I'm running through the field, my teammates and rivals around me.

  I'm in high school, playing a football match. I've played as a forward for the club for most of my time at this school.

  The teammate with the ball passes it to me; I receive it and feel it's a satisfactory hit in my foot.

  The goal is right in front of me, and I am free, so I kick the ball to score.

  A weird sound comes out of the ball and the feeling I got when I kicked it… It wasn't the same as before.

  I look down at the ball.

  "Hans" "...!"

  What I'm seeing isn't the ball anymore; it's a head.

  "Head" "I-It h-huuurrts."

  I start to breathe quickly and kneel to pick up the head.

  "Hans" "I-I'm sorry."

  When I touch the head and see its face, I realize.

  It's the man from the alleyway.

  "Man" "AAAAAAAAAAH"

  The head explodes.

  "Hans" "A-Ah… Aaaaah!"

  I wake up screaming and panting, my body covered in sweat.

  What was that nightmare?

  Did you have a nightmare?

  I panicked for a second at the sudden voice in my head before remembering everything that happened yesterday.

  That's right… I now have a god in my head.

  I'm not in your head, but whatever.

  Could you see my dream?

  No, dreams are complicated things to understand, so I can't see or hear them like your thoughts.

  Thank god…

  I get out of bed and go to the kitchen to make myself breakfast.

  While I'm walking, I decide to ask Zitziki about something else.

  Can you see me while I am in the bathroom or doing another… private thing?

  Hahaha, I could, but I respect the privacy of my Saviors, so I stop seeing and hearing when you go to the bathroom or do private things and come back when I detect that you've finished.

  Thank goodness; that way I will at least have time to think things through for myself in private.

  After eating breakfast I use the bathroom, get dressed, and prepare everything that I need for the Academy, like my ID and other documents.

  Then, I start my way towards the Academy.

  While I walk, I can't help but think about how this period in which they teach me things will work and what kind of people I will meet.

  And also… What will I have to do? I didn't really like the feeling of killing someone, but I did like the feeling of surpassing my enemy and winning.

  That's why I chose you; you have the type of personality that will probably lead you to achieve great things… And the feeling of killing someone…

  You will get over it after some time.

  …Really, now?

  I finally arrive at the Academy and I see Manuel at the gate, probably waiting for me.

  When he sees me, he lifts his arm.

  "Manuel" "Hey, you are finally here; I was waiting for you."

  "Hans" "Hi."

  "Manuel" "Did you bring your personal documents?"

  "Hans" "Yeah, I even brought an ID-sized photo of myself, just in case."

  He nods.

  "Manuel" "Perfect, follow me."

  I start following him inside.

  "Manuel" "After I finish all the paperwork, I will explain some things to you in private; your classmates started two weeks ago, and each learning period lasts six months, unless the person learning has a hard time learning and has to redo the six months."

  We get inside, and he gets to the reception, where he has some documents and starts filling them out.

  "Manuel" "Had you arrived one or two months after this learning period started, we would have made you wait for the period to be over and start in the next one."

  "Hans" "Isn't that a waste of time?"

  "Manuel" "It is, but those are the rules. Besides, our teaching staff is very limited, so we can't have one person teaching only one student."

  "Hans" "I see… By the way, how many classmates will I have?"

  "Manuel" "Three, a very standard amount; most 6-month periods have between three and five students."

  Manuel finishes filling out the paperwork.

  "Manuel" "Ok, your registration is complete."

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  He puts the paperwork in a drawer.

  "Manuel" "A lot of students choose to live in the dormitories integrated into the academy, and the ones that decide to stay in this Academy, end up living in them, including myself."

  He points through the hallway; when I look, I see that outside there are some dormitories, like he just said.

  They look pretty good, definitely better than your standard university dormitories.

  "Manuel" "Do you want to move to one of them? You'll only have to pay for the water, electricity, and gas."

  "Hans" "The dormitories… Are they shared or private?"

  "Manuel" "Private."

  "Hans" "I see… Well, I can't; I live with my sister, and I can't leave her alone."

  Manuel nods.

  "Manuel" "Ok, that's perfectly fine; they are completely optional."

  He then turns around, towards the hallway opposite to the one that leads to the dormitories.

  "Manuel" "Follow me; I'll take you to a classroom in which I'll give you a brief introductory individual class so you aren't too behind compared to your classmates."

  He starts walking, so I follow him.

  "Manuel" "It'll take three hours; you'll then have a recess of half an hour, in which you will be able to meet your classmates. After the recess, you'll join your classmates in the regular classes, and tomorrow you'll do the same from the very beginning."

  We finally reach the door of the classroom.

  "Manuel" "But, you'll have to stay in a classroom with me or another teacher in some recesses so we can teach you the things that you missed in these two weeks. Don't worry, though; it'll only be for a week or so."

  "Hans" "Ok."

  After that, we enter the classroom together.

  "Manuel" "Sit down; I'll start with the most basic things you need to know."

  I sit down, and he starts his explanation.

  "Manuel" "First of all, to understand spiritual energy, you need to know that every living being has a spirit, but only humans have been capable of awakening the spirit, which makes you unlock your spiritual ability, the power that you could use last night."

  For now, this is what Zitziki told me the first time we talked.

