169 A Whole New World

The instant after I was teleported out of the solar system of my birth and into another world, Htrae, I found myself staring at the inside of a barn larger than any other barns I had ever seen. It was a bright thing, even in the darkness of my surroundings, and my perfect vision allowed me to effortlessly see the bright red paint on the planks that made up the walls that surrounded me.

I was the only living thing in the surprisingly spacious space that I had been teleported into. That said, the barn wasn't empty. I was surrounded by large bits of technology I had only seen indirectly through my sensory powers. They were called "tractors". The hefty machines were intended to be used to haul large equipment from one part of a farm to another.

I was quietly comforted by the sight of something I understood as my introduction to Htrae. I silently approached one of the looming machines and when I took a single step forward, a familiar power activated.

The instant I took my first step on Htrae I was instantly attuned to the volcanoes throughout the world. I felt an awareness of them surge dramatically into my mind and I grinned warmly as I gained power over them. There were hundreds on the surface of the world and many more within this world's oceans. This awareness was pleasant to me, and I was happy that this power so immediately took hold. A second later I refocused and finished approaching the tractor.

I approached the tractor and gently placed a single hand on it. When I did, one of my powers titled "Historic touch" activated automatically, and my mind was filled with glimpses of the person who owned the machine, as well as the machine's most recent usages, the most recent of which happened earlier today. Unsurprisingly he was a human man and a farmer. Surprisingly he was quite old and had a stern look on his face whenever he was riding the tractor.

The machinery was both hard and cold, and I wasn't fond of how it felt against my hand but I didn't mind it enough to let go of it. Not immediately anyway.

I was in a whole new world and in this world I was almost completely alone. Somewhere in this world was one of the very first non-Torian people whose dreams I ever infiltrated, Andrea Handsfall. She was a native of this world, a Htreaian human. For a moment she filled my thoughts, after all, she was the one person on this entire planet that I actually knew.

But honestly, even with that caveat, I wasn't exactly flying blind. I had my domain-sense and the information it gave me was something I was constantly aware of, and I had my own innately powerful senses. They informed me of everything going on for kilometers around me.

I wordlessly conjured one of my phantom copies and watched as the thing walked towards one of the barn walls that surrounded me and then incorporeally phased past the obstacle. At this point I couldn't see it anymore but I felt when the copy of me took off into the sky and began to fly towards this world's sun. I wasn't worried about being detected by any life forms. There were none near me that weren't plants or animals, and I knew that this world was an unmagical one. I wasn't at risk of an unplanned discovery here.

I turned my full attention back towards the barn itself and I began to look around me. I was looking for something. A moment after I turned my full mind towards the barn I found it: a way out. I could have phased through the walls as my phantom did, but I preferred to either teleport places or to actually walk around and behave as a mortal might. I turned towards the door, it was behind one of the larger tractors and began to walk towards it.

It was an imposing, sliding thing made of red-painted wood and when I reached it I recognized that it was probably heavy and tough to open for solitary mortals, especially humans. That said I easily put my hands on it and forcefully slid it open, thanks in part to my infinite strength. As the thing was beginning to open I used my powers over sounds to silence what would probably have been a considerable amount of noise if I hadn't reacted in time.

On the other side of the door was a recently tilled and fairly sizable field of attended soil, being bathed in moonlight. The soil was healthy and plenty of seeds had already been planted. I walked out of the barn and onto the area right in front of the field.

The area I found myself in was quite clearly a farm of some sort. It was a pleasant sight and for a moment I relaxed as I visually studied the area around me. I had always liked farms and farmers and so this was a nice introduction to Htrae. I fully suspected that the intervention of the system was at least partially responsible for this and I didn't mind that at all. After the world-shaping drama I was involved in it was nice to be reminded of my earliest days, just over five weeks ago.

As I stood out in the field I felt my skin be bathed in lunar light. My phantom copy was already closing in on this world's sun and even it was taking its sweet time. Right now everything managed to be both simple and more complex than anything in my life had ever been. I had an enemy that I wanted to take down, but right now all that laid in front of me was a world to conquer in that way that only gods could conquer. I allowed my skin to take in more lunar light, grateful for the powers granted to me by the domain of stars, before turning my full attention to the field in front of me.

I studied the soil for a moment before raising a single hand towards it and beginning to use my powers over agriculture to speed the growth of these crops.

I watched as roughly half of the seeds in the field abruptly reached the next stage of their lifecycles, and a grin crossed my face. I kept the power limited to a mere half of this several acre-large field, but I knew that I could easily use this power on all of their crops at once if I had wanted too. I felt the life-force present within the field increase in vitality and presence, and for a moment I swore I saw the soil in which the seeds had been planted begin to sparkle lightly, even if for just a moment.

