***Noth - Mortal World, Wilderlands***

***Sharid***

“~Travelling is a Sharid's lust. High over the mountains and deep through valleys...~”

I had the best time in my life since Master is gone, singing as I explored the world. Nobody is pestering me about my way of doing things now. No more orientation training, and especially, no more camping in the mountains if I don’t want to, though there is nothing to say against a good outing once in a while.

After Nazareth released me into the world, I decided to follow his advice and chose spell-singing as my preferred skill. The art is directly connected to spell-weaving which I was always very skilled at.

At the delicate age of sweet nineteen, I am finally wandering the world on my own, joining various groups of adventurers and selling my services as a spell-weaver. I learned quickly that a magician with a profession that lacks offensive power needs allies.

Because my spells have the nature of enchants or curses I am trying to balance my weakness with some willing meathshields- ahem… important comrades! I have to remember to call them that. I have to stop thinking of others as toys.

Especially men, although they are just too easy to manipulate.

In order to concentrate on my goal of ascending, I decided to avoid staying in any adventurer group for too long, keeping myself as far away from relationships as possible. The last thing I want right now is to settle down with a family. First, ascension, then everything else.

Sill, no matter my newly gained control over my abilities, the male members of any given party have a tendency to become too pushy over time, so it is necessary to switch out groups once in a while.

This is kind of inconvenient, but by meeting different people and helping others I am able to hone my skills much faster than when I am alone since many of my abilities rely on assisting allies.

As I sing, I regard my current comrades while keeping an eye on our surroundings. As a supporter, it is my job to keep everyone alive. The spellsong I am using increases our group’s endurance, giving us the ability to travel the woods much faster.

We joined forces back in a small village at the edge of the Dark Forest. The prospects for us higher levelled adventurers weren’t great there, but we had all been drawn in by an ongoing quest of subjugating a large goblin warren. Once the goblins decided to relocate, making money became a problem.

The five of us decided to travel through the Lothing Forest to the kingdom of Belforst, a region with many dungeons and powerful monsters that would give plenty of quests for adventurers of our skill level. Walking around the forest would take us thrice the time than simply crossing through, but that comes with its own dangers. The problem is the wild monsters and orks which haunt this place.

I hum my melody while our group passes through an area with thick underbrush which gives the shivers. Unable to see farther than a few metres would ensure that I get hopelessly lost.

Joining up with other adventurers also eliminates my biggest weakness, and that is my poor sense of direction! If there is no big road to follow, I am lost. It is as simple as that. I don't know why, but I feel fairly safe to attribute all of my shortcomings to that damned god who cursed me.

At least I am now able to stick to the roads.

In the beginning, my sense of direction was so bad that I started my journey around the region of the continent’s high north and lost the road because I camped a little further away from the path. The next morning, I couldn’t find the path anymore and started to walk through the wild nature.

When I finally found civilisation again, the kind village people who I came across told me that I was far in the south! So, since then I simply follow a few rules.

First, always follow other people, never try to go anywhere alone.

Second, always camp ‘on’ the road. Not next to it, not a few steps to the side. Camp ‘on’ the road, even if it inconveniences others.

“Sharid?”

Third, never do your business out of sight of the road. You have to see the road while… yeah.

“Sharid? Did you hear me?”

As for my current group. There is a swordsman named Ron with a two-handed longsword. Then we have Maxime who is our priestess and main healer.

“Why is she looking at the clouds? Is something hiding up there in the trees?”

Sondo is a skilled marksman with a bow, and uses daggers for close-range combat. Iris is a knight in heavy armour… I don't understand why any woman would want to engage in close combat.

“Just leave her be. Magicians get strange once they reach a certain level of proficiency.”

“I just wanted to ask whether she is tired and if we should look for a camping site. Socializing just a little with the rest of us wouldn’t do her bad.”

“I bet you just want her to socialize with you.”

But I guess everyone is different.

“You are the most cheerful person I have ever met, Sharid. Do you ever stop singing?” Iris comments on my most valuable trait. “You must have an enormous mana pool to churn out group-buffs non-stop like that.”

I decide to acknowledge at least her existence.

If I am already on a bad foot with the men I shouldn’t take it as far as to ignore the women too. “Not really! I sing whenever I can and as much as I am able to. My dream is to become the best Spell-Singer in the world!” I raise my arm to point towards the sky!

Of course, I want to become a god too, but saying that out aloud would only be misunderstood as a joke.

