The sun was shining in the sky far above the village of Doovlin although its light was not as warm as it had been during the summer. All around the chill of the oncoming winter was filling the world with creeping death. The trees that were not pine had already been losing their leaves and those that remained were vibrant colors. Whenever the wind blew it sent a chill down a person's spine, though that wasn't something a goddess had to worry about due to the temperature resistance.
I had been busy playing around with a new tool in my toolbox. It had been in a dream just a couple nights ago that a book appeared to me. The book was pretty large, about six inches across and a foot tall in my scale which made it easily larger than a house to humans. The binding was tight and the cover was a pretty purple. When I awoke from my sleep I found this book sitting next to me on the ground, its spine attached to a golden and silky ribbon that in turn connected to my own body at the waist.
The ribbon didn't hurt and was interwoven into whatever clothing I happened to change into. Whenever I moved the book followed me by floating in the air on its own accord, simply levitating in a passive fashion but also following mental commands when I chose to give them to it. The ribbon seemed to have a maximum length however of about one of my own body lengths.
This book had however one ability that surprised and fascinated me beyond anything I could have imagined. When opened to any page this book displayed my memories or thoughts I was thinking. It didn't matter if I was thinking of words or pictures it all appeared perfectly on the pages of the book. Movement of the books contents was also possible and I had already used it to show animations of various things to Miya.
Thankfully having this book floating around wasn't permanent as with just a little practice I had learned how to dismiss and summon it. From where? I had no idea. It was an invaluable tool however and I was currently using it to try and teach some of the villagers about astronomy.
At the moment I was sitting down on a large mound of dirt on the edge of the village, my book floating in front of my and low to the ground. Sitting before my feet was a large portion of the village population including some people from Yuvoghen. It was pretty fun having this class and for some reason I really enjoyed educating others.
"As you can see here the planet circles around the sun though space. This causes the seasons because the further we are away from the sun the less of its warm light reaches it."
On the pages of the open book was an animated image of the sun and this planet rotating around it in the dark space. I had no idea about the rest of the solar system, if indeed this world had one, but this was basic enough for now.
An older man in the middle of the crowd raised his hand, something I had taught them at the beginning.
"Why does the light from the sun get colder if its farther away? We still see it the same don't we?"
"An excellent question!" I replied with a smile.
I then thought about it for a moment which due to my increased thought processing was barely an instant for the villagers. If I recall correctly it had something to do with the sunlight being radioactive and distance weakening it. Yeah that seems about right. Energy lost over distance and time means less warm.
"Well. You see it works like how a candle or fire does."
The image in the book then changes to a picture of a fire with a man standing near it and another man standing further away.
"You all understand that the closer you are a to a fire the warmer it gets right? As you walk away it gets colder because the heat from the fire is dissipating into the surrounding air. Its heat energy is being dissolved like blood in water."
I then change the image back to the sun and planet on the book's pages.
"You can think of the sun the same way. Except its way huge of course and its so far away you can't even imagine it! So all that heat, all that energy it releases, even that is lost to the cold vacuum of space on its way to the planet."
One of the small children near the front of the crowd speaks up with a loud voice. Obviously waiting your turn and raising your hand less likely to be remembered by someone of his age.
"What's a vacuum goddess?"
I had to stop myself from slapping my face. Of course I'm using lots of words and terms these people had never heard before, I basically have to explain everything I use to explain things. Patience truly is the marking of a saint.
"A vacuum is a place where there isn't anything. Though technically outer space isn't a full vacuum."
A young woman raised her hand and I pointed to her.
"What do you mean a place where there isn't anything? Its impossible for nothing to be somewhere!"
"Well that's what a vacuum is. A true vacuum doesn't actually exist in nature but people can create perfect vacuums through science and places like outer space are partial ones. Basically if a place where nothing exists somehow forms things that exist around it fill that void so quickly it basically never existed."
Using the book I try to illustrate this using moving pictures. The vacuum box was the classic example and I used water filling it.
"See? Its like when a place with air is put underwater and the water fills in it. But instead of air and water its vacuum and air."
There was a lot of confused head scratching and talking among each other as they thought about what I was showing and telling them. What am I even doing? These are medieval peasants they have no clue what any of this stuff means or even the concepts of them! I'm probably starting way above their capabilities.
With a slight sigh the book closes with a loud clap that causes many people to jump in surprise. The book then floats over to my stomach and I grab with it my hands.
"Look I'm a goddess so you should be believing what I'm saying anyway shouldn't you?" I then use my left hand to rub my face. "Could I demonstrate this with magic? Is void even an element here?"
Several children piped up.
"Yeah we wanna see a vacuum goddess!"
"Show us goddess!"
One of the older men that was standing near the back of the group crossed his arms over his chest.
"If this vacuum is like the goddess describes it sounds much too dangerous to just summon anywhere."
