He began by descending onto the surface of this new world, shaping himself into flesh and bone for the first time since his death. A mortal shell.
Something tangible.
A human vessel.
One that can touch and interact with this world.
But still bald, faceless and blank.
And reflecting sunshine from the nearest star. A bird was blinded by the light and decided to turn back and fly the other way.
He looked more like a living mannequin with human flesh.
Why'd he go back to controlling a human body? If he was going to play god here, then he might as well look the part. The future inhabitants would need an image to worship, after all.
Naturally, he thought of Earth's gods as reference.
And then immediately shook his head.
Nah. Please not those burly, bearded statues carved out of marble.
Bodies ripped like wrestlers, yet dangling with… disappointments.
"Anything but that." he muttered to himself.
The last thing he wanted was for generations of young and old to kneel before his statue, only to raise their heads in reverence at a stone carving of him with a peeking tiny testicle smaller than his thumb. That would be humiliating beyond reason.
I mean it wasn't even that small...
No, if he was going to be worshipped, then his divine image needed to be dignified… maybe even stylish.
At his will, golden particles wrapped around his bare body, coiling like a living serpent of light. They shimmered, twisted, and then settled on his flesh.
When the glow finally faded, he stood there.
No longer naked, but clothed in garments that radiated a faint divine sheen.
His hair spilled down in strands as white as winter snow.
And his once featureless face… it now bore the image of his past life, though refined. Filtered, adjusted and perfected.
A sharp jawline. Half-lidded, sleepy grey eyes. Porcelain skin. A straight, elegant nose.
He studied his reflection in a ripple of water at his feet.
"Too handsome, but whatever, I'm going to discard this appearance pretty soon anyway."
"Once I put humans in this world I'll make a few more worlds in the solar system then reincarnate in a body."
He had too many ideas swirling in his head. From this point on, things were about to get busy and interesting.
Sitting down, he crossed his legs into a lotus position and closed his eyes, releasing a long exhale. His senses stretched outward, vast and unbound, brushing across every corner of this newborn world.
This was his omnipresence.
The ability to be present in all corners of the planet, every nook and cranny, every molecule down to the last microscopic organism.
It didn't tax his mind. There was no strain. He wasn't mortal anymore, nor anything close to human.
Far away, on a lonely cluster of islands, the ground began to move.
Mud rose as if pulled by invisible strings, shaping into crude forms. First a head, then a torso, then arms and legs.
Each piece molded with the precision of an unseen immortal sculptor.
One figure stood… then another… and another. Until ten of them towered side by side like unfinished statues that formed a circle.
Their forms slowly refined. Edges softened, shapes smoothed. They began to resemble humans.
Well... If humans were made of damp earth, brown from head to toe, with twigs and roots sticking out like odd decorations.
The new god glanced at his half-finished creations and shrugged irresponsibly.
"Meh, I'll deal with that later." he muttered, returning to the task of breathing life into them.
Above the statues, the clouds began to growl. Flickers of golden light rippled through the sky, flashing brighter and brighter with each passing second.
The energy gathered at the center until the heavens themselves rumbled.
Then thunder roared.
Bluguum!
Bolts of golden lightning disturbed the clouds and crashed down one after another, striking all of the ten standing statues.
From afar, the spectacle was unmistakable. Across the horizon, other islands were shrouded in the same storm, the same golden lightning falling from the sky as if the world itself was awakening and having a breakthrough.
The lightning strikes continued for a good few minutes. The world was flickering with golden lights.
For now, the new god rose to his feet, dusted himself off, and kicked lightly against the ground before lifting into the sky.
He flew.
With wings? Nah, he's a god. What's gravity gonna do, stop him? He literally made it!
He soared across the vast blue ocean, gaze drifting over the life that had quietly unfolded during the four billion years he'd fast-forwarded.
Beneath the waves, schools of fish darted in perfect rhythm, always led by the ones at the front.
Hundreds of thousands of tropical species danced among coral forests, weaving through bright reefs and swaying sea flora like pieces of living art.
Dolphins leapt, sharks prowled, squids jetted through the currents, and whales glided with timeless grace.
The world had blossomed into a grand theater of life.
In here, endless shapes and forms were now competing, thriving, existing and surviving.
A complex and profound ecosystem is here.
From simple single-cell organisms to complex multicellular beings, eukaryotes and prokaryotes alike, evolution had spun countless variations.
He hovered above it all, watching with quiet satisfaction.
'So this is what it feels like to be a god.'
He couldn't deny it. It was an amazing feeling.
But at the same time...
Lonely and mildly scary.
Afterall, for some reason, the endless ocean beneath his feet stirred a faint unease in him. The vastness. The depth. Was this… thalassophobia? A god, the most powerful being in existence, unnerved by deep water?
He snorted and chuckled.
"Oh well. Not like I can drown anyway."
His fear wasn't invalid. Afterall, he added deep-sea monsters in this big sandbox.
And they're all colossal, simply gigantic.
Such as ship-devouring krakens, whirlpool-creating worms, and a terrifying leviathan stretching kilometers long.
All of which would instantly kill someone with a weak heart.
He brushed the thought aside and kept moving, cutting across the horizon until the ocean gave way to a continent with a sprawling jungle.
Towering trees loomed above him, stretching more than fifty meters high. His form which was now in mortal flesh, felt like that of an ant wandering through a green cathedral.
Wild vegetation tangled with glowing flora, and the air buzzed with life.
Bushes bore plump, colorful berries, sweet enough and rich in fibre to lure herbivorous beasts from the underbrush.
Strange plants shimmered faintly with luminescent bacteria, bathing the jungle floor in a soft glow.
The oxygen here was rich, too rich and pure. Real Earth could never!
Thicker than modern Earth's atmosphere, though not suffocating. Just heavy enough to make every breath feel alive.
He touched down on a massive branch and drew in a long inhale.
It smelled… purely of nature. Untainted, fresh, intoxicating.
And just as he allowed himself to sink into the moment, something cut through the silent stillness.
Whizz!
A rock shot toward him, fast, sharp, and aimed straight for his head.