《Saga of the Sacred Square》
B 1 Ch 1 Afternoon Nap
A young man dozed on a recliner kicked back with his feet up. A cozy microfiber throw blanket draped over him. Last night had been another all nighter and even though late afternoon sun shone directly in his face he didn''t shift at all. Though when a breeze blew over him he scrunched up his eyes in consternation. There wasn''t a window open in the whole house, and now that he thought about it there wasn''t one next to him to let in the sun either. These rather slow realizations blundered through his waking mind and were followed quickly by frustration. One of his roommates must have dragged him and the recliner outside, well no it had to have been at least two. This recliner wasn''t exactly light and neither was he.
Ozzy had never been one for practical jokes and didn''t know why they bothered since they''d likely not get the reaction they were hoping for. Rubbing his eyes to remove the sleep he cracked them open and sure enough there was a clear sky above him. Which was not just strange since he''d gone to sleep in the living room but because a clear sky was rare in early spring. He turned toward the house, or at least where he thought it might be but it wasn''t in that direction. Which again was strange as there was only one direction he''d see an open sky as they were on a basic suburban street with the exception of one side of the street being undeveloped yet. However, what he saw in the other direction was just more open sky. Silently he cursed whoever the fuck decided this would be funny and cast his gaze in every direction but only saw more of the same. That''s when he made the decision to look down and immediately wished he hadn''t. As below him was actually just more sky, well other than the recliner and small section of flooring it was sitting on.
Contradictory to every statement he''d ever made about him not being one to overreact Ozzy unfortunately did just that. Unfortunately because sitting on a recliner on a small section of floor in an endless expanse of sky is probably a perfect definition of precarious. Not unlike himself the Recliner also didn''t react well to its sudden change of situation. The jerky and wild movements of the human atop it ultimately started a wobble that only helped to further unsettle the occupants nerves, and of course further its wild movements. It was only the fact that humans most commonly try to shield themselves, by bringing their appendages closer to themselves when faced with danger that prevented the whole mess to get completely out of control and topple over. At least that''s what Ozzy reassured himself with as he panted and tried to steady his nerves, heartrate, and body to prevent further upsets.
Most young men think themselves rather well put together, and capable when it comes to dangerous situations, but honestly in this day and age facing danger isn''t a common occurrence or even a rare one and you never know how you''ll react until you come face to face with it. Ozzy would not be quick to admit just how long he sat there puffing with his eyes screwed shut. Eventually his heart rate slowed and his panic subsided. After which he peeked out again, first around him to confirm he didn''t see the house. Which he didn''t, let alone anything else for that matter. Just the ever-present clear sky. Tilting his head painstakingly slow over the edge he looked down carefully, and sure enough there was more sky below. As far as he felt safe peeking out there was nothing more to see but sky.
Sitting back he pondered his situation. There was not much he had to go on. Feeling himself over, even pinching seemed to imply he was fully awake. Never once had there been a dream so realistic, not even a tenth as much. This didn''t seem like the afterlife, but neither of those were very helpful insights. As there was no way to be certain either of them weren''t the case, other than just stating that wasn''t it. Instead there was more he could do to explore. There was a bit of space around the recliner on all sides. The whole area being about a meter. Without a way to measure he couldn''t be absolutely sure, but it was close enough. Cautiously he moved back to a fully upright seating position, locking the recliner in place. Double and triple checking that the recliner was locked before moving any further, The recliner was inconveniently centered on the square. This gave barely enough room to stand on the edge which was too much of a gamble in Ozzy''s mind. Instead he inched the chair and himself backward carefully going from toe to heel repeatedly. Which wasn''t easy given the heft of the recliner.
Taking no chances again Ozzy tested things out first. Gingerly putting a small amount of weight on his feet then slightly more repeatedly ensuring he was certain of his ability to stand without wobbling in the slightest before standing fully. Even then he never lifted his hands from the recliner arm rests and quickly turned to face it rather than the open sky. Being unsure he wouldn''t falter anyway after seeing the expanse of nothing opening up around him. While facing the recliner he now had a better view as he moved it further backward and now toward the corner, giving him even more room on the tile of floor he had. Now he sat on the space provided and again took a moment to center himself before moving again. Heights had never been a particular fear of his, but seeing just complete absence in all directions initiated a new level of fright.
Leaning once more yielded the same results. Confirming there really was nothing below, although now the edges of the square of floor were visible. The faux hard wood and the subfloor looked cleanly cut on the edge of the square. Below that the beams of the floor were fit perfectly on all sides as if a new structure designed specifically to hold this square had been constructed, with ninety degree metal plates on the corners securing each side together. The implications weren''t clear but at the very least it appeared this wasn''t a cutout of a section of the floor he, and the recliner had been sitting on rather a representation of it. That was something but didn''t explain anything about the situation.
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Ozzy decided to take a risk. A calculated one. Flipping himself over in the small space left by the recliner wasn''t easy but with molasses like movements he did it without causing a panic to rise again. Now he lay with his stomach to the floor and was able to reach his arm down and under the flooring he was sitting on. The sensation was strange, and at first he wasn''t sure if he was imagining it or not, but after letting his arm go limp his hand semi floated oddly, as if it was attracted to the bottom of the floor but was pushed away by his own arm which was being pulled in the other direction. Initially he pulled his arm back and shook it, feeling weirded out by the sensation, but eventually put it back and retested. It''s always better to retest a hypothesis than to go off of assumptions and feelings, even first hand and recent ones. This time he allowed his arm and hand to hang limp for a good few seconds and observed. Sure enough the hand moved toward the under side of the flooring, in turn twisting and bending his arm awkwardly. Eventually it bumped against the beams there and stayed with the gentle pressure he would expect if he''d set his hand on the ground back home.
"Well that''s new" Ozzy said out loud surprising himself with the first words he''d spoken since he''d awoken. "What the fuck" he said, now that he''d broken the silence he felt he needed to fill it up as much as he could. "What the ACTUAL fuck?!" he said looking about once more as if expecting some kind of answer. "Hello?....." He tried. Of course nothing and nobody answered him not even an echo of his own voice. Half expecting another panic attack to bubble up he was surprised when it didn''t, but then again he was getting emotionally exhausted from all the revelations so far. There was only so much adrenalin in the human body after all. Nearly shitting oneself several times in a row was prone to leave you drained.
Shifting his focus back to his hand he decided he may as well continue the exploration. inching himself forward again he now placed both hands on the underside. With both hands and forearms resting on the bottom he could now get his head under and was only mildly surprised to find no shadow or dark nooks at all. With nothing but sky in all directions it was as bright on the underside as it was the top. Squinting he realized something at this point that he hadn''t noticed before. Despite what seemed to be an afternoon sun and bright blue sky in every direction he hadn''t seen a single sun in the sky. Quickly he scanned about the underside, and peeked up to do the same for the topside. Nothing. Not a sun, or cloud or anything. "what the fuck..." he said this time in a whisper of dejection. Of course there wasn''t a sun, That would just be something logical, reasonable, and normal he could rest his hopes on.
Thankful for his seeming lack of emotional investment he returned his attention to the underside. Scooching over slightly each time he slowly inched himself to where he was surprisingly half on the top and bottom. It was the strangest sensation he''d ever experienced. As if someone had glued him in place on both sides of the floor, but he could adjust position. Being a little bit daring for the first time since awaking he flipped his legs around and positioned them on the subfloor from the bottom. Pushed himself up and stood. Regret washed over him as did disorientation, but it left just as quickly. At least now he wouldn''t need to be so freaked out about falling. What the heck, he thought, why not one more daring move? Taking a quick step he whirled around the edge of the square ending up standing next to the recliner on the other side. The disorientation, although still there was becoming something of a usual feeling.
Ozzy had now flipped back and forth between the top and underside of his square meter of land several times and made absolutely certain that there was nothing more to see in his little kingdom. At least as far as the breadth exploration goes. Now for a depth exploration. Looking at himself and the recliner he took stock of the situation. He was wearing a plain white T-shirt and jeans, and had on a pair of socks. That was it for clothes. In his pockets were his wallet and a swiss army knife his uncle had given him. As to the recliner, there was a pocket on the opposite side to the footrest lock, it had a pad and pen, as well as a couple hard candies, and of course there was throw blanket. Not much to live on. Speaking of which he was feeling a bit peckish. Which was definitely a point in the ''not the afterlife'' category. Unfortunately that also gave a point into the ''might be the afterlife soon'' category if we were keeping track.
He made a quick recap of everything he''d found so far. Flipping to the underside and back, checking his pockets and the one in the recliner. Even moving the recliner again and checking between the cushions he confirmed there wasn''t even dust left behind. There wasn''t much to work with, not much at all. One might even say nothing to work with. Tucking the candies, pen, and notepad in his pockets he decided he really had to find a way out of here. Wherever here was. Taking one more quick glance around he wasn''t sure if that was possible, but there was no way he wasn''t trying. stepping to the corner of the square he prepared himself for a running jump. He figured worst case scenario he''d just end up on the underside again. Launching himself forward he flew through the air. Was this air? he wasn''t really sure, but didn''t have much longer to wonder as suddenly he landed on ground. Not just the ground but grass it felt like. Dew covered grass. He was about to cheer when he heard a hiss not far from his feet. Which was around the same time he realized he couldn''t see anymore.
B 1 Ch 2 Pest Control
The multiple sudden changes all caused a frozen second in which Ozzy was able to evaluate the situation for just a moment longer before reacting. The hiss was actually more of a squeak now that he could focus on it. It also wasn¡¯t so much that he couldn¡¯t see as it was just darker wherever he was now. Dark enough that it at first appeared there was no light at all, at least in comparison to his own little square floor. Now though, he could make out the dim outline of another square below him. Overall it appeared the lighting here was closer to a moonless night.
There shock gave him enough time to allow his vision to fully acclimate as he was soon able to see the source of the squeaking. A rat about the same size as his foot was up on its hind legs screaming at him as if he¡¯d just woken it out of a nap. Ozzy was forced to again reevaluate his previous estimation of himself. Strangely, even though he¡¯d already assumed it was a mouse or rat from the sound, seeing it standing up and screeching like that forced his body to move where he¡¯d previously been indifferent.
The movement his lizard brain decided on was an immediate large backward step. Normally this would be a great idea but he wasn¡¯t exactly sure how that would work out with his new predicament. Seeing the bright clear sky and his recliner reappear beside him brought a sigh of relief. Followed by the now seemingly ubiquitous moment to calm down. It was silly how worked up one got seeing a rat. Shaking his head Ozzy took a step forward again, figuring the rat would already be gone by now, as they usually run off when scared.
His foot didn¡¯t land on uncomfortably damp grass though, instead he did a less than graceful fall onto the side of his square and then flopped painfully on the underside. He sat there for a moment thinking. There¡¯d been no turning around. The step he took was in the same direction he¡¯d initially gone. Then again he¡¯d gone over the same side of the square before and flipped to the bottom several times so it wasn¡¯t unrealistic he¡¯d end up here again. Whirling himself once again to the topside he stared once more at the side he¡¯d jumped off of. He shouldn¡¯t need to jump as the step backward took him back here just as easily as the jump had taken him there.
It had to be something else. Some other trigger. Possibly intent? That was a pretty strong likelihood. He¡¯d been hoping, wishing, and praying himself out of here when he leaped into the unknown. And, the return step had been fueled by his lizard brains need to get out of dodge. Psyching himself up he vehemently wished to be elsewhere and stepped forward. The feeling of soaking your socks had never made him happy before but this time it made him cheer. ¡°YES!!¡± he shouted, quickly followed by ¡°FUCK!¡±.
Apparently the rat had not only stayed put, but also decided to forgo the warning this time and instead went on the offensive. Evidenced by the pain in his toe. Again instinct took over and Ozzy kicked his foot violently which was followed by a ¡°Squeak¡± Crack, and silence. Whatever this new set of places was, it seemed intent on twisting up his guts every few minutes. The feeling was mild though as he didn¡¯t feel to bad for a rat that had just attacked him.
When his eyes had adjusted he moved his foot and peered down. Confirming that yes he had squashed the rat and no it was not alive. Other than that the place wasn¡¯t much to look at. There was dew covered grass as he¡¯d felt through his soaked socks and it was growing in some healthy looking soil. Somehow it didn¡¯t surprise him that it was also in the shape of a square about a meter to a side. Squatting down on the edge he felt on the underside and it also had the same odd feeling of opposed gravity.
A quick jaunt to the underside showed an interesting change. Unlike his square, this one was identical on its other side. Well not identical, just a patch of grass, minus the aggressive rodent. Returning to the top side Ozzy noticed another difference from his square. The sky wasn¡¯t empty here. There were stars.
It took a moment for Ozzy to realize he¡¯d frozen. Longer than it had when he was in danger. It was far longer before he realized he¡¯d been worked up to the point of tears, and longer to calm back down than it took when he¡¯d first woken up on a recliner suspended in emptiness. He wasn¡¯t sure how long he sat staring at the starry sky. In fact he hadn¡¯t realized he sat until he had to fish the uncomfortable rat carcass from under his backside. Leaving him awkwardly holding the deceased body of his only compatriot as he went through his emotions.
There were not many as he realized his life hadn¡¯t been that long on earth. He still wasn¡¯t sure, or didn¡¯t believe he was dead, but he knew he wasn¡¯t on earth anymore and didn¡¯t know when he¡¯d see anyone again if ever. Eventually Ozzy got up. He didn¡¯t feel better nor were his feelings resolved but he felt a bit hollow. Similar to his adrenalin rush and subsequent depletion he guessed whatever neurochemical or pathways facilitated sadness had been overwhelmed and couldn¡¯t render him useless anymore.
Getting up he wished for his square again and took his step. When his feet crunched down into grass again his heart almost skipped a beat. The light around him and recliner before him reassured him that he was back. But, there, under his feet was another square meter of grassy soil. Abutted against his own starter square floor as if it belonged there. It was only then that he realized he was still holding the rat carcass. Which in turn caused him to drop it and scrub his hands along his jeans.
Padding over to his recliner he took off his soggy socks and sat down. First he checked his injury, but as expected the rat bite had only just broken the skin. As long as it didn¡¯t get infected he would be fine. He didn¡¯t get up though. He needed a minute.
There were only so many changes a man could handle all at once. This was an interesting change though. One he could use if he figured out how it happened. He¡¯d killed a rat and gained a square. The math didn¡¯t exactly add up but nothing else here did either. Pulling out his notebook and pen he made sure to codify his thoughts.
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Putting away his pen and paper he grabbed his pocket knife. Flipping out the different tools he thought about his options. He couldn¡¯t really fight a rat with this thing. It was far too small and he bet the rat would end up biting his hands before he could use it effectively. Speaking of, he needed to do something to protect his feet. Which was something this tool could help with. He pulled out the tiny scissors and grabbed his blanket. A frustratingly long time later he had two squares of fabric which he wrapped around his feet and then put his socks on. It wasn¡¯t a ton of protection but would likely hold against a few rat bites.
With his ¡°armor¡± and frayed nerves he was ready to face the beasts in the dark again. ¡°Heh¡± he half heartedly chuckled to himself and stepped forward to the other square once again. He was about to attempt another step further into ¡°elsewhere¡± but he heard another squeak. He didn¡¯t have much time to ponder but wondered if he¡¯d ended up on the same square or somewhere else entirely. Looking down he realized he¡¯d forgotten about the light level difference and could barely see a thing.
He blindly stomped where he thought the rat might be but only heard an even higher pitched squeak followed by a shuffling of the new covers on his feet. This time he stomped with better awareness and was rewarded with another stomach churning chorus of ¡°Sque..¡± Crack and silence. Looking down he confirmed the rat was dead, now being able to see a little better, but as he did so noticed a branch on the ground. Not huge but, something he hadn¡¯t seen before. Grabbing it instead of having another dead rat to deal with he stepped back to his squares.
Upon his triumphant return he was excited to see the results. Surveying his kingdom revealed that he was still the proud owner of two measly square meters. ¡®Not the plan¡ but, not a setback either¡¯, he mused, putting a positive spin on his outlook. ¡®And I did learn something at least¡¯ He added internally. Pulling out his notebook he corrected his previous note
2 rat killed ^ 1 square added
1 Rat carcass returned
There was more testing to do but first he examined the branch he¡¯d found, swinging it about. It felt pretty solid. A thwack or two against the ground confirmed it wasn¡¯t crumbling. But still not super useful against rats, at least not compared to his current method. A good stomp seemed to be all he needed. Well, maybe two or three if he wasn¡¯t so great at aiming. It was odd that these rats didn¡¯t try to run and instead attacked. Maybe they¡¯d never met humans before.
Which brought up the question of why he was attacking rats in random square meters of soil. He didn¡¯t really have a good answer for that other than, he needed resources to survive. He couldn¡¯t sustain himself on a few hard candies and a single square meter of hardwood, or a second square meter of dirt. Maybe he could find something worthwhile to plant in these squares somewhere, and in the meantime while they were not ideal, rats were edible. His stomach nearly turned again at that thought, but maybe he could find something else sooner rather than later.
With that thought he prepared himself with his eyes squeezed shut to better acclimate to the darkness, then stepped back into the void. This time after a moment his first stomp hit the mark. He tried not to think about what he heard when he did. As this time the stomp didn¡¯t finish the job. Another did bring silence but it wasn¡¯t that much of a relief. He checked the ground for another branch, not just the topside but the under as well. There was no branch to be found, but there was a dandelion. He pulled it up and grabbed the rat as well before stepping back home.
The scene that greeted him wasn¡¯t what he¡¯d hoped for. There were still only two square meters he could call home. With a branch, a rat carcass, a recliner, and a blanket to call his own. ¡®Well now two rat carcasses¡¯ he thought as he dropped the second next to the other. Wiping his hands once more he huffed and sat in the recliner.
So killing the rat didn¡¯t do it, bringing it back didn¡¯t do it. What could have given him the square. He reclined the chair and closed his eyes letting his mind wander and mull the problem over. Maybe only the first one did it. Although that didn¡¯t mean more wouldn¡¯t. Possibly ten? Just a complete guess. Who said base ten was a significant system here. He really had nothing better to do though, and he was trying to ignore his growing hunger.
Seventeen rat carcasses were now piled on the soil square. Ozzy sat on his throne, surveyed his two meters square of land, and panted. Even learning the pattern of the rat to the point that a single stomp was all that was required, killing eighteen rats was tiresome. Especially when accounting for the other piles. There were four dandelions, two more branches, two rather large flat rocks and what looked like an onion.
He¡¯d also found a puddle on one of those squares of dirt over there. While he hadn¡¯t yet built up the courage to eat any of the rats he sure slurped up the water from that muddy puddle. Thirst really gets to you after a long night''s sleep and several hours of work without even a sip. His body felt worn out like he¡¯d been running for a full day. He leaned back and covered up again. He couldn¡¯t quite fall asleep but he let himself rest for what felt like an hour or two.
It was his hunger that got him up. Initially he started cutting up a rat for food having a plan with the branches to make a fire but began to wonder how long he¡¯d actually let these rats sit for. They didn¡¯t really stink like rot but they did smell terrible. Although now that he was thinking about it he could probably at least use their skins for something if he really was here for good. So he still continued to skin the rat he¡¯d started with. It was as he was struggling peeling back the skin from the abdomen that he felt a little plop onto his lap. ¡®Gross¡¯ he thought as he reached to toss the guts away, but stopped when he saw what dropped seemed to be a blue coin.
B 1 Ch 3 Coin Collection
Lifting the ¡®coin¡¯ up to the light he examined it a bit closer. It didn¡¯t look much like a coin at all. More like a squashed sphere. Maybe one that had spun so fast it started to flatten out. Either way it was incredibly bloody and covered in viscera. He rubbed it against his jeans to clean it off but while doing so felt a shock jump from it to his fingers. The shock intensified but didn¡¯t exactly hurt or burn. It actually felt a bit invigorating. Still his knee jerk reaction was to fling it away but even as his hand rose up to do so he could tell there was nothing there anymore. No sting, and no coin.
