The reptilian monster I had set out to find and was now studying was a massive thing. It must have been almost four and a half meters long and stood perhaps one and a half meters tall. Its skin and scutes were both ebony black.
The thing had the harsh amber eyes of many sorts of snakes, and its maw was filled with row upon row of sharp teeth. It was lounging in a relatively sunny clearing, and I stood several meters away from it. Its back was turned towards me so it couldn't see me and the thing appeared to be quite lazy. It was only because I had solid vision that I could see its eyes at all.
After studying it for a little bit, I took a deep breath and walked closer to the monster in front of me. I waited for it to detect me, and it took an embarrassingly long amount of time for the beast to do so.
When the monster detected me it demonstrated a speedy reaction time. It flared to life faster than I anticipated given its massive form and turned around to try and get a good look at me. Its body shot up and the thing leaped to spin around and lay its yellow eyes on me.
The thing made an annoyed sound as it spotted me. I grinned at my foe, as the creature took its first steps towards me and roared. As it closed the distance between us it made its intentions clear by biting the air between us. The caiman was hungry and it showed.
My response was simple: I rose my hands. I pointed my index finger on my left hand at the thing and wasted no time before casting my first offensive spell: poison pistol.
A straight line of sickly green fluid shot forth from my finger. It sped through the air and connected with the monster, landing on the thing's nose. The monster reeled back in shock as the poison began to take effect.
"What does poison do?" I asked the system, speaking aloud as the monster began to react to the delibating effects of the poison it had just been hit by. The monster began to thrash around as if it were suddenly afflicted with the headache of its life.
[Poison inflicts harm on creatures over the course of a few moments to a few hours. The worst poisons can kill outright, but the poison from poison pistol, when cast at your level, is mostly used to make an enemy useless or otherwise incapacitate a foe.] The system revealed.
I grinned and began to edge closer to the flailing monster, studying it carefully. The monster looked at me, and I could sense fear in its gaze. Fear and rage. I rose another hand in its direction and the monster took a step back, but only for a moment. Almost a second later it lunged at me, now more determined than ever to attack.
Before it could lash out at me and get revenge for the poison it was suffering from I cast another new spell: "Acid Splatter". The spell manifested itself as sweat, sweat which I proceeded to speedily flick at my enemy with a swift flick of my wrist right as my opponent closed in on me. The acid sailed through the air and landed on the space of the thing's head between its two eyes.
The acid cracked the skin of the beast and began to hiss against its flesh as it burned it. The monster's response wasn't to roar. It was to cry out in pain from the potency of my magic. It backed up and fell to its knees as my poison continued to weaken it.
"It's almost time to heal it." I told myself, realizing that the monster was in a lot of pain. I smiled as I watched the thing for a second longer, before pointing my hand in its direction and silently casting another spell for the first time: "Tangle".
There was a second of silence before innumerable, green vines shot out of the ground and coiled around the monster's body. They speedily and tightly wrapped around the beast binding its limbs, before spreading its tiny legs apart. This caused the creature to fall onto its stomach. The monster was now thoroughly defeated and if it were a humanoid it likely would have been quite humiliated as well.
"Sorry about that." I said to the thing, as I began the process of healing it.
I started off by casting "Cure Condition" on the monster, healing it of the poison I had inflicted on it. The monster sighed as the poison that pained it began to dissipate. I quickly cast "Create food" and conjured an apple for the monster to scarf down. It phased into existence in my hand.
I began to silently heal my foe, hitting the thing with two bursts of "Restore Health" so that I could heal the monster. I paid attention to my minimap and I watched as the monster's hit points climbed back to their maximum number. When the thing was fully healed I paused and considered how to best proceed from here.
"What should I do with you?" I asked, staring at the now fully healed monster. It glared at me, but the anger in its gaze was also tinted with confusion. It asked me a perfectly fair question.
"What do you want?" It asked. I took a second to gaze at it curiously.
For a second I considered lying to it. I could have easily told it that I was here for a more morally upstanding reason than the true reason why I had come here. Ultimately though, I opted for the truth. However cold it may have been.
"I wanted to practice my powers. And you were here, in a state of constant aggression and hostility. I didn't want to hurt an innocent, neutral creature, and you were neither." I told the thing. It looked at me, confused and angry.
"So you practiced your powers on me?" It asked, defensively. I nodded at it. It made a noise, a roar of anger and disappointment. I listened to it, not phased by the intensity of the hateful sound.
"You... monster!" The thing hissed, angered at my decision to use it as my guinea pig. I chuckled at it.
"Why are you upset?" I asked coldly. Its baleful yellow eyes zeroed in on mine before it spoke next.
"You attacked me!" It roared. Which was only technically accurate and not at all the whole story. And I proceeded to tell the thing as much.
