39. Godhood

  Atla had made a decision. He didn’t want to be worshiped as his boy-self-eidolon. Nor his girl-self-eidolon. So when he confronted the statue makers about making naked statues of him, he appeared in a brand new eidolon that she worked very hard to construct.

  She was a beautiful woman who looked nothing at all like Taimei because that was who he had in his head when he constructed her and okay it looked a little like Taimei. But it was Atla, and he changed a few things to make it clear that it wasn’t Taimei, like the color of her eidolon’s eyes and hair.

  And she was also sixteen feet tall and glowed bright golden.

  “Behold! I am Atla, and this is the form that I wish to be worshiped in!” she declared before the statue-makers! “If you see me in my other forms just ignore me because I’m busy doing other stuff and don’t want to be worshiped at the time.”

  It wasn’t just the statuemakers who began bowing to her, but the entire point of this was to make a point of it so that the statue makers couldn’t say that they hadn’t been informed. Then he shattered all of the statues of him that he didn’t like and left the ones that he did like behind.

  She popped from city to city where the weird religion surrounding him was taking shape, idly wondering why it was that she was being worshiped and not her father. Or at least, she didn’t think that people worshiped his father as anything other than a very powerful cultivator.

  She frowned, but couldn’t decide on the answer, so he would ask his father later.

  A few days later the first of the new statues were being finished and unveiled, and Atla herself appeared to judge the work of the statue makers carefully. If she didn’t like any of them, then he shattered them and told the statue maker to do better next time. But mostly they were pretty good.

  Some of them were better than her actual shape, and so she subtly changed herself to look more like the statues that she liked.

  Some of the people who saw her visitations began asking her questions about what exactly she was willing to do for people and how it was that they could get her attention, which she gave careful thought to.

  “I can make your animals more likely to get pregnant,” she admitted, “But honestly unless you’re poor I’m not likely to bother with that. But if you are poor and you need your pigs to give birth, then come to my statue with the female pig and put a red flower in the statue’s basket. Or if it’s not a pig, then whatever animal it is that you think should get pregnant.”

  “If you have a field that isn’t producing, there might be any number of reasons for it,” Atla answered another person. “I can probably figure it out pretty quickly, but it will require something big to get my attention. Maybe if everyone in the village was singing and dancing and saying my name? I dunno, I’m a planet so it’s hard to get my attention if it’s focused elsewhere, but that might work.”

  “But I’m definitely not going to do some things. People have been asking me to do things that are wrong or mean, and I might punish you for that somehow. Don’t think I can’t! If you tell me to do something wicked, then I’ll make your balls shrivel up and stop working, or breasts instead if you’re a woman, or whatever. I’ll think of something.”

  “And no, just because you love someone doesn’t mean that I’ll make them love you in return. That’s none of my business. I asked my father, and it’s not something I should mess with, and I’m not even sure that I could mess with it if I wanted to. Which I don’t, so there’s the answer to that. No. Period. Just no. But I guess it’s not such a bad thing to ask for, so I’ll just ignore those requests and probably not punish you for them unless you really annoy me.”

  “But yeah if you’re having mechanical issues I don’t mind fixing those. If you’ve been trying for months and you haven’t caught a baby yet, or if your spirit is willing but your flesh is weak and wimpy, then maybe come ask for my help. But I’m not a ‘feelings’ person so don’t ask me for help getting over your shyness!”

  He spoke for a few hours at each city where the statues were being made, and he came up with a pretty good list of things to tell people as he went along.

  And so Atla formed their first religion.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  ~~~~~~

  I sat in the same office of the coliseum where I had once fought as a contender, and later as a ‘challenge’ opponent, during the first tournament of Mer’cah, outlining the new capabilities that I had created for the building.

  “So, basically, I can’t break the shields that are being generated during the matches now,” I admitted. “I’m pretty certain I can’t at least. Not without tapping into Atla’s power to help me. But that won’t be an option for the other contenders, so it should be safe for anyone beneath the platinum realm to go all out during the tournament while maintaining the safety of the audience.”

  Di Tonilla nodded, taking notes as I spoke. “We’ll want to test these claims, of course. Would you possibly consider doing an exhibition match before we began?”

  “Who are you thinking of for my opponent?” I asked.

  “I was thinking your disciples would make an obvious choice, as aside from yourself, they are considered to be the strongest cultivators on the planet at the moment,” she answered promptly.

  I scratched my chin, noticing for the first time that there was a bit of stubble there. I’d have to ask Mai Mai if she liked beards or not. “Taimei isn’t able to compete at the moment, but she should be able to supply her part of the North Star Guiding Formation to empower the others. It would be good to stretch my strength against opponents who could challenge me in an environment where I’m confident I can’t cause damage, but it might also bring up some unpleasant memories in my disciples, and I will not ask them to do it. But if you secure their agreement then you have mine.”

  “I’ll make the rounds,” she promised. “And these observation crystals? How do they work exactly?”

  “I have no idea,” I admitted. “I was given a few thousand of them when I visited Duke Doe. The Majeeshans probably know more about them than I do, I understand that making them was one of the things they were tasked with when they couldn’t climb the tower any further. All that I do know is that the recording crystal broadcasts to the receiving crystal and sends images of any battles that it detects through it, appearing as a reflection even if they’re dimensions away.”

  “And you’re saying that we can use these to create viewing venues throughout the world with your waygates,” she said.

  “Yes, it shouldn’t be a problem. If you have questions about it I’d suggest finding a Majeeshan administrator to help you though, since that’s not really my thing.” I knew my limitations, and administration was one of them.

  “Regarding the changes to the rules from the first tournament,” she said, pulling up her notes. “Are you certain about this? Allowing weapons for the bronze ranked fights and above?”

  “Yes,” I said. “I don’t expect anyone below the bronze to have confirmed a dao or mastered a weapon to the point where disarming them is a serious handicap. After bronze, however, the difference between a swordmaster or a master archer and someone without a weapon is too severe for them to overcome without it. At silver rank and above, weapons become a central focal point for techniques rather than tools of violence themselves.”

  “I understand that, but at the same point, it creates a certain expectation that these fights will escalate to the point of being death matches,” she pointed out.

  “Nobody will die in my tournament,” I said confidently. “But many may be disqualified for accidentally killing their opponents.”

  “What does that mean?” she asked, her eyes narrowing at me.

  “The participants, while in the ring, will be under the protection of celestial level magic which will prevent them from dying,” I explained. I shrugged. “Hopefully it won’t be a problem until we see the silver and gold ranks fighting, but it’s already active. All you need to do to turn it on is touch the crystal at the entrance, channel a bit of Qi into it, and you’re protected.”

  “And where does this magic come from?”

  “Another lifetime, of course,” I answered. “I’ve already tested it, I have every confidence in its perfection. There will be no fatalities among the combatants during my tournament, this I swear.”

  “Are you a god, to make such a promise?” she challenged.

  I shrugged. “What exactly would you consider a god?”

  She continued to stare at me for a moment, then sighed. “On to the matter of the judges. We were planning to use the same men and women from the last tournament for the lower ranked fights, many of them have answered Di Phon’s call to return to the north to deal with the resurgence of the Six Mountain Sect thanks to the arrival of the Majeeshans. As such, I submit this list for your approval.”

  I shrugged, reviewed it, then signed my name. On a whim born of solemn respect for a man who had died honorably, I scribbled an addition to the names before handing the list back to Di Tonilla. She examined it, then raised her eyebrows.

  “He’s dead,” she reminded me.

  “Yes,” I admitted. “But I can’t think of a better way to honor his memory.”

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