While I patiently studied the impressive scene before me I also allowed a portion of my mind to grow in potency. The part of my mind that was growing was the Worldmind that existed in my brain as a consequence of the power of the essence of the nexus I had imbibed. It tethered me to the collective knowledge of humanity, relatively to whatever universe I had visited and had passively begun to allow me to grow in wisdom the very second I burst out of my egg-shard.
I felt my tether to this potent ocean of knowledge filling my mind with an awareness of various potent facts. My mind was filling with much more specific knowledge than the vast but generalized knowledge granted to me by the essence of the tree of knowledge, thanks to my connection to the Worldmind, such as knowledge of very specific, localized customs all over the world, knowledge of the names of various celebrities, and even expertise in various artistic styles and martial arts.
The scene before me was an impressive one. Dozens of creatures stood at the edge of the coastline and now the bravest of them waded into the water to draw a bit closer to me.
I could see members of an array of races gathered before me. The vast majority of companions I had brought here by fulfilling their wishes were humans, followed by various sorts of half-dragons. The rarest kinds of companions I had assembled by greedily gaining every companion I could were true divinities and true dragons. In both cases, there was only one instance of the aforementioned creatures, though there were a handful of other cases where I only had singular kinds of companions, such as only having one orc or wind elemental allies.
The true dragon I had made my companion was an elderly black dragon named Obranask, and the true divinity I had called to the world of Elderia was a strange goddess of love named Zynthia who was already gazing at me amorously. Zynthia had a human-looking form that weirdly reminded me of the vast amounts of Hex Maniac Pokemon fanart that filled the internet.
Despite the fact that not every single member of my retinue was unique as far as species go, they were all unique as far as personalities and desires went. The various wishes I had fulfilled had been easy for me to do, though admittedly some of them were easier than others and would have fewer consequences.
In some cases, all I had to do was be a friend, or even a master, to various creatures. Grix, a tiny goblin who was one of the people who had not stepped into the ocean, wanted to be my mistress, for the sake of living a life of luxury and pleasure. A simple, understandable wish really.
Yolfi, a human and pyromancer who worshiped the Ur-Wyrm, wanted me to be her master and to help me usher in an age of dragons. Coincidentally, I also wished for something like that to occur so taking her up on her wish was easy. Other wishes I had granted, such as one for a treant named Blackthorn who wanted the damage of a divine event called “The Sundering” undone, would have continent-spanning and historically significant consequences once they were fully discovered and understood.
Even without my powerful, world-spanning senses telling me what was going on I could feel the ways that the world was changing. Some of my attentions during my explosive arrival into the world had already shook up the status quo even minutes after I had arrived and I could feel the potent magic and divine energy that ambiently flowed through this world subtly changing.
Nevertheless, it was well worth taking the time to understand the impact of my actions here. As I allowed myself to idly rest in the ocean I could feel that for the very first time my actions had publicly and significantly changed an entire world. Entire continents would feel the vast impact of some of the wishes I had granted.
Many of the wishes were small in scale, even selfish ones tended to just be for someone to be immortal and eternally young. That said, a handful of them were things like asking for what amounted to the resurrection of an ancient pharaoh or for the barriers that separated Elderia and the demonic realm to weaken, allowing for more frequent organic crossings of demons into the material world.
In other cases some of the wishes I granted were society-wide wishes. I granted magic in the land of Anduvia a greater fighting chance against the forces of the anti-magic goddess and one of the first foes I intended to take down; Andea. I also metaphysically empowered the people of Kaldgrim, the dragons of Ixtacotek, and I strengthened the connection between the people of Mizuchi and their ancestors. All of those tasks, including weakening the barriers separating the realm of demons and Elderia were easy for me due to my domains.
I was a god of magic thanks to the essence of the metamagnus mixing with my various divine essences. I was a divinity of war thanks to various essences mixing together in the depths of my soul. I was a mighty god of dragons thanks to a number of essences, one of which granted me explicit godhood over dragons. Heck, I was a literal demon-god! I possessed authority over afterlives due to one divine-bestowing essence making me a god of afterlives and death.
I didn’t hesitate to fulfill even those wishes because I knew that they’d ultimately help my plans. After all… I came here for the express purpose of encountering and, when necessary, defeating gods and other cosmic entities.
