The room plunged into silence so thick you could slice it with a dagger. My jaw hung open like a fish gasping for air.
Viracocha leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms as he studied with an unnerving intensity, like he was examining a particularly strange specin under a microscope.
Kaleon's son? ? Shut up!
That had to be the biggest joke of the century—or of whatever eons these gods were asuring ti by.
Agnos coughed awkwardly, his usual smugness replaced by sothing resembling unease. Jiuge's eyes darted between and Viracocha, her hands gripping the edges of her chair like it might float away.
Then Viracocha hesitated, his expression tightening as if he were grappling with the weight of what he was about to say. Finally, he exhaled deeply and spoke, his tone heavy with reverence and caution.
"It's not entirely impossible, you know," he murmured. "Kaleon was known for his eccentric ways..."
"Whoa, hold on!" I finally found my voice, my hands shooting up defensively. "Let's backtrack a bit here. First of all, I don't even know who Kaleon is, aside from the fact that he's so big-shot creator god you all won't shut up about."
"Second, offspring? Look at ! I'm just a regular guy! I graduated from a regular college with a regular degree in zoology. I'm a powerless mortal! I'm not so mythical chosen one!" ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel·fıre·net
"Carl," Jiuge said gently, her tone more serious than I'd ever heard it. "The fact that you've survived absorbing a core fragnt—let alone revealed its mories—is not sothing 'regular guys' can do."
I turned to Agnos, practically begging him with my eyes to refute her. "Agnos? Help out here, buddy?"
Agnos squird in his seat again, scratching the back of his neck. "Technically, she's right. You're a statistical anomaly. But hey, anomalies happen all the ti in nature, right? Like... uh... albino alligators. Rare, but not unheard of."
"That's not helping!" I groaned, slumping in my seat.
"And about Hestia," Jiuge continued, her brow furrowed, "She can't be pregnant. Gods don't reproduce the way mortals do—it requires imnse energy, and we would've sensed it. There's no way…"
"Unless," Viracocha interjected, his opal eyes narrowing, "Kaleon planted his essence in a mortal bloodline before he disappeared."
"Planted his essence?" I asked, horrified. "What does that even an? Am I so kind of cosmic chia pet now?"
Jiuge stifled a laugh, but Viracocha remained stone-faced. "It ans you might carry a fragnt of his divinity in your bloodline, passed down through generations."
I slumped further into my seat, my brain struggling to process this cosmic soap opera I'd apparently been cast in. "So you're saying I could be... what? So long-lost heir to a creator god? Does that co with a certificate or sothing?"
Agnos smirked faintly. "I wouldn't start printing business cards just yet, but yeah, that's the gist of it."
"Okay, but why ?" I asked, throwing my hands up. "Why not so heroic warrior or a brilliant scholar? I'm just a guy trying to save mythical animals and not get eaten in the process!"
"That's exactly why it's you," Viracocha said quietly. "Kaleon was first a creator, not just a destroyer. His essence would seek soone who values life in all its forms."
I blinked, montarily speechless. That was... oddly profound.
Jiuge, however, looked like she was about to burst from frustration. "But it still doesn't explain why now. If Carl really is connected to Kaleon, why hasn't this manifested before?"
"Maybe because the fragnts he absorbed acted as a catalyst," Viracocha replied, his tone thoughtful. "The fragnts were ant for Kaleon. It recognized Carl as the next closest match."
The room fell silent again, the weight of their words pressing down on like a boulder. My life had gone from zoology grad to mythical babysitter to potential descendant of a god. What was next? Finding out I was secretly the owner of Atlantis?
"Great," I muttered. "So what am I supposed to do with this revelation? Start wearing a crown and smiting people?"
Viracocha's lips twitched into a faint smile. "Not quite. But if you are tied to Kaleon, it changes everything. You might be the key to restoring balance—not just in Mythica, but probably in the realms beyond."
"Balance?" I muttered, rubbing my temples. "Can I at least get a coffee first?"
Jiuge laughed softly, and even Agnos managed a grin. But beneath their humor, I could see the tension in their eyes. Whatever this revelation ant, it was clear that things were about to get a lot more complicated.
And frankly, I wasn't sure I was ready for it.
********
"Why do you need to restore balance in Mythica?" I asked, frowning. "Isn't it fine now? The leylines are still there, and so is the core."
Viracocha sighed deeply, his shoulders slumping under an unseen weight. "To tell you the truth, ever since Kaleon chose eternal slumber, the leylines have beco unstable. We used to have nine leylines, each controlled by one of the nine Unknown Gods."
The ntion of nine leylines drew grim expressions from Agnos and Jiuge.
"If the Ancient Realm War hadn't happened, things would be different," Viracocha added, his tone heavy with regret.
"It's not the creator's fault!" Agnos snapped defensively, his golden eyes glowing with barely contained anger.
"I'm not blaming Kaleon," Viracocha replied, shaking his head, his sorrowful voice cutting through the tension. "I'm just saying he shouldn't stay in eternal slumber. He has the ans to fix the leylines and restore the destroyed realm. He's one of the gods of creation, after all. And the most powerful one at that."
Sothing didn't sit right with . I raised my hands to interrupt. "Wait, I feel like we're missing sothing here. Why did he put himself to sleep in the first place? I an, Hestia—his wife—was still alive. Couldn't he have just… moved on?"
"That's what puzzled us all—the council," Viracocha admitted, his brows knitting together. "He left us instructions to manage Mythica. Everything was ticulously arranged by him."
Agnos scoffed, crossing his arms. "You weren't even by his side during the war. What right do you have to question his decision to enter eternal slumber?"
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