Weight of Divinity

The gods are checking out. It’s been centuries since the four big deities actually did anything besides hide behind divine laws and silence. People still pray, but only the lesser gods bother to answer. Meanwhile, deep under the dirt and ruins, something old and hungry is waking up. The fifth seal just snapped. Riven is seventeen and, frankly, a mistake. At least, that’s what the world thinks. He’s a demigod in a place where being one is a sin—the byproduct of a god who took what he wanted from Riven’s mother and vanished. Riven’s spent his life being the guy people look through, not at. He’s got a good heart, but in a world this cold, being a "nice guy" doesn't get you much. Then everything changes. The lesser god of Kaldera announces the Ascendant competition—a last-ditch effort by the four "real" gods to find someone to fight the war they’re too weak to handle. When Riven’s name gets called as one of the five candidates, the city goes dead silent. The deal is brutal: Five demigods. One trial. One winner. Then, fifteen years to trek across four hellish regions, grab four divine artifacts, and somehow get a blessing from every god on the continent. All of that just for a chance to face a corrupted deity that the gods themselves couldn't kill—only bury. Riven is starting from zero. No team, no fancy training, no head start. The other candidates have been groomed for this their whole lives. All Riven has is a bit of thunder in his palms, a scrap of his father’s soul on a chain, and a stubborn streak a mile wide. His siblings are faster, the world wants him dead, and the clock is ticking. And down in the dark, that ancient thing is watching him. Weight of Divinity is a story about a kid everyone hated becoming the one thing they all need. It’s about the crushing weight of your bloodline, the cost of outgrowing your past, and trying to give hope to people who forgot what the word even means.