Noax was gone. His body was the world.
But what of his soul?
When Noax shattered, his soul broke into billions of tiny specks.
These specks fell onto the new earth like rain.
They mixed with the mud. They stood up.
They were small. They were weak. They had no claws, no fangs, no magic.
These were the Humans.
Brave Sun looked down from the sky. "Disgusting ants. They are weak."
Starry Wisdom looked down from the night. "Useless dust. They are stupid."
But they were wrong.
Because Noax had swallowed Hope before he died.
Every human had a tiny, invisible spark of Hope buried in their chest.
And they had one more thing. They had Emptiness.
Because they had no power of their own, they could hold any power. They were empty vessels, waiting to be filled.