"That argument would carry more weight if you weren't a predator who devours all sorts of creatures to survive. It's true that I attacked you first, I'll readily admit that, but how many creatures have you attacked and killed? In equally cold blood no less. Not to mention... I haven't killed you and I even healed you from the wounds I inflicted on you." I told the thing. Its eyes narrowed as it considered my counterpoint. However I wasn't done.
"I also didn't attack first. You saw me and lunged. I only attacked after you began to make a show of intimidating me, snapping at the air between us. If you're gonna judge me, do so from a position of accuracy." I told the monster, annoyed at its revisionism. The creature fell silent and continued to look at me in heated hostility.
I smiled at it, enjoying the heated hatred I felt coming from it. It made sense for the creature to not like someone who inflicted pain on it so I could easily accept its anger.
"So now that you're powerless I must once again ask myself... what to do with you?" I muttered, grinning at the creature before me.
"You are quite a strong creature. I'd like to recruit you, but I know that as you are... that'd be difficult." I muttered, as the creature silently glared at me. After thinking for a second I asked the system a question.
"Can I manipulate the "Tangle" spell without it coming undone?" I asked the system, as I considered a way to at least lessen the threat of the monster I had contained. I already knew what I wanted to do, it wasn't difficult for me to figure out too. I wanted to feed the monster a fruit I had created, but without exposing myself to its razor-sharp teeth.
[Sure! You can manipulate the vines easily with your force of will. This is even easier for you since you're a deity of nature.] The system explained to me, its voice easily entering my mind. I nodded, which was surely confusing to the monster I had defeated.
I refocused on the black caiman and the vines that bound its defeated form. I imagined the things tightening around the monster and binding it more fiercely. I heard a soft, pained sound escape the thing's mouth.
"Now... You and I should have a conversation." I said, speaking more loudly than my previous mutterings. My eyes locked onto the beast's.
"What do you want, you bastard?" The crocodile-like creature said, angrily. I chuckled as a response to it.
"Do you want your freedom?" I asked it, looking at the powerful creature. It nodded at me or did as much of a nod as it could. I tossed the apple I had just created close to its head.
"I'm gonna loosen the vines that are binding you in a second. When I do, eat that apple." I told the creature. It continued to glare at me. I waited a second, before doing as I said, loosening the vines to allow the monster the freedom to twist its head and scarf down the apple. It didn't, at least not right away.
When it didn't I rose a hand in its direction. I didn't cast any spells, I just opened my mouth to speak. All I had to do was speak to it.
"Listen... You've lost this fight. How this goes from here is up to you. You're already tied up and bound, would you just do things the easy way? If you do it'll be so much more pleasant for you." I said to it, speaking completely sincerely this time. The monster was emotionally disarmed by this and was still for a second.
"This fruit, right here? It'll empower you. It'll make you stronger. Consider it... a peace offering." I whispered, suggesting that I was offering the creature a gift. I wanted the creature to know that this was my way of ending the battle and that all it had to do was eat the "peace offering" I had prepared for it.
"And by not eating it... you're hinting that you'd like for me to continue our battle." I said, adding a touch of menace and steel to my voice at the end of my statement.
The beast was quiet for a second before it moved just enough to bite down on the fruit. And then its eyes opened wide in relief as the taste of it filled its mouth.
The creature began to speedily munch down on the fruit. And as it was doing so I received a notification.
| [Influence over black caiman: 5%... 10%... 15% The black caiman is no longer considered hostile and is now considered charmed by you. Its intelligence is also very low, so it is naturally easy to persuade anyway.] |
I grinned as I read the notification and with a flick of my wrists unbound the creature. Even as I did so I quietly asked the system what it meant for a creature to be charmed.
[If a creature is considered "charmed" it means that that being is incapable of being hostile towards you until the charmed condition is over. Your words are also more persuasive than they would be otherwise if a creature listening to you is charmed.] My companion and mental encyclopedia told me. Hearing that only widened my smile.
"Nice." I said to myself, as the caiman stood up and began to approach me.
[I suppose now we can begin to unlock more of your godly powers. Now's as good a time as any, anyway.] The system said, sighing into my mind as it began a process that made me smile.
The caiman came over to me, and didn't attack me, so I ran my hands over the same spot between its two eyes where acid had fallen earlier. A spot that was now healed and back to how it had been right before I struck the creature and began our short fight. The skin I felt under my fingers was tough and wet. It felt strange to touch.
[We would like for you to select two of the domains and subdomains, as in two total, you already have some influence over and we will unlock them for you. We don't want you to feel constrained and stuck in the tutorial, and we also don't want to make every decision for you.] The system explained, after giving me the best news I had heard so far in my short life.
I stopped to consider which domains and subdomains I ought to pick. I only took a second though. I knew which two I wanted to unlock the most.
