Nearly an hour after Sombra, Drow, and I entered the tiny room wherein I appointed him a general of my armed forces, Sombra and I found ourselves leaving the Dragonstone family property.

As we walked past the gigantic gate that helped control foot traffic into and out of the estate I took one last, quick look at it. It was an ornate thing, and I didn't doubt its effectiveness. I also didn't doubt that I could destroy it if I wanted too. That said, I had my eyes on a different target.

I turned back in the direction leading back towards the interior of the city. I found myself smirking as I thought of destroying one of the few structures in the city and maybe even the whole of Puerto Rico that would count towards fulfilling the requirement laid out by the destruction domain.

Despite the way I felt about doing away with the dark eye-sore I wanted to eliminate, I knew that I had more important things to do right now. And as if to give me a chance to explain my intentions, Sombra looked at me and asked a question.

"Where to now?" She asked, her eyes gleaming with curiosity and her voice still radiated annoyance. She was still a bit angry about what happened with Merlin. I knew what I planned to do at the end of the visit would please her, so I let her hold onto that anger a bit longer.

"We are going to stop by the property of the eerie evoker Qu'Ren. Her family is a noble one, like the Dragonstones and Silverstones." I explained, having vaguely mentioned that name every once in a while but never really expanding on it until now. Sombra looked at me, intrigued by the possibility of meeting more dark-elves and then she mentioned something surprising.

"The person we're visiting is named Qu'Ren and she's a noble? I know who we're visiting!" She said, sounding amused by the thought of paying her a visit. We were walking down a mostly deserted residential street, though I sensed that eyes were everywhere.

I glanced at my companion, curiosity now visible in my gaze, a question unspoken that I communicated to her without words. I knew a bit about Qu'Ren and her family myself, thanks to the conversations I had had with Lilith in the days since I first arrived in Aronms and forever changed her life. That said I was curious to know what Sombra knew.

"Yeah! Her father is a conjurer. I approached him and offered to teach him how to summon demons. It wasn't hard to get him to agree." Sombra revealed, a wicked smile on her lips as she did so. I could see the glimmer of mischief in her gaze.

"Qu'Ren is powerful. Or she was, at one point." The demon explained. I chuckled at that, amused at the fact that the demon hadn't picked up on the fact that the evoker had recovered from the infamous incident that made her withdraw from public life.

"Why are we paying her a visit?" Sombra asked, curiosity coloring her voice. I smiled at her and didn't answer the question.

---

Reaching the familial holdings of Qu'Ren's family, the Darkstars took us about half an hour. We could have reached the place faster but I didn't want to get used to always using my powers and I didn't want to spoil my pet demon. That said since I hadn't ever laid eyes on the property I was a bit surprised when I first saw it in the distance.

What laid before my demon and I was an unimpressive house. It wasn't even a particularly big house. It was made out of obsidian, and I could tell that it would withstand any sort of blow by most creatures with less physical or magical strength than myself.

Sombra and I kept walking until we made it all the way to the front door. It was a large thing, more than capable of accomodating our unimposing frames. I knocked on it and then waited a moment before someone, a dark-elf, on the other side opened it and looked at us.

"Who are you?" The dark-elf asked. His words were blunt and direct but his tone wasn't curt. He was genuinely asking us for our identities. My current form was that of a dark-elf, and Sombra's default form was that I crafted for her.

"Hello, I am Althos. Qu'Ren told me that if I came here and told you my name you'd know it." I explained, smiling pleasantly at the guard. The guard was still for a moment, his surface thoughts revealing that he was attempting to recall where he had heard my name before and what to do if I came by. After a moment he smiled pleasantly at me and beckoned me inside.

Sombra and I stepped beside and then past him and walked into what was, somewhat oddly, a house with a single massive chamber.

Before us was a gigantic and plain room. It was utterly undecorated, and the only defining feature was a stairwell at the end of the room that went straight down. Annoyingly, now that I was inside of the room I could detect a thick atmosphere of alteration magic. I hadn't been able to detect it from the outside though.

"Lord Althos," The guard said, causing me to turn around briefly. The expression on his face betrayed that he now fully remembered who I was. He was beaming at me.

"When you get to the bottom of the stairs, tell the guards that you are Qu'Ren's most honored guest. They'll take you to her." The guard told me. I nodded and thanked him for his help. And then I turned around and Sombra and I set off for our destination: the interior of the Darkstar home.

---

Minutes after I initially discovered the clandestine brothel I approached it by myself. I had teleported my ursine companion away, back to one of his favorite locations: a newly opened bar in the small town of Oscuridad, the settlement built near my town, so that I could more efficiently explore the place I was visiting.

As I approached the entrance to the brothel I quietly activated one of my new abilities: "Aura of normalcy". This convenient power made people see me as though I belonged anywhere I went, allowing me to wander and enter all manner of situations with ease.

The entrance to the brothel was a tiny door guarded by a pair of young men. The young men were actually behind me, and they were placed in such a way that they might intervene whenever someone uninvited entered the door I was walking towards.

I had actually learned of the precise location of the door thanks to them. Their surface thoughts were focused on the door and they were dutifully doing their duty. I almost felt bad for them since I was able to walk past them so easily.

I reached the door, undisturbed by anyone. I walked through it, unnoticed and unfollowed by anyone who may have found my powers odd if I hadn't used my trickery powers with ease.

