After Mithras, Mithras’ heavenly realm.

Death sucked. Not as much as she thought, though.

Kia had never been religious, and so, she expected a dark void and then nothing. Apparently though, religions were onto something.

The afterlife existed, and it looked like a greek temple made of marble, golden clouds and shining light. Whichever god ruled this place had given her a comfortable chair on which to sit, in front of a bright pyre.

“Kia Bekele.”

She raised her eyes, finding that what she thought to be pillars were in fact the legs of two immense figures.

The first was a great man with marble-like skin, like a statue chiseled from the stone. The entity wore a crown of flames and carried a blazing sword, hidden below a royal mantle. It was the archetypal king, with two suns for eyes glancing down at Kia with kind benevolence. “I am Mithras, god of the sun, law, healing, and justice,” he presented himself with a warm, booming voice.

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“And I am Leone, goddess of glory, nobility, art, and strength.” The second was a true knight in shining armor, a woman with blonde hair, glowing blue eyes, and clad in golden armor. She carried a great sword anchored in the ground with both hands on the pommel, and radiated an aura of bravery. “We are two of the twelve gods of Outremonde.”

Outremonde?

“A coin has two faces, Kia,” Mithras said. “Earth is but one world among many, and it has a twin. Outremonde. A world similar to yours in shape, but with dragons instead of planes, magic instead of science. A world threatened by a great blight, and in dire need of heroes.”

“You died an early death on Earth before you could fulfill your destiny,” Leone continued, Kia wondering if they were married or very close friends to synchronize so well. “But death is a door. It can lead you to whatever afterlife awaits, or to a new chance in Outremonde.”

“Like reincarnation?” Like the novels she read online?

“If you wish,” Mithras explained her options. “We can return you to Outremonde as you are now, with all that you carry. Or we can reincarnate you into the body of a man, an elf, a dwarf, or even a cat. As long as it is neither a fomor nor a dragon, you can become anything, or anyone.”

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“That’s… oddly specific,” Kia pointed out.

“Fomors have no soul and thus you cannot incarnate as one. Dragons...” Leone made a face of absolute disgust, before regaining her composure. “Dragons are forbidden. You will be granted divine blessings, and great boons, so you may forge yourself a new destiny. But great power comes with a certain obligation.”

Of course, there would be a catch. Kia hadn’t done anything extraordinary in life. She moved from Ethiopia to Europe with her parents, only to die a school student when her stupid boyfriend drove their car into another. Beyond some charity work in her free time, she had nothing heroic to present. “You have a mission for me.”

Leone nodded. “The people of Outremonde are threatened by an ancient foe, the fairy lords of the fomor.”

“They are not the little fairies of your movies. The fomors are soulless abominations, wicked witches, eaters of children, and cruel giants. They treat humans as toys or food, and create life only to enslave it. They uplifted the beastkin by giving animals the gift of intelligence, only to hunt them for sport. They are foul tyrants who once ruled Outremonde with an iron fist alongside their dragon rivals, before our fellow deity Dice came along.”

“Through our support and the power of Classes, humans and other species have slowly pushed them back in the dark corner of Outremonde. But almost a century ago, one of them decided to fight back.”

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Mithras raise a hand, and miniature phantom pictures appeared in front of Kia, like holograms.

The scene represented a medieval city inhabited by humans and assaulted by monsters. Trolls, ogres, winged harpies and other horrors had breached fortified walls, setting the city on fire while fighting a collapsing defense of knights and magicians. It would have looked awesome if the battle wasn’t horribly one-sided in the horde’s favor.

A monstrous rider the size of skyscrapers rampaged around the city, crushing houses with every step. The creature, a humanoid, rode a giant lizard with spikes on its back as if it was a horse.

Was that a D&D tarrasque? Or Godzilla? And something was riding it?

The giant riding it looked like a monstrous, headless knight, carrying an enormous axe of flesh and bone with one hand. A floating eye of blue flames hovered where the head should have been, glaring down with malice at the small people the monster cut mercilessly.

“King Balaur, strongest and foulest of the fomors, has raised a terrible army and wages war against the Mistral continent,” Mithras explained with a grim voice. “Countries have fallen to him, and now Gardemagne, the stronghold of mankind, is threatened with destruction. If he succeeds, Balaur will soak the continent with the blood of all mortals, so they may never rise again to challenge the fomors.”

“Why do you not help the mortals directly?” It always bugged her why deities never seem to do so in stories, and that creature seemed like a threat big enough to warrant it. “That thing looks nasty.”

“We would like to, and once I did,” Mithras said, surprising her. “But we are not all-powerful. We are closer to your Olympians, or your Aesir. We are powerful and we cannot die, but we have our limits.”

