GodWithWings
patreon
Ch 1 - The Beginning
🕑 Added 2025-05-22 14:52:22 +0000 UTCIf you were given the power of a GOD, what would you do?
…
Well, before I get into my story, I should probably introduce myself. My name’s Brian - Brian Verde. I didn’t have much of a profession or a life, for that matter. I did study law in college as part of a dream of solving injustice, but shortly realized it wasn’t for me. Then I tried web development… Smooth transition, huh?
Long story short, I ended up as a lonely freelancer-slash-influencer with a small audience. Not exactly glamorous, but hey, it paid the bills.
The last thing I remember from my previous life is that I was at my friend’s birthday party. Not going to lie, it was a boring gathering. Or maybe it wasn’t, and I just didn’t click with his other friends. Either way, I got so bored that I drowned myself in alcohol and my friend had to carry me home.
I don’t remember the ride or getting into bed, but I woke up at midnight with my mouth drier than a desert. For a shameful second, I actually considered drinking from my cat’s bowl. But then, you know, pride or maybe just basic hygiene kicked in, so I dragged myself to the kitchen instead.
On the way, I tripped over something. And… well. That was it.
I always thought death would come with a bright light, a tunnel, maybe some wise old man with a beard telling me I was a loser for dying in my own kitchen before sending me off to a peaceful afterlife.
Yeah, that didn’t happen.
Instead, the very first thing I saw was a glowing blue notification window floating in front of me.
[Choose Race]
WTF? What the hell does that even mean?
To be fair, I’d played my share of RPGs growing up, so I kinda knew what it meant. But this? This was way too real. For a second, I wondered if I was dreaming, but hey, what was I supposed to do? Might as well play along, right?
Fine, fine. I was a little excited to play. Just a tiny bit.
I was a massive Lord of the Rings fan and the elves always were my first choice. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be like Feanor? Beautiful, graceful, powerful… Okay, I’m getting carried away. Point is, if I was getting a second shot at life, I might as well go all in. Immortal, strong, elegant? Sign me up.
“Elves,” I declared with way too much pride in my voice, like I was already some ancient, noble being reclaiming my birthright.
And that’s when I got my first taste of disappointment in this new life. Little did I know that there would be many, many more to come.
[Already Occupied]
"High Elves," I tried, hoping for a loophole.
[Such a race does not exist]
"Show me available races." These notifications were really starting to piss me off.
[Such race does not exist]
“Is this shit mocking me?”
[Such a race does not exist]
I was getting angry, but forced myself to calm down. No point in getting worked up. Character creation is the most important part of any game. And if this was a one-time deal, with no rerolls, no do-overs, I needed to be smart about it.
I started running through every race I could remember. ‘Dwarves, Elves, Humans, Orcs, Trolls, Goblins, Dhampirs, Halflings…’ I didn’t dare to say it out loud or this system might have picked one of those randomly. There were too many races to list, and obviously, I couldn’t remember them all. Then I remembered a race I would have loved to become.
"Dragons."
If only.
[Already Occupied]
So every race I actually want is taken?
That stung. Even in death, or whatever this was, I was apparently destined to struggle. And oh boy, I had no idea how right I was.
"...Orcs," I finally muttered. Gracefulness be damned, strength mattered more.
[Already Occupied]
I was about to scream when my notification window flashed red.
[You’ve failed to choose a race!]
[You will be assigned a random available race as your starting subjects.]
Starting subjects? What the fuck does that mean? Even with my gaming knowledge, I had zero clue.
[A random race has been chosen!]
[You will be given an extra bonus due to failure to choose a race.]
[The bonus has been given!]
[Starting a new life as…]
And just like that, everything went dark.
<<<>>>
When I woke up, I saw a sight I did not expect.
It was like staring at a screen, except there were no edges - just the image itself, floating in an endless expanse. Everything outside of it was shrouded in mist or maybe clouds. First, I saw a dense forest with ancient, towering trees, swallowing the light and enshrouding the ground in darkness. Creatures roamed below, some small, some massive. Herbivores, carnivores…
I observed the scene for several minutes as I scanned every corner. The map was huge... And then I spotted it! A small settlement nestled within the trees. The moment I wished to take a closer look the view zoomed in.
Wait… can I control this?
I experimented and tried shifting the perspective. Zoom in, zoom out, rotate… I could manipulate the view however I wanted. But when I tried zooming out beyond my initial field of vision, it was like pushing against an immovable boulder. No matter how much I willed it, the map refused to budge past a certain limit.
