The sounds that had drifted through the forest came to a definite and noticeable stop when the orb angel asked a critically important question to the godling. It had just asked the young deity if it was ready to learn what it meant to be a deity. And both the angel and the godling could sense the unnatural, and in its own way, deafening silence around them. The forest itself seemed to want to hear what the godling would say next.

The godling thought for a few moments. It wasn't a very long time but in the eerie silence of the forest, it felt like hours passed before the godling made its next move.

The godling edged closer to the orb angel and nodded.

"I'm ready."

Its voice was quiet, but it was also confident. The godling had spoken precisely 5 words in its short life, two simple sentences that over the course of their lives most mortals uttered at some point or another. And yet both of the sentences it had spoken to the orb angel easily counted among the most exciting sentences the orb angel had ever heard in its life, a life that was counted in the eons.

The orb angel did its approximation of a nod: it slowly but noticeably rose in the air and then lowered itself back to its original height, floating at a height that was just a bit shorter than the godling's height.

After it did this oddly cute gesture it spent a moment thinking and the silence that fills the air was still odd but not nearly as eerie as the previous silence.

It broke the silence of its own accord soon after. It had an important question to ask the godling.

"Well, then I'm ready to teach you. But first: do... you want to stay in this forest? There's a town... a few dozen kilometers away... If it's you and I, I believe we... can reach it in a few... hours if we leave now."

The godling didn't hesitate this time. Its voice carried a certain level of happiness and eagerness as it spoke to the orb angel.

"Let's go to this town you know of! Talk to me along the way."

The orb angel heard this response and began to emit a noise of excitement, a soft whirring sound that was surprisingly pleasant to hear.

"Of course! I'll take you... there right away. You... set the pace, tell me if you want... us to go faster or slower. I think it would be wise... to focus on traveling until... we arrive at our destination"

After saying this the orb angel took the lead and began to float in the direction of the town it had mentioned. The godling followed behind it, curious about its own nature and about the town the angel was taking it to.

Neither of them spoke again until after they left the forest. The godling happily followed behind the orb angel and was more than happy to focus on traveling, as the orb angel had advised until it had completed its escape from the shaded woods and eagerly burst into the grasslands beyond the forest. All in all, it took about 2 and a half hours of hiking before the two beings came across the exit out of the forest. When they saw the light of the area outside of the forest the godling jumped with joy and then dashed towards the exit. It didn't stop until it was completely out of the forest.

It only came to a complete stop when it wasn't underneath the shade of the trees. Before it laid a vast expanse of tranquil looking grass, with flowers sparsely popping out of the ground every few dozen meters and a few small trees dotting the landscape. Anyone with senses as precise as those of the godling or to a lesser extent as precise as the orb angel could see for kilometers in all directions in the grasslands, or at least all directions aside from behind the odd pair, due to the presence of the forest and the relative density of trees blocking their vision.

The godling took this time to try and call up its mental map. The map had changed the moment the godling entered the grasslands, and the young deity wanted to see what differences there were between the map of the forest and its current map.

It took the map a moment to update, but when it did it showed that any creatures nearby were underground. The godling looked to the sky for a second but didn't see any birds. It also noted that the orb angel wasn't on the map, despite being well-within the distance to be detected by it if the creature had been on the ground. So though the map was still useful for preventing ambushes, for now, its functional usage was limited to learning where families of rabbits had their dens and where any subterranean worms were hiding from birds.

The godling sighed in annoyance.

The angel watched the godling as the deity silently fiddled with its mental map, though it wasn’t sure what the odd newborn was doing at a glance, for a moment before turning away from the god. It was when it turned that the angel noticed the flowers ahead of both of them, waiting just a few meters away from the entrance to the forest that the two had just used as an exit.

Seeing the flowers put the orb in an even better mood than it had been before. It reacted to the sight of the flowers by making odd and quiet noises of delight and floated towards them while the godling was still messing with its mental map.

In its exuberance and shock at leaving the forest behind them, as well as its desire to learn about its first godly power, the godling hadn't paid much attention to the angel when the angel performed its first scan of a local flower. The godling wouldn't miss the next few times the angel scanned local flora.

Within a few minutes of the two finishing their journey out of the forest the godling had started paying attention to the angel again. The orb was in a fantastic mood now that they had left the forest and the godling quickly noticed that the orb seemed to enjoy the sight of the flowers even more than it did which was an impressive feat, because even the deity hadn't expressed its delight at the sight of the flowers the strange plants amused the young god greatly. The grasslands had many different types of flowers and the godling's sight gave it a greater appreciation for their diversity than many humans or monsters would have had unless they were looking for specific flowers with the knowledge to identify what they needed or were alchemists searching for wild ingredients.