“I think you are already the best singer in the world, Sharid. I never heard a voice like yours. You could make unbelievable sums of money by working as an entertainer in a big town.” Ron joins the conversation.

“Oh, please. Stop the flattery! Besides, I wouldn't get to see the world that way! What's a life worth if you always stay in one place!” I correct the grip on my backpack’s strap while I avoid another root on the path.

“It wasn't-” Ron tries to say something, but Sondo interrupts him by raising an arm to signal the group to stop. “We are surrounded. There is something in the bushes ahead and to our sides behind the trees.”

“Can we turn and run?” Iris takes her shield from her back.

“I don't think that we would get away, but...” Sondo looks back, apparently weighing our chances of retreat.

The sound of an ork-horn interrupts him. With the signal, thirty armed orks jump out of the thick brushwork just twenty metres in front of us. Eight orks leave their hiding places to our left and nine to our right! That amounts to forty-seven enemies!

Oh, boy. We are hopelessly outnumbered, so I quickly drop my backpack in order to have an easier time moving around.

My comrades prove their worth as seasoned adventurers. Maxime keeps her cool and immediately casts a binding spell onto the enemies to our right, causing strands of white power to entangle them in a giant pile-up. Sondo throws a big smoke bomb at the main group which is immediately followed by a set of different grenades, utterly halting their advance for the time being. Then he draws his daggers and rushes into the smokescreen, unfazed by the disparity in numbers.

While Sondo’s grenades keep the main group in disarray, Iris and Ron make a stand against the attack from our left.

I switch to a hymn of strength and defence, assisting my comrades with their close-quarter encounters.

Four of the orks stop their advance in order to deal with our close-range fighters, while the others simply run past them to attack our rear guard.

“Sharid! Maxime!” Ron calls out to us but is unable to stop some of the enemies from getting past because of their sheer numbers.

“I can't bind them and defend myself at the same time!” Maxime has a frightened expression on her face while she channels her lightspell to shackle the group to our right.

Seeing her concentration waver, I step in front of Maxime while I continue to sing.

The first ork arrives with a raised axe and I jump a step forward, kicking him in the groin while I catch the axe which was coming down at me with both hands.

My enemy is lifted about two metres into the air while I whirl around, throwing the oversized axe at the second ork whose widened eyes were distracted as he followed his comrade’s ascend to the heavens.

The axe enters his rusty chest plate with a satisfying ‘Thud’, cleaving almost completely through his upper body.

As the third ork arrives, I dodge the first swing of his crude blade. As I dance around my opponent, I swing out an arm and land a casual back-handed slap to the face. His head bends sideways in an unhealthy angle while my movement keeps flowing unerringly, following the tune of my song and my ability as a dancer.

With a wriggle of my hips, I bodily slam into the slackening body, sending it out of the way of my performance as I grab the ork’s sword which falls into my hand as if it was always supposed to happen.

With a scream the fourth ork reaches me, wielding a mace with tremendous force.

I raise the sword, imagining it to be a conductor's baton and the ork’s weapon just another tune to my song. The rusty sword impacts the mace perfectly timed to my song, redirecting the mace to bury itself in the ground instead of splitting my head open like a melon.

A quick kick to the ork's shin snaps the bone with a crunching sound and the monster tumbles sideways to the ground as I jump slightly into the air, announcing the beginning of my best performance yet as I give in to the music and the weaving, flowing magic around me.

Before he can get up, I land on his head with both feet, resulting in a satisfying ‘snap’ under the sole of my foot.

Haaah! I like it to ~crush~ the bad guys.

Picking up the mace which is still sticking in the ground, I turn to finish off my first ~victim~. He is still on his knees, hands between his legs, as the mace comes down on his head from behind, ending the creature’s miserable existence with an explosion of blood and gore.

Having dealt with the rude disturbance, I concentrate my full attention back on singing again, fully caught in the performance of my skill. With the enhanced strength and agility, our fighters manage to deal with their enemies rather easily, finishing them off one by one as Iris and Ron get done with their group.

They quickly move on to finish off what is left, advancing on the shackled group which turns into a quick and bloody execution thanks to the shackles of light.

I turn my attention to the lifting smokescreen and realize that something bad happened on Sondo's side.

There are orks emerging out of the smoke, so I switch my aria to a song which weakens enemies, using the mace to tap the drumming rhythm of a war-song on the plated armour of the ork which I executed with a splash.