Fine. I returned my focus to the settlement.
A crude wooden fence encircled the village. The buildings inside… well, calling them buildings was too generous. They were little more than primitive huts, barely more than reinforced shacks. But what caught my attention most was the statue at the center.
An elf woman.
Beautiful. Grand. Divine.
This world’s version of Galadriel, huh?!
My amusement vanished the moment I took a closer look. I felt something - a faint pull, an itch deep in my soul, like an invisible thread connecting me to it. I didn’t understand why.
For a brief moment, I became hopeful. Elves? But as I watched the villagers, I quickly realized they weren’t quite that. They were tall and their features were sharp and refined like elves, but their skin was an ashen gray, giving them the eerie look of living statues. Their eyes were either pale silver or burning red, and their hair ranged from stark white to deep gray. Most striking feature of all were the intricate, but very faint, silvery markings on their faces.
Tattoos?
No… It was definitely something more. Something that felt connected to me. That was the moment my curiosity faded and I was left with only a single question:
What the hell is happening?
I tried looking down. Left. Right. Even up. Nothing. I had no body. No limbs. Just… awareness. It was like I only existed as a pair of floating eyes, or maybe just a consciousness attached to this strange window. I couldn’t move, couldn’t interact with anything. The only thing that existed in my plane of awareness was this “screen”, showing me the world below, or above, or… anyway. Then, a thought crossed my mind, one that came from years of gaming instinct.
I willed for information about me to appear.
And just like that, the familiar blue notification window appeared right in front of my eyes.
I tried analyzing, I really did, but my eyes kept getting stuck on one thing - rank: Insignificant God.
Even if I was insignificant, I was still a god? What did that even mean? The questions in my brain were like an itch I couldn’t scratch. I tried asking for a manual, a Q&A, support, anything that could explain this insanity. Nothing happened. Apparently, in this so-called game, I was flying blind.
Whoever designed this thing sucks at UI & UX
I switched tactics.
“Log out.” Nothing happened.
“Inventory.” Still nothing.
“Attributes. Skill tree. Chat…” I rattled off every command I could think of, but there was no response. Either those functions didn’t exist, or I was missing something obvious. No matter how long I spent trying to figure it out, I had nothing to show for it.
It looks like I won’t be able to learn anything more about this. It’s strange, I found out I’m a god, but I am not overtaken by emotions. My thoughts, actions, even my reasoning felt eerily methodical, almost unnaturally so. Like I had lost the ability to be anxious.
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed when I finally looked back at the Window. The sky over the world below had darkened. It was already night. I didn’t have time to figure out whether time flowed the same for me as it did down there. First, I needed to make sense of my status window.
The name was obvious, Verde. It had taken my last name without even asking. Whatever. It wasn’t important. What did matter was that I had no title. Titles usually meant something in games - power, influence or at least some kind of bonus. And I had none.
Then there was the status: Weak.
Yeah, no thanks. Skipping that before my pride takes another hit.
Race: Velmoryn. I had never heard of them. And since I couldn’t see my appearance, there was no way to tell what I actually looked like. For all I knew, I was some kind of abomination.
The next part was even more concerning. Insignificant God, 5/100 Divinity Points. If I had five out of a hundred, that meant divinity was either an energy source I’d be using or some kind of experience system I’d need to build up. Either way, five didn’t seem like much.
Then came the skills.
Window had to refer to the “screen”. Creation and Destruction seemed self-explanatory, however, without a body, I had no idea how I was supposed to create or destroy anything. Then there was Passing The Divinity.
That one made me pause.
Does that mean I can give my godhood away? Just… transfer it to someone else and stop existing? Or is it for something else, like appointing apostles? I could not test it and there was no way I was going to risk handing over my godhood and die. Besides, assigning apostles required believers, and I had none.
The last thing on the list was Statues. If statues mattered enough to be listed in my status window, then the one in that village below had to be important.
I focused on the statue of the elf woman again. Time to take a closer look.
It took only a thought for the Window to shift, zooming in exactly where I wanted.
The statue was mesmerizing. The woman carved into stone stood tall and graceful. The statue of an elf was exuding both authority and divinity. And I mean literally - a faint energy shimmered around it, white with hues of red.
