Godhood and all it brings

In the great vastness of this universe, there are infinitely as many planets as there are numbers humans can count to. Most of these plants lack any life, mainly because conditions of life are simply not present there.

Albeit rarely, there are some planets that give birth to intelligent life that is capable of creation themself. such planets are ones that see the rise of a species that is capable of ruling the entire planet. One such planet is one I used to live on, it is called 'Terra' or as humans on that planet called it, 'Earth'. it is a weird thing, but all the human-like species on every planet use a similar term for their planet.

But what happens to the planets that are capable of sustaining themself, but implode into themself because their population was not stable? they simply faded.

This was the case for a long time in the universe, most creatures were bound to their own planet and had no control over aspects of the universe bigger than themselves. that changed when a particular species became capable of controlling something no other species was able to even confirm existed. 'Souls' became the resource that helped them build a civilization that became big enough to rule an entire section of the universe by themselves.

In other words, all of them gained powers rivaling that of gods. they created and destroyed planets for entertainment, life had no meaning for them anymore. they became truly immortal, as their control over souls was so great that they left their physical bodies and became free.

such beings, when deprived of life for eons, started to long for it. This longing birthed a system that controlled the flow of souls between planets.

After searching for all life across the universe, these 'gods' established an organized system that dealt with all life and other aspects of the universe itself. The universe was divided into sections, each section getting a certain number of life-carrying planets to manage.

teams were formed to look after smaller parts of each section. they all had the freedom to deal with aspects as they please as long as life in that part could flourish. Some teams decided to let the organisms do as they want and observe from afar, while some decided to intervene at points.

One team decided to let the leading species of the planets use the powers of the 'gods'. the idea of giving a mortal species control over aspects of the planet was something that intrigued them. each of such gods divided the load of individual aspects of the universe.

For each exchange to take place, a currency was created by transmuting energy. This currency was termed 'Mana'.

Each time a creature borrows the authority of the 'gods' to manipulate the aspect under their control, they have to pay with their own energy in equivalence to the usage.

Now, these are the gods that I am aware of, and the authority they bestow upon humans.

Otin- is responsible for all that happens in the part of the universe under his command. can manipulate almost everything, but is too busy to do that. Also, he is the actual scribe of the library of 'gods'. I work directly under him, along with other surviving egos.

Midea- One who manages space and everything that occupies space. Essentially second in command of the team.

Divina- one who manages life, and is responsible for the survival of all life. respected as the third in command by the team.

Cosmos- responsible for the protection of physical matter. Works directly under Divina and helps life thrive by limiting harm to it. He has special contracts with other 'gods' so he can use their authority to protect the life of the borrower.

Necros- responsible for the transmutation of mana and energy. has authority over the usage of mana itself. only allows one spell to be used, due to the greedy nature of humans.

Ethera- Has authority over light and helps in illuminating the planets that need to sustain life.

Bonas- Has authority over the movement of life, responsible for keeping the living populace in areas that can sustain them.

Arcana- responsible for managing the perception of life. the main reason for the unique evolution of life on the planet.

Imis- Controls the water cycle and all that is associated with it. can transmute other matter into water temporarily. loves all life equally, and tries to sustain all she sees.

Utos- has authority over fire and heat. She is responsible for the progress of humans before they figured out how authority lending worked. She is benevolent by nature but has a fierce attitude when angry.

Zosdos- controls the earth and is responsible for all plant life thriving. tries to stay away from matters of living, but helps those who ask him directly.

Vutix- controls the atmosphere and is responsible for the air organisms breathe, and all the storms that destroyed human settlements in the past.

Urus- Controls lightning and the energy in the form of electricity. He is often said to be responsible for the quick progression of technology in the modern era.

There are many other 'gods' of a similar kind, but they have an oath to not interfere with life forms of any kind, so I won't know their names or the authority they hold. they don't care if any creatures badmouth them, or if they even ignore their existence even, but the gods that do interact with life, want their recognition.

all the trades, all the mana and prayers said in their names, it's all for that. they want humans to know who grants them the power that they use so openly. so, if you ever badmouth them, just know that they can just as easily not lend you the authority if they please. unless they have some special attachment to you, each time you borrow their authority, they can just not give it to you.

This is the reason that religions exist all over the universe, the gods appreciate the people that are devoted to them. They solve all the problems that their subjects have. That's what the gods are at their core. They are simple beings who love to see life thrive under their own conditions. If they don't like the way life develops, they wipe it out and reuse the souls to start everything over again. their morals don't exactly match that of the creatures that they watch over.

The souls have limits, and that starts with their reusability of them. Each soul has a limit to being reused for sustaining different kinds of lives. Before these 'gods' had control over these souls, each soul was limited to a single creature. but during that era, the life for each creature used to be ten times longer. Souls were born with life and were obliterated along with it. That meant that each soul only had one ego attached to it for its entire existence.

Now that the souls are being reused, they need to be pure and clear. cleaning the souls is not a perfect process, as it leaves egos intact in rare cases. Even with all the control over souls and physical matter, there is one thing even a 'god' can't control the consciousness of living beings. The ego either dies with the body or is permanently linked to the soul and will exist along with the next body the soul inhabits. So unless I die with you, I will exist with this soul until it falls apart.

As for the power I hold, being under Otis has given me special permission to use his authority if necessary. All he needs is for me to manage the library in his place so he can focus on managing others.

I have met and talked with other gods as well but they don't know how to handle the existence of egos properly. I mean, I am something that is attached to a soul, but not to a physical matter. it makes me similar to them, don't you think? The only thing I lack is the complete authority over some aspect of life, and if I achieve it I don't think there will be any difference between me and them, and that makes them uncomfortable. It's a funny thing, immortal beings being scared of something that is bound to fade somewhere in the future.

Anyway, this lesson on all the gods and the process of authority lending is coming to an end. you should go back and focus on the test for now. and try not to badmouth any god, it hurts them after they let you do as you please and you call them names.

"That was a long lecture, couldn't you make it shorter?" Ray asked.

(I could, but lore drops like this need to be elaborate and expansive. and I am not going to do that over multiple instances. just go back to your body before you hit the ground.)

"Yeah, yeah. I get it, no bad-mouthing gods because it hurts them." Ray said and vanished from his subconscious. when he got back control of his body, he was still in the same spot that he left from.

he floated down by the smoke pillar and reached the source, an abandoned campfire.