The orks fall to their knees with strained expressions on their faces, trying to shield their ears from the overwhelming noise that is only audible to them thanks to my spell.

Nonetheless, I feel myself reaching my limits.

Spellweaving is a very powerful art, but it comes with a hefty price. Spells which affect such a huge area come with generous consumption of mana. Mana is an energy which comes directly from one’s soul. It is directly connected with a person's ability to concentrate and that person’s life-force.

And I feel the last of my reserves dwindle! The last song is especially difficult because I have to suppress all enemies affected by it.

I feel my concentration wavering while I try to use every ounce of power within me, forcing myself past my limits in fear of what would happen should the entire group of orks get loose at once. A handful of them for each of us might be enough to overpower my allies. Not even I am confident enough to think that I could deal with twenty of them at once.

I have to do this! Thirty enemies at the same time are too much for us!

Pearls of sweat are forming on my forehead while I feel the last of my power disappearing. But there has to be more! I continue the song while I search within myself for anything besides my own life force.

But scraping off a bit of my own life is better than dying? Isn't it?

I continue to sing while my comrades finish the last of the shackled opponents and advance towards the spellbound main group.

My voice wavers as my life diminishes with each word. But I have to hold on as I practically will the energies around me into the desired shape.

At the point when my life is almost gone, I suddenly realize a small spark of power within myself. It is so small, I would have never felt it if I hadn't drained my reserves to that extent! Like someone dying of thirst, I grab for that small spark of power and suddenly an unbelievable force floods through my entire being and my song renews with full force, the power of it causing me to stumble!

There is so much power! More than I ever felt before. It shakes my entire being to the core. A white nothingness of pure power is all around me and I become suddenly aware of streams of pure energy penetrating all my surroundings, connecting everything together.

I never knew. I never realized that there was so much power all around me all along! That everything is connected together, with each other and the song. The power of the realization threatens to tear my mind apart, causing tears to flow down my cheeks before I am overwhelmed and everything goes dark.

The slow, swaying motion of someone carrying me wakes me up, so I open my eyes with a moan. The blinding light of the midday sun through the canopy forces me to cringe, but I am more interested in what is going on, so I ignore the pain. “Ouch! What happened?”

“Sharid? You are awake? Thank the gods! Ron, Sondo, set her down!” Maxime's voice reaches my ears.

“What happened?” I blink, realizing that I am on an improvised stretcher which is carried by the male members of our team.

The others look relieved as they set me down.

“You were out cold for a whole day. We are almost out of the forest!” Sondo looks at me with a worried expression. He has a pretty big bump on his forehead but looks fine otherwise. Did he run into a tree?

Then I remember the orks!

“Ngh! I am so sorry!” I sit up quickly and get to my knees. “You guys had to carry me all the way? What happened to the orks?”

As I get up, I notice that I feel somehow lighter than before.

“Careful! You don't have to apologize. You saved us all with that last song. To hold down that many orks. I am sorry. You even used your own life force! Are you sure you are able to stand?” Iris gives me another worried look as she checks me out, holding a steadying hand on my shoulder.

“It's okay! I feel fine enough for the circumstances. What's wrong with you guys?” I smile at them.

“Ahem... your hair...” Ron points at me with an awkward expression.

I pull my long hair into my view and notice a lock of pure white. It seems to originate from my left temple. “Hm. Does it look cool? It gives me a villain look, doesn't it? Can you finally tell me what happened?”

Iris takes the lead in explaining things. “After you started that last song, we hurried to deal with the paralysed orks. We realized that you started to burn your own life to keep them in check and worked as fast as we could.”

She takes a breath. “But when we were halfway done, you suddenly emitted this light and your whole body started glowing. You sang and sang. It was like a messenger of the gods came to the mortal realm. And then you suddenly dropped to the ground and were unconscious. Nothing we did could wake you up.

“So we looted what we could from the orks and fashioned a stretcher. Then we made a run for it in case there were other groups of the vile beasts in the vicinity. So we carried you all the way here. We definitely have to give the adventurer’s guild a note that the forest isn’t safe anymore. That raiding party was huge. If it hadn’t been for you, we would have been overwhelmed.”

“Ah. I see. Thank you for carrying me out of there, guys.” I decide to grant the two men a wink and a slight bow. “Looks like I was a burden in the end.”