I hesitated for a moment before deciding what had to be done. If I were one of these creatures, and in the middle of the night the statue of my god was suddenly destroyed, only for a new one to appear in its place, I’d probably take it as a sign. A divine revelation, maybe I’d even pledge myself to the new god.
That was my plan, I was going to create a miracle.
But how was I supposed to do that?
Destroying the statue seemed simple enough. A strong lightning strike would do the job. As I thought about it, something deep within me moved, like a piece of myself was suddenly missing. A moment later, the Window lit up as a massive bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky, striking the statue and shattering it to rubble.
[Warning: Destruction consumed 2 Divinity Points]
Huh? Using that lightning consumed two out of my precious five Divinity Points… I really hope it was worth it.
I barely had time to process what had happened before my hypothetical eyes widened as I realized something.
I couldn’t hear it.
The thought alone was enough to change that. The crackling of the storm filled my senses, the crumbling of stone, the distant gasps and cries of the villagers…
Wow. With a mere thought? This confirmed that my thoughts activated my powers. That’s… dangerous. I need to be careful not to do something stupid by accident, like zapping my first followers if they piss me off.
I willed the Window to zoom in, focusing on the place where the statue once stood.
What I saw next was completely unexpected.
The statue was gone, and the stone that had previously been shaped into an elf woman was now reduced to rubble, but the silvery energy I’d seen before hadn’t vanished. It had gathered into a swirling mass, forming a small, pulsing orb.
A familiar blue notification appeared.
[Congratulations, you have destroyed the last remaining statue of the God of Velmoryn. You have earned 10 Divinity Points.]
Anxiety, excitement, euphoria, power - I felt it all at once as the silvery energy rushed toward me, sinking into my very being. But just as quickly, the sensation faded as it left me with a single thought.
The statue of the elf woman was the Velmoryn God, huh? Then this small tribe must be Velmoryns. And since their god took the form of an elf and they resemble elves themselves, they’re probably a subrace.
I felt a tinge of curiosity as I observed them more closely. They were less graceful than elves, less gifted, and now - godless.
The Velmoryns were slowly gathering around the remains of the statue. It took only seconds for them to grasp what had happened. Then they dropped to their knees and wept. Loud, anguished cries filled the night as they mourned the destruction of their god’s statue.
I watched as I expected the guilt to hit me. Some part of me thought, I should feel something, right? remorse, pity, anything…
But there was nothing. Not even the faintest hint of sympathy.
I pushed the sound away, muting it with a thought. Their cries were distracting me and I needed to focus.
I was about to create my very first statue. The image of my divine form slowly took shape in my mind.
What kind of god would inspire the most devotion? The kind and merciful? No. Cruel and wrathful? Also no.
No, the most powerful gods were the unknowable. The ones who remained distant! Watching… Judging…
I saw it clearly in my mind - a silhouette draped in robes, an open book in one hand, the face hidden beneath a heavy hood.
A god whose face they can’t even imagine… The thought sent a thrill through me as I got excited. That will make me even more mysterious. Even more divine.
At first, I planned to will a stone statue into existence. But something held me back. Stone would probably take the same Divinity Points to create… and besides, they already had a stone statue before, I had a better idea.
What was more majestic than a beautiful stone statue?
A living one.
I willed it and immediately felt that Something was taken from me. It was like a tiny part of me left forever. But before I could process it, the Window showed the result. An enormous oak tree sprouted in the village’s center as its roots split through the shattered remains of the old statue.
[Warning: Creation consumed 2 Divinity Points]
The loss of Divinity Points was noticeable, but now that I had gained 10 more, it was manageable.
Now for the finishing touch.
I willed the tree’s trunk to take the shape of my image - the robed, faceless figure holding an open book. This time, the drain on my Divinity Points was minimal. But the moment it was complete, a massive surge of power tore away from me as it moved down into the world below.
[Warning: Creation consumed 0.1 Divinity Points]
[Warning: Passing The Divinity consumed 10 Divinity Points]
The tree trembled as its leaves and trunk deepened into a dark crimson. Its branches stretched skyward as if coming to life and then, all at once, it fell still.
The Velmoryns were still frozen from what they had just witnessed. Then, a male Velmoryn dropped to his knees in reverence. Slowly, several others followed, while the rest stood back, watching them with clear contempt.
The moment they knelt, I felt it - not their reverence, but the power surging through me. My presence sharpened, heavier, undeniable.
Something inside me had changed.
I was no longer a god at death’s door.
I was a god becoming real.
