Time unfroze and the world seemed to exhale around me. It took a conscious effort for me to keep standing, but even as the sensations of thousands of little creatures beginning to worship me I was able to stay on my feet. Raiz continued to speak.

"Cosecha, the god I worship and who literally created me, is an entity unlike any that has ever existed. It will possess the powers of all of the higher beings that once existed." The dryad explained. As she spoke there was a rapturous expression on her face, one that expressed her immense pride and loyalty to her creator, to me. My allies looked at her in confusion and shock.

"Could we... meet this god of yours? This... 'Cosecha'?" Farrane asked, a dubious expression on her face as she spoke. I could tell that she didn't actually believe Raiz, and I suspected Raiz did as well. The dryad fell silent in response to her question. And though I didn't say anything, I wasn't silent.

"If I use 'Unfettered divinity' here, would the elves automatically know that Cosecha and I are the same entity, even if I say... use my 'image manifestation' power to create an illusion depicting Cosecha?" I asked the system, ready for it to tell me that that wouldn't work, but also hoping that it would.

[Actually... that would work. Alternatively, you could create an avatar...] The system suggested, to which I transmitted the energy of shaking my head to communicate that I was rejecting that idea.

"Creating an avatar isn't something I feel comfortable doing at this moment. And especially not for something this low-consequence." I replied, refusing to do something as powerful as splitting myself for something as relatively simple as convincing a few elves that I was a real god. But I was eager to attempt to convince the elves of the existence of Cosecha.

Raiz was still silent. She was carefully considering how to advance through this delicate situation. I was pretty excited to be able tell her exactly how we'd navigate this situation, together. And so I quickly composed a mental message to send her.

"Tell them that Cosecha is on its way." I told her, simply. When I did, I saw her eyes flick towards me, an unspoken question in them. I just grinned, and she gave me a confused look before finally nodding and doing as I commanded. She turned towards our elven companions and smiled.

"My master is coming. It was just informing me that it is on its way. Please, ready yourselves. It is very fast." She said, politely and while doing her best to suppress her own shock. I grinned and envisioned my alternate form before activated my ability to manifest images.

---

Raiz was the first to react to the image I manifested. In fairness, I manifested it behind the elves and I, just to mess with the elves. Raiz's eyes suddenly went noticeably wide, which provoked a reaction from Calorron. The elf gave her a relaxed look and asked her a quick question.

"It's right behind us isn't it?" He asked, his tone indicating that he was amused by my antics. She nodded, speechlessly, and Farrane quickly turned around to stare at the fabricated and manifested image of Cosecha, in all of its omnielemental glory.

The unreal illusion I had created stood a good distance behind us, but due to its size and distinct features was easy to see. Calorron turned as well and looked at the eerie entity who was looking at us ominously. I silently used my mental abilities to tie our minds together, the elves and my own and waited for a second to see how the two scouts would react to my other form.

Neither of them opened their mouths to speak. Instead, they took a step back, carefully adding a bit of distance from the deity, but plainly aware of the dryad and the three two-beings behind them. Their faces were stoic masks. And they remained impressively still, even when I activated both "Religious fervor" and "Unfettered divinity".

The first of my activated powers, one I was growing increasingly familiar with, manifested as a subtle field of blue light tinting the area around us. The second of my powers manifested in an unusual way: the area where Farrane and Calorron were standing was suddenly bathed in beautiful, radiant light. It illuminated them and cast their features in a soft, golden glow.

They were baffled by this, looking visibly stunned, but they made no attempt to move. Instead, they both began to mutter something about feeling light as a feather, and that they felt healthier than they had in centuries. I was behind them now, since they had turned around, and I gently grinned. And then I began to speak to them, using my mind to trick them into thinking that Cosecha was being telepathic when it was actually me.

"Hello, Farrane and Calorron. It is nice to meet the two of you." I told them, making my voice a powerful one filled with regal authority and divine might. To them, it was like listening to the sounds of an earthquake with a voice. Their eyes once more filled as they were shocked to their cores to hear me speak to them as my true, divine self.

"I am Cosecha, the god that Raiz worships. I am a god of both nature and civilization and the oftentimes... chaotic ways in which nature and civilization intersect and interact." I explained, speaking both confidently and happily to the elves before me.

Farrane was the first to open her mouth to speak, but it did take her a second to actually begin to talk even after her mouth opened. "Hello... Cosecha. We see that you know our names already... Do you know why we're here?" She asked, speaking shyly, despite the fact that I had communicated mentally with her and her colleague. "Cosecha" nodded at them, its airy head bobbing up and down.

"Yes I do. You are here from the Ansari empire and you are here to investigate and almost certainly create a report detailing what I did last night." I told them, putting a twinge of mischievousness into my telepathic voice. This caught the two of them off-guard and caused them to blush embarrassedly. They didn't speak for a second, so I opted to continue speaking.

