42 The End Of The Tutorial (1/2)
Not only did the goblins stare in amazement at the regenerated limb, but to an extent, I did too. I knew I possessed the power to heal the goblin, but there was a difference between having a conscious knowledge that I possessed that power and actually seeing its effects on the goblin.
Regenerating the limb was something I did mostly on a whim. I knew that it'd benefit me in the long run, but I hadn't thought it was going to be a big deal. I was wrong. Even now the goblin encampment was quiet, dozens of the creatures staring at me reverentially, and at Xiax as if he were a hero, a chosen champion of some god who had just saved them.
Xiax was just as surprised as his fellow goblins were. His mouth was still open in shock, even as he practiced balling his fists. It took him nearly a minute before he attempted to regain his composure, closing his mouth and adding stoicism to his facial expression, and as he did so he slowly began to move his arm up and down.
”Is it uncomfortable? Stiff anywhere?” I asked, concern filling my voice, as the goblin continued to grow accustomed to having the limb back. He made eye contact with me, and for a second his face morphed.
The goblin was a mature example of his kind. In his first interaction with he had behaved carefully, thoughtfully, and respectfully. But when he made eye contact with me there was a change in his eyes.
For an instant, there was something new in his expression. His bright green eyes were filled with awe and with adoration so much so that before he regained self-control once more he looked fanatical.
And as if the system were reading my mind, I heard a soft noise in the back of my mind. I had just received a historic notification and reading it would have made my heart pound a mile a minute if I had had a heart.
[Alert: The previous demonstrations of your power that you showed the goblins, combined with the fact that you not only healed Xiax, saving his life as his infected wound would have killed him but also regrew his arm, have caused him to fall under your influence. Substantially so.
This is due in part to the system informing him that he would have died without your intervention, but the fact of the matter is that even without that reality check the goblin would have worshiped you anyway.
Xiax's conception of you as a divine figure is that you are a parental figure. He views you, 'Cosecha', as a family-entity who cares for living things and provides for them, while also protecting and healing them.
Your power has warped his mind, but not broken it in the same way that Okig's mind was broken. He has been left altered, due to the suddenness of all of this, but in such a way that his fanaticism and love for you are heightened. The faith domain is pleased, and so is the healing subdomain.
The fact that you did this without using a faith domain power has empowered the goblin's worship. Xiax has been left changed by the events of the past few minutes, and the potency of his reverence and awe of you has caused the system to award him by making him the first cleric in the world since the mythic age, the era in which gods and their kin still lived.
Influence over Xiax: 85%]
As I was reading the notification I felt the intense power of the goblin's awe, love, and reverence pour into me. The sentiments the goblin felt, unknown to him, surged through every centimeter of my skin, even though I was currently in my guise as an omnielemental spirit. It felt wonderful to receive such potent feelings.
”Today is the day I break through the tutorial.” I realized, believing what I had just told myself with every fiber of my potentially unlimited being. And then I spent nearly a minute lost in thought about the power I'd come to possess before the day was done. My mind spun with fantasies about my already world-shaking and life-altering powers being unfettered by the system.
”My arm feels better than it did before it was lost.” The goblin told me, his voice bringing me back to the present. Xiax smiled at me after he told me that, and I could tell by the grin on his face that he was being sincere.
”Oh, that's excellent!” I told the goblin, excitedly. I had no way of knowing if the goblin's limb would be fully functional until he himself told me. I breathed a sigh of relief and felt genuinely happy that my healing powers were so potent.
And then I closed my eyes and opted to make things easier for myself by activating my handy religious fervor power. When I reopened my eyes an instant later there was a blue tint to everything around me, one which would help me wrap up the tutorial in an efficient manner.
It was at this moment that the goblins who had been watching Xiax and I finally reacted. They reacted in one instant, and their reaction transformed the encampment. Silence filled the encampment for one second, and then a second later, a delighted, almost delirious roar of joy and jubilation filled the encampment.
The delighted, tear-filled cries of over a dozen goblins were quite noisy. The sound filled my ears and brought a wide, arrogant smile to my face. The sound was so loud that it went into the hole and evidently carried far enough for the orc chief of the goblins to hear it. The orc and his pet began to move a bit faster in this direction, possibly driven by curiosity to inspect the noise.
I chuckled and wondered what he was like. And then I refocused on my surroundings. It was time to bring the tutorial to an end. And I had an idea of how I could do that. I just needed to ask the system a quick question. But before I did that, I closed my eyes and allowed the not-so-mini-map to dominate my vision.