“No way! Without you, we all would have been goners! When those orks broke our line of defence and you stepped in to shield Maxime we should have been dead by all rights. Then you held down the entire main group after they decided to ignore Sondo. From which spell did you get that barbarous strength!?” Ron bursts out.

“Barbarous?” I pout my lips and Iris cuffs Ron in the side. “I was just training in the mountains with my master. He didn't allow me weapons and so I had to deal with various wild beasts just by using my fists. There were snow pumas, bears and mountain gorillas. But especially problematic are the cave trolls. Those are really strong fellows! Dealing with an ork is like kicking a child compared to trolls.”

The group stares at me with astounded expressions, so I continue, trying to downplay my martial abilities. “And it's only good if a supporter can take care of himself just in case something gets past the front lines! Nobody wants to be a one-hit target.”

Iris shakes her head. “And there I thought that she is the delicate type. From tomorrow onwards I will fight a bear barehanded every day! It’s somewhat embarrassing for a knight like myself if a supporter takes out four orks that easily.”

“I will go and train alone in the mountains after this.” Ron kicks a pebble on the roadside.

“I will join you!” Maxime quickly calls out towards Ron.

I only roll my eyes, already having noticed that she has the hots for him.

“Next time, I will prepare more smoke bombs!” Sondo is the only one who decides to improve through better preparation. “If I had more of those, I could have held them in check for longer. It was only after the smoke started to lighten up that they decided to simply push past me.”

Having told our part, our group heads onwards and parts at the next city. They still thanked me quite a few times for saving them till we part on the Nawhall city’s main square.

Finally, now on my own, I start to stroll in awe through the town, but it is not the city or the people that draw my attention. I am bewitched by my new senses and especially those streams of power everywhere.

If I concentrate, I can sense them. They are running through everything, interconnecting the world on a level that should be impossible to comprehend, yet I seem to have an instinctive knowledge on what they are and what they are doing! The power runs through the earth, the air, and the sky! A gigantic and seemingly endless network! And I can feel its limitless power within myself!

Out of curiosity, I try to grab one of the smallest and weakest streams of power, one that seems to be tethered to this place or at least somewhere close to it. Then I hold onto it.

Before I know it, I'm standing on a grassy field in front of the town. How did I get here? I was inside the town a second ago!

“Feels cool to be a god, eh?” Nazareth's voice comes from next to my left knee.

I turn and grab the little gnome, hugging him tightly to my chest. “~Master!~ Did I make it!?”

“Gah! That's enough! Let me down! I will suffocate!” Nazareth wriggles out of my grasp and I drop him. Is he embarrassed about being squeezed? Oh, now I know how to deal him a blow!

“Listen! Young godling! I suggest for you to travel through the multiverse from now on and learn everything of interest,” he advises me, pointing towards the sky.

“Multiverse?” I arch my eyebrows.

“Oh. Do you see those strings of power everywhere? By grabbing one and holding onto it, you can travel to different worlds and realities. It's a unique ability of us gods. Like that huge mana pool. But be careful! You can still die if you receive a fatal wound. Be aware that by emitting your mana as an aura, you can become almost invincible...” Nazareth continues to give me a small crash course on using my godly powers. On how to shield myself and how to use the pathways.

“Invincible?” I feel like a fool to ask like that. Is it really true that nothing mortal can stand against me now?

“Yes, but don't overvalue this ability. It’s all too easy to get overconfident. Other gods can still hurt you by breaking through your aura. Be aware that your access to power might be limitless, but it won’t change that your ability to wield it is still bottlenecked by your mind. Other gods and deities may easily overpower you if you pick a fight with the wrong person. Oh, and thanks to that huge mana pool, you have an effectively limitless lifespan now. And now for the rules!” Nazareth points a finger at me. “Always remember the rules!”

“Since when have gods rules?” I ask a little baffled by this new revelation.

“There are! First. Don't fight with other gods! It always ends badly! Second! Don't play too much with mortals! If you mess with them too much, the big societies will punish you. Third! If you ever meet a newly born god, you have to give him directions,” Nazareth explains.

“Societies?” Aw! I fell back into that ‘repeat every question’ habit! It is just like back on the mountain. “Don’t you have some book or guide for these things?” Pulling every bit of information out of Nazareth’s nose is so tedious. “Something like, ‘Being a Goddess for Dummies?’ ”

“There are multiple big societies of gods. They are similar to nations. And no, I am not aware that such a book exists.” Nazareth sits down on a small rock. “The biggest factions are as follows. First the Perseides Alliance, they created their own world for gods and like to keep to their own kind. They protect the planets under their jurisdiction like bloodhounds. Don't mess with one of their toys or you will have a bad time.”