He examined his fingers. There was a pinkish hue where he was holding the coin, possibly from the pressure of gripping it. Otherwise they weren¡¯t numb, or painful when manipulated or gripping tightly against one another. He decided to keep an eye on it but otherwise there wasn¡¯t much else he could do but continue. After the disgusting task he had a line of skins laid out which were mostly in one piece. Many of them were jaggedly cut and had little holes where he slipped with the knife or when pulling them off poorly. Looking at the line though one could easily see the progression from complete ineptitude to at least a little familiarity with the process.
Throughout he¡¯d found each rat had a coin. No better word for it at the moment so may as well keep using it. He was careful not to rub them on his pants but after handling a few he found it didn¡¯t really matter what he did. Holding them for too long always got him zapped. He tossed them in a pile almost as soon as he pulled them out. Leaning over he examined them as close as he could without touching. They were all nearly identical, though without a way to measure or weigh them he couldn''t be sure. The rats were similarly identical. It was also hard to tell with their crushed nature but at least the coat coloring was effectively identical as far as he could tell. As if he¡¯d been killing the same rat over and over.
In the end he had twelve of the coins left and scooped them up using the blanket and deposited them into the pocket of his recliner. Each of the five missing coins had caused zaps which had felt about the same as the first, no real pain, energizing, and bit euphoric. Kind of like drinking that first cup of coffee in the morning, only better but there was no guarantee it was as safe or non addictive. He still felt amped and ready to go though so decided he might as well finish his cleanup process.
Taking the dandelions and onion he hopped to the underside and planted the dandelions. With the onion he tossed it into the underside of his starting square. He didn¡¯t remember off hand how to grow new onions from a single one. Pretty sure there were supposed to be seeds on the top of the stalk but he didn¡¯t see any. There was also no guarantee this was actually an onion and wouldn¡¯t hurt him in some way when it bloomed. At least with the dandelions they had already bloomed and he could see no reaction, whether with breathing or his skin when handling them. And they did have some nutritional value if it came to that, and they were at least a bit more pleasing to look at than plain grass.Flipping himself back up he set the largest stone on one corner of the soil square as far from his starting square as he could. It was hanging off the edge by a bit. Then set the smallest branch, more of a stick really, on it. Bending it he was able to break it into several small pieces. Then he feathered them with his multitool. They would dry faster this way and would make it easier to light when he eventually tried.
Well now for some testing he¡¯d been thinking about. He shuddered before grabbing one of the carcasses. Even after skinning them all it was still grossing him out to grab them. Though it seemed to be lessening. Stepping to the edge he conjured the feeling of the rat square. It had become easier as he¡¯d traversed the gap. He didn¡¯t need to put so much effort into willing himself elsewhere as he¡¯d narrowed it down to a more specific feeling. It was still a bit nebulous but it was still a work in progress. The feeling he¡¯d currently settled on was that of a place to collect resources. With that he could simply step forward with the intent to go ¡®there¡¯ and he would arrive. In this process he¡¯d felt like he could feel just a twinge of other possibilities. Not dissimilar to hearing someone chatter behind a wall you didn¡¯t know had somewhere behind it, but not through your ears. Of course hearing someone talking behind a wall doesn¡¯t mean you can see the way to get there, you just know the option exists.
Upon arrival in the rat square he heard the ubiquitous squeak and promptly dropped the carcass in front of the surprised rat. He examined the top side of the square then flipped to the underside. There was another stick, even better. He wanted to see if it was the same place he returned to when he came back. At least when he didn¡¯t kill the rat. As he was flipping back to the top side he realized there was another test he needed to run. Try to step back home from the underside. One test at a time though. No need to meddle the results. Stepping back to his home squares he immediately stepped back forward again. This time thankfully no squeak, what greeted him instead was much quieter but somehow much more disgusting. The rat was feasting on its fallen comrade. Not the issue he was here for though. Exploring the underside revealed the stick as well in the same spot.
Ozzy spent the next hour returning at intervals to find the living rat in various stages of consuming the deceased. He said a silent prayer to thank whatever ruled these realms that he never saw the opposite. He didn¡¯t know how well he could handle zombie rats. He also went ahead and tested the return home from the underside. Which spurned several other tests. Initially returning from the underside resulted in him returning to home on the underside, but he quickly found that he could intentionally return to either the top, or underside from either the top or underside from either location. Not only this but he could return to either of his squares from any angle even when exiting from any angle at the rat square. ¡®Actually scratch that¡¯ he thought as he crossed out the last note he¡¯d made in his notebook. He got up and tested the last two angles. The internal connection between his two home squares. And no he couldn¡¯t return to or leave from the connection between those squares from either direction. He had to step over the boundary from his squares into nothingness, or return to such a connection.
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He updated his notes and sat back on his recliner to ponder. Intent seemed to be a major factor in travel here, and there was a clear boundary on the edge of his tiles allowing a connection to others¡ somewhere. Implying his little sphere of influence was at least partially governed by three dimensional rules while outside it seemed every point connected to every other point somewhere else. And, not just one somewhere else, if his inklings during previous travels were to be believed. Which brought up another question. If he could go to the rat square, and return here. Could the rats follow him back? Or could something or someone else travel here somehow?
He suspected the answer to those were along the lines of ¡°yes, but¡± ¡ likely with caveats. Though that in turn made him wonder about another possibility. He could step back and forth between the rat square and his home squares. If that was the case shouldn¡¯t he be able to see between them without needing to step forward. Especially if it was simply intent that determined where and how he left and arrived in both locations. If physical things could pass it would suggest that light should be able to as well.
Thirty minutes later Ozzy sat nursing a pounding headache. The blanket wasn¡¯t enough to block out the light. His hands tightly clamped over his eyes were barely enough. Any light, even the tiny little cracks between his fingers were setting off waves of pain. Just because something was possible didn¡¯t mean it was easy. He was pretty sure he had eventually succeeded, though he regretted it immediately. It had felt like he had tried to pull his third eye out of its ¡ socket? ¡ and force it through a straw. Resulting in his current predicament. He was trying as intensely not to think about anything as he had to force a field of view into the other square. Which made him wonder¡ ¡°OW!¡± he groaned. Leaning forwards. Which helped a bit. Flipping over in the recliner he forced his face into the pillowed headrest. That was much better. So much better that he actually started to relax and drift off.
Thirty minutes prior he¡¯d started out standing on the edge of his squares and preparing the idea of the rat square as if he was going to step forward. Instead of taking the step he envisioned looking at it. Nothing happened, but he wasn¡¯t deterred. Looking wasn¡¯t really an active thing like taking a step. Opening your eyes though? That was an action. Preparing himself once more this time he closed his eyes and again he didn¡¯t step forward, but instead opened his eyes. Well that would have been too easy. It did give him another eyedea though.
The two little squares he called home might operate just like that. When he left it would be like opening a door. What if he pulled back the curtains? Maybe he could see outside. Taking up stance and closing his eyes once more he envisioned the rat square and reached out his hand. Not that he actually needed his hand to do this but sometimes having a focus helped. While still keeping the rat square in mind he also conjured up a representation of a curtain before him and began pulling them open. Surprisingly he felt a resistance as if he was pushing on something. Not a curtain though, unless it was made of lead and clamped shut.
The resistance was spongy. Pushing on it felt like he was getting somewhere but the further he pushed the more resistance he felt. He could also feel the resistance wasn¡¯t in his arm, but between his eyes. His arm would keep moving but his head would lock in place and it felt a bit like someone had pushed a finger just above his nose. After a few attempts using his arm he got a good feeling of the pressure on his forehead. Letting his arm hang at his side he pushed back against the resistance mentally. Like swinging on a swing he pushed hard, let the resistance build and then let it push back on him once it reached its highest peak. In the next push he would push even harder, straining to open the curtain. Each push caused a little more pain to branch out from his forehead. He felt it was relaxing though, that he was getting somewhere.
After several swings back and forth he cracked his eyes open but kept up on his exercise. Trying to see if he was succeeding. It was difficult to see with the squinted view but he was more worried about keeping pace and not losing his focus. With several more swings he¡¯d grown accustomed to his eyes cracked and was able to widen them enough to see clearly. There didn¡¯t seem to be anything happening in front of him. There were little flickers it seemed. Though they could easily just be the floaties in his eyes against the clear sky.
It frustrated him how little progress he was making here. He¡¯d traveled to the rat square accidentally at first and had done it easily nearly fifty times now with the recent testing. How was it so hard to just look at it? The frustration drove him to push harder and strain more. The pain reverberated from his forehead to the back of his skull. For a moment or two he wondered if he was just giving himself an aneurysm for nothing. Then he saw it. Only with a flicker at first. Then half the sky turned black, and a surprised rat flat on its back, its belly bloated to bursting with its recently finished meal.
Ozzy woke up after he wasn¡¯t sure how long. Still face down in the recliner. Arms dangling on the side of the recliner awkwardly. He¡¯d also slumped down uncomfortably low to where he was face down in the seat, and his right arm had slipped into the pocket of the recliner. His legs had slipped to either side of the footrest while he slept, which might have been what woke him up. It was a bit difficult to get up. But he managed. In the process he realized his headache wasn¡¯t just gone, but he felt amazing. That, and, the pocket was empty.
B1 Ch4 Self improvement
The spikes of pain that had lanced through his skull, light sensitivity that left him huddled in a ball, and general overstimulation were all gone. The center of his forehead no longer felt like a gaping hole. It didn¡¯t even just feel normal. It now felt ¡ capable. Like a muscle he didn¡¯t know existed had suddenly grown large overnight. Looking to the pocket he checked it again, and confirmed not a single coin had survived his nap. He suspected he¡¯d absorbed them in his sleep and it had helped repair whatever damage he¡¯d done to himself. Well not just repair it. Improve it significantly.
Reaching out mentally he touched the curtains he¡¯d visualized and could feel that, no this wasn¡¯t what he was supposed to do. The improvements those coins had done were allowing him to feel or even see what he was doing. He didn¡¯t go for a faux door either. Those were weak representations of what he wanted, not even close to what he desired. He touched the edge of his new world and could feel the membranous metaphysical material that made it up. It wasn¡¯t limited to single purpose constructs like something a human could build back on earth. Forcing it to become a window was like trying to tear a hole in it. Possibly why he¡¯d gained such an injury in the first place
The best translation he could come up with was a eukaryotic cell. It had functions for allowing things in and out, for protecting itself, even from the inside. The entry and exit points he¡¯d been using so far, and the places they connected to were strikingly obvious to him now. Several other structures and capabilities were hinted at but he couldn¡¯t discern them. Feeling the connection for the Rat square he called to it and found something different than the membrane surrounding his squares. Something smaller, more porous, and thinner. Something like a mitochondria if he was keeping with the cell analogy. That didn¡¯t quite fit but it allowed him to visualize something much better than opening a curtain.
Par for the course the idea he used to represent his desires didn¡¯t quite match up with what actually happened. He evoked the image of a cell swallowing a mitochondria and was amazed as the barest hint of resistance brushed against his efforts while before him he saw a portion of his sky dim to show stars, and the bloated rat appear before him again. His eyes only told half the story. His new sense showed that he hadn¡¯t swallowed the rat square; he could still see the small porous membrane surrounding the square, and his own wasn¡¯t fully enclosing it, more like it was simply hugging it. Which would better explain the mostly bright sky with a circle of dark starry sky. Which was trippy to look at.
He definitely expected the process to be much more difficult, not to mention some continued effort to hold them connected, however it seemed the two cells liked being connected. His new senses were showing the pores, for lack of a better word, on each membrane were open which his own hadn¡¯t been before. That was a hint that the two were exchanging something. Whether that was energy information, both, or a lot more, he didn¡¯t know. A few ideas of what could be happening here were rolling around in his head but he was scared of the possible implications and what it meant for him. He¡¯d address them later when he¡¯d had some time to process it.
For now as much as he was excited about direct access to these rats he was more concerned about the fact that he was starving now, and thirsty as hell. With the change in the layout and access to the rat square he saw merit in utilizing the branches he¡¯d collected earlier. Grabbing the biggest one he walked up to the bloated rat and whacked its head. The stick passed right through the membranes as if they weren¡¯t there and cracked the rat''s skull. Well crushed it into oblivion would be a better description. Thankfully the starvation and dehydration drove him past the queasiness at the sight.
Grabbing the rat he stepped back to his little fire pit setup and set it aside. Grabbing the last two sticks he placed a feathered piece of wood between them and began rubbing. What he wouldn''t give for a flint on his multitool. Or a lighter. The process took ages, but eventually he got a little smoke from the wood, and finally after far longer after the smoke than he¡¯d thought possible a little ember. Then came nurturing the little ember until it caught into an actual flame in the feathered wood. Quickly, but carefully he placed the flame on the fire pit and piled the rest of the feathered pieces with it. Placing the other two sticks surrounding it. He blew till it caught a few of the other feathered pieces then sat back letting the fire grow on its own. He didn¡¯t have much else to feed it with but that made him remember the branch on the underside of the rat square.
As he turned to go grab it though, he was greeted with another squeak and another rat staring him down. ¡®Hmmm¡¯ he wondered ¡®when did you get here¡¯. Flipping around to the underside he went to grab the stick, but it was gone. A frown crossed his face but there wasn¡¯t much he could do about it. Jumping back to the topside he saw the rat still sitting there and figured a little testing couldn¡¯t hurt while he waited for the fire to get going. Grabbing up his large stick again he dispatched with this new rat and tossed it by the other. He seated himself so he had a good view of the rat square and started work on the carcasses. He also placed the smaller flat stone on top of the two sticks on the fire as a cooking surface so it would heat up. It only took about a few seconds though before he caught it out of the corner of his eye. A flicker of color at the rat square. Now not only was there a rat, but also another dandelion. Flipping to the underside first he made sure he didn¡¯t miss out on any more resources. Unfortunately there weren¡¯t any this time. Though if the rats showed up every few seconds and spawned random shit when they did, he¡¯d have more soon. Hopping back topside he again dealt with the new rat and tossed it by the other two.
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Ozzy Spent the next ten minutes or so continuing to gut, clean, and prepare the few rats he¡¯d started with. In the meantime killing any new ones that popped up. Pretty quickly he realized he¡¯d be dealing with insane amounts of rats if he kept hanging on to them. Instead he would pop out their coins and toss them back onto the square which he suspected would disappear like the branch did when a new rat showed up. Sure enough it did. In the meantime he¡¯d also gathered another 10 branches some of which he added to the fire. Taken a few sips from a puddle. Found a few more stones. All but one of these ones were just about the size of his hand and the last wasn¡¯t much larger. He only took the one that looked a bit like an axe head already as maybe he could use it. He also found some more plants, most he didn¡¯t recognize or had no real use for if he did. He¡¯d also started cooking the rats.
The smell wafting off the meat was surprisingly appetizing. He hadn¡¯t expected rat meat to smell good. Though odds were he was being heavily influenced by the fact he hadn¡¯t eaten anything since waking up here. But the more browned the meat became the more his mouth started to water. Some of the little pieces were likely beyond well done now so he hesitantly skewered a couple and brought it up. Still not ready to actually dine on rodent he instead gave it a sniff, but his instincts took over after that. The smell of ¡°pan seared¡± meat inches from his mouth as he was starving caused him to immediately scarf them down.
Hunger driving him to swallow the small bits without even chewing meant Ozzy couldn¡¯t quite get a handle on the taste. Eying the other pieces of the first rat on the stone, he was beginning to think that he couldn¡¯t wait for well done. He¡¯d had his fair share of rare steaks or burgers in the past and they were great, but his aversion to rodent meat had caused him to wait quite a bit longer than he usually would on the heat. Again his hunger drove him forward even as his mind still said wait. Taking the next smallest piece of rat, this one large enough that he actually had to bite off a piece, he chewed it and swallowed, then went in for more. The taste was actually not bad. Reminding him of the one time he¡¯d tried rabbit. Needless to say he wasn¡¯t proud of eating something most would be disgusted just looking at. Despite that Being able to feed himself in such a strange new environment did give him a sense of worth he hadn¡¯t felt before.
The recliner was leaned back all the way and Ozzy reveled in being relaxed, fat, and happy. The meal wasn¡¯t amazing but at least he was full. The meat had enough juice to be easy going down even without something to wash it down. He was thirsty still and wasn¡¯t looking forward to slurping muddy water out of a puddle again. He¡¯d do it though if that¡¯s what he needed to survive. There was no doubt now that he would do whatever it took to survive. There''d always been a certain feeling back on earth. Not just from him but much of his generation that humans weren¡¯t animals. That they inherently strove to be better. That they didn¡¯t have the same drives as ¡®base¡¯ animals. But when it came down to the wire it only took a day or so of surviving on your own to wipe that feeling away.
That thought process gave him a new resolve. He was going to figure out where the hell he was and not just survive but thrive here. Speaking of, there was a pile of the coins just sitting there waiting for him. Being able to simply smack a rat whenever it showed up without needing to hop back and forth between worlds really made the process so much faster. There were around fifty of them now and he needed to figure out what to do with them. He didn¡¯t quite want to get up yet, but that was ok. He had a handy new sense thanks to those coins. Reaching out a feeler he touched one. What he felt was interesting. Keeping with the cellular theme he might call this a nucleus. That would really be stretching though.
There was a membrane and he could feel ¡®pores¡¯ on the surface but when reaching inside it was a dense swirling mess of energy not information. He could try to label it something like a fat cell but he really needed to stop trying to make cellular structures fit as this was something different. This was more like the eastern legends of a beast core. Now that he thought of it, that was obviously the best description of it he could come up with and wondered why he hadn¡¯t thought of it earlier. Being honest with himself he¡¯d never been very devoted to that type of fantasy.
Despite having been examining the core for a while now he realized it didn¡¯t zap him or absorb into him. Sure he wasn¡¯t holding it physically but this extension of him was just as much him. Or so he thought of it. With that thought he remembered the change he¡¯d caused to the membrane with this tendril and tried to grab the core like he had the membrane and draw it to him. When he tried to use what he felt was an appropriate level of force he was rewarded by a smack against his foot. Unfortunately he¡¯d put up his soggy socks to dry and felt it would leave quite the welt. Though the shock made him drop the core it simply plopped onto the footrest and tilted into his foot and started to be absorbed.
This gave him a great opportunity to observe. His new senses allowed him to see the energy enter his foot and spread out rapidly. Almost identical to how he envisioned lightning traveling around the body. Chaotic was the best description he had. The energy would dissipate into random points in his body and alter them slightly. Some of those points being the welt forming on the bottom of his foot. Others were more random though it seemed to be focusing on pains, damage and or weaknesses. Each of his organs received a little attention. Including his bladder which appeared to get more than other organs. His muscles, bones, and his brain all got a dash as well. In the end he was left feeling like he¡¯d had a nice nap and was rested and ready to go. Sitting up fully in the recliner he eyed the rest of the pile hungrily as he stood. Oh he was definitely going to be thriving here.
B1 Ch5 Consolidating power
Ozzy re-centered himself. Sure he wanted nothing more than to plow through that pile of little energy packets, but he didn¡¯t want the rush of adrenaline to lose him the chance to do a little testing with them first. After all it was only by luck he¡¯d damaged his third eye, or whatever it was he was using now, and gotten an upgrade to it. He hoped he didn¡¯t need to hurt himself to gain benefits in specific areas. The only way to find out was to test. Reaching out again he grabbed another core and brought it close. This time he didn¡¯t touch it to his body at all. Instead he held it before his eyes though it was a bit distracting so he closed them. Using his new senses alone he enveloped the core with his tendril and like with the rat square envisioned consuming it.
