A Solitary God In A Dark Multiverse 47 Deeper Darkness

[Understood. Aborting unification. For now.] The system's more automated mode ominously replied, seconds after I told the thing to shut down what I had mistakenly set up. If I could have looked at the system and glared I would have. I sent a message to it that I hoped made it feel like I was shouting.

"Hey! What was that? What is 'unification'? I thought that if I used my 'Hivemind generation' power that it wouldn't subsume the wills of those in it." I asked the system two questions while I snapped, annoyed at the fact that what I had just learned contradicted what I thought would have been the case regarding my thus-far limited understanding of hiveminds.

[That power's description was created under the a.s.sumption that the G.o.d themself wouldn't be part of the hivemind. Hiveminds are dominated by single individuals, the ones with the highest intelligence or willpower and in literally any instance wherein you are a member of a hivemind you have the strongest will by a considerable margin.] The system revealed, sounding a bit annoyed itself.

I took a few seconds to sigh and then consider what to say next. And then I realized that the system only answered one question.

"What is 'unification'? You didn't answer that." I reiterated, curious to hear what it was, but well aware that it probably wasn't good. Or at least good from my point of view, as someone who doesn't have an interest in subsuming wills and thus becoming some sort of G.o.dmind.

[Unification is the process by which a group of mortals becomes one with their G.o.d. By undergoing unification a mortal sheds their will and becomes a beacon of the glory of their G.o.d and their most devoted servants. This was a fate many pious mortals sought out in the mythic age. Some G.o.ds lauded it as the highest of honors.] The system explained, telling me a bit about the state of mind of the G.o.ds of old.

"Yikes. That's... dark." I reacted, not being a fan of that at all. I heard a robotic chuckle emanate from the system, and sound off in my mind.

[There are absolutely some domains and subdomains that adore hiveminds and G.o.dminds. The domains of light and darkness both have G.o.dmind abilities, as does the domain of law, and the subdomains of order and fungi. Though all of theirs are a bit different.] The strange ent.i.ty revealed to me.

"I'll have to form hiveminds with me in them one day won't I?" I asked, coming to that conclusion in the wake of the new information I had just received.

[Oh absolutely. But if it makes you feel better, gaining influence over the domains of light and darkness are both easy enough. And you've earned the right to complete the quests for both of them if you wish. They are interested in you, particularly the domain of darkness.] My companion revealed. I chuckled at that revelation.

"Of course they are. I'm afraid of the dark and so the darkness domain is interested in me. How fitting." I mused, and then heard the system itself echo my chuckle.

With that I continued my walk into the darkness, deeper and deeper into the earth itself. And without the distraction of the conversation I was having, I quickly became unsettled by the eerie journey I was undertaking, even though I could see perfectly and had near-absolute power underground.

"Why can't fear be rational?" I asked myself, knowing that my being afraid of the dark didn't make any sense.

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A few minutes after I and my servants, living and dead, began our trip into the darkness I closed my eyes. In doing so I came to a profound realization: the dark only scared me when my eyes were open in it. Using tremorsense not only allowed me to see even more than my own, presumably G.o.d-powered, natural ability to peer through darkness could, I also began to relax more easily.

I studied the map, and realized something strange: the earth underneath the island didn't really seem to stop. The tide of ants I was following through a handmade tunnel was diving deeper and deeper into the world under the island, and that world was getting wider somehow.

Upon realizing this, I was filled with questions. Some of which I could even get answers too. It was intriguing. But it didn't keep me from noticing things. One thing, in particular, stood out to me. Deep in the earth, there was a kilometers wide cavern with a single inhabitant. A lone black dragon.

That said, I quickly focused on my objective: figuring out where we were going. And to start figuring that out, I sent a mental message to the queen I had met before.

"What do you and your fellows plan to do?" I asked, mentally messaging the creature I had spoken with earlier. She was at the front of the swarm of ants, over ten thousand strong, that I was currently following closely behind. I received a response not long after I transmitted her my question.

"We plan to go home." She informed me, revealing that there was a plan in place. That made me sigh in relief. It felt nice to be in a conversation with someone with a goal.

"Where is home?" I asked her, as I scanned ahead of us in the tunnel she and her allies had created while heading towards me. I only had a rough idea of where their homes were, as ants modified the earth, and in many cases, the ants I had made aware of my presence weren't exactly near their homes when I made myself known to them.

"Not much farther from here Creator. Some steps away." She replied, after a few moments of careful thought. Her response was odd though. It made me think of a question that wouldn't be answered if I asked her, but might be if I asked someone else.

