All of my servants, including Manuel, stood before me. And as they stood before me I gazed squarely at them.

Some of them, such as “The Seraph”, “The High Priestess”, Titania, “The Emissary”, and “The Advisor” were beautiful women. Others, such as Manuel, Alphor, Ortholox, and “The Automaton” either were or seemed to be handsome, muscular, masculine, men, or in the case of “The Automaton” an artistically designed and muscular artificial lifeform. All in all, every single one of them was an impressive figure who in terms of raw physical appearances were quite beautiful or handsome. And many of them possessed remarkable powers of their own, as well as specialized knowledge worth taking the time to learn. At the moment the one I turned my attention to was “The Seraph”.

She was an angelic, literally, woman who had long white hair and six golden wings stretching out of her back. She stood nearly six and a half feet tall, taller than myself, and had pale skin. She gazed at me curiously, and I openly gazed back at her. 

“Master…” She muttered, bowing meekly to me after a few moments of considerate contemplation while staring into my eyes. I did not stop staring at her, and instead began to speak to the incredibly powerful angelic being. 

“Maion, you have valuable insights. I value you and your opinions. Share them, please.” I asked, gazing into her eyes, orbs imbued with celestial light. She was silent for a moment, as she considered what to say and whether or not to share her insights with me, before she began to speak. 

“Master, I wish to understand your objectives. May I ask what you seek to gain by turning this solar system into your territory?” She asked, gently. I smiled at the angel and immediately began to reply. 

“I seek true omniscience. Not merely the sort of nigh-omniscience granted to me by ‘Worldmind’, but actual, earned omniscience. And I have decided that my first steps towards that end goal shall be for me to transform this solar system into my first true base of operations. Once I have attained rulership over this solar system I shall begin to use my resources to conduct research, create vast libraries and archives, and expand my influence.” I informed the ascetic angel. She paused as she considered my response to her query, stopping so completely that even her wings ceased their movements. 

“If your goals are the pursuit of knowledge… Then there are certain kinds of angels, as well as certain kinds of creatures that may be worth creating.” The angel replied, quietly, before linking our minds and sharing with me the organic equivalent of “Schematics” of a number of kinds of angels and of a number of creatures, including some that looked like they came from the imagination of a cosmic-horror novelist who was on some especially powerful psychedelic drugs. And then I heard a soft voice whisper into my mind, her voice.

“I have voluntarily linked our minds… Since I can sense your hesitation to utilize your ‘Worldmind’-based omniscience I would like to inform you that among angels if we chose to link our minds with our gods that is considered an act of supplication and is a sign of our devotion to our gods.” She informed me, revealing that this was her way of expressing her devotion. 

“I am just as devoted to you as the others are. My devotion is just something that I shall express differently than they, mere mortals, shall. Use my vast powers, my ancient knowledge, and my resources, to achieve your aims.” She exclaimed, in the back of my mind. I smiled at her, and sent her a wave of gratitude, causing the majestic angel to smile serenely at me. 

I turned my gaze towards the strange, silent being known to the rest of the members of the tiny, previously exclusive cult as “The Automaton”. The quiet being currently stood a healthy five and a half feet tall, and it was a powerful artificial being made from heavenly metal. 

The creature had a humanoid frame, but was clearly an artificial entity. It’s body was made up of thick, expertly crafted sheets of supernatural, godly metal, and its head was a massive orb of glass fashioned from the sands of paradisiacal afterlives, that was half by itself a foot tall. It held a potent staff that served as a sort of focus for its incredible abilities. 

The Automaton was a living being, but to acknowledge that was to acknowledge that the being had evolved beyond its intended purpose. Merely gazing at it informed me that it had been designed as a weapon in the unimaginably distant past, so far in the distant past that my ancestors had been alive when construction on the unbelievably ancient began, a feat it only shared with Alphor and the Seraph. 

The arcane entity was fully alive and fully capable of thinking thoughts as intelligent as any human’s, but it was incapable of speaking. It was intended to be a weapon after all, if it had had the capability for speech that wouldn’t have made much sense to the angelic minds responsible for its creation. 

The longer I gazed at the thing the more I learned about the sacred geometries involved in its creation and construction. My favorite knowledge-based deific ability was my “Visual psychometry” ability, and it was perpetually active. Thanks to it I could learn the deepest, darkest, most embarrassing secrets somebody possessed, if I stared at them for more than a few moments, and that was a handy ability when gazing at a living weapon such as The Automaton. 

Each second I gazed at the being I learned more and more of its most ancient memories, including memories of the ancient supernal kingdom it hailed from. The ancient memories it possessed of its celestial birthplace intrigued me, and I made a mental note to stop by the “Principality of Manalim” in the future, once I was established here on Earth and in my local solar system. 

