I sighed at the unnecessary display before me. The mortal man in front of me was just a petty, jealous man who thought I was trying to seduce his girlfriend, and that I was nothing but a mortal man just like him. Even upon investigating his brain, performing an in-depth exploration of his conscious and unconscious mind, I found nothing deeper propelling his hatred of me.

  He stood between Saoirse and me, and there was a determined look on his face. I silently looked at him and activated "Ascencion". His eyes widened as he felt my power wash over him and alert him to the reality that I was what I said I was. His eyes filled with the blue screen that physically represented the system itself, as whatever link he had to it was suddenly updated to reflect the truth of my existence. He staggered back, caught off guard by the reality of my existence.

  Brandon's mind was immediately and easily overwhelmed by Althos' abrupt usage of one of his more fun abilities. The power, using the might of the truth of the god's existence, override any doubt or skepticism that Brandon had towards the veracity of the claims made by his girlfriend many weeks ago.

  The power surged into him like a tidal wave, and for a few moments he was lost in the glory of the new information he possessed. This didn't change how he felt about Althos, but it did fill him with indescribable awe that he couldn't help but aim at the deity.

  His system's words filled his mind's eye as he read through a new notification. This notification proclaimed the glory of the god of order and peace, Althos. It was selective though, focusing on the dark god that towered over Brandon as a god of order and peace, and not as a god of war, chaos, destruction, and lust.

  As this was going on, Althos wasn't sitting idly by. Indeed, the god had come up with a creative way to punish the man for his hateful hubris and skepticism of his girlfriend's claims.

  As Brandon reeled back and was slowly beginning to come to his senses I rose a single hand and pointed it at him. This was, as was the case for many of my other powers, a needless display but it was useful for thematic and dramatic purposes.

  I possessed a particularly fun ability that I hadn't utilized before. Like "Ascencion" it was a law domain power entitled "Seal mastery" and with it I could punish Brandon for his unkind and inconsiderate behavior.

  The first thing I did was lift him off the floor with telekinesis. He rose into the air He began to try and shout at me, but he wasn't as fast as I was and I afflicted him with "Silence" using my powers over minds before any sound could escape his lips. This rendered him unable to speak and though he opened his mouth and strained his vocal cords no sounds came out. I watched him exert himself and grinned when nothing came of it. Next, I opened my mouth and began to speak.

  "Brandon... You have been quite sinful." I said, my eyes opening wider and wider and as I began to modify what the little human could see.

  One of my abilities, an enchantment subdomain ability entitled "Sense manipulation", allowed me to control what mortals perceived. And with it I could have a lot of fun. I silently activated it, targeting Brandon and preparing to change his life. The man's eyes went wide and he stiffened, before freezing entirely with an eerie and surprised look on his face.

  I silently did one single thing before refocusing for a moment. I focused fully on Brandon and "created" an illusionary space to house his consciousness while he was under the effect of my power. Creating this space was simple, all it took was for me to envision there being an endless space to house his senses and it came into being. I threw his consciousness there, and then refocused on the world around me. For a moment anyway.

  I turned to Saoirse and smiled. There was a confidence and some mischief in my grin that left the kind-hearted human a bit unsettled. Even from our limited interactions, she could tell that gods, or at least I, was a creature of extremes.

  That said I wasn't going to kill Brandon. I didn't even plan to hurt him. But I stayed silent. For now I was channeling a few rarely used aspects of myself: my role as a god of trickery, as a god of enchantment, and as a god of law. I turned back to Brandon and began to focus anew, ready to deal with the human.

  Brandon, as far as he could perceive, was now in a massive and blank black space. It wasn't unlike the odd space I found myself in at the beginning of my existence, the odd void I spent my first few moments in. In this space he was naked and he realized this after he spent a few moments searching his surroundings and then happened to glance downward.

  Brandon was pale, like many of the humans in this country were. He was also lightly muscular and in this void-like space I had created. He had light green eyes and soft-looking brown hair. I studied him, invisibly in the eerie area I had created to house his consciousness, before beginning to decide how I ought to manifest.

  Deciding how I ought to manifest took me only a second. I figured I ought to lean into my current, chosen role as a god of order and law. That was, after all, the aspect of myself I was currently channeling in my interactions with Saoirse and her boyfriend. I created a face of impossible, androgynous beauty, one with sharp angular features and with perfect symmetry. That face, ethereal and supernatural in its beauty, was the one that appeared before Brandon.

  For a moment there was silence. I didn't speak through my unusual form, and Brandon took in the appearance of the androgynous face that appeared before him. Brandon stared at the face, an awe-struck look on his face and the face starred back with eyes like sapphires. The face was serene, unjudgemental, and curious. And I allowed their staring contest to continue uninterrupted for a few seconds before deciding to make the first move.

  "Brandon... For your sinful behavior, you will be judged." I declared, my voice washing over the human and causing him to shudder even as he watched the face I had created with an awed expression on his face. He was silent for a moment before he managed to gather up his courage and speak, his voice trembling as he spoke.

  "But wait, what is 'sinful behavior'? I don't know what that means!" He said, courageously questioning my judgment. I chuckled, and the sound escaped the lips of the face I had constructed.

