The air smelled of sprayable disinfectant and more powerful chemicals used to ensure that the wicked, highly infectious, disease the former president of the advanced nation had contracted did not spread to his staff. The former president himself wasn"t a fan of the smell, but he put up with it, as well as the exorbitant costs of the medical staff. So far they had kept his disease from progressing so, to date at least, it was worth it.

Currently one of the doctors who a member of the former president"s medical staff was in front of the man who once led the most powerful nation in the world of Mercy. The doctor was an elf, and even among his race, his command of healing magic was first-cla.s.s. There was a grim look on the elf"s face. He opened a pencil-thin mouth and began to speak.

"Mr. President... We"ll have no way of knowing if it"s true for about a week. We need to perform a biopsy to know for sure." The elf informed the man. The former president, a half-orc with vivid green skin, sighed and made eye contact with the doctor.

"Ansel... Can you tell me what you think? Do you think I might actually be cured?" The half-orc asked. There was a tone of something indistinct in the man"s voice. A mixture of emotions, fear, hope, and other slyer emotions. Ansel looked him in the eyes and spoke, speaking as both a doctor and a friend.

"Mr. President... I am not here to look to witchcraft for answers. Even the witchcraft of a self-proclaimed G.o.d. I will not defer to rumors and a.s.sertions. I must have answers. I can tell you want to believe, and sir, I don"t blame you, but you employ my clinic because we"re the best. And part of being the best means relying on testing and evidence." The elf said. His words were harsh, but there was a tone of softness in his voice.

A part of the elf also wanted to believe that the former president was indeed healed. The elf didn"t care for believing in G.o.ds or G.o.ddesses, but he did indeed care for the former president as both a patient and as a friend. If this G.o.d could heal the former president and his advanced illness then the elf hoped that he, that "Althos" had done so. But mere minutes had pa.s.sed since the announcement flared into the minds of the entire world, and no one in the city of Oakvale knew for sure if it was true this early.

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I was born in a solar system that extended billions of kilometers in every direction. In total there were seven planets in the solar system I lived in. Torus was the fifth furthest planet from the sun, and each planet had an abundance of life.

In ascending order of distance from the sun the planets in the solar system were Anthem, Salifinos, Mercy, Retribution, Torus, Rhylth, and Haxor. Each of these planets had a peculiar quirk to them.

Anthem was the first planet in all of existence wherein every single inhabitant became a worshiper of mine. It was made up mostly of elementals, a type of spirit that was composed entirely of one of the four basic elements, and they recognized me as an elemental overlord which caused them to immediately begin to worship me. Elementals were not very intelligent or very independent.

The few mortals on the planet also began to worship me as a G.o.d of mercy and kindness. The undead on the planet also immediately fell under my sway, and they uniformly consisted of basic types of undead such as skeletons, zombies, and ghouls.

Salifinos was the second planet from the sun. This planet"s quirk was that the ancient war between abominations and mortals never ended here. The planet was divided almost evenly between eldritch abominations and mortals and the two factions were in an open state of warfare. This planet"s abominations had eagerly and subserviently turned to me as a figure of worship, intrigued by my indiscriminate nature. I intended to turn my full attention here soon and aid one side or the other.

Mercy was a planet with an odd name. FIttingly this planet had no undead lifeforms on it. It was a planet that lacked significant magic. There was magic on Mercy, but it was limited to the world"s elves. This planet possessed a healthy amount of technology, including objects like cars, planes, and things called robots, and this planet was also one of the ones that intrigued me.

Retribution was a planet that was perpetually close to Mercy. It was a small planet, the smallest planet in the entire solar system. This planet also had the most magic in the entirety of the solar system, and my ability to detect conflicts informed me that the people of Retribution did not like the people of Mercy or their inventions. I stored that bit of trivia away, knowing that I"d have use for it at some point in the future.

Torus was my home planet. I have spent virtually my entire life here.

Rhylth was a quiet, desert planet. It was the only planet in the solar system that had less than five ecosystems. It had deserts and oceans and nothing else. This planet was inhabited entirely by giants and by animals.

Haxor was the largest planet in the solar system. It consisted of two gigantic continents and both were inhabited by evolved animals, creatures like centaurs, driders, and manbats.

I was receiving billions of prayers and reading them inflated my sense of self-worth. It brought a big grin to my face to hear members of both sides of a war pray to me and beg for my aid or to hear enemies beg for my intervention, to aid them and stop someone else who was praying to me for the exact same thing.

Hours after I had healed the peoples of the solar system I had received a number of interesting prayers. They were also very different from the prayers of Torunians.

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[Oh alien G.o.d of healing, I, Luthor of the Gugs, beg you to turn your otherworldly gaze upon my world, Salifinos, and my people! We are locked in a conflict with this world"s vile mortals, and for decades we"ve been stuck in a stalemate. But your aid... We could win if a G.o.d chose and empowered us!

Your indiscriminate nature has healed us and allowed our soldiers who had been prevented from fighting to rush to the front lines. We have been touched by your kindness and seek to turn your gaze upon us once more. We know not your desires, but if you would tell us them then we would seek to fulfill them and worship you if in exchange you would continue to heal us and tell us of your ways.

In the days to come we will acquire sacrifices we could use, if such things would please you. We would happily sacrifice our prisoners or even ourselves if doing so would please you or allow you to reach out and touch our world more actively.

I, Luthor, offer myself as a humble servant and as a meek supplicant. I beg of thee, turn thine eyes upon my unworthy form, and tell me what must be done to be worthy of your aid and your attention.]

[Great and mighty Althos, the people of Ascendance have felt your touch! I, Moctezuma, have the glorious honor of being the first of my kind to perform the ancient ritual of "prayer" to make contact with you. I am an aide to the great emperor Midas, who leads our civilization.

We are a magically advanced civilization dwelling on the remote world of Retribution. Our historians know a fair deal about the G.o.ds of old, but we know that a modern G.o.d in this age of G.o.dlessness must be... Very different from the G.o.ds of old.

Your act of kindness has led to much curiosity about you from our people. Of all of the planets and peoples who live in this solar system, we suspect that we may know the most about the G.o.ds, and according to our records no G.o.ds ever performed planet-wide miracles. Yet our thaumaturge-technology has revealed to us that that"s precisely what you did. We actually suspect that the miracle you performed was... wider than that.

Our people have been awed by your act of goodwill and I suspect that in the days to come many of us will turn to you as our ancestors turned to the ancient G.o.ds and give ourselves to you. It is possible that many of us already have.

Our tiny planet has a magically enriched atmosphere which greatly amplifies the effects of our magic. This is what has allowed us to stay free and independent from other planets, though... It has been a long time since a world attempted to colonize another world, in this solar system at least.

We have an abundance of resources and would like to welcome you to our world. You would be most welcome in our world if you sought to build a residence or a true faith here. We would eagerly welcome you. There can be fewer honors greater for a mortal, than housing a G.o.d, after all.

If you seek to visit our world and wish to be welcomed in a way that is fitting for your greatness, please let us know ahead of time so that we may prepare. Such an occasion would merit us putting our best foot forward and we would be honored to be able to lay our eyes upon you.]