...

Ahsch wasn't sure how much time passed in between his final, interrupted thought, and his next semblance of consciousness. A fact that composed his next thought, as he wondered about it. It's an awful lot like sleeping, he realized. _We don't track time _while we're asleep, we play catch-up on it after waking up. Satisfied with that errant, random thought, his attention turned to the nothingness that encompassed his perception. Do I just... hang out here for nine months?

You do not.

Unlike the last time a voice touched his mind directly - without the benefit of a familiar bond or Daydreamweave - this voice was difficult to place. It was neither masculine, nor feminine, and held little in the way of emotion.

He also wasn't experiencing some weird 'standing but not standing/breathing but not moving air' bullshit like when he met Phashak.

That is because you are deceased.

Yeah, I know that part, Ahsch mentally replied. I assume I don't have feet to stand on, nor lungs to breath with.

You are correct.

Now that he thought of it, he realized that what he was feeling was somewhat familiar not because of Phashak's weird temple-limbo-thing, but because he'd experienced it as a soul in the reincarnation office-place-thing. Naked souls didn't have bodies.

Then does that mean...

I am not affiliated with the ones you designated as 'Office Lady,' 'Dude-Gal,' or 'CEO.'

Ahsch thought for a moment. **** god? He 'squinted.' Kakais?

I am called that.

Huh. He was silent for an unknown length of time. Why am I here? Did the reincarnation not work?

It will succeed, unless your sister is killed before you can survive without her. An eventuality I find unlikely. Your consciousness here is the result of two, separate forces.

The first is your own divinity; as a 'godling,' you interact with **** in an unusual manner. Most souls are not capable of experiencing being dead, and only resume their accumulation of knowledge and experience upon arriving at their destination - and before you ask, I will not clarify beyond that.

Noted.

The second **** is myself. I am curious about you, Mitchel Cohen.

Ahsch Odestag.

Enochiel.

Curious in what way?

Many ways. And as there are roughly six more months before you shall reincarnate from your sister's womb, I decided that now was an appropriate time to speak with you. Should things go according to your hopes and wishes, we shall one day be compatriots. I would prefer to know the being I might interact with for aeons to come, despite the time that may be wasted should you perish and move on before you ascend to godhood.

The dead hrafthi was both amused and bemused by the off-handed answer to his first question after dying. Three months had passed. What do you want to know? Six months is a long time, after all...

Many things. Clarification would be appreciated, to start with. You endeavor to become a god, correct?

Yeah, that's right, I guess.

And yet you do not believe in establishing the rituals that will create the strongest bonds within your religion? You even went as far as to protest having any at all.

Ahsch did the bodiless equivalent of blinking in surprise. On the assumption that you're simply able to see or hear things that occur - or are rifling through my memories with far more subtlety than Phashak did - I basically explained why I wasn't huge on rituals. They just seemed... unnecessary? Like, from Earth, where I'm from, nobody knows if there's really gods or not, and there's a ton of religions, all with their own practices and rituals and beliefs and so on. The CEO lady told me that Earth is actually devoid of gods, so I guess I know now, and that just makes all the rituals of Earth religions... I mean, they're pointless? Holy water isn't actually holy, so using it for certain things is meaningless. Sacred places are only sacred because people say so, not because of any innate traits of that place, so doing things there rather than literally anywhere else is also pointless, practically speaking. And while divinity and religious power and stuff might be real here, if I can just use that - or let it be used - without all the pointless pomp and circumstance, then why bother with the pointless pomp and circumstance?

There was a long period of silence. A sense of shock, or disbelief.

I would have expected that a being who claimed 'bonds' as a major divine domain of theirs to understand the importance of ritual.

The Dominant Mage gave a (literally) breathless chortle. I suppose you can join my wife in considering me an idiot, then. Would you enlighten me?

That is agreeable.

In essence, while ritual is not required as a practical need to perform divine magics, it is similar to saying that entertainment or happiness is not required for sentient life to exist. Without enjoyment, life lacks meaning. While religions on Euphoria might exist largely to provide power to the gods worshiped within those religions, they serve additional, critical purposes: they create bonds between all those within the religion, from the current practitioners, to those who came before and will come after, to the beliefs and teachings of the religion, to the divine domains of the god or gods of the religion, and to the god or gods themselves.

Kakais let Ahsch stew in that revelation for a moment.

One of the first rituals you created was one of cleanliness, to bathe five days a week at minimum, and every day of a week preferably. This was linked to your domain of 'bodies.' As it is a ritual provided by you, it is bonded to you, Enochiel. Those who participate in the ritual will form bonds beyond just you and the domain: those who provide the reagents for the bath, or locations to bathe; families or friends or communities who bathe together; and so on. And yet, it could be much more than that. Rote cleanliness is important - though I shall leave it under your auspices - but no weight is assigned to the ritual, and little purpose beyond 'taking care of one's body.' To expand upon the idea, you could require a ritual bath prior to important acts, such as certain sexual encounters, or entering sacred places. Certain reagents might be required prior to those acts: requiring your worshipers to doff their footwear prior to entering your Temple, and cleanse their hands and feet in the mystic waters of the artificial lake you created could form a sense of reverence and respect for both the Temple and the lake. And while that may or may not serve little in the way of practical use, it will form bonds, something I would think the self-claimed God of Bonds would endeavor to accomplish as much as possible. It forms the bond with the lake, and the Temple, and with you, and each other, and the Ley Spring you created, and the simple act of cleanliness.

The silence that followed Kakais' explanation was profound as Ahsch considered the implications.

You wanted to know me? Ahsch invited some time later. He wasn't sure how much later - he suspected that time was strange in this limbo Kakais had him in - as he'd began to think deeply about the rituals he could implement for the Order, and considered the implications of doing so at length.

