Armed with new knowledge and powers the first thing I did upon closing in on my home, the Silver Xana was close my eyes and allow the more useful version of the mini-map I possessed to fill my vision. It only took a second of my eyes being closed to allow the thing to overtake the darkness underneath my eyelids.

The minimap revealed a good chunk of the town that surrounded me. Everything on the ground level of the town was suddenly exposed to me, and I was able to learn a lot about the residents of the town.

I knew next to nothing about the town I was living in. In fairness, my consciousness has existed in a physical body for less than a day but still. My tremorsense allowed me to learn a lot at once.

This town was inhabited by less than four dozen humanoids. Around forty-five circles were situated throughout the town. Something I mentally marked for future investigation was the existence of a single crescent on the minimap and when I clicked it I learned that a type of creature called an elf lived in the town. Its name was Goras. That was the only unexpected entry on the minimap.

I opened the door leading into the Silver Xana and immediately strode into my place of residence. As I did so I proudly had the sheets of paper that I had taken with me in my hands and was arrogantly showing them off.

The papers were glowing, something they had begun to do when I had acquired the necessary items in the necessary numbers to successfully complete the quest I was undertaking. They kept glowing, radiating a soft blue glow, even after I gently placed them in front of Isadora. The receptionist grinned at me and she looked positively delighted to have gotten the items she had asked for.

She opened one of the shelves the desk she sat had contained and pulled out a pink bag. She opened the bag and began to count money until she had exactly enough for my reward. She counted approximately 15 escudos, thick silver coins.

"Five escudos per woke-root, and you brought me all three. How excellent!" She said, happy to push forward the reward, the gleaming coins, she had prepared for me. I smiled and examined the coins she had given me. They were coins made of silver, with crosses emblazoned on either side of them.

When I reached forward and touched them, they vanished before my very eyes. This made my eyes open wide in alarm, but the system reached out and informed me of the true nature of what had just happened.

[Althos, relax. We just unlocked your inventory ability. This is one ability everyone has to make life more convenient. It creates a tiny pocket-dimension wherein you can store your items. Mortals have a limited amount of space they can fill and a limited amount of weight they can sustain, but you don't. You are not burdened like they are.] It told me.

I was grateful for the explanation but my curiosity was piqued by something about this. I immediately questioned the system. "If you knew about this, why didn't you tell me about it when I put the paper where Isadora drew the plants in my scarf?" I asked, speaking to the system mentally.

I heard a mechanical giggle and the system immediately responded to me. [Because you looked funny with the paper in your scarf. We liked the visuals so we kept the ability a secret.] The system explained. Mentally I frowned and sighed at the system, but I allowed it to have its fun and didn't complain.

Isadora waved her hand over the paper and the thing began to disgorge the woke-roots. She examined them briefly and smiled after finding the things to her satisfaction. She turned to me and began to speak.

"Oh Althos, these are perfect! Thank you so much, with this I'll be able to sit down and begin making caffeine potions which we'll need if anyone without magic wants to explore the forest." She told me, beginning to explain why she had requested the plants in the first place.

"This is around the time of year that some of Comillas younger people begin to try and explore the forest, which is good and neat. The problem stems from sleeping serpents. And I don't mean a vague sort of sleeping serpent, I mean what we locals call 'sleeping serpents', which are a type of snake that causes those they bite to fall asleep." Isadora explained, thinking about the snakes.

"By using these plants," She said, gesturing to the things that now took up a significant part of her desk. "I can create potions that people can drink and use to wake up quickly." She told me before flashing me a brilliant smile.

I smiled back at her, intrigued by the idea of those meeting and maybe even taming some of those snakes. "I'll have to check those things out on the minimap the next time I visit the forest." I realized, eager to learn more about assorted status conditions. I was also interested in the potions Isadora could apparently make, and I made that clear to her with my next statement.

"Hey Isadora, could I help you make those potions the next time you make them? I'd love to help out and learn about alchemy." I told her, the word "alchemy" appearing in my mind mysteriously right before I finished speaking. She was shocked at my question but also quite happy and responded to my question within a second.

"Sure! I'd be happy to teach you about alchemy. You strike me as the sort who'd enjoy brewing potions." She said, giving me another brilliant smile.

