98 Curiosity And Dark Elves (1/2)

Whenever I allowed myself a moment to be introspective my thoughts went to dozens of places at once. I suspected this was due to the absurd nature of the powers I possessed.

One of the strangest things to happen to me over the course of my life was my mind gradually... expanding. And not just in the mortal sense, wherein I'd grow more and more aware of the world over time.

With each domain or subdomain, I earned influence over I felt my mind grow in an almost literal sense. This sensation was present in the days before I activated my domain-sense, but my choice to permanently activate that ability absolutely kicked it into overdrive.

Having earned influence over domains like life, death, war, and agriculture, I was receiving trillions of notifications per second. It was an incredible sensation, especially because it didn't actually interfere with my ability to get by on a minute to minute to basis. At first, it was almost frightening but now I actively enjoyed it.

Another factor that made it feel as though my mind was perpetually active was my choice to listen for prayers. I only rarely intervened, but I listened for prayers and obliged the requests from time to time if I felt that my intervention was truly warranted. Still, the state of being open to prayers flipped a part of my mind and caused me to be cognizant of the prayers of all manner of lifeforms throughout the universe.

From time to time I wondered how much of my ability to operate given the... enormous stress my mind must have been under was due to the powers of the mind domain. I even considered asking the thing from time to time but ultimately opted to wait and see how my mind reacted to new stimuli whenever I came across unfamiliar things. And that encouraged my routine, in so far as the daily shenanigans I got up too counted as a routine.

Each day I went on quests and helped out the people of Comillas, as well as interacted with my worshipers. During the day my behavior wasn't unlike that of a powerful, driven mortal. By making use of the impressively diverse abilities I had acquired over the course of my very brief life I had earned the trust of many of Comillas residents, and I had made life safer and healthier for them.

Each night I had visited the dreams of people all over this world and nearby worlds. To date, replying to dreams and prayers were the only ways I engaged with the other worlds throughout this universe. I knew I could change that, if I wanted too, but a part of me felt nervous about it.

I wasn't entirely sure what made me feel so nervous all things considered, but I knew that what I felt was real. I took it seriously, and it was part of why I hadn't really tried to leave the world yet. I hadn't even really flown all that much either.

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Even though I was seated in the ocean, in my aquatic temple, my mind could see and perceive everything around me for kilometers in every direction. Or at least, most things. My senses weren't perfect, but they were close to perfect.

Puerto Rico's surface was dark. Night had fallen over the surface of the island, and the only things illuminating the sky were bright stars and a beautiful full moon. Small light sources here and there provided additional illumination, such as torches and a small bonfire that had been lit on the beach that connected Libertad to the bay that my temple was located on.

My temple felt lonely, as even though I was a known inhabitant of the strange place my followers were mammals and they preferred the surface to the sea. I was alone, aside from nearby fish and the occasional clam.

As a way to kill time and entertain myself while underwater I occasionally targeted fish for touch and experimentation. I did so via my mental abilities, reaching out to them with telekinesis and even did other less overt things like feeding the fish or clams and healed them. Another thing I did was play with the weather.

I had grown fond of using my elemental abilities in tiny ways. The first time I saw rain in my life had been a few days ago when I manipulated my weather abilities to summon and command a weak storm over the sea beyond my temple. Yesterday I made it rain over San Gerardo.

Today had been a temperate day and a clear one in Puerto Rico, and an overcast one in the region of Iredale that my minions controlled. That was mostly because I allowed it to be since at any time I could alter the weather.

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”So what kinds of weather could I create right now? Could I create all the naturally occurring types of weather in this world?” I asked the domain of nature, curious as to what all I could do. I sensed the interest of the domain itself flare-up in my mind as the domain inspected my abilities and domains. And then I heard a soft chuckle.

”Wow... You can actually!. That's amazing! I can't believe you gained this power so early...” The domain remarked.

The awe in the domain's voice made me happy and I felt quite pleased with the array of powers I had earned over the course of my life. The grin on my face that sprang about as a result of the domain's shock wasn't aimed at anyone in particular and was more a result of me expressing my satisfaction with that news.

There was a part of me that wanted to begin to experiment with this power more actively. I recognized that this power gave me the ability to exert a lot of influence over mortals, as the weather I could create wasn't limited to gentle weather.

”So I could create tsunamis and firestorms too?” I asked, rhetorically. This power further cemented my status as one of if not the greatest creatures in this world. The weather I could create was in some cases dictated only by what I could imagine thanks to the nature of my powers.

”I really do need to experiment with this power.” I muttered, well-aware of this power's potential to easily earn me worshipers. It was one of a handful of powers that I could use to reward or punish people.

”So why isn't the nature domain part of the 'Apocalypse quadrangle'?” I asked the system when I realized how easily this domain and its weather manipulation abilities could be used to annihilate a planet's population.

The voice that answered me wasn't that of the system, but rather that of the knowledge domain.

”Hmm... That's an interesting perspective! I suspect it's mostly because of the three domains and one subdomain in the quadrangle were ones with an active interest in life. The nature domain isn't especially interested in life, and what interests it has aren't hostile to life. That is not the case with the domains and subdomain in the quadrangle.” The domain remarked.

I considered that perspective for a moment, before realizing something strange. ”Are you telling me the subdomain of agriculture is hostile to life?” I asked, finding the thought a bit much to wrap my mind around. I heard a chuckle, right before a new voice spoke.