"Make no mistake I hold no grudge against you for this. I don't even mind you doing it. I simply know why it is that you're here. Something you didn't hesitate to tell my high-priestess..." I pointed out, reminding them that they had already informed her of what they wanted. Calorron smiled at my illusion, and this time he was the one who spoke.

"Cosecha... You have to understand that we're in an odd situation here." Calorron said, letting the sentence linger in the air for a moment as if I could understand what he meant from that alone. I couldn't.

"Why? I am not asking you to keep this a secret. If you want I'll tell you exactly what I did." I told them, surprising them with my candor. They looked at me in shock and waited for me to continue telepathically speaking. After a few moments, I did.

"I am a god. One of the things I can do is heal people. When it comes to healing... it'd be difficult at the very best for a mortal to match me, even though I don't doubt some of mortals, somewhere might know more technical knowledge than I do." I told the elves, immediately before beginning to launch into an explanation of my activities.

"Last night I healed the creatures in this forest. All of them. I cured them of everything short of magical diseases. Their health was restored, their stamina was restored, if any of them had missing limbs those were regenerated, and any non-magical diseases they suffered from were healed. Heck, the power I unleashed was so powerful that even the symptoms of magical diseases were temporarily overcome." I explained.

"I did this, by targeting this area and activating a power I possess called 'Healing burst'. This power covers an area I target with potent healing energy and heals anyone in the area." I told them, causing their eyes to grow wide in both amazement and shock. I opted to not reveal that I had undergone an upgrade just now and could heal both magical and non-magical diseases.

"So wait, what happened last night... that really was just you? That incredible, record-breaking burst of energy was all you?" Calorron asked, a few moments after I spoke. Cosecha's unreal form nodded at the high-elf. He chuckled, not quite believing it. My fake form laughed, while I, speaking telepathically, made the high-elf an offer.

"I can understand your skepticism... So how's this? I'll heal you and Farrane of any conditions you're suffering from, and then I'll show off my healing mastery. I'll use my power to cure someone of a magical disease. I know you believe that I am a real god. I can sense it. Now let me prove my other claims." I asked and then told the elves. I wasn't lying either, I could sense their belief in my, or rather in Cosecha's divinity. It radiated off of them, a consequence of both my honesty and the powers of the faith domain.

The two elves turned to look at each other, silently, before turning their gazes back towards Cosecha and nodding. And now I smiled, unseen, and barely remembered in all of the "revelations" of the last few minutes.

I didn't even bother to look up their conditions. Instead, I quietly looked at the elves and began to target them. It was me who was looking at them and not the illusionary manifestation of Cosecha, so they didn't even notice.

When I had suitably focused on the two of them for my mind to hone in on them, I silently activated "Healing burst" and watched as they were positively showered in restorative energy. This was the first time I could actually physically watch the effects of the burst of healing energy, as and I did so I was surprised to see both elves begin to faintly radiate a silvery glow.

Because the effect was so specifically targeted this time, it didn't take long to take hold. Both elves began to shiver in delight, as their bodies were coated in a blanket of gentle, thorough, healing energy. They were both surprised as its intensity as the energy poured into each of their cells and each of their pores. I was focused on them, studying their reactions, until I was interrupted.

The alert revealed, bringing an even bigger smile to my face. That was when the system chimed in, asking me an important question.

[Althos, what would you like the alert that informs the elves of your actions to say? Would you like to repeat the contents of the last message, just modified to say 'Cosecha' instead of 'Althos'?] The entity asked me, curiosity coloring its somewhat mechanical voice. I considered its question for a second before replying.

"I'll construct my own message." I informed the system. And then I began to do just that.

As soon as I was done creating the notification it was transmitted to them. Their eyes widened in shock, and I watched as they attempted to check themselves to confirm that if what they just read was true. I assumed they did this by accessing their own ties to the system, but wasn't sure. Thankfully, I had the sentient voice of knowledge within my mind and she was happy to show off.

"Hey Althos, that's exactly what they're doing. Each living creature, and the undead as well, has access to a mini-version of the system that informs them of things like their own classes, their overall hitpoints, and more." The voice informed me. Something it asked piqued my curiosity.

"What are 'hitpoints'?" I asked it, inquisitively. I heard a gentle chuckle emanate from the voice before it replied.

"Hitpoints are a measure of lifeforce and vitality. They quantify how much damage someone can endure before beginning to die. And before you ask, no. You don't have hitpoints. Killing a god is more complicated than knocking them to zero hitpoints. Though if you sustain enough damage over the course of a few minutes your physical form will fade away and you'll be unable to form a new physical form for an... indeterminate period of time." She informed and then warned me.

