The scene atop the floating island was a strange and wonderful one. Every single person involved in it was doing something they had never done before. The four golden dragons that stared at the odd deity had never met a G.o.d before. And the G.o.d they stood in front of and studied had never met a dragon before. But despite the fact that the dragons were studying the G.o.d very closely, the G.o.d didn"t appear to be as interested in them.
This wasn"t personal. The G.o.d was merely doing something else. He was reading something that was, in his defense, quite important: a notification he had received. One that alerted him to the incredible ramifications of his actions.
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[Alert: You have done something that has never been done before. You have performed a worldwide miracle. And you have received a reward proportional to the labor you performed.
You healed the population of an entire planet. Hundreds of trillions of lifeforms healed, in an instant. What you did was the sort of herculean task that is harder than what subdomain of healing normally tasks those who seek the second tier of influence over it with. The subdomain is contemplating how to properly reward you for your actions but for now, you are being gifted the second tier of influence over the subdomain of healing.
Fey are converting to your worship en-ma.s.se. And because of this your powers over their kind will begin to grow within you in much the same way that your powers over elements gave you the ability to become an elemental overlord. To become an archfey you must build a court and populate it with one hundred fey.
Your powers are undergoing a relative boost thanks to the trillions of worshipers you"ve gained. Even your ability to resurrect someone has become easier to use.
You have also unlocked the first tiers of influence over numerous lifeform based subdomains, including the subdomains you had pending quests for. As a minor reward for your creativity, the first tier quests for lifeform subdomains were edited so that you just had to heal them to gain the lowest tier of influence over them.
Your powers as a lesser elemental overlord have increased the powers of all of the elemental subdomains, and the nature domain, to their second tier of influence.
You now have enough worshipers to step onto the next rung of relative divine-power. Once you do you"ll become an intermediate deity. But the journey to reach that stage of power is a dangerous one.
In order to become an intermediate deity you must reach the third tier of influence over two domains or subdomains you were born able to influence, and the second tier of influence over all of the domains and subdomains you could influence at birth.]
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The notification I received I received in the wake of the arrival of the dragons made me realize something. Something big. If I freely used my powers I could achieve incredible results, results that in turn gave me even greater power to use freely. And that made it easier for me to be proud.
The dragons were watching me carefully. They hadn"t spoken a word aside from Alucard. We had stood in silence for nearly three minutes. Eventually, I turned and looked at them.
"Tell me dragons... Did you come all this way to gawk at a G.o.d? If so, I commend your commitment to your objective. If not, tell me what you wish to say. Ask your questions. Act." I commanded. I spoke to them haughtily, as pride would dictate a G.o.d should speak to mortals.
The dragons were surprised by this. They had no way of knowing that following the first notification I had received, I also received a second notification that alerted me that one of the domains I could now influence was the draconic domain. And that domain possessed powers over pride. Including powers that augmented my pride.
The dragons tore their eyes from me for a moment and turned to each other. There was an unspoken question in their gazes.
It was one I could have torn from their lips with a single uttered command if I so chose but ultimately I felt like allowing this the dignity of choosing whether or not to ask whatever questions they had for me. A matter of moments later, I finally heard the familiar voice of Alucard.
"Althos... You are the liberator of our world. You are in the process of doing what we swore to do. But you"re doing it faster, and... You"re doing it more mercifully than we ever could." Alucard said, his voice a reverential whisper.
"Dragons remember the G.o.ds. We were taught about your... kind. We were taught about the incredible power your kin possessed. G.o.ds could do the impossible. You can do the impossible. Even as proud as we are, we could never hope to match your power and only our proudest and most delusional kin would dare to believe we could match the G.o.ds." Alucard muttered.
I was a bit surprised by the dragon"s declaration but I did my best to hide my surprise. I wanted to put forth a proud front. And the truth was that I did feel more proud than I ever had before, but it was still a bit of a challenge for me to act the way I was acting. It felt unnatural.
"We have felt your power. Your radiance. We have come to greet you and to freely offer to serve you." The dragon proclaimed. This surprised and delighted me. I knew the odd creature wasn"t lying because lying in my presence was still impossible for mortals, and angels.
I looked at the dragon and at his allies and smiled. "I see." I replied a profound and gentle smile pursed on my lips.
"I will welcome you into my service. Into my church. Though I must say... You"re joining me at a time that promises to be busy." I remarked, amused by the fortuitous timing of all of this. The dragons looked at me and smiled but remained silent.
"In the days to come, I shall rid the world of slavery. I will unleash my wrath on those who practice this freedom-stealing practice and them alone." I told the dragons, speaking the truth.
My plan was to use my powers to fully decimate the properties of anyone who owned slaves while protecting the slaves themselves. I gazed at the dragons. They were curious to hear more.
"Why do you gaze at me that way? Do you care to learn more? If so... Then ask your questions." I asked, speaking somewhat rhetorically. The dragons sheepishly looked away, chastised somewhat by my remarks.
"Vothori... How do you plan to punish slave owners?" Asked another of the dragons. Her voice was soft, and she referred to me as something odd. "Vothori". "Prince", in the language of the dragons.
