I grinned as I read over the large notification that appeared to me, demanding my attention and revealing to me the massive rewards a lifetime of work, albeit a short lifetime, was deemed deserving of by the system and by the arcane domain of magic.

[Domain-Centric Alert:

The domain of magic has granted you the first tier of influence over itself. The acquisition of the first tier of influence over magic is a reward for beginning the lengthy process of gaining the sort of mastery over magic that only gods can possess. The journey to truly master magic and to become an overgod of magic is a long one and it has only ever been completed by a single deity in the past.]

At this point, I stopped reading for a second and allowed my curiosity to flourish. One god became an overgod of magic in the past? And they still vanished? What sort of event must have happened to take out someone as powerful as an overgod of magic? At some point in the near future, once this war is resolved, I need to begin to seriously research whatever happened before me. And then I continued to read the notification.

[Magic is one of the greater domains. These are domains that stand head and foot above other domains. Some other examples of greater domains include the domains of fate, time, physics, reality, and stars. Overgods of these domains would have been able to stand being opposed by numerous other deities unless one of their foes was also an overgod of a greater domain.

The first tier of influence over magic grants you a few different divine powers but the one that historically was the most useful for new gods was one that allowed them to reach out and snuff out someone else's, provided they were not gods, magical abilities for an hour. This is a power you can use twice every twelve hours.

Another power it grants, an idle one this time, is in conjunction with the mind, knowledge, and soul domains. When you use your identify power, you can now see two new things: whether or not someone is innately magical, and the school of magic that most resonates with their soul.

This idle power brings with it an active power. The power to grant people access to magic and spells without granting them a class. This gives them access to the ten most basic spells in the school. This can be done temporarily, or permanently depending on your whims. This power, like your other ones, can be done twice every twelve hours.

If you grant someone who doesn't already have it, access to the school of magic that resonates with their soul they can more naturally adapt to it and their spells are more powerful due to their inborn connection to that school of magic. This power can be greatly amplified on an individual level once you begin to gain mastery over the subdomains of the twenty magical schools.

The domain of magic is one of the domains that grants those who can exert influence over it the ability to grant classes to people. In your case you can grant someone the classes of druid and sorcerer. You lack the needed types of followers to grant someone the spell-singer class, and the magician class as well as other magic-centered classes. But that'll change. Eventually.

Mutations, be they major or minor ones, now at your disposal are all related to magic. Your minor mutations can increase the magical energy of your worshipers, increase their resistance to magic, and can confer a number of magical effects upon them as permanent buffs. A nice reward for this tier of influence over the domain of magic is the ability to mutate a creature who isn't a worshipper of yours, but only once a week.

You can now modify living creatures with magic and transform them without spells but through raw divine power into other sorts of beings. This isn't a power, it's a process. Greater domains often grant little things like this, because the quests to gain influence over them tend to be slogs that take very long times to get through.

The magic domain has five tiers of influence. Its subdomains and related domains the twenty schools of magic that exist, have ten tiers of influence before a deity becomes an overgod of theirs. The first three tiers of influence over magic have similar quests in order to ascend to the next tier of influence.

Currently, you have some relationship with three of the schools of magic; healing, mind, and necromancy. Over the course of the next few days you will be given the quests needed to advance along the tiers of influence of the other schools of magic you have some knowledge of. Congratulations.

New Magic Knowledge Gained: Abjuration

Abjuration is a school of magic that revolves around defensive spells. Abjurers are advanced mages who can create barriers and seals, whose magical knowledge grants the power to protect communities and their friends. This school of magic revolves around complex barriers, mighty wards, and army-stopping seals.

Masters of abjuration magic stop empires in their tracks, they obstruct rampaging armies, and they separate hated foes with walls of force, by creating barriers and strengthening walls.

Spells known prior to now: 5. Wall of force, basic barrier, shield, ward, resistance against the elements.

New spells granted: 105.

You can now more properly create barriers, defend your borders, and more.]

A smirk was still etched on my face after reading and willing away the lengthy notification I had just received. That was when I heard a new voice enter my mind.

[Well well well... someone reaching out to me? What a pleasant surprise.] A warm, masculine voice said to me, mere moments after I began to weave a mental connection with the artifact that I now held.

[So it worked... and that means that you're a sentient artifact aren't you?] I responded, allowing curiosity to add a certain layer of excitement to my mental voice. I visually examined the shield, curious to see if it were emitting some sort of light or another sign of activity in response to the connection I had established between it and I.

The bunker shield was a solid thing. It wasn't the hugest shield in the world but it was clearly the product of skilled hands and expert craftsmanship. It also wasn't glowing or radiating any particular energy aside from the solid aura of abjuration energy that led me to it in the first place.

[Yes I am. I'm an ancient thing, you see. Do you know a lot about magical items?] It asked, curiosity coloring its own mental voice. I grinned at the shield and responded to its question.