On the other side of the door laid a staircase. I sighed and began to walk up it. Fortunately, it was only a single flight and so it took me less than a minute to reach the top. What greeted me was a fancy, empty parlor.

---

While my projections were out and about enacting my will, my true form lounged under the sea. I sat casually along the sandy seabed in my human form and occupied myself by controlling my projections.

It wasn't especially taxing to control the all-too-real copies of myself that were currently wandering throughout Puerto Rico. I actually enjoyed it. I was able to enjoy the comforts of an aquatic existence while gaining power and deepening my relationships with my followers who weren't aquatic themselves and make them feel as though I was right beside them.

This wasn't the first time I had done this either. I started this practice yesterday, and now I was more comfortable with it thanks to my particular set of powers like my speed-of-light reflexes and my ability to disincorporate myself. That helped my projections stay undisturbed and be able to engage with the world around them safely.

And because of that, I was able to quietly gain access to two more subdomains: the Bovidae and Suidae subdomains. I did that by quietly healing a pig close to Comillas and creating food in front of a cow that wasn't far from San-Gerardo. The notification that I received as a consequence of that action was delightful.

---

Whenever I allowed myself a moment to be introspective my thoughts went to dozens of places at once. I suspected this was due to the absurd nature of the powers I possessed.

One of the strangest things to happen to me over the course of my life was my mind gradually... expanding. And not just in the mortal sense, wherein I'd grow more and more aware of the world over time.

With each domain or subdomain, I earned influence over I felt my mind grow in an almost literal sense. This sensation was present in the days before I activated my domain-sense, but my choice to permanently activate that ability absolutely kicked it into overdrive.

Having earned influence over domains like life, death, war, and agriculture, I was receiving trillions of notifications per second. It was an incredible sensation, especially because it didn't actually interfere with my ability to get by on a minute to minute to basis. At first, it was almost frightening but now I actively enjoyed it.

Another factor that made it feel as though my mind was perpetually active was my choice to listen for prayers. I only rarely intervened, but I listened for prayers and obliged the requests from time to time if I felt that my intervention was truly warranted. Still, the state of being open to prayers flipped a part of my mind and caused me to be cognizant of the prayers of all manner of lifeforms throughout the universe.

From time to time I wondered how much of my ability to operate given the... enormous stress my mind must have been under was due to the powers of the mind domain. I even considered asking the thing from time to time but ultimately opted to wait and see how my mind reacted to new stimuli whenever I came across unfamiliar things. And that encouraged my routine, in so far as the daily shenanigans I got up too counted as a routine.

Each day I went on quests and helped out the people of Comillas, as well as interacted with my worshipers. During the day my behavior wasn't unlike that of a powerful, driven mortal. By making use of the impressively diverse abilities I had acquired over the course of my very brief life I had earned the trust of many of Comillas residents, and I had made life safer and healthier for them.

Each night I had visited the dreams of people all over this world and nearby worlds. To date, replying to dreams and prayers were the only ways I engaged with the other worlds throughout this universe. I knew I could change that, if I wanted too, but a part of me felt nervous about it.

I wasn't entirely sure what made me feel so nervous all things considered, but I knew that what I felt was real. I took it seriously, and it was part of why I hadn't really tried to leave the world yet. I hadn't even really flown all that much either.

---

Even though I was seated in the ocean, in my aquatic temple, my mind could see and perceive everything around me for kilometers in every direction. Or at least, most things. My senses weren't perfect, but they were close to perfect.

Puerto Rico's surface was dark. Night had fallen over the surface of the island, and the only things illuminating the sky were bright stars and a beautiful full moon. Small light sources here and there provided additional illumination, such as torches and a small bonfire that had been lit on the beach that connected Libertad to the bay that my temple was located on.

My temple felt lonely, as even though I was a known inhabitant of the strange place my followers were mammals and they preferred the surface to the sea. I was alone, aside from nearby fish and the occasional clam.

As a way to kill time and entertain myself while underwater I occasionally targeted fish for touch and experimentation. I did so via my mental abilities, reaching out to them with telekinesis and even did other less overt things like feeding the fish or clams and healed them. Another thing I did was play with the weather.

I had grown fond of using my elemental abilities in tiny ways. The first time I saw rain in my life had been a few days ago when I manipulated my weather abilities to summon and command a weak storm over the sea beyond my temple. Yesterday I made it rain over San Gerardo.

Today had been a temperate day and a clear one in Puerto Rico, and an overcast one in the region of Iredale that my minions controlled. That was mostly because I allowed it to be since at any time I could alter the weather.

---

"So what kinds of weather could I create right now? Could I create all the naturally occurring types of weather in this world?" I asked the domain of nature, curious as to what all I could do. I sensed the interest of the domain itself flare-up in my mind as the domain inspected my abilities and domains. And then I heard a soft chuckle.

"Wow... You can actually!. That's amazing! I can't believe you gained this power so early..." The domain remarked.

The awe in the domain's voice made me happy and I felt quite pleased with the array of powers I had earned over the course of my life. The grin on my face that sprang about as a result of the domain's shock wasn't aimed at anyone in particular and was more a result of me expressing my satisfaction with that news.

There was a part of me that wanted to begin to experiment with this power more actively. I recognized that this power gave me the ability to exert a lot of influence over mortals, as the weather I could create wasn't limited to gentle weather.

"So I could create tsunamis and firestorms too?" I asked, rhetorically. This power further cemented my status as one of if not the greatest creatures in this world. The weather I could create was in some cases dictated only by what I could imagine thanks to the nature of my powers.

