I clicked on the insectoid head in my mind"s eye. Doing so caused me to suddenly see a new notification. [Swarm Selection:
Welcome to the swarm selection menu. This unusual menu was unlocked when you gained influence over considerable numbers of insects, and is the result of you mixing three subdomains: corruption, agriculture, and vermin.]
That notification vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Fortunately for me, by now I had slowly begun to notice that I could perfectly recall the contents of every notification I had received to date, even ones that came and went in a blur.
A second later a new menu showed itself in my mind"s eyes.
[Swarm Selection Menu:
Soldier Ant: Soldier ants are the fierce warrior caste of ant-kind and they perform both offensive and defensive functions for their colonies. You currently have influence over 700 soldier ants.
Worker Ant: Worker ants are non-reproductive female ants. They can perform defensive functions but are most commonly known as being the scouts and foragers of ant-kind. You control over 1250 worker ants.
Other kinds of ants insect. Drone ants and ant queens exist. Additionally, this has begun to grant you influence over the insect subdomain, and as you increase your influence over this subdomain you"ll be able to increase the strength of your swarm and eventually it"ll enable you to forcefully evolve members of your swarm and grant them other powers and abilities.
Command: 1/1 usages left for today
Dream: Unlimited usages but this would require an ant with greater intelligence, such as an ant queen, to be used on. That said, clever usages of this ability could be used to subtly influence ants and eventually other insects in your swarm.]
I visually explored the menu for a second, before willing it away. Once the thing was gone I immediately closed my eyes and allowed for the not-so-mini-map to fill up my view once more.
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Mentally exploring the mini-map in my head, I focused on the areas where hundreds of tiny dot were situated. I spent a few moments locating "Drone ants" and "Ant queens" and familiarizing myself with where the things were located on the minimap since they were the main ants I had missed the first time I set off a fruit storm near the braver and more outgoing ants.
I quickly cast "Create food" dozens of times, spreading the strange and eldritch food I can create throughout the parts of the forest populated by ants. It took perhaps a few seconds before my notifications started to go crazy again. In fairness, I had created over three times more food than before, as I was determined to make being thorough a habit.
That said, being prepared allowed me to weather this storm with little more than a sigh of annoyance. I sat down next to my new friend and waited until the notifications had pa.s.sed. That took around half an hour due to the sheer number of ants I had to wait to gain influence over.
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Once I had gained influence over all of the ants in this segment of the forest, nearly 7,000 little fellows who were now influenced by me. I stood up and beckoned for my caiman companion to ready itself for travel.
"Come on little guy it"s time we now go meet one of my other friends." I told the thing, excitedly.
The caiman, now thoroughly influenced by my powers and effectively sedated while in my presence clambered off of its feet and turned to look at me. I grinned and began to walk, starting off quite slow to ensure that my awkward crocodilian companion was able to keep up without any difficulties.
The thing began to follow me, and it moved deceptively fast. I was impressed with my companion and so to reward its efforts I softly scratched the s.p.a.ce between the predator"s eyes. It made a deep sound, a guttural, pleasant one that emanated from the back of its throat. I grinned, and each step took me closer and closer to my goblin ally, the little creature I had saved once: Troik.
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By the time I had trekked deep enough into the forest to reunite with my little green buddy he was beginning to make his way back to his own home. Fortunately, I was able to catch him before he could get close to the outskirts of his tiny tribe.
I caught the little guy in a tiny clearing, one where the first stars to appear in the skies could be seen if someone looked straight up into the sky. The goblin had begun to nervously draw his weapon when he heard me emerging in the distance but dropped the tiny knife he used in self-defense when he realized who I was.
The goblin cheered and began to run at me when he realized who I was. He ran perhaps a few dozen meters on short, stubbly legs, before actually reaching me.
When the goblin reached me the thing leaped into the air and began to cackle madly. I grinned and accepted the thing"s energetic greeting by catching him in mid-air and hugging him close. He smelled of wild things, leaves, fruits, trees, mud, and dirt.
"Whoa, you"re so excitable." I told the tiny creature, laughing as he began to make excited noises. He was light and easy to hold. My newest companion looked at me, visibly confused and agitated by this sudden outburst of activity.
I gestured for the creature to relax, nodding at it and gesturing to the ground calmly. The caiman did as I suggested, and sat down, crushing several meters of gra.s.s underneath its prodigious length.
"I am! I am very excit... excited! You came back!" Troik told me. There was a sort of familiar manic energy in his voice. I chuckled.