At first it didn¡¯t seem like anything was happening and the core was holding firm. For a split second though he ¡®saw¡¯ the core¡¯s membrane puff out of existence and he was able to wonder if this had been a good idea. That was before the entire packet of energy rammed right down his tendril and into the most tender metaphysical organ. There may have been screaming and flailing but Ozzy was not aware of any of that. The only thing he knew was razor sharp needles slicing through his non corporeal dangly bits followed by searing and then nothingness all the way up to his forehead. When reaching its destination it translated into tendrils of lighting that danced around his head for what felt like a series of eternities.
Snapping his eyes open he was shocked to find himself still standing. Which made a certain amount of sense. He¡¯d tried to absorb the energy entirely into this new metaphysical organ so if that worked his physical body wouldn¡¯t have any damage or alteration. Hesitantly he turned his attention to that new sense and gingerly reached out. He amazingly didn¡¯t feel any residual pain. His tendril felt about the same as before. Maybe slightly more reactive. Branching out further he felt the domain around him. He paused at his internal use of that word now. Where previously he had called it a membrane. But like the beast cores he wasn¡¯t sure why he hadn¡¯t thought of it earlier. This was a three dimensional thing, not just a surface. Something that was blindingly obvious to him now, but had at least been hinted at when he was blundering around earlier.
That was not the only change to his capabilities. The tendril while still there was not the only method of discerning his surroundings in a non physical sense. He could see not just feel the makeup of the domain and its boundaries. Looking at the rat square he could not just see that the pores were open but the actual resources being exchanged he¡¯d assumed were there before. Energies of different types, some coming from his squares domain and entering the rat domain while different ones were returning from the rat domain. Such a drastic change with a single core was awesome. He¡¯d absorbed twelve beforehand and gained only a bit of improvement compared. Though those twelve cores were only focused on his esp due to the damage there. It had likely caused all kinds of changes around his body before getting there. Probably part of the reason why he¡¯d been able to go so long without eating or drinking much. Which would be a blessing until he solved his water issue. Drinking out of puddles was definitely not a good solution. Especially one it¡¯s possible a rat shit in.
While it was awesome that he could improve his new capabilities directly, there were more pressing survival needs to test out as well. While he felt as if his thirst and hunger were being helped out by the cores he wasn¡¯t entirely sure and needed to test to confirm. He could also try to direct the energy like he had with his third eye. Reaching out with his tendril again he grabbed another core and this time set it against his stomach. The expected zap came and energies flowed into his body. He had prepared though. He couldn¡¯t really remember which organs helped with filtering water so instead he just focused a wall of energy around his whole abdomen. watching the energy flow he could see some was getting past his barrier but more was staying inside than not.
He could also see the changes taking effect now, not just the energies dissipating in specific areas. Chaos was a good description of what he saw earlier but not a whole one. Chained chaos was a better one. As the changes weren¡¯t random. They were all improvements. Sometimes it was as simple as a toxin being broken down into something manageable, or combined with something else to form a non toxic variant. In some cases though it appeared to form usable substances like ATP from random molecules lying about. In even more complex instances it repaired damaged organelles, cells, or organs as needed. It even seemed to drain his bladder returning the purified water to his bloodstream. For a moment he was confused as to how he was discerning this but with a recursive examination of his observations he could see that it was again intent, not some microscopic vision, allowing him to understand what was happening. He wasn¡¯t sure if it was the intent of the chained chaos or his own intent driving the changes made but he could read that intent to see the results.
Once this additional wave of energies had dissipated he allowed a few minutes for its changes to take effect before moving on. He could feel his still tense, worn muscles in all his limbs, neck, and head begin to slowly release and relax as if they were getting nutrients, water, and whatever else they needed. This last energy wave hadn¡¯t been in those areas so it was definitely helpful to improve his organs to better serve his body as a whole. But that was assuming that more efficient and improved muscles, arteries, veins, etc wouldn''t also help in that aspect, as well as a few others. Such as ¡®thwonkin some rats¡¯ he thought remembering a certain gentle giant he¡¯d once admired.
There were at least a few more organs he wanted to try improving individually before he went hog wild on the pile. His heart for one. Grabbing another core he tested that next. Some energies still escaped his improvised barrier but again most stayed within. He watched them swirl around his heart and permeate it repeatedly. With each pass more and more of the energy dissipated as it repaired, revitalized, and most importantly improved the organ. He started to give it another few minutes to gauge the change although quickly realized doing nothing didn¡¯t really put your heart through its paces.
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Ozzy decided to skip in circles around his little realm. From the topside to the underside and back again for a few minutes. The longer he did so the more he realized the twenty some odd cores he¡¯d absorbed so far had altered his physique drastically. He wasn¡¯t getting tired and his heart wasn¡¯t beating even a tiny bit faster. Granted he didn¡¯t have a long stretch of land to run on and for parts of his exercise he was somewhat weightless as he whirled to one side or the other. After almost 5 minutes of moving himself as fast as he could he was still not winded. He could feel his heart rate finally increasing a bit but not even half of what he expected to feel.
Stopping on the topside next to his recliner he sat again. On the edge of his seat he again grabbed a core mentally and brought it back to his head. This time he formed a barrier around his brain and absorbed the core. It was a little harder to follow the changes when they were happening in the organ he was using to examine them, though nowhere near as bad as when he tried to improve his third eye. Thinking about the process as it happened felt like stuttering in his mind. When it was done he stood up and looked around again. Though even in standing up he could already see the difference. It was slight but there was a minor hesitation in his movements. He tried with his hands turning them back and palm forward to examine the difference. It wasn¡¯t like he was in slow motion but his expectation of when movements he initiated should happen were ever so slightly off. As if his body was delaying too much. Though it was obvious the opposite was happening, his mind was ever so slightly faster.
Well he definitely had some options moving forward. Having his body feel slow, even if just a hair slower than expected, was disconcerting. He doubted that using his energy to improve just his digestive system alone wouldn¡¯t be ideal as sure it would help him with his sustenance issues but it seemed improving efficiencies across the board would accomplish the same as well as add other benefits. It seemed likely that when improving his body he would just improve it all at once. The third eye could definitely use some more individual investment. Though not this whole pile. He still needed a more streamlined system overall.
Leaning back in his recliner he started pulling cores toward him one at a time. Allowing the energy to be absorbed he would wait only until it had started dissipating before applying the next core. Repeating the process about ten times he paused and got up again. He felt like he¡¯d just been to the spa for a full day. Then had a good night''s sleep. Otherwise he felt about the same. He moved about and saw that apparently the cores had evenly improved things so that his movements were again synced with his expectations. Which was a relief. He was worried he¡¯d accidentally borked himself.
He felt about with his tendril again while looking with his third eye and found a slight difference. The domain contours and densities were a little more defined. To the point that now he could see each of his squares, not just the rat square, had its own little ¡®membrane¡¯. Much harder to distinguish from one another but there was a difference. They were connected to one another just like the membrane for his realm and that of the rat square were. He was interested in examining that closer but he wanted to finish with his current task first. So leaning back in his recliner once more he started again with the absorption process.
Ozzy kept at it until there were only three of the cores left. Once more he got up to test out the differences. It felt a bit like if he wasn¡¯t careful he¡¯d jump right out of his sphere of influence. At the same time he was surprised with how fluid his movements were. He didn¡¯t need to learn to move his body again even though it had grown so much more capable so quickly. Whatever changes were made had allowed him to adapt along with them. That was truly amazing. He felt wonderful and powerful in ways he never thought he¡¯d ever experience.
At the same time he felt a little.. useless. As much as he felt like he could punch through a brick wall, the place he found himself in meant it wasn¡¯t really necessary. He mainly decided to improve his body so much to stave off his thirst and hunger. Before absorbing the last three cores he checked his third eye and tendril as well. Looking at the domains he could definitely see more detail but it was like looking through a microscope at a CPU. Without good labels, training, and study he wasn¡¯t going to just understand what was going on here. Even if he could pull the intent right out of areas he was looking at it didn¡¯t always help. There was another revelation though. He could now tell he had his own domain. Another ¡®of course¡¯ realization that was kind of obvious if you thought about it. Though also another thing he couldn¡¯t really use right now
He went ahead and absorbed the last three cores one at a time into his tendril and third eye. He was now able to slowly release the energy from the core into his tendril using a barrier after the core¡¯s membrane dissipated. It was odd how the process felt amazing for his body but painful for his third eye. Maybe this was due to the original damage to it, or possibly because the amount of energy he was absorbing there was so far beyond what was normal it was painful. After the directed absorption his senses still felt about the same. He was likely reaching some kind of plateau in that aspect. He could feel his tendril was still improving though. Reaction time strength and capabilities all felt at least somewhat improved.
There was something he¡¯d been trying to do when all this started though, that he still hadn¡¯t succeeded at. Sending his tendril to one of the pores in his squares domain he extended it beyond and was stopped. There wasn¡¯t a beyond. Outside of the sphere of influence there was nothing, not even space. Though at the boundary of his sphere and the nothingness there was everything. He could feel what he¡¯d heard faint hints of before much more clearly. Other squares like the rats and much more beyond it. He figured with his significant improvements it was time to put them to use trying to get out of here.
B1 Ch6 Exploring nowhere
Ozzy stood there feeling at the edge of nothingness, and the connections further that existed there. He was trying to get a feel for how the structure for wherever this place was worked. Like any new place you moved to you tried to gauge the distance between things. The direction other places laid in, and the best path to get there. It felt almost as if when reaching out toward the wall of nonexistence that the connections there were turning right back around toward his own sphere¡ just, a little to the left. Well not left per se but a different direction entirely.
He remembered that in higher dimensions every new dimension was at 90 degree angles to all others. It almost appeared that every single new place was another dimensional step off from every single other place, or at least that was part of it. There was one that seemed easier to touch, or connect to, depending on how you looked at it. Feeling back to the connection to the rat square, which somehow still existed, he examined the feeling of its connection in relation to the others. Turning back to this ¡®off¡¯ connection he checked it again as well. Back and forth he compared them a few times with the other connections he could feel. Well a few of them as there seemed to be an infinite number of them. ¡®That''s why it was easier¡¯ he thought. Whatever place this was had a connection that wasn¡¯t 90 degrees off from the rat square. It was in the same direction, or the same plane of existence.
He couldn¡¯t be absolutely sure, but something told him he could expect something within the same vein as the rat square. Before he could change his mind he connected to this second square and took his step. He was hoping for something similar enough to not be dangerous but different enough to feel like he was getting somewhere. What he didn¡¯t expect was to hear another rat squeak. Which almost made him turn around in frustration. He didn¡¯t want it to be exactly the same as he¡¯d already experienced.
Opening his eyes he was glad to see his expectation of the same dim starry sky was accurate so closing his eyes in preparation hadn¡¯t been wasted. Looking down he saw another rat standing before him and was about to smack it in frustration when he realized something was definitely different here. This rat was larger. The first rat square had rats all around the size of his hand. The variations on those rats had been indistinguishable. All were effectively identical as far as he could tell. While here was a rat that was easily the size of his foot. Likely a little larger. He didn¡¯t want to offer up his foot to compare what with the other rats having shown themselves fully ready to bite if he gave them a chance.
That thought spurred him on so he brought the branch he held down on it as quickly as he could. Despite the amazing improvements he¡¯d received from the sixty to seventy odd cores he¡¯d absorbed in total he nearly missed the rat as it tried to jerk away. Luckily he still connected, if a little off, and the rat''s head crunched into the ground. He expected he would never get used to the sound of a skull being crushed even if it was an extremely large disgusting rat he was doing it too. Though if every new place he went to simply had more, and larger rats, he might eventually.
The danger of bitten up feet having been addressed he looked around the new square. It was essentially the same as the other rat square. Some random square meter of grassland. Checking the underside he found more of the same. A couple small stones sat on the underside as well. Jumping back to the top he performed the gruesome surgery needed to claim this rat''s core and stepped back to his own square. Holding up his prize as he did. There was no immediately obvious difference between the little rats core and this one, though as it zapped him and absorbed into his body he could swear there was a little more energy. More testing might help him confirm or deny that.
Looking over to his grassy square he paused for a second. There next to the grassy square was a beautiful new second one. He froze for a second thinking about the implications. But the possibilities caused him to take action instead. Not jumping to another square or moving on with anything important. No, his next action was to lay out in the two square meters of grass and just chill in the sun for a time. He had dreamed of the possibilities of reincarnation a time or two back on earth. That or traveling to another world somehow, but he¡¯d never thought about the fact that going there didn¡¯t mean he stopped being human and needing to enjoy certain basic human needs from time to time. He almost got emotional about the simple fact of having a large enough section of land to lay down in but instead he put his arms up behind his head and closed his eyes. Allowing the sunshine to soothe his mood.
¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª
Ozzy continued his lazy indulgence for longer than he initially expected given the amazing turn of events. Eventually the excitement pulled him out of his reverie and had him reaching out into nothingness again. He could pick out this second rat square almost immediately as if it were a pointer on a game compass which was enlarged compared to all the other possible destinations. The same as with the initial rat square and his own. As he examined this he noticed that the same could be said now for a fourth square. One that he realized was just like the second rat square in that it was in the same direction as the other two rats. Its pointer, for lack of a better word, was not quite the same size as the other rat squares but had become much larger than the seemingly infinite masses of other possibilities.
With this information he was beginning to suspect there were an infinite number of these rat squares laying out there all on the same dimension yet he couldn¡¯t identify them from any of the other infinitely many worlds without first visiting one of the squares nearest it. He could test if the pattern repeated itself. Just as he could confirm if the size increase also repeated itself. He hoped the second wasn¡¯t true. There was not a single bit of him that desired to see a horse sized rat standing less than a meter from him. Which reminded him of another goal of his. To look into another square.
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He¡¯d nearly forgotten that¡¯s what injured his third eye and gave him such a boost in the first place. Tentatively his tendril reached out to the nothingness once more. Feeling the connections it found the third rat square and touched the connection. Instead of stepping forward he tried to move his tendril further, but getting it to follow the connection to a direction he couldn¡¯t turn naturally was giving him vertigo. He closed off any sense of direction from the tendril and was surprised he was able to do so. Continuing on he instead just expanded his tendril along the connection without trying to dictate any direction or specific instruction. After a few moments his tendril popped into another space and with it came the strangest thing. He could see the other square.
Well not with the usual visible light spectrum he was used to. What he saw was the membrane, domain and even the energies contained in the core of the rat present. Those are what shone the brightest but the rat was visible as well. It, like himself, had its own domain. This sight wasn¡¯t quite the same as just seeing so he couldn¡¯t get a good gauge of its size but he guessed it was at least larger than the first rat, and suspected it was larger than the second as well. He couldn¡¯t be sure though without stepping through. Preparing himself he got in a stance to smack this new rat the second he was through as well as closed his eyes.
Stepping forward he had the strangest view. As his tendril was giving him a look at the other square while he was traveling he could watch the process. The trip felt the same as it had before, like simply taking a single step from one place into another, yet his sight in the rat square told him a different story. The rat moved about as if in fast forward. Getting up, moving about slightly and sitting back where it had been before. Looking very much like a dog circling around to nap. It almost stopped him from smacking this new rat on arrival but as it jumped up and began to screech he forced his eyes open even as he was already bringing his branch to bear on it. This rat dodged even better than the second. He missed its head but caught its neck and was rewarded with a disgusting gurgling cry of pain.
With its wounded neck the second swing wasn¡¯t dodged nearly as well and another crunching skull gave him the willies. Especially since this rat was approaching the size of his shin and had a head the size of a baseball. He almost puked seeing the rather large crushed skull lay open before him. He took the opportunity to get away from the sight by checking the underside. There was another large flat stone there which he grabbed. Steeling himself he jumped back to the topside and flipped the rat over. Taking the core as his trophy he picked the stone back up as well and jumped back home.
When he arrived the core started absorbing into his skin and he could definitely tell this one contained more energy than the first rats. Not twice as much but around half again. Though its size had been the same. Looking over his kingdom he was pleased to find a third grassy square had taken up residence. It was nice to see some progress being made here finally. Sure getting stronger was progress but expanding his little sphere of influence was really something he was proud of. Now he had a little L shape going on. His recliner square connected to the rat square on the right. Then three grassy squares off in one direction.
He wanted nothing more than to jump to the next rat square and expand even further. With that thought he also confirmed he could see another connection expand at the border of existence. Yet he had already missed his mark with the last rat. If the next rat was larger and faster yet again he had no guarantee he would be able to kill it before it really started doing damage to him. Which only meant one thing. He was going to need to grind that first rat square for cores to improve himself first.
Grinding had never been fun for him in any aspect, gaming or otherwise, but the results were definitely satisfying. He could try to fashion himself some armor out of his branches and strips of his blanket. The shoddy results would likely fall apart too quickly though. He could also definitely go after the other rats, but the increased risk didn¡¯t stack up well against the minor increase in gain. There was also the fact that apparently traveling to another square wasn¡¯t actually instantaneous but took a bit of extra time each jump, both there and back. Turning to the rat square he began a miniature massacre of the rodent variety.
Initially he was slowly whacking the rats, stabbing them for their cores, and then holding them to absorb them. Though in the process he realized he was not utilizing all his capabilities to their fullest. If he could pick up a core and pull it at him fast enough to cause a welt, couldn¡¯t he do more? Sending his tendril out to the newest rat he formed the tip into a little spike and skewered the rat. While passing through the rat it grabbed the core as well. Pulling the core back to himself he held off on touching it. If the tendril could do this to the small rat what could it do to the others? In fact he¡¯d already confirmed he could send his tendril into the other squares, and it didn¡¯t seem to have the same delay as going there himself.
Absorbing the core normally he sent his tendril out to the connections and popped it into the second rat square. He spiked this one as well with only slightly more resistance. Then pulled the core back into his own square. The transfer of the core had a little hiccup, but not a very long delay. Trying the third rat he found it was quite difficult to kill with his will alone, but stabbing it in the eye got the job done. Pulling this core back he decided it was definitely going to be beneficial to start exclusively upgrading his metaphysical capabilities.
B1 Ch7 Home improvement
The slow process of grinding the first rat square quickly turned into a much quicker process of grinding all three rat squares he¡¯d already visited. That and in the delay while new rats appeared absorbing the resulting cores into his third eye. The process of improving his vision was slowly giving him a better understanding of what it was he¡¯d been using so far. He was starting to hate using the word tendril and was starting to see that it was essentially just an extension of his domain. In fact he could create new tendrils of his domain. Yeah he definitely didn¡¯t like that word anymore. Extensions. He sent out extensions of his domain to each of the rat squares. He didn¡¯t even need to pull them back anymore. He realized he could simply pull the cores through his domain back to himself, and absorb them into his domain.
His sight was getting better as well with the domain extensions. He could almost see nearly the same as he could with his eyes closed as with them open, and the squares his extensions were sent to were nearly as visible as if he was there himself. Not only that but his understanding of the membranes surrounding the domains were improving as well. A fourth extension protruded out from him and roved along the outer edge of his own square¡¯s domain and membrane. He could see the domain and membrane fine now without even extending a domain protrusion, but it was nice to be able to feel about and touch what he was looking at.
His earlier troubles understanding the membrane and domain were still there but there was now a hazy bit he was grasping. This domain and membrane he was in was not his. It was where he showed up when he arrived here, but he was beginning to suspect he was like the rat to this place. The square that appeared with his recliner was simply what showed up with him. That would mean the square was his but the domain and membrane surrounding it wasn¡¯t. He had absolutely no proof but it almost seemed like this was something like a trap. Just like the rat¡¯s appearing now and again he¡¯d been captured by this larger membrane. Or at least that¡¯s what he thought might be the case.
