Chapter 1: Genesis of the Soul
Darkness.
It was not the absence of light, but something far deeper—an infinite silence that swallowed all sound, all movement. In that endless dark, Shiv drifted, memories flickering like dying embers in a long-forgotten hearth.
He remembered betrayal. The boardroom. A voice he once trusted, soft as silk and cold as steel. Then—pain. Sharp, bitter, and final. The sensation of his soul tearing away from his body. And now this.
"So... this is death?" the thought echoed in the void. "No light. No judgment. Just... floating."
Time lost meaning. Seconds, hours, days—there was no difference. But Shiv's consciousness did not fade. Instead, something stirred. A gentle pull. Warm, nurturing, alive.
Then, the faintest heartbeat. Not his own.
His awareness flickered like a candle in wind, then surged—he was being pulled into something, someone. A new vessel.
"Reincarnation?" he realized. "But… where?"
The warmth around him grew, enclosing him in safety. Slowly, Shiv realized he was not alone. A heartbeat echoed louder now, rhythmic and soft. Muffled sounds, distant movements. A womb.
He was alive again, in the most literal sense.
"A second chance," he breathed in his thoughts, stunned. "What kind of world have I come to?"
Then, faint energies pulsed around him, natural and pristine—heavenly energy. It was unlike anything he'd ever felt. So pure it seemed divine, untamed yet inviting. Even within the womb, his spirit shuddered from contact with it. But this time, he had the awareness—and the ambition—to act.
He began slowly.
Day by day, Shiv experimented. Using his spiritual will, he touched the energy. It flowed through him like water through cupped hands. Too little structure, too much waste.
"I need a method," he thought, frustration growing.
So began the long process of thinking, testing, refining—without words, without tools, only spirit and will. Meditation became his anchor. Sleep was no longer just rest; it was analysis, silent conversations with the void.
His spirit grew sharper with each passing moment.
At the end of the first lunar month, he succeeded in drawing the energy into his being with consistency. A flicker of joy passed through his soul. It was subtle, yet momentous.
He called it the Basic Heavenly Absorption Technique.
It was simple, crude even—but effective. It allowed him to draw in small strands of heavenly energy and harmonize them with his developing body.
The first step was aligning with the pulse of the womb's energy. The second—guiding external spiritual energy through his soul like a slow-moving stream. The third—channeling it into the form that was slowly shaping within the womb.
He focused not on making a perfect human body—but something else. Something part-beast, part-divine.
He imagined the sturdiness of the Titan Giant Ape, the instincts of the Sky Wolf, the regenerative cells of the Phoenix-tailed Serpent. Slowly, he molded the soul seed, fusing traits into its embryonic blueprint.
By the third month, his technique had grown in complexity.
He began alternating absorption rhythms—slow in the night, faster in the day—to mirror the sun and moon. He expanded his awareness of the body being shaped. Bones, muscles, tendons. Not yet fully formed, but influenced by each cycle of energy.
And through it all, the idea echoed in his heart: This time, I will not be ordinary. I will not be betrayed. I will stand above all.
As the third month closed, Shiv fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. His spirit exhausted, yet brimming with anticipation.
He did not yet know the world.
He did not yet know his fate.
But he knew this—something divine stirred in the womb, and it bore his name.