I whistled as I felt my body change lightly with this invigoration of energies that it hungrily sucked up like… well a singularity. I looked down and while I still had to bring my fingers to my skin to figure out were it actually started it looked wondrous to me. Looking like a hole in reality made the distinction of the start of my skin a bit hard to notice without scrutiny.

It was sort of like the ghostly outline of a heavily toned and chiselled androgynous humanoid form was overlaid to contain the starscape of my domains skies. Though the black hole stayed in the centre of my chest, I did note that overtime the different half's of the sky above became more prominent.

It was fascinating, like a universe going through the phases of vibrant life to chocking death and back in a slow cycle. Was this what it meant to be a [Child of the stars]? With that in mind I pulled out the notifications that had been put aside until now before ending with a look at my status.

[Evolution selected and initiating. Evolution rewards +1 Bio point, +1 Racial Trait point, +1 General Trait point. Continue to evolve and accrue power young Godling!]

[Children of the stars are not bound to the confines of gravity as mortals are. Their ability to move as they wish through physical reality grows with age and strength turning from a slow hovering to the full free movements of true free form flight.]

[Stat increases per level +1 to all statistics every racial level with an initial increase of +2 to all statistics after evolution has finished.]

[The environment you evolved in was oversaturated in energies foreign yet connected to your own aspects. This has caused a mutation to occur as you were bathed in [Soul-fire] and [Quintessence] earning you associated skills related to the two phenomenon as they align with your inherent divine domains.

You have gained the following two skills.

[Soul-fire manipulation: Basic lvl. 1] a spark of the primordial fire of souls. This fire doesn’t burn the body but the soul instead, granting the igniter the choice to simply kill or fully destroy a soul. Damning it to true oblivion never to join the cycle again. Other uses might come forth through mastery.

[Quintessence manipulation: Basic lvl. 1] you’ve taken in the quintessence of a universe taking the form of mystical Aether and Eldritch infused lightning that now courses through the very fibre of your being. You must tame the storm or be swept away.]

[Your trait [Profane soul] has unlocked with your evolution! In return for the loss of the skill [Invocation] as the price to regain your locked away memories as well as unlocking your trait of [Esoteric Knowledge] giving you access to the information your previous memories had accrued outside personal memories as well as the knowledge accessible by the governing system of Imerith.

Consolidate thyself young godling as you evolve!]

[Quest Completed!]

[Quest: Getting Started results.]

You’ve completed this quest without using the core earning yourself the special condition completion reward and have thus unlocked the special class [Domain Lord] as a result.

[Quest: Meeting the mortals results.]

You prevented the loss of a blessedly fated individual chosen by the gods of the universe you visited earning yourself their gratitude and tolerance of your future visits. When entering the Archway leading to this world you will get a choice of which of the two gates bequeathed to you to use and you will be aware of what is in the vicinity of these gates while you make your choice.

Going beyond the simple aim of the quest you’ve earned the additional reward of 2 racial levels. The total you’ve gained for this is +2 to all stats, +22 free stat points and 4 skill points.

[You’ve been granted the special class of [Domain Lord] earning yourself the following two skills to begin your journey with to build your Domain.

[Domain Traversal: Basic lvl. 1] Unfettered in your own realms you can move instantaneously between the areas of your domain you’ve designated should you desire. Appearing at the entrance to each area.

[Domain Confluence: Basic lvl. 1] When outside your domain you can impose it upon reality in a meter radius around yourself, granting you increased access to the natural passive regeneration your domain naturally confers to you. Allowing you to draw more heavily upon the energies at the cost of mental fatigue.

To grow as a [Domain Lord] you must grow your domain. Earn your crown domain monarch!]