Encountering such entities and seeing their powers would allow me to replicate them thanks to powerful abnormalities like “The End”. Even better, as far as gaining new powers went, if I killed them I’d forcibly absorb their existences and I’d be able to summon versions of them bent to my will as well as fully absorb any powers they possessed that they didn’t show me!
Thankfully for the sake of my moral well-being, I wasn’t especially interested in killing gods when it wasn’t necessary. I knew, thanks to the potent powers of the essence of the tree of knowledge, that the majority of the gods in this world weren’t pricks who needed to get their asses kicked. Most of them, though “most gods” was not “every god” and in this case the knowledge that not every god was a good entity was important knowledge. It meant that in time I’d surely get what I wanted and would be able to go toe-to-toe with a god.
I knew precisely which gods I’d need to eventually fight, though I also knew that such confrontations were in the future. That said, my immediate actions had real consequences that were beginning to occur even in the immediate wake of my world-shattering entrance into Elderia.
In each of the various continents creatures whose power were comparable to the Greater Dragons of the past were stirring, due solely to my actions.
In the depths of the ocean that stood between the landmass of Cendor and the main landmass of Ixtacotek, a tomb positioned in a long-forgotten former place of glory began to glow. The creature within, a mighty and sapient fragment of the Ur-Wyrm itself, was explosively being imbued with powerful life by the newest divinity to gloriously arrive in Elderia.
The beautiful dragon opened her eyes for the first time since the era of the very first Greater Dragon. She lazily looked around and noticed that she was in a gorgeous sarcophagus. Her lips slowly curled in a curious smile, and her mind began to fill with information. Most of the information in her mind was purely sensory data, but some of it was not.
One thing that wasn’t purely sensory data was a single name and a mental image depicting the creature whose name she knew. Nerastrasza’s first word in the wake of her sudden resurrection was that name.
“Andrew…” The dragoness whispered. She quickly found that she liked the way the name sounded on her lips. The dragoness slowly stretched, and she found that she was in her human form. This annoyed the newly awoken dragoness, whose skin began to bubble and change before eventually changing completely, and revealing her true form, though at a size vastly diminished compared to how vast she normally was.
The dragoness's new body was still far vaster than her coffin had been, and as she transformed into her true form the lid of her sarcophagus was forcibly blown outwards, causing her coffin to begin to fill with seawater. This surprised the creature, even as her memories began to return to her.
In another part of the world, the northernmost tip of Kaldgrim, a gorgeous demigoddess’s ice-blue eyes opened for the first time in centuries. Like the other newly resurrected woman located in the depths of a distant ocean, this particular figure owed her unlikely resurrection to the actions of Andrew the Greater Dragon.
This resurrected figure was a daughter of Ordin, the god of strength and war revered by many of the people of Kaldgrim, and a legendary heroine of the frost elves. Her name was Yngvild, and she was filled with an indescribable joy as the last of the ice that had preserved her life melted and she fell to her knees, both free and fully alive for the first time in centuries.
Long ago Yngvild slew one of the Greater Dragons at the apex of a pitched battle but had herself been fatally poisoned by the dragon in the battle. Her father, primarily out of respect for her heroics but also out of love for his daughter, sought to save her from dying an ignoble death due to poisoning and encased her in divine ice to try and give her a chance to heal from the poison of the evil dragon.
For centuries she had fought and pushed her body to expel what ailed her. She had spent that time in a sort of limbo until Andrew empowered Kaldgrim’s natives to gain power based on the beliefs of others about them. She had been born in Kaldgrim, and so the beliefs of her father’s worshipers in her heroics gave her enough energy and power to purge herself of the poisons that kept her in the ice and stuck in a state between life and death.
Like Nerastrasza she instinctively knew the name and face of her savior, the alien dragon-godling Andrew. And like the mighty dragon who was even now beginning to slowly move towards Andrew, she had powerful feelings about the dragon who saved her by empowering her people.
In the depths of an ancient cave on the mythical continent of Mizuchi, a single mischievous spirit shattered the taut chains that had been among the very last holding her captive. She differed from Nerastraza and Yngvild in that she was not a creature in need of either a resurrection or a pseudo-resurrection. No… What she had needed was a distraction, a sudden but potent shift in the air that surrounded her that would distract the three lords of Mizuchi long enough for her to free herself.
Setsuko tossed the remnants of her chains to the floor in the depths of the dark cave she had spent millennia in. She was an incredibly powerful kitsune, and as she began to silently walk out of the prison that had been her holding place for almost as long as Mizuchi had been a debatably unified region she focused on the impossibly handsome face of the creature responsible for her unexpected jail-break.
