The first contact was going better than I had originally hoped. While my presence just sitting there did keep the villagers of Yuvoghen from coming close at first, the fact there was a human available in Miya did in fact help break the ice better than I could have ever hoped for. Having her come along was probably one of my best ideas so far, it just seems like a bad idea to rely on her completely. She's been through enough already and making her a full time diplomat seems too cruel for a simple villager girl.

After the first few villagers had walked tentatively walked over to speak to us Miya had thankfully walked further up towards the village near where my feet were. This allowed people to approach her easier without getting as close to me which seemed to make them much more at ease. There were of course quite devoted worshipers that already existed in this village that had no problem running up and throwing themselves on the ground at my feet. This made me blush quite a bit and I tried to quietly talk to them while letting Miya take the lead in this.

Miya had been doing a splendid job answering the questions she had been getting from the villagers, her confidence really shining through no doubt because she had a goddess at her back. It was nice to see her really come out of her shell. The questions themselves were as you would imagine: where did I come from? What did I want? How would this goddess existing alter their daily lives? Miya did a pretty good job explaining it all to them.

In the meantime I had busied myself with healing the sick. As memory serves there were several people in the history of my world that did this, one most famously, whenever they went to a new place. Plus healing the sick gains you instant gratitude and adoration by the people, its literally free bonus points. There were far more sick and injured people then I thought a village this size would have but I had them brought before me one at a time. This combined with my relative silence I'm sure made me seem all the more benevolent.

The peace wasn't meant to last unfortunately, for it wasn't more than a few hours in before the rich people of the village appeared. They undoubtedly had hidden in fear and waited to see how things would play out with me before revealing themselves. Now that I was shown to clearly be a force for good they were showing up to take charge or negotiate or whatever. I could tell who they were easily from my vantage point up high due to how the gathered crowed parted for them before they even left the village proper.

Most everyone was a worshiper of me by this point and showed up on my radar including them to a small degree. There was a middle aged man and woman, both dressed in fine clothing, walking alongside a young man and woman who were clearly their children. The thing that gave me pause however was the fact that both the mother and son were carrying obvious wizard staffs of some kind. As they approached the fear in their eyes was easy to see with my enhanced vision range, but they still walked with the proud arrogance expected of those born with a silver spoon in their mouth.

Just looking at them made me irrationally angry for some reason. Best not to let that show.

"Miya."

Hearing my voice she looked up to me as I gestured my chin in the direction of the approaching group. The crowd had finally parted near her and the four people were walking up to us.

Best to let the humans speak first.

Miya immediately understood they were important and brushed off her dress nervously, standing up straight and putting her chin up as they walked over.

"Oh hello."

The woman with the staff held up her hand and the four came to a stop several steps away from where Miya was standing. They gave a nervous look over to my feet a short distance away as they motioned to the crowd to back up farther. The villagers obeyed of course.

"You're the high priestesses correct?" the woman asked rather bluntly. "The goddess Jenna I believe we heard?"

Miya smiled and put on a brave face, the aura of these people clearly unnerving her.

"Yes! My name is Miya." She then gestured ot me. "And this is the great goddess Jenna. Goddess of light and knowledge."

"You have no idea what this development signifies do you girl?" the woman said almost angrily.

Hearing this I leaned forward and down, watching the woman closely. This caused the villagers to back up even more and the family to react in fear. There was something up with these people but I was staying silent for now.

"Well um. You mean us coming to Yuvoghen?" Miya said sheepishly. "Of course I do. Its the second village the goddess has officially contacted. Its a very important step to visit in person! Usually she's more talkative than this."

It was clear Miya was falling apart under the pressure. It was obvious this woman was referring to a goddess appearing in the world. I'm sure there were some kind of doomsday prophecies or something related to it. More bothersome work for me no doubt.

The woman raised her voice in frustration. "No you dim girl! The fact a goddess has appeared in the first place! What are you? Some village girl pretending at high class?"

I cleared my throat. That was enough of that.

"And you are?"

My voice was very loud of course and it caused everyone present including Miya to jump in surprise at its sudden introduction. Miya looked up at me with frantic relief in her eyes and seemed to understand I was taking over from here.

I leaned in a bit more. "Because last I checked she's a high priestess of a goddess. So for you to speak to her in such a way that would make you..."

After recovering from her own fright the woman collected herself and craned her neck back to look up at my face far above her. She clearly saw me as some kind of horrific threat. Nonetheless she held her head high with pride as she spoke to me.

"I am Danyelle Nimelly" the woman replied. "And this is my husband Hevel."

She then gestured to the two young adults.

"These are our children Urthir and Samel."

"A family of mages eh?" I said, low-key trying to hold back my excitement. "I'm guessing you're not too happy to see a goddess around these parts are you?"

The man Hevel spoke up. "Goddesses have long been in slumber and exile! Are you here to try and fulfill the prophecies yourself? Have the mortal races not suffered enough at your kind's hands?"