He wasn¡¯t sure how that tied in with the fact that he¡¯d been able to influence this domain to enshroud the first rat domain. Maybe it was something like the cell analogy he was using. These membranes were feeding off of random¡ souls they captured? Well not random as the rat domains were always popping up with rats. Though maybe they were just spawning in through some other mechanism. The energies coming from the domains and being exchanged definitely supported his soul trap theory though. Each dead rat gave off a puff of energy, and of course there were the cores. As well as when a new rat arrived the square it brought with it obliterated the existing squares, giving even more energy. Which was a very gloomy outlook. Though it suggested these ¡®cells¡¯ had no forethought or cunning in this, they just existed and persisted this way. His influence on them supported this theory quite a bit. But, he didn¡¯t want to get too far into theorizing without something more concrete to go on.
Instead he continued his exploration of the domains and membranes. All the while continuously killing the rats until he could feel that it was becoming rather easy to kill the third rat. At which point he could also bring out another domain protrusion and send it toward the next rat domain. He also found a new way to split off protrusions. There wasn¡¯t a need to peel off a new one right at the edge of where his domain normally ended, he could instead split another off of one of those that was already at the boundary between these tiny worlds. Even as he discovered this he merged the trunks of these protrusions together and could feel the strength of each increase somewhat as he was able to bring more of his domain to bear with each.
Easing back his other tendrils to just the edge of the tiny worlds, still protruding into each world but not overly so. He sent his most recent addition into the fourth rat domain. What he saw just added confirmation to what he had all but verified already. The next rat was even bigger. Looking to be more like the size of his thigh with a head easily the size of a grapefruit. Unsure why he was hesitating, Ozzy drove himself into action. Going for the eye of this rat to preemptively make what came next as easy as possible. There was an increase in resistance compared to the third rat, but it was still just an eye. His spear-like domain spiked through the eye and into the brain. The death throes took longer than he would have liked, but he took his prize and pulled it back to his home base. Again there was a delay and it was definitely getting longer the further down this line of mini rat worlds he spread his domain.
The core brought close to him was again more packed with energy but still only around half again the first rat core¡¯s energy levels. As he examined it he remembered the goal with advancing down this line of ever increasing rats. Checking his squares he was pleased to see a fourth grassy square had appeared, Looks like he didn¡¯t even need to actually travel to the other square to gain a copy of it, just kill the rat. Though oddly this one had appeared to the side of the middle square turning the grassy section into a T square from tetris. He wasn¡¯t sure why this was the order these were appearing in, but there wasn¡¯t much he could do about it so kept at it.
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Ozzy was trying to keep from going numb in the brain with just slaughtering rats with abandon. He¡¯d poured over every inch of his domain and while he had gained some insight into different functions of the pores and the energy exchange much of it was still too complicated to understand. He began to also explore the rat domains from the inside, and was beginning to see interesting things. Firstly in the rat square he¡¯d connected to his own he couldn¡¯t see his square at all. It looked from that extension of himself as it did when he had traveled there. Which likely explained why the rat had never come to his square and attacked him. Despite it being right next to him. But he was distracted from this by the second thing he noticed
The energy density in all the domains was increasing significantly. Likely due to his mass raticide. Which also meant his own square¡¯s energy was increasing. As the first rat square was connected to his initial square and exchanging energy with it. After this revelation he realized he was beginning to feel a tiny constant tingle from that energy entering his body. It seemed as if the cores weren¡¯t the only way he was going to be improving. Though with that realization came another. He needed to connect the other rat squares to his own to improve his squares density of energy. Right now his base, and the first rat square seemed to be at about half what the second, and third were at, while the fourth was at a much lower level.
That was partially due to the fact that he had more recently started killing the rat in that square. The other factor was something he had noticed pretty quickly but hadn¡¯t really paid much attention to. Each successive rat square was slower to capture or spawn a new rat than the last. At first it was a barely noticeable difference but the fourth square was now at slightly more than five times the refresh delay of the first rat domain. Taking about ten seconds to spawn a new one vs the second or two the first took. He didn¡¯t really have much use for that information currently, instead he noted it down for later examination. He also noted the odd view from the currently connected rat square for good measure. Which allowed him to get back to the bombshell.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
With the energy increase in the air it was hard to tell exactly how much had been let out or how long it would last. From what he was absorbing alone it was pretty likely it was approximately equal to what he¡¯d already absorbed from the cores. Well with a rough calculation. However he was pretty sure both the first rat domain and his ¡®cell¡¯ were both absorbing energy. In fact there was no reason to just go off of assumptions there. He blocked the energy off from himself with a barrier like he did before while absorbing the cores. After the constant improvement to his control of domains he was able to effectively restrict all energy from passing the barrier. Which showed him two things. One the energy density in the air outside his barrier was decreasing still, although much slower than he was absorbing it. The second thing was that a different type of energy was building up under the barrier. Well several different types is the impression he got. With every single type under the barrier he couldn¡¯t seem to utilize it in any way. The impression he got from it was, put politely, waste. Though one creature''s waste was almost always another creature''s resource.
That last piece of information suggested these soul traps, as he was heavily leaning toward them being exactly that, could survive just fine without their occupants dying at all. Not only that but they may have evolved to support and keep their occupants alive. Which might explain some of the things that had happened so far, such as allowing him to interact with the membrane. It might also explain the additional squares spawning. Although that could easily be some other mechanism he didn¡¯t understand. Such as an interaction between the two different soul traps. Or even some interaction between the soul of the rat and his own. Either way it was just another mystery to add to the pile of things he needed to figure out about this new place.
Instead of giving more time contemplating things that might eventually be useful to know he got back to what he knew would be immediately helpful. With a single rat square connected to his it was already filling up with a decent amount of ambient energy. Enough to be somewhat comparable to what he¡¯d collected from the cores. Connecting the others would only improve this. Reaching out again he touched the membrane to the second rat square. With the help of having watched this process once before his visualization of the process was much greatly refined. The image of swallowing another cell was gone and instead he visualized a connection or pairing to exchange energy and resources. Almost accidentally he impressed that vision into the two domains as he tried to pull them together. The resulting connection was even smoother than the first and seemed to take nearly no energy at all. It was as if the two domains, once given the vision of such a connection and its possibilities, carried it out themselves.
As the connection completed a small wave of energy washed past and rebounded back and forth between all three domains that were now connected to one another. With the increase the buzzy feeling of energy altering his body increased. Now opposite the first rat was another little rat square abutted to his initial square meter. Turning to the final empty side of his square he started the process again with the third little worldlet. ¡®Oh that¡¯s a nice one¡¯ he thought, realizing the new word fit so much better. With this next worldlet he started the process by connecting to the two and showing them his vision. As the two embraced he felt as if essentially nothing came from him this time other than the effort to communicate.
Another wave of energy washed over him, although smaller than before as the two pressures were much closer. The buzzing was almost audible now. There was no pain though. With no more open sides Ozzy turned to the right hand corner between the rat worldlets one and two and started the process again. He was annoyed with himself as he now had these out of order and he should have tried to do this before, but of course he hadn¡¯t really thought of this as an option and still didn¡¯t know if it was possible. Who knew the dynamics of connecting little soul trap worldlets together wherever this was?
As the last rat worldlet he¡¯d started farming settled into place he felt the wave go by again. Though as it did he realized it was in the opposite direction from before. Which made sense as the fourth rat worldlet didn¡¯t have as much energy stockpiled. That made him realize he was being silly. There was no reason for him to let the energy just float around in the air and be taken by the worldlets and rats. Well he knew rats for sure, as he could see the energy dissipating into them, but he hadn¡¯t yet identified where or how the worldlets were absorbing energy. He just suspected it.
With that thought he formed another protrusion and shaped it into a rather large net of sorts. The net was made up of a barrier, though this one was more a porous surface like the membranes the worldlets had. He formed intent on that surface and began to swirl it about. As energy hit the membrane it would be allowed into his domain but would then not be allowed back out. Pretty quickly the energy level around him began to drop all while the buzzing increased. To the point that it was becoming rather annoying. Adjusting the membrane he added a second later that kept the energy from reaching his skin. Pausing he realized he was going about this all the wrong way. He let the protrusion rejoin the rest of his domain but kept the double layered membrane he¡¯d formed on it. Though he allowed that membrane to cover the entirety of his domain. With more effort than he thought it should take he let his domain expand outward. The further it got the more difficult it became. It wasn¡¯t anywhere near the strain he¡¯d faced when trying to pull back some curtains way back in the bygone times of approximately a day ago. So he continued and eventually he felt is domain press up against the membrane of the worldlet he resided in. Releasing his exertion the domain snapped back and with it came a dense sphere of energy.
Realizing his mistake he pressed his will into the domain again but apparently that much energy had quite the weight to it and slowing it was quickly straining his energy past any effort he¡¯d made so far. Switching to a different tactic he applied his will to the domain around the energy and began to absorb it into the domain in which it sat. As he¡¯d estimated this was significantly more energy than had absorbed through the cores over the last several hours. The process thankfully wasn¡¯t as painful as it had been with absorbing the first core as it was no longer entirely restructuring something. And the membrane it was trapped inside seemed to be helping. The stinging wasn¡¯t pleasant though. He still didn¡¯t understand how his body felt great when absorbing the energy and his domain felt pain. When the process was over he was surprised to find he was actually tired. Well not physically. His mind and he guessed his domain were tired. Which was a nice distraction. He deserved a nap after all this craziness.
Though as he laid down he felt weird having four rats sitting around him. As his last act of spring cleaning he decided to do something about that. It took far less time than he assumed it might to find the right way to fix the issue. Apparently in that bygone era he hadn¡¯t completely failed. Communicating with his own personal worldlet he asked it to close the curtains and the rat worlds disappeared. He could still see their membranes and domains and everything inside with his new senses but to his eyes they appeared completely gone. Now if only he could convince it to dim the lights for him. The sky flicked instantly from a bright blue to a starry night. Throwing up his hands he flopped down into his recliner for some well deserved rest.
B1 Ch8 Follow the Rat Brick Road!
When Ozzy awoke he nearly toppled himself out of his recliner again. He¡¯d been dreaming of being back home again. Though not being at college or at his parents house. He¡¯d been out camping in the dream. Probably influenced by where he was now. Though it had been spiders infesting the grass, not rats. God he was glad he didn¡¯t end up somewhere with tons of spiders everywhere.
Getting up he stretched and tried to work the kinks out of his back. While it was the greatest place to take a nap for a little bit, sleeping a full night in a recliner was exactly the opposite. For a moment after he was confused as to why the rat worldlets were gone and what happened to the energy but then remembered the last few changes he¡¯d made to his growing home before going to sleep. He wasn¡¯t sure why but he¡¯d become incredibly tired and almost woozy at the end there. Might have been the large influx of energy. Possibly the constant usage of his domain for several hours on end wore him out more than he thought. Either way he was up and feeling simply amazing now that he¡¯d stretched the kinks out.
He was about to reach out to his prison cell and request the lights again but thought about it first. Just because it was ¡®morning¡¯ didn¡¯t mean he needed to blind himself before he¡¯d even had his coffee. If he ever would have coffee or caffeine again. He gave the universally accepted and loved drug a moment of silence as he mourned its passing from his life. Returning to relaxing in his chair he contemplated what to do with this next day. He could easily just continue the previous day¡¯s activities. Grinding away at killing rats to improve his capabilities until he was eventually able to kill the next one down the line. Granted he would likely still do that, but in all the different kinds of games, whether digital or otherwise, and even in real life grinding away at things was almost never the best or fastest way forward. What he needed was a new approach.
Last night the interesting effects he¡¯d seen when gathering the energy up had already shown some promising results. The energy stored at high density in his domain had shown that it would add a difficulty in stopping its movement even from the inside. This of course would require gathering up more cores and the energies from the air from the rats and tiles, but it would likely give him a boost to being able to face the next little worldlets resident faster. There was also the membrane he¡¯d formed at the edge of his domain. Which might actually be a more functional improvement. Not just because he could test it now without needing a new energy influx. Also because it showed several different possibilities. He¡¯d already seen that it provided a much more robust and resilient surface to work with than just working with the nebulous edge of his domain as is. He suspected there was much more he could do with it.
With that thought he extended a portion of his domain outside the existing membrane he¡¯d formed at its current edge. Lifting this protrusion closer to his face he compared it to the rest of his domain. The protrusion was essentially a wispy collection of energy not too dissimilar to the energy he¡¯d been consuming this entire time. The difference seemed to be in its relationship to him. The energy he¡¯d been absorbing so far was little more than chained chaos with some intent bound into it by whatever these rats had done to it. Which allowed each little bit to change something it interacted with but the intent of improvement or repair would restrict them from just giving him cancer instead of helping him.
Contrasted to that his domain seemed to be completely altered from just chained chaos. It was like each little bit of it had its chain removed and instead, like his worldlet and that of the rats, convinced to work together with him. Each little particle of it was connected to every other particle as well as himself. That connection could be influenced at a macroscopic scale to produce the results he¡¯d already seen. However, this appeared to take some energy to influence and each little flick or movement he made with his domain was draining him. That wasn¡¯t much when taking into account the ridiculous amounts of energy he¡¯d been ingesting. That wasn¡¯t exactly the problem though.
When attacking with his domain he did more than just influence the movement of his domain. He was forcing them closer and closer together to form something more like a surface, not just a wispy cloud of intent. Which took a significantly larger chunk of energy to do. Not only that but the density he was able to squeeze it down into was a factor of how much total energy he had. Yet the membrane approach was completely different. Like with his domain forming a connection with him, he could cause each little particle to form a much deeper connection to its neighbor. Forming a surface on it¡¯s own that would remain indefinitely and cost significantly less energy even to form let alone the repeated costs he¡¯d been paying. The connection could also be formed into a shape and structure that was well beyond the strength he¡¯d been able to accomplish just by forcing it.
Since it made no sense to just do one thing with his domain, as he was capable of creating multiple protrusions he sent out a set of them, one for each of the rat worldlets he¡¯d connected to his. As he started farming them for energy he realized something. With the little rat worldlets connected to his he now expended significantly less energy to connect to them. Not only that but there was no longer an increased delay from each further worldlet when pulling the cores back to him. While nice he wasn¡¯t sure how much that was going to affect his work other than making it less distracting. He also decided to just wait until the fourth rat tile had a rat before harvesting them all at once. That way he spent less concentration on them and could get back to improving his first domain extension.
Ozzy spent the next several hours slowly testing out different configurations of membrane around his extension. At one point he made an inspired discovery. He¡¯d been testing possibilities surrounding forming a membrane all along the edge of the connection back to his primary membrane. Mainly because he noticed that without it energy was leaking out the sides at a rate comparable to several times the amount needed to move the extension around. At first he was thinking this would be useless as although a membrane is flexible it¡¯s main feature was its sturdiness. Overall it was more difficult to move than the wispy form of the domain before. However, that reminded him of the pores on the different worldlets.
This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Examining them allowed him to find something akin to muscle and a more flexible form of membrane. Effectively the two were formed very similar to one another. More energy was added to each little packet like when hardening, but the energy wasn¡¯t condensed down to form a harder surface. Instead the energy was used to puff up the little ball of packet of energy almost like a marshmallow. When it was about twice the size as normal then it was connected to its neighbors. Which allowed it to flex around while still being tougher and keeping energy from escaping.
The main difference between the two was that the skin form received more energy at the edge of the little energy packet, effectively giving it a membrane of its own. While the musculature form was consistent throughout. It wasn¡¯t as tough as just hardening into the other type of membrane. but it definitely gave him another pathway forward. Reconfiguring the membrane he¡¯d made surrounding the extension he slowly started adding the musculature along the inner edge of the skin. He may have gone a little overboard adding about ten layers of the muscle under a single layer of skin. Initially he¡¯d had a few layers of skin but found a few alterations that allowed one to do the same job.
Returning his attention to the business end of the extension he also started recalibrating what he¡¯d done there using what he¡¯d learned so far. Applying the adjustments to size, shape, and density of each little packet that made it up. Forming a dense, incredibly hard, and sharp weapon. Eager to test it out he willed it to move to the fourth rat worldlet. What happened next was surprising, painful, and informative. The muscles were absolutely much more powerful than just applying his will directly to some misty appendage. They whipped the head of his new weapon toward the fourth rat. The motion started a wave traveling down the other end of the extension. That wave when it hit the membrane of his domain tore it straight off and, wispy domain poured out to form a new connection point. It was almost as if he¡¯d torn off an appendage and blood was spraying everywhere.
This ¡®blood¡¯ was his domain though and he was able to halt the wild flapping. Over the next few hours he hardened his primary membrane as well. Even extending it toward his skin and then continuing inside and through. Technically speaking the domain wasn''t physical, but he¡¯d forgotten that while using it as a weapon. He wasn¡¯t entirely sure how it worked but when willing it to pick something up or attack it crossed from whatever dimension it resided in and could affect things physically. He formed a spider web of structural connections throughout his domain forming a solid connection point for the mark two extension.
He¡¯d initially been connecting it near his abdomen even though his new senses seemed to emanate from his forehead. As it didn¡¯t seem to matter where he connected it to his domain. And maybe he was being influenced by what he did know of eastern stories with the cores and all. He played around with connecting it to his spine as a tail after that, and maybe he would add one there eventually but for now he connected it nearest to his right shoulder. It gave him an easier time controlling it as he was right handed, so the feeling was one he was familiar with.
Trying again he sent out his new metaphysical tentacle to attack¡ ¡°ugh¡± he said out loud. Now he was missing calling it a tendril. Shaking his head he continued his test. He had no way to measure it but he tried to keep his effort to the same level as he had for the entire time he¡¯d been farming the rats. When trying to pass through the membrane he found resistance, and pushing against it caused damage to the rat worldlets membrane. Instead he utilized one of the pores to pass through. Pulling the spearhead back he shoved it into the head of the unsuspecting rat. For a moment he¡¯d thought there was a mistake as it passed right through as if there was nothing there. Although it passed right through it was because it¡¯d eviscerated the rat''s head as if it were a bubble. The spear tip continued down through the dirt square and out the other side for several feet. In the process it yanked him forward painfully.
Returning his new limb back through the dirt and grass, this time in ephemeral form he realized he didn¡¯t add a way for the spearhead to grab the core. That was easily corrected though. For now he extended a small portion of the domain from the end and used that to grab the core after stabbing the rats abdomen. Pulling the core back to himself he again went to work. Just below the end where the musculature met the spearhead he thickened it and added a pore. Testing it out on another rat he confirmed the functionality. The pore really worked like a mouth and the tentacle, for lack of a better word as a throat. Sending the core flowing back to him smoothly. As gross as it was, it served its purpose well. He could tell he was using effectively zero energy compared to previously, and of course the actual important part. This was miles beyond what he¡¯d been doing before.
He tossed the new cores to the pile he¡¯d been collecting and reached out to the fifth connection he could feel. The sensation was even weirder than using an unaltered extension of his domain. It almost felt like the upgraded version was being severed as it passed through, but it did show up in the new rats domain after a minor delay and the only real surprise he found was that this rat was approximately the same size as the last. Striking the rat felt different though. He wasn¡¯t flicking a bubble now, but it was still like a knife through butter.
Smiling to himself he pulled back the death machine he¡¯d created. He saw another square appear in his domain, and could feel another connection become larger. He was going to travel down this strange rat square road and hope that eventually he was going to find someone or something along it that was worth it. If he didn¡¯t well at the very least he was going to grow his own little worldlet into something resembling a place to live. Maybe along the way he¡¯d find something he could make clothes or tools out of. However this turned out he wasn¡¯t going to stop just because the road ahead wasn¡¯t so clear or obvious as other possible worlds he might have found himself in.