Whenever the angel stopped and hovered over a flower the godling would notice it, aside from the very first time it had done that. It was an odd sight.

From time to time during their hike, the angel would stop while hovering right on top of the flower and emit an odd noise. The godling wondered if it were somehow using that sound to record the flower, or else somehow identify it. The godling didn't feel like questioning the angel over this since they had just met, but its rough guess about the angel's actions was actually correct. The orb was identifying the flower through the usage of a skill it possessed that enabled it to record basic information about the flower including some of its potential usages in potions.

The two of them walked through the grasslands and as they did so they were exposed to the sun's rays directly. This was normal for the orb angel who floated high enough in the sky that it was used to the sun ray's but what was new to the creature was how warm it was on the surface. Since it sailed through the air kilometers in the sky it was normally exposed to intensely cold air and the sun's rays did little to warm it up. Even in the relative chill of the autumn day, it was still considerably warmer down on the surface than in the air above the clouds so the angel needed a bit of time to adjust to the heat of the grasslands. The grasslands were warmer than the forest where they had the canopy of local trees that was greatly useful for mitigating how hot they'd get, especially the angel.

On the other hand, the godling was getting used to this. The warmth of the sun on the skin of the godling was incredibly pleasant. It was perhaps the most pleasant sensation the godling had ever felt, in all of its few hour-long life. It could definitely get used to sitting around in the sun and simply absorbing its rays.

Sooner or later the godling would think to question the orb angel it was traveling with about the sun, but not right now. Not when it was content to soak up the rays the sun above them graciously emitted. Its questions could wait for when their hike was over.

The grassland was a gigantic region consisting of rolling grassy hills, vast expanses of fairly flat and obviously grassy land. In the far off distance, the godling could spot or hear other living creatures. There were herds of wild animals softly grazing on the grass at their feet throughout the region, and the godling could hear birdsong in the skies above it. It hadn't looked at the sky yet, but when it did it knew that it'd see birds soaring through the air.

The grasslands smelled odd. The creature's enhanced senses picked up more than just the normally delightful scent of grass. It could smell faint traces of long-devoured carrion, as well as the residual scent of animal droppings from many meters away. It could even smell the iron-like scent of blood, though it had no way to know what these scents were, due to its youthful ignorance. The mixture of smells surrounding the two beings created an odd cocktail for its senses, one that would have left lesser creatures dizzy.

The grass was soft and pleasant to feel underneath the feet of the godling. It enjoyed the sensation of crushing the flowers underneath its feet and delighted when it felt those same flowers rising up underneath its feet when it moved off of them and resuming their original positions. It was its ignorance of nature that kept the godling from questioning this clearly odd and unnatural development since flowers, though they were flexible, shouldn't be able to bounce all the way back from something like that.

The orb noticed that it had stopped and turned to observe its behavior. At that point, the godling had already memorized and enjoyed the beautiful sight in front of it and was now doing something else but it was something that was only slightly different. The godling was now admiring the sky above it. It was, after all, the first time it had ever seen the clear blue sky. There was a lovely grin on its face as it memorized the sight above it, a cloudless and infinite expanse of blue sky and in the incredibly vast distance, a glorious and bright sun. It took it a few moments to do that, and then its gaze once again turned to the sight before it, but this time it focused its gaze on the orb angel.

"Now that we're out of the forest and we have a new location before us why don't you start to teach me a bit of what it means to be a god?"

Its voice was filled with curiosity and its gaze had a new sort of childlike innocence and an intense longing for knowledge that gave it hints of both childlike wonder and a respectable hunger for knowledge. The orb angel watched it for a few moments while wondering where it should begin.

Before it responded to the young deity it began to move again. The godling had wondered if it was being ignored, just for a moment since right when it wondered this was when the orb spoke its response.

"Gods are... beings of power and creation. Though each god has... different powers and can... create different things, they also have different... levels of... power, they are united in... essentially being made of power and who create... things. You have yet... to meet them but there are... many beings that aren't gods, or angels. Creatures... unlike us. One type of them... humans... live in... the town we're heading towards."

This response from the orb angel was something for the godling to chew on. Then it added something more to its explanation.

"Gods, and other immensely powerful beings... vanished a long time ago. A very... long time ago. You are the only... god we've found since the gods and creatures comparable to gods... vanished."