"I would like to be!" I told her, happily. The thought of being able to use the forest's plants to brew medicine and help people was something I was quite excited by, and I suspected that that had to do with the influence of the healing subdomain on me as a person.

While I thought about that Isadora walked out from behind the desk she spent a lot of her time behind and motioned for me to follow her. "It's time for us to go pay Mateo a visit. His home isn't far." She told me, before once again gesturing for me to follow her.

I began to follow after her, and for the first time, I got to see her outside of the Silver Xana once she opened the door and stepped through it. As she did so she also opened her arms wide and sighed luxuriously the second she felt the cool breeze on her skin.

"Oh Althos, this is so nice!" She muttered, happily. She was in front of me but I could hear the smile on her lips. She and I were walking away from the inn and towards a nearby house about five minutes away. I knew this from when I checked my not-so-mini map minutes ago and learned where Mateo was.

---

We came to a stop outside of the entrance to a small house made of locally harvested wood. The house was a sleek black color, and I quite liked the aesthetic choices of whoever designed it. Isadora politely knocked on the door, and within a matter of moments the thing was pulled inward and a face emerged from within the house.

Mateo, at least according to my mini-map peered through the open door and smiled when he saw Isadora. "Oh hey, cousin! I see you brought me some company." The broad-faced man said, eagerly when he noticed Isadora and me ready to greet him. She laughed and nodded as the man stepped aside and ushered us into his home.

When we were both inside the house Mateo swung the door closed, and turned to face us. He was a tall individual with brown skin and jet black hair. He had long, muscular limbs and stood taller than I did.

"So cousin, do you have some good news for me?" Mateo asked, glancing at me curiously but not paying me much mind. Isadora happily nodded at her cousin before pulling out the remaining quest-request form she had on her and handing it to him. He quickly noticed that the form was glowing and his eyes lit up. He turned to me and began to study me more thoroughly.

I felt his eyes on my form and chuckled. I moved towards him and extended my hand in his direction. He grabbed my hand and pulled me into a bear hug. He was a strong, and evidently quite a passionate man.

"Oh man, you are a real life-saver! Those protus plants you brought me... I'll be able to cook so many meals with them." He revealed, before beginning to chat with both his cousin and myself. As he began to explain why he had filled out the quest-request form.

"If you weren't a druid I'd hesitate in telling you this, but since you are it's possible you may be exactly what Comillas needs." Mateo told me, his eyes gleaming as he began to walk over to a table within his living room.

Mateo, Isadora, and I stood in the man's living room. Near us was a single couch, in front of which was a small table. Mateo placed the paper, the quest-request form, on that table and he reached his hand into the paper so that he could begin to pull out the protus plants contained within.

"Over the course of the last few years, farmers in Comillas have begun to suffer from worse and worse harvests. It was a slow decline, and we noticed it quick enough that we could begin to prepare, but if this pattern continues unabated then within... a decade, we might be forced to leave this place. All of us." The man told me, an edge of fear audible in his voice. There was a request hidden in his voice, which was surprisingly forward given that we had just met.

I studied his face for a second. He was a handsome man, with a smooth face tanned by years of hard, physical work. He had dark, green eyes and was looking at me as openly as I was looking at him. I allowed a few moments to pass before addressing the unspoken question.

"Oh really? I'll definitely check that out for you all." I said, smiling at both of the humans. They both smiled back at me and exhaled a breath they likely hadn't known they were holding. Isadora looked at me and began to speak.

"If you find anything it'll definitely merit a reward of some sort, especially since we're still early and this isn't life-threatening. Yet. There's still plenty of time for us to either find a solution or to make preparations to leave. We figured you might have been interested in this little situation of ours." Isadora told me, a smile still etched on her face.

I nodded at her understandingly, while Mateo pulled some money out of his pocket. The sound of the money smacking the table filled the room we found ourselves in, and Mateo began to laugh.

"Oh man, this is excellent!" He declared, enthusiastic about the sort of food he'd be cooking up for himself soon.

