Aperio furrowed her brow as she let her senses spread a little more through the space the horrified God occupied. It was not a Dominion as far as she could tell — the world beyond simply reacted too easily to her will to be one.

She wanted to tell the God that he had nothing to fear, but the sparse mana in his surroundings and his apparent weakness made her hesitant.

In the end, she came up with nothing better, and reached out as gently as she could to tell the God that he had nothing to fear. He grimaced slightly at her words and held his head, but also seemed to calm down a little. Because he knows I am not lying?

Ferio had told her that people — especially deities — would know who she was. So far that had been true, but all the Gods she had met had been on Verenier, the world that was not only home to her mortal self but seemingly also to her old self.

The world and God she was now inspecting through her aura were mostly unknown to her. There was something that she recognised, something she would have thought was merely part of Mayeia's aura if she had not found this new God. Does that mean he is also a God of Magic?

"How many Domains do you have, Mayeia?" she asked, devoting another part of her mind to slowly opening a portal to the new world she had found.

"Only one that is fully realised," the Goddess of Magic replied. "My second one is still eluding me, but I think I am getting closer. Why?"

"I found another God," Aperio replied, an unneeded wave of her hand causing reality to shift to show Mayeia and Caethya what she was seeing. Both of them looked at her projection for a moment before turning to her.

"Looks a little weird," Caethya said, rubbing her eyes before she returned her gaze to the projection. "Almost like you are forcing something to be where it is not supposed to be."

The All-Mother tilted her head slightly in thought. "I merely wanted to show you what I am sensing. It will be a little while longer before I am done opening a portal there." Don't want to accidentally merge two worlds or something like that.

"I guess what I see with my aura does not translate that well to a visual?" Aperio wondered out loud, trying to make the image clearer while being truly able to differentiate the two. In hindsight, it was a surprise Caethya and Mayeia could make sense of it at all as Aperio had not tried to actually change what her aura was sensing. Good thing I can see with my aura…

"It's good enough," Mayeia said. "But, did you say you would open a portal to the other God’s world? Just like that?"

"Yes?" Aperio replied, tilting her head slightly. "He looked terrified when he noticed my presence; seeing that I am an actual person should help better than just telling him I mean no harm."

"I am more surprised by the fact that you can do that so simply," Mayeia said, leaning herself against Roots as she let out a breath. "Should probably not be, though. You are the All-Mother after all."

"It is not even that hard or mana intensive," Aperio said, spreading her wing slightly to point it at her disciple. "Caethya has more than enough to do it. All you need to be able to do is see the threads and then manipulate them slightly."

The Goddess of Magic laughed briefly at her words before she let out a long sigh. "You make it sound like that's something I can just learn how to do, when you are the only one I have ever heard talking about them.

"To most of us," Mayeia continued, "reality is not as malleable and transparent. We have to abide by the laws you ignore."

"But you can learn it," Aperio mumbled. "Caethya and Laelia are already making the first steps. Yes, they have both been blessed, but Laelia has not been affected by it like Caethya. She can just see them." Come to think of it, Maria can probably see them too.

"That is still a blessing from you," Caethya said, moving a little bit closer to the All-Mother. "Have you ever seen someone who was able to manipulate the threads without having been blessed by you?"

"No," Aperio replied quietly, shaking her head before continuing in a normal voice. "But, the deities that carry a seed of my mana and not a System-generated seed cannot see them either. At least, I have not found one that appeared as though they could."

A thought informed the new God of her intent to visit and to not be scared as she twisted reality apart to open a portal.

So much for no distractions… While she had told herself that, she could not just let the opportunity to visit another world slip. Especially not when she had unwittingly scared a random God by basically hijacking the connection to their Domain. And, perhaps, this will help me understand how to go to other worlds at will…

"Does anyone want to join me?" Aperio asked, gesturing at the portal that had formed next to her. "I found nothing dangerous on the other side. It just has less mana than Verenier."

"Every world has less mana than Verenier," Mayeia remarked. "Some of the stronger mortals from here could masquerade as Gods on some worlds."

"Is that why there are so many deities here?"

"It is one of the reasons for Gods to take root here," Roots-Beneath-All rumbled in reply, its branches shaking slightly. "This world has also always been your home, a fact that caused many deities to flock here." It paused briefly, its leaves rustling in an unseen wind. "Some assume that you hid something here that would give them more power, while others think Verenier is the source of your strength.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"I know the latter to not be true," Roots continued, the tree somehow managing to sound smug without a change to its voice. "My seed existed before this world, and the All-Mother was just as strong before its creation as after."

"Does it matter?" Aperio asked, taking a step towards the portal she had made. Caethya was quick to follow, causing the All-Mother to direct her words at Mayeia who still had not moved from her spot by Roots. "If you wish to join me, you are free to do so."

"I think I'll stay," the Goddess of Magic replied with a small smile. "I might go and check on Meherisha. Leaving the [Ancestral Guard] like that took quite the toll on her."