The orb angel's mechanical voice lacked the functionality for emotion, but the godling was sure that it recognized a twinge of sadness in its voice anyway. Its words clearly carried a certain weight and the godling would reflect on them for over 45 minutes.

The godling also noticed that while the new information was useful, it didn't actually tell the godling what it meant to be a god. Knowing that it had the potential to have great power and to create things was neat, but it still didn't know how to create things or access any sort of power aside from its odd mental radar. The young deity hoped it would learn how to use this great power other deities apparently had soon.

After nearly an hour of hiking had passed, with the godling occasionally instructing the angel to speed up as the only times it broke the silence, the godling wondered if all regions were like this. At this point, the deity and the godling had known each other for a few hours, and though the two seemed to mesh well with each other walking in silence would eventually grow boring. This was doubly true when you spent time hiking over terrain that didn't seem to change all that much.

Both the parts of the forest that it stuck to and the areas of the grasslands it wandered over were areas that didn't seem to change all that much., though part of the problem laid in the fact that the godling could see much farther than humans or elves could. This meant that it adjusted to a lot more at once and saw changes in scenery much more quickly than others could and thus spent longer with each part of its trek mentally laid out before it than humanoids did. It was a bit boring.

So the godling decided to meaningfully break the silence that had followed the angel's last declaration.

"So orb angel... what do you plan to do? I mean if you're being honest and are correct,"

The second sentence the godling spoke caused the orb angel to spin in a circle wildly. The godling could tell its remark accidentally struck a nerve and spoke up faster so as to stop the small creature from cutting it off.

"then that means that my being here, my very existence even, is an event of deep significance. You're here now, teaching me and guiding me to where other lifeforms live, but what happens after that?"

The godling didn't stop until it had finished its statement and asked its question. In the time that took, the angel calmed down a bit but the godling could sense slight annoyance radiating off of it. It was most likely formulating a response even as the godling asked it the question.

The godling, after thinking about it for a few moments, decided it wouldn't be bad to add something to its past statement. Hopefully, something that would soothe over any hurt or unpleasant feelings the angel might have had as a result of the godlings statement.

"And if it makes you feel any better, I do believe you. I'm not accusing you of lying. I'm merely saying that there is a chance you could be wrong about what you believe I am."

The godling waited for a few moments to determine what the angel thought of its addition. Judging from the way that it didn't seem to react, at least physically, the godling assumed that the addition to and clarification of its original statement didn't hurt the angel's feelings at least. That wasn't bad, even if it wasn't good.

And then the orb angel spoke. This time the angel's response had very few interruptions. It was worlds apart from when the angel had spoken to the godling the very first time, perhaps a few hours ago.

"Well... for now, at least, I need to teach you. Sooner or later I'm gonna have to return to the other angels and alert them to your existence, but I don't want ...to do that before I ensure that you have basic knowledge about this world and about the significance of your existence..."

The creature paused for a moment and considered what to say next. The godling wasn't sure how he could tell, but he knew that the creature didn't really anticipate being questioned as to its plans. The existence of the godling was significant, not only to the godling but also to the angel.

The godling watched as the orb took a few moments to order its thoughts in a way that would make sense for the godling. Though the deity had no idea that this was what the angel was doing.

"I'm no great sage among the angels, not by any means or any stretched definition, but I know a lot that will be useful for teaching a young god. You're... a god, and that means that angels should be serving you. So far none of us are, not even me just yet, but as you grow in power and radiance I believe... I believe that other angels will find you. And many... could join you. Angels serve... the gods."

The godling nodded at the angel's response. It was silent for a few moments, growing increasingly fond of the silences between when the two of them spoke due to their relaxed nature and reflection of its own inner calmness. Then the diety broke that silence.

"Would you like to serve me?"

Its voice was gentle and curious, honestly unsure of what it meant to be served by angels. It was also deeply confused by the very idea of servitude.

"Maybe one day. Angels are servants... of the gods. It's... what we do. We gain strength... by serving the gods and aiding... them. Even though you're... just a godling I have... already been growing steadily while being in your presence."

Upon hearing this the godling realized that it was true. The orb angel's ability to speak had improved over the incredibly short time they've spent together and though the godling wasn't sure how it knew this it felt fairly certain that the creature had grown smarter as well.

After thinking about this for a few moments the godling urged the orb angel to move even faster. It sensed that they were approaching their destination.

Within the hour the odd duo was about to reach the crest of one of the grassy hills that were common throughout the grasslands when the orb angel spoke. This was the first time that it spoke up and initiated a conversation since it had first met the godling so when it heard it speaking up the godling was ready to hear what it had to say.