Name: Kainaat Mors Alta’farud

Titles: [The Dweller from the Void]

Minor titles: [Father Death] [Mother Life]

Physique: 26

Agility: 26

Wisdom: 26

Toughness: 26

Reflexes: 26

Willpower: 26

Resilience: 26

Perception: 26

Presence: 26

Free Points in reserve: 46

Race

[Child of the Stars lvl. 0>2 / 10]

Classes (¼)

[Domain Lord: lvl. 1]

Professions (7/7) (Currently locked)

[Alchemy (b) lvl. 0] [Blacksmithing (b) lvl. 0] [Necromancer (b) Lvl. 0] [Druid (b) Lvl. 0] [Smith (b) Lvl. 0] [Shadow Adept (b) Lvl. 0] [Tailoring (b) Lvl. 0]

Skills: Skill points in reserve: 18

Racial Skills (3/5)

[Manifest Physiology: Basic lvl. 2 (The Seed)] [Eldritch energy Manipulation: Basic lvl. 1] [Eldritch Brain: Apprentice lvl. 1]

General Skills (04/05)

[Soul-fire manipulation: Basic lvl. 1] [Quintessence manipulation: Basic lvl. 1] [Void Fire: Apprentice lvl. 1] [Mental Fortitude: Basic lvl. 1]

Class Skills (1/4)

[Domain Lord] Skills (2/5)

[Domain Traversal: Basic lvl. 1] [Domain Confluence: Basic lvl. 1]

Profession Skills (0/0)

Traits:

Racial Traits (1/3) (+1 RTP)

[Alien mind]

General Traits (3/6) (+1 GTP)

[Threshold of The Caliginous Sanctum] [Profane Soul] [Esoteric Knowledge]

Energy Mastery

Aether

Chi

Eldritch

Mana

Mastery Rank

Basic rank 9

Basic rank 9

Basic rank 9

Basic rank 9

Internal Stage

N/A

Core (b) – 0

Heart (b) – 6

Pool (b) - 6

I stared wide eyed at my status and smiled wide. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with the stat and trait points so I saved them for later. [Esoteric Knowledge] Granted me knowledge of my skills and I quickly spent ten skill points to bring [Eldritch Brain] up one rank.

[Eldritch Brain] has reached the Apprentice rank! Choose one of the following traits to add to the skills functionality.

Telepathy: Your mind expands to the point of allowing a mental bridge to form between you and others. This allows you to speak to those you wish instead of screaming your thoughts out into the world to be picked up by anyone with the mental ability to hear you.

Telekinesis (Minor): The expansion of your mind allows you to interact with the physical world with your mind. The strength of your mind is equivalent to the abilities you’d be physically able to do with a stat score of 2.

Eldritch intuition: Your otherworldly nature allows you insights others might miss or never even comprehend.

Sleep Walker: When mortals sleep you can visit. The ability to walk the dreams of mortals is an ancient and hitherto thought lost ability upon the face of Imerith.

Intellect devourer: Your mind is ever hungry and by forcing your mind into that of others will allow you to devour the minds of others.

Soul seer: The ability to see into the very souls of others is a rare and nuanced ability.

Aura fabrication: The aura and presence of an eldritch entity is distinct and unmistakable. Weaving your mind into your own aura will allow you to manipulate and even copy the auras of others.

(Current trait from basic rank.

Grasper of Tongues: Understand the languages of others by the universal language of mental meaning your expanded mind naturally picks up.)

As much as I wanted a lot of these traits added to the skill I regretfully had to pick telepathy as a trait. My mind splitting apart and rearranging itself at the choice and rapid growth of the skill. I had to pick it after all my voice wasn’t conducive to conversation and having an alternative would be useful.

If I didn’t want my conversation partner to start bleeding or just going plain insane that was. Though man did I want the telekinesis, intuition, soul seer and aura traits. I decided to take telekinesis next as I was rather certain it would come in handy and in more ways than I might originally suspect.

[Esoteric Knowledge] told me that I’d get only five more choices for traits, each at a rank up, so I had to choose my next traits with great care. With that on my mind I raised my hand and watched the blue electricity of [Quintessence] run along my forearm and between my fingers, my eyes focusing on the ring in my finger.

