Althos' wings beat slowly as he flew out over the wastes. Little more than the tallest sand dunes in the area could come close to touching him and in the air, he could see for kilometers. He wasn't sure why he had wanted to go out to do this, but something about it felt right at the time and as he sailed over the horizon he realized that even as he did it something really did feel right about it.
"This is fun!" He told no one in particular.
He looked out and scanned the horizon for anything of interest. Sadly, just like the first time that he had flown over the sandy wastes of the infernian desert, this area seemed to be little more than a massive and barren waste. His radar told him that some creatures lived under the sand or underground, but nothing approached him via the sky.
"It must be because we aren't far from Bastille." He told himself, as he soared over a particularly tall sand dune. He narrowly evaded the thing, intentionally waiting until the last minute to climb out of the way just to get his blood flowing.
"Now that's an experience!" He said, grinning as flew to new heights. And then he allowed his mind to wander to something more serious, for just a moment. As he took off from the dark cathedral minutes ago he had briefly recalled one of his more eerie powers.
Reconstitution... He thought for a moment, recalling it again. "I wonder if I could use it to craft a body for a soul..." He asked, thinking aloud. And then he heard a sinister chuckle from one of the domains that sometimes talked to him: the domain of necromancy.
[Of course, you can. Once you create a body... you just don't animate the thing and then fill it with a soul. It's an easy process Althos. Why don't you give it a try?] The domain suggested, grinning invisibly.
[I'll think about it.] He told the domain, doing his best to suppress a grin. The idea of it interested Althos. It'd give him far more reason to consume souls and to be judicial in how he used the souls he'd stored within him.
But after a few seconds of contemplation, he figured he should focus instead on what sort of creature he wanted to create first. Something truly worthy of careful consideration. And after thinking about it, it became clear.
"I really want to try and create something fungal." He discovered as he saw where he wanted to land. He twisted his body so as to angle himself in the right direction and began to sail towards the area where he'd be creating his first true life-form that wasn't a devil.
Within a matter of moments, he came to a midair stop above a sandy flatland surrounded by dunes on all sides. The sandy valley would be the perfect place to create something uninterrupted and he was grateful such a spot existed not far from the dark cathedral. The deity gently began his descent to the sands below.
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When Kuzco returned to the party, dozens of locally minted coins in his hands, he had a wide grin on his face. Althos' second will, piloting the body of the desert-giant, grinned back at him and welcomed him warmly. "Hey there. Care to share what you collected with us?" He asked, hoping to get a look at those coins.
The jackaloid grinned at his master and hopped to him. "Sure!" He warmly responded, showing the coins to the god. Althos took a single one in his hands and inspected it thoroughly. It was the first time either of the wills had ever held money of any sort, so he wanted to savor it.
The coin he grabbed from Kuzco was a thick thing, a few centimeters of circular, expertly crafted metal. It was constructed from a sort of desert-metal and weighed a good deal. It was also not quite identical to the coins in Mahmud's early memories, so Althos was glad that he hadn't tried to duplicate ones from the memories the primary will had already explored and was familiar with.
There were no particularly intricate designs on it or anything, just the symbol of the city of Namira: an image of a black tower on both sides. After studying the thing for a few seconds, taking time to familiarize himself with it, he handed the coin back to Kuzco and turned to Camila and spoke to both of the canine-shapeshifts in their language.
"I can recreate this using my magic." He spoke the bold words with confidence unbefitting the language of canines.
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When Althos touched down on the sand he began to concentrate and gather his energies. He reached out into the aether, into the mystical energies that suffused everything in the multiverse, and began to pull elements from them for the sake of constructing a divine soul.
"I am constructing a servant... something powerful. Something curious. Something unique. If you have anything to give, I'll happily accept it." He told the multiverse, a grin etched on his face. And then he activated his power, constructing a divine soul with his bare hands and raw mystical powers. And I should probably ask for advice. He realized.
And he was asked a question. Right as he was about to ask one, to the very domain that approached him.
[Given your request... perhaps I can be of assistance.] The knowledge domain chimed in, taking the initiative to aid Althos.
[Hey! I was just about to ask you that.] He said over their mental connection, excited that the thing reached out to him first.
[I'm glad! It's nice to see you trying to take initiative. Since you want something curious, I'm assuming you want a smart creature... or at least something that learns quickly. Am I right?] The domain asked, excitedly. It was clearly curious as to what Althos was thinking.
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The person the domain spoke to nodded with a grin on his face. [I want a servant who is smart. Or... who becomes smart. And I want it to be a fungal creature. I really want to start to diversify which of my powers I use and if I can make servants which incorporate some of my lesser-used or under-utilized powers that is a good way for me to try out many of my powers.] Althos told the domain, explaining his reasoning for wanting a fungal servant.
The domain considered his response. It began to think about how to best aid Althos. And finally, after a few seconds it knew what to suggest. [Of the creatures you can create using your divine-soul shaping ability, at the moment anyway, there's only one real option if you want a smart fungal creature. A mi-go.] The domain told him.
