Berionas: Sins of Creation

Mantus and Omega

    Within the intricate layers of Krosigo, the God of Death now had a new purpose: to take down the Author for reducing him to this level. Despite the gods' best efforts to punish him in Krosigo, Ven continued to search for ways to gain power. He planned to create a child of his own, one to carry on his wishes and achieve what he could not.

    The first of these children was a half-dragonborn boy named Kane. Born in 121, Kane was raised to be the perfect warrior, the champion that would take down the Author. He bore a curse similar to the legends of Midas' Touch; instead, he himself would turn to gold. By doing so, he gained immense strength and invulnerability, but at the cost of his sanity. Kane grew up happily enough; he knew what his purpose was and embraced it as Ven helped him hone his abilities. Ven's training worked almost too well, resulting in Kane having a change of plans, deciding to attempt to kill his own father after the curse took hold of his mind. Ven was just barely able to win the battle and punished his son by sealing Kane away inside of a golden crown for all eternity.

    Ven tried to create a new champion countless times after Kane's failure, with all of his other children being dubbed "disappointments," later thrown aside or killed by their father. That's when Mantus was born, an infant with curly black hair accompanied by the horns of a Demon and the indigo fins of a Skalen. Having expectations forced upon him from the moment he was born, Mantus' childhood wasn't the most fun. His mother, however, provided him with a glimmer of hope in this hell. Skalens are a species bound to the seas, their fins on the sides of their skulls allowing them to breathe underwater, in addition to their connection to the skies and thunder. After Ven decided to have his next child with a Skalen, a woman named Chari Asmon was snatched away from dimension 363 by Ven's bounty hunter, and forced to bear it. Ven believed that by combining his own demonic DNA with that of someone with opposite powers, he could create the ultimate weapon. The gods were forbidden to create offspring with mortals, or any living beings for that matter, so Ven's defiance ignited an uproar within the Council of Gods, shattering the balance the Author had fought hard to create.

   Among Ven's powers was the ability to alter the way others perceive reality, and he used this power to trick Chari into falling madly in love with him, resulting in Mantus being born. As the child grew, he became more and more aware of the purpose of his existence and his father's ill intentions.

    Demons age harshly differently from most mortals, with one year for them being equivalent to three months of mortal growth. Mantus, at the young age of twenty, grappled with a conflicted mind and heart as he began to come to terms with his reality. Love for his mother Chari was chaining him down to Krosigo, a place he knew would provide him with nothing but turmoil, pain, and suffering. Despite all of the tortures this place had to offer, and the true nature of his father, he couldn't just leave his mother behind. As he grew older, the rest of the gods eventually caught wind of Mantus' existence. Angered by Ven's audacity, they decided to watch over Mantus, keeping a close eye to ensure that he would not disturb the multiverse's balance.

    Hundreds of years prior, within the second layer, existed a small village known as Darkheart, an impoverished village inhabited by a small group of Shadow Demons. Shadow Demons are treated as lower by King Ven and the rest of Krosigo society. Although they are still immortal, they were looked down upon for not possessing the flame abilities of your average demon. They made up for this with their skills in science and technology.

    Zeta, the head scientist of Darkheart, had been making new discoveries in the year 1240. He, along with his team of researchers, discovered a way to create artificially made life. By collecting water from the River Styx, they were able to create souls without the help of a god. By mending fragments of souls together from the river, they were able to create new souls altogether. Zeta planned to create the ultimate man, one that would pull Darkheart out of the Dark Ages. They were essentially going to create stronger, more durable humans with extended lifespans and a strong connection to the magic arts. This led to the creation of the first Darkling, Omega.

    Directly after being born, Omega was expected to do great things. Zeta, along with all Shadow Demons residing in Darkheart, expected him to venture out one day and return to shower their village in glory. Omega was raised coldly, being kept in a small confined room whenever the Shadow Demons were not teaching him new things.

    He grew to resent them over time, while Zeta was ignorant of the abuse they themself had been dishing out. Once old enough to venture out on his journey, Omega wasted no time ditching Darkheart and his old life entirely.

One hundred years later, Omega had become a respected scientist in the capital of the second layer of Krosigo. The Darkling man had shaggy brown hair accompanied by a teal cloak that draped over his body. Being a darkling, the whites of his eyes were replaced by darkness, and his iris glowed a blinding green. He caught the attention of Ven and was eventually invited not only to work as his head scientist and medic, but also to watch after his newborn son, Mantus. Over the next couple of years, Omega became a sort of father figure to Mantus, providing him with the comfort and warmth he did not receive from his father.

    Though Omega genuinely cared for the child, he had other plans for working under the God of Death. He had caught wind of a great jewel in possession of the royal family, one of the Anchor Jewels. Omega planned to find and use it to travel to one of the Overworlds, leaving his old life behind once and for all, and he wasn't gonna let this kid distract him.