"Hey Althos, do you know how to cook?" He asked me. I turned to face him, or rather to give him my full and undivided attention. The word "cook" made sense to me, but I didn't know how to do it. I shook my head at him, and he began to laugh when he realized that I was saying that cooking was not a skill of mine.

"In my defense, I've mostly eaten fruits and vegetables. You don't exactly need to cook a carrot." I told the cousins. They both smiled sympathetically at my remark. Mateo chuckled at that, and nodded in understanding.

"That's fair enough I suppose. Isadora told me that you were a druid... I don't know much about them." Mateo confessed, readily admitting to his own ignorance. I smiled at him, approving of his honesty and internally remarking that I too didn't know much about druids. Fortunately, the system itself stepped in to add some a bit to my understanding of druids.

[Humans who aren't druids tend not to know much about them. Though many druids are loners, some form organizations called "circles". Members of "circles" tend to go about trying to fulfill similar or interconnected objectives. Non-druids who know about druids know more about druidic "circles" than they do individual druids. If you're gonna lie to these people that might be the route to take.]

The system sounded rather judgemental at that moment, which made me chuckle. I mentally transmitted a message of appreciation to my constant companion.

"Druids aren't known for our socialness so it makes a certain amount of sense that you don't know much about us." I said to the muscular man. He nodded at me, likely appreciative that I wasn't hurt by his proclamation of ignorance.

"Heck even I don't know all that much about us. All of my abilities, personally, are related to animals and plants but I'm level 1." I told the pair, hiding my elemental powers for now. Telling them that I possessed animal and plant powers made sense to me, and I truthfully admitted my own relative ignorance about my own abilities.

They looked at me, surprisingly rather relieved to hear that. Isadora spoke up this time.

"Oh well that's nothing to be ashamed of! You went into the forest, retrieved the items we asked you to retrieve and came back safely. You helped people. You have time to learn about your powers. And a safe place to do so." She told me, speaking reassuringly. I nodded at her, myself appreciative of the words of kindness she had just spoken.

---

I left Mateo's house half an hour later with twenty more silver escudos in my inventory. I imagined I could hear the coins, even though I couldn't since they were safely and magically tucked away.

Night had fallen over Comillas and I was armed with more knowledge than I had possessed an hour ago. All around me stood tiny houses, some dimly lit from within, filled with wonderful parents regaling children with bedtime stories while others had inquisitive sorts who were seated outside of their homes, watching passersby like myself.

As I wandered back to the Silver Xana I mentally recounted all of the exciting events of the day. It was a surprisingly long list, and I wondered if tonight would be as remarkable. I doubted it, but when I told myself that in the safety of my mind I received a message from the system that revealed to me that I was wrong.

[Althos when you get back to your room in the inn we'll fully unlock your first tier of influence over one of the domains all gods are born possessing an innate ability to influence: the domain of dreams.] The system whispered in my mind.

Hearing that made me walk faster, and I had to resist the urge to break into a full run to get back home. I couldn't wait to be able to finally learn more about my true, divine abilities.

---

I quickly found myself back within the Silver Xana and within the room I woke up in. I had barely arrived when I began to receive a message from the system.

[Most types of humanoids, animals, and even some extraplanar beings have to sleep. Sleep is when their bodies and their brains enter into a mode of less activity than when they are awake and take time to recover from the stresses of the day, allowing them to regain energy.] The system told me, teaching me about the body and mind of living creatures bit by bit.

[Humanoids and other living creatures experience things called 'dreams' while they are sleeping. Dreams are a series of thoughts, images, and sensations their minds show them while they are sleeping. Deities and other higher beings can either subtly influence these dreams or we can take them over altogether.] The voice in my mind revealed to me, causing my eyes to open wide in shock.

[The first tier of active divine powers this domain grants are both related to sleep.] My eerie companion informed me.

[Each tier of influence over a domain and subdomain grants you certain things. The main things of note that each tier of influence of each domain and subdomain grant you are active and passive divine powers. Active powers are powers that require you to activate them, and they tend to have a cooldown period which is a period of time after you use them in which you cannot use them.] The system told me, beginning an explanation of the mechanics of divine abilities.

[Passive powers are ones that are always active. A passive power the first tier of influence over the domain of dreams grants each god is the ability to enter the dreams of humanoids.] The system revealed, and that was a revelation which brought a delighted smile to my face.

