204 Education

The portal itself was a swirling circular mass a few meters tall and wide. It interrupted and distorted the temple around it, even though it floated in an empty portion of the temple. The portal was composed of both divine and arcane energies and particles composed of such energies visibly infused the water surrounding the portal, creating an area that would have been difficult for a mortal or other lesser being to look at for a long period of time.

On the other side of the portal was a tiny house that was painted a tame burgundy color. It was a quaint dwelling, perfectly suited for families of two or three people. It was a single-story building, and I had plopped my portal down right in front of its front entrance. I knew, due to my immense detection abilities, that Saoirse and her boyfriend were currently eating breakfast.

As I closed in on the portal I mentally inspected myself, specifically for the abilities I had activated. I was going to visit a worshiper of mine and I wasn't about to hide from or understate my own powers. Especially since I wanted her to serve me in a more direct capacity than she was at the moment. I wanted to make a big statement and show her the power and glory that came with serving me.

I had activated my peace aura, my absolute beauty power, and even utilized my power over pheromones to ensure that no one near me would be capable of violence. I also layered a few of my divine presence powers onto myself as well. I wanted the mortals to make the choice to come to me willingly, but I wasn't about to allow them to be violent towards me, nor was I about to allow them to be violent towards each other which was far more likely given what I was asking Saoirse to do.

I grabbed the edges of the portal and pulled myself through it silently, my eyes aglow with delight.

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With but a single forceful pull I found myself on the other side of the portal. I turned around, faced the shimmering thing, and closed it with but a glance. The portal vanished from existence, closing in on itself and making a gentle popping sound as it winked out of reality. For a moment I wondered if other gods at my level of power had as much control over portals I currently have, or if this had something to do with my powers over freedom and chaos. But I only allowed myself to be distracted for a moment, turning back towards the small house I had appeared in front of refocused and ready to go.

The closer I got to the door, a solid slab of wood with no visible peephole, the more I began to think about a number of different things. One of the biggest ones was the nature of magic itself.

"Magic grants mortals a remarkable power." I mused internally, finding its very existence peculiar given the multiverse's apparent leanings towards order and structure. Magic gave mortals a tool with which they could edit and modify reality in very unorderly ways. As I mused on this I began to hear a scattering of soft chuckles from within me, or rather within the portion of myself where domains and subdomains seemed content to dwell. It was at that moment that I heard a powerful voice speak, its words echoing and reverberating throughout my mind.

"How nice of you to finally devote some serious thought about me!" The voice said, sounding annoyed which was odd given just how powerful the voice itself was. It wouldn't have taken a genius to realize that the voice belonged to the domain of magic.

"I am the product of chaos! I am a recurse by which mortals can rise up against an unfair cosmos and challenge their destinies." The domain declared, proudly. I chuckled internally at this haughty explanation. That said, magic being the product of the domain of chaos made sense. Though I suspected that there was more to that story than there appeared to be at a glance.

"If you're the product of the chaos domain then how come there are classes that revolve around magic? The class system is a product of order." I pointed out, curious to hear it's explanation for that discrepancy. I heard it gasp and had to suppress a smile.

"Well... If you MUST know," The domain began, speaking indignantly. "I am the product of a deal that was struck between the domains of neutrality, chaos, and law. I and my children are direct products of chaos but we have restrictions imposed on us by the other two domains. The classes and the entire concept of 'schools' of magic are products of order." The concept told me, speaking passionately.

"The idea of spiritual energy being used as fuel for my power is a particularly clever product of the domain of neutrality, as a way to ensure that even abuses of my power must be done creatively." The domain confessed, revealing significant facts underpinning the nature of at least this universe, if not the entire multiverse. And then I heard a chuckle.

"You are not learning great secrets you know. This is information that gods can readily learn." The magic domain revealed, and I could hear a snarky smirk in its voice. There was an irritating smugness in its words that annoyed me. That said, in response to its smugness I had a question that might succeed in taking the smile out of its words.

"Oh? I'm not learning 'great secrets' by gaining an understanding of the fundamental structures and order underpinning the universe? Fine, in that case maybe I'll learn a 'great secret' right now. Why does my 'details' page about you say that there are twenty schools of magic but then only outline the basics of 17 of them?" I asked, questioning a discrepancy I was first exposed to when I was only two days old. And this question actually did cause the domain to exhale a sigh of annoyance.

"So... You noticed?" The domain asked, evidently caught off guard by my question. I chuckled and nodded while sending the energy of the action to the domain in the form of mental and emotional energy.

I knocked on the door while the domain readied a response to my nodding. The sound of my fit on the wood of the door resounded loudly throughout the small house in front of me. I was initially met with silence, or rather silence for mortals. I was capable of hearing the furtive whispers of the couple in the kitchen loud and clear, and the hammering of their hearts as they wondered who was paying them a visit early in the morning. While the couple wondered who was at their door, the magic domain spoke again.

