But each remaking of his interior vein patterns streamlined them slightly His Nether evolved to be more resilient for the next time
Yet his attention fixated on a notification that had popped up in front of him The last piece he needed
Congratulations For surviving the strike of a powerful Entity from outside the Nexus MuseÆs Reverie +1 Muses Reverie 8/8
Guess itÆs my turn to seize the initiative Randidly grunted out the response as his organs reformed He took a breath as he forced back the lingering pressure of this blindfolded womanÆs power His images blazed in his body as they manifested again screaming for vengeance From the depths of his Nether Core he plucked out Acri with the new portion that had been slowly assimilated into the spear over the last twenty minutes
Time to work a little bit of magic Look IÆve got nothing up my sleeves
He raised his spear He channeled his three images His bright pupils dilated He needed to pour everything into this strike Now truly he was glad of the training with Visage of Obsession He allowed any thought not related to the present to drain out of his head
Randidly GhosthoundÆs muscles exploded with force He was motion and violence This sort of strike was not the strike of a man who had a plan for the follow up
The First Tree Suffers Only Fealty Singularity Engulfs the Finite Alpha DragonÆs Fell Smite
Congratulations Your Grand Fate Temporal Thaumaturgy Mends Eternity has grown to Level 1811
Congratulations Your Nether Penance Empty Vessel Fosakes the Path has grown to Level 1811
Randidly Ghosthound had Truths no longer But over the course of this experience his opinions had grown increasingly firm His three images moved together as a single attack They brought shape and emotion and the three mixed together Perhaps not perfectly but without any slack any sense of weakness
He raised Acri in a javelin throw and launched it directly at the blindfolded womanÆs face Emotions erupted through his body They became wings that sped the strike forward faster For threatening his Alpha Cosmos Randidly Ghosthound would make her bleed
The golden Engraving had grown larger and larger until it pressed against the edges of the Nexus and then extended past them It was an enormous thing impossible to view in its totality each stroke of its execution having fattened underneath the ministrations of the World Tree To the point it took on a shape that could support a universe
With a broad source the light of this half made new order became soft and filled with possibilities
Pine stood in the center staring in wonder at the work done by Neveah his half sister The sentiment caused by her presence felt strange and unfamiliar in PineÆs almost alarming A different intimidating sort of hunger he had no idea how to satisfy
Yet that feeling also filled him with an impetus Suddenly all the darkness that had clouded him for so long which he used as a shield even as it poisoned him seemed so small An entire world waited beyond his fears
He had a sister Yet that fact only made him more aware of the rumblings through the Nexus Because now he felt his frozen hesitation thaw His perspective had shifted as the Engraving had grown
He could feel the three outer portions of the golden Engraving the way they would come to balance one another Already the Nexus moved to settle around his father who remained steadfastly in place As the rotating Engraving built up momentum more and more of the Alpha Cosmos manifested in the second space
In that final circle Pine could sense a fitful consciousness observing her environment closely
You truly need me Pine said suddenly seeing how all the patterns aligned He hadnÆt believed Randidly Ghosthound earlier when the intense man had been so insistent on this fact PineÆs emotions might be a roiling storm inside of his body but at the same time an intense clarity had seized him Not just my presence but my cooperation Otherwise the Engraving will tear the spatial fabric before it can be shifted to its new location
Creating a new realm must be done delicately Neveah bowed her head still radiating guilt Yes We donÆt mean to be one more group requiring your assistance but
You asked PineÆs voice broke He remembered Randidly GhosthoundÆs stubborn emphasis on the formality He remembered ElhumeÆs immediate response when his son had asked even vaguely Pined blinked and blinked trying to remain focused even as his emotional storm threatened to break across him and leave him scattered That makes all the difference You asked me
The Engraving groaned as it stretched further pushing beyond the bounds of the Nexus to the point where the original universe was just a portion of the whole The dark subconscious sat in the middle of a seething storm of destruction as it began to destabilize a larger portion of the space given more environment to corrupt with the expansion Huge rifts yawned open around its edges large enough for entire worlds to vanish without a trace
The three circles spun and Pine felt his consciousness stretching The spatial fabric trembled as movement settled them in a new location They had left the Nexus behind so that the Engraving could cup all of it in that first circle with Elhume The Alpha Cosmos settled into place in the second circle As the Engraving wheeled around the third circle popped open and scooped up all that heavy darkness
Huge root lined golden gates stretched wide The darkness too was welcome in the order Randidly and Neveah wanted to create
The whole working shuddered as it wrenched to a stop the third circle abruptly burdening the rest of the Engraving The gates closed to drag along the dark subconscious but it had sat and pooled and deepened and simmered for too long It refused to shift PineÆs consciousness snapped down grasping onto the edges of the third circle even as the roots tying everything together began to stretch and pop with the strain of edging it forward
Pine grimaced as almost realized he had jumped forward to help without thinking about it His instincts told him what he wanted even if he wouldnÆt have been able to name it
He ignored his hunger he ignored his chaotic heart he ignored all the glittering light and darkness The universe soul simply wished with all his being He reinforced the third circle as best he could
Hold He prayed Hold and begin to move So long as we begin to move
everything can change
Pine felt time tear first but didnÆt care they could fix time Randidly Ghosthound would fix time so long as they endured through this difficult beginning PineÆs existence buzzed as the stretching became tearing and he had to throw more and more of himself along the edges of the third circle to keep it held in place
His soul stretched even his sense of self put on the line to hold the third circle in place Everything became agony Fiery consumed his confusion his knowledge of a sister and even his ever present hunger He felt the sweat and the pain and nothing else Without time the strain seeped deeper and deeper into his being without any chance of easing
His grip loosened slightly It was just so hard Pine wished with all his being wished for a different life He felt a different sort of hunger growing in him
Golden light congregated energy flooding in from the World Tree The Engraving wrenched again but couldnÆt unmoor the implacable and hungry oblivion The darkness wouldnÆt shift It was too much too big too heavy
PineÆs wish began to fade His grip loosened even further just so he didnÆt hurt so much anymore He felt himself curling inward He felt guilt a familiar guilt forming in his gut He stirred himself into one more titanic effort but he already felt his heart seeping out of it Everything was too painful
Pine felt tears in his eyes Was changing always this painful
And then a mysterious figure exhaled Pine felt a light touch and someone whispered in his ear We deserve better than this