“A millennia ago, we gods agreed not to fight on Outremonde itself,” Leone said. “For when we did, we caused more harm than good, with no clear winner. Another god, Sablar the World Eater, supports the fomors in his quest for universal decimation, and thus prevents us from intervening. So for now, all we can do is guide and empower mortals. We can reincarnate people from Earth, by ‘claiming’ their souls, and making them our champions.”

“So, if I agree to fight this Balaur, I will be granted a new life and amazing powers?”

“This will be a dangerous journey, and you may very well die,” Mithras said. “But know that if you die in the line of duty, you will be granted a place in our divine realm. Neither will you be alone.”

“We reincarnated many other humans from your world, who had the potential to become true heroes,” Leone confirmed Kia’s own thoughts, “Together, you will form a great crusade and fight as one against Balaur.”

They were bribing her with heaven?

Now that she knew it existed, how could she resist?

“Can I get a better body?” she asked, a bit embarrassed. Kia was black, with a nerdy look and glasses; the kind of girl who spent their time in the library without seeing the light of day. She had always had some sort of body issue over it, and so seized the chance. “I want to stay human and close to what am I, just… better-looking.”

“That can be arranged,” Leone said, who didn’t sound surprised.

“Yes. I don’t want too much change, just to be in better health, not need glasses, and have a beautiful face. I know that sounds stupid, but...”

“This is not stupid, Kia,” Mithras reassured her with kindness, “In fact, you are more mature and humble than the others.”

“Ah? How so?”

“Most of them ask for bigger... implements... and I shall not sully myself by giving lurid details.”

“You can get a bigger chest? Is that on the table?”

The gods’ stare became cold and unbearable.

“I was kidding,” Kia said, who wasn’t sure herself. The offer was good, and she was in no hurry to find whatever ‘normal’ afterlife awaited her. “I’m in.”

“Thank you, Kia,” said Mithras. “Shall we, Leone?”

“Beforehand, though, can I ask you a question?” The gods nodded at Kia’s demand. “Why me, among all the others? What made me special?”

The deities exchanged a glance in uncomfortable silence. After long, agonizing seconds, Kia grew very nervous.

“I do not have the heart to tell her,” Leone told Mithras.

The god sighed in response, glancing down at Kia. “Kia. I am the god of justice. Truth and honesty are under my purview, which means I am physically unable to lie, no matter how much I would like to spare someone's feelings. My words will be the objective truth, so please, do not take anything I say personally.”

Kia prepared herself for impact.

“You are bland, and forgettable.”

Kia sank deeper in her chair.

“You were largely irrelevant in your previous life, and while you died with good karma, it was more because of an absence of evil deeds than any worthwhile quality. You are, for a lack of a better word, mediocre, but passable.”

Never before did Kia thought words could hurt so much.

“We have already reincarnated all the people whom you could call true hero material, but the fomors either killed them, or they are not enough on their own. We are, to use your local expressions, scraping the bottom of the barrel, and accepting anyone with remotely good karma. We hope that where quality failed, quantity will succeed. The situation is that terrible. Even if we do not expect it, you have the potential, with some boons and luck, to become a hero. It is unlikely but possible.”

By now, Kia’s self-esteem had been torn to shreds, and she couldn’t find her words.

“But no pressure,” Leone tried to reassure her, with a forced smile.

No, not at all.

"You can still become a hero, and seize the chance to grow into a legend," Mithras said, kinder than before. "Even if you fail, I will welcome you in my realm, where you could enjoy a bountiful afterlife. The choice is yours."

She liked the idea a lot less than before, but it was still better than the alternative.

Both deities raised a hand at her, and two symbols materialized on the back of each of Kia’s palm as tattoos: a shining, golden sun, and a shield with a stylized pen symbol.

Congratulations! You were granted a level in the prestigious [Paladin] Class!

+1 STR, +1 VIT, +1 CHA, +1 LCK!

You earned the [Holy Champion] Class Perk, and the [Claimed by Mithras] and [Claimed by Leone] Personal Perks!

[Holy Champion]: You gain advanced proficiency with Swords and Spears, all attacks you make with any weapon will inflict additional Holy Damage.

[Claimed by Mithras]: When you level up, you have an additional 10 percent chance to gain a Charisma or Strength point. You are also immune to all Fire and Holy effects, except those caused by Mithras or his servants.

[Claimed by Leone]: When you level up, you have an additional 10 percent chance to gain a Vitality or Skill point. You gain a 30 percent experience bonus whenever you finish a quest or slay a monster.

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