[I know a fair deal. I am not an ancient being you see, but I am a creature who can make copies of the memories, the knowledge, and the secrets of others, and in doing so absorb it into myself. Because of that I have plenty of knowledge that comes from other people, including about magic items.] I told the shield. It was silent for a few moments, presumably while it considered how to respond to what it just learned.

I continued my visual exploration of the shield as the silence filled the air between it and I. As I focused on the shield, something new happened. The air around the shield began to faintly glow a dim shade of red. A shade of red that grew more solid and vibrant each passing second Oh? That's neat. I thought, grinning.

I looked at the aura and focused on it for a moment. And was surprised to receive a notification.

[Alert: What you are studying is an aura of abjuration magic. Magical auras each have distinct colors that allow you to identify them.] And then I received a message from the shield.

[Your knowledge is second-hand... how do you it to be trustworthy?] The thing asked. For a second I was silent, physically and mentally, while I considered the question. It was a fair question.

[The knowledge I possess is the result of thousands of years of research and scholarly analysis. It isn't gossip, nor is it fanciful tall tales. That said, since we just met your skepticism makes sense. You are the first magic-item I've come across directly. I'd like to learn from you. But let me ask you, what would you like? I know being here for a long time, possibly thousands of years, must take a sort of toll on you.] I asked.

I heard a gentle laugh, followed immediately by an appreciative sigh. And then the thing fell silent as it began to think.

I was at the edge of the gigantic chamber, and it was still a vivid, deeply sensory experience to be even far away from so many bodies when those bodies were engaged in exhausting looking fucking. I began to saunter over to where the majority of the elves were, gathered in an impressive-looking crowd of fornicating individuals. My saunter was quickly interrupted by two nearly simultaneous events.

I felt a sudden surge of power, and my eyes ceased working for a single instant. The sudden surge of power was due to the effects of the magic domain awarding me the first tier of influence over itself, something a notification I received confirmed. And when my eyes began working again I could see faint auras clinging to some of the dark elves who busied themselves pleasuring each other.

How odd... I thought, before chalking it up to the activities of another "me", and sent a message to the duo of other me's running around to confirm what I suspected was the case. I was greeted by silence as I continued my casual stroll towards the crowd of sexually active dark-elves, unnoticed by any of them due to their intense focus on each other.

They are... attentive lovers if nothing else. I thought, idly. I hoped that the intense focus the numerous elves had on their sex was due to a desire to be generous and not for a more selfish reason. Their moans provided an almost musical backdrop as I walked towards the part of the chamber where most of them were massed together in a more crowded clump of bodies.

The first dark elves to notice me were a couple who were having a go at each other, standing up. They were outside of the gigantic pile of hedonistic elves and stood alone. Coincidentally their position made them look as if they were sentries to tasked with guarding against intruders who may try to disrupt the pleasure their peers were having.

One of them was a man, who was totally naked, and the other was a woman who was nearly nude. The only covering she had on were stockings that covered her feet and went up to her ankles. They had very similar skin-tones, and their bodies were more purplish than black.

They were facing my direction so it wasn't surprising that they noticed me. I smiled politely at them, not caring to interrupt their fucking. The woman was bent over, her hands on the floor and her face flushed with pleasure. The man had placed his hands on her rear and even though he had focused on me after noticing me he was still vigorously plowing her, his hips grinding into her rhythmically.

They immediately focused on me, and in doing so caused me to focus good-naturedly on them as well. I stopped my stroll so that I could be seen as more polite and so we could size each other up.

The man's gaze was sharp, even as he thrust into the woman he was on top of, he kept an impressively neutral expression on his face. I studied him, knowing that he wasn't Rinor, but still impressed by his ability to focus in this strange place with its fixation on pleasure. His eyes locked with mine and I made the choice to be still, calm, and exhibit only minute reactions to him and his partner.

After a few seconds he must have deemed me uninteresting, or recognized that I was uninterested in him and his partner because he turned his gaze on her naked back and focused on fully savoring the curves of her body.

In fairness to her, she had a slender back that ended with wide hips and the sort of ass that sexual beings would enjoy playing with, as evidenced by her partner's decision to focus on her. I could understand him, even if I wasn't a sexual being myself.

The woman wasn't lost in a daze either. Even though she quietly moaned and her body rocked back and forth by the force of her current partner's member, she also studied me. Her gaze was focused on my muscles, studying them and no doubt curious about how they'd feel on top of her. After a few seconds of the elf examining me in a focused manner, she lost interest and closed her eyes to more intensely enjoy her current partner.

I chuckled and continued on my way.

The entire chamber served as a sort of cheap temple to lust. The walls themselves were made of white marble, filling the chamber with an unusual amount of light for the elves, as if they were aroused by the idea that anything with sight should be able to see them.

The light walls contrasted sharply with the dark skin tones of the dark elves, who were the majority of the chamber's inhabitants. Because of this someone's vision was automatically drawn to the dozens of dark elves, with their dusky skin tones seemingly rejecting the pale light of the chamber.