[Mi-gos are a strange race of deeply intelligent fungoids. These things are pious creatures who loyally served two types of gods or god-like creatures known as the great old ones and the outer gods in the old age. They are scientists whose technology is eerie and whose surgeries transform those who survive them into vicious monstrosities if used maliciously or aid them in recovering from grievous wounds if used benignly.] The domain informed Althos.
The deity nodded and decided to take this advice. "So I can craft a creature whose race is naturally pious, and who has a species-wide inclination to be methodical and experimental? I think that suits my needs perfectly." Althos said, grinning. And so he decided that that was the sort of creature he'd shape this new soul into.
When he was asked what powers he wanted the thing to have, he chose to give it mind-linking abilities, omnilingualism, and an unexpected third power: hand-to-hand skills.
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The multiverse responded to Althos' request. The second his divine magic was poured out of his body and to the sacred place where divine souls formed, it was touched by the multiverse's own energies. The ever-expanding power of the multiverse, the thing that created the system, gods, great old ones, and domains. Such energies flowed into Althos' newest creation.
The soul skeleton that was formed from the interlocking magics of the eerie god of fungi and of souls and the multiverse itself roared to life, in a mystical explosion of unfettered power and shapeless secrets. The amorphous thing was touched and caressed by Althos' fungal powers, and by the multiverse's shapechanging magic, and seeped into one strange little soul.
And then the thing was exposed to the rolling, heated energies of Althos' divine power, exposed to the true, overwhelming and underused might of the fungal domain and the soul-altering energies of the soul-domain. It was even lightly kissed by a small contribution from the knowledge domain.
Just enough to slightly modify its brain and make it into a useful, scientifically inclined aide for Althos and his often side-lined quest for knowledge with an innate understanding of the scientific method and a solid memory.
The energy warmed the little soul, still an inanimate, barely alive thing at this point in its development.
The final component needed to truly animate the thing, to bring it to true, glorious life, was an infusion of Althos' will. And the moment the thing was ready to absorb something so powerful Althos' will seeped into it, granting the soul a preliminary heart and infusing it with the radiant animating spark that infuses it with life.
The soul slowly gained consciousness, the various sources of divine power flowing into it causing it to take a bit longer than it would otherwise, but because of their odd interference the soul, even in the sacred place was a truly special thing. It radiated a divine, golden energy and emanated power. When the soul was ready to be shaped, it was a powerful thing.
And it awoke for the first time right as Althos decided what sort of creature it would become. He made a decision that would appeal to its inquisitive, scientific mind, even in its infantile state.
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The soul sprang to life in Althos' hands quite easily. It coiled itself around him, clinging needily to its creator. He smiled softly, serenely, and fatherly at the thing. While he did so, he sent it a quick message of greeting. And he sent a message to the special first soul he created.
[Hello there little one! I know you might be wondering why I haven't shaped you into anything. It's because you are special. You are something I want to allow to become something without shaping you. That's one way I want you to express your freedom. I want you to look for something you want to become. To see things by being out in the world, with me.] He communicated many thoughts.
The soul didn't respond with words but in a soul-orb esque way the formless entity transmitted feelings of vague understanding and a general sense of gratitude to the deity for his decision to allow it to be truly free. And he decided to interpret that as a way of saying that the thing could see.
Althos began the work of shaping the soul with a gentle touch. As he did so, he was delighted to see a single familiar magical circle etch itself onto the ground near him.
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The soul reacted warmly and eagerly to the touch of its creator. Althos had sent out a kind and loving mental hand, he didn't want to spook the strange ethereal thing and it responded happily to it. Althos smiled at the thing and sent a wave of cool, calming energy to ensure that it relaxed while his magic touched it and started the skillful, precise work needed to shape a soul.
Althos' mind received a strange new image as he began his work. The image that crept into his mind was of an odd, pink, creature that was similar in shape to a cross between a crustacean and a stingerless wasp.
It had a strange, fleshy-head that was a pink sphere-like shape attached to a chitinous neck that lacked any of the features Althos had come to associate with faces, like a mouth or a nose or even ears. Plus it was riddled with antennae.
It had a pair of crab-claws, as well as a few other appendages that Althos knew instinctually it could use as less dexterous hands. The thing's small wings looked atrophied, but Althos suspected that whatever forces enabled the thing to fly, if it even could, wouldn't be something natural anyway.
Its feet were thin tentacles that it balanced its body on, and the thing stood about 1.5 meters tall.
With the image of the alien-looking monster etched onto his mind, Althos began to shape the soul into a miniaturized version of that. And the laborious process took a few minutes of careful mystical shaping and arcane artistry.
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The desert sand began to be swept up in a terrifying whirlwind produced by magical energies. Althos watched, wordlessly, as he saw the circle at the center of the whirlwind begin to emit radiant blue light. And then he began to grin. He opened his mouth to speak.
"Arise." He said as the sand began to spin faster and faster around the circle. He watched the sandy tempest with glee.
"Arise!" He shouted, his voice rising over the roaring sounds of the wind whipping around him.
"Arise!" He commanded, his voice echoing across the wastes that surrounded him. And then a sound louder than both Althos, and the whipping winds began to explode out of the circle. The maddening sound of incredibly loud, incredibly large beating wings. And after a few seconds of frenzied activity, the sands began to relax, falling back to the desert floor. Revealing the monstrosity Althos created.