Yeah he's probably right. I can only imagine trying to use magic for this and summoning a black hole that destroys the whole planet or something. Its probably best there are no void magic experiments today.
"I'm sorry everyone but there won't be any vacuums to show you today. Why don't we just pick a different topic to learn about? I'll answer any questions you have to the best of my ability."
While the villagers began talking to each other and deciding on a topic for the next lesson I got a strange notification on my goddess zone heads up display. Retreating into my mind for a moment I take a look at the 3D map and notice something approaching the village. It was human size but was traveling in the sky and moving very fast. Some kind of flying animal? The most bizarre part was that its trajectory seemed to be aimed directly at me!
I looked up to the sky and scanned the horizon. It only took a moment for my superhuman vision to spot it. It was a person! A flying person heading right at me!
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"Give me a moment everyone."
Holding my book in my right hand I stood up and kept my eyes locked onto the approaching person. Hopefully it was human. As I rose up it didn't change its trajectory at all though it did slow down slightly which meant it could see and recognized that I had noticed it.
"Is something wrong goddess?"
Miya was sitting next to my right foot and stood up as well, looking up to my face in the sky with concern on her face. She had been enjoying learning from me as well and my sudden reaction clearly worried her. As my high priestess she was used to always being in the loop.
"There's someone flying towards me." I replied. "Don't worry everyone I've got this."
My left hand moved out to the crowd to try and show them reassurance while my right hand let go of my book. It returned to floating and with a thought it lifted up to my right shoulder, the ribbon fluttering in the breeze. One thing I remembered from the dream was that it was a spell focus. Magical attacks could be launched from it which means I've doubled my damage output.
There were worried murmurs from the villagers and Miya walked over to my right foot. She put one hand over her heart and the other she reached out to touch my shoe.
The figure eventually stopped moving at least a half mile away from where I was standing. They were at eye level with me almost two hundred feet in the air. Whoever they were they took my movements as a sign of danger. After all I had never taken my eyes off them.
I called out to them and tried to be commanding and calm.
"Whoever you are I can see you. You're clearly smart enough not to come closer to me now that I've noticed you. If you have no ill intent I give you permission to approach me to speak otherwise I advise you turn around and flee as if death itself was chasing you."
The book lifted up next to my head and opened with a flutter of pages, its movements following my unconscious and a clear display of battle readiness.
The figure floated there for several more moments, almost a full minute, while the crowd below looked in the direction I was in near silence. There were many pointing out the figure though at the distance very few villagers could actually see it.
Eventually the figure continued flying towards me, though now at a much slower speed. It took at least a minute for them to finally reach me and they came to a stop floating in the air about one hundred feet away from my face.
"Hello." I said plainly.
Now I could get a good look at them. They were indeed human, an old man in his fifties with a long graying beard and hair. He was wearing a thick black cloak that fluttered in the winds this high in the air. The look on his face was one that didn't reveal his emotions or thoughts. He was clearly afraid of me though whatever fear he felt he was hiding well. If he was out here all alone that meant he was a mage sent specifically to find me, though for what end I'd have to find out.
"Greetings great and powerful Goddess Jenna." The man said with a elegant bow, an impressive feat considering he was midair. "I am known as Ferherlyn, a mage with mastery in wind and divination. I am in the employ of the Lord Quarely Mettlelin who rules this province."
Divination magic? Is that a thing here? Who do they even get info from? Are there other gods active in this world? Do they get it from the universe? I'm gunna need to get that info pronto! Without giving away I don't know of course. Also he's the lackey of the local lord huh? Its already come to that.
"Hello Ferherlyn" I replied.
My book closed and returned to floating near my shoulder while I crossed my arms over my stomach. Hopefully this was less threatening of a stance, though I was pretty peeved at this turn of events and I'm not gunna pretend not to be. He probably saw the annoyance on my face because he quickly bowed again.
"Much apologies great goddess" he continued. "I should have asked for an audience with you of course, though there are no temples dedicated to you that I could have prayed at."
Smart ass. I'm getting smart ass vibes from him.
I uncrossed my arms and put my right hand on my hip while I lifted my left with palm up.
"Well as you can see Mr Ferherlyn I'm kinda in the middle of something. So unless you have something to share with the class I'm gunna have to ask you to sit in the back until I'm done."
Ferherlyn looked around on the ground below, just now noticing the villagers clearly. The look on his face was one of great confusion which he quickly got under control.
"Class? You're teaching these villagers? On what subject?"
"We were learning about astrology actually. That kinda petered out. We were just about to choose a different topic if you had any suggestions."
Miya's voice rose up from below.
"Goddess..."
I looked down at her, taking my eyes off the mage for the first time. Hopefully he didn't try anything.
"Yes Miya I'm sorry."