I fear I misspoke - it has been some time since the gods convened together, and few interact with me. It has been a time of quiet among the local divine, though I suspect that shall change with the awakening of Phashak and your own potential ascension.

In the way that I now see you mean, I already know you. I have observed you since your arrival, as every soul eventually faces **** - though many, such as your own - are not bound by it. I already 'know' you in the broad ways of being familiar with you.

My intent was to understand you. In the same way that I was confused by your resistance to rituals within your religion, there are other aspects of your existence that I find difficult to understand. I wish to rectify this.

The hrafthi gave another mind-only, dry laugh. I suspect that in doing so, you will cause me to have no small number of revelations.

That is agreeable, as I have determined that, barring a cataclysmic shift in who you are at your core, mutual cooperation is desirable with you, Enochiel. Therefore, opening your mind to new possibilities is a good thing.

And so, my next question: you posses a means of amassing great power unto yourself, your Dominant's Tithe Mana Generation Method. Yet you are incredibly resistant to making use of it. Why? After all, you have already found several who demanded that you Enthrall them, and more besides who were not greatly opposed. Even should they not enter into your inner circle of those who know your many secrets, obtaining their Thralldom, the additional Mana Pools they provide, and the greater Mana Generation, should be important to your growth.

And should you be averse to Enthralling 'unpractical' individuals - that being, those who cannot provide you additional benefits beyond those explicitly outlined by your Method - I can imagine several ways to improve the power available to you mundanely by incorporating individuals you have Enthralled. A personal guard ****, for one; or a group of trustworthy servants, for another.

A silent sigh. I understand what you mean, and I generally agree with it, but my main concern is the permanence of making people my Thralls. The Method itself doesn't provide a way of undoing it, and I fear that I won't be able to override it myself until I become a god.

...You did not take up the mundane, mortal learning of bonds for this purpose?

The question caught Ahsch off-guard.

After all, Thralldom to you is a bond to you, Enochiel. Once you gain the strength and control needed to sever it, those you do not wish to keep as your Thralls need not be bound to you by their Oath. And while I am not familiar with the intricacies of your Method, I suspect that, by requiring an Oath to become a Thrall, the un-taking of an Oath may break the bond 'normally.'

But even if it does not, I believe that you were close to the required power and control to sever the bond of Thralldom directly prior to your ****. Another few weeks or a month of growth, and I expect it would be within your capabilities.

Another indeterminate length of time passed while Ahsch berated his own stupidity. Of course directly severing the Thrall bond was possible! Though he doubted that Phashak would like it if he did that with Kirasiel's Thralldom - talk about spiting in someone's face. But for others? If Kakais was right, he'd only _need _to keep people as his Thralls for a month before he'd be at the point he could release them. At least, a month after he could continue his lessons with Rwnil. Which... well, that could take quite a bit of time, now that he thought about it.

Do you need more time, Enochiel?

_I think I need less time, actually... but no, we can continue, Kakais. Ahsch laughed at himself, and wondered if his soul shook like his shoulders would. I'm finished with my second revelation._

I am glad. My next question is in regards to your domain of domination: you have claimed it, as you have the other three, and yet you have done quite little to develop it. I do not believe that you regret your choice, but aside from your sister and familiar, you have done little of import where it comes to that domain.

I guess... Ahsch thought for a moment, then sighed. Partially, it's because the dominance that I 'preach' is... well, consensual dominance. A gift, given by those who submit. Ariin and Mahat submitted to me, I didn't **** them into it. It's why I'm basically equals with Avery - and actually tend to be subordinate to her; same with Rwnil.

But do you not have designs to claim dominance over Elui and Naemui?

It was a strange sensation to be embarrassed without blushing. _I wouldn't say... well, I don't necessarily _plan to do that, especially with Elui, since she's in a **** position because of me. But in general, unless they want it, unless they literally ask for it, I'm not planning to collar them like Ariin made me.

And you do not plan to offer it either? They must take all the steps on their own? I understand and applaud your insistence on consent, though I caution you that some situations, such as with Phashak's gift to you, require ****. However, I see no reason you cannot seek out this 'gift' from others. And much as submission can be gifted, so too can dominance be claimed; sometimes, the gift is preferable. Others, the conquest.

Ahsch laughed, as this revelation didn't shock him into a stupor like before. I must be getting used to this, he chuckled. So what you're saying is I can - and maybe should - be more forceful about dominance? Not to say I should just go around and 'claim' random people, but it's okay to offer my dominance as a gift; or to... er... 'conquer' and subjugate others if necessary?

That is for you to determine, Enochiel. I am a God of **** and little else; you are the future God of Dominance. Were you as old as I, changing your stance may be difficult. As young as your religion is - and will be, once your reincarnation is complete - adjusting your stance on dominance should be a relatively simple matter.

I... see. Thank you.

Of course. Mutual benefit, as I said before. Our time grows short - your suspicions on the passage of time in your current state were correct. I have a final question to pose.

Go ahead.

Why have you not pushed yourself to grow faster? Your experiments with your magic aside, you have made virtually no strides to train and progress yourself since your initial reincarnation, despite knowing that your potential for growth is nigh-unparalleled.

Again, confusion felt strange to Ahsch without being able to frown. I... the Office Lady had said that I would just... 'grow' to double my Magnitude in my first ten years, and that after that it was anyone's guess, so I just sort of... I'm waiting?

The hrafthi was pretty sure he could actually feel Kakais' shock this time. Eventually, the god replied, their words slow.

Living beings normally grow through an infant and adolescent stage of early life, before entering a lifelong 'stable' stage of adulthood. You mean to say you expected that natural juvenile growth to continue - if at a lesser rate - indefinitely?