If the trait points would bring such pain I was a bit hesitant to open that Pandora's box just yet. Though I knew I would have to eventually, for now I'd focus on what I already had and master that. Such as my expanded mind for example.

My expanded mind now acted like a secondary, but powerful, perception field in a sphere centred on my head with a radius of about three to four meters around me. I'd figured out its range was dictated by an interplay between the perception and presence stats. Though I hadn't tried to push it out so for now it was like a muscle at rest with its current range. It made it easy to snake my mind into the internal storage of the ring alongside my mana to unlock it and I marvelled at the ring’s sheer storage capacity.

A connection formed with the ring and my notifications combing to give me its contents as a notification tablet. I mentally grinned wide at the list of all the goodies Sas’seshkaneth had managed to squirrel away over the course of a millennia for me to use to rise with.

“New game plus eat your fucking heart out.” I chuckled in a long happy breath as I scanned the notification tablet into my vision.

Ring contents

Lodestone Totem – Reaching into the realm between all other realms to draw forth the energies of its master for use within the domain, be that to funnel into cores, items, creatures or to simply permeate the realm with a denser quality of the energies already present.

Spirit crystal (x5) – Used to summon forth a spirit or entity to be your familiar and companion allowing it to grow in strength alongside you.

Divine Crystal (x2)– A component needed to create a divine instrument and is vital in creating the symbolic item or weapon of a deity.

Divine Domain core – Strengthening the control and awareness of a lord's domain as well as allows for the building of a divine abode, the incorporation of other structures along other functions needed for a domain to function. Such as summoning and creating ones own creatures and manipulation of the Domain's terrain.

Dungeon Core – The stable and beginning of every dungeon on Imerith. Where they usually form in nexuses of energy there are some who are made and left to hurtle towards Imerith from the sky by fickle deities at times of boredom or strife. This one already has a governing spirit and is designated as a Godling testing ground.

Workshop Core - Any craftsman would sell their souls for a core such as this. A growing workshop capable of accommodating as many rooms as its master has crafts professions and more. Capable of automating simple mundane and menial tasks, such as smelting ingots ect.

Mage tower core – Able to grow into becoming anything a master of magic and the like needs.

Cluster core – Often thought of as a natural disaster that happens when oversaturation and combining of multiple dungeon cores combine with a dimensional instability. This item is only able to be used when a divine domain core is used to suppress the inherent chaos of the cluster. This manifests as a hub with ever shifting and expanding dungeons of different types.

Construct Gems (x3) - These core like gems are unstable yet versatile receptacles of raw energies. These are most famously used to bring about true sentient, growing and evolving constructs to life. Though due to their inherent rarity testing the limits of these gems hasn't been a feasible venture.

Black chain (???) – Unknown use and material.

Ever-changing Vestment – Clothing that conforms and resizes to the user while changing to appear as the user wishes.

Librarians satchel – Bag of holding designed for scrolls, tomes, grimoires and other books and is already full of general info on magic of all types alongside starting out in most things.

Material bag – Designed for containing most common to rare materials professions require. Holds most raw resources not required to be kept alive and can contain and cultivate soil to a point.

Instruments bag – Designed for containing most instruments and tools for most crafting professions. Comes already filled with the most common tools of most professions.

Bag of Sustainability – A bag designed to keep perishable items and flora in perfect condition in stasis and keeping meat and similar perishables as well. (Empty)

Belt of holding – A must for every alchemist, crafter or practical adventurer. Creates pouches, hoops, sheaths, hilts and holders for anything placed against it for long enough. (Many small pouches and a bag of holding incorporated into a belt a s standard with an option of incorporating other spacial bags.)

I whistled at what I was seeing. The first I did was take out the Ever-changing Vestments and to my surprise they appeared like a bathrobe. “Huh…?” I muttered before putting the robe on all the while I imagining the more tasteful clothing I'd expected. The bathrobe wrapped around me and then changed.