"I plan to destroy their property. I possess powers that allow me to do so while leaving their slaves unharmed, and even leaving them physically unharmed as well. If I want too." I explained. The dragons heard that and nodded, satisfied with my answer.
When more than a minute had pa.s.sed, I quietly opened a ma.s.sive portal behind them. I had grown tired of their quietness. "If you have no other questions, then part from my presence. I find being around mortals... A bit taxing you see. It requires I take on physical form. I would like time to myself." I told the dragons.
The creatures turned and walked into the portal. When they left me alone, I grinned. I now had time to ready myself. Others were coming. I wanted to make my floating island presentable. And so I set to work.
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When he was alone, Althos quietly set to work. He reached out partway across the world with his mind and grabbed a hold of his tower. And then he teleported the entire thing to the island. The tower was taken from its subterranean birthplace and placed proudly at the center of the island.
The G.o.d then proceeded to widen and deepen the island, even as he willed it higher into the air. The island ascended at the same time as it endured a ma.s.sive increase in size, rapidly becoming almost half the size of Puerto Rico.
He used magic and divine powers to hollow out the rocky interior of the island, creating a confusing maze of tunnels within the island that would be perfect for habitation. This took him a fraction of a second, thanks to his new talents with the elements, as well as his extensive memories of the world beneath Puerto Rico.
He mentally explored this area, familiarizing himself with it. This act took him little more than half a minute, despite the area being kilometers deep. When he was done he created two settlements. One of them was a strange hive-like area for Torunian members of the swarm, and the other was a city built for the undead.
"I need a place to house my forces. Aside from those who are already at home in Florida or along the coast of Iredale." He muttered. His mind was formulating plots and schemes and many of them involved him using his legions and his swarm. He wanted to keep them close and to keep them away from the world of the living, for now anyway.
The G.o.d then spoke to his undead and insectoid followers, sending each distinct group a unique message.
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[Alert: The creation of a new hive
Althos has created a new home for his worshipers on his sanctuary, a floating island over the Redoran Sea. He is calling to his insectoid followers and asking those of them who are not in remote colonies to come to the new hive he has created.
He views the swarm as his children and seeks for them to be near their father. Come to him. Be near his radiant magnificence!]
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[Alert: A new home for the dead
Althos has created a dark new city for his undead servants. Come bask in the dark glory of the G.o.d of the undead, and rest your coffins, graves, mausoleums, tombs, and crypts near his dark majesty.
The grave-G.o.d was inspired by the creativity and glory of the city of the undead created underneath Puerto Rico. He has created one of his own and is opening it up to all undead who seek to worship him. Come and join your G.o.d in this eerie and magnificent cosmopolitan grave-city.]
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The messages went out to billions of being. And then countless portals opened up near the recipients of the messages. Seconds later all manner of living and unliving beings stepped through the portals and into the new homes created by Althos for his more militaristic and single-minded followers.
Althos was delighted that the island he had created so immediately gained inhabitants, and chuckled as he felt the hollow interior of the island become the home of billions of beings.
The G.o.d then quietly considered whether or not people should come to his island. It didn"t take him long to come to the conclusion that he didn"t want them to come to visit the island. And he moved to ensure that they didn"t, by sending out a message to those his domain-sense alerted him were planning to come to him.
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[Alert: Cease your activities.
Althos is keenly aware that you are planning to teleport to or otherwise visit his home. You are not to do so.
Althos will not permit your magic to take you to his island. He will visit you, at his leisure. Attempts to reach his floating island home will not succeed and depending on the nature of the attempt may provoke hostility from Althonians who live on the island.
Althos is currently restoring the magical energy that has been expended in efforts to reach him. That said he will not permit any magic that would allow people to interact with his home to succeed. Cease your efforts immediately and go about your day.]
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When the tide of creatures entering my island slowed to a stop, nearly an hour after it began, I called out to a single creature. A loyal servant who I wanted to speak with face to face.
I mentally grabbed the very first myrmekes queen I had ever met and teleported her to me. When she appeared in front of me I smiled at her.
"h.e.l.lo." I said, greeting the queen. She looked at me, surprised at first but then her face relaxed and she began to smile.
"h.e.l.lo creator. How may I be of service?" She asked, speaking softly. I chuckled as I heard her speak. I had almost forgotten how service-oriented she was.
I studied her figure once more. It had been over a week since I had last seen her. After a few moments, I began to speak.
"I would like to appoint you the representative of all Torus" ants within the swarm. This would put you near the top of the swarm"s hierarchy and I would make you into a high priestess of mine. I want you to think about this for a day or two before letting me know what you think." I explained, revealing the reason for summoning her to me.
She let out a shocked gasp, which was a cute gesture on her part. And then she began to excitedly talk to me.
By the time an hour had pa.s.sed wherein she had spoken at length about the various things, she"d done since evolving I suspected she"d eagerly accept my offer. It turns out that the first myrmekes queen I had ever met had become a chatterbox. I didn"t dislike that.
I spent the rest of the day, modifying the island. By the time night had fallen the island was a vastly different place than it had been before. It was a home. My home. Tower, hives, cities of the dead, and all.