I wanted to unlock the domains of magic and knowledge. Magic was an innate domain that was inherently mine to control as a god, and knowledge was one that was mine by my own virtue. I wanted to unlock them all, but those were the two that most resonated within me.
"Please unlock the domains of knowledge and magic." I told the system. I heard a soft chuckle come from within my mind and grinned.
[Understood. Unlocking them now. Remember that when the tutorial is over you'll gain even more abilities, spells, and divine powers than you currently possess, including from already unlocked domains and subdomains.] The system told me, speaking softly. I felt a wellspring of power flare to life within me and sighed as I felt my mind expand.
|
Alert: Being in tutorial mode grants the system the ability to lock and unlock portions of your power away. Currently, the system has ruled that it decides when you gain access to powers that would otherwise be under your control. The system has seen fit to unlock access to two of your domains: the domains of knowledge and of magic. We will now explain the powers that come with those domains. The domain of knowledge, passive powers: Appraisal: This power allows you to learn the properties and basic information about objects you see scattered throughout the world. To use it just select an object and focus on the power. This can also be used on people, where it identifies their species, class (if they possess any), level, and alignment. Detect Magic: This is a synergistic power that is the result of a fusion between the domains of magic and knowledge. It allows you to see the ambient power that magical creatures radiate, as well as the color of the magic that most resonates with their souls. Knowledge domain, active power: Peruse the Past: This once a week power allows you to learn key details of an object's past. This is a potent power that will be upgraded as you gain more power, and as you increase the amount of influence you can exert over the domain of knowledge you can increase the amount of knowledge you gain through this power. Details about the domain of knowledge: This domain dictates things like truth, history, research, and more. Truth is a subdomain of this domain, and history is but one facet of it. This domain is a greater domain, which means that it is a key domain for acquiring greater divine power overall. There are several greater domains, like magic, knowledge, life, death, stars, physics, and a handful of others. Domain of knowledge blessing and curse details: Blessing someone with a focus on the domain of knowledge boosts their ability to recall facts and increases the likelihood of a notification that grants them key knowledge at a moment they may need it the most. Cursing someone with this domain as the focus causes them to forget small details of intricate plans which may ultimately add up to something ruinous for them. This curse could be potentially horrific for magic users or for guards and at its current level of potency there's little more its good for than that. Domain of magic, passive powers: Magic Granting: You can grant spells to mortals. Granting spells to mortals allows them to cast the spells once a day, for now, without it costing them any magical power. You can only grant them spells from schools of magic you possess a single tier or more of influence over, so, for now, you can only grant healing spells to mortals. This power is considered a staple power of godhood and is one of the things that only deities can do. Even in this godless age tales of the gods of the past remember that. Granting spells to creatures is one of the ways you can prove your divinity. Magic Sensing: This skill allows you to sense what sort of magic resonates with someone's soul. That is to say, what sort of magic they'd most excel at and be best able to build experience in. If you use this skill on them and then grant them spells from that school even non-magical creatures can begin to steadily build magical power and become actual spell-casters if they practice and hone their skills. Domain of magic, active power: Magic Drain: This extremely powerful skill drains a magic-user of their ability to use magic for an entire day. It drains away their connections to their magical energy and revokes any other sources of their magic for an entire twenty-four hour period. As a consequence of the extreme power of this ability, it can only be used once a week, for now. Details about the domain of magic: This domain dictates and regulates the usage of magic by mortals. It has never had an overgod, the title given to when a deity is the supreme deity of a domain, but if it were to get one then that deity would be able to decide who has magic and who doesn't, being able to permanently tear magic away from entire species of creatures or even entire universes if it chose to do so. This domain's subdomains are the schools of magic. There are twenty. Ten of them are basic schools, two of them are intermediate schools, three of them are advanced schools, and two are expert schools. To gain access to the next tier of influence over the magic domain you will need to steadily accumulate influence over the basic schools. Domain of magic blessing and curse details: Blessing someone using the domain of magic causes their next low-level spell to not cast any magical energy at all. It's a rare sort of blessing in that it is powerful and short-lived off the bat. That said, as you gain more influence over the domain of magic this blessing increases in power and longevity. Cursing someone using this domain as a focal point for the curse causes someone's next spell to cast 125% of its normal cost in terms of magical energy, and also causes the spell itself to be 10% less effective. |
"Whoa..." I muttered to myself, as I read through the new powers at my disposal. I inhaled and exhaled, and even the very air itself tasted different. When it entered my lungs I was surprised to feel my brain begin to truly activate and begin to assess the air itself.
I knew this because an annoying notification flitted into view, and I had to will the thing away. Not before I read it of course, but still it was intrusive and not what I was hoping to gain through the knowledge domain. A part of me wondered if this was to be expected from the knowledge domain, and as I wondered that the system began to laugh in my mind.