[Dreams are something ancient gods were obsessed with. Ancient gods, back when there was more than one god, made rules and laws that dictated their behavior and many of those rules and laws were ones that strongly suggested that gods shouldn't directly interact with mortals. Deities entered dreams and interacted with mortals there] The voice in my head told me, which puzzled me.

"But... why not? Don't gods get some of their strength from worshipers? Why would we do something that effectively hurt ourselves?" I asked, curious about this oddity and made doubly so when I recalled the system mentioning that gods wanted and that I myself should want worshipers.

[When there were more than one god, gods had to find ways to coexist. They had to cooperate or at least tolerate each other. The rules were made more with this pragmatic understanding in mind than the thoughts of the importance of mortal worshipers in the context of deities building up strength.] My companion told me, giving me a curious sort of history lesson.

At that moment the system's attempts to educate me were interrupted by an important message. An alert. One that brought a big smile to my face.

The alert asked, beeping into existence in my mind in a flash.

I immediately informed the system to create the fruits that the goblins sought. Knowing that Troik had been successful in getting others to utter the prayer-filled my heart with joy, and with pride and I wanted to reward him for his successful effort.

[If you wish to reward your servant you can bless his dreams. Blessing them ensures he has an enjoyable dream, though the precise way in which he'd have an enjoyable dream depends on you and on him.] The system told me, resuming its speech once I had seen fit to reward my friend for his work. I went silent and waited for the system to continue telling me about blessings.

[A way that a deity can influence the actions of mortals is for them to bless the mortal. When a deity blesses a mortal they temporarily grant them gifts related to a domain or subdomain of the god's choosing and the mortal is made aware of the fact that they've earned a deity's good graces. If you bless Troik's dreams then he'll wake up in a good mood because he had a night full of good dreams]

I listened to the system's explanation with interest. And at this point, I had a question. "Can I bless someone with regards to every domain and subdomain?" I asked, speaking aloud and also in my mind.

[Yes you can. The exact effects are really... contextualized. If you gain influence over the subdomain of necromancy and undeath and you bless someone they won't be attacked by unintelligent undead. If you bless someone using the earth subdomain they'll be stronger so long as they are on earth of some sort.] The system revealed, mentioning necromancy which was something I unconsciously knew was a school of magic.

[Inversely you can also curse someone. Cursing someone follows the same structure as blessing them, but leads to them being inconvenienced, at least until you gain more influence over whatever domain or subdomain you seek to curse them using.] The system said to me, warning me with its tone that this was a powerful ability.

[The more influence you have over the domain the more dramatic the impact of your curse or blessing. Cursing someone doesn't require for you to identify yourself, and you can opt to use a false name or a title, which are things you don't have yet, when blessing someone.] The system announced.

[Anyways, we know you want to see the powers you gain via the domain of dream's first and lowest tier of influence over them. Here you go.] The thing told me, wrapping up its explanation suddenly.

When I finished reading that lengthy message it vanished into nothingness. As it did I closed my eyes, and waited for the not-so-mini map to appear in the familiar darkness.

[Hey Althos, whatcha doing?] The system asked me, rather carefreely. There was a jovial tone in its voice that informed me that it had a suspicion of what I was up too. I grinned and kept my eyes shut. The not-so-mini-map appeared and expanded in my mind's vision.

"I'm going to go and test these new abilities out! After all my ancestors were apparently experienced... dreamwalkers?" I said, starting off confidently but ultimately finishing with less confidence in my voice. I wasn't sure if the name of the divine power I had acquired was a title my ancestors once possessed or just a descriptor of what they did.

"I want to walk in their footsteps and become familiar with what they were familiar with. I want to familiarize myself with dream-based powers and learn how my presence affects dreams." I told the system, articulating why I was scanning my mini-map to find out who was sleeping and thus who I could introduce myself too.

[Oh boy... there are some rules you'll want to know about as you prepare yourself for your first venture into the land of dreams. It's gonna be a real trip.] The system told me, beginning to warn me about what my first venture into a dream would be like. I listened, curious, and eager to learn more.