Is God

This is a Western fantasy web novel of roughly 1.93 million Chinese characters, serialized on Qidian by the author Luan, who at the time used the pen name "Fish's Sky," from February to November 2010. The story is set in a world where "magic must draw on the power of the gods": to become a mage, one must sign a contract with a god. Nine-year-old Gaia Lauren is taken in and raised by the village chief of Mathu Village; he is born with elven blood, and a second divine artifact, "Confinement," is hidden within him. When he discovers in the Magic Hall that he cannot form a contract with any god, his mentor declares him "abandoned by the gods"; Gaia answers: "If I can't contract with a god, there's another possibility—I am a god too." That declaration becomes the starting point of his fate. Gaia then leaves Mathu Village for the magic academy, training in both magic and martial arts, and through academy sparring and journeys across the continent he investigates the destruction of Mathu Village and the extermination of the elves, gradually discovering his own origins. Together with his friend Gemant Fizer he travels the continent's ruins, is drawn into the conflicts of the Rosa Temple, cults, and the realm of the gods, meets Nailan, Selin, Meisha, Daisy, and others, and moves from brotherhood with Shade to enmity. He is once chosen as the vessel for the resurrection of Satou, his fate manipulated by Tonas, but ultimately grasps the power of destruction on his own and receives the power of creation from the previous chief god, Jiawei, becoming an enforcing god who commands both laws, defeating Satou and Tonas, rescuing Fizer, and reuniting with his companions, his mount, and his love in the realm of the gods. The work proceeds in three stages—academy growth, continental adventure, and conflict in the realm of the gods—and includes such classic elements as contracts, divine artifacts, magical beasts, dragons, elves, and deities. It is the early Western fantasy epic Luan wrote before Full-Time Magister.