“Andrew huh? What a curious name…” She muttered, even as she used her vast supply of magical energy to conjure a beautiful red kimono to cover her naked, incredibly fair skin. She had plans, and those plans were multifaceted. Like her unexpected savior, she was also ambitious and powerful enough to get started on her plans right away.
Two other powerful entities also felt the potent impact of the dragon’s actions. One of them, Vylkanthi, actually owed her entire existence to the eldritch, otherworldly dragon!
The demoness was born in the space between the world of Elderia and the demonic hellscape that housed all of the demons who lurked on the edge of reality. She was the first of her kind, a potent super-demon who had ties to all seven of the deadly sins and could sate herself on any of the seven that she wished to.
Her chaotic and multifaceted soul could only have been created when the protean energies of the mortal realm mixed with the corrupted astral matter of the home of the demons. She was born in the seconds immediately following Andrew’s weakening of the liminal barriers that kept the birthplace of demons separated from Elderia before both realities could properly stabilize and reorient themselves.
The red-scaled demoness’s first thoughts were of mysterious origins, and her first desire was to create more of her kind. Her next thoughts were all focused on the stranger whose actions had created the circumstances which allowed her birth. His face filled her mind’s eye, and she began to lustfully smile as she wondered what sins the figure responsible for her creation would perform if she met him.
The final entity native to Elderia who had a powerful but strange connection to Andrew was an artificial goddess. In the heart of the long-smoldering remains of one of the groves sacred to the elven goddess Asihlliel, a strange entity opened her eyes for the first time in thousands of years.
The manmade goddess Istril opened her eyes and smelled the crisp scent of burning trees. All around her assorted skeletons lay on the still-warm floor of the destroyed grove. The skeletons were all that was left of her creators, and even the mystical artifacts known as the keystones had vanished to the winds ages ago.
Without the runic artifacts known as the keystones to bind her and keep her under control the goddess had fallen asleep in the wake of the powerful, yet disastrous ritual that had been done to bring her to life. For millennia Istril laid dormant, unable to draw the massive amounts of energy she needed to stay conscious in Anduvia where the ambient magical energies infusing the world were weaker than they were anywhere else in the world.
Andrew’s decision to empower the ambient magical energies infusing the very air and atmosphere of Anduvia had resulted in the air itself thickening with raw magical energy. This newly enriched air was many times more mana-rich than it had previously been, and so Istril managed to siphon enough arcane energies to wake herself up for the first time since her ancient creation and eventful first few minutes of life.
Like every other continent-class entity who had been given either life or a chance to become active in the world in the wake of Andrew’s calamitous entry into the world, she knew Andrew’s name and what he looked like. And like every other heroine or villainess Andrew had saved or helped in some way she felt a strange and powerful connection to the dragon-god.
The reason that all five of these unique entities knew of Andrew the second they became active in the world was simple and unsurprising. All of this was due to out-of-context interference in the form of a pair of powerful perks that were helping Andrew by facilitating pleasant initial encounters with powerful women. The perks were called “Chick Magnet” and “Love at First Sight” and both of them were flag-raising perks that helped create positive circumstances for would-be lovers to meet. They were hard at work at the moment.
For now I needed to go ahead and set about becoming a real power in Ixtacotak, which would itself be a fun and distracting task while I readied myself for my real work.
I stared at my companions silently, and after studying them for a moment I utilized my vast sarkic powers to mold my form and give myself a pair of human-like but massive arms. The things ended in scaled hands and with them I pointed at the shore and began to use the potent powers given to me by the essence of the primordial god.
The companions of the newly incarnate Greater Dragon could only watch as his scales and draconic body bubbled and shifted before their very eyes. When the alien entity grew strangely human-like arms, though ones that scaled appropriately to his vast form, they all watched, stunned, as he used those new arms to point at the village that had suddenly become the home of the strange creature.
Several of the creatures who had gathered at the beach turned to face the village and were able to see as the dragon began to transform it. Among the gathered individuals were the local leaders of the cult of the dragonkind, the attempt by the people of Ixtacotek to organize the worship of dragons as divinities or near-divinities. These individuals were the locals who had most powerfully been moved by the sudden and dramatic appearance of the mighty Greater Dragon.