B1 Ch9 Unexpected Visitor
The Fifth rat had been an anomaly as it hadn¡¯t increased in size like every other rat before it. Instead it had been much tougher at the same size. Now looking at the sixth Ozzy realized this was probably just the new norm. This rat was again effectively the same size as the last. Maybe slightly bigger. It still had a little room to move around on its square but it made sense they weren¡¯t getting bigger as fast anymore. Otherwise they¡¯d end up flopped on their bellies or backs with no way to move about. Well to be honest he had no idea if that could happen. Maybe they¡¯d have more tiles to start out with?
There was no real way to find out other than pushing forward. With that he dispatched this next rat. The resistance again was higher but not quite enough to suggest he should stop here. Taking its core he confirmed once again that he¡¯d gained a new tile back in his base and moved on to the next square that also showed itself. The Rat here confirmed that the new trend was strength increase not size increase. Though he was pretty sure now they were still getting slightly larger, just much slower than previously.
This seventh rat also fell easily. Though the resistance now felt like he was actually hitting something substantial, not popping a bubble or slicing through butter. Taking the rewards and again moving on he found the eighth rat was starting to have trouble moving about on its single tile. Even though the growth had slowed down significantly the fourth rat had already been easily half a meter long. He watched for a moment as it circled its square sniffing about as if looking for somewhere to go. He remembered wondering if the rats, or something else, could end up in his square through the same dumb luck that got him out. This rat was clearly looking for a place to go.
After watching the rat circle for a minute or so he got his head back in the game. It wouldn¡¯t help him any if the rat showed up at his own squares and even less so if it went somewhere else entirely. With this rat he decided to take careful aim for its eye. He waited until it was sniffing at a particular spot for a moment before he pounced. It was good he¡¯d taken the careful aim he did. He could even feel the spike at the end of his new weapon hit its eye. It went through that easily enough, and even popped out the top of the rat¡¯s head but didn¡¯t blast through it. Only protruding a bit.
As he went to collect the core the appearance of new connections caught his eye. Yes connections plural had shown themselves to be closer this time. Every previous time it had been a single one. He collected the core and set to examining the new connections. There was no obvious difference but after examining them he could tell one was like the rest of the rat squares so far, in that it was in the same direction as all the rest. The other was in an entirely new direction. He wasn¡¯t smiling exactly but this was getting him quite excited. A new path to explore had to mean something different. It couldn¡¯t be rats all the way down could it?
To start with he checked the next rat square in the line and sure enough it was just another rat sniffing about. Slightly larger than the last, but nothing special otherwise. As he wasn¡¯t entirely sure he could quite so easily kill this one he pulled back and instead reached out to the first secondary connection he¡¯d seen. What he found was that the way was blocked. He tried several times and at different angles to get through using his membrane extension but had no luck. He was about to give up when he tried something else. Sending out a bit of wispy domain he sent it through and was surprised to find the connection allowed it through fine.
That surprise was washed away with outright shock at what he saw on the other side. There in the middle of a square was a rat¡ Well not just a square. This square was three meters on a side and had obvious patches of grass indicating that it was not one, but nine squares. The rat was also easily a meter long. Something about it also seemed off. The way it moved, looked about, and its eyes gave the impression that it wasn¡¯t just a simple rat. There was intelligence behind those eyes. At least more intelligence than the rat¡¯s he¡¯d seen so far.
That got him wondering. Could this rat be intelligent enough to communicate with? With only a slight hesitation, wondering if this was a good idea, he tried to take that step into this new square. Thankfully he rebounded as if he¡¯d smacked into a wall. He was letting his loneliness get to him. There was no guarantee that some random rat was friendly simply because it was smarter than another. As he was thinking this he saw a change in the rat through his domain in its worldlet. The rat had turned and looked directly at his domain. Or more likely, at the directly he¡¯d just tried to enter from.
The rat walked over to the nearest square and sniffed several times. Its ears perked up as it¡¯s eyes focused even more onto where my domain was protruding into his world. Then it took a step forward and disappeared. I jumped backward instinctually but then remembered the delay. Casting about I quickly grabbed the largest branch I had and jumped behind my recliner. It wasn¡¯t exactly a great protection but at least the rat wouldn¡¯t see me for a moment. I had my spear tip hanging past the chair ready to strike if need be. I was getting more tense with each passing second. It seemed like this was taking quite a bit longer than any of the other transfers before. By now it had easily reached twenty seconds. Which was of course when the rat showed up standing on one of the eight grassy squares peering around. It didn¡¯t seem to be ready to attack but there was also a tense look to the stance it had.
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Ozzy watched as it sniffed the ground and paced about looking for something. Likely trying to find another rat to kill. He was content to let it do so until it started sniffing at his recliner which had hundreds of rat cores in it. As its head pushed into the fold Ozzy stood up and said ¡°Hey!¡±. Which he realized was probably not the right way to try to greet a strange rodent of unusual size. The rat bear seemed to agree as it growled at him. Which of course caused him to jump back and land on one of the rat squares. In turn that rat started to growl at him, as unfortunately this was the fourth rat. With the limited space it didn¡¯t just growl it also swiped at his calves which caused him to yelp and jump forward.
The resulting tangle with the mysterious rat was less than fortunate as it bit down unceremoniously on his left leg. He swore he could hear his bones crack slightly at the intense pressure. Instinctually he smacked it with the branch as hard as he could but it shattered. That at least caused the rat to let go and aim for his hands instead. As it lunged at him he instead put his upgrades to use once more jumping backwards, this time with as much force as he could put into it. At the same time he shot his spear tip forward into the rat''s open mouth. As he hit the edge of his domain he traveled to the only place he knew would be safe. This crazy rat¡¯s worldlet.
Landing he immediately jumped again to the underside leaving his spear tipped appendage topside to meet his enemy. Even as he was touching down he heard a wet screech sound topside and could see through his extension that the rat was spraying blood with its attempted roar. Not missing the opportunity he again sent the spear tip in and this time aimed for the eye. While it jammed through the eye just fine it clanked against its skull solidly and stopped dead. This rat was definitely leagues beyond the rats he¡¯d been facing so far.
The rat again screeched in outrage and whipped its head around trying to find the attacker. Even as it did so the speartip found its way back into its mouth not stopping at just stabbing blindly, but instead force fed the rat. Immediately the rat started biting at the offending limb, but Ozzy hadn¡¯t forced that section solid so it was ineffectual. The rat realizing the futility instead started whipping his head around and jerking his entire body along with it which was actually helping dislodge the foreign object. As strong as it was, the thing was still rather light. So, with nothing else to do Ozzy lifted the whole rat up off the ground and hung it in the air. The whipping of its head was now the only thing it could do as it had no purchase on the ground to bring its considerable strength to bear. Worried at first that this would free it, Ozzy watched for a few more seconds, but eventually confirmed that the rat was bleeding, strangling, and dying with no way out.
Closing his connection to the disgusting sight topside he leaned over cradling his damaged calf and sobbed. In all the dreams he¡¯d ever had of traveling to a magical world none of them had included strangling a rat in a fight to the death. It especially didn¡¯t involve listening to its struggles. Of course it also didn¡¯t include the fact that Strangling took incredibly long. Minutes in fact. Over those minutes he eventually covered his ears and tried to calm himself down.
He¡¯d tried to come here to say hello, not fight the thing. Granted he had been killing rats essentially nonstop since ariving, but those were quick dispatches not the drawn out torture that was happening right now. He knew his emotions were going wild, but didn¡¯t really have a good way to reign them in right now. Not when he could still feel the twitching of the rat. He did start breathing slowly and steadily at least. There was no sense in letting himself lose it before he¡¯d confirmed the rat was dead.
In the meantime he took a minute to examine the damage to his leg. It looked like he¡¯d stepped in a bear trap with the strength the rat had bitten down with and the wolf sized teeth. Using his domain he put a wrap around it to stop the bleeding and tightened it until it did. About when he was finished he felt the fight go out of the rat. Instead of heading up immediately he waited another minute as he couldn''t be certain the rat was gone. Then he set the rat down and hobbled topside.
Still not absolutely sure if the rat was gone he left his spear exactly where it was and instead used his multitool to cut out the core. What he found was another difference. This rat''s core wasn¡¯t the small coin sized one like the others. If Laid on his palm it almost touched his fingers and was more spherical than coin like. Inside he could feel the energy of something like 200 of the initial rat cores energy. Which made him sober up significantly. As much as he didn¡¯t want to go torturing rats for no reason, he could easily see himself dispatching rats like this by the dozen. The caveat being if he could just figure out how to do so without injuring himself so severely and also avoiding strangling anything as human-like as this intelligent rat.
Wrapping the immense core in his shirt he stood to head back to his square when he heard something behind him. Whirling around he saw a boy standing there in a rough spun tunic and pants. Something straight out of the middle ages. ¡°Hello!¡± the new arrival said while waving.
B1 Ch10 Swapping stories
The boy, seemingly in his mid teens, extended his hand gesturing at the rat ¡°Congratulations!¡± he exclaimed. Before Ozzy could wrap his head around the situation the boy continued. His eyes creased with worry as he looked Ozzy up and down ¡°Oh, um you don¡¯t look great. Do you need help?¡±
¡°Uh¡¡± Ozzy responded numbly. He paused for a moment before continuing ¡°I was just going to go¡ Uh, home and recuperate for a bit¡±. Now that he¡¯d come face to face with another person he was all tongue tied.
¡°Oh!¡± The boy said. ¡°Could I follow along!?¡±
It seemed every other thing he said was an exclamation or question. Or both. Though it made some sense. If Ozzy hadn¡¯t just experienced the brutal strangling murder of a ridiculously large and resilient rat he¡¯d likely be overjoyed to meet someone new. That was exactly why he was in this square in the first place. He¡¯d been so eager to find somebody, or even something, to interact with he¡¯d blindly stumbled into a fight he nearly didn''t survive. He probably wouldn¡¯t have survived it nine times out of ten. Which made him wonder if he was safe next to this suspicious boy who appeared out of nowhere. He thought for a moment on how to best broach the subject but in the end he just blurted out. ¡°Who are you?¡±
¡°OH! Sorry!¡± The boy said, waving his arms in a warding off gesture. ¡°I completely forgot! I¡¯m Cederick.¡± he continued tapping his chest. ¡°Usually I introduce myself after congratulating people, but was thrown off with your injury.¡±
¡°Usually? So you¡¯ve met other people here?¡± Ozzy asked, now both more cautious and excited. If there were more people about maybe this place wouldn¡¯t be so bad after all. At the same time he wasn¡¯t sure if he trusted some random group of people that could show up unannounced.
¡°Well, yeah, although I guess that depends on what you mean by people¡± Cederick said, looking off to the side. ¡°I wasn¡¯t always lucky when finding others and I am not very good at protecting myself or killing things¡± At this he gave the large rat a wary look. ¡°I learned my lesson though and now I make sure to get a good feel of a place before stepping over¡±.
Ozzy still wasn¡¯t entirely convinced but felt a bit disarmed with the way the kid blabbered on as if he was in a rush to get the story out. Something about it felt genuine. Also his description of getting a feel for a place lined up with Ozzy¡¯s own experience connecting to places. Not that it in any way corroborated the boy¡¯s honesty but it at least felt like it did. ¡°I guess that¡¯s fine, but I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯re able to¡± Cederick looked at him confused at first then Ozzy continued ¡°I mean when I tried to come here at first I bounced back¡±.
¡°Oh, Right!¡± Cederick replied, smacking his own forehead ¡°Usually the havens try to protect their occupant once they get one, but they also listen to it. Being inviting toward someone, or even just wanting to meet them should get your haven to allow them through!¡±. The clarification came across as if it was something rather obvious and easy. Honestly it kind of was, as he¡¯d had similar insights. Initially this rat''s haven had resisted both his membrane¡¯s intrusion as well as his own. Only after the rat had responded to his intent to meet it and it entered his own haven did the rat haven then open up for him. Huh, he kind of liked that term, it didn¡¯t really make more sense than anything he¡¯d been using before. It was likely because somebody else had used it and he didn¡¯t have to come up with it on his own. That, and if this kid had met lots of others, which it seemed so, and some of which he was able to talk to, then they likely used the same terminology.
¡°Um, Sure I guess you can follow then¡± Ozzy said although even while saying it he was still hesitant. He was holding a core that held almost half as much energy as he¡¯d collected today from the other rats. Not to mention he had a pile of cores in his recliner pocket. Hobbling to the edge of the grass tiles he stepped into his haven and continued on to his recliner. Shoving the huge core into the pocket he pulled a small pile of the normal ones out. Holding them against his injured leg he let them get to work healing. Maybe he could get this fixed before¡
Even as the thought crossed his mind Cederick appeared on the same grassy tile Ozzy had stepped onto. Cederick looked up and nodded appreciatively. ¡°Yeah! There you go. They¡¯re great for helping with wounds. It was good you had some stockpiled.¡±. He stepped nother tile closer and Ozzy was about to react, but instead of continuing forward Cederick sat down right on the grass. He leaned back and braced himself with a hand to get comfortable. Ozzy wasn¡¯t sure where to start but asked the thing he was most curious about to get the conversation going. ¡°So, you¡¯ve been here a while then?¡±. Cederick chuckled to himself and nodded
¡°Yup!¡± He said ¡°It¡¯s a pretty long story¡ ¡°. Cederick¡¯s story began essentially the same as Ozzy¡¯s. It quickly diverged though. His haven didn¡¯t quite live up to the name. Awaking in complete darkness. No bright sky, no stars, not a single bit of light. He¡¯d spent a lot longer calling out for someone. Likely due to the fact that he couldn¡¯t see anything. After getting no response and hearing nothing he felt around but only found a stone below him and nothing else. He hadn¡¯t spent much time in his haven before taking a step to get out of there, assuming that he was trapped in some kind of cave.
The step took him to another pitch black haven with what he described as a ¡®little demon cherub¡¯. ¡°Somebody later said that would be called an imp, but at the time I was just horrified¡±. Continuing with the story Cederick explained that at first he had no idea what it was and didn¡¯t even know it was there until it started scratching and slashing at him with its rather long claws. There was no warning hiss or squeak like Ozzy had received. He¡¯d yelled out and grabbed whatever it was squeezing it to keep it from attacking. He¡¯d actually tried talking to it in case it was a person or something but that just caused the thing to lash out and wriggle even harder.
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Yelling and crying Cederick had smashed the thing against the stone he now found himself standing on then fled back to his haven after dropping it. Huddled and still overwhelmed he¡¯d taken quite some time to get up the courage to try venturing out again. Never realizing the haven had grown by one tile at the time. It was on his second trip to the Imp haven that he was able to figure out that he wasn¡¯t just taking a step forward but into some other place entirely. Another Imp, this time one that thankfully screeched at him, greeted him and caused him to step right back out of there. Which immediately silenced the Imp. A few back and forth steps confirmed to him that the Imp¡¯s protests were being cut off the instant he stepped away from it.
It was only then that he started to explore his starting spot. Staying there for a time he hoped somebody might come find him, but eventually, like Ozzy, hunger and thirst pushed him forward. Again things diverged from there. Cederick was quick to move on from the first connection he could feel as he wasn¡¯t finding what he needed there. This also got him used to the feeling of connections to other havens much faster. He¡¯d done rather well for himself despite the torturous environment. There¡¯d been a little luck in that one of the first few Imps he¡¯d killed had a puddle on its square when he killed it. That puddle allowed him to stay back in his haven more often than not. The water tasted a little stale but was otherwise fine, as he never felt sick from it. To pass the time he examined the uncountable connections he could feel and tried to get a feel for them. Not too different from Ozzy¡¯s exploration of them.
What surprised Ozzy was that Cederick said he actually could tell the difference between the connections, at least in some ways. He¡¯d started feeling slight tremors or vibration from some of them at times, afterward he could sometimes feel them open up, as if they were welcoming him over. Other times they would remain closed afterwards. The first time he built up enough courage to actually step into one of those connection¡¯s he¡¯d found nothing there. Other than a field of stars, and hard cracked earth under his feet. There¡¯d been a similar reaction for him as to what Ozzy had experienced seeing the stars again, although much more visceral for him. As it was the first light he¡¯d seen at all in what had felt like a week.
The experience, and the need for some light had caused him to stay for much longer than Ozzy had. Instead of a few minutes to watch the stars, Cederick had spent nearly an hour just staring. Long enough that he¡¯d been kicked back into his own haven. Later on he¡¯d understood this was due to the place being occupied by a new resident, but at the time he wasn¡¯t that cognizant to find out what happened. His response had been to scream out ¡°NOOO!¡± and holler at the nothingness around him. Eventually he¡¯d shouted ¡°Where did the stars go! Bring back the STARS!¡±. At which point his haven had obliged with a starry sky of his own.
The shock made him freeze and slowly flip himself over. Where he stayed for he didn¡¯t remember how long. The light allowed him to get a view of his new home for the first time since arriving. He stood on one of four reddish brown stones each a square, with obvious lines of separation between them. One of which had a puddle of water on it. Seeing it reminded him of how thirsty and hungry he was. Although he had been drinking regularly from the puddle it was still full. Which he found continued to be the case in the following days.
Food though he had no source of, at least not yet. With a full week since he¡¯d eaten he was really starting to starve. That drove him to do something he hadn¡¯t even thought possible before. Not wanting to relive each moment of it he instead just told Ozzy that he¡¯d eaten one of the imps. Ozzy didn¡¯t want to think about how he¡¯d accomplished that as he¡¯d given no description of any knife, or weapon he had on hand. Eating the Imp had led him to find the cores, though Cederick called them essence spheres. Which in turn helped significantly with his hunger and weakness.
While it did help immensely physically it didn¡¯t help emotionally. Cederick didn¡¯t have something easy like rats to work with. Imps were humanoid little creatures with arms, legs, hands and faces not too dissimilar to humans. Although he did from time to time kill one out of necessity he spent most of his time eyeing the connections in the hopes of finding another place like before. Maybe, hopefully this time there would be somebody that could help him. At this point Cederick paused and looked off wistfully before continuing.
He¡¯d spent months trying to find someone, anyone, or anywhere, he could get help to improve his situation. The first time he saw something other than just another set of squares it was a beast in the middle of eating its kill. Narrowly avoiding death there had given pause to his search. He kept watch on the connections still holding off on returning after the near death experience. Which allowed him to get even better at reading the connections. Eventually he found he could feel the intent of those present at the connections. Which spurred on another attempt at a visit. Of course intent wasn¡¯t the same thing as reading character. Especially after that person just murdered something.
His next few meetings were still not great. Some didn¡¯t speak his language. Most were still aggressive. He said he did eventually meet some people worth meeting. People who were willing to trade with him at least, if not outright help him. ¡°So that¡¯s what brings me here¡± He said, wrapping up, ¡°what about you?!¡±
B 1 Ch 11 Fundamentals
Ozzy Sat stunned for a moment. He¡¯d felt his experience had been harrowing. Eating rat meat was probably the most disgusting thing he¡¯d done his entire time here. The fight with the last rat, the most dangerous. He¡¯d also met someone after only a few days of being alone. He couldn¡¯t imagine having been alone in the dark for weeks, followed by alone under the tiny bit of light that was given off by a starry night sky for several months. Possibly years, as Cederick was hazy on exactly how long he¡¯d been here. Which also meant he was about a year younger when he arrived. He hesitated to ask the two questions. How old were you when you got here? How long have you been here? Especially since Cederick was looking at him with obvious anticipation for his own story. In the end he decided on the latter as it was most likely the less triggering of the two.
Cederick''s response told him more than he wanted. His upbeat attitude slipped for a moment and it almost looked like he would break down, but he quickly recovered. ¡°I don¡¯t really like to think about it¡± he responded mildly, ¡°Besides, Times have been so great after meeting so many interesting people! Especially hearing their stories! So, what¡¯s yours?¡±. Ozzy felt a little guilty when he started his point of view tale from his arrival till now. He hadn¡¯t gone through anywhere near the same things. To compensate he tried to lighten the mood. Telling the portions where he flopped about on his recliner, the square, and meeting the first rat in the most embarrassing way possible. Painting himself as a coward scared by his own shadow. Which especially on the first day was not a great stretch of the truth.