"It"s good to see you Troik. I missed you," I told him, somewhat honestly. If I was being honest, his energy was kind of a lot. But he was nice, to me anyway, and if I said that I liked seeing him again I"d mean it. "How has today been? It doesn"t seem like you"ve hit anymore traps." I asked the goblin.
Before the thing could answer me, I cast "Abate Sickness" on him. I did that to ensure that he wouldn"t be possessed anymore. I didn"t want my friend to lose control of his body, unwillingly, again and I had the power to intercede and ensure that he didn"t.
"Today has been good. No more mishaps!" He told me, happily. At that point, he leaped out of my arms and landed on his feet. The goblin looked up at me admiringly after successfully landing on his feet.
I grinned at the little guy, happy to hear that. That news was itself a minor defeat of a fear of mine; that the creature"s mysterious possessor would still be able to affect it even from a distance and even without possessing it. I wasn"t 100% sure that my strange foe was completely stymied by my actions but at least for a day my friend had been able to be himself.
It was at that moment that the creature volunteered something surprised. His voice piped up as he did so.
"And my friends really liked the fruit that spirit... Cosecha, gave us. It was delicious! They even told me they"d pray again tonight!" Troik volunteered, giving me totally unexpected and positively delightful news.
"Oh really? That"s wonderful!" I told my friend. I knew that they had eaten the fruit, as one of the things I had done earlier while walking to this part of the forest was check out which creatures I had "influence" over and seen the names of the goblins who had prayed to my persona last night.
Troik grinned at me, proud of his success, and the part of my brain that seized on opportunities began to quietly scheme.
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In the safety of my mind, I began to consider how to capitalize on this. A not so small part of my brain wanted to quietly step into the dreams of Troik"s friends and hint at my divinity to them. I wanted to carefully sow the seeds for a cult to begin to exist that revered me, and this was as good a chance as any. And so I began to ask questions.
"Hey system, is there a limit on my ability to grant magic to mortals? Aside from that I can only grant healing spells to my followers I mean." I asked, my mental voice polite and curious.
[Actually, there isn"t. You can grant spells under domains you control to as many people as you want. You can also write out the notification that those being granted magic will gain. If you wish to state that you are yourself and not your persona, that"s perfectly fine but you can also lie.] The system told me, its mechanical voice causing me to feel considerable excitement at that moment.
"Excellent! Can I attach minor conditions to the granting of the spells? Like I can require that someone publicly, visibly pray to me before they can cast them? I"d like to make my worshipers perform public acts of devotion." I inquired, slowly beginning to see how far I could go with this newfound and potentially wonderful ability.
[We like that you are scheming, and are delighted to inform you that you absolutely can attach requirements to the acquisitions of the spells. Once we free up the "faith" domain you"ll be able to fully see the sorts of requirements you can attach to granted spells, but for now, just know that demanding that a creature who is granted magic by you pray before they can use your magic is totally doable.] My mental companion revealed, eagerness slipping into its robotic voice.
I grinned, beginning to envision the possibilities that the domain of magic had opened up to me. I could already imagine the possibilities before me. I already knew what I was going to do tonight: sneak into goblin dreams and make first contact with more of Troik"s friends.
And like that, I began to spend the next hour with my goblin friend. We discussed his day, my day, and something he was surprisingly pa.s.sionate about; the mysterious spirit, Cosecha. Before long it was time for me to begin to head back home.
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I watched my goblin companion begin to vanish from view. He was walking home so that he"d get back before dark.
Shortly before he was completely gone, into the darkened depths of the forest, I reminded him of something. "Hey! Remember, Cosecha will be paying you and your friends a visit tonight. Tell them. I doubt it"ll want to spook you all. Pray tonight, and pray tomorrow morning, and you"ll get more food." I yelled, my voice carrying deep into the woods.
Troik nodded at me, his face breaking into a wide grin as he did so. I could tell the goblin was excited to share the news with his friends. And I wondered how they"d react to it. I"d be able to find out quite soon though. Knowing that made me quite excited. I turned around, and alongside my large reptilian companion began to stride back home.
My companion split off from me when I told him to head back to where I found him. I did that close to the edge of the forest, and as I did so I also cast "Create Food" near where my coyote acquaintances were. And once today"s companion of the day began to wander back into the forest I fully devoted myself to heading into back home.
I had a busy night ahead of me. One that would be filled with dream-based activity. And frankly, I was extremely excited to dive into it.