I was still in my room when I received the notification. It came so early that I was actually in the same spot I had been hours ago when I first threw my mind into Mawby's dream. When it came I had only been out of Hagitha's dream a few minutes.
[Alert:
Mawby the goblin has uttered a prayer to your persona the entity named Cosecha. Would you like to hear it?]
The notification roused me from my bed, and I quietly informed the system that I would indeed like to hear the prayer. It entered my mind suddenly, and its contents were intriguing.
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[Good morning Cosecha. This is Mawby. I don't really know how to do this... This whole 'praying' thing I mean. How are you today? Are you doing well? I hope you are. Please provide me with some guidance about how to... pray good, I guess? I want to do it, I just genuinely don't know how.]
The prayer made me laugh, and revealed a mistake I had made: I assumed she knew how to pray, baselessly at that since I was the first god to exist in untold millennia and I doubted many other creatures asked for beings to send them prayers. I spent a moment chiding myself, and quickly prepared a response to the little goblin.
[Good morning Mawby. I am well. I hope you are too. I apologize for not properly explaining prayer to you. 'Prayer' to me means mentally conversing with me. As a god, though my identity as a god is a secret, I can hear messages that come from mortals and are addressed to me.] I began to explain, eager to educate the girl.
She must have been in a place where she could relax, perhaps she had just woken up because she replied to me almost immediately.
[Oh! What is the purpose of prayer? Or... what is it's purpose when you are the recipient of prayer?] She asked me, curiosity embedded in her voice. I chuckled at her curiosity and felt enthused by it.
[The purpose of prayer, when praying to me, is to ask for aid in healing someone, or inform me of creatures who are in danger of starving. That said I like conversing with creatures and if you just want to talk to me that'd make me quite happy.] I told her, continuing our unusual conversation.
[Oh! Well that's very nice of you.] She said, pleasantly surprised by the interaction we were having. I doubted that she had expected a god to be personable and friendly, so for a moment, I opted to ask her what she knew about deities.
[Had you ever heard of gods before you met... insofar as you could call our interaction us 'meeting' me?] I inquired, wondering about what she knew about my species.
[Yes! Goblins tell stories of a mythic age, an age wherein creatures that no longer exist roamed the worlds. Gods, angels, demons, creatures that since gone... exti... extint?] She mentally uttered, starting off nice and confident but finishing rather insecurely.
Her statement struck me as curious. And so far in my life, I had gotten far by being curious. I wasn't about to stop today. So my next statement wasn't directed towards her, but the system itself.
"So... I know gods aren't extinct. I can assume demons aren't, given the name of the condition that Troik is suffering from, but are 'angels' extinct? And also... what are angels?" I asked it, curiously. The response I got wasn't one I had to wait for.
[No. We don't know where she got the idea that demons and angels went extinct. Both have entire dimensions they live in and rule over. Demons are chaotic evil creatures who dwell in a dimension known as 'The Heart of Darkness', a place of infinite environments and equally infinite evil. They themselves are the physical manifestations of liberated evil and cruelty without order.] The system explained, briefly.
[Angels are neutral creatures who came into being at the whims of the gods. In the ancient past, they devotedly served the gods. The rules that godly communities made and lived by often prohibited deity-to-mortal contact aside from in dreams but the angels were not beholden to such rules and gods made use of them to enforce their wills.] My companion revealed.
[Angels haven't gone extinct, but there aren't any in this world. That explains why this goblin thinks that... And the more overt and brutal demons are likely to eventually have been banished from this planet, though it's likely that the more subtle ones successfully escaped being expelled from this dimension.] The voice muttered, mulling over things that were out of its wheelhouse.
I allowed it to ponder the possibilities it was contemplating and turned my attention back to Mawby. [Do you mind telling me about the stories you mentioned? The ones that mentioned the gods.] I asked her, curiously.
[Sure! Do you mind if I mull over the stories today, and pray to you at another time to share them with you?] She asked me. I smiled, though she didn't know that, and I politely responded to her.
[Absolutely! I am looking forward to hearing those stories.] I responded, happy that she was sharing with me her folkloric tales.
[Great! Thank you Cosecha, I hope you have a wonderful day. I'll pray to you soon.] She replied, sounding quite energetic. I could tell the little goblin probably have things to do and people to see.
Not long after I finished this mental discussion I went out and made my way over to Isadora's desk.
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A number of different papers were laid in front of me. Each of them was a different quest-request form. They ran the gamut.
Some of them asked about hunting down wild animals. Others asked for help retrieving rare items, and those were the ones I felt the most like doing. But others still promised rewards in exchange for labor.
"Yesterday I did healing quests... and the day before that I did quests that involved retrieving rare items..." I mused, recalling the events of my first two days of life.
"I want to continue to do new things, and part of that means that I continue to diversify the sorts of quests that I do." I told myself, speaking internally and debating what to do from here.