The All-Mother blinked. She had forgotten about the Beastkin she 'rescued' from the [Ancestral Guard]. Another thing that I need to take care of. She did not know what the other two Keepers did, but Aperio was not willing to trust them over Moria. The Beastkin had been with her through her mortal life — had been chosen by Aperio to accompany her journey into mortality. And she was a better mother than my actual one.

"I hope it was not too bad for her?" Aperio asked. "I… am not sure what else I should do for her."

"Helping her fix the Guard would probably help," Mayeia replied, turning back to her notes. "She seemed quite attached."

The All-Mother sighed. "I'll talk to her after I have dealt with Epemirial and this," she said, gesturing towards the portal before mumbling her next words. "I just want some peace and quiet."

"Are you sure you want to meet a new God like this?" Caethya asked, stepping up next to Aperio and brushing her hand past her wings to place it on her back. "You don't have to."

The All-Mother eyed the portal she had made, a pang of shame surfacing in her mind. Despite what she had told herself, she was still delaying her encounter with Epemirial. It wasn't like this one had been done on purpose — Aperio had discovered it while trying to figure out how to track the Goddess of Duty and Loss, after all — but not dealing with the issue at hand like she had promised herself still felt a little wrong.

"I've already done this much, might as well see it through till the end." She offered a small shrug. "Perhaps it will even help me find out how to track Epemirial."

She did not give Caethya or Mayeia the chance to object as she stepped into the portal, making sure she did not drag her disciple along if she did not want to come. Luckily, the Demigoddess did not move from her side and stepped through the portal as surely as if it was just another door.

Aperio had expected something — a brief moment of vertigo or some view behind the fabric of reality — but that did not happen. Instead it had been disappointingly normal: like any other portal she had traversed before, one moment she was on her temple grounds and the next she stood in front of a practically shivering God inside a rather nondescript church.

He looked like a Human; perhaps a bit old for a God with his white hair and beard. Like a wizard from a book. For reasons unknown, the authors of various fictions she had read during her time as a slave had seen it fit to portray wizards as elderly men with long beards. Even wears a robe.

"Hello," the All-Mother said, trying to keep the power of her voice as low as she could. The wooden floor creaked for a moment as she took a step forward before the touch of a fraction of her mana seeped into the ground to fix the issue.

"We mean you no harm," Aperio continued, trying to let her aura soothe the God as Ferio had done to her. "I just happened to stumble across you while searching for something. I did not intend to scare you with my presence."

As no reply came, the All-Mother mentally slapped herself. Why would he speak an old language from Verenier? As far as she knew, it was not some sort of universal language that all Gods of every world used.

Luck seemed to be on Aperio's side, however, as the God spoke. "Who are you?" he asked, his voice heavily accented but, considering his elevated heartbeat and the distress omnipresent in his aura, surprisingly calm.

The resident All-Mother, she thought to herself before she inclined her head slightly and spoke. "Aperio. Though, you will likely better know me as the All-Mother or the Creator.

"This," she continued, gesturing first with her wing and then her hand at Caethya, "is my disciple, Caethya."

The Demigoddess in question gave a curtsy that caused Aperio to briefly raise a brow. Caethya had not really behaved like a noblewoman ever since she had met her, but what she had just performed looked like it had been drilled into her from a young age. Like me.

Caethya seemed to notice her confusion, offering her a quick prayer that informed her that she did know everything required to dine with a King. Apparently, it was something she had learned in preparation for meeting Mayeia. Well, that wasn't needed.

"I-I am honored," the God stuttered, bowing stiffly. "What can this humble Soul do for you?"

"You can start by acting normally." Aperio sighed. "I have only come because I wanted to make sure I did not cause too much trouble and, perhaps, take a look at your world. I would also like to know your name."

"I do not have a name," he replied. "My people call me God, or Magic, in different tongues across the world."

Aperio tilted her head at his words, focusing on him. "May I?" she asked, letting her aura slowly push away his own.

He had barely given her a nod in reply when Aperio was already looking at his Soul and the clearly System-given seed of his divinity. But that means he has to have been a mortal before. "Are you sure? Can you not remember a time before you were a God?"

"Should I?" he asked, the fear and anxiety slowly but surely fading from his aura as Aperio continued to look for anything that might be wrong.

"Yes," Aperio replied, hesitating briefly before she moved to look at his soul. "You should."

She furrowed her brow as she carefully turned his soul in her mental grasp. It did not have runes engraved on it as she had feared, but that only meant that the most disgusting way of changing someone had not been used. A stronger God can probably still make you forget…

"There's always another thing, isn't there," the All-Mother mumbled to herself as she withdrew her senses from the new God. A thought smoothed out her dress as she let her aura manifest itself a little more fully to better see the world around her. If she could not find a hint as to what had happened within the God themselves, she hoped that she would find one in his world.

And if that doesn't work, she thought, I am sure I will find something with Epemirial.