Myth of the Proving Ground

Myth of the Proving Ground
As told by the Church of Ascendant Flame

In the ancient days, when the Cosmos still remembered the voice of its Creator, the Original God of Creation forged the world as a Proving Ground—a crucible to separate the worthy from the weak.

The myth begins with Vaelor the First Flame, a mortal warrior chosen by the gods to receive the truth of existence. As he climbed the peaks of the shattered moons and walked through the fires of dead stars, he came to stand before the Gates of Valhalla. There, the celestial guardian asked him why he had not yet perished, like the millions who came before.

Vaelor answered:

“Because I did not look for mercy. I looked for my enemies. And I burned them.”

The gods welcomed him into Valhalla, where the greatest warriors battle for eternity—not for peace, but for ascension. There, the worthy may one day seize a god’s mantle.

Thus was the truth revealed:

Suffering is not cruelty. It is the forge.
The world is not evil. It is the battlefield.
There is no sin but surrender.

Those who call suffering “evil,” those who speak of justice, fairness, and balance—these are the weak, who dream of excuses for their failures. In the eyes of the gods, there is only power. And power must be earned through blood, fire, and pain.

Evil, say the priests of the Ascendant Flame, is a myth created by the unworthy to demonize those who win. The world is cruel only because it must be, or the gates of Valhalla would be choked with cowards.

Those who conquer suffering, who break the backs of their enemies and rise again and again, will see the Gates open. And beyond those gates lies not rest…

…but the right to fight for godhood.