After almost a minute of silent gazing at the machine, I turned my attention to Imani, “The High-Priestess”. She was also a lovely woman with skin the color of shadows and hair that was almost equally as dark. 

As soon as I gazed at her I sensed her devotion to me beginning to increase. To call her fanatical in her devotion would have been an insult to her. Ever since the moment she had first laid eyes upon me her devotion to me had been utter and complete. Her devotion to me was matched only by Alphor’s. 

“God of gods... How may I do your will?” She asked, devotion audible in her soft voice. As she gazed at me I sensed her love for me increasing, due in part to her observational skills being sharp enough for her to notice one of the effects of my “Eternal Ascension” ability, and her awareness of what that ability could do, thanks to her time spent studying under the mentorship of Alphor.

One of the deific abilities I possessed was a considerable ability known as “Eternal Ascension”. This incredibly handy ability was the reason why my senses had begun to increase in potency earlier today, and had never stopped, or even slowed down their rate of sharp improvement. At the moment I could hear conversations in distant galaxies, even though such a feat would have been impossible for mortals due to them having to abide by physical laws. 

“Eternal Ascension” was an ability that caused things such as my senses, my abilities, and more, to perpetually be increasing in capacity and in potency. With it, for example, at no point would my sensory capabilities ever stop increasing in potency, and my intellect, my charm, and my physical beauty, would never stop increasing. I was already infinitely more physically attractive than I had been when I first began my apotheosis. In an hour I’d be even more attractive than I am now. In a year… I’d be trillions of times smarter, and more dexterous than I am at the moment.

One of the fun aspects of “Eternal Ascension” was that it was an intelligent power. If it sensed an attribute was already maxed out, the energy it would have spent maximizing that attribute is sent elsewhere. Two pertinent examples of that, in my case, were my physical strength and my amount of arcane energy, the internal fuel source consumed when beings cast spells. My physical strength was maximized due to “Absolute Condition”, and my magical energy was maximized due to “Metamagnus”. Because those attributes were increased to their maximum, “Eternal Ascension” was able to focus on other attributes I possessed and was accelerating their rate of growth even more than it would have innately. 

Imani had truly incredible perception abilities to be able to sense the effects of my “Eternal Ascension” given that it’s been active for just a few minutes. I had to admire her sensory capabilities, and it made me want to make use of her as a spy and as a diplomat, though I knew that ultimately the best way to use her would be to spread “My word”. Truthfully… I still couldn’t really wrap my mind around the idea of being worshiped, though I already possessed several worshipers, not even counting the inhabitants of this extra-dimensional space, all of whom fully and fanatically worshipped me.  

If I counted the number of sapient beings in this extra-dimensional space who worshiped me among the ranks of my faithful, I could truthfully state that I was worshiped by quadrillions of beings. And that was too much for me to think about at the moment.

“Imani… I have plans for you.” I uttered, powerfully, even as I reached out and lightly touched her soul, bestowing upon her a few unique abilities by utilizing one of my more epic “Master” ability. She shivered, blissfully and excitedly, as she felt her soul react to my eldritch, yet pleasant touch. 

“Relax, little one, and open your soul to my magnificence.” I uttered, attempting to channel the strange sort of pride that I imagined gods were supposed to have, due to time I spent in churches as a child who went from foster home to foster home, into my voice. Imani’s knees trembled as she heard my words, and as she felt the unbelievable powers I was bestowing upon her. 

Imani as my head priestess was supposed to be able to perform miracles, and she actually did have the ability to perform them on her own already, thanks to her incredible stores of magical energy. She was a powerful saintess devoted to things such as healing and life, and I was merely bolstering her existing capabilities in such areas to heights she’d never have imagined possible. 

As befit her status as a high priestess in an ambitious new cult, I was giving her truly incredible new powers. I was sharing with her the ability to make use of my “Heaven’s King” power, which was one of my simpler powers but also one of my more unbelievably powerful ones. 

With “Heaven’s King” I could immediately slay someone and damn them to a personal, solitary afterlife of my creation, or I could retrieve the souls of the dead and restore even long-dead beings to life. I could also create all sorts of afterlives, such as ones where an eternity of bliss was assured, or ones where those in it were asleep forever. By using “Heaven’s King” I was able to lord over death, and by sharing it with Imani I could create a new religion where life and death were under my control. 

I was also giving her heavily weakened versions of both “Omnikinesis” and “Metamagnus”, in their capacities as enhancers of understanding of the material omniverse and to grant her infinite arcane energy respectively, to further bolster her existing powers. With the powers I was giving her I was ensuring that she had the ability to perform a truly astounding array of miracles, ranging from things such as flight and telekinesis to literally raising the dead. 