The odd scent of the chamber also grew more intense the closer one got to the senseless pile of lust-crazed and drugged elves. It was a thick stench, the smell of drugs, sweat, and all sorts of bodily fluids, mixing together in ways that made the scent difficult to pin down descriptively.

I knew the closer I got to the smell, the more it'd linger in my memories. This scent isn't unpleasant... it's more that it's... unlike anything I've ever smelled. I thought to myself.

And that was when I reached the edge of the massive pile of dark elves.

The center of the chamber was a place where dozens of elves were lazily enjoying themselves and each other.

Some of the elves were partnerless and were quietly panting as they ran their hands over or into their own naked bodies. Others had partners and busied themselves with them. Some had chosen to take on several partners and arranged themselves into different, complex shapes where the edges were made up of rutting elves who panted, shouted or whispered obscenities.

This pile of bodies was several layers thick, though the bottom layer wasn't made of semiconscious elves who enjoyed being sat on or smothered, but rather of thick cushions designed to provide a comfortable place to sleep. That said, elven energy wasn't unlimited and so some elves were unconscious. They were left alone, their forms disregarded by their peers.

The elves here were covered in smelly and colorful liquids, some of which was sweat, some of which was oil, and most of which were other liquids which had a number of uses that in many cultures wouldn't include being plastered on someone's face, their backs, stomachs, and other body parts.

I spent a moment tracking down the dark elf I came here in search of. My enhanced tremorsense made it a breeze to find the specific individual I was intent on finding. I had spent nothing more than a second actually unsure of his location. And after identifying him I immediately turned my gaze onto him.

In the heartbeat I spent waiting for the tremorsense power to inform me of Rinor's location I was noticed by some of the elves. They studied me, as best as they could, but their analyses must have accurately told them I didn't care to stop their pleasure because none of them cared to look at me for any longer than a few seconds since I demonstrated no interest in ceasing their orgy.

The head of one of the organic cults to devote itself to an unusual vision of my power and glory was seated at the center of this pile of distracting bodies. He wasn't alone either. Two dark elves, one male and one female were next to him, completely helpless to his will.

Their heads were in a difficult spot for me to see because the pair of dark elves laid down and their dexterous tongues were wrapped around his member, orally wrestling with each other to better pleasure the man they were entertaining.

I couldn't see them, but I could sense the lazy pleasure Rinor felt while the two elves under his sway competed with each other. His gaze wasn't straight ahead, instead, it was on the head of the male dark elf, on whom his eyes fell somewhat lovingly. He gently ran a finger through that elf's alabaster white hair.

I walked up to the very edge of the pile and spoke.

"Rinor, I am Althos." I informed the elf, hoping to be heard over the pleasured sounds of the gathered cult. My declaration to Rinor served the additional purpose of also informing the dark elves he had managed to sway into his cult that the god they worshipped was here. I was loud, intending to be heard over the wet noises and various thumping sounds I could hear in this part of the chamber.

It took Rinor a second to react to my declaration. And when he first did, it wasn't by speaking to me or getting his servants off of his penis so that he could greet me. It was with a glance.

His gaze turned from the dark elf whose hair he stroked to me. And at first, his gaze was more curious than anything else. Until he recognized me.

When he first recognized me his eyes opened wide as if he were having a delayed reaction to the news that the god he worshipped was suddenly in front of him. He was quiet, but his body wasn't. He began to shake slightly, and I could hear the blood flow to both his member and his face as he beheld me.

"You... I know you." He stammered, a shocked look suddenly appearing on his face. I smirked at him, confidence surging into my cheeks and my eyes.

"Well... I don't 'know' you, but I recognize you." He told me, shock and excitement sneaking into his voice. I nodded at him.

"You saw me once. Near the marketplace. I was with Qu'Ren." I told him, aware of the first time he had ever seen me. I could hear his heart hammering in his chest and it made my smirk grow wider.

"And now I'm here. In front of you." I said simply, feeling a moment of godly pride. I began to walk towards him, stepping into the area claimed by the elves. Some of them had turned their attention away from temporary pleasures, to behold the form I had chosen to use to approach them, and I could tell that my presence was having a sobering effect on them.

Each step I took into the pile and towards Rinor caused more and more of them to gaze at me. And the more of them that looked at me the more of them at least temporarily lost interest in their momentary and often all too fleeting physical delights.

This is a nice feeling. I thought to myself as sensations of awe and worship began to radiate out of them and seep into my form.

It only took me a quarter of a minute to reach Rinor and stand over him, gazing down at him with what I hoped would be interpreted as a neutral expression. Both of the elves who had busied themselves pleasuring him stopped and gazed upwards at me, their eyes unfocused but clearly awed as they took in the eerie radiance of my dark elven form.

"It's nice to meet you Rinor. I came here to speak to you." I revealed, an ever-widening smirk plastered on my face as he sat, speechless before me.