"I really do need to experiment with this power." I muttered, well-aware of this power's potential to easily earn me worshipers. It was one of a handful of powers that I could use to reward or punish people.

"So why isn't the nature domain part of the 'Apocalypse quadrangle'?" I asked the system when I realized how easily this domain and its weather manipulation abilities could be used to annihilate a planet's population.

The voice that answered me wasn't that of the system, but rather that of the knowledge domain.

"Hmm... That's an interesting perspective! I suspect it's mostly because of the three domains and one subdomain in the quadrangle were ones with an active interest in life. The nature domain isn't especially interested in life, and what interests it has aren't hostile to life. That is not the case with the domains and subdomain in the quadrangle." The domain remarked.

I considered that perspective for a moment, before realizing something strange. "Are you telling me the subdomain of agriculture is hostile to life?" I asked, finding the thought a bit much to wrap my mind around. I heard a chuckle, right before a new voice spoke.

"Well... It's a bit more complex than that. You see I was once the subdomain of famine. But mortals didn't like that." The voice remarked, sounding a bit annoyed. I chuckled, able to infer from the way it spoke that it was the subdomain of agriculture, and had at one point been the subdomain of famine.

"Mortals can influence gods as well as domains and subdomains. That's a part of the reason why some subdomains don't like them." The subdomain of agriculture explained, but not expanding on which subdomains weren't fans of them. That said, I could imagine at least two that weren't.

"And by the way... Actually use my abilities!" The subdomain said, annoying and apparently feeling that I was neglecting it. I chuckled at this remark and quickly promised to do so.

And then I turned my mind in another direction and sent a message to a particularly powerful domain and a fascinating subdomain.

"So... Can either of you help me understand how to make use of my enhancement abilities?" I asked, curiously. I heard an annoyed sigh from a familiar voice, and then an excited gasp from a new voice.

"Oh hello Althos!" The new voice said, greeting me excitedly. So far I hadn't really made use of my alteration abilities, but I had one question that could cause me to change that.

"I can absolutely help with that. I'd love too in fact!" The alteration subdomain, its voice like that of an excited child, remarked. I grinned, a question on my mind.

"So... I have an idea. An idea I quite like. As you know I possess power over the elements and I obviously have your enhancement ability. I was wondering if I could create something that would allow me to mix the two." I said to the excitable subdomain. It fell silent, and I could sense that it was waiting for more information. I chuckled again, impressed by its ability to calm itself.

"So a weakness I'm concerned about is that my tremorsense or my... elemental sense now, I guess, is tied to my current physical location. Well... aside from with regards to holy sites, but right now those are only volcanoes. And frankly, this is a major weakness of what is otherwise a truly excellent power. And it's one of the reasons why I'm hesitant to leave Puerto Rico." I explained to the subdomain.

I had confirmed this myself by testing the limits of the ability during trips to other parts of Puerto Rico. The power's range was gigantic but tying it to my physical location made it tricky to use skillfully, especially once I inevitably left Puerto Rico. I wanted to prepare myself for that day and viewed this problem as one of the things I needed to overcome before I did so.

"What I want is something that'd let me overcome this weakness. I want the ability to make permanent beacons that'd allow my elemental sense power to inform me of movement in an area no matter where in the universe I happen to be." I explained to the subdomain, determined to see if my conundrum had an answer. The subdomain was quick to reply.

"Oh is that all? Yeah, you can definitely do that." The subdomain told me, almost laughing as it did so.

"All you need to do is grab the object you want to enhance, and infuse it with your power which is a purely mental process. And then you can leave the staff wherever you want it to be." The subdomain explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. And it wasn't done talking either.

"'Enhance' is a powerful and critical ability of mine that lets you reshape the world using the domains and subdomains you can influence. Many gods were born possessing it as their innate school of magic because it is one of the schools of magic that is most useful for the gods. And it's precise;y because of 'Enhance'." The subdomain casually explained.

"If you wanted too you could go ahead, make a whole bunch of the... 'Beacons' was what you called them right? Yeah, beacons. You could make a whole bunch of those and deposit them all over the world. Do you mind if I give you a recommendation?" The subdomain told me, and then asked me something with a smile audible in its voice. I mentally nodded, transmitting the sensation to it.

"Something you could do is bestow a bunch of effects on the beacons. Positive ones that your followers would clamor to have for themselves. And then you could give them to your servants and tell them to plant the rods at the center of their communities." The subdomain suggested. There was something mischievous about that, that I genuinely liked.

"So it's that easy huh?" I asked, as I used my power over the earth to will a stone-staff into being next to me. I mentally reached out and brought the thing close to me using my mental powers.

I didn't bother to examine the stone staff, instead, I just targeted it and then activated "Enhance". I chuckled as I felt the stone begin to vibrate excitedly.

"Now what to do with you..." I muttered, smiling as I wondered how to most effectively make use of this staff. I mentally envisioned my "Elemental sense" power latching onto the staff and was delighted when I felt the staff receive the power.

I was mostly silent as I considered what to do with this staff. I had three options: I could give the staff to Rachel and in doing so learn a lot about the kingdom of Atlantis. I also knew that I could give to Drow and thus forever be aware of what was going on in Puerto Rico. Or I could send the staff across the sea to Iredale and thus be better equipped to explore that continent.