It became a black lounge suit with dress shoes covering me and with a slight mental flex after I figured it out. I had the suits jacket disappear keeping the vest underneath. The sleeves of the white shirt under the vest I had roll up to my elbows and undid the top buttons of the shirt. I had no use for a tie or ascot so there was no need for that.

I also liked the small peek it cave of the singularity in the middle of my chest at certain angels. It looked perfectly tailored to my body and I felt its ability to slowly self repair and self protection ingrained in the fabric. It would be an energy hog to do so though.

“Lookin sharp.” I chuckled as I looked myself over before going back to the ring’s contents. I pulled out the Divine Domain core and felt the thing reach for me. Almost as if in desperate need.

[Would you wish to claim and integrate the Divine Domain core with your domain? Y/N]

With a nod of ascent the core flew from my hand into the centre of the snakes of the fountain connecting to each statue with lightning bolts. The arching lightning changing from gold to blue to green to purple to purest white and the deepest black spiralling through the bolts. It left the whole thing appearing kind of kaleidoscopic as pulses of multicoloured electricity expanded outwards until I saw it reach the very horizon of my domain.

With each pulse I felt the instinctual resonance with my domain grow stronger and stronger, more defined and directed than ever before. Then the spherical core exploded sending me hurtling out and skipping a bit before sinking into the grey waters of my domain as a lightning bolt as thick as my torso struck me alongside the shock wave of the cores explosion.

By the time I’d gotten my sopping wet self back onto the dais I was panting heavily as the new sensations of actually being able to feel my domain overwhelmed me. I realized it had always been there, buried somewhere in my subconscious but this had now drawn it to the front. I turned and watched the waters before raising a hand in an instinctual subconscious action.

The waters roiled and bubbled before a new dais rose up out of the grey waters and I stared. “….fuck.” I exhaled in amazement. There was more that happened though as slowly a building began to rise as if from sludge from the growing dais. While it looked about the size of a normal house the style made me raise an eyebrow.

Architecturally it looked like some mad savant's fever dream of Norse, Persian and ancient Korean styles that blended strangely well together. Two statues of anthropomorphised Mingshe stood guarding the door leading into the house.

Wings expanded and arms crossed while they stared in an imperious and baleful manner. Judges of all who'd dare step the threshold they guarded. The snake making up the Mingshe's main body definitely reminding me of the African bush viper.

Then I finally noticed how large the dais the house was on and how far it was away from the central dais I now stood at. Then my gaze adjusted and I saw it was pushing itself backwards slowly until I was rather certain there was a full kilometre separating the two daises. I turned my gaze towards the fountain and noted that the shattered core had been incorporated into the eyes of all seven statues.

Sucking my teeth, which was weird to do without a mouth, I made my way to the fountain. My grown and growing awareness of the domain telling me that the house was empty of anything. I’d have to find or make my own furniture it seemed.

I reached out with my mind to the incorporated core and found I could continue to grow my house into what I wanted it to be. I only needed to grow myself to allow for more nuanced and grander things to manifest according to my will. Such as a dimensional interior allowing the house to seem much smaller than in actuality.

Frankly it reminded me a little of the dungeon core stories I’d read in that it functioned similarly when it came to the limits it was capable of right off the bat. I’d spent almost all available power in the core to create the massive dais and house. Even if it looked much too small given the available surface of the dais.

With a hum I decided to four more items out of the ring before putting it out of my mind for now. The Belt of holding easily wrapped around my waist with a trio of small poaches connected and the strange Black chain that had been easily something belonging wrapped up around Krato’s forearm shrank to take the shape of a pocket watch chain I could place on the vest of the Ever-changing raiment's. The fantastic clothing incorporating both somehow in its design.

The other two items were the Spirit crystal and the Lodestone Totem. When I held the Loadstone Totem up while I held onto the crystal in the other hand I noted the small obelisk appearing like an Egyptian Tekhenu or obelisk to the layman.