A split second later divine energy unlike that belonging to any of the gods native to Elderia began to fill the air and the very air around the buildings of the village shimmered. The meek and humble homes were suddenly and powerfully changed by the mighty power of the god of creation and alteration!
A haze fell over the homes and other buildings of the village as they began to grow and expand, their designs becoming refined by the inhumanely perfect mind of the deity who was claiming the village as the seat of his power in Elderia. Even the very ground on which the village sat began to become touched by his potent power!
Creatures attuned to nature, such as the treant infamously known as Blackthorn and the wind elemental named Zep, sensed the vastly improving quality of the soil of the village and their gazes became much more reverential than they had previously been. Zep even zipped over to the dragon and began to flit about besides his face!
“Hiya mister dragon! I’m Zep, and it’s so nice to see that you’re a nature lover!” The tiny spirit uttered, as she quickly zipped to different parts of the creature’s face. She first zipped to his ears and spoke into them, but then darted and repositioned herself so that she was right in front of him.
Many of the creatures who had been brought over to Ixtacotek as new companions of the Greater Dragon watched the fairy-like creature disapprovingly. To them, a Greater Dragon was a creature deserving of respect and even a fair degree of actual, literal worship. They thought that such creatures ought not to be approached lightly, for like actual gods they might have inhuman tempers and lash out at such disrespect with incredible ease.
Andrew was not the sort of being they had imagined he was and so did not mind the childish antics of the elemental spirit who was studying him as she hovered around his colossal head. That said, not minding someone’s activities did not mean that he was going to respond to the creature at the moment.
The wind elemental was a powerfully empathetic creature and sensed that Andrew did not mind her activities and so she continued to fly around the enormous creature’s face unbothered by his lack of a response to her. Andrew actually kind of liked the little creature, and Zep sharply sensed that so she actually zipped around faster!
As the god refined the architecture of the homes of his first subjects he drew upon the knowledge he had of both the distinctively Ixtacoian architectural style and the architectural styles of various Earth-human civilizations he was aware of. He remodeled homes and gave them a feel that was keenly similar to an eclectic fusion of ancient Mayan and Nahuatl aesthetics.
The building that had temporarily housed the vast majority of the divine-dragon’s companions was transformed into one of the beautiful palaces of the ancient Mayans. The building had previously been a humble temple to the local dragon lord, its furthest and most humble place of worship, but it was instantaneously transformed into a replica of the palace of the Mayan king Pakal the Great.
As the temple was irrevocably transformed by the potent divinity the assembled worshipers of the ancient dragonlord native to the island immediately became awed by his might.
The dragon who was causing all of this change began to smile, subtly, something noticed only by Zep, due partially to her proximity to him, and other intensely perceptive beings. The cultists collectively fell to their knees, their very souls turning to their new god humbly and reverentially as they watched him mold the very world around him to better suit his whims and machinations.
Andrew was a powerful telepath and as the believers of the dragon-cult gazed at the transformed buildings, the god “spoke” for the first time. He uttered a single word, into the minds of the local dragon-cultists.
“Pray.” He whispered, powerfully. His low, reptilian voice filled the minds of those who heard it. As one they closed their eyes and began to pray to their new god, their awe turned not to Greater Dragons in general but to him specifically.
They prayed though each of them prayed for something different and unique to themselves.
Andrew began to stalk closer to his new companions. As he did the distant farm fields of the town began to become targeted by the mighty dragon, and fruits, vegetables, and other plants began to grow at an incredibly rapid rate.
The village locals all began to audibly and joyously cheer as they saw their new god bless them with bountiful harvests. Like the dragon cultists, their hearts were turned to their new god and though their form of worship was different from the dragon-priests who upheld the orthodoxy of the dragon-cult, their worship was every bit as genuine.
The Greater Dragon allowed himself a second to fully enjoy the power creeping into him from the worship and adoration he was receiving as a dragon-god before he turned his attention to his companions fully and actively for the first time. As he did his azure eyes gazed upon them joyously, and he began to speak, his voice emanating out of him for the first time since he had arrived at this fantastical planet.
“Hello, friends. It is so nice to meet you.” He uttered, his voice both incredibly loud and impressively gentle. His allies looked at him with the same sort of love one might look at a beloved friend with, even as Andrew’s draconic face grew softer and gentler due to the powerful bonds of friendship and joy he felt that tied him to every single one of his new companions.