"This is still a lot of power though." I muttered, knowing that over the course of the last few minutes I had just gained an incredible amount of power compared to what I previously had. And it was at that moment, with my reptilian friend still close by, that the system spoke once more.
[And now it's time for us to do one more thing we promised to do: undo our restrictions on your "Sovereign of the Swarm" title. This will be a fun one.] My mental companion told me, and I could hear the sardonic grin in the thing's smug voice.
The arrogant voice proceeded to do what it had promised to do, and I was able to notice the emergence of a new icon in my mind's eye. The icon itself was an image of an ant's head. It made me smile.
|
New Icon Earned: The swarm symbol. Tapping this allows you to learn about your swarm. It also allows you to exert your influence over the swarm creatures under your control. Currently, this amounts to the ants who've eaten the fruits you've created and placed near their ant-hills. You can increase the number of swarm-creatures under your control or at least under your influence by taking over more insects and by caring for the ones you can already influence. |
I read through the notification and smiled as it vanished. "Nice." I said to myself, a wide grin planted on my face as I spoke to myself.
"This is a nice little toy to have under my control." I muttered to myself, a grin on my face. I could already imagine the perks of having swarms of insectoid servants under my control.
Before it mentioned evolution for ants so I'm guessing all beasts, vermin, birds and monsters can evolve.... Must suck to be a classless human.... Imagine thinking you have a small bug problem then a ant the size of cat comes running through your house stealing any and all food it can get and eating your straw bed
It's worth noting that humanoids (including humans) CAN evolve. It takes... a lot, for humanoids to evolve but they can.
@Lucianowrites I'm assuming that takes the form of "transcendence" instead of literally advancing their species?
@DarkeReises Yes actually!
@Lucianowrites Though it would be funny seeing people slowly become eldritch abominations in pursuit of "power", then again people probably do that anyways through different magic experiments. And I'm also assuming that humanoids, or any creature for that matter, are capable of becoming "higher beings"(except for actual gods?) after reaching a certain point of power?
@DarkeReises
So SOME types of beings are capable, in theory, of transcending their initial status as "lesser beings" and becoming "higher beings", but not all things are that lucky.
@Lucianowrites
I'm going to use a spoiler tag since you did.
I'm also assuming that it's largely a case by case basis on which it's dependent on that specific entitys potential and actual ability to even get to that supposed limit of strength in the first place? Along with a variety of other factors and requirements that could be thought of, but I'm assuming that this, along with being an actual species capable of it, are the main restrictions?
And sorry for asking so many questions, I'm just really enjoying this story so far, and I guess I'm just feeling curious today.
@DarkeReises
Basically! There are a number of restrictions, which apply to most creatures, that affect things like evolutionary potential (and transcendental potential as well), and a few other restrictions that complicate efforts to make a lower being and make it transcend it's existence as a lower being. If you know stuff about D&D or Pathfinder, this story and the setting and rules in it are very clearly inspired by that.
@Lucianowrites
Oh the D&D part is funny because I was going to leave a comment on one of the earlier chapters saying"i hope the druid spells are based on D&D because then our MC will be truly OP. Or I did comment that and already completely forgot haha. But thanks for answering all my questions. I'm really taking my time and enjoying this story(which seeing as I've only read 15 chapters in what it normally takes me to read well more than double that for most novels, i think I can say I'm REALLY enjoying this.)
@DarkeReises
oh some of the clear inspiration becomes more apparent later on, but Im glad you’re enjoying the story! Also, if you’re a Christmas celebrator, I hope you have a merry Christmas! I’m In the United States, working on the next chapters, and where I live we are just beginning the wee hours of Christmas :)
@Lucianowrites
Merry Christmas to you too mate. I had hardly noticed that it's now 1:30 AM, since my sense of time especially around holidays has been so whack lately. I'll be spending my Christmas Eve binge reading this story, maybe I'll even catch up today.
@DarkeReises Oh man if you do you'd go on hell of a journey! We're fast approaching two hundred chapters. I actually quite like long stories, which is good since I write better when I give myself space to work out ideas and let them breathe.
@Lucianowrites Haha I can see that. I tend to read novels quite quickly, as if they're under 200 chapters i finish them in about two days or less. My speed of reading tends to slow down if the novel is really interesting to me though (like this one), so maybe I'll take a bit longer. Since i do nothing all day except read(quite literally, it's the only thing I do) I'll still catch up pretty quickly. You could probably see my progress though the stream of comments i may or may not leave as i go though haha
@DarkeReises That'd be cool! I just uploaded the newest chapter and am about to go to bed, but it was nice meeting you! I'm looking forward to your future comments & stuff. Goodnight! :)
@Lucianowrites Nice meeting you too. Goodnight.
