"Yes I am. It"ll be something easy right?" I asked, hoping and honestly pretty certain that it would be. So far I had only earned influence over two non-innate subdomains and no domains that weren"t innate, but their quests weren"t hard.

[For you, it will be. All you have to do is restore sight to blind five people. Other G.o.ds have struggled with completing this quest, in the ancient past, but you won"t. Healing is deeply tied to your soul. It"s... odd and the domains and I have discussed it in the past, but your healing... it"s different somehow.] The system remarked, speaking of my healing reverentially. It was... strange to listen to.

I chuckled and grinned, my black chitinous mask hiding my facial expressions from my allies and servants. "Healing... Feels nice. I can"t really explain it, but I like to heal. I suppose I"ll think about it more deeply. Maybe I"ll see why I enjoy healing if I ponder it, when I heal people." I remarked to the system, revealing that I enjoyed the power to heal. I also pondered how I knew what "blindness" was.

I was aware that I possessed some strange, intuitive knowledge. I knew now that most of what I knew was probably due to domains and subdomains innately filling me with knowledge that was ether pertinent to their areas of influence and expertise, or due to my wild traits, but it still felt strange to simply know things for no clear reason. I didn"t know the mechanics of how I was given this information, or why, even though I suppose I could guess at both.

After I pondered that I closed my eyes and allowed the not-so-mini-map to overtake my vision. And I immediately dove into the filters, searching for applicable targets. At that moment I noticed something new.

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Just above the not-so-mini-map floated a few words. They said one, simple thing.

"Filter by quest". I chuckled wondered why they appeared not and earlier.

[Explanation: The new symbols have appeared because of your new status as a "Lesser Deity" and because of your desire to find applicable targets for a quest. From now on you"ll be able to use quests as a way to filter through the countless targets you can detect whenever you use tremorsense.] The system"s more automated voice told me.

I appreciated the new filter and tapped it. The automated voice spoke up once more.

["Filter by quest" filter selected. You only have one active quest therefore this will automatically choose that quest.] The system announced, making me smile. And then all at once, the not-so-mini-map grew a lot less colorful as tens of thousands of the outlines on it lost their color.

A clear and comical majority of the millions of creatures visible on the not-so-mini-map weren"t applicable figures that I could engage. In a matter of seconds, plenty of creatures still remained, their outlines variously colored revealing considerable variety to their relational status to me, but it was obvious that this only a small minority of Puerto Rico"s creatures were blind. None of them were creatures of any sort located in Comillas but plenty were located in San Gerardo.

I thought about the quest for a second and then wondered why this was the effectively the entry-level quest for the domain of light. As soon as I did the system, being a handy pal when it wasn"t giving me att.i.tude, broke it down for me.

[You aren"t a mortal so I suppose it doesn"t make much sense to you, though not many mortals in this world would know why so unaware of this id hardly unique to you... Anyways mortal eyesight relies on light. Mortals can see objects off which light bounces thanks to the peculiarity of their eyes. Your eyes can pierce through anything, regardless of whether or not any light bounces off of them, thanks to your being a G.o.d and all but mortals aren"t so lucky.] The ent.i.ty explained.

I nodded, appreciating that explanation. And then I focused on the contents of the not-so-mini-map. I studied it carefully as I considered who to select to heal, attempting to figure out what would be the best-case scenarios for what happened once I healed creatures.

"Curing someone of blindness is a significant act, one of immensely powerful and personal magic. I can safely and reasonably a.s.sume that the system will be telling them who healed them. What comes after that matters." I told myself as I considered how to handle more than just the act of healing the blind, but also how to followup on that act of healing.

As I pondered that, an idea came to mind thanks to a handy power I had acquired when I first became a lesser G.o.d. A faith domain power that allowed me to give creatures visions whenever I wished.

"Bestowing a vision upon those I heal is a good idea. But what sort of vision should it be? What sort of message should it confer?" I wondered, silently asking myself this while my followers wondered what we were doing here. I chuckled and for a moment allowed myself to focus on the scene unfolding in front of me.

In fairness to them this being my lair was something I sprung on them out of the blue. Not that they had much input, I wasn"t really asking them for their insights and importantly I wasn"t telling them to stay with me, but they didn"t" know this since I hadn"t precisely explained what was going on.

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As I began to consider what all to tell my servants, I asked a friend a question. It was very similar to one I had asked the system at the beginning of my life, and I figured I owed it to myself to ask it to a relevant party this time around.

"Hey necromancy," I began. I was referring to the subdomain, but I opted to shorten its name. "What do mortals think of necromancers and necromancy? When I first came to life I asked the system what mortals thought of druids, I figured it was only fair to ask you the same thing just for necromancers and necromancy." I asked before I explained why I had asked it in the first place.

I heard a peal of mirth-filled laughter. And then speech. "Oh boy... I figured you"d ask me that question eventually. I"m glad you did before you went around showcasing your abilities to any humans. They tend to be... judgmental." The subdomain explained.

"Mortals are scared of necromancy and necromancers. In fairness to them, as the subdomain that governs these things they should absolutely be scared of me and what I govern. I definitely want to see dead worlds. Dead solar systems. Dead galaxies. Dead universes." Necromancy confessed, doing so with a chilling casualness that reaffirmed its ultimately violent and misanthropic nature.

"I know that you might be thinking less kindly of me in the wake of me saying that, but you"ve got to understand that I want my power and my influence to spread. The other domains and subdomains are the same way but a lot of them are lucky and don"t have the bad reputation I do." The voice complained. It huffed in annoyance and then refocused.