Shit. There is so much to unpack from that alone. Whatever I've got thrown into the middle of in this world is way more then I ever thought it was going to be. Not to mention they clearly are assuming I know all about whatever the hell they're talking about which I clearly don't. Obviously I should play along that I know these prophecies and whatnot, but I'm going to need that info sooner rather than later. Baiting it out of them is probably the best course of action. It was also pertinent to note that the fact they were speaking this way to me meant they either thought they could take me in a fight or that they had an escape route.

Danyelle smacked her husband on the back of the head with her staff. It was a fine polished wood with a crème stone affixed to the end.

"Control yourself fool!"

I sat up straight again and crossed my arms over my chest. "No no. Knowing what my kind have done to you mortals would be upsetting to anyone of your... Diminutive size."

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That veiled threat would hopefully get my point across.

"He's allowed to speak his feelings around me. I'll allow no disrespect of myself or my high priestess though if I can make myself abundantly clear."

I narrowed my eyes at them which made them tremble.

"Speaking of which Miya. Why don't you come over to my side?"

Miya nodded up to me. "Yes goddess."

She quickly ran over to my side and stood there looking quite nervously at this family. It was clear most of this was overwhelming her, and the mere sight of mages seemed to unsettle her to an alarming degree. From the prayer she was silently praying to me she was worried about a fight breaking out between me and them and was begging it not to.

The son Urthir then spoke up. He was the other one with a staff.

"If you don't mind me asking the goddess a question."

His mother nodded and he continued, stepping forward closer to my feet and nervously looking upwards at my face.

"Goddess Jenna. You appear to be such a young goddess, and yet you're behaving nothing like the goddess's I've heard about from my studies. Please tell me you're not here to kill or enslave my family."

Damn. This goddess backstory stuff is heavy. I also took note of all the villagers watching this entire thing play out with great fear in their hearts, the prayers I was getting from them conflicted. Seems while I was scary myself these mages weren't so popular with the populace either.

I uncrossed my arms and put them to my side, taking a deep breath before sighing out deeply.

"No I'm not here to kill or enslave your family. Damn you people sure are afraid of goddesses aren't you? Not that I can blame you of course."

My hand was put to my chin as I paused a moment to think. No one said anything, sensing I wasn't done speaking yet.

"How can I put this?" I continued. "Perhaps I'm special among my kind. Where I came from or why I'm here will be mine to know for now. However you can be sure of this one thing: you can know me as a Bodhisattva. "

I take my hand away from my face and raise a finger in the air.

"I am devoted to the protection and enlightenment of all sentient life. I don't care who you are: a farmer, a wizard, a king, a human, or an elf. Anyone who comes to me in good faith will find protection and wisdom."

My face furrows into a frown as I lean forward.

"And those who do evil. They are my enemies. I believe that covers everything."

The villagers in the background seemed to be wholly relieved and let out a collective sigh of relief, their prayers turning into thankful praises. However as I sat back up again and returned to a more neutral expression the faces of the mage family betrayed that they were still unconvinced. Not blaming them honestly.

The mother Danyelle was the first to speak again. "So you say."

"I do." Was my reply.

Miya then stepped forward, clearly upset and frustrated listening to all this. Her hands were clenched in fists as she held them at her sides, her face a bit flushed.

"The goddess has been nothing but kind and supportive of my village ever since she first arrived! She's done so much to help us and protect us, taking every chance she can to uplift us from suffering. How dare you stand there and speak as if she would do such horrible things just because some goddesses in the past did so!"

Danyelle scoffed at her while motioning to me with her staff.

"I'm not surprised her high priestess believes her so readily. What great powers has she granted you to make you so loyal?"

Miya's expression instantly became one of shock. She staggered backwards and almost tripped.

"She hasn't granted me any powers..."

Uh oh. This wasn't something I had foreseen. Giving your followers powers is pretty standard procedure for gods but the truth of course was I didn't know how to do that yet. This could get ugly unless I can think of a way to placate Miya, her loyalty could be in question now, not to mention everyone else's. Oh I know! I've been testing her!

"Listen woman" I said pointing a finger at Danyelle. "The affairs of goddeses are beyond you so don't think you're so smart."

I then crossed my arms with a huff.

"I've been testing Miya to ensure she's the sure fit for being my high priestess and this diplomatic excursion was her final test. She passed splendidly of course and I'll be giving her my blessing soon enough. I shouldn't have to even be explaining this to you."

Nailed it.

Miya turned around and looked up at me in ecstatic joy. "You really mean it goddess?"

"Of course." I said smiling down at her.

This seemed to pacify everyone else as well, including the mage family. Danyelle had stepped towards me again as she seemed to be in charge of the family.

"So what now goddess? You used our village to test your high priestess and now will rule over us? What if we try to refuse?"