Part of why I wanted to consider this now was so that I could create a personalized staff for each region and the peoples that lived in it. Or a personalized beacon that wasn't a stone staff. If I was thoughtful here I could create beacons with intelligent enhancements that not only increase how aware I was of the world, but also grant me more worshipers.

---

Deep underneath the already subterranean city of Aronms, Sombra and I were seated across from a dark-elf and her personal body-guard. The two of them studied us, as carefully as we studied them.

One of them was dressed in something I had only seen one other dark-elf wear: metal armor. He was a powerful-looking creature, who held an imposing war hammer as easily as any of my worshipers could hold a stick.

The other dark-elf was a woman. She wore a diaphanous dress that clung to her incredibly wafer-thin skin. She was possibly supernaturally thin. She was smiling at me and was genuinely excited to meet me. Her bodyguard wasn't. He scowled at me, and I grinned at him which only made matters worse.

"It's nice to finally meet you Qu'Ren." I told her, grinning at the dark-elf who I had healed days ago. Her grin only widened as I spoke. I felt her excitement, and I could tell that she had probably been beginning to doubt that I was real. I was happy to prove my existence and to be here sitting in front of her.

The dark elf stared at me, awe visible in her eyes. I could tell she was appreciative of the fact that her sight had been returned to her. The pride I felt as we stared at each other wasn't small at all.

Qu'Ren had once been a blind dark-elf, something quite rare for her species. The quest to gain influence over the domain of light had been to restore sight to the blind. She was one of the blind people whose sight I had restored.

I only later learned the reason behind her blindness: she had evidently made a mistake when casting an evocation spell and evidently her spell backfired as a result.

After restoring her sight she had apparently asked the system for information about whoever it was that was responsible for healing her. The system informed her about me, and she prayed to me sometime later.

In that prayer, she asked me to come and meet her some time at her family's property. Minutes ago I arrived in her familial home and was promptly escorted to where we were now.

We were pleasantly seated around a table, and the moment was quite nice. It felt like I was being treated like royalty, or at least like nobility. It was a bit unusual, but frankly, I could get used to it.

---

"It's so nice to meet you Althos!" Qu'Ren said, speaking emphatically. If not for my powers to detect lies I'd have thought she was being insincere or polite. Her attitude differed from that of the other dark-elves I had met, and even those of her species who worshipped me.

I studied her for a moment, eyeing her cautiously. She noticed and the grin that was on her face only widened. On the other hand, her bodyguard's scowl also widened. I could hear his muscles tensing, and his knuckles whitened from the strain of his grip on his weapon.

"Is there anything I could provide for you? Some refreshments perhaps?" Qu'Ren asked, in her thus far perpetually bubbly way. I smiled at her and shook my head to decline her offer before turning to look at Sombra.

"Would you like anything?" I asked. My shadowy assistant was seated to my left. Sombra looked at me and then at Qu'Ren and wordlessly declined the offer. She did so with a surprisingly polite gesture and with a smile on her face.

Her presence intrigued Qu'Ren, and one of the first things that the dark-elven evoker had done when my minion had shown up beside me was question the praereptor. Sombra had remained silent though and thus far had shown more interest in studying the dark elf than permitting herself to be studied.

Qu'Ren wasn't deterred for a few moments, but eventually she did give up. That said, I didn't blame Sombra for being interested in the odd evoker, Qu'Ren was fascinating. Her friendliness was so unusual for members of her kind and Sombra's interest only amplified my own since my demonic pet told me she knew the dark elf before today.

"Well... If you're sure." Qu'Ren said to us, giving us a funny look. I chuckled and considered what to say for a few moments before beginning to converse with the dark elf.

"So Qu'Ren... Why don't you tell us about yourself?" I asked though I considered for a moment merely using my powers on the mortal.

I ultimately decided against that, preferring to see what would happen if I let this moment play out naturally and without the usage of my godly powers. Qu'Ren considered my question for the amount of time it took her heart to beat, before beginning to speak.

"Hmm... Okay, where do I begin? I know you're young... Very young as far as I know, so I honestly don't know what you know." She asked, looking at me with an amused smirk on her face. I chuckled at her, appreciative of her candor.

"Well, if you feel comfortable discussing the day you lost your vision, I'd love to hear about that." I asked, hoping that I hadn't said something that made her feel uncomfortable. She chuckled at my recommendation and locked eyes with me.

"You're very direct aren't you?" She asked a cocky smirk on her lips. I laughed audibly at her statement before replying.

"I didn't mean to be. I apologize if I asked you something delicate. It wasn't my intention." I replied, grinning at her. She shook her head at me to indicate that she wasn't offended before speaking up.

"You didn't. I have no problem explaining what happened the day I went blind." She told me, speaking casually and easily before her eyes began to mist over as she reminisced about the past.

"A few months ago a demon came to my family. This demon taught us what it knew about conjuration magic. The thing was actually an excellent teacher! And some of our family... Well, they took to conjuration a bit too well." She explained.

I had to work to contain my shock when she implied that a demon was indirectly responsible for her misfortune. I was able to do so, but not before sending an annoyed mental message to Sombra. It seemed that the playful praereptor demon had had her fill of mischief and inflicting misfortune before I came and twisted her mind into its present state.

"My family is filled with ambitious people. It makes sense that the spiteful creature chose us. We had fun summoning demons and using them to act as enforcers. Until the tiny asshole who taught us turned on us." She told me, beginning to frown a bit.