After I performed this small and miraculous act I turned my feet towards the ground. I scanned the dirt at my feet and I instantly noticed a set of footprints in the dirt beneath me. I studied them and followed them with my eyes, noting that they went off in the direction of the one house I could sense in a nearly six-kilometer radius around me. The house wasn't empty either, when I focused on it I could hear heartbeats inside of it, some of which belonged to humans and others of which belonged to animals.

"Well... I suppose I might as well walk in that direction." I muttered, a soft smirk on my face as I began to make decisions about what to do.

I began to walk towards the distant house, the closest other building in this area. I did so silently while activating a few of my love powers. As I did I began to examine myself, curious to see if my form had changed at all after gaining one of my more impressive, newly gained powers: "Absolute beauty".

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As the god ventured forth towards the house of the Htreaian farmer and his family, he visually examined himself. He could do this as a god, due to his perfected senses. And what he saw astounded him, not enough to stop him from walking, but definitely enough to leave him speechless for a few moments.

The god had always been innately mildly attractive in the sense that just about all gods were. Gods exuded potent charisma, even if they tried to take on the most homely appearance possible. Even Althos' first human form, one of his least attractive humanoid guises, was considered fairly attractive by most people who laid eyes on it for reasons beyond their ability to articulate. But now... Now his form was something else entirely. In a whole other dimension.

Althos' current human form was that of a lightly sun-kissed human male with visibly muscular arms, light blue eyes, a perfect smile, and flawless black hair. His hair was naturally coifed and managed to both look and be soft to the touch. There was innate confidence to this form, and a quiet simplicity about it that added to its raw attractiveness since it didn't feel like it was trying too hard.

He had a noticeable and flawless jawline, high cheekbones, and an evenly proportioned and symmetrical face, like one chiseled from stone to honor some ancient god. One of his art-based abilities granted him new outfits whenever he wanted as well, and another one granted him an encyclopedic knowledge of fashion that transcended planets, species, and even universes.

He was wearing what he now knew were called jeans, light blue denim pants, and a simple black t-shirt. He had on what would absolutely be considered a casual outfit, but somehow he felt comfortable in the fashion and didn't mind it at all.

His muscles lightly pushed against his clothing, defining them in a noticeable yet not eye-grabbing way. He wouldn't need his fashion to be eye-grabbing for him to captivate people. His powers would do that for him.

He wasn't attempting to stand out, but with his powers, he wouldn't need to attempt to be noticed to absolutely mesmerizing. There was something innately artistic and classically handsome about him that he knew would make it hard for people to look away from him.

To gaze upon him was to gaze upon something that subconsciously tugged at one's heartstrings in the way that many found gazing upon an elaborate, artfully made, marble statue, or even watching a sunrise, pulled at the heartstrings. He exuded a sort of classical ruggedness now. And that was if he didn't feel like rending minds or stealing sanity with the true power of his eerie beauty. If he felt like truly unleashing his powers, supernatural potency filled the air that surrounded him with considerable arcane energies and impossible to resist subliminal messaging that seeped into even the strongest minds.

One of the strangest effects of his new powers was that he exuded an air of serenity. He could sense this when he began to look upon himself for the first time, and he had yet to see how this affected the world around him, but he sensed a strange new aura surrounding him that encircled him in a serene, nearly invisible mist. He was unsure of what it would do when exposed to lifeforms that weren't plants, but a part of him was curious to watch whatever it did happen.

After gawking at himself for a moment he took a second to read through his newly acquired artistic powers. The more he read the more fascinated he became, enough so that by the time he finished reading through them he was close enough to the house that had any of its inhabitants been awake and at a window they would have spotted him.

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[Art subdomain details:

The art subdomain governs things like music, fashion, painting, sculpting, theater, literature, and other art forms. This is a surprisingly powerful subdomain that gives those who influence it powers over all manners of expressions and a plethora of unique abilities. It becomes far more powerful when you have gained powers over other domains and subdomains, especially domains like emotion, life, and both souls and spirits.  

The art subdomain is in many ways a relational subdomain that impacts mortals and shapes how gods are worshiped. Because of this the process by which more power is gained over this subdomain isn't just building cults that worship you as a god of the arts, but to gain more power over art you must inspire creatures to create artwork depicting you and your actions.

Art subdomain passive powers:

Artwork animation and imprisonment: You can animate some forms of art, such as statues and paintings bringing them to life. You can also trap souls in artwork if you claim them from bodies or steal them from the living.

Artwork analysis: This synergistic power allows you to obtain a considerable amount of information from simply gazing at a piece of art. Among other things you can learn the name of the creator, the impact the artwork has had on the cultures and peoples who've seen it and other information that is artwork-type dependent such as the lines of a play or the words of another piece of literature or the materials used in the making of a statue. This power also grants you masterful knowledge of fashion.

Artwork creation: You can create some types of art immediately merely by willing them into existence. Examples of the types of art you can create at will, at the moment, includes statues, sculptures, and paintings. As you gain more diverse powers you may gain the ability to create more types of art at will.

Aura of beauty: You can generate an aura that increases or decreases the physical beauty of those who come around you depending on both your mood and your feelings towards the people being changed.