"If you"re asking me, as you did, about humanoids in general... Many of them would be scared if you confessed that you were a necromancer. Humanoids as a whole, even ones with thoroughly evil leaders and in unrepentantly evil civilizations, view necromancers in very generalized lenses." She revealed.

"At best you may find someone who values your power and would like to work with you to terrorize the living. Or someone after my own heart who hates life and wants to see it be extinguished. That said... These sorts of things always have exceptions." The subdomain told me.

"There are humanoids, and I"m not just talking about necromancers either, who recognize that I can offer them an endless existence, one free from the fear of death or a decaying body. Or that I can be used to transform their enemies into their allies. They recognize my worth. But you deserve to know that many humanoids would be scared if they learned you were practicing necromancy." The voice told me, speaking sincerely.

I nodded, mentally, and thanked the thing for its candor. It was useful in planning how to tell my allies about why I wanted a hidden home, far from annoying and moralistic eyes.

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"I suppose I should tell you what you"re looking at," I told the a.s.sembled creatures. They were, reasonably, confused by what we were doing deep underground. "We are staring at an utterly gigantic ant"s nest." I announced to my followers. They looked rather unsurprised by this revelation.

"I am a G.o.d of... these creatures. These ants. Among other things, mind you, but I came down here to learn more about them and to build a lair." I explained, my voice growing more confident the more I spoke. My explanation about my G.o.dhood over the ants shocked all of my servants, but especially the two ogresses. I figured, after seeing their reactions, that I ought to further explain.

"Gaining powers as a G.o.d is a surprisingly modest-looking process. I gained some powers over these creatures before I met you all, but I gained powers over ants in general after we all had joined forces, while we were in the encampment. I just didn"t demonstrate it." I told my worshipers and servants.

"I gained powers over the ants," As I said that, some of the ants came out of one of the nearby holes that riddled the floor. They came out of one of the thinner ones, one that was clearly made by regular ants and not myrmekes". "By making some of them evolve into the ma.s.sive ant-like humanoids you saw earlier. There are more of those creatures elsewhere." I revealed all while grinning.

Iret was the first individual to speak up in response to this. Her voice was soft, and she kept her eyes glued on the holes that riddled the floor, especially the handful of positively gigantic ones, ones that the myrmekes" ants were located within.

"Alright, I can understand all of that. Or pretend too anyway. But what"s the deal with you saying you want to make this your home?" She asked, curiously.

I grinned at her, my mouth hidden behind my bizarre, organic mask. "I have a handful of reasons for wanting to make this place my home. But also... it"s not precisely "this place" I"ll be making my home." I told the ogress all while gesturing to the hole-riddled floor.

"The first reason why I would like to make this place my home is that it"s located deep underground. I am a deity of the earth, as you know. As you"ve seen," I told her, confidently. She nodded as she acknowledged the truth of my words.

"I am strong above the surface, but deep underground? Deep underground I"m virtually una.s.sailable." I confidently a.s.serted, telling the truth. I could sense all the ways I could manipulate my surroundings as if I were a painter and this was my painting. And then I moved on to explain more of my overall reasoning.

"You all know that I am not a G.o.d of goodness and healing. Other worshipers of mine have been led to believe that. Deliberately. But here, in this place I shall build, I can engage in more... let"s call them "dubious" acts without suspicion or judgment. I am envisioning that the place I build here be one I populate with darker servants and worshipers." I told the creatures I had gathered to my side.

I had spent a fair few minutes contemplating what sort of qualities I would like in a lair while my companions and I had walked deeper and deeper into this strange, subterranean region. One of the big reasons I had come up with was so that I could have located I could begin to build my forces, particularly my darker minions and allies. That wasn"t really in reference to my ants, it was far more so in reference to the deceased beings I had reanimated and converted into my worshipers.

"I like the living. Even those of you who give me lip. You all, even those of you with more... "spirit" have your uses. That"s part of why I feed you and heal you. But a friend of mine has told me a lot about you." I explained, teasing what the subdomain of necromancy had just revealed to me about mortals and their rather judgmental nature.

"You see, I have a friend who knows a lot about necromancy. She and I were conversing minutes ago, divinely of course, and she told me that if I spoke openly about my necromancy to many humanoids they would fear me. That fear could be useful, in time, but it isn"t what I really want right now." I told the creatures I had converted into my minions. The undead thoughtfully nodded at me as I said all of this.

"So part of what I need in a home is secrecy. The ants aren"t humanoids and they don"t share the sensitivities of light-hearted humans and other... in their own words "more civilized" humanoids. You see, my worshippers don"t care about the fact that I practice necromancy." I confidently a.s.serted, without any particular basis for doing so.

"I would like my home to be a lair wherein I can conduct dark experiments and quietly accrue and arm my forces. I want this place to be my sanctuary." I told my followers, telling them the truth again. I did want a home from which I could do those things. I didn"t know what sort of dark experiments I wanted to perform just yet, but having a place to perform them when I did know would be useful.

I envisioned a ma.s.sive fortress populated by my minions, be they the undead, or waves upon waves of insects, or other as of yet un.o.btained minions. I wanted this place to be the seat from which I began to build the faiths dedicated to me. A place where I could thoughtfully devote my time to the acquisition of more power and more worshipers and where I could shape the world to my whims.

Envisioning it made me want to make it real. Which was what I began to do. I turned to face the tunnel"s wall and began to make use of my immensely powerful ability to control the earth. As I did so I also connected myself and the mortals whose blindness I"d be healing in order to earn the first tier of influence over the domain of light.

A smile etched itself onto my face as I did so. I knew I was inching ever closer to acquiring a lair worthy of a G.o.d.