"The little shit liked watching us suffer. We had mistakenly summoned something that was more than we could handle under the assumption that it would work for us." Qu'Ren explained. Sombra turned her head, pretending to cough, but I turned and saw her smiling.

"Demonic conjuring circles are finicky things. All it takes is for one part of it to be adjusted slightly and the magic that makes them actually bind demons to someone is weakened." Qu'Ren told me, revealing something that I immediately stored away in my mind.

"The spiteful shadow demon adjusted the circle slightly, using its innate mastery over darkness to do so without us noticing. In doing so it allowed the final demon we summoned to run amuck. I was there when the creature the demon was summoned. Incidentally the praereptor demon... wasn't. It had left the day before." Qu'Ren said, anger twisting her facial features into a cruel grimace.

"The battle against the demon was long. Nearly three hours long in fact. Many of my relatives died. Others... survived. They are currently locked away, for their own safety." Qu'Ren told me, and I had to suppress a grin.

Mortals who survived being attacked by demons contracted a vicious disease. A magical one. I could cure it, but if I wanted too I could also take advantage of this opportunity.

"Towards the end of the battle, when our side was beginning to lose more ground to the demon I stepped in. I was actually a major player in defeating the demon!" Qu'Ren explained, her eyes alight with pride as she said that.

"I hit the demon with a flurry of magical spells. I helped put it on the ropes. But evocation magic is tricky. All it took was one moment where I wasn't focused and the spell I was using turned on me. And exploded in my hand. I was blown out of the room the fight was going on in and knocked unconscious." Qu'Ren explained, a frown pulling her lips down.

"When I woke up I couldn't see. That was months ago. And then one day that changed. All of a sudden, I could see. All of sudden, seemingly from nowhere, my sight was back. For months I couldn't see at all and then all at once I could. You gave me back my sight. And what's more is that you didn't ask me for anything. You didn't bargain with me, you just gave me what I lost." Qu'Ren told me, turning and looking intently at me.

Her eyes were quite literally luminous at that moment. Light was pouring out of them, casting a warm glow on the air between us and thus illuminating what was otherwise a nearly utterly dark chamber.

"Althos... I don't know if I can ever repay you for the act of kindness you showed me that day. It's just so odd. Kindness is suspicion inducing to dark elves. I don't know how many of us you know, but we are not a species that is known for kindness." Qu'Ren revealed, while speaking reverentially to me.

Sombra looked at the dark-elf, and then her bodyguard. There was an odd expression on her face. It took me a moment to identify it. Sombra was suspicious. The demon couldn't believe what she was hearing. I grinned at my minion, curious as to what was on her mind. And so I took a look using my powers. When I activated my powers to peek into Sombra's head I was suddenly and momentarily overwhelmed by something. A vision.

---

I was suddenly and instantaneously hurled out of my body and into something less distinct. One moment I was seated in the chamber with Sombra, Qu'Ren, and the dark elf's surly bodyguard, and in the next, I was in the same chamber but a version of it that no longer existed.

I found myself standing at the edge of the room, unseen and unnoticed by its occupants. Darkness surrounded me, and I could see a large number of dark-elves, around fifteen, encircling a monster the likes of which I had never seen. Everything around me had an incompleteness to it, a sort of visible brokenness that made it clear that this was an imperfect recollection of whatever I was about to see.

That wasn't the only change either. In the present there was a large table that separated myself and Sombra from Qu'Ren and her bodyguard. In this memory that table was gone.

The creature was standing in the middle of a large circle made of a dark substance, and at a glance, I could tell that it was standing on top of a more advanced circle than the one that was located in my temple in the lair of the reptilefolks I had conquered.

The monster, a demon of some sort, growled at the dark elves who had brought it to this dimension. Its voice was supernaturally low, and seemed to rumble throughout the room as if coming from everywhere at once.

It had two pairs of serpentlike eyes but its body was anything but serpentlike. It had a thick, blocklike body made of dark-blue muscle and possessed three sets of muscular arms. Each of its eyes locked onto a separate dark-elf, and though the thing wasn't moving its eyes were dancing around, working to stay locked onto a separate target.

I recognized three of the dark-elves in the room. Each of the members of Qu'Ren's family I had met so far was in the room working to contain the demon. The guard I met earlier, and Qu'Ren's bodyguard were close to the monster, while Qu'Ren lingered by the entrance she and I had taken to walk into this room.

None of the demon's eyes were focused on Qu'Ren, though that changed when the dark-elf rose her hands in the direction of the demon and suddenly hurled a pair of flaming spears at the thing. It rose its treetrunk like arms to block the spells but I still distinctly heard the monster roar in pain when the spears connected with it.

The instant after the creature rose its arms and prevented the spears from reaching its chest, the other dark elves dashed in close and slashed at the beast. This time the beast's wails were more distinct, and I even saw its blood begin to drip from the wounds the elves inflicted on it. But even though the monster was bleeding and in pain, there was a macabre, possibly masochistic grin on its face.

That was when I heard the sound of the first droplet of blood hitting the floor underneath the beast. And that was the moment of its triumph. The creature made eye contact with Qu'Ren, all of its eyes locking in on her in an instant. The beast dashed forward, allowing the spears of the dark-elves to cut the beast more deeply, while running towards Qu'Ren.