The theatrics saw Cederick''s attitude restore itself completely as he spoke. In real time Ozzy could watch the reversing of the souring of his mood. His laughs started out a bit mild but grew raucous as Ozzy continued. After a bit it was like he was the kid who he appeared to be when he walked up behind him an hour ago. His heart sank for a moment as he thought of this kid essentially growing up in this place of kill or be killed. Even if it was only a few months ago he was still a child even now. By some estimates he was a child himself, having just started college recently. Taking a page out of the kid¡¯s book he put that past him. The past could only destroy the present or future if you were stuck there instead of moving forward.
Ozzy felt himself smiling and laughing along with Cederick as he continued. He decided to leave out the details on killing the rats, although he absolutely told about eating the rat and his ravenous response to tasting a bit of it. Playing up every part of the story he thought might bring a little joy to the kid¡¯s life. To that end he left out the pain of improving his domain, learning how to use it slowly and any mention of tendrils, tentacles, or the like. Instead he claimed he went to embrace the last rat without a weapon at all, due to his loneliness. Which again wasn¡¯t a stretch so much as he¡¯d like to pretend. As he brought the story to a close with hearing someone walk up behind him, and whirling about with some judo chops, Cederick was almost crying laughing.
With the story completed Ozzy was dying to start asking more questions. Waiting until Cederick composed himself he reevaluated the boy. The way he controlled the situation was a testament to the hell he¡¯d been through. Telling a story to disarm and watch the reactions. Then asking for a story in return to gauge Ozzy¡¯s character. It was downright genius if that¡¯s really why he did it. The reasoning could easily be exactly as he said, but Ozzy suspected there was more to the kid than he let on. He likely had to play people like a fiddle to help sort the random people he¡¯d met into categories to more safely interact with them.
Seeing that Cederick was now looking at him expectantly Ozzy proceeded to pelt him with questions. First and foremost was something he¡¯d realized while telling his own story. He¡¯d stayed at the first rat haven for quite some time. Not quite as long as Cederick had stayed in his starry scape, but Long enough that the rat should have spawned and kicked him back, like Cederick''s had.
The answer was more conjecture than hard fact but it wasn¡¯t like Ozzy had anything better. ¡°Well, The Chain of Haven¡¯s everybody seems to have access to here are not the same as the havens we show up in,'''' He Explained matter of factly. ¡°They are weaker versions that can¡¯t attract and host the type of guests like us. I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s why they¡¯re chained the way they are. Since I think their similar target audience allows them to more effectively attract a viable one. I say that to say the guests they do attract are so weak you just standing there gives them more energy than any occupant they could hope to entice to reside there. There¡¯s no reason for them to reach out to even try if you¡¯re standing in them. Which of course means a limitation on just how fast any of them can be harvested. At least with the first few, I haven''t tried that with one''s further down the line. I don''t really like it there¡±
The ramifications of that second to last statement gave Ozzy pause. If everybody else was stuck jumping too and from their chain of havens in order to kill the occupants, and could only effectively farm one at a time, then they were very limited in growth. While he didn¡¯t have the same trouble, even discounting connecting those havens to his, that might be a major benefit. Though at the same time he had no idea what kinds of things the others had discovered. Cederick''s ability to detect a fight occurring in the more powerful haven¡¯s and even determine the disposition of those present clearly had its benefits as well. As much as Ozzy liked the kid he was still hesitant to just blab about everything he¡¯d discovered so far. Seeing how he¡¯d adapted to the environment and met others and carved out a niche of his own It behooved Ozzy to take it slowly and reveal things only after he¡¯d gotten the lay of the land. There was no sure thing, better to play it safe to start with, he couldn¡¯t take back revealing information after all.
¡°So, what about the connections to other havens¡± Ozzy started a new line of questioning ¡°Why is it so hard to see anything other than the next step in the chain of havens? Let alone anything else¡±. With this he had some guesses of his own but was interested in another take on the situation. Cederick scrunched up his face before answering.
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¡°That one is a little hard to say.'''' He opened his mouth a couple times and lifted his hands to gesture a few times as well before dropping them back down. Eventually he decided on how to continue. ¡°There seem to be an uncountable number of connections all right at the edge of the havens. Somewhat like they¡¯re all residing in the same building, each one layered one floor on top of one another. Only it¡¯s not like a building where each floor only touches the next. You can touch any and all of them at once and that¡¯s the problem. Trying to differentiate between any of them is like trying to grab one specific droplet of water out of a bucket. In my case when I detect others fighting it¡¯s like the droplets are bouncing on the surface and I can differentiate them that way.¡±
Ozzy nodded along as Cederick gave his description. While not exactly how he would have chosen to described it there was a synergy with the way Ozzy saw it working. He¡¯d keep a closer eye the next time he had some time to test out the things Cederick described. Maybe he could find them as well, or maybe other eccentricities as well.
There were so many things that were completely out of the norm here that needed to be examined and experimented with. He couldn¡¯t take anything for granted.
Despite the number of questions Ozzy had being endless, Cederick started to flag after only a few more. As much as he obviously enjoyed socializing he also clearly wasn¡¯t interested in being pestered with nonstop queries on how things worked for the rest of the day. He might have tried harder to pry for more answers but most of what Cederick had to offer was conjecture. While it was nice to hear corroboration of his own ideas and thoughts on the matter it wasn¡¯t worth it to annoy the guy. There was one more he thought was enough of a social question to not irk him though. ¡°So, how many tiles do you have at your place eh?¡± He figured it would offer an opportunity to brag at the least.
¡°Well, I¡¯ve actually lost count to be honest¡± Cederick said and almost seemed a bit embarrassed about it. ¡°Though I haven¡¯t killed as many imps as you might think.¡± He said trying to placate whatever offense he might be causing. ¡°It¡¯s kinda easy actually. Standing on a square coming from a chain you haven¡¯t been to before allows you to see the connection to it. And as you¡¯ve obviously found you can gain a tile when you first kill something from a haven. There¡¯s lots of theories why. Like one guy thinks it¡¯s like lizards dropping off their own tail if you grab it so they can escape. But, nobody really knows why for sure. What we do know is that it isn¡¯t you gaining it. Technically it¡¯s your haven. You could go back to a haven you¡¯ve gotten a tile from before and get another one, if you did so by passing from a different haven than your own. It would just show up in the haven you came from, not your own.¡±
Ozzy was surprised at this. Not that they didn¡¯t know how or why. He was wondering the same things himself, But the possibility of expanding his home so much. There could be so many options if that were the case. Before he could start pelting Cederick with the hundreds of follow-up questions that were running through his mind the boy jumped up and spoke up again. ¡°Wanna see!?¡± He exclaimed with the excitement only a kid showing off their new toy can have.
¡°Of course!¡± Ozzy responded immediately, feeling excitement not just because of the kid''s infectious attitude, but with the chance to expand. He was tired of having barely any space to muck about in, and it would be nice to eventually be able to build something. Cederick turned and stepped into nothing immediately. After about a minute Ozzy was starting to wonder if he¡¯d just left, but remembered there was a delay when traveling to and from any haven. After another couple minutes Cederick stepped back into view and with him a new square appeared which he stepped onto. The fact that Cederick''s foot appeared above the tile before it appeared and then it appeared just before he stepped onto it suggested something about how this all worked. What that meant wouldn¡¯t be clear without more testing and examination to get a better picture of what was happening. It was also odd that the tile appeared without any warning from his new senses. Usually he¡¯d see a flurry of movement in the energy all around, but this time he saw nothing. While thinking this Cederick raised his arm and tossed something his way.
¡°Here bro. It¡¯s on the house!¡± Something pink flapped through the air awkwardly before landing in his lap. Looking down he saw what Cederick had described before. A little demon Cherub. If the mouth hadn¡¯t been open and the wings weren¡¯t a bare fleshy pink he would have assumed it was actually a cherub. It was kind of cute other than the pointy and far too long teeth that early spilled out of its mouth. Which once taken into account and multiplied by the gross wings made it just about the most disgusting thing he¡¯d ever seen. Imp indeed. No wonder Cederick didn¡¯t want to talk about eating one of these, it would have felt like eating a baby. Even the thought nearly made Ozzy vomit right there, but he held himself together.
¡°Thanks!¡± He said, more for the new tile than the disgusting demon child in his arms. He was about to ask a few things when Cederick helped him change the subject. There was no way he wanted to continue talking about what he held and was himself searching for a way to change the subject.
¡°You should really start rearranging things now that you¡¯ve got different types of tiles here¡± Cederick said, and as he did looked at the layout of the tiles before him. The frown on his face told Ozzy something was off. ¡°It¡¯s weird they arranged themselves this way as normally they just surround the one you appeared on¡±. Which brought to mind the most recent rat tile and the fact that indeed its squares had formed a neat larger square. Though at the time he had no way of telling which was the initial tile. ¡°But, ¡° Cederick cut off his thought process ¡°That can wait, I¡¯ve got a surprise for you. Follow me!¡±
B 1 Ch 12 Possibilities
With that Cederick excitedly skipped off into the ether again. With nothing better to do than follow Ozzy took up position where he¡¯d been standing and felt for any connections. The first ones he could feel were the nine bonded rat havens that connected to more off into supposed infinity. Likewise he still saw the haven containing the mysterious oddball rat haven with significantly more strength and intelligence than the others. He was glad he still saw it despite having killed the previous occupant. He wasn¡¯t certain it would still show up. There was now also an additional node he could feel. Not quite as obvious as the rest. Not even as bright as the ninth chained haven which he hadn¡¯t visited yet. It was still discernible from the sea of indistinguishable possibilities out there though. While going over the different options he could now see there was an obvious difference in their feel. Like Cederick had claimed.
Taking a moment to pray to whatever would listen to him he asked for this not to be a trap. The next step found him standing on a stone pathway that led off into the distance. That last thought made him pause. The distance. The path wasn¡¯t stopping as his eyes kept following it further and further. It didn¡¯t stop at ten tiles, not twenty, and not even thirty tiles away. Granted, at around fifty squares out, he estimated, he could see the other side of this haven. Which wasn¡¯t really that big, but compared to any place he¡¯d been so far this place was downright gargantuan in scope. It wasn¡¯t quite as wide as it was long at about 9 tiles. Though the length wasn¡¯t the only thing blowing him away. On either side of that fifty tile long pathway there were squares of all different kinds of materials. Not just that, but buildings as well. Some made of bricks or stone, and others even made of wood. Though there were not many of those. Suggesting it was easier to gain access to the previous materials than the latter. The examination of materials and tiles and the magnitude of the place was wiped out of his mind at what he realized next. There were people!
¡°Ahahahaa,¡± Cederick laughed to himself while nodding emphatically with a clear sense of self satisfaction ¡°I knew you¡¯d like it!¡±. He was having trouble closing his mouth and he didn¡¯t mind all that much that Cederick was getting a kick out of his reaction. ¡°Usually I take some more time to get to know people before bringing them here, but I got the feeling you are good people. Plus I couldn¡¯t wait to see your face! It was totally worth it!¡± Cederick snickered. ¡°Come on I¡¯ll show you around, and introduce you to everyone¡± He said as he started off down the path. Following along Ozzy kept glancing from one place to another. There was so much to see that it was hard to stay focused on any one thing at a time.
To the left he could see a small field of wheat, only a 3x3 square of it, but it was golden and ready to harvest as far as he knew. Arranged all around it were many other crops growing, or rather ready to harvest. Even a tiny little orchard of a few trees were lined up there as well. Something told him it wasn¡¯t simply chance that he¡¯d come at the right time for them to be ready. He suspected that there was instead some trick to rapidly growing them, and then keeping them at that state. He was willing to bet it involved showering them with energy and they did the rest on their own. There were likely caveats and maybes out the wazoo but that could be examined later.
¡°Eh, Yeah the food is good and all, but there¡¯s something even better!¡± Cederick said dismissively. Though he seemed to change his mind for a moment. Making a detour he grabbed what looked like an orange pear and jogged back over. ¡°Actually here this will tide you over. I forgot you¡¯ve only had rat so far. We¡¯ll grab you something more before too long anyway¡±
Biting into the ¡®pear¡¯ revealed it didn¡¯t taste anything like one. There was definitely the sweet taste of fruit but it was hard to place exactly what it tasted like. Maybe a kiwi would be similar. It¡¯s strange how much the taste of a fruit seemed to rely on what you expected it to taste like. Without recognizing the wrappings it was like your tongue had to let go of the preconceived notions it had about the fruit, before it could wake up and get to work. ¡°So, is this your Haven?¡± Ozzy wondered out loud as he munched on the sweet treat.
¡°Huh?.... Oh, not this is Benjamin''s place¡± They continued to trudge forward in silence for a moment before he continued. ¡°I¡¯ll have to introduce you to him and get permission for you to actually be here. I may have rushed the process we usually take. But, Benjamin has somehow convinced the haven to listen to me as well. He¡¯s an old hat here and has lots of abilities I don¡¯t know yet. So, I was able to allow you in. Usually it¡¯s locked tight¡±
That made Ozzy a little concerned. He was walking into someone¡¯s house without permission in what equated to the wild west. Who knew if his attitude would be shoot first and ask questions later. The fact that the kid had access though suggested that wasn¡¯t the case. With it being the first time he¡¯d broken protocol that might cause issues. With the sudden change in mood Ozzy remained internally focused for a good section of the walk down the central path in the haven. He was only brought out of his funk when Cederick took a sharp turn left suddenly toward the first building and opened the door. ¡°TADA!!!¡± He said jovially while waggling his hands toward the interior.
Looking in and allowing his eyes to adjust he saw what might be generously referred to as a bathtub. The thing was a large mound of clay with the inside formed into a bowl large enough to easily fit two people that was filled with steaming water to the brim. Beside it there were a few rough cotton towels hanging up and what might be soap of some kind on the side. For a moment every little stain and stink he¡¯d put on over the last week and a half brought itself to the forefront of his mind. Then the idea of scrubbing that all away sent a ripple of relaxation through him. ¡°Oh, Now that¡¯s nice!¡± He turned to Cederick to thank him and a thought struck him. ¡°But, that makes me wonder what you¡¯re trying to say? That I stink?¡± He continued jokingly.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.Cederick turned red as his hands went limp ¡°Uh, Not¡ I didn¡¯t mean anything like that!¡± Looking about it appeared he was trying to find the best way out of this awkward situation but couldn¡¯t find a way. Turning back to Ozzy his following words tinged with a tiny bit of anger. ¡°I nearly cried when I first saw this cause I hadn¡¯t bathed in ages.¡± Clearly he was expecting a much more appreciative response.
Raising his hands placatingly Ozzy tried his best to backpedal. ¡°I am honestly impressed¡ honest.¡± It was now Ozzy who was babbling earnestly. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure when I¡¯d ever be able to get clean again. I was just¡¡± He shrugged ¡°flipping you some shit. Like messing around. Sorry¡¡±
Cederick eased up a bit and eyed him for a moment. ¡°OK,¡± he said simply ¡°Well take your time. There¡¯s no clean clothes in your size but maybe we can get you some new ones made. There¡¯s a guy here who makes the clothes and he doesn¡¯t charge much. I¡¯ll go talk to Benjamin and be back in an hour or so¡± He finished with two thumbs up and ran off. He¡¯d still had a bit of color on his cheeks but it appeared Ozzy had at least partially saved his faux pas. Or at least that the kid was resilient enough to get past it himself. Not that ribbing someone was wrong per say but maybe it was a little too soon.
Unfortunately Ozzy was missing his friends back home and the comradery of a good natured ribbing so he¡¯d, for the second time taken a leap he should have thought better of. At least this time it didn¡¯t end up with a Giant rat snacking on his leg. On the contrary. He looked at the steaming bath again and smiled. He would be having a nice relaxing hour or so where he could maybe forget about all the insane experiences he¡¯d gone through for a while.
Cederick trudged away from the bathhouse a little dejected. For some reason he felt like impressing Ozzy and He¡¯d for a moment taken the lackluster response personally. Compared to everything else he¡¯d been through it was nothing, and Ozzy had apologized. It even seemed like he¡¯d gotten flustered himself which made Ced feel a little better for his own embarrassment. Allowing the awkward moment to pass like every other problem he¡¯d had here, he continued down the path in a little better mood.
At the end of the pathway he took a right to Benjamin''s little hut and found the door already open. Inside a man looking to be in his forties sat staring intently at the wall. The angle of his stare suggested what he was looking at was the bathhouse. ¡°Hello Cederick,¡± came a mild greeting. No obvious indication in his voice that he was either upset or had any opinion yet. Meanwhile he never looked away from the wall or even adjusted his point of view.
¡°Heeey, Ben,¡± Ced said cautiously. It was never a good sign when he was looking off at nothing. The reason was almost always that he could see something Ced couldn¡¯t. Ced had tried several times to pry the how or why of it from him. The results had initially been something along the lines of ¡®ignorance is bliss my friend¡¯. With continued pestering he¡¯d gotten something more, but not much. Benjy had compared it to the feelings Ced got from the different havens he could feel. Which had of course only spurred Ced into even more questioning. Ben had turned into a stone wall then.
¡°I see you¡¯ve brought us a new prospect¡± Ben said, still looking off into the distance. At that he squinted and tensed for a few moments then relaxed again. Ced nodded but realized Ben might not actually be able to see him. He was about to say something when Ben continued. ¡°I guess finally a good time to tell you a bit more about what I can see. And why we absolutely cannot let this one stay¡±
Ozzy had jumped into the bath as quickly as he¡¯d shucked his clothes off. The water was perfectly steamy. That temperature where it¡¯s ever so slightly close to getting too hot, but still warm. Whoever had made this bath was a master. Either that or he just happened to step in at the right time. Despite his best efforts since originally awakening on his recliner he still had little bits of blood under every fingernail. Not to mention a tiny bit smeared here and there from either rat bites or skinning them. After dunking his head he found he¡¯d even had a decent amount in his hair. Which was surprising and disgusting. The bowl of what he hoped was soap smelled a bit like aloe vera but sudsed a little bit when rubbed into his hair. While it might not be as good as some soap from back home it was at least getting the job done.
For the first couple minutes he¡¯d washed away the grime and let the heat wash away his stresses. There was something therapeutic about being clean that nothing else could really compare to. Afterward, leaning back and relaxing he noticed the water hadn¡¯t cooled even a bit. When he looked about to see what the cause might be he realized something else. He still had his new senses shut off from when he strangled the last rat. With all the sudden revelations since then he¡¯d completely forgotten to restore them. Opening himself to them again he was amazed at what he saw. This place was drowning in energy.
Not the type in the cores. This was made up of the different kinds of ¡®waste¡¯ energies he¡¯d seen when testing with barriers previously. It was quite distracting but he could still see his own domain and first metaphysical appendage. It was a bit like different wavelengths. A slight adjustment, similar to squinting, could bring one or the other into better focus. As he did so something else entirely came into view. The bath had its own core, and domain!
Cederick sat stunned as Benjamin finished his story. Things that hadn¡¯t made any sense to him were starting to piece themselves together. Some he didn¡¯t necessarily agree with but even discarding those the puzzle as a whole was clear. ¡°So he really can¡¯t stay here¡¡±
B 1 Ch 13 you win some, you lose some
Ozzy was drying himself off when he heard a knock at the door. ¡°Hey, Ben had some spare clothes you could use¡± He heard Cederick say from outside. ¡°I¡¯m just gonna set them on the shelf just inside the door.¡± Ozzy still wrapped the towel around himself just in case as the kid cracked the door and set the stack of clothes on the shelf. ¡°After you¡¯re dressed I¡¯ve got a few other places to show you¡±. That sounded a bit different than the tune from when he¡¯d gotten here. Maybe coming unannounced had caused some troubles.
