Goddess, but again

Adam, his consciousness forcefully robbed by Isabel's spell, tumbled forward, his momentum carrying his body a step before he face-planted. Breathing a sigh of relief, Isabel approached the peacefully sleeping human on the ground and inspected him.

The other goblins who had rushed out of the cave to help defeat the raiding party snapped out of their stupor due to the fairy's movement. Having realized most of what had happened, they carefully approached the still-burning, almost-melted corpses that littered the clearing. They plunged their simple wooden spears into them, making sure that they were dead.

Having ensured that there weren't any immediate threats, the goblins, trying not to breathe in the smoke filtering through the clearing, made their way to Adam's side. Ies, brandishing her new knife, approached the fairy standing on Adam's back, gazing down with concern, and demanded, 'Why did you cast a spell on him?'

Isabel, who had been intently observing the movement of Adam's mana and trying to figure out what those black wisps were, only now noticed the goblins surrounding her. Yelping in surprise, she hastily replied, "His mana was very strange. It was overflowing and turning into something dark. I don't know what would have happened if left alone."

Trying to work through the tiny fairy's words, Ies eventually realized that she had no idea. She shrugged and, after a moment of consideration, barked orders in goblin to those around her. The goblins quickly surrounded Adam, and in what would be considered a comical fashion had there not been partially liquefied, charred corpses scattered around, they carefully carried Adam back into the cave.

---

Swimming in a familiar void, I was overcome by an immense sense of disappointment and could only mumble, "Did I really die again?" before a voice called out, slightly chuckling, "No, you haven't died again," as the goddess who originally summoned me appeared before me.

She was still somewhat translucent, but there was definitely more detail in her beautiful feature, seeming more solid than before. She was of normal size, sitting on a plush pillow that gently caressed the sides of her ample thighs, gesturing for me to take a seat on a matching pillow on the other side of a table that appeared as her hand waved.

Still puzzled by being summoned here again, I started sifting through what I remembered before waking up here. Scattered memories floated through my confused brain, from Mackenzie being hurt to the boiling rage that consumed me, then distorted, detached memories of using the phosphorus I made to torture the raiders to death. The person I was watching didn't feel like me; it was cold and unfeeling, with its only desire to bring as much pain as possible to those goblins in front of it.

The goddess patiently waited as I sorted out my mind before starting to talk as I refocused on what was around me. Her voice was much more serious and carried a sharp edge as she said, "You aren't dead, but your soul was almost consumed by that angry mass of magic you spewed out. I know that you've read about death curses, and normal people don't have enough mana, even when consuming their souls, to birth a sentient curse. But you, having a bit of my divinity, literally breathed life into your hate without even realizing what you were doing."

"What are you talking about? I didn't really do anything other than get mad," I said defensively, before being cut off by the goddess. "The three fundamentals of spell crafting that mortals use require magic power, some form of conditioning, whether it be visualization or spellcraft, and what you have dubbed manifestation. But add in a little divinity, and all you really need is to will things into existence."

My mouth agape, I asked, "I was using divinity? And it is strong enough to completely disregard the other aspects of spells?Also how are you so confident in knowing what I have learn?"

"Pretty much. An apt analogy would be using a single drop of divinity to fill oceans of mana. That is why gods have to segregate themselves from the material world. Before the divine covenant, gods used to walk the world, and if one got even slightly mad, it might destroy an entire city in an instant before really realizing what happened. That is why the divine covenant was formed, blocking deities from the mortal planes. It is also why gods end up kind of eccentric; they limit their focus and ignore everything else. That's why gods tend to only focus on a few aspects so they can manage their moods and not have their divinity run amok. As to your last question, I have access to everything in your head, also you reside in the world I oversee, so watching you isn't exactly hard."

I was about to ask another question, but the goddess continued, "I put the system in place to help you adapt to your new world and gave it a small amount of divinity to power it. I didn't expect you could absorb and even grow some of it on your own. I can't undo the effects of exposing you to divinity, but if you don't manage it, you will eventually be held to the covenant and face the retribution of the gods."

"What is this covenant you keep mentioning, and why would I be punished if I didn't do something about the divinity growing within me?" I quickly interjected before the goddess started on another spiel.

"Millennia ago, gods walked among the mortals and could wield their power with little concern for the consequences. Just like the meager divine energies growing within you ran amok and started to twist your personality, some gods succumbed to a similar fate, slowly being morphed into entities of hatred and destruction by their own power. There was a war where the gods that sided with creation and those who had darker intentions fought. All of creation was dragged into this war, and entire realities were created to breed and supply troops to continue to fight."

"Eventually, light won over darkness, and seeing the destruction, pain, and suffering inflicted on an innumerable number of souls, the gods, after sealing their weakened foes, created a divine covenant. This covenant, backed by their combined power, forbids gods from directly interfering with mortals. They sealed themselves away in their own little pocket dimensions and dished out blessings for their believers, rarely getting involved to maintain order within the bounds of the covenant."

"But you have a bit of divinity within you that began resonating with your soul and growing. As it continues to grow, it will draw the eye of both the gods and those who follow them. Most gods will simply try to kill you before you reach ascension to avoid the problem entirely, while darker forces would try to sway you to their side to destroy the delicate balance that has followed the war. There are a few powerful entities that either skirt the rules or are not bound by them, but they tend to avoid angering true deities."

Before I could gather my thoughts, the goddess waved her hand, and reality began to fade. She spoke, "We are out of time, my messenger. I did my best to mend the damage, but I doubt you'll enjoy the next few days." Then, everything returned to darkness.