Techno

Techno was born a long time ago. He cannot remember what his parents looked like, but he knew that they were farmers. His parents were simple people, he remembered. They would rise with the sun to take care of the animals and cultivate the fields that had been passed down to them by their ancestors. They would work all day long before settling into the house for dinner. They would pray to the gods before every meal like normal god-fearing people. Techno can hardly remember these meals or the prayers, but he knows that they happened. He knows that he used to play with hand-carved wooden toys in a small bedroom. He knows that his mother used to braid his pink hair when the moon was sinking below the horizon. He remembers how his father taught him how to use the farming tools.

Eventually, his parents died. He doesn't remember how old he was, and he doesn't remember who died first or if they died together. He just remembers inheriting his family's farmlands and the small, quiet wooden cabin that looked down upon the fields. Techno remembers putting all his toys away in a closet as he followed in his parents footsteps. He rose with the sun to cultivate the fields. He worked with the animals all day long. He would come back to his house to make himself a simple meal from the potatoes and other vegetables he had on hand. He did not pray like his parents did, but he didn't take down the religious memorabilia they put up, either. Every month, he would take his father's horse and the wagon to the nearby village. He would sell his crops to anyone who wanted them. He sold them for whatever people were willing to pay, and he managed to scrape together enough gold coins every month to pay his taxes.

Techno lived at the edge of the Antarctic Empire where the strength and might of the capital didn't reach. He didn't care about any of that. He was not concerned with the government. He allowed them to exist as long as he was allowed to exist, and he left it at that. The tax collectors would drop by every month for a sack of coins. Techno eventually started leaving the pouch at his mailbox to avoid speaking with anyone affiliated with the capital, even if that affiliation was a weak one at best.

In fact, Techno liked avoiding people altogether. The villagers he lived near would always spread rumors about him. Apparently, they did not know his parents. His parents had found some other way to get enough gold coins to pay their taxes, and they had not shared this way with Techno before they left him solitude. He only minded because this mysterious way could have prevented him from being around anyone.

He was in the village one day, contemplating how to get gold coins without having to talk to people when he heard rumors about the forest that grew along the empire's eastern border. The forest separated the people of the east from the ocean, and it was filled to the brim with wild animals. This was a problem because that meant only the people of the west could collect ocean delicacies, and the cost to transport fish and other seafood was becoming more expensive. The royal family wasn't doing anything to fix this issue. They did not lower the tax nor did they try to find a way to exterminate the hostile animals in the forest to create a suitable path. The villagers were growing extremely frustrated with it. This frustration escalated to the point where the local lords came together to make a solution. Any group of adventurers who would go into the forest to make a clean path would be exempt from paying taxes for the rest of their lives. Techno agreed to the terms, and he volunteered to do it even though he was a lone man without a party. People laughed and pitied him, but no one stopped him as he took a wooden bow, arrows, and a sickle into the forest. He rode on his father's horse.

The moment he entered the forest, he started exterminating any animal that dared cross paths with him. Although nothing could be as good as his potatoes, Techno became proficient at cooking the meat of a wide variety of animals. He even found himself reaching the eastern sea. He used his sickle to cut through the ice, and he was able to try some of the highly sought after seafood for himself. He didn't think it was good enough for the high taxes on it or the wide rebuttal people had towards it. Techno shrugged, though, because who was he to criticize people's weird tastes?

Techno lost his horse at one point. The animal got spooked by a bear, and it ran off before Techno could calm him. Techno was forced to take down the bear. It was a tough fight, but he was able to kill the beast before it killed him. Techno tried locating his father's horse, covered in the blood of the bear and other creatures. He only found the horse's corpse. Despite not being religious, Techno prayed for the horse's safe passage to the next life. Techno left the corpse for the scavengers and soil as he continued on his journey to take down as many monsters as he could. He had been keeping track of how many he killed. He had strung up a couple of heads on his horse, but he now had to carry them with him.

Techno reached the very northeastern part of the world. He was able to see the ocean laid out before him, the horizon being swallowed up by darkness. No one knew what was beyond the ocean. Techno wasn't one of those people that wanted to find out. He was content with his little world. It didn't matter to him if humanity found something across the ocean. Techno just thought the view was rather beautiful. The ocean was such a dark blue, almost purple near the horizon, and it was dotted with glowing cyan ice chunks. There was something magical about the infinite ocean.

It was this time that Techno found himself in the presence of gods. Ever since he was a child, he heard the soft whispers of voices in the corner of his mind. The voices weren't loud enough to be a concern back then. Now that he was hunting beasts in the forest, the voices were loud enough to influence his decisions. They told him about the weaknesses and strengths of the monsters he was fighting. The voices taught him how to fight with the weapons he had brought with him. They had even led him through a proper prayer for his father's horse.