  "Manuel" "As to why you unlocked it so suddenly? Simply, you used one of the five known methods to awaken your spirit without knowing. The method you used was to be in an extreme situation and be a descendant of someone with an unlocked spiritual ability; even if you didn't know, one of your ancestors had one—that's the only way in which you could have unlocked it."

  Is that true, Zitziki?

  You know that it isn't; you used one of the other methods, that is, to be chosen by a god as a Savior.

  You couldn't have used the method he is talking about because none of your ancestors had a spiritual ability; believe me, I checked.

  "Manuel" "I will explain to you the other four methods some other time, but the one you used is one of the most common ones."

  Can't you tell me, Zitziki?

  I could, but now that you have someone to tell you, I don't know why I should bother.

  Just be a bit patient and wait; they will tell you eventually.

  Fine, whatever.

  "Manuel" "Before explaining how spiritual abilities work, I will also tell you what the spirit is. The one we call 'God' divided themself between all living beings; his 'divinity' is what we call spirit. Of course, this isn't completely confirmed, but it has been said that this is the origin of the spirit since ancient times."

  Huh? The divinity of God? Is that true, Zitziki?

  Dammit, don't you get tired of asking me questions?

  …Yeah, yeah, that's somewhat true.

  …Somewhat?

  "Manuel" "Now, to spiritual abilities, basically, when you awake your spirit, it gets connected to a specific part of the human being, not the human body, but the human being. This is important, because spiritual abilities can be in very… weird parts of the human being, like dreams."

  You also used the example of dreams for the weird spiritual abilities, didn't you?

  Well, I used it because my last Savior had that ability; they use it because a member of their group had it, but we are using the same person as an example…

  He was very unique, after all.

  "Manuel" "When you used it last night, what could you do?"

  "Hans" "I could make my bones harder."

  "Manuel" "So your spirit is probably connected to your bones. Which bones, though? We'll find out in the following days."

  I already know that it's every bone, but I guess I don't care that much.

  "Manuel" "With that I have explained the most basic things; now I'll explain some more difficult things. Have you had any problem following for now?"

  "Hans" "No, everything has been very comprehensible for now."

  Manuel nods and starts explaining again.

  "Manuel" "There are gods in this world; I don't mean the God I talked about before, nor the one from Christianity or Islam, neither the ones from Nordic, Greek, and Egyptian mythologies. These gods are only known by spiritual users."

  Oh? Is he going to teach me about you?

  Probably.

  "Manuel" "There are a lot of gods, probably hundreds or even thousands, but they are divided by groups: the minor gods, the soldier gods, and the noble gods. The only really important ones are the noble gods, as, apart from a few soldier gods, they are the only ones we know."

  He turns around and makes ten '-'s on the blackboard behind him.

  "Manuel" "There are 10 noble gods, and we know of their existence because every century, at least one of these gods chooses a Savior. A Savior is someone that can communicate with the god that chooses them and also has some special abilities, apart from their spiritual ones."

  "Manuel" "The Human Spirit has had several Saviors among its members through the course of history; in the current times, we have two."

  Well, actually, three now.

  Hahaha, yeah, but they don't even know it.

  "Manuel" "Now, I'll quickly explain to you the ten noble gods."

  He writes a name in the first '-' on the blackboard.

  "Manuel" "First, we have Deimos, the god of nature and also the king of the gods."

  "Hans" "King of the gods?"

  "Manuel" "Among the noble gods, there is always a member that has the most power and importance; this is the king of the gods."

  After that, he writes a second name.

  "Manuel" "Next, we have Zitziki, the god of blood; this is probably the god we know the most about, as it's known that he has been consistently choosing a Savior every century for, at least, the last two millennia. He is the only god that always chooses one; the Human Spirit has had two Saviors that were chosen by Zitziki, but I can't tell you about them yet."

  He writes the next name.

  "Manuel" "Limni, the goddess of the sword, one of the two current Saviors in the Human Spirit, was chosen by her."

  And the next one.

  "Manuel" "Fotein, the god of mysteries, the other current Savior, was chosen by him."

  He then starts to go through them quickly.

  "Manuel" "Masios, the god of space; Perantos, the god of philosophy; Glaros, the goddess of gold; and Nisi, the goddess of bunnies. This last one is very mysterious, as even if the other gods can represent abstract concepts, being the goddess of bunnies is something very… unique. She is also the last goddess to join the noble gods; she has only been one for two centuries."

  Right, the newbie; even the Human Spirit is older than her rank.

  "Manuel" "Next is Pantre, the god of stars; we know that one of his Saviors was one of the founders of the Human Spirit."

  He then writes the last name on the blackboard.

  "Manuel" "Finally, Loudi, the goddess of luck—we know very little about her, as she has never chosen a Savior; the little we know is what the gods have told their Saviors. Most importantly, she is the oldest member of the noble gods, although she has never been king, or queen in this case, of the gods."

  So those are the noble gods. I must admit, this is very interesting.

  Maybe I'll tell you more about us some other time.

  "Manuel" "For now, this is everything you need to know about the gods, but you'll learn more about them and other known gods in the coming months."

  He pauses for a moment and then looks at me with seriousness.

  "Manuel" "Now, I will tell you about one of the greatest dangers that spiritual users have to handle, and the opposite of gods: Demons."