I quickly scanned it and confirmed something that I had noticed before: this encampment, and the hole it is centered around, house and protect a number of goblin infants. This, in combination with one of my chaos powers, had the potential to allow me to easily acquire more worshipers.
”Goblins, it is time for one final miracle. Bring out your children. I shall show you something that only a spirit could do.” I shouted, my voice audible over the din of their cheers, causing them to excitedly turn around and set about doing what I asked them to do.
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”So, system, I've come to a decision.” I announced, my mental voice reaching inward and searching for the system. I was met with silence for a few moments before I faintly heard a soft chuckle and then saw and heard the system's reply.
[Yes, Althos? What decision is that?] It asked me. I could tell by the tone of its voice that it was amused, and almost certainly knew what I was going to ask. That didn't surprise me, nor did it deter me.
”The tutorial ends today. I am going to acquire nine more worshipers, nine more goblin worshipers, and free myself from the tutorial. I just need you to tell me something.” I explained, proudly and arrogantly declaring that I was going to acquire nine more worshipers. The system's reply was instantaneous.
[What is it that you need me to tell you? Or is it that you need us to tell you something?] The strange entity that appeared to reside both within my mind and elsewhere at once asked me. I chuckled in the safety of my mind.
”I want to try and use my power over entropy to generate one more miracle. There are baby goblins here. I want to age them into young adults, thereby allowing them to contribute to the community. But I need to know a few things before I do that. This isn't the same as regrowing a limb, this is age-manipulation.” I explained, before justifying why I was even asking for an explanation.
”Can you tell me what happens to the minds of something as young as an infant when I manipulate its age? That's probably my biggest question if I'm being honest.” I asked, wondering what would happen to the goblins I used my powers to age. I was hoping to age them until they were adolescents at least.
[That's a good question and it deserves an honest response. You using your powers to rapidly age infants has no negative effects on their minds. In order for this to make... any sense, I need to explain something to you.] The system began, shortly before launching into an immediate explanation.
[You are aware of synergistic powers, but you aren't aware of synergistic boons... or regular boons for that matter. Domains and subdomains grant you boons. Boons are beneficial, ambient abilities you have access to by virtue of being a god.] My first companion, and also the entity responsible for sticking me in the tutorial, told me.
[Each domain and subdomain you can influence grants you an original boon, and then synergistic ones. One of the synergistic ones is that unless you will it, your chaotic powers will not negatively affect the minds of creatures neutral or friendly towards you. This includes goblin babies. Because of this, their minds will instead grow and mature as their bodies do.] The eerie entity declared, which was one of the best announcements I could have gotten.
[They will still need to learn how to do the actual tasks they're being tasked with doing, but they'll know how to speak and they'll view you as their benefactor and god. Like the undead, they'll worship you.] The system revealed.
Internally, I began to laugh. This was above and beyond what I could have dared to hope for. And while I chuckled, the goblins brought me three of their infants, two boys and one girl. I smiled at the goblins and thanked them for their help.
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The goblin infants were on the ground, having been placed at my feet quite gingerly by their parents. I smiled at the little creatures, before mentally targetting them by focusing on them to the extent that everything else lost focus.
”And now... I become a true god,” I whispered, my voice audible to no one but the toddlers close to me. ”Freed from a tutorial that has been limiting my power.” I muttered as a grin pulled the edges of my lips upward.
I closed my eyes and allowed for darkness to cover my vision. When the not-so-mini-map attempted to appear, I willed it away for the moment. And then I asked for help.
”This power is unlike my other powers. This isn't some concrete force or some internal thing that I'm manipulating. It's... a natural phenomenon. Can you help me navigate it for the first time?” I asked the system, who merely chuckled in my mind before beginning to reply to me.
[We're with you. Now select one of the goblins. Whichever you wish to age first.] The system explained, referring to both itself and the domains since it was using ”we” again.
I focused on one of the males, a tiny green-skinned infant with coal-colored eyes. I could now still see, even with my eyes closed, which was interesting, but I knew there was a lot going on here. And when I did, a new notification appeared before me.
[Interactions: Would you like to use a power to interact with or modify this creature? If so, which power are you going to use?]
I was taken aback for a second. I had never seen a systems message like this one. I stopped to reread the message, before replying. Once I had reread it I was sure of my course of action.