The thing was like an out-of-control wagon, unstoppable and terrifying. It was almost upon Qu'Ren when she frantically began to prepare another spell. In Sombra's memories, I was unable to actually see auras but I could tell by the look of frantic concentration and fear on Qu'Ren's face as the monster rose a heavy fist to strike that she was weaving magic together.

Her back was to the door, which was closed shut. It was an odd construction made out of some sort of thick fungal matter.

Sombra focused on it for reasons I didn't know, and when Qu'Ren's magic exploded I was able to watch her unconscious form be shot back through the door by the force of her own spellcasting. The unconscious spell-caster hit the floor and the shouts of some of her dark-elven allies filled Sombra's ears and therefore mine since I was relieving Sombra's memories.

The unconscious Qu'Ren's arms were covered in wicked black burn marks that hadn't been visible before. Some of her hair had fallen out too. That struck me as mildly amusing because the Qu'Ren I was conversing with was bald. She had a smooth, almost egg-shaped head.

The dark-elf who now seemed to be Qu'Ren's bodyguard paid chillingly little mind to his fallen companion. He actually had a grin on his face, and it had first appeared on his lips when Qu'Ren's magic failed and sent her sailing from some sort of internal explosion. He was still present in the moment though and his eyes never strayed from the demon in front of him.

The last thing I heard before everything turned hazy and indistinct was the sound of Sombra giggling evilly at the carnage unfolding before her.

---

In an instant, I was returned to the present. I once more found myself seated in front of Qu'Ren and her questionably devoted fellow dark-elf. He had remained silent this whole time and had only scowled at me and Sombra.

"Hmm... So Qu'Ren's condition wasn't of concern to the dark-elf at her side?" I asked myself, intrigued by that. That said, I knew that this wasn't the time to do much more than quietly scan the dark elf's mind. I did so without any particular movement, and chuckled when I sensed his impatience and suspicion.

"Why won't this asshole get out of here?" The dark elf wondered, his impatience mounting more and more with each second we spent together.

"Does Qu'Ren really believe this guy is a god? I know her mind hasn't been the same since that day but still..." He thought, anger mixing with impatience. It seemed that Qu'Ren's belief in my divinity wasn't shared. That wasn't exactly shocking, but it was annoying how rude the dark elf was about it.

I took advantage of the silent moment to question the mind domain about what had happened just now. I worded my question politely.

"Hello, so I just saw memories. That's kind of new. I mean... I think I saw memories? I'm honestly unsure. Can you explain to me what's going on?" I asked, curiously. I transmitted my question instantly, before getting an unbelievably speedy response.

"Well Althos, you're a growing god! When a god gets old enough his body starts to undergo... some changes." The mind domain told me, clearly joking. It let its bad joke hang in the air for a few seconds before sending me a real explanation.

"No reaction? Jeez, tough crowd. What's actually happening is that your powers are expanding and the sheer intensity of Sombra's thoughts allowed you to experience a moment from her perspective. The... What did the dark elf call her? A 'little asshole'? Yeah, that sounds right, the little asshole must have been in the room, incorporeally, and watched the confrontation." The domain explained, and I sensed the amused grin in its voice.

"But that's enough about me. Althos, it's your turn. Tell me and my husband all about you." Qu'Ren suddenly exclaimed, leaning forward in her seat. The dark-elven spellcaster was gazing at me expectantly. My eyes widened, and for a moment I considered how honest I ought to be.

I momentarily debated actually making use of my powers over lies, and unbelievably it was actually tempting. I figured I could actually have fun making up something, and seeing how believable it was.

Qu'Ren looked at me expectantly. I could see curiosity and excitement visible in her gaze. I smiled at her and began to speak.

"Well, as you know I'm a young god. I aspire to be a deity of everything. To be... The deity I suppose." I revealed, smiling gently at the dark elf and her body-guard. Qu'Ren looked at me happily, evidently excited by my ambition even though the way I spoke wasn't very ambitious sounding.

I glanced at and targeted her body-guard and without a word activated my "Secret detection" power. An instant later I received a notification, the contents of which I truly wasn't expecting.

[The targeted dark-elf was a woman at birth. She is now suffering from a cruel curse that transformed her into a male dark-elf. Her birth name was Zelda Moonstone, and the name she gave herself when she became a male was Behemoth Shatterstone. Only one dark-elf knows the truth and even Zelda doesn't know that. Zelda desires a chance to be freed of her curse.]

I read through the contents of the notification and grinned. I figured I'd give Zelda a nice scare, and immediately established a link that tied our minds together.

"Hello, Zelda." I wrote, chuckling audibly as I transmitted the message to her. The dark elf bodyguard's eyes shot open and she made eye-contact with me. Sombra noticed this and tensed up, ready to intervene but I reached out under the table and placed a hand gently on her lap. I mentally wrote out another message while readying myself to speak more. I had things to say after all.

"Calm yourself. You stand in the presence of a creature who can save you. I am a god of healing and of the truth. I can overcome the curse that's affecting you in an instant." I revealed, smiling at both of the dark elves, but at Zelda especially.

"As a god, I gain power primarily through two separate means." I began, opting to reveal bits and pieces of the truth to the two dark elves.

"I increase in overall strength by gaining worshipers. Though that method is... Well, it's less efficient than the other method." I told my audience.

"The other method gods gain power by is earning 'influence' over things called 'domains' and 'subdomains'. 'Influence' is how much power you have over a 'domain' or 'subdomain' and 'domains' and 'subdomains' are concepts that gods can influence." I told the audience of creatures before me. This was new information to all of them, and I noticed Sombra paying special attention to my words.