A force ripped it from my hand and I saw it turn to dust in the same spot the domain core had come to but instead of exploding I felt a tugging sensation on my very being.

Thankfully the Titan’s memories told me what to do in the situation and I raised my free hand towards the writhing sphere of dust. I let [Void Fire], [Soul-fire], [Quintessence] and all the energies I’d learned to manipulate to flood the centre of the fountain. I half drained myself of all energy, stumbling from the exertion as I watched the combined energies fill the centre and then the sand flowing into the mouths of the fountain Mingshe. Drain into the open mouths of the statues and forming into fangs on those that were missing them.

The obsidian marble statues changing as the veins in the marble shone their silver and gold colours somehow gaining a greater definition and shine as the marble of the snakes itself changed.

Slowly the stone rippled like each individually carved scale on the snakes was flipping over to expose a black deep purple crystalline material with the shiny look of true obsidian yet still holding the veined look of the marble. The air immediately began to thrum as it become infused in a noticeable thickening of the natural energies of the domain.

Though only at first before I realized it would be slow going at first due to how trained the domain was already. I already felt the domain core suck up the energies but I knew it would take time before I could raise another dais for the cores that required to be placed on them. Such as the dungeon, workshop and mage tower cores.

Tossing the Spirit crystal into the air and catching it again I focused on it and it’s uses in my mind. Thankfully again the memories of the titan came in handy for its use even a bit of the druids memories helped fill some of the titans blanks in.

With a claw tipped finger I had to dig into another finger to get my grey blood to drip down onto the crystal before the wound closed. Once that was done I began to channel what I had left in me and what little I’d managed to recover and drag from the air around me. Feeding them into the greedy crystal until I felt woozy from the loss of energies.

The crystal began to hover off of my hand and into the air as it went through the same swirl of colours before slamming down onto the dais. I only stumbled back from the force this time raising my hands up instinctively to protect my torso and face in case another bolt took me.

“...Yip?” I started at the sound and after slowly lowering my hands I couldn’t help but just stare at what had been summoned.

A panting canid pup with talon like paws slightly too large for its body. The texture of its fur appearing to be thin black scale shaped patterns ran down its body coming to the three tails wagging behind it. It’s three-way mouth slightly open as the long forked tongue lolled out between the slit of its lower jaw. All the while its six slightly too large red reptilian eyes stared up at me with that look I’d seen so much from the puppies of earth.

“A puppy?” I muttered slowly, that made the strange little canid yip happily at me as it tried to clumsily make its way towards me. I couldn’t help it and leaned down to pick it up and started laughing giddily as it eagerly shared its love and affection in the same manner as it seemed all puppies did.

I laughed as I hugged the puppy to my chest, my other senses ran over the loving creature and I couldn’t help but remember Garm and his pack. Though they'd been a bit more reserved yet no less affectionate when allowed to be. I almost named the puppy Garm right then and there in a bout of loss. Instead I raised it up to see its gender before hugging it once more to prevent it from licking at my bald head.

It was a girl I noted, or at least I thought it was, and once I’d hugged the little thing once more I saw it point those puppy eyes at me and I couldn’t help but chuckle as I petted her. “What am I going to call you girl?” I telepathically spoke to her as I wondered what she actually was.

Eagerly the puppy buried itself into my neck and slathered me with even more licks making me continue to chuckle at the tickling sensation. Then I realized just how strong the little thing was, easily as strong as a grown man already. I wondered how strong and what she might be able to do when the notification finally showed up, as if reluctant to appear at all.

I narrowed my eyes at the tablet hovering in my vision and focused [Esoteric knowledge] on the name of the species to try and understand what exactly I had gotten my hands on.

[You’ve summoned your first familiar. A Tartan hound! To bind the hound to you name it.]