“They created their own world!?” I have to see that!

“Yeah, but access isn't free. You have to be a member of their club.” Nazareth shoots my aspirations down with flawless precision. “Then there is the Arcane Community. They have their base on an artificial moon. They are all science nerds. If you don't talk in formulas, you shouldn't waste your time with them.

“There is also the Gaian Pact. All of them are nature freaks. They want to keep the multiverse healthy or something like that. I am a god of nature myself, but they are on another level than me. I can't really associate with them. They are all around the multiverse, trying to do ‘good’. You are sure to run into one of them sooner or later.” Nazareth folds his hands.

“The Unity is also a group of oddballs with their own world. They are shutting themselves in their world and trying to live ‘normal’ lives. As far as it is possible for gods.” He huffs.

“Is there a problem?” I kneel down and look into his disturbed face.

“Well, that brings me to rule number four. It isn't really a rule, but you should follow it for your own good. Don't have children. They will be mortal and grow old and die under your eyes. Pretty depressing if you make that mistake too often,” Nazareth explains. “Although, there are ways around that; which have their own downsides. Just don’t do it if it’s avoidable.”

“Ow.” That's a disturbing thought. “Don’t worry. I’ve never thought about that… given that I have that fertility trade.” I shudder, silently thanking the heavens that I didn’t trip that particular landmine of my curse.

“Unless you join one of the big societies of course. Those with planets have a way to have children who are gods too. But like I said, you have to join the club.” Nazareth shrugs his shoulders and pauses for a moment as he gathers his thoughts.

“Where was I? Ah, the guys from the Unity keep to themselves for most of the time. Though they are always trying to find new gods to join their ranks. The Carne Empire has a planet too. It's lead by some kind of legendary harem king. Keep away from there for your own good!”

“That one was a pretty short introduction?” I accuse him, trying to get more information.

“So you want to join a harem? I didn't realize that you swing that way. You will have no problems then, he takes-”

I decide to interrupt, “Continue! What about Angrod!” He is right! I don't want to hear it! I want to know where I have to go to give him a beating!

“You should go and contact Miruliru from The Path for that one first. She told me to give you her invitation to visit her for tea. The Path is a faction of firm believers that gods should try to get as many mortal worshippers as possible. It is their opinion that gods should guide the mortals under them.” Nazareth ignores my question.

“So this world belongs to The Path?” I point at the soil to our feet. This is getting really complicated. I should pay Miruliru a visit, even if she never showed her face after she saved me from those slavers.

“This world is essentially neutral, but you could make a claim that it is under the supervision of the Chimerans, another large faction. Angrod is their godking and if you had to put them into a power ranking with the other societies, they are by far the strongest force. They also have their own planet and are a closed society. In case that a fiend outbreak occurs, they will come and interfere.

“Which brings me to to the last point. If you ever come across a crystalline sphere, blue, about a metre across, levitating in the air and spinning like crazy. Crush it immediately and with all your power. It's a gateway for soul-eating monsters. They can eat gods too and are the remnants from a long war against a great evil.” Nazarath smiles at me while my jaw drops.

“Now for directions. See that very big fat pathway in the sky? That one leads to The Crystal City. It's a place for all powers to meet and talk. If you get lost, that one always leads there. It’s visible from anywhere in the multiverse, so it's very convenient for you!” He grins at me, clearly taking a poke at my sense of direction. “But the Chimerans are in charge of Asheim, just for your information. And that other big one left on the horizon to that mountain? That one brings you directly to The Path! And you don't have to touch a pathway in order to use it. Just concentrating on it is enough.”

Nazareth folds his arms behind his back and looks at me with expectant eyes.

“Uuh. I guess it's thank you for everything then?” I smile at master.

“No problem. It's an honour to help the finest twin mountains I have ever seen.” The gnome grins at me while my expression drops.

“In the name of everything you have done for me. I will not ~execute~ you for that remark,” I point out, feeling generous today. Not to mention that the gnome can probably still kick my butt. I may be a newly ascended goddess, but I still have no clue how to wield my powers correctly.

After a last wave at my master, I turn around to take a look at this huge ~multiverse~ which is now mine to explore!