Having people reject me wasn't really something I had considered before. It was possible of course, but it seemed so unlikely. Who wouldn't want to be watched over by me? I'm not going to force myself on anyone though that historically was a bad idea. The worshipers in this village might have to move then, or the mage family would.

I put my hands on my lap to seem as non-threatening as possible.

"I'm not going to force anyone to worship me, though it seems this village has made up its mind already. If it makes you wizards feel any better I wont interfere with whatever you're doing as long as you don't threaten my worshipers. Sound fair?"

There was a sigh of relief from the other family members and it seemed they were staring to come around, at least to the point of trusting I wouldn't kill them.

"It does." Danyelle replied.

This whole situation was getting way too awkward for me, I wasn't used to being watched for so long by so many people. It would probably be best if me and Miya headed back home now. I slowly stood up, making sure to telegraph my movements so no one panicked.

"Very good then. As a sign of good faith I'll take my high priestess back home and leave you all to sort out your feelings on this all. Miya?"

Slowly I bent over and presented my hand to Miya to climb on. She quickly clambered up into my palm and sat down with a expression of relief on her face. My hand probably seemed safe and comforting to her at this point.

"Anything else before I go?"

Various people in the crowd shouted up to me their praise.

"We love you goddess!"

"Thank you for coming to visit us goddess Jenna!"

Danyelle looked up at me with her expression still showing her hesitancy.

"You're future actions will tell all."

With that she turned around and walked away from my feet and back into the village. Her family turned and followed behind me, only the daughter looking back up at me with a final glance. Hope was in her eyes it seemed, at least if I was reading her face correctly. They said not a word to any of the villagers as they walked through the gathered crowd, the villagers giving them a wide berth.

I smiled down at the villagers and gave them a wave, holding Miya up in my left hand so she could wave as well.

"Alright everyone. You all have a good day ok? I'll be back to visit again soon!"

With the cheers of the people I turned around and started walking away, my feet booming to send tremors throughout the village. With the trees of this forest barely reaching my shin it was a couple minutes before I would be lost to view by the people there. It almost made me miss the taller pines, shy at the fact I couldn't hide myself away from sight. Once we were far enough away from the village I looked down at Miya in my hand and smiled.

"I think that went over pretty well don't you?"

Miya nodded and sprawled out in my palm. "Yes goddess! It was so amazing and scary! You were so awe inspiring! Especially how you dealt with those mages!"

"Yeah. Mages and wizards. I can tell magic users are gunna be a pain in this world. You're going to be one of them yourself soon."

"I'm so excited goddess! Do I get to choose what element I use?"

Miya had sat up in my palm again and was looking up at me like an eager puppy.

With a sigh I looked back at where my feet were going as I walked.

"I'm not sure to be honest with you. I've never given anyone powers before and you'll be the first. Hopefully you're not disappointed in your godde-"

A sudden hot took over my body. It was all I could do not dropping Miya to the ground far below as I doubled over and clenched my chest. Closing my eyes my goddess zone hit me with a blast of brilliant light, everything lighting up like a Christmas tree inside myself. It was as if a great fire had been lit inside me and was rising up to fill my entire being. No, it was a fire that had always been there and was now billowing into a roaring blaze. The fire didn't hurt, it was just so intense.

"Goddess! Your hair!" I heard Miya shout. "Your dress!"

Upon opening my eyes I saw my hair glowing once again, a much brighter blonde than before. It was now what one might call a golden blonde, though no more than a normal human's hair would be. My dress also had become a pale but clean white, flowing over me like a draping of fresh snow.

The internal heat cooled down, either that or I was getting used to it. I put my right hand on my forehead.

"Its like I leveled up as a goddess or something. I feel much more powerful than before. Was it because the other village now fully worships me?"

Miya responded to me thinking aloud much more rationally than expected.

"Of course goddess! It only makes sense that the more people worship you the more powerful you become. You deserve it great goddess!"

Looking down over myself it becomes painfully aware how un-goddess-like I appear. Such a simple dress and how plain. Embarrassing. I've gotten pretty good at creating objects, perhaps a new outfit is a possibility.

"I'm going to need to think up a better outfit. Once I drop you off I'll be gone for a day I think to figure it out."

"Take the time you need goddess." Miya said cheerily.

After several deep breaths I finally collected myself, the fire inside seeming to be under control. This all felt so amazing, no wonder those goddesses in the past ended up so crazy, power was addicting.

"Alright my high priestesses, lets hurry back to your home. And don't worry, I'll not forget your blessing."

With my new power surging through me and my loyal high priestess in my hand I hurried through the forest towards Doovlin. Its going to be so nice returning back there, this whole ordeal has been stressful on me too. There's so much to learn about this world and its past. I'll also have to figure out a new outfit in short order and learn how to grant powers to my followers.

Life as a goddess never seems to get easier.