I return my eyes to the mage who thankfully hasn't moved.
"My teaching for today won't last must longer. If you please sit down anywhere. I will be with you once the lesson is over so don't feel I'll ignore you."
While saying this I gestured with my hand to the crowd and then sat down with a little grunt on my pile of earth. The book floated nearby and opened up again with the ruffling of paper.
The mage seemed to take the hint and he floated down to the ground at the back of the gathered villagers. He was probably very confused still and I didn't blame him. Education of the masses was clearly not something that the rich or powerful thought was important just as the history in my world. I'm going to put a change to that. Oh will I.
As the mage sat down the villagers all kept giving him concerned looks, some even frightened. Someone had pulled him out a chair and though he looked disappointed in the low class chair he did end up sitting in it with a flair of his robe.
"Please everyone stop all the concern. This is my guest Mr Ferherlyn. He works for Lord Quarely and is going to join us for the last lesson. Speaking of which have we decided on a subject?"
Thankfully this calmed down the crowd and they stopped staring at the mage. Well most people did. He was a powerful mage working for the local lord no less, just having him around had changed the entire mood. I was still a goddess however and the people clearly didn't fear his magical power as much as his social power it seemed.
Miya actually was the one to speak up next.
"Why don't you tell us more about that electricity you mentioned before goddess?"
This got Ferherlyn to sit up in his seat and look up at her in both confusion and anger.
"Electricity? What manner of magecraft is this? I've never heard of such a thing!"
A coy smile spread across my face as I leaned forward and looked over at him across the crowd. The villagers all looked on in silence.
"Oh? We'll I guess you'll learn something today Mr Mage. I'm sure you know what electricity is, you just don't have greater context for it."
Using the index finger of my left hand I point to the ground nearby to my left and call down a lighting bolt. It flashes brightly even in the daylight and the thunderclap comes immediately after and the combination causes everyone, even the mage, to jump in shock and fear.
"Electricity. A fundamental force of nature that everyone overlooked as the power of the gods." I paused for dramatic effect. "That is until they learned how to control it."
Using telekinesis I brought a slew of iron farming tools and a few weapons out from the nearby buildings, floating them through the air with the twists of my fingers. Everyone looked on in awed silence as I arranged them in a zig zag pattern in the air all daisy chained down to the ground where a sword was then struck into the ground.
I then whispered lighting and another bolt came down from the sky, though this time it took a very different path. The thunderclap shook those gathered as they sat without flinching as they witnessed the lighting arc between each and every one of the dozen or so tools and finally into the sword in the ground. The brilliant light had just enough space between tools to make the shape of a odd worm as it flashed for just an instant, burning the image into the eyes of everyone present.
The smug smile on my face was impossible for me to control as I sat back and twirled my left hand and index finger around. The tools in the air swirled around as well like the dancing leaves of the season in the wind.
"Iron. Metal. The most effective conductor humans have found to control the flow of lightning. Once thought the domain of the gods it became known as electricity, a force that propelled the lives of all life into heights not even imagined by previous generations."
Everyone present was too stunned to move or speak, some of them even unable to breathe after what they had just witnessed. This was probably one of the most mind blowing and worldview shattering things they could have seen so far from their goddess. The look on the old mage man's face was especially satisfying for me to see.
I leaned forward as the tools all floated down to the ground in front of me and settled safely on the dirt.
"Any questions?"
There were stammers, stutters, and gaping mouths unable to form words. Everyone in the crowed was still much too shocked to even form coherent thoughts it seemed. Even the mage was sitting there in stunned silence, thought I expected him to be deep in thought.
Miya was the first to break the silence, her sweet stammering quite cute.
"G-Goddess.... You're s-saying humans can c-control lighting...?"
"I'm saying humans can control lighting. And its called electricity. Lightning is made out of electricity."
My book floated up and began fluttering through pages, my mental image of a simple closed circuit forming when my train of thought was interrupted. Looking around I read the room and decided it was probably best to leave it at that for now. I probably overloaded their brains just now.
The book clapped shut and I stood up.
"That seems like a good place to stop for today everyone. Oh and just as a disclaimer. Don't try this at home without supervision ok? Electricity is extremely dangerous and lighting can kill you."
I then looked over to the wizard and motioned with my hand.
"Ferherlyn. If you'd like to speak to me please come. You too Miya."
As the mage stumbled to his feet I bent down and collected Miya in my hand before standing up again. It was best to get off somewhere in the woods before the crowd recovered and the endless questions began. This was probably too big a can of worms to open up now but I had showed off a bit.
Ferherlyn had collected himself and flew up after me, likely using wind magic of some kind.
This made me wonder if I was capable of flight? Probably due to my size that was a bad idea but who knows. For now I'll just worry about what kind of conversation is about to happen between me and a noble's mage.