The truth was that a part of me enjoyed combat. That same part of me was curious about taking on a hunting quest. I didn't doubt my ability to successfully accomplish the quest if that was what I chose to do, but I didn't want to go out and hunt.
"I wish there were a way I could train my combat abilities against willing opponents. If there were I'd feel fine engaging in combat." I mentally muttered, complaining to no one about the conundrum I found myself in.
"I should be diversifying my skills and if I were to do that then I guess I should select a quest that allows me to gain new experiences. If not hunting that's probably one of the day-laborer jobs." I realized, my thoughts taking on a life of their own.
After I spent a few more moments mulling over what to do, a familiar voice chimed in with a suggestion. [If you want to gain combat skills, experience, and work towards gaining influence over combat domains, you should just hunt. But if you want to build your experience with agriculture, labor, and the advanced skills needed to successfully run a settlement, just stay here and work as a day laborer somewhere.] The system suggested, its voice coming into my mind out of the blue.
[And before you ask, I didn't hear you but it doesn't take a genius to figure out what's going through your mind.] The entity expressed, almost laughing as it did so. I chuckled in response to this, and nodded in understanding.
"This is really tough..." I said in the safety of my own mind. But ultimately my reluctance to hurt things, especially to mark them down as enemies just because a quest form said too, made me opt for the other option.
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I grabbed one of the quest-request forms. It was one that involved something called "Alchemy" and the quest-giver wrote down that they'd explain how it all worked once I arrived at their little shop. I nodded at Isadora and began my early-morning walk out of the Silver Xana and towards the quest-givers location.
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When I left the Silver Xana I was surprised to see that the early morning sky wasn't crystal clear and beautifully blue. Instead, the sky that greeted me was cloudy, and the clouds that blocked my view of the sky were fat with soon-to-be-raindrops. They loomed menacingly overhead, and I felt my face fall as I studied them.
"Damn, it's gonna be rainy today." I said aloud, cursing at the sky. I sighed and began my walk towards today's place of employment. As I did so, I tried to look on the bright side: at least I'd probably be indoors.
As I strode towards the tiny store I was going to spend today in I found myself thinking about religion. I found myself wondering what religion and faith were in a real, relevant way and not just in the grand sense the domain of faith embodied. I wondered what these words meant, and how they influenced me as a god.
And so, in order to get an answer, I decided to ask a friend. As I had begun to do quite often, I chose to ask the system about things I was curious about.
"Hey, can you define 'religion' and 'faith' for me? I want to begin to think about how to organize the faith that I am planning for the goblins to have in me." I asked the system, explaining my intentions to it as well. The system's rigid definitions came half a second later.
[Religion: A particular system of faith and worship. Also, religion itself is the belief in and worship of a supremely powerful entity, most commonly a god, goddesses, or gods or goddesses.
Faith: Strong belief in one's religion based on spiritual experiences and/or opinions rather than or sometimes in addition to naturalistic proof.
These words are used somewhat interchangeably but the truth is that one of them, faith, is more personal and tailored to the individual while religion refers to the grander beliefs of a particular system of beliefs.
As a deity, you can design religions, share information about them with followers, and they center their faiths around you as well as around those religions. When you are fully powered you'll gain the ability to upload religion-centric information directly into the minds of your worshipers. You can design holidays, give them values to live by and create rituals they are to perform to please you.
It's worth noting, however, that while you may design religions you'd like to see built around yourself if you have meaningful interactions with mortals they may design their own peculiar religions centered around you.] The system patiently explained, giving me a lot to mull over.
"I'd like to see how an organic religion sprung around me looks one day, but for now I should do my best to guide my followers in a general direction shouldn't I? That'd be the most efficient route anyway." I muttered to myself, as I began to see the building I was heading towards in the distance.
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I was heading towards a peculiar looking building. Even lost in my thoughts the strange-looking edifice stood out to me. The thing was made of wood which was radiating a smoke-like substance but one that was made up of air and light from across the light spectrum. It took me a few moments to actually notice it, but once I saw the smoke-like aura that surrounded the building it drew my gaze.
The diversely-colored substance that roiled off of the building intrigued my curiosity. As I studied it, the system opted to speak up of its own volition.
[Althos, what you are seeing is magical energy. It's ambient and stale, as it's little more than leftover residue from the arcane processes that are a part of alchemy.] The system informed me, causing my eyes to open in shock.
"Alchemy involves magic?" I asked, surprised that this appeared to be the case. As I spoke to my ally my feet brought me closer and closer to the strange building.
[Yes it does! Alchemical potions are magical in nature. You'll learn more soon enough.] My friend said to me, as I drew close enough to the alchemical hut to knock on its front door.
The door in front of me was made of thick, blood-red wood. It stood several meters tall and almost as wide. It was an imposing sight, but not one that deterred me. I drew closer to the door and readied myself to pound on it with my thick fists.