[A Tartan hound is a rare creature thought to originate on the border between the infernal realms, Tartarus and the plains beyond. Many debate if the hounds are eldritch, shade or infernal in nature but all agree that only beings beyond mortal ken can bind to these ferocious beasts. Enjoying the unshaking loyalty they show to those that they bind to.

More often than not their abilities to slip in and out of reality through shadows, reflections and smoke has made these the stable hunting hounds of otherworldly entities.]

I held the puppy up so we were eye to eye and I felt like I was smiling once I’d read through it all. “Hmm Hades essentially named Cerberus Spot so what about I do something a little similar. What is the greek word for Lassie again…” I thought at the puppy now curiously staring at me while she panted, her opening lower jaw slowly separating and connecting in the same rhythm she panted.

“Kori, how does that sound?” I said aloud and by the happy yip she let out seemed she liked it.

[A bond has been made, your Tartan hound Kori is now your bonded familiar, gaining the ability to travel to your side or to Ktep at will. Depending on how you raise your familiar more abilities might manifest.]

I laughed as I put her down and watched her skip about in joyful curiosity at her new home. I sat down on the fountain wall and watched her. Partitioning half my mind to search through the air and figuring out how long it might take for the domain to recover from the rather heavy expenditure of energies I’d but it through.

Already I could tell it would take a while and considering the light gurgle I could hear from Kori’s stomach I figured I’d have to go through an archway to get her something to eat. “What does a Tartan hound eat…” I wondered aloud before Kori was at my feet and padding her talon like paws at my knees.

“Hungry girl?” I chuckled and at the eager yip she let out I could easily confer she was eager for some food. Reaching my mind to hers I found she seemed rather eager for some meat. I’d have to abduct some livestock to breed then, I wanted my domain to be self-sufficient before I touched the domain core’s ability to create sentient creatures. I didn’t want a damn rebellion over something as plain as food after all.

It didn’t stop me from pulling up the list of creatures I could summon or create and unsurprising there was seven of them. Some I understood what they were at just seeing the name but others I hummed, Kori managing to scramble up and lay in my lap as I petted her. She really enjoyed getting the back of her Doberman like ears scratched so I gave her all the attention she wanted while I decided on what to do. She seemed to enjoy when I started whistling In the Hall of the Mountain King absent-mindedly.

[Aspects allow for the following sentient beings to be the first created within the domain.]

Aspect of Life: Woodkin / Lizardfolk / Gnolls

Aspect of Death: Corvids / Muroid (Ratfolk) / Stygian

Other: Efertti

[Life aspected races]

Woodkin: The people of the forests as much flora as they are fauna, oft called the fey of nature due to the myriad forms they might come in and the several subspecies that belong to this race. This race has never been seen before on the face of Imerith.

Lizardfolk: The Reptilian people of wetlands, swamps, jungles and deserts. Mysterious and insular defending the ancient places of Imerith fiercely.

Gnolls: Often thought as scourges and monsters often found in forests, savannahs and sometimes the mountains. Tribal in nature and carnivorous rare is the race capable of interacting with them as equals given their might makes right society.

[Death aspected races]

Corvids: Most often known as Ravenfolk given their appearance of a Raven made into a man. Thought to have been the children of the original god of death they are now exceedingly rare, hunted by most kingdoms of Imerith’s surface.

Muroid: Thought to be a sibling from the same parent as the Corvids the Muroid people take on the appearance of rats unlike their avian counterparts. Highly social and industrious they keep themselves from extinction by taking up residence in hidden places or those considered too foul to live in by others, using the reputation of their homes as a cover.

Stygian: A lost race not seen for as long as living memory can perceive. A race intricately tied to souls and shadows, ethereal and mysterious very little is know of these lost shadow angels barely remembered in the most obscures of myths. This race hasn’t been seen on Imerith.

[Other/Eldritch aspected races]

Efertti: A brand new race taking aspects from their parent, [The Autarch of the twin cycles].