Now, the voices had taken a corporeal form in front of him. One of the voices, the male one, had taken the shape of a snow-white hair with large, unblinking eyes reflecting back the suffering of mankind. The female voice had taken the shape of a large, spotted gray bird of prey. The two voices stared at Techno, and he stared right back at them. No words were spoken verbally, but Techno was overcome with an intense feeling that brought him to his knees. The polar bear and the bird approached him like predators stalking prey, but the animals did not attack him. They instead talked to him, revealing their name and purpose.

They were the Twin Blood Gods, War and Valor. They presided over bravery, strategy, and bloodshed. Their enemies called them the spirits of fear and dread. Their allies called them the angels of victory and peace. They were born from a neighboring dimension called the Nether, the fiery hellscape of damnation. They had come to this world centuries ago, and they became the gods of the Antarctic Empire's people. They were back when the empire was a bunch of tribes that constantly fought over resources and land. The gods thrived in the environment, blessing people and cursing others. Eventually, the tribes were consolidated under a central power that later became the Imperial Family and the Great Stag, Aeor. The Blood Gods were still worshiped in the Empire, but they were relegated to background gods behind Aeor.

To strengthen their influence in the modern day, the Twin Blood Gods chose Techno to serve as their champion. Techno had no reason to refuse, so he agreed. After becoming the champion of the Blood Gods, he returned to his village with a multitude of heads and scars on his body. The villagers were terrified of him, and he was quickly escorted to a temple. The priests determined that he wasn't lying when he said that he killed the majority of the animals in the eastern forest. He tried to leave, demanding that they take him off the tax payroll. Techno was presented to the reverend, one of the last followers of the Blood Gods. The reverend gave Techno the location of an ancient beast that would need to be killed. Techno wanted to refuse, but the twin gods pestered him into accepting. He eventually relented. He killed the beast with an axe that the reverend had given to him. When he came back with the monster's head, the people of the church gave him the title 'Blade' and marked him as the champion of the Blood Gods.

That was the true origin of the infamous Blade of the Antarctic Empire. He wasn't some grand savior or powerful demigod. He was a normal human being that two gods took an interest in. He supposed that he had surpassed human limitations at some point, but he didn't take the time to figure out what he was now. He definitely wasn't a god or a human, so what did that make him? Techno preferred not to answer unnecessary questions such as that. He would rather fight battles and plant crops on the side.

King Wilbur placed Techno in charge of a special unit. This military unit was composed of people who were much more powerful than the average soldier. Techno, for instance, was the champion of the Blood God. He was powerful, bloodthirsty, and insanely strong. Niki was placed in this group. She was much more agile than the average person, and she had the ability to manipulate water in all its various forms. She used the power of Leviathan as if it was always hers, and this made her a deadly adversary. Kristin and Tommy were also put in this unit. Although they were good swordsmen, the real reason they were placed in the unit was because of their Touches of Death and Life, respectively. Techno had seen both in action. They were strong enough to be able to sap away at his energy and strengthen his already great power. Wilbur's companions were also put in the unit. Philza was a Fae avian who was a lot more powerful than Techno originally thought. The other companion, too, was stronger than Techno would suspect. Shrub wasn't powerful in the slightest, but the god who possessed her body, Lilka, was enough to give Techno a run for his money.

Techno named his unit the Syndicate, and he gave them all code names. Niki was called Nemesis, Kristin was called Nyx, Tommy was called Apollo, Philza was called Zepherys, Shrub and Lilka shared the name Pan, and Techno took on the name Protesilaus. The Syndicate was Wilbur's trump card, apparently, and they were going to go after Schlatt's strongest including the demon Xornoth.

Although she wasn't part of the Syndicate and had her own unit, Techno liked to consider Captain Puffy as an unofficial member. He called her Thetis, and she accepted that name without asking why she needed a nickname. She even trained with Techno. He was better than her- he usually was- but she wasn't a weak person, either. She was even able to teach Techno some new tricks with a sword and throwing knives. His preferred weapon was an axe, but he didn't mind knowing about a wide variety of weapons. She was also a decent person to talk to. Techno didn't normally like talking to people, but he made an exception to exchange stories with Captain Puffy.

Another unofficial member was Lethe, also known as Ranboo. He wasn't a strong person by any means. He couldn't beat anyone in a fight. He couldn't outwit them. But he was Techno's friend, and he was an important person considering the simple fact that he was an Enderman from another dimension with a drake accompanying him. Ranboo was getting better at using weapons, though, and it seemed like he was making some progress in Enderian studies. Ranboo had even shown off his new ability to teleport short distances. With more practice, Ranboo would be able to teleport much farther away.

Techno, despite everything, was starting to like the people around him. He wanted to keep them safe and happy. It was unfortunate that he finally had people when they were going into a war that not all of them would make it through.