"So when I bestow blessings that increase someone's intelligence, what am I actually increasing?" I asked.

[You've asked something similar to this, vaguely at least, in the past. By increasing someone's intelligence you're increasing their ability to acquire knowledge and skills. You're not actually giving them specific skillsets or knowledge, which is why the queen you just spoke to had difficulty articulating the distance to their colony.] The system explained. I nodded my head, in understanding.

"So what if I improve their charisma?" I asked, curiously. The system made a curious noise as it contemplated my question.

[If you improve their charisma, which you can do, you'd be granting them an improved, intuitive understanding of how to be charming and how to be effective in social situations. I'm not entirely sure if you'd be increasing their effective attractiveness, which is one component of charisma until you gain influence over the right domains and subdomains.] The ent.i.ty told me, indulging my curiosity a bit more.

"Thank you for that. That's... really useful actually." I told the system, appreciating its candor even if I was still a bit annoyed that I almost subsumed the wills of several million creatures. Only some of that annoyance was aimed at the system, most of it was aimed at me.

It took us a few minutes to finally reach the area wherein the ants we were following were leading us. We stopped just outside of a section of tunnel flooring riddled with small holes. And when we did I wasn't surprised to see it, but I realized that my companions were probably more confused than ever.

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"Why are we stopping?" Asked Okig, who sensed that she was affected by a rather abrupt loss of forward momentum. Her eyes couldn't pierce the darkness, but I didn't doubt that she could sense the fact that she wasn't moving anymore.

"We're here. Where we were going. Would you like to be able to see?" I asked her, aware that she couldn't see. She huffed in annoyance.

"Of course I'd like to see!" She said, clearly still bothered with me. Which was fair, all things considered. I chuckled and opened up my grimoire, hoping that I'd have something there that could grant me the power to allow her to see.

[Welcome Althos! You have new spells. Would you like to peruse them, or search for something specific?] The cheery voice of the grimoire asked me. I paused for a second to consider how to respond since I knew I didn't have that would have allowed me to grant Okig and Iret the ability to see in the dark. When I did reply it was with resignation.

"I can search for things? Can you see if I have anything that grants people the ability to see in the dark?" I asked the grimoire. That was when I received an interruption from an unexpected but welcome source.

"h.e.l.lo Althos. I'll grant you a spell that lets people see in the dark. There's a necromantic spell that does such a thing. If you would like we could unlock it..." The voice told me, tempting me with such a thing. My eyes narrowed in suspicion for a number of reasons.

"What are your powers? Like... what can you do?" I asked, honestly curious about what and how it was that domains and subdomains did. I heard a soft laugh come from somewhere within me.

"Subdomains and domains alike are actually pretty limited in what we can do. We pretty exclusively handle things like determining the nature of our quests and allocating when a G.o.d can engage in our quests to gain influence over us. Oh and in the cases of schools of magic that are also subdomains we can distribute spells to G.o.ds, who can then distribute them to mortals." The ent.i.ty revealed, and I could have sworn I felt the thing grinning, somehow.

"We have an innate ability to influence G.o.ds, but then again so do their wors.h.i.+pers so that's not as potent as it sounds. In fairness... we're sentient ideas, laws, and powers, so it makes sense for us to not be that powerful. That said... reality is malleable in the hands of a G.o.d. If a G.o.d wanted to change us and was strong enough they could." The thing hinted.

"You really like trying to give me ideas don't you?" I asked the odd ent.i.ty. It didn't reply but it did give me a parting gift.

[The subdomain of necromancy has granted you access to a new spell.

Penumbra peer: This potent necromantic spell grants the target the ability to see in the dark.]

I grinned, and targeted both Okig and Iret with the spell, granting my living servants the ability to see even in the deep darkness of the tunnel we were in. Their eyes took a second to adjust, but when they were finished adjusting the two ogresses' eyes went wide with shock at the sight that was revealed to them.

I nodded at the pair and set all of my servants on the floor. We were on flatland now, they could easily walk on their own without my a.s.sistance.

"It's... something right?" I asked, referring to the strange design of the alienly designed colony not far from us.

"I think... I think this might be my new home." I told my gathered servants, even as they all studied the sight in front of us. It was beautiful, in its own odd way. And with the right amount of power usage, I had a feeling I could make it very roomy. And then I turned inward to ask the system a question.

"So you mentioned earlier that the domains of light and darkness are interested in me? I think... I'm gonna need some light in this place. If you could tell me about that quest, that'd be much appreciated." I asked the system, hoping that whatever quest the domain had in mind I'd be able to do easily and quickly.