"Godling, I need you to listen to me."

This time its voice was different even in comparison to when it spoke last. It felt stronger, more vibrant and almost capable of expressing emotion. It was indifferent in tone as of right now, but the godling could sense that the voice was changing from within the orb angel and not just growing in complexity of thought, but in some odd, and difficult to pin-down, organic way.

"Once we reach the top of this hill we're gonna be visible from the town below it. You'll be able to hear humans, one of the species out there that's not like you even if you look like them. You might be an immature godling, but you're infinitely more powerful than even the strongest humans in all of history."

The godling listened to the angel. The small creature had yet to explain why that mattered, but it was clear that it did. The godling was naive and ignorant to a lot but it wasn't stupid. It was perfectly capable of understanding urgency and knew that whatever the angel said next would be of great importance. It patiently waited while the floating being gathered, and then structured its thoughts.

"You need to be careful displaying your strength. Humans... are slower and weaker than you, by a gigantic amount. And though you are ignorant of their ways, they are also dumber than you overall. Until you... gain a true familiarity with this kingdom and a general familiarity with humans they'll view you as naive at best and dumb at worst."

"That's... fine. It's annoying, but it can ultimately help you while you adjust... to this new setting. It's also worth telling you this right now: you can speak... in and understand all languages due to you being... a god, but mortals and even other... types of beings can't always do that. If someone is speaking in a different language, I intend... to let you know because it'll sound more or... less the same to you. If you respond... they'll hear you speaking in their language. That's shocking to a lot of people, because... mortals don't always assume that you can... speak their language."

When it finished that statement, the angel paused again. It needed a second to figure out how to proceed with this next train of thought.

"I'm going to use a skill I have to join with you. When I do I'll be... entering you. It won't hurt or anything so don't worry about that. You and I will be able to communicate telepathically, with our minds, and when you next have a moment of privacy I'll be able to teach you how to call me out of you... and back into the world.

”Humans don't remember much about the angels and if they see me... they'd think that I was something else. Maybe a construct. It's... just easier for you to enter the town by yourself. I'll help you if any guards ask you anything. Telepathically."

When the angel finished its last sentence it waited for the godling to respond. The godling looked at the angel and then nodded its consent before speaking.

"Well... I am going to trust you. Whenever you're ready go ahead and do what you need to do and we'll proceed from there."

The angel proceeded to do just that. The orb began to spin, increasing in speed with each complete rotation and then instantly vanishing.

What happened next was easily the most shocking thing the godling had ever experienced. Not that it had much competition yet, but it was still very strange. The godling heard a voice from inside of its head!

[Hey! Can you hear me?]

"Yes, I can. It's weird though... can you hear me?"

The godling was curious about how this so-called telepathic communication worked. Its question might have been asked out loud, but to the godling itself, it made perfect sense for the creature inside of it to not be able to hear it if it asked a question audibly. The problem was that it didn't know how telepathic communication worked, beyond that it could receive messages from other people. That didn't mean it knew how to send those messages out, and the creature didn't assume it possessed the ability to communicate telepathically, even though it hoped it could learn how to do that.

[Though it's understandable for you to do so, there's no actual reason for you to speak out loud when you respond to me. If you give me permission to do so, I can read your mind, or even receive specific messages you construct for me. I recommend doing that so you don't look... odd to the residents of the town we're about to head towards. Humans generally don't take well to talking to oneself.]

The angel responded instantly and the godling's mind began to realize that the creature's difficulties with speech weren't mental. It's possible the creature's problems were somehow physical.

The godling refocused after wondering if it could somehow find a way to fix the being that wanted to teach it things, and then tried to will its thoughts to the angel.

[Hello? Can you hear me?]

The godling's mental question was heard loud and clear by the angel and the creature did the mental equivalent of a squeal of delight. The sound was somewhat annoying to the godling and very loud to the creature since the sound felt like it came from inside of the deity's head.

The deity itself didn't point this out but now the creature could hear emotions in the mental "voice" of the angel, and it was excited to be able to reliably perceive what the strange creature was feeling.

The angel's response to the deity came seconds after its delighted squeal.

[Yes I can! Let's practice this a bit and then travel to the town. Remember: it'll be visible just beyond that hill.]

And then the two began to practice their new and stealthy form of communication. They'd practice for a full half an hour before the godling felt ready to continue its journey.

Just over the hill, they'd be able to see a town. The first town the godling would ever lay eyes on.