¡°Thanks!¡± Ozzy said, taking a look at the clothes. They would do well enough. Everything was rough spun cotton or at least it looked and felt like it. The fit was rather decent considering the place it was made, and that it wasn¡¯t made for him. It all smelled a bit like the aloe soap he had used to wash himself. Which was much better than his clothes and really what made the decision for him. He¡¯d initially been thinking about just dressing back up in them, but they smelled like rancid sweat and meat. He was surprised he had gotten used to it with how bad it was. Getting dressed quickly he balled up his old clothes and used his old T-shirt as a bag for them.
Stepping out he was greeted with a ¡°Surprise!¡± with Cederick holding out some leather shoes. They looked like a cross between sandals and a moccasin with a leather tie at the ankle but the whole foot was covered. Maybe leather foot wraps was the best description but he wasn¡¯t a footwear connoisseur. Either way they were miles better than bare feet.
¡°Thank you.¡± He said Taking the offering and stepping back to the rim of the tub he sat to put them on. ¡°Really, thank you.¡± he added while trying to figure out the ties ¡°I likely would have made a mess of making something like this.¡± As he continued to struggle with them he mumbled ¡°If I even could¡±
¡°Here, ¡° Cederick stepped forward and knelt, ¡°let me show you. It¡¯s quicker once you¡¯ve seen it done before.¡± With that he grabbed the other shoe and quickly showed the orientation and pattern. One piece went over the other then around the angle twice then wrapped around the foot and tied at the top. It was pretty straight forward once seen. The way the leather lay looked like it was formed specifically to sit just as it¡¯d been tied. Next time it would be a little quicker but he¡¯d likely need a few attempts before it became habit. ¡°Well it¡¯s the least I can do¡± Cederick continued ¡°We¡¯re gonna need to head back to your place before we can check out the next haven¡± The forced upbeat attitude didn¡¯t very well hide the undertone of uncomfortableness.
¡°I take it my unannounced visit didn¡¯t go over very well with Benjamin?¡± Ozzy guessed.
¡°Not exactly that¡± was the only reply as the other shoe was tied as well.
Which of course to Ozzy meant that yes it was exactly that. He wasn¡¯t too upset, as at least he¡¯d still be able to meet others besides, and he¡¯d seen some interesting things here. Had a nice bath. He also had some new clothes. Not to mention shoes he didn¡¯t have before. Of course there was also the likelihood that if someone reacted so poorly to being dropped in on unannounced that they were not the most welcoming host to begin with.
Meanwhile Cederick was certain that Ozzy knew there was more to this than a simple uninvited guest being asked to leave. He desperately hoped Ozzy would drop the subject and just follow him. To that end Cederick offered another gift ¡°Also I bought some seeds for you.¡± He said holding up a bag, which was more of a towel folded in half and stitched together ¡°There¡¯s something like cotton, some wheat, and actually I got some little sprouts of those fruit trees¡±
¡°You bought it?¡± Ozzy wondered.
¡°Absolutely! Remember trade was one of the first things that I was able to get people to agree to before Benjy¡ uh Benjamin allowed me and some others to join him here.¡± Cederick started as he made his way back toward the end of the path they¡¯d originally arrived on. Momentarily Ozzy wondered if Cederick just didn¡¯t know about being able to leave from any point at the edge, but then he saw the edge of this havens domain. The membrane was completely different from the one surrounding his own haven. None of the pores were open. Actually it appeared there were no pores at all. As if the entire thing had been rebuilt. At the end of the path there was one large opening that had what looked like a multilayered system of security surrounding it.
Something about that suggested that whoever benjamin was Ozzy could have learned a lot from him if it wasn¡¯t for this inopportune meeting. Again he took a page from Cedericks book and let bygones be bygones. It was around then that Ozzy realized Cederick had continued talking but he didn¡¯t catch any of it. Though it appeared it wasn¡¯t a question or anything else requiring input as he wasn¡¯t looking to Ozzy for an answer and had continued down the path afterward. ¡°So, How much did it cost you?¡± Ozzy asked while jogging to catch up, curious if he could start trading himself soon. Well with one of the other havens they were heading to.
¡°Oh just a few of the energy packets left by the monsters.¡± Cederick said dismissively, even waving Ozzy off as if it were nothing. It would be nothing to Ozzy if he could actually get some trade going. He had hundreds of them in his recliner pocket back in the haven. Which had Ozzy wondering what people call those as Cederick hadn¡¯t mentioned earlier. ¡°Well different groups call em different things¡± Cederick explained when he asked ¡°Some people call em chits, tokens, or coins. Some even call em Spirit Coins. Benjy likes to call em energy packets as he doesn¡¯t like to label things other than they are. Says it gets you thinking about them wrong¡±
Benjamin was sounding more and more like someone Ozzy would have liked to have met. Although, another glance at the mystical doomsday bunker this haven was turned into by the prepper part of the guy definitely gave him thanks he hadn¡¯t. Maybe he¡¯d be able to repair the relationship at some point so he could pick his brain at least. He sure wasn¡¯t ever going to be staying the night here in what was likely a minefield of mystical booby traps.
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A simple step found them back on the few square meters Ozzy had been calling home so far. Which felt like returning to friendly soil after being abroad for days despite the visit lasting less than two hours. Finding himself sighing and flopping down on the recliner he realized he still had a guest and nothing to offer him. Well not nothing actually. ¡°Here Cederick¡± Ozzy said, holding up a handful of the cores he¡¯d collected previously, in a bit of the blanket he¡¯d cut off. Not the large one from the uber rat of course.
¡°Oh, I¡.¡± Cederick looked like he wanted to say no, but clearly did want the cores.
¡°Consider it a payment for services rendered¡± Ozzy countered, thinking of the amazing bath he¡¯d been able to experience. ¡°And of course for helping introduce me to whoever else you¡¯re able to¡±
¡°Well, I do hope the next visits go better.¡± he said while pouring the coins into a little pouch he¡¯d apparently had tied to his belt. Which Ozzy hadn¡¯t seen before. ¡°Speaking of these ones I will definitely need to clear it with them first so It¡¯ll take me a bit to get that set up.¡± He said, turning a little to the side to avoid eye contact.
¡°That¡¯s perfectly reasonable¡± Ozzy reassured him. ¡°I wanted to see about planting the tree and whatnot.¡±
¡°Oh, yeah!¡± Cederick excitedly pronounced ¡°Benjy said you could give em some energy and they¡¯d grow faster, but I have trouble doing that¡± he ended on a sour note with a bit of a frown. ¡°I¡¯ve tried cracking one of the packets right next to them but I absorb them to quickly, even when I do it from a distance with like a stick¡±
This piqued Ozzy¡¯s interest. For a few reasons. He didn¡¯t realize you could break the cores with a stick for one. And for two that just sounded like an absurd absorption rate from a distance. He¡¯d been looking at so many different things but focused on Cederick now. Immediately he could see a few things off. One was that the kid seemed to be sucking in energy. It wasn¡¯t just hitting his skin and absorbing as happened with Ozzy causing a little buzzing. There was a whirlwind of energy flowing into Cederick from several feet away from him. He also had a sheen about him when looking with his new senses. It was a bit like a membrane but it was clearly his skin that looked almost metallic. Finally something else was off that took a bit to realize. Cederick had no domain at all.
The rats he¡¯d observed before had a domain that barely wisped outside their body. Even the largest rat still had one, and it expanded even further from its body. With this boy there was not a hint of any domain anywhere around him. Tentatively Ozzy reached out with his own domain and felt the vortex pull at it. Stretching out it touched Cedericks skin and stopped. It felt like it was still being pulled in but the membrane or whatever this barrier was, prevented it from moving further. If this was simply a membrane it was exactly aligned with Cedericks skin. The texture of each cell was aligned with that of whatever was blocking his domain. Realizing he¡¯d paused for quite some time he looked up to find Cederick was looking off to the side apparently lost in thought. ¡°Anyway, ¡° He added eventually ¡°I¡¯m gonna go see if i can setup a meeting with somebody¡±
¡°Alright! See you!¡± Ozzy agreed, waving ¡°I¡¯ll just be here working on all the great things you got¡±. Gesturing to the bag of goodies that Cederick had set on the grass. That and he planned to try his hand at all the different things he¡¯d learned of as well. As he thought that he watched Cederick wave and jump away. Ozzy found himself sighing again. With as much as he¡¯d been missing socializing, he felt he¡¯d gotten more than enough in the last couple hours to last him a good week. Somehow talking to someone younger than yourself was exhausting. If it ended up the boy wasn¡¯t back for another few days he wouldn¡¯t really mind. With everything he¡¯d seen in such a short time he¡¯d likely have months worth of tinkering he could do. Not to mention he also had new plants and tiles to play with.
The plants had been about as easy as he¡¯d thought they would be. Feeding them energy was significantly easier for him with his domain to direct things. That and the lack of a vortex stealing all the energy. There was some finesse involved as just dumping a cores worth of energy on a sprout resulted in a thick limbed bush type thing shooting up that had no leaves or fruit to speak of. After testing with the other a bit and varying the speed at which he allowed energy to hit it he found a good rate that would effectively fast forward normal growth. Soon he had a fruit tree half again taller than he was standing on the center of one tile of his lands.
There were of course some oddities with its growth beyond just the speed. The roots didn¡¯t poke out the other side as he¡¯d expected. In fact they also didn¡¯t penetrate past the tile they grew into in any direction. Despite having roots less than a few centimeters deep and barely a meter wide in total the tree was quite solid. It seemed every single thing he learned here brought about ten more questions. Though at least some of those things were obviously valuable to him while others were simply curiosities. Maybe he could make use of that info later but for now he¡¯d move on.
Looking back to the other sprout he¡¯d failed to grow properly he found some interesting changes. That first sprout was slowly growing properly now. Slowly only compared to the speed he¡¯d just grown the other though. It seemed the energy in the air alone was enough to get it to correct itself. Not only that but it appeared that it was using all kinds of different energies. Not just the most useful types that Ozzy could utilize. But several of the waste energies that he couldn¡¯t. Looking back at the fully grown tree he could see it doing the same and sprouting fruit as it did so. Even better was the fact that he could see the fruit contained quite a bit of energy.
B 1 Ch 14 feng shui
This fruit really did taste like kiwi he¡¯d decided as he was munching on his fourth fruit from the trees he¡¯d grown. He had never received the offered meal at Benjamins haven and was quite hungry. The last meal he¡¯d had consisting entirely of rat a day ago. Usually consuming the amount of energy that was in the fruits, as they contained several times what was in each of the first little rat cores, was enough to tide him over. However, after the first he started drawing the energy out with his domain first, and using it to improve that. There was no reason to let the energy go to his body when his domain was so useful and getting more so with each little bit.
The fruit was slowly filling him up while the energy was slowly improving and growing his domain. Each little bit making it easier to identify and differentiate between different types of energy and other metaphysical things he could see. In the meantime he¡¯d collected a nice little pile of seeds for new fruit trees and planted one on each of his grass tiles. Even with just allowing the ambient energy to grow them they were already his height by now. That was after drawing in all the useful energy from the surroundings and just letting the waste ones do the work. Waste not want not.
It was interesting to watch the trees do their work. He hadn¡¯t been able to identify the mechanism they were using, but they were still able to fill their fruit with usable energy despite the air being free of it now. Not only that but they were taking in many different kinds of waste energy and putting out one specific type. While still an energy he had no idea how to use it might be easier to test and discover one if it was all of one type. Then branch out from there.
He¡¯d also planted a few of the different seeds Cederick had provided. The few he¡¯d tried turned out to be a mix of the two most similar to cotton and aloe. The aloe plant looked exactly like one he¡¯d seen before back on earth. Yet cracking open a leaf showed the contents were more like the soap he¡¯d had in the bath than a moisturizer and healing salve. Although who knew if it could be used for that purpose as well. While the cotton equivalent was very different. It had large flowers that turned out to be made of a fiber that you could pull apart into strands. Instead of the ball of fluff like the one back on earth.
Messing about with them a bit had shown they could indeed be mashed and twirled together into a type of lumpy yarn. Maybe if he eventually got or made a spinning wheel and comb he could actually make some nice yarn and either crochet or knit something better. Although he¡¯d need to learn to knit, his mother had taught him the basics of crocheting things like hats and gloves. Though he knew from some late night random youtubing for patterns that although crocheting was more versatile it also couldn¡¯t be automated while knitting could. But that was ages down the line.
For now he¡¯d made decent progress on his garden and turned his attention from the plants for a while to survey his little kingdom. He now had 8 little fruit trees, one fully grown and the other 7 rapidly catching up. There was the new reddish stone tile that Cederick had provided. There were also the 5 hidden rat tiles that he couldn¡¯t see but could sense. Cederick had claimed he could rearrange his haven but hadn¡¯t explained how. Though Ozzy had been able to connect different havens to his own. He could probably find out how to move around some tiles inside one.
He should have known that thinking something would be easy would jinx him. Even then it hadn¡¯t really set him back that far. Just had to figure out that the squares domains and membranes which were gained through murdering the rats were not as interactive as the havens despite them having the same basic structure. He''d been trying to get them to connect like he had his and the rat havens. He¡¯d beat his head against that wall for longer than he¡¯d want to admit. Eventually he knew for sure they were effectively inert. What got him on the right track was remembering the fact that Cederick could do this and couldn¡¯t see the things he could nor reach out to the domains in the same way. Which in turn reminded him of how Cederick had stepped onto the red stone tile as it appeared in his haven.
Trying to imitate just that was the simple solution it appeared. While stepping into the place he wanted a tile to be he envisioned it there and as he stepped down there it appeared. Although once he understood the method he was able to utilize his domain for the same results, meaning the process was much faster and less taxing. Essentially he¡¯d been trying to interface directly with the squares and the other one he wanted them to touch. What he had needed to do was interface with his haven as they apparently somehow belonged to it not him. Which suggested some possibilities and In the end he¡¯d arranged his Haven in a similar manner to Benjamins. With the stone tile now connected to his recliner¡¯s square where the grass used to connect. As the start of an eventual pathway. Then to the right of the stone the first grass tile followed along by the rest in a single row so as to eventually be a grassy lawn next to the path. Then he found a similar, but slightly different method to align the rat havens alongside their compatriot grass tiles making it all nice and tidy. He couldn¡¯t really say it was his design but there was no reason he had to come up with his own yet. He could always rearrange things later.
With having started the process of setting up a pathway and since there was still no sign of Cederick returning yet, Ozzy decided he should get to work on expanding it. Feeling the connection the stone tile was related to he reached through and examined the place with his extra senses. As expected there was an imp flapping away there in the darkness. Which was odd as it could have easily come to rest on the tile yet it flapped continuously to keep itself afloat. That wasn¡¯t important to the current goal though. Even though this haven had already donated a tile, and Cederick claimed it wouldn''t again Ozzy couldn¡¯t see a reason not to test and confirm. Dispatching of the deformed baby monster was swift and apparently painless as it never even made a noise. Taking its core back he waited and watched. No new tile. As the warning label suggested.
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Continuing with his plan he connected with the second imp haven and repeated the process. A new tile appeared as expected. This time though he was waiting and watching the process with all his senses honed in. The wave of energy released from murdering the Imp burst out from its body and when encountering the membrane of its haven reverberated back toward the center. Well it did so everywhere except where Ozzy''s domain was currently breaching it. There the energy continued through and formed a new square and domain to go with it in his own haven. Remembering again the tile forming when Cederick stepped back he realized it happened as a connection between the two was formed. Where in this case there was already a connection, so a new square formed immediately,
Taking a step forward he again reached out to the next Imp in line. He robotically dispatched it and watched the resulting creation of a new little haven inside his own. While doing so his mind had wandered to when he¡¯d fought the intelligent rat. Well afterward when he¡¯d returned and no new tile had greeted him. Something tugged at his thoughts suggesting a possible cause. His mind was brought back to when he¡¯d connected the first rat haven to his own. When he¡¯d been thinking of the havens like cells. How they might move and interact. One such interaction, if they were alive, would be reproduction. What if these squares weren¡¯t like the tails of lizards being dropped. The havens could be creating seeds or eggs here that could somehow later on become havens themselves. Maybe the chained havens were males while the ones that gathered intelligent occupants were female. That could be tested easily enough Though he figured he could finish his current task first. At least as much as he could.
Moving on from one Imp to the next he began expanding his pathway to match the grass tiles to the side. As he advanced he realized something was different with the imps compared to the rats. The imps weren¡¯t getting bigger. Not their bodies anyway. Their domains though were getting further and further from their skin as he moved forward. The fifth started showing signs of a membrane and from their forward it became more complex and dense. It was actually becoming a resistive barrier to his improved domain extension by the 7th. Though compared to the rats'' improved skulls it didn¡¯t put up as much. He was able to get to the eighth without even getting concerned. He was mildly surprised after killing it that only the ninth imp haven showed up, not some other connection. It might have been a little too symmetrical if it did though. With that task completed he moved on to the experiment he¡¯d devised.
Walking toward the first of the rat havens that were connected to his he stepped into it. The rat inside shrieked as per usual, but he ignored it. With his new shoes there was nothing it could do against him. From this new vantage point he reached out to the second one with his modified domain and dispatched it quickly. He was surprised to find that the haven he was standing in did indeed gain a square from the other in the same manner that his had. So they weren¡¯t gendered. They could both gain and give a tile, but the intelligent rat didn¡¯t give one. He pondered for a moment before realizing how easy it would be to test this further.
Stepping back to his Haven for a moment he skipped the second rat haven as it currently had no occupant and he didn¡¯t want to muddle the test with that variable changing. Instead he stepped into the haven with the third rat. Again a screech greeted him although this one he had to do something about, but he didn¡¯t want to kill it. Reaching out with an unmodified portion of his domain he formed a little dome barrier around the rat and could hear its cries silenced as he solidified it. Reaching back through a direct connection to the first rat haven he sliced through its occupant as if it weren¡¯t even there. He waited a few moments but nothing came. No new tiles appeared.
Once more he stepped back to his haven and examined the one that now held no rat, but two squares. He didn¡¯t want to step into it otherwise the new rat wouldn¡¯t spawn. Instead he opened the veil between the two havens so he could more easily see them. Sitting down in his recliner he got comfortable and watched. Not wanting to miss anything he intentionally closed his eyes and allowed his other senses to do the watching instead. As he waited he examined the haven. It¡¯s domain and membrane were not large enough to easily hold two squares. The edges were warped from something resembling a sphere into more of a rectangle. It wasn¡¯t straining and it could likely hold a few more squares before it would. As he thought this a new rat appeared. When it did so there was a flash of energy as the central square was replaced with a new one. As this happened it almost looked like a whole was blown in the side of the haven. And the other square was pushed out of it.
He could feel it separate from its origin haven and meld into the mix of all the other nodes out there. Though he could still feel it despite being separate since he¡¯d touched it before. It felt different than any of the other nodes he¡¯d seen. It felt essentially no different from the squares inside his haven. Not entirely lifeless but a bare slate open to the void. Not so much pores as gaping holes that let anything in. He¡¯d keep an eye on it and see what happened. This gave him some ideas though, for how he could prosper here in this strange place of squares, domains, and membranes.
B 1 Ch 15 Best laid plans of rats and men
Ozzy thought about those different possibilities for a while. He sat back and relaxed in his recliner to do so. Shutting out everything around him including closing the veil between his haven and the rats. He wasn¡¯t murdering rats, or Imps and harvesting cores. He wasn¡¯t testing how havens reproduced, if that even was what they were doing. There was no gardening being done. The squares in his haven weren¡¯t being moved around. No new squares were being added. There were no new havens being connected to his. Ozzy wasn¡¯t even examining his surroundings with his new senses.
