God of Destruction: Living Among Mortals

Only a day remained until the tournament started. Nova was nervous, like, gut-twisting, overthinking-everything nervous. The kind where your brain won't shut up and your hands are just... there, doing nothing helpful.

It felt like someone told an introvert to sing solo on stage in front of a thousand people, and yeah, he was that introvert. He'd trained, prepped, and run drills, but now what? There wasn't anything left to do except wait. And wait. And spiral.

He was lying on his bed, all the kittens on his chest snuggling in a warm, wiggly pile. They were only two weeks old, tiny, squishy things still figuring out what paws were even for. Their eyes were open now, but kind of cloudy, like they hadn't decided if seeing was worth the trouble.

Every few seconds, one would stretch, yawn with a ridiculous squeak, or blindly nuzzle into his hoodie like it owed them milk. Their ears were still kind of floppy, twitching at nothing. They smelled like milk and blankets and something weirdly sweet. One let out a soft hiccup. Another rolled over, legs in the air, like it just gave up on being upright. And the rest? Just sleepy little blobs, all melted into each other and him, like he was part of the kitten puddle now.

Honestly… it helped. He calmed down, his nervousness fading into oblivion, replaced with a spark of determination to win the tournament. He kissed all the kittens, as they didn't know what the fuck was happening. They just existed for now, their consciousness not triggering yet.

Then, he decided to inquire more about the tournament, if he could from the guild itself. So, he put all the kittens down on the bed, then pillows covering all the floor next to the bed, just in case a kitten were to fall. After he set up his construct, he got ready. His red, crimson eyes were shining in the early sunlight.

He walked towards the guild, which was ten minutes away, exploring how the city was organizing itself, shops opening, vendors installing their stalls. Owners walking their dogs, people running to their designated offices. Everything was coming together.

Even some awakened individuals were showing off their abilities to light the mood for the people. Nova kept walking and walking, from block to block, street to street, until he finally arrived at the guild's location.

It was huge. Like, stupidly huge. It was the kind of building that made you look like an ant in front of it. Like a rogue planet traversing the universe. The front was made of dark stone and sharp edges, with thick glass windows that reflected everything around them. Like the building was watching. Always.

Flags with the guild's symbol, an eagle with a gun, flustered in the wind like they were doing it to please the people.

Big metal doors stood at the entrance, with weird, but intricate symbols. One of them had a huge dent in it, like someone tried to punch their way in and almost succeeded. There were guards out front, not like mall cops, real ones, with gear and awakened abilities, who also looked as if they served in the military, and half cosplay.

One of the guards had a glowing spear. No idea if it was for show or if it zapped people. Maybe it even matched his ability.

Inside, Nova could already see a massive lobby through the glass. People in cloaks and armour were walking around like they belonged there, some chatting, some arguing, some just brooding in corners like it was a requirement. It smelled faintly like metal, leather, and the kind of coffee that could keep you awake for three days straight.

He looked around, impressed by the rich décor and glittering lights. The reception area and the lounge looked rich, with vaulted ceilings, dark polished wood, and even golden chandeliers that cast a magnificent, heavenly glow, which gave the room a type of warmth that suggested relaxation after a long, grueling dungeon journey.

He looked around to see if anyone could help, but then realized that all of the lines led to the receptionist. So, he had to wait in one of the lines to even get help for the tournament at hand. He got in line, which was about twenty to thirty people long, still one of the shorter ones. He waited, sighing as he realized that it was going to take a while.

More people entered the guild, all of them looked like Adventurers. He saw the Circle of Pillars on some of them, with four to five pillars, representing C-to-B-rank Adventurers. They looked to be at least thirty, some in their mid-twenties, but the average age was thirty. He saw others with a cross on their Circle of Pillars, looking about forty, with two vertical pillars. He realized that gaining pillars and crosses would take a while, especially since most people who had a cross on their Circle of Pillars were at least forty.

This didn't give him hope, since he was eighteen when he came to Earth, and it could, theoretically, take him another twenty-two years just to get a cross. But he knew that wasn't going to happen, not by a long shot.

As the line moved after nearly ten minutes of waiting, Nova heard distant muttering. It was the guys in front of him, in the line to the right. There were four boys. Three of them looked like a trio in the squad. Then, as the mutters grew louder and louder, most people ignored them, as they looked like they knew one of the boys, which caught Nova's attention.

In the center of the three boys was a lonely-looking kid, with glasses, who looked like he stuttered. The trio looked like they had ganged up on him, making him their slave. One of the boys had their hands around the boy's neck, grinning at him with malice.

Then, the boy who grinned spoke up, and even his tone dripped with evil intentions: "You know, you have been a bitch lately. We keep telling you we want something, and you just ignore us. Why is that? Huh, fuckface."

Nova didn't like the way they talked to the boy and wanted to step up, but realized he was outnumbered and that he couldn't get in trouble with the guild, as the competition was just a day away, and he needed to win the tournament for himself and the kittens.

He watched them in the background, silently listening to everything. Keeping an eye out for when things get out of hand.