ask why I didn't kill you?" The Turtle asked.

"Um.. maybe I'm too weak for Ancestor Turtle to kill me?"

The Turtle laughed.

"You sure know how to talk

Akash gave a fake chuckle.

"I can only talk in front of the mighty Ancestor Turtle"

"Enough of the pleasantries, I'm old enough to know the hidden meaning behind each of your words. I only let you live because I have work for you or you can say it's an offer for you"

Akash curiously asked

"What kind of offer, Ancestor?"

"Well, to understand the offer you first have to learn some history. Do you know how many realms of Cosmic Cultivation there are?

Akash replied without any thought

"17 realms, starting from The First Star up to The Tenth Star after which comes Star Knight, Star Captain, Star General, Star Prince, Star King, Star Emperor and finally Star God. And each realm has 3 Stages known as First Moon, Second Moon and Third Moon".

The Turtle Smiled

"Indeed, there are 17 stages for mortals like you but in truth, there are 20 realms."

Akash Tagar looked at the turtle with his mouth agape. "It would take thousands of years to reach the Star God realm and those who reach it are all super-geniuses and yet The Ancestor Turtle is saying there are 3 more realms after Star God. Then what are the other 3 realms and how come I have never heard of them or why has no one reached them?"

He thought

Turtle read his mind and replied

"The other 3 realms are known as Cosmic King, Cosmic Emperor and Cosmic God".

Akash: "...."

"There used to be many people among certain races who had the aptitude to reach the realm of Cosmic King dozens of million years ago but now the strength of this cosmos has decreased and many talented people have been and still are killed by wars of greed."

The Turtle spoke the last line with rage and sorrow.

"But there were only 7 people who could reach the realm of Cosmic Emperor and one of them was from your fairy race or rather the founder of your tribe. The First Chieftain of the Tagar tribe, Arbab Tagar"

After yet another mind-blowing reveal, Akash was barely holding it together due to the magnitude of these things and the weight that these secrets embodied.

"What I heard from our tribe was that our First Chieftain was very powerful, which is why he held a special position in our Fairy Race, but the First Chieftain left the Fairy Kingdom when he was at the peak of the Star God realm and then he never returned".

"Indeed, one must travel all over the cosmos to fully grasp the truth behind it and reach new heights" The Turtle replied.

"If there've been only 7 people up until now who've reached the Cosmic Emperor realm, then how many have reached the Cosmic God realm?"

Cold sweat ran across his face as he asked this.

"None"

The Turtle said indifferently and continued

"After the Cosmic Emperor realm, one must establish a Chaos Dwelling inside their body and destroy their Cosmic dwelling which they worked on for centuries"

Akash was trembling while thinking how difficult and painful that experience would be.

Akash was lost, in all his life, the only thing he was proud of was his knowledge. Because he was not talented in cultivation, he kept reading books and scrolls when he was in charge of the House of Knowledge to increase his wisdom and knowledge but now he thought everything he knew was just the tip of the iceberg.

He asked

"So, there hasn't been anyone who's been able to reach the Cosmic God realm in this cosmos?"

The Turtle closed its galactic like eyes and said.

"I'm the only Cosmic God of this cosmos. I was born from the Spirits of Laws and I saw everything coming into being in front of me. There have been 7 people of the Cosmic Emperor realm but none of them has reached even 1/10 of the level of my cultivation."

Akash Tagar silently looked at the Ancestor Turtle with his mouth agape.

The Turtle continued.

"But you are different, you didn't come here because you sought to obtain treasures, powers and riches. You were ending your life with regret, pain and sorrow but I saw a small light of disappointment in your whirlwind of emotions. You want to redo your life from the beginning and live in a way you could be proud of."

Akash Tagar lowered his head, thinking about the shame and regret because of his despicable and timid actions.

"I cannot send you back to your past as that is against the Laws of Nature, but I can make you as young as 15 years old and send you to the weakest planet of this cosmos. There, you will do work in my stead and you can also redeem yourself by living a completely new life".

Akash hesitantly asked.

"Will I lose anything if I go back to my youth?"

The Turtle smirked and said

"You will lose all the powers of your current realm of Star King and you'll have to start from zero and build up from the First Star realm."

Akash was lost in his thoughts.

"But the rewards are big, if you follow my guidance you will have no trouble reaching the Star God Realm. After that, the remaining 3 realms of Cosmic King, Cosmic Emperor and Cosmic God will depend on your efforts and hard work, if you succeed then you will be the Cosmic God of this cosmos with various legendary techniques, weapons and beasts."

While Akash was still wondering what that was all about, he suddenly heard a "beep" sound. A transparent screen came before him as well as a strange voice saying.

[Will you accept the Offer from the ruler of Akhrot Cosmos and become its successor? 'YES or NO']