Aura of colors: You can surround yourself in a colorful aura that disorients people who attempt to see you, while also charming non-hostile people.

Aura of serenity: As a god of patience, peace, art, and love you can exude an aura that prevents mortals from engaging in hostile actions while around you. This aura is absolute, so long as it is only affecting mortals and even dragons cannot resist it. This can also be a permanent change, thanks to the fact that you have powers over peace, which means this aura can be used to end wars or lifelong conflicts, at will. It replaces feelings of hate with a desire for friendship and alters the minds of those it affects.

Those in your aura are incapable of being hostile, even in their hearts, towards you, and this portion of the power affects extraplanars as well.

Beauty manipulation: You can manipulate something's or someone's beauty. Beauty in this instance is described as physical attractiveness if related to people or aesthetic appeal if related to an object. You can make someone or something more or less beautiful. If used on a person you can make them beautiful or handsome, and if used on a garden or house it can make it tidy and aesthetically pleasing.

Bookworm: You can infuse others with an encyclopedic knowledge of a book you know the contents of. This gives them total recall of the contents of the book, even if they've never read it.

Clothing creation: You can create any type of clothing at will. You can also create the clothing around yourself or around others that will supernaturally fit anyone you allow them too, maintaining their exact appearance and never wrinkling.

Clothing manipulation: You can manipulate clothing in virtually any way you can imagine, with some examples being that you could make even the softest clothing as impenetrable as the toughest armor or impervious to schools of magic you can influence at will, or even making the clothing impossible to put on or take off easily. You can also destroy clothing at will.

Color manipulation: This synergistic power takes from the domain of light and the art subdomain. With it you gain the power to destroy, generate, and manipulate color. This power can allow you to transform the appearance of things, cause people to go blind, and can even permanently alter the way the world looks. This power is absolute if used on non-living things, but can be resisted by living things or even constructs if their creator was powerful enough.

Muse: You gain a muse's powers, the ability to both inspire creativity and take it away. The inspiration given this way allows for those it affects to be more artistically successful and also to love their art more wholly. However they use this inspiration is up to you, but if you wish you use this creatively to create potent cults of artists who inspire others to turn towards you.

Music mastery: One of the first artforms you have gained power over is music. With this power, you have become a level one spellsinger, and you gain the power to both create musical instruments and utilize them as only a god can. You can use music to heal, destroy, alter minds, and even change personalities and souls.

With this power, you can utilize holy, healing, destructive, demonic, corruptive, pure, and even insanity-inducing music as well as a number of other forms of music that affect the living in a number of ways.

Symbol manipulation: You can manipulate and even create symbols. These symbols can be used in a number of ways with one of the most infamous examples of this power being an outer god who loved theater not only creating a play that turned those who performed, witnessed, or even read it insane, but also creating a sanity-draining symbol that converted those who looked at it into his servants.

You can also use this power to create and manipulate glyphs and sigils, and therefore create a number of supernatural and magical effects such as creating traps that explode when someone walks by them, or areas of healing that can be manually triggered by someone walking over them.

Thought manifestation: Synergistic power between the domain of the mind, and the art subdomain. With this power you can clearly and keenly physically manifest your thoughts.

Art subdomain active powers:

Imprisonment: This law-based synergistic power allows you to trap up to five creatures in a book for up to a week. During that time they are either trapped within the letters or stuck in the story in-progress until they are freed by you or at the end of the week-long period.

Lexiconicy: You can use powers over art, creation, and life, to transform artistic depictions of something into real objects once every two days. With this power, you can draw a sword on a piece of paper and then manifest that exact sword into reality. Or you can come across a mention of a cellphone in a book, and after reading that book bring that cellphone into reality. This power is not yet strong enough to bring a fictional character from a story into reality.

Art subdomain blessing and curse details:

By blessing someone with the art subdomain you grant them improved artistic talent and creativity. By cursing them with it, you do the opposite of that.]

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I eventually reached the house, after admiring the new powers at my disposal and I walked right up to the front door. I allowed my senses to wash over it and in getting closer to it I gained a finer understanding of its interior design and the people who lived in it. The elderly farmer who used the tractor I had touched before, and his daughter and son lived in this house.

I studied the new information at my disposal for a second before smiling and knocking on the door. I used my powers over sound to manipulate the noise so that only the farmer could hear it and then I kept on knocking until I heard him get up from his bed and begin to approach the door. At first his footfalls were distant, as the house was a two-story building, but when they began to close in on me I stopped knocking on the door and activated a number of my newer abilities.

By the time the elderly man reached the door he was already being affected by a number of my powers. I needed information and I wasn't intending to hurt the man so I didn't feel bad about using my powers on him. It was at precisely the same moment when the elderly farmer opened the door and laid his eyes upon me for the first time that I received a massive update to my sensory powers. My phantom had just reached this solar system's sun, after sailing towards it quite leisurely.