"I am glad you noticed, but damn you waited a long time to try and follow up on that... Not at all becoming of a god of knowledge." The domain complained. It annoyed me but I couldn't fault the remarks as they were factually correct even if and in some ways especially since I was annoyed by them.

"The undisclosed three schools are three supreme schools of magic. They are forms of magic that are simply beyond the ken of mortals, even working in tandem. Non-mortals may be able to scratch the surface of such schools of magic but they could never master them. Higher beings on the other hand..." The domain revealed, whispering the words conspiratorially. There was an edge of excitement in its voice as if it were somehow, subtly setting things in motion beyond my ability to understand. Which... it very well might have been.

The magic domain was a potent domain that appears to have birthed several, at least somewhat, reality-bending subdomains. I didn't know how powerful it was, and I knew that at least some domains could perform interventions of their own accord. It was possible that the domain was in the middle of setting something up. Though if it were it was probably something far away. The so-called "Supreme schools of magic"... I wondered how supreme they must have been, and how far off from gaining any real knowledge of them I must have been. Any further thoughts I might have had on the matter were interrupted before they began by the intrusion of new noises. Ones coming from the human-inhabited household.

It was only at this point that I heard footsteps begin to come my way. I heard the soft footfalls of two sets of feet approaching me. Both Saoirse and her boyfriend were approaching me. I grinned as they edged ever closer to the door and then stopped. I could hear their muscles twitch and the soft sounds they made as they stretched their necks looking downwards to see if they spotted my shadow.

For a moment I considered actually ordering my shadow to withdraw from view as I possessed control over it. That said I never issue that command. Instead, I solemnly and stoically waited for the couple to open the door.

A few moments passed where all I focused on was their muttered words. They were in the middle of a heated argument.

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"Are you seriously telling me to open this door?" Brandon whispered, angrily. There was a look of frustration on his face. His brown eyes blazed with fury at the thought of doing what his girlfriend suggested he do.

Saoirse looked at him and scowled. She was not the rude type, and she had no idea who was behind the closed door.

"Yes! It's the polite thing to do." She said, sternly. Her eyes blazed with her own frustration and anger at her boyfriend's rudeness and caution. She was fearless and had always been. He wasn't. This was but one example of the frequent differences of opinions the two of them had had over the course of their years-long relationship.

The two stared at each other for a moment. Which then extended into another moment. And went on for a few more. It was exceedingly awkward, especially since the two of them were dead silent.

The moments seemed to stretch on for eternity. As they gazed angrily into each other's eyes, dozens of thoughts and memories flooded their minds. Within the confines of the house, so long as the door was closed, they were safe from Althos' powers. Or rather he allowed them to be safe from his powers. He was aware of their squabble, and on the other side of the door he was quietly amused at their expense.

The god silently waited for them to act. For one of them to break the awkward impasse they were in. And when it was Saoirse he was unsurprised. That said, internally he still applauded her courage. He sensed the slightest twitching of her muscles as she began to lunge for the door.

She moved, catlike in her speed and agility, for the door. She was smaller than her boyfriend and was able to catch him off-guard, even ducking underneath his attempt to stop her. On the other side of the door, the god who awaited them took a step back and smiled even as the young teacher managed to put her hand on the doorknob and turn it, all while pushing the door open. Althos chuckled at this and watched as the door opened.

As the door opened and Saoirse laid her eyes on Althos once again, for the fourth time since he had invaded the home of her father, she began to smile. Althos' own grin widened at the sight of hers. Brandon, Saoirse's boyfriend, scowled at the pair and his expression darkened.

"Saoirse... Who is this? Do you know him?" He asked, concern seeping into his voice. Jealousy too. And then for a moment, a look of confusion crossed his face as well. A heartbeat later a look of realization stormed across his brow. And this one continued to darken his features. The look of realization wasn't one of delight, but rather one of horror.

"This is... Him, isn't it?" He asked. There was something especially venomous about the way that the man uttered the word "him", so much so that Althos audibly chuckled.

Althos took a step forward and Brandon interposed himself between Saoirse and the god, stepping right where the once closed door had been. Althos sensed the jealousy and hatred of him that the mortal man felt deep in his soul. It was a curious mixture of emotions and one that the god had never truly felt directed towards himself specifically. It amused him to be the subject of such raw emotions and yet be so unthreatened by the one who felt them.

"Don't take one step closer..." The man uttered, his eyes filled with determination to stand between the god and the person he knew was the god's target: Saoirse. Althos, who in his current form towered above the mortal, looked down on the man and smiled pleasantly. Internally, the god wondered how to handle this. A part of him considered violence, after all violence mixed with the god's power over mortal memories gave the god the smoothest path forward. But he didn't leap to smite the audacious mortal.

Unchecked, unnecessary violence was never the god's style unless it came with the acquisition of more power as a direct consequence. After a few moments, Althos made eye contact with the mortal and began to read his mind.