113 Apotheosis (1/2)
Deep within the last god an impossible transformation was occurring. One that was permanently changing the god. Elevating him.
He began to radiate an unusual aura. One of all four elements. Fire, water, air, and the very stones that made up his island, began to surround him and wrap him in a protective cocoon.
”This feels... Strange.” The god himself muttered. The god felt new powers come into being deep within him. He felt them mix and mingle with his existing powers. And then his physical transformation began to intensify.
Within the unusual and unnecessary cocoon, the god's form changed further. One of his eyes transformed from a regular eye, as ”regular” as any god's eye could be anyway, into an orb of flames. His other eye transformed into a sphere of water.
A transparent wing grew out of his left shoulder. The wing was formed from the wind and air that surrounded him and attached itself to him. Some of the very stones at his feet, stones he had created using his own power, freed themselves from his gravitational control and affixed themselves to his arm, creating an artificial hand made of rocks.
”What is this...” He muttered, shocked at the depth of the new powers he felt surging up within. And at the power he was radiating outward, immense energy that flaked off of his skin and was sent in every direction.
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Althos lived in a world on the edge. When he had first come to life, the tutorial and his caution kept the world ignorant of his existence. But certain actions of his had hinted of his existence to a handful of organizations.
His first wide-scale miracle had informed a handful of governments and other, smaller factions of his existence. The emperor and empress of the Ansari empire knew of him. The king of the dwarven kingdom of Atlantis and his daughter knew of him. But aside from them, only a few governments were capable of even speculating about the source of the radiant energy that exploded out from the Rodan forest.
Other factions were also speculating about the source of the explosion of healing energy that transformed the Rodan forest for days. But of them, none dared to send agents to scout the scene for fear that something might happen to their agents. After all, the Rodan forest was a remote section of the wilderness of a harsh island, known to be the last known location of an ancient black dragon. Only specially trained agents dared to visit that part of the world.
But the middle of an ocean did not inspire that same fear. The energy that Althos radiated as he began an impossible apotheosis served as a tempting beacon to the factions of the world. Greedy kings, an emperor, and even the entirety of a band of dragons sensed the power coming from seemingly the middle of nowhere.
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”This power... feels good.” I muttered as I began to slowly get used to the new powers welling up within me. I could feel them stirring near where my heart would be if I were a human. And they made me strong. Or at least they made me feel strong. I hadn't received a notification alerting me to the powers I possessed just yet.
”I feel... invincible.” I whispered as I moved for the first time since I began to feel the new powers well up within me. I moved my stone-covered arm. I moved it into view so I could study it.
The stones that were attached to my arm were chunky ones. They clung to me like they were grafted to my skin, which was strange. They felt weightless and moved with my arm, both of which were stranger than if they had just been heavyweights stuck to my arm that made it harder to move.
After studying them for a moment, I came to a profound realization. The powers I possessed and would come to possess, were truly amazing. I had spent enough time among mortals to know how weak they were. To see their fragility and their dependence on things. But I wasn't like that.
Even now, in my relative infancy, I was powerful. I was powerful beyond anything they could compare me to. And that was a heavy realization. But it was also one that felt... freeing. With power like mine, I could handle any concerns of theirs easily. I could blow most obstacles without batting an eyelash.
The powers that were stirring within me did away with the fear that I felt before. Being an elemental overlord, and a god, made me feel... powerful beyond measure. And being freed from that fear made it easier for me to rationalize being bold for one of the first times in my life.
Mortality? I could make them immortal. Hunger? I could feed them. Thirst? I could create water as easily as they could breathe. Homelessness? I could construct houses out of stones or metals.
”All it takes is for them to believe in me.” I told myself, a smile on my face as I decided to do something truly and undeniably divine. I closed my eyes and allowed my not-so-minimap to spring into view. When it did I greeted it like an old friend. And proceeded to target every living creature in the world.
I knew what I was doing. I knew who all I was targeting. And I knew how to announce to the world that I was a god, and that I was a creature with powers beyond what their wildest dreams. I would do it in a way that was consistent with my character. By healing.
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In the moments before Althos activated his ”Healing burst” power, only the most sensitive beings felt the strangeness of being targeted by the god.
A handful of creatures, less than ten in total, felt a gentle hand on their shoulders. Unbeknownst to them they were feeling the power of the odd god who was in the process of becoming something more than any other god had been. They were feeling his protective touch, and the warm desire he had for all beings to live free.
The youngest of them was less than three years old. The oldest of them was well over ten thousand years old. Both were mortals, just very different mortals. Incidentally, both the youngest and the oldest of the creatures were asleep. Black dragons tended to sleep for long periods of time.
The god was well aware of the fact that in targeting every creature in the world he'd be targeting the sleeping dragon. He hadn't anticipated that it'd be so sensitive that it detected his divine touch, but even if he had known that he wouldn't have altered his actions. He was accepting his powers, and the strength they conferred, and that meant behaving with pride. Behaving with belief in oneself.
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I chuckled as I activated my power, the legendary ”Healing burst” ability I had used in the past. I felt an incredible amount of divine energy, an amount I never imagined I possessed, leave me all at once. But it didn't make me feel drained. Instead, I felt... exhilarated by it. And the world around me lit up.
I was gazing at things through a hazy aura of dust, fire, water, and flying stones, but the transformation of the world was clear nonetheless. The second I activated my power all I could see began to glow a beautiful silvery glow.
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Althos was standing on a floating island in the middle of the ocean. But he was actually in a part of the world compared to where Puerto Rico was that was hours into the day rather than someplace where the morning was just beginning. Where he was it was roughly 1 P.M.
In Puerto Rico, it was about 9 o'clock in the morning. And in Reconquista was it was 4 in the afternoon. In some parts of the world it was the middle of the night. But no matter where in the world one was, Althos' powers detected and healed them. And also made them emit a faint, or in some cases a not-so-faint silvery glow.
A world-wide miracle had never occurred in the history of this universe. The old gods had followed too many divine rules for it to ever be possible for any group of gods to target an entire world at once. Althos was a god of change and chaos, and the last god in the multiverse. He followed no such rules. And that was what made that moment possible.
All at once, every single disease that plagued every single creature living in Torus was cured. Every wound that caused lingering aches and pains was healed. Every amputated or severed limb was regrown.
In most cases this took less than a single second to occur. In other cases, such as when a limb was being regrown it took slightly longer, but even the worst conditions were healed in less than five seconds.
People all over the world stopped and gasped in awe as they felt the effects of the god's actions impact their bodies. The blind were given vision. The deaf could hear. Limbs were regrown, and incurable diseases were healed.
Entire cities fell silent for a moment as shock and awe were felt by their residents. And then came the tears, the shouts, the gasps, of a world freed from the scourge of disease, a world momentarily freed from pain and from the helplessness of a single terminal diagnosis.
Mothers and fathers with sick children were overcome with emotion as they laid their eyes on their healthy, silvery children. Soldiers in medical tents who had given up hope saw their wounds healing before their very eyes.
Friends of the blind broke down when their blind friends spontaneously regained the ability to see. Those who had been left paralyzed cheered when they took their first steps, thanks to the healing they had received.
Every single person who had been healed had a few minutes of amazed delight where they just reacted to the healing they had been given. But eventually, every single person in the world began to wonder how they could be healed. They wondered who or what possessed the power to heal them.
They didn't have to wonder long. Minutes after the god healed them, he transmitted a notification to them that answered their question.