"I go to new places seeking three things. I seek to gain worshipers and I seek opportunities to earn either increased influence over domains and subdomains I can already influence or chances to be able to influence domains and subdomains I can't already influence." I revealed, smiling as I did so.

"What can you already influence?" Asked 'Behemoth', and 'his' decision to speak up caused Qu'Ren to look over her shoulder at the dark elf and smile. I looked at the dark elf and my expression took on a pensive quality.

"Well... I can influence light and darkness. I can influence biology. A few different schools of magic, including evocation and healing. And many more things." I told the dark elf, making direct and confident eye-contact. Obviously I was also writing out a mental message.

"If I healed you, what would you be willing to give me in return? What is the truth, your truth, worth to you?" I mentally asked the dark elf. I wasn't going to ask a high price or anything, but I wanted Zelda to be the one who started thinking about what the chance to live her truth was worth to her.

"I am a deity of transformations, change, and the truth. Through me, all will come to embrace their desires and to be who they truly are. No more masks. No more deceptions." I told "Behemoth", making purposeful and intense eye-contact with the dark elf.

Qu'Ren was delighted by that idea and began to laugh happily. I turned to her and grinned. And then she turned to her husband and asked a simple question.

"Well honey? Aren't you going to ask for Althos to remove your curse?" The dark elven evoker asked, the question sounding innocent enough but revealing a lot and implying sinister things. I looked at Qu'Ren, and Zelda looked at Qu'Ren. Though our gazes were tinged with different emotions.

Mine was tinged with curiosity. Zelda's was tinged with rage. The dark elf jumped back, her leap carrying her a good distance. It was an impressive display of athleticism, though the context behind it wasn't great. And Zelda pointed a fist at Qu'Ren shortly before beginning to shout at her wife.

---

"What are you talking about? How... How did you know about that?" Zelda asked, her masculine voice colored with suspicion and rage.

Qu'Ren had a look of innocent confusion on her face. She seemed genuinely puzzled by her husband's outburst. Sombra was watching all of this delightedly and was positively engrossed in it.

"Honey, of course, I knew about your curse. I'm a high-level spell-caster did you think that I was only capable of using magic to blow things up?" The evoker asked, a look of something close to hurt pride making itself visible in her gaze. This revelation only served to further hurt Zelda, albeit unintentionally.

"You knew... How long have you known?" The dark elf asked, rage gaining more and more prominence in her eyes. I watched this and readied myself to intervene. I could feel Zelda's rage beginning to bubble over. An eruption was bound to happen.

"I've known for years. I thought eventually you'd tell me but you never did. I don't know why you never told me... It didn't make much sense to me that you never did." Qu'Ren admitted.

Zelda heard this and paused. And then she began to laugh. That was when the dark elf's muscles tensed and even mid-laugh she was able to hurl herself at her wife. I chuckled and focused. And everything slowed down.

---

Zelda slowed to a crawl, and I got up out of my seat and walked over to her. She was still moving, but I was moving at a speed that was impossible for her to perceive. A speed beyond her reflexes.

I merely walked in front of her and then relaxed enough for my perception of time to speed ever so slightly up. I waited until the dark elf noticed me in front of her, and I punched her in the gut. Her health took a massive hit and she crumpled to the floor.

I looked at her mangled and bleeding form and sighed. And began to heal her. I did so by quietly channeling healing energy into her guts.

Her bloodied form immediately began to recover. I could sense her lifeform growing stronger as she received healing. All it took since I was as strong as I was when it came to healing, was a few seconds of effort for the dark-elf to recover.

When I was done with that, I looked at her and broke the curse. I did so by activating my innate ability to shatter curses. Undoing the curse should have felt exciting to me, this was the first curse I'd ever broken, but the truth was I felt inconvenienced by the whole thing.

I felt inconvenienced by it, even as I received a notification alerting me that I had earned the first tier of influence over a new subdomain. Apparently "Gender" had its own subdomain, and the subdomain liked the way I handled this situation. Even that wasn't enough to leave me feeling satisfied. I could tell I still had more work to do.

Before Qu'Ren's, Sombra's, and my eyes, the dark elf I had knocked unconscious began to change. "His" features softened and became her features. Zelda's. I watched for a few moments as her body took on a more feminine appearance and as some of her anatomy changed, before diving into her unconscious mind.

________________________________________________

I found myself standing in the middle of a vast plane made entirely of darkness. I had to wonder what was going on just for a second before the domain of dreams snapped at me abruptly.

"Zelda isn't dreaming! You're in her unconscious mind. The only reason you can be here at all is because you healed her." The domain told me, evidently as annoyed about this as I was about this whole scenario.

"We're retrieving her right now, but your expanding powers are... really annoying." The domain told me, suggesting it was performing a minor intervention of its own to aid me.

In an instant Zelda, in her true form, was uncouthly thrown in front of me. I chuckled as the woman landed on her face, and then was still for a few moments, before picking herself up off the floor.

"You!" She hissed, as soon as she saw me. She looked at me intently, rage in her gaze, before she suddenly paused and thought about something.

"Wait a second... My voice. My voice!" She said, experiencing shock and confusion in equal measure. I grinned at her and gave her the time she needed to process what was going on. Nearly a minute of dream-time passed before she pieced it together. When she next made eye-contact with me there were confused tears gathering in her eyes.

