NOVPUBAround me there was an endless number of fragments, each fragment was a blur of stars and energies releasing totally different presences, rearranging these fragments and uniting them was not as easy as melting them all together to form a whole.
This was a process that had to be done slowly, I had to look for combinations between the fragments of the universe to assemble a grid of Essences that, even though rudimentary, could still hold the connections.
In this state I had no notion of time, this was because I was not using my reasoning while working, I was purely using my instinct because it was faster.
I felt like a child trying to stubbornly put together pieces of different puzzles into one, but there was nothing I could do about it, it was not something that could be done brute force.
I had to feel the presence of the fragments, identify the types of Essences inside regardless of whether they were complete or not, then look for combinations before passing the line of Starfire through the Universal Fragment, this would create a flow between the fragments that was not there before.
Even if the efficiency of the Essence flow between the fragments was only 0.001% it didn’t matter, as long as there was a connection no matter how unstable it was, that was all I needed, I needed to connect all the fragments in this way and as soon as I managed to do it until the last one, great exhaustion fell over me.
"(That was... difficult...)" (me)
I had no idea how long it took, but it must have been a few days, but the problem wasn’t the time but the difficulty, I was overworking myself and I couldn’t stop because it was something that had to be done without pause.
"(Now comes the easy part.)" (me)
What I needed now was more practical and quick, I went back to the beginning, I was in the first Fragment and forced it together with the fragments connected to it while I was fusing them together using the Starfire lines themselves, then the Power of Chaos poured out forcing an adaptation in the flow of Essences between the fragments.
This step continued much more easily, it took me a few hours to finish what was left was a patchwork quilt, they were all apparently together, but they were clearly different.
"(The body is shaped, now comes the refinement.)" (me)
"How do you feel?" (me)
"Horrible..." (Tarzor)
Tarzor’s voice came from all corners, but it was not a voice per se but rather an expression of his Will just like me, as I listened to his single word, the Seed appeared in my eyes again, this time no longer the inanimate item from before.
The seed was contained by Starfire, but vines and roots were writhing around it as glowing Runes traveled across its surface.
The seed itself was actually inside Tarzor and was already taking effect or I couldn’t have done any of this, what was holding it back was the Will of the Seed preventing it from truly growing.
"The next step will be endless pain for you, but don’t lose consciousness, keep your Will strong." (me)
"Don’t waste our time stating the obvious... do it!" (Tarzor)
"As you wish." (me)
"< Release >" (me)
I release the seed and step away, the Starfire around it doesn’t go out, in fact it expands as if trying to create a sea of flames as endless vines and roots extend, I myself disappear from inside Tarzor opening my eyes once more in my body.
Looking forward, my 3 Saints were still enduring, but I regain full control of the ritual, the next part would be too difficult for them and would refuse from my Anomalous Power.
I look at Tarzor, he was writhing, his body was a mess no longer maintaining the shape of a Serpent, his Scales were spread out as if maintaining an oval shape, I did this on purpose, it looked like an egg of scales with teeth stuck to its carapace while two pairs of eyes were above forming the shadow of a Serpent in flames.
"< Core Formation >" (me)
Each scale of the egg was different in shape, size and looked like a window to different fields of stars, but what they all had in common was air, roots and branches passed through all of them, a tree could almost be seen completely through its separate images on each scale.
But for me, it was as if the egg was completely transparent, allowing me to see the Tree inside, stretching endlessly, its branches and roots taking the place of the flow of Essences between all the fragments. I could feel the naturalness and efficiency of this flow increasing exponentially. Thanks to this, I was sure that it would reach 100%, becoming completely stable and integrated, as if it were true veins in its body.
With the tree almost completely formed, I could see the runes of light beginning to appear on the egg, and with that, I began the process of creating the core.
The entire Ritual began to pulse, and with that, the egg did the same. The pulse of the two synchronized in a few seconds, and after that, each pulse made the entire Ritual shrink until it was completely absorbed by the egg.
Without the ritual to continually absorb Divine Power, I had to become the medium for the Divine Power to continue nourishing the egg, but this time I was making the Anomalous Power burn this Divine Power to become stronger before sinking into the egg. 𝖓𝔬𝔳𝖕𝖚𝖇.𝖈𝔬𝔪
I could feel Tarzor’s screams, his Aura and presence were vibrating in agonizing suffering, but this was good, it meant he was managing to maintain consciousness.
This continued for some time, not only was I sending Anomalous Power to him, I was also shaping his core.
The Tree inside it was just visible to me, but at the foot of this tree was a Crystal Palace that was made by me, this was the core I chose, around it were sleeping planets, each of them still burning with Starfire, but they were the exact number of Legions of Death and Poison Worlds that I used as materials.
A Star System forming with the Star Palace as the center or more specifically the tree as the center.
The power of the Essences was all flowing through the Tree before entering the Palace, thanks to this the Complete Essences merge with the Palace while the incomplete Essences consume their equals becoming complete before merging with the Palace.
Around the Tree an illusory Purple Sun and a Fragmented Moon were forming, rotating around it above the Stellar Palace.
I just observe and try to understand where the power of the Law that the Seed absorbed was, that’s when I realized that it was flowing together with the Essences, they became Universal Laws literally being applied throughout the existence of Tarzor.
Little by little his Aura and Presence submerges into the egg that begins to radiate a strange presence, the Shadow of a Serpent forms, little by little his body changes, his Scales becoming rougher, 9 claws appearing on his body, horns similar to tree branches growing on his head and not to mention the appearance of his head itself transforming as if it were that of a Dragon, his snout lengthens with more sharp teeth appearing, his sharp eyes become completely red and a mane of Starfire looking like strands of hair appears.
Its appearance was magnificent as its horns seemed to contain countless Runes engraved on them.
It was just an illusory shadow right now, but I had no doubt that its appearance when it hatched from the egg would be no different from this, it could very possibly be exactly this.
But as soon as the egg formed and this illusory Dragon coiled around the egg, space began to tremble as if it was going to shatter, it was trying to send the egg out and me along with it, I echoed this strangely as I was within my Star Path, that was when I realized that it was the Universe itself that was expelling the egg and my connection with it was just what caused me to be dragged along.
Ding!
<[ The System Calls You ]>
When I thought I was in danger and didn’t know what to do, I suddenly found myself sitting on a park bench. Around me, there were people walking calmly. They were well-dressed and there were buildings around the square. But I didn’t recognize the architecture, no matter how modern it was. The people didn’t look human either, they had pointy ears and sometimes a long tail.
In front of me was a person. The two of us seemed to be invisible to the other people as we passed by, but the presence of the person in front of me was overwhelming for the simple fact that I didn’t feel anything about him. It was as if I was everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
I didn’t feel fear or any apprehension, I didn’t feel any of those things. I was just focused on him, trying to understand more. It was almost as if my curiosity was all that was left of my personality while my creativity exploded in my mind.
But soon I couldn’t think of anything else, something happened suddenly, the heavens split, the world shook, people ran in fear as tall buildings fell, the earth cracked with columns of magma rising as a Moon I hadn’t noticed before fell.
I could only watch as the entire planet destroyed itself in minutes and revealed a solar system collapsing, then showed the culprit, a grotesque creature claw larger than the entire solar system was trying to tear open space.
Suddenly everything disappeared and I was standing in the same place on my Star Path, the same person was in front of me, he didn’t say anything and neither did I, but now I knew who he was.
"You are the System..." (me)