I frowned mentally as I read through what I could pull up, realizing I had a lot of work to do. Looking over my domain I realized it was a very lonely and barren realm, no place to become some sort of Eden city if that was what I figured the domain might become for these races.

“It looks like we have quite the amount of work ahead of us little Kori.” I chuckled down at the now yawning puppy. I scratched her neck as I turned my gaze towards the Archway dais. Perhaps I should think of it as the Dais of worlds, given I was starting to suspect each Archway lead to a different universe.

Should I go back to the one I’d just been to already or enter another archway? How did I even get those I hadn’t entered through already to work anyway?

I had to admit I was curious as to where those gates all lead to but I also knew they would be nothing more than trips in truth. Places I could gather what I needed and use as whetstones to sharpen myself until I could finally and fully enter this "true" Imerith as Sas’seshkaneth called it.

I was in the middle of these ruminations when a new quest tablet popped up though this time there was nothing on the how to complete or reward of each quest. These were more like a reminder or something.

[Lordship of Ktep]

A god doesn't rule a wasteland, neither do they rule ruins. Build your realm and populate it, provide for and teach your people and grow the strength of the Domain!

[Earning the right to a name]

Finish setting up the dungeon and beat its initial challenge to earn the title of [The Star Wright]!

[Revisiting the talent]

Take a visit to the Scion’s you met before and see if you cannot prepare the young Scion for the challenges that await him.

[Take a look through the gates]

Enter through the gates and explore what the worlds beyond can offer you.

[Filling the household]

Fill the various positions of a household alongside gathering the tools and weapons associated with your aspects. (Can be acquired even before acquiring the household system itself.)

I almost flinched when the first two archways, one leading to the world I’d been to previously and the one on its opposite, the walkway seeming to separate them from were I was watching. I stood with Kori in my arms, her curious six-eyed gaze staring at the swirling portals contained by the Archways as I made my way there.

I stood before the new Archway and reached out with my mind to it and one of the memories I’d been assaulted with before my body formed came to me. The antlered elf who’d crafted a smiths hammer in the name of one of my titles… what had the title been again?

I almost snapped my fingers when I realized it was [The Star Wright] title and my inner completionist wanted to earn the title before I entered the Archway. With that in mind, my gaze turned to the one I’d already entered and I stepped to it instead.

Kori whined a bit up at me and I looked down at her and cocked my head to the side. “What is it girl?” I asked her telepathically and to my surprise she sent back an image of her waiting at the gate before going into it in another image sent by her.

The thoughts were rich and laden with meanings, scents and senses similar to my own interwoven in ways I’d never have been even capable of attempting to interpreter were I human.

Though it boiled down to a simple request that I go first to check if it was safe, she'd somehow picked up some of the stray thoughts I’d had on my last visit as I stepped up to the gate. I sent her the mental equivalent of a kindly smile as I gently put her down and scratched her behind the ears.

“All right little one, you can be a little scaredy cat now while you are young and cute but you’ll be guarding this place when I can’t take you along when you grow up. So you have to make sure to grow up big and strong and braver than the stars are bright. Okay?” I told her and she let out a small bark, equivalent of child's brave chest puffing.

I sent her another smile and stroked the top of her head twice more before I stood up again and adjusted my clothes. I should make sure I was more presentable this time rather than in the nude. Then again given I was as smooth as a mannequin down there I didn’t really have anything to hide but as mortals would say. It was the principle of the mater.

Infant god or no I should at least work on how I’d present myself as a god from now on. I certainly didn’t want to end up with a similar reputation as Zeus, Set or Loki.

Perhaps I should always tell the truth? Death is quite honest after all, it was death, that was it, not much else too it. It wasn’t complicated enough to require lies, despite the myriad of ways it can be brought about. Bending the truth and lie by omission wasn’t off the table of course should I chose to only speak truth after all.

With sly chuckle I stepped into the gate. Tricking and manipulating mortals with the honest truth did have a devilishly fun ring of a challenge.