All of those things could without any doubt bring him increased strength, insight, speed, and any number of other benefits for sure. What none of them could do for him was make decisions. None of them could parse information for him. Those actions wouldn¡¯t re-evaluate the situation for him. And for the first time he wasn¡¯t starving, dehydrated, or completely lost and alone. Finally giving him some time to take stock. Which he¡¯d only realized after taking the time to sit and watch the processes around him. So he shut it all out and went over everything he¡¯d experienced so far, and all of the things he¡¯d learned. going over all the little notes he¡¯d made so far in his notepad. All the things he¡¯d forgotten to write but thankfully remembered naturally. The one¡¯s he¡¯d initially thought were unimportant but now seemed to have more meaning.
There was a lot to mull over. Wherever this was wasn¡¯t even a place per say. Maybe it had been at one time, or maybe it would be eventually but it seemed like something of a fractured reality. Separated by walls of nothingness that, as they took up and contained no space, were no distance at all to traverse, but he still didn¡¯t understand the way it was traversable. Scattered throughout the nothingness, or maybe all sitting atop one another, as Cederick seemed to think, were the havens.
Another mystery themselves. So far it seemed most likely they were some life form which captured and housed living things to utilize the waste energies given off by them. Different havens could bond with and contain different types of entities. Which looked to be tied to the size and density of their domain. The chained Havens which all attracted the same type of occupant seemed to imply some intelligence behind them. Whether that intelligence was their own or someone like himself linking them together was unknown. This was added as a note in his little book. As he hadn¡¯t really thought about it before. There was the seeming reproductive function of the havens which he still hadn¡¯t fully tested but he was making headway with it.
There were then the intelligent entities that could traverse between havens. Even a reasonably intelligent rat had been able to move between them and grow his own haven. Likely just a drive based on hunger but regardless of the drive he was able to do so. That rat had been nearly stronger than himself. Its skull too dense to penetrate with the tools he had created and even now still relied on. Only the fluke of strangling it had allowed him to prevail.
He¡¯d been incredibly lucky that those he¡¯d met that were more intelligent than a rat and obviously significantly more powerful than him were willing to cooperate. Despite the blatant gap in their capabilities they both showed a clear fear of others. Cederick had only given tidbits on the matter but the early introductions he referred to did not sound remotely cordial or safe. Any questions about Cederick''s haven were similarly glossed over. Ozzy didn¡¯t miss that Cederick had never brought up the possibility of visiting it. Meanwhile the only haven he had visited of another intelligent and open person had been locked down in ways he didn¡¯t know were possible. After that person¡¯s rejection Cederick still didn¡¯t offer to visit his haven. At the time he hadn¡¯t noticed the reluctance but it was clear now.
Then of course there were the cores, the domains, and the membranes here. All but, one of which he could only interact with due to his accident. Though the fact that the Imp¡¯s domains were naturally increasing where the rats didn¡¯t suggested others had these abilities as well. In the imps case they seemed to be natural to them. They might be able to connect to other domains and see them as he could. There may be someone watching him right now. He nearly opened his eyes and other senses at that, but there was no point. If they were watching him they were watching him. He hadn¡¯t seen any indication of it when he did have those senses active.
With everything he¡¯d learned so far one simple truth seemed to ring true. This was not a safe place. Cederick and Benjamin both seemed afraid of what was out there. Yet both were likely stronger than he was. Cederick¡¯s cells seemed to be made of some combination of physical and membranous domain material. Which looked many times stronger than his own, or the imps domains or membranes. He also drew in energy in a large vortex around himself seemingly without trying despite lacking any indication of a domain himself. He hadn¡¯t seen Benjamin but the fact that Cederick trusted Benjamin to house him, while he didn¡¯t trust doing so himself suggested he was even stronger.
Which brought him back to Benjamin''s rejection. While at first he thought this might be due to bringing him in unannounced, there were suggestions that this might not be the case. The significant modifications to his haven suggested he shared a similar ability with his domain that Ozzy had. Which brought up the possibility that simply seeing that Ozzy had been modifying his domain caused Benjamin to reject him. A stretch true, but from everything he¡¯d seen and learned it was definitely feasible.
Everything in this told him something about how he would or would not prosper here. Just getting stronger hadn¡¯t erased either Cederick or Benjamin¡¯s fear. Gaining more squares wasn¡¯t doing it for them either. As he¡¯d seen Benjamin''s several hundred tiles and Cederick had said he¡¯d lost count of his own. Allies hadn¡¯t made them worry less about others. Benjamin had several people living in his haven. Cederick visited many others. They had rejected Ozzy though. Whether that was something to do with him or simply because he came unannounced it did tell him one thing. They feared the unknown.
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There were things out there, especially other people it seemed, that could harm them. If Ozzy was really going to prosper or thrive here he couldn¡¯t simply get stronger in the known things. He needed to push into the unknown. To examine possibilities others overlooked. That didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t get stronger along the way in those he did know. He just couldn¡¯t get so focused on one thing that he let other opportunities slide by. With that he opened his eyes and got ready to work again with renewed vigor.
His earlier testing with haven reproduction had taught him a lot but there were a few more things he needed to learn still. Moving back to the first rat haven he reached out to the second. If what he¡¯d been told so far was true this shouldn¡¯t change anything where he was standing. Ending the existence of the rat in the second haven caused a wave of energy as usual. When the wave hit the edge of its haven and breached through a square appeared in front of him as before. The exact cause was unclear but he¡¯d thought this might happen. If his own haven had an occupant before him and it had killed any of the residents of the same havens he had then there would not have been squares when the same havens were attacked by him. That being if it was simply as Cederick had said. One square per haven.
The deciding factor might be that the haven had a new occupant. Though it could as easily be because the immature haven from those two havens was no longer present. He wasn¡¯t sure if that knowledge would really help him, but he might be able to find out without too much effort. He could still see exactly which pore on the membrane had allowed the immature haven out previously. Connecting to his own haven as well as the one he was currently standing in he adjusted their shared connection. Wrapping his haven¡¯s membrane to reach around the side that was previously open into nothing. Matching up one of the pores on his own haven with the ejecting one from before. Reaching through to his recliner he pulled out a small core and released the energy from it, though he didn¡¯t let it go or absorb it, instead he pulled it back to the haven he stood in. Then he thrust it at the ejection point.
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It took him what felt like three hours, and thirty two of the smaller cores, to eventually succeed. The first try had seemed like it might succeed. The haven had opened wide. Not quite wide enough to allow the square through though. The next attempt with two cores had brought the aperture to the point where the square could have fit through but nothing happened after that other than the eventual closing of the same, just as it had the first time. He¡¯d tried sending energy to the square he wanted to move as well as the ejection point. There''d been several variations of just releasing lots of cores worth of energy on the initial tile near the current resident. Who¡¯d actually fallen asleep by then, eventually deciding the intruder was just standing there anyway, and biting his ankle wasn¡¯t doing anything.
He¡¯d shown some results after connecting again to his haven while releasing energy at the pore. He¡¯d tried getting his haven to accept energy through that pore, which did result in it opening wider than before. Though the square still wasn¡¯t ejected. During all this he had run a few other tests. First watching as the second rat respawned he could see something happen with its domain as well as the haven as it settled in. Though it wasn¡¯t quite clear what. Just to confirm once again he killed it to find that no further squares appeared. He¡¯d collected its core, and watched again when another was captured. Again he saw something change with the havens domain, then with the resident as it showed up. The fact that there was a reaction in the haven¡¯s domain before the resident showed up indicated something but he wasn¡¯t sure what.
Returning to the testing at hand he¡¯d varied his approach. What eventually resolved the issue was a combination of interactions with his haven, the rats haven, the square and his domain. He¡¯d used half the energy of a core on the ejection point. Another half on the connecting pore on his haven. Directed his haven to allow a visitor from the rat haven as well as pull energy from it. Then he¡¯d directed the rat haven to move the square that he was now standing on and simultaneously stepping forward through the opening. Which finally resulted in the square moving into his haven. As excited as he was he couldn¡¯t just stop with one success.
He had to know if this was repeatable. First he moved the square over to the left side of the path he¡¯d set up. Then he took position back in the first rat haven. Finally he could test what he¡¯d hypothesized. He¡¯d lost count on exactly how many of the second rat havens occupants he¡¯d killed over his stay here, but another joined the ranks. As he did so a new square appeared in the first rat haven. Which brought a thrill through him. That wasn¡¯t the only thing he needed to test though. Again he performed the process of opening a connection between the two havens and shifted the square between them. Only when he was inside his haven standing on another square spawned by the first two rat havens did he find himself celebrating. Then his heart stopped for a moment as he whipped around and confirmed that the other one was still there. He¡¯d worried briefly that somehow the second one had made the other disappear.
While the simple result of adding two squares to his haven wasn¡¯t exactly a momentous occasion the method and repercussions of them were. As long is He could repeat this process he could effectively add an indefinite number of squares to his haven if he put the time and effort in. Likely in the process finding quicker and easier methods to do so. Though more than anything it wasn¡¯t so much that this specific thing he¡¯d discovered that had him so elated right now. It was the fact that he could work it out through trial and error. There was no telling if others had already discovered this method, but he wasn¡¯t going to stop at just this one thing. He needed to know the rules of this place inside and out if he was going to survive.
B 1 Ch 16 The nature of things
Having discovered what he could think of for now with haven reproduction Ozzy moved on. He could easily take action to add more squares to his haven than even Benjamin had now that he had discovered this work around, but he¡¯d already decided that wouldn¡¯t be his only focus. He did take a few minutes to at least finish the left side of his pathway though. He didn¡¯t want to solely focus on gathering strength and increasing his territory. Yet this would easily net him more than he¡¯d gain in several days if all he had to rely on was growing significantly stronger to overcome the increasing strength of either the rats or imps. So it was worth the minor investment. Though he decided to learn what he could while spending that time. Instead of doing one square at a time he went for six to even out the side in one go.
First he tested inside of his haven. Extending his domain to the six empty locations to the left of the path he directed his haven to move all six of the path tiles next to them over. Sure enough that whole section of the path jumped over. With a smile on his face he repositioned them, then jumped into the first rat haven once more. This time he massacred the next six rats all at once with a combination of his domain extensions. and found himself squashed to the ground suddenly. He¡¯d completely forgotten about the restrictive size of the membrane surrounding this haven. Luckily he didn¡¯t need to move his body for the next portion.
Moving the six portions of domain he lined them up along the pathway to fill in the gap of grass tiles then initiated the same process he¡¯d gone through twice before. Although he couldn¡¯t actually hear anything coming from it the rat haven gave off something that felt like a groan. Despite the odd feeling the process did complete without any obvious damage or consequences. This time the squares appeared not right next to the rat haven but in the places he¡¯d indicated with his domain. Seeing the huge jump in tiles made him grin and a little jolt of pride washed over him. He nearly went on expanding his haven right there but while it would be nice to have more room to work in he didn¡¯t want to get caught up in just one thing right now. Especially since the things he wanted to move on would more directly help him grow in strength. Where adding tiles was more a convenience.
Before starting any new testing he planted a seed on each grass tile, and not just the topside. With now sixteen grass tiles, and utilizing the underside as well he had thirty two places to grow trees. Granted most of them were still sprouting but with what would come next that wouldn¡¯t be the case for long. Turning back to the connected rat havens he began another slaughter. Though as with observing the haven reproduction it wasn¡¯t the actual focus. While testing the haven¡¯s reproduction he¡¯d also been examining the rats appearing inside them and how a kind of wave would ripple along the haven''s domain right before, and he wanted to try to understand what it was. To that end he also started absorbing each core into his domain as he gathered it.
The process wasn¡¯t a very fast one. Kill the rats and wait wasn¡¯t exactly an eventful or interesting activity. Not wanting to waste any time he also started utilizing the stockpile of cores he¡¯d gathered earlier. There wasn¡¯t any reason to let them sit when he could be improving himself. Especially if he had to sit there anyway while waiting for the rats to reappear. He also needed to see the havens more clearly if he was going to understand what was going on with them.
The first discovery he stumbled upon wasn¡¯t at all due to his ever improving metaphysical sight, or the control of his domain. Rather it was due wholly to the fact that he was watching all five of the havens at once. The wave that pre-empted the rat¡¯s appearance didn¡¯t just show up on the haven in which the rat appeared. In fact the further down the line he looked the sooner the wave showed up before the rat appeared in one of the havens. While that information was interesting it didn¡¯t tell him enough to understand what was happening. What it did do was suggest that Cederick was, at least partially, correct about how these bonded havens worked. That they were working together to ¡®summon¡¯ or capture their occupants. Whichever way they did it.
There wasn¡¯t an immediate and obvious next step to take with this as with examining the previous experiments he¡¯d run. While it was rather logical to go from seeing a haven receive a square from another to then see if that haven can in turn provide one to another. Once seeing it couldn''t, the next logical step being to see if a new occupant showing up allowed the same havens to provide another square. And so on until he¡¯d made quite the discovery. With this current process of observation all he could do was kill the rats and watch.
While watching was all he could do it didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t adjust what he was paying attention to. Once he¡¯d seen that a change occurred sequentially from one rat haven to the next until one finally received a rat he was able to start watching further down the line to start with. Which eventually did result in a new observation. After the ripple of energy passed over the boundary of a haven the energy inside the domain increased. Which was curious as it only happened when the haven didn¡¯t accept the rat. In fact he found that when the haven was the one that received the rat its energy actually decreased.
As only one person watching the process it was hard to catch what was happening in more than one place at a time. Despite the multiple extensions he was able to use he still only had one mind and only so much attention to spread around. Though with enough repetition he was finally able to catch more of the pattern. The energy increase a haven received appeared to come from the next haven down the line, not the rat as it passed by. It was almost as if the havens were bartering for the rat. Passing it on in exchange for energy if the rat wasn¡¯t large enough for the haven in question. When a haven did accept the rat it would thus have a deficit of energy initially though the rat over time would produce significantly more energy than the haven lost. Even when he killed the rat the equation still worked out in the green. With how fast a new rat could appear that was actually heavily in favor when killing it.
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Despite the much slower progress with this adventure it seemed every observation was leading to related discoveries. Now that he understood there was an exchange of energy when the rats were passed down he was able to see that the havens were constantly exchanging energy, though at a much lower rate. Not just through his own haven but somehow directly to one another. While watching this process more closely he was able to see there was an energy wave that propagated from the middle of the haven, not the membrane. He only initially detected it in an exchange of a rat, but then he could feel a constant flow of energy coming from the center of the square.
It felt a bit like a very low power motor was just under the surface of a body of water and there was a slight distortion on the surface by the influx of water. Now that he knew where to look he could narrow down his focus. And with the constant pressure emanating he was able to narrow down its location quite well since he didn¡¯t need to wait only for a rat to pass by causing a large wave. Though for a while that was where he got stuck again. His metaphorical hand would wave back and forth over the space he could feel the energy coming from and it was as if it was appearing from nowhere. For some reason it took him far longer than he¡¯d like to admit to remember that he was capable of infiltrating more than just three dimensions with his new senses.
That too only took him so far. He still had trouble contemplating let alone interacting with something extradimensional. He had some success in twisting his point of view through the extension of his domain into at least one additional plane and slowly articulating it in either direction of that new axis. Luckily he¡¯d still been sitting in the recliner or he was pretty sure he would have fallen over as he did so. The results of the mind bending exercise was only a slight lip he could feel in the surface of reality right where the energy originated. No matter the speed or strength he used he couldn¡¯t reach into this lip or interact with it. At least not at the angle he was trying to access it from.
Repeating the nausea-inducing turn to another point of attack he tried again. Then again a few minutes later from a different one. Eventually he tried so many different planes that he was pretty sure he ended up circling back to the same ones he¡¯d tried before. Pausing in his search he let a few cycles of rat genocide and abiogenesis pass by. Just feeling the edge of whatever this was ever so slowly. Which eventually made him realize what he was feeling wasn¡¯t unfamiliar to him. Broadening his scope he turned to the edge of the havens and realized this was the same thing. This was just another surface to the havens domain. More exciting than that was he already knew how to traverse the edge of nothingness at the border of a domain.
When he¡¯d reached out to the second rat for the first time he¡¯d been able to do so by essentially following the node blindly instead of trying to direct exactly where his domain moved. Refocusing onto the little domain edge at the center again he tried his luck once more. Gathering his domain around it he closed off the senses of direction and sight coming from it and instead of trying to find a specific angle in which to move he followed the flow of energy. The sensation was a bit like falling down. Only instead of just down it was also spreading out in every direction at once.
The expected feeling like he¡¯d arrived somewhere never seemed to appear. His domain kept falling and expanding into whatever this nothingness was. Not only that but it felt like it was moving faster the further he went. Pulling his domain to a stop he slowly cracked his sight from it open. For a moment he didn¡¯t react as he tried to decipher what he was seeing. During that moment his senses from the extension of himself continued to widen. Which only served to make the sights harder to understand. There indeed was an immeasurable void beyond the boundary he¡¯d overstepped. There was nothingness in every conceivable direction. Something about this place seemed to force his domain to perceive each and every possible dimension all at once. Though at the same time at the edges of his awareness there was some detail just beyond what he could see. Each time he turned his attention toward any of those details it was as if an entirely new endless nothingness was presented to him.
Ozzy wasn¡¯t sure when he reeled back from the unending menagerie of entirely empty universes that whirled and spun any time he tried to focus on whatever he sensed lay beyond them. Nor was he sure when he¡¯d vomited over the side of his recliner. He thankfully didn¡¯t remember falling into the resulting puddle or the time it took to dry on his cheek as he lay in it. What he did remember of the whole ordeal was sensations he hadn¡¯t realized he was experiencing at the time. Sensations that were coming from much closer to the surface of the infinitesimal lip he¡¯d tripped into.
There was a presence there which seemed to ask him something he was sure didn¡¯t take the form of words. Though it was a very basic and instinctual question. The same question that all unfamiliar entities asked one another upon meeting. Like a wolf happening across a bear in the woods. They would freeze and eye one another and without saying a thing evaluate one another. Like a wolf finding a bear mindlessly reeling and vomiting on the ground the presence had quietly and calmly stepped backward from the connection. Allowing Ozzy to have his moment of existential horror in peace.
While he wasn¡¯t sure what he¡¯d been looking for with all of this, he was pretty sure he¡¯d found something worth it. Despite the disgusting side effects of the discovery. Regardless of it¡¯s worth he needed a break before he tried that trip again to confirm what he¡¯d found. If only to settle his nerves and clean the vomit from his cheek.
B 1 Ch 17 Return to Normal...ish
As much as Ozzy wanted to continue discovering all the strange rules that governed the new existence he found himself residing in, he felt a bit put out from the last oddity he¡¯d found. Not necessarily the contact attempt from what he supposed was the first rat haven. Instead the vast emptiness that sent his mind reeling and ended in him taking a nap in a pile of fresh vomit was a bit much. He was actually excited to eventually understand the how and why of that contact. Maybe he could gain some more tricks of the trade through that connection. But, he needed a bit of familiarity after the other worldly experience of falling into that infinitesimal hole only to find himself in a void that made the observable universe seem microscopic by comparison.
That did bring up the question, if he¡¯d find himself in the same voidspace if he reached beyond a haven¡¯s membrane at the edge of its domain without trying to connect to another haven. That was a great addition to his notebook for now. As he had no desire to visit there again any time soon. Jotting it down he got out of his recliner and continued the process of cleaning himself up. Having already wiped off the majority of the sick from his face. Cutting another little square off the blanket he walked over to one of the trees. He¡¯d finally been lucky enough to get a tile that had a little puddle on it. He hadn¡¯t even realized it was there until seeing one of the trees was growing faster than the others.
When planting he¡¯d utilized his domain to speed up the process so hadn¡¯t looked too closely at either side of the new tiles. Dabbing the square of cloth into the puddle he then used it to do a better job of wiping himself down. Swishing out his mouth came next