I smiled, appreciating her just telling me the answer to the question I would have obviously asked if she hadn't gone ahead and answered it before I had the chance. It endeared her to me a bit more, something helpful given the... roughness of her personality.

It was at that point that the elves looked at Cosecha and fell to their knees. They didn't quite prostrate themselves, but they did humble themselves and I could sense that in their hearts they truly acknowledged Cosecha as a divine being. Calorron was the first of the pair to speak after both of them humbled themselves.

"Cosecha, we are grateful for the kindness you have shown us here. In your presence, I feel... words cannot describe how being in your presence elevates me and soothes my soul. Truly your power is divine, as are you. I will not see for my companion, but I see no point in denying this obvious truth." The male elf told me. Humility and humbleness were audible in his voice. Farrane spoke next.

"It's true... You really are a god, aren't you? I can tell that this energy we detected earlier is the same energy that now infuses me. How... odd." She said, speaking both about the fact that I was divine and her own feelings towards that fact. I chuckled, still unnoticed.

I then turned my attention elsewhere. To Troik. I sent him a message, using my divine mental voice.

"Troik, it is time that you were truly and fully healed." I informed the tiny goblin, speaking not as Althos but as Cosecha. I was ready to fulfill one of the very first goals I had ever made: curing Troik of the demonic infection he was suffering from. And in order to prepare for that I had to quickly build up my knowledge of what a demonic infection even was. So I asked the system and the domain of knowledge.

"Hey you two. What is a 'demonic infection'? I know it's apparently a magical disease, of some sort, and that possession is one of the symptoms, but aside from that... I honestly don't know that much about it." I confessed, aware of my relative ignorance of the malady that I was readying myself to cure. I was met with momentary silence, silence which lasted a few moments. During those moments Troik hurriedly began to approach my current location, after asking where I was.

---

[A demonic infection is a disease a creature suffers from if they get into a battle with a demon and survive. This disease opens their minds up to the destructive influence of a demon, and causes them to be susceptible to possession for up to an hour a day.] The system told me.

"Interestingly enough, in curing the disease you'll be able to gain knowledge of it. That means that in the future when you eventually gain demonic worshippers and servants, you'll be able to grant them mortal bodies to possess immediately." Added the domain of knowledge. That intrigued me.

"So what are demons anyway? I know that they are chaotic evil extraplanars, but that alone doesn't give me much knowledge of them." I told both of the metaphysical voices that dwelled in my head. Both of them chuckled, their soft voices meshing together in my mind.

[Demons are some of the native inhabitants of the Heart of Darkness, another dimension made up in equal parts of chaos and evil.] Began the system. It wasn't the only one to speak either.

"They are vicious creatures made up of evil, chaos, sin, and anger. Demons possess innumerable forms and countless powers. The kinds of demons that most commonly possess people are an incorporeal family of demons that relish using the bodies of mortals to sow chaos and to foster hatred." Said the domain of knowledge.

"Demons are some of my creations. If I felt like lying I could say that they are creatures meant to unify mortals and give them external obstacles to clash against and to rise above. I'm not much of a liar though. They were just meant to change societies. A sort of... cultural and civic 'reset-button' if you will. They were taken and... modified by the domain of evil and a handful of evil deities, and given their current outlook and home." Added a new voice.

"Hi, Althos. I am the domain of chaos. It is quite nice to meet you. I'm so excited to see how you play with your first demon." Said the soft voice. Its tone was filled with energy, even though it wasn't speaking loudly or particularly chaotically.

"Depending on how you play with the creature that dwells inside of Troik, you may gain a new ally. Demons love deception and respect the threat of violence. If you want to, you could pretend to banish the thing, while secretly helping it hide. Or you could perform an act of goodness and defeat it, sending it back to the dimension of its birth: the ever eerie Heart of Darkness." The voice told me, really informing me as to the options before me.

"Many of us are curious as to what you'll do next. I suppose I ought to inform you that no matter what choice you pick, new quests will be made available to you. So just have fun, and give us a good show would you?" Asked the chaotic entity. I chuckled and internally nodded at the thing.

It wouldn't take long for my first goblin friend to appear close-by. He immediately noticed me and began to dash in my direction. He only stopped when he was close enough to hug me, wrapping his small arms around my legs and beginning to speak energetically and happily.

I chuckled and began to gently pat his head. "Hi there Troik. How are you doing today?" I asked the little guy, speaking soothingly. At this the elves turned around and finally noticed me once more. I grinned at them and began to speak.

"Calorron and Farrane, allow me to introduce you to Troik. Troik was one of my first friends in this forest." I told the elves. They gave him a disdainful look, one filled with haughtiness. It made me laugh. Troik was too busy happily hugging me to pay them any mind.