As she accumulated more and more power thanks to my actions I felt her soul begin to gradually expand, and felt her innate capacity for power sharply increase. That brought a smile to my face.

“Imani… You are to be the voice with which I communicate with the masses. I am granting you truly incredible powers over life and death, as befits the one who would serve as the voice of the Arisen Lord. You are to use those powers to tell the Omniverse of my splendor and to show my power. You are to use the abilities I have shared with you to persuade the masses to follow me.” I revealed, opting to give Imani a task that would make her happy, and would ultimately expand my influence.  

“Master… Your wish is my command.” She uttered, a few moments after I gave her her task. I nodded at her and chuckled softly before speaking to the priestess once more.

“Your first direct task is to use the powers I have given you to persuade the people of Redsville to follow me. To aid in that, I shall send you to the largest public hospital in Redsville. While there, you are to use my powers and the ones you innately possessed to cure the sick, soothe those in pain, and to revive those who perish while you are there. Persuade the people of Redsville to worship me as a mysterious god of life and health.” I commanded, my voice filling with power and pride as I spoke thanks in part to the constant effects of “Eternal Ascension” making it easier for me to channel the sensations and pride that humans associate with gods. 

Imani nodded at me and made it clear, telepathically, that she understood her mission. I nodded at her and with a flick of my wrist teleported her out of this strange extra dimensional space. As soon as I did Alphor began to speak. 

“Lord Lopez… How may we serve you at the moment?” The elfin, Manatis man asked, politely, but also somewhat urgently. I could hear the desire he had to serve me in his voice. I chuckled and put my godly intellect to work, as I turned to face the man. Each of the people before me had distinctive abilities and skills, and I wanted to put each of them to use effectively. 

“Alphor… You, and ‘The Emissary’, Catalina, can get to work by focusing on transforming the thirty-six megaworlds I possess into efficient producers of wealth and also places where the worship of me, in my capacity as a god of wealth, science, knowledge, trade, and business, is the state religion. I wish for all thirty-six of the worlds to become places devoted to the acquisition of wealth, knowledge, and invention. Once Manuel is finished acquiring my first mansion I shall also send him to you to aid you in doing that.” I explained, causing both the father and his daughter’s eyes to gleam with fanaticism and excitement. I also rose a hand and sent Manuel away, so that he could focus on completing his first objective. 

“As for Cecilia and Ortholox… I shall send the two of you with Manuel to aid him.” I stated, turning to the two and seeing them nod at me. As soon as they did they vanished. That left The Seraph, The Consort, The Advisor, and the Automaton. 

The Advisor was visibly identical to her sister, The Emissary, and to gaze at her was to gaze at at a radiantly beautiful red haired elf-like woman. That said she lacked the same sort of incredible holistic competence that her sister possessed.

The Emissary and The Advisor were both incredibly skilled women but in radically different ways. The Emissary was an incredibly, extraordinarily, competent all-rounder who had the ability to do thousands of things extremely well. She was a well-versed diplomat, politician, and spy. Her sister was not effective in those areas, but she did have one truly remarkable ability. 

The Advisor was an incredibly precognitive woman. She possessed a minor version of my “Causality” power, that was only able to show her the future and give her the freedom to explore branching timelines but her level of skill with her powers were incredibly potent. Natalie was responsible for much of her father’s success. 

Everything from her father discovering the “Inventory” ability to her father creating Atlas Incorporated was due to Natalie’s precognitive abilities. A tremendous amount of the success of the company was due to Alphor effectively utilizing the powers of both of his daughters. And with the two of them under my command… I could do even more than Alphor had been able to do, since I could more fully utilize the immense talents that Natalie possessed.

“Natalie… Your talents are rather unusual.” I explained, as I glanced at the beautiful redhead. She smiled, softly, and nodded at me. 

“Yes, my lord. I was not blessed with the same number of talents as my sister, but I was blessed with one truly incredible talent.” She quipped, a good-natured smile on her face as she spoke. 

“In time… I shall bolster your powers. For now, my advisor, do me a favor and consider what ways you would like to become stronger and smarter.” I explained, before turning to the other three figures, The Automaton, Maion, and Titania.

“I wish to utilize the knowledge that you possess, Maion, and through it become stronger.” I explained, even as my form shifted and became seemingly more angelic, six dark purple wings forming on my back and wrapping around my majestic form. 

“With your knowledge, my seraph, I shall become the god I need to be.” I uttered, even as I began to actively copy and absorb Maion’s considerable knowledge, and in doing so began to gain exactly what I, a god, needed: the knowledge to create an angelic host of my very own.