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I pounded the door thrice with my closed fists. I rose them up and brought them to the door that stood between me and my quest for the day. Each time I pounded the door I banged it harder and longer than the last.
My fists slammed hard against the solid wood. I felt a twinge of pain stab through my hands and grimaced as I felt my bones rattle in response to the jarring blow. And then I heard a low chuckle emanate from the other side of the door. The chuckle lasted for a few seconds before a quiet voice greeted me.
"Hello, I am Doctor Cortes." The voice said, coming through the door. It greeted me with a polite and brief self-introduction. The mysterious doctor had an aloof and distant-sounding voice, not "Distant-sounding" in the charming sense, but "distant-sounding" in the sense that made me question if Dr. Cortes lived sort of reality Doctor Cortes live in.
Silence fell over the area just outside and just inside the door. Neither Doctor Cortes, no I spoke for a solid two minutes.
"Well?" Doctor Cortes eventually asked, his voice carrying out of the door and towards me. I sighed and responded to the strange fellow.
"Doctor Cortes, I am Althos. I am a newcomer and an adventurer, and I took on your quest. I'm here to help you make some potions!" I declared, boldly stating my name and purpose.
There was a brief second of silence. And then the door inched open. "Come on through! I've been waiting for someone to help me." That same voice from before whispered to me, beckoning me beyond the door it had just opened for me.
"Alright... here we go." I muttered to myself, as I took my first, careful steps through the barely opened door.
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Beyond the door, the first thing I noticed wasn't a sight or a sound. It was a smell. An odd smell.
Whatever I was smelling had an attitude and a large presence. The smell was strong and it flooded my nostrils and convinced me to keep my mouth shut so as to not taste it.
The next thing I noticed were the sights that revealed themselves to me when I walked in. The room I found myself in after walking through the door I had used to enter the building was a simple hallway, but an incredibly long one.
It was, beyond the shadow of a doubt an impossibly large hallway for the building it occupied, and I sighed and accepted this, accepting that I was in the presence of an unusual individual.
The walls that surrounded me and stretched forward an incredible distance, were made of thick, treated wood. They were a remarkable shade of bright brown and lit up the hallway.
This hallway also contained numerous doors on my right and my left, and the doors on both sides of me were all the same gigantic size. They each loomed intimidatingly as if they could look down on me. I studied them for a second before opening my mouth to speak.
It was at that moment that I realized something. This was likely designed to be a test of some sort. I took a look at my minimap. I saw him, Doctor Cortes, and he was close. But now that I was armed with knowledge I felt secure. So I decided to perform a minor deception.
"Doctor Cortes, I am looking for you. Please guide me to your location." I said, allowing my voice explode out of my lungs and fly forth, hoping that the strange doctor would allow me to go to him and fall for my ruse.
"Althos! Yes, yes, enter the first door on your right if you would be so kind." The voice asked of me, informing me of its location from relatively closeby. I easily obeyed it, walking over and then through the door. On the other side of the door, which was lighter than one might have expected, was a series of laboratory equipment and a strange-looking man.
This man stood around a meter tall. He wore a lab coat and had goggles on. There was a messy shock of white hair atop his head, and he had a full white beard. He was facing me and had a big grin on his face as he studied me.
"Why hello there." He said, greeting me now that the two of us were face to face. I nodded politely at him, and he nodded back.
I walked forward and extended a hand towards the man, making clear my intentions to shake his hand. He looked at me, and though I couldn't see them I had no doubt that he wasn't a fan of physical interaction I was attempting to initiate, because he willingly made himself smaller, recoiling back from my hand.
"No! I don't want to touch someone." He said, speaking up for a moment. His surprised voice was loud and it carried further than one might assume it would have given Cortes' size. He kept his eyes firmly locked on my hand until I retracted the thing, deftly and neutrally. I even went all out and put my arm behind my back. Once it was out of his sight, he turned his gaze towards me.
He took the measure of me once more, taking time to study me after seeing how I neutrally extracted my hand from his sight. He nodded at me again, a smile beginning to emerge on his face.
"Well now, I suppose you want to know what's going on don't you Althos?" The kooky old alchemist muttered. When he said that I turned to him, my eyes fell on his, and I nodded.
"What's going on, my new friend and accomplice, is that you are witnessing alchemy! Though I know you don't know how to articulate precisely what's going on, that's fine. This is your first day after all." The man told me, speaking as if I had just accepted or been accepted into an apprenticeship.
For a moment I considered demanding a real explanation. But then I decided to smile and go along with this. For now. If I truly valued knowledge, entertaining the eccentricities of an old scholar and experimenter in a field I didn't know much about would probably prove invaluable in guiding me to true, hidden knowledge.
"Well in that case... Doctor," I replied, unsure of how to speak to the kooky medical professional. "I look forward to learning what you have to teach." I said, speaking obsequiously.
As odd as this was, it was a lot better than going out and killing something. So I could tolerate this. For a time, anyway.