  "Sins are behaviors that have been deemed immoral by a divine authority. By me. I am the god of order, hierarchy, and authority. The lord of law. And your petty hatred and jealousy of me is sinful." I proclaimed, speaking authoritatively. Brandon froze when he heard this, knowing that I was speaking truthfully and there was little of substance he could say in his defense.

  "I am the emperor of emperors, the lord of law. You are guilty of sinning and more than that your sins are quite grievous: you have sinned against me directly. You shall be punished." I informed the man, my voice audible across the entirety of the void I had created. Fear seized Brandon's heart, and I softly chuckled.

  "Your punishment shall fit your crime. Each time jealously and other envious thoughts enter your mind and seize your heart, you shall endure pain equivalent to the level of jealousy you are feeling. You must learn to banish jealousy and envy from your life, otherwise for the rest of your life your sins will follow you." I warned the man, as I activated my power over seals and began to create one on him. His face began to contort as he felt the seal beginning to emerge.

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  "Brandon... You shall be marked, with a seal, and until you get your envious thoughts under control and take stock of your heart you shall be haunted by your sins." I proclaimed, speaking mightily. I targeted him with the seals I had envisioned in my mind, and the power fully manifested all at once.

  On his naked body, right above his groin, a strange tattoo suddenly burned its way onto his flesh. He hissed as his flesh sizzled, and as the eldritch marking appeared. I felt his pain, and ignored the notification that appeared in my mind which informed me to the pain he was feeling.

  The tattoo was visually distinct. It was a simple design, the actual tattoo consisted of two parallel lines going straight up for a few centimeters, one was dark blue and the other was bright yellow. I studied it curiously, a confident grin on my face as I did so. The illusionary face that had "physically" manifested in front of the man kept its eyes glued to his face, even as tears began to stream down his cheeks.

  Hatred blazed in his eyes, which glared at the face I had manifested as in front of him. I aimed a single mind-blast at him, further spiking the pain he felt and causing him to experience a severe amount of pain all at once.

  "Learn to control your hatred and envy. Otherwise... I suppose you'll have to learn to live with the pain you're experiencing at the moment." I warned, my voice filling his mind. I made the beautiful face I had constructed glare at him, its eyebrows furrowing and lips twisting in a sneer.

  Back in the real world, the world outside of the illusionary void I had created for Brandon, I smiled at Saoirse. I let myself into her mind and I felt the swirling mixture of emotions she was feeling at the moment. I felt her concern, her relief, her excitement, and other emotions deep within her. She was concerned about her boyfriend, she was relieved someone was doing something about his envious heart, her excitement at my proximity, and she felt other emotions that she tried to keep buried deep down within her heart. I also sensed her curiosity about why I had chosen now to appear in front of her.

  I looked at her and stayed silent for a moment. And then I began to speak, an amused expression on my face as I did.

  "I sense your curiosity about why I have chosen now to appear. I have a task you would be a perfect servant and worshipper of mine to do and I wanted to talk to you about it." I informed her, revealing my purpose plainly and honestly. The truth is that I wanted her to be a teacher in the institution that I sought to create wherein mortals could learn about magic.

  "I would like for you to serve me as an educator. But not an educator of something you know much about at the moment." I told her, cryptically. My smile softened as I spoke. She gazed at me curiously, and her eyes were filled with a bit of concern about what I was about to tell her next. That said, she didn't immediately reject me.

  "Saoirse... Magic is real. And I am building a school to teach this world's residents how to use it." I informed her, speaking dramatically and seriously. My words were true, but even as I spoke them the young woman's eyes widened in shock. I sensed her mind filling with an array of thoughts. She was both skeptical and awestruck, as conflicted feelings filled her.

  "Magic... So then all of our myths..." She uttered, her mind beginning to process what I had told her. She also spoke of "myths", stories from the ancient past of Htrae.

  "I don't know how true the myths are, though someday I hope to find out, but yes your train of thought is accurate. Htraean myths might well have been inspired by true accounts of a heroic era where your ancestors utilized magic to endure encounters with all manner of inhuman and often superhuman entities." I told her, smiling all the while. I chuckled, internally, as her mind went blank.

  "So you want me to teach other human beings to use magic... Can I use magic?" She muttered, before asking the question with a louder voice. There was hope in that question. Excitement even. For the first time since I began to deal with Brandon's nonsense, the smile on my face actually reached all the way to my eyes. It was a whole-hearted grin.

  "Actually..." I said, as I rose a single hand and pointed it at her. She froze, and fear filled her eyes. Her reaction was understandable, as she had no clue what powers I possessed and the few she had seen to date were a very eclectic mix.

  "Your world is about to change forever. All it'll take is for you to trust me." I told her, speaking sincerely.

  Saoirse began to extend her hand towards me at the same time as I released her boyfriend from my sensory manipulation power. I also released him from my telekinetic grip, and chuckled inwardly as he fell the few centimeters from which I was suspending him. Saoirse was tempted to turn around and check him, but she steeled herself in front of her god after hesitating for a split second. She looked at me, a determined look in her eyes, and spoke.

  "I... have faith. How may I serve you?" She asked, giving me a bold look that I approved of.