"Althos... Is this something that'll fade when I wake up?" She asked me, her voice soft and filled with both fear and hope. I smiled at her and shook my head.

"I've made you, you again. I broke the curse that was cast on you. And before you ask, the person who cast the curse died some time ago. Before I break curses I get notifications about the type and the caster. Yours was intense enough that even the caster dying didn't undo it." I explained to the unconscious dark-elf.

Her face fell when she learned that she couldn't kill the caster of the curse herself. She was silent, and I could tell that she was debating what to say next.

She was, in her own way, probably going through some sort of grief. That was when she looked up at me and had a determined expression on her face.

"You know... I can't forgive Qu'Ren." She told me, her face filled with angry determination. I sighed and looked at her.

"Why not?" I asked, annoyed with her emotions. I felt as though she was being childish all things considered.

"Because she lied to me!" The dark elf angrily declared. I gave her a single sharp look, one filled with anger. It caught her off-guard and I felt fear flow out of her for a moment.

"What do you mean she lied to you? You were the one who didn't tell her about your curse!" I replied, keenly aware of the difference between Qu'Ren uncovering the fact that her husband was cursed, and Zelda explaining her condition to Qu'Ren. I felt a swelling of dark anger emanate from the elf.

"Listen, Qu'Ren was in all likelihood looking for a way to help you break your curse. When I healed her she wanted me to come here. She prayed to me, asking me to come. Don't you find it strange how she looked to you and asked you to talk about your curse?" I pointed out, annoyed that the elf couldn't put two and two together.

This remark caused the dark elf to pause. A look of puzzlement flashed across her face, and I saw her finally beginning to piece together the obvious.

"You were so angered by the fact that your wife didn't force you to reveal everything to her until something could be done about it that you attacked your wife. Think about that for a second." I told the dark-elf, fed up with her childishness.

A look that mixed embarrassment with frustration flashed across her features.

"When you awaken, ask her about this. Just so you can hear it from her." I told the dark elf. And then I turned around and willed myself out of Zelda's mind. As I did so I felt a familiar rush: the rush I felt whenever I earned a new worshiper. The notification I received documenting the gender subdomain also widened. I chuckled as I realized why.

________________________________________________

"When Zelda awakens, which she will, she and you will have to have a conversation. I was able to calm her down though." I explained to Qu'Ren, the second the part of me that entered Zelda's unconscious mind returned to the rest of me. Qu'Ren smiled at me, happiness pouring out of her.

I studied her for a second before asking her a curious question. "So... is your marriage to her over? Because Zelda's Zelda and not Behemoth." I asked, legitimately curious as to what was going to happen to the two of them. Qu'Ren laughed when I finished speaking.

"No silly! Our marriage will be fine. Unless... 'Zelda' wants to separate? In that case we'll have to cross that bridge when we get to it. But I want to stay married. It's not like I love her or anything, but it's a convenient marriage. Separating wouldn't be convenient." Qu'Ren explained, dismissing anything like "Love" with startling ease. She looked at me and then laughed. My shock at her comment must have been visible to her.

"Oh Althos, are you from the surface or something? Dark elves don't marry for love. We marry either for power or for convenience. I like power but my arrangement with Zelda, I didn't know that was her real name, by the way, is one of convenience. For both of us. Zelda no longer being Behemoth doesn't change that." Qu'Ren told me, revealing a lot at once.

I considered her words and chuckled. All of the married couples I knew were surface-dwelling couples. I even knew some married former slaves. All of them had married for love.

"I don't care for love. Zelda is pretty. 'Behemoth' was handsome. I can slake my lusts with either form." Qu'Ren told me, speaking oddly dismissively about this whole thing. I mulled over her words and considered what to say next before opting to hint at the true power of the gods.

"Well... If Zelda wants to split and you still want someone... I can create Behemoth." I told my companion. And for the first time aside from when I came to her in the first place a few minutes ago I got to see Qu'Ren be truly surprised. Her eyes widened and I could tell she wanted an explanation.

"I am a god of enchantments, souls, and life. By mixing those things together I can create life. I mean I can create life in other ways too, but I can absolutely give you a 'Behemoth' that can be your husband if Zelda wants to end your marriage." I told the dark-elf, and in doing so revealing a way that gods were extraordinary and world-changing beings.

Qu'Ren gazed at me, newfound awe and respect in her eyes. I chuckled at that. She couldn't even speak, she was that stunned by the awe-inspiring powers I could use. I felt her emotions radiating off of her, and grinned as I absorbed them into myself.

---

---

The notification alerting me to the new powers I had gained made me feel conflicted. Many of these new powers were astoundingly powerful, and I felt that I could use them in legitimately amazing ways.

I felt their power within me. I could tell by the way that Sombra was looking at me that my physical changes were significant. But these powers, at least the sexuality ones, were corruptive and felt... wrong.

That said, I already knew how I'd test them. These new powers, all of them really, gave me incredible tools with which I could easily free the slaves who were stuck in the Ardor family's property. They deserved to be free, and I enjoyed knowing that I'd be taking these powers for a test run.

I quietly bid Qu'Ren farewell and departed from her family's property minutes later. It was time for me to pay the Ardors a visit. And for me to make good on my promise to free the enslaved peoples of Aronms.

Every step I took filled me with a quiet determination. There was a smile on my face as I began to approach the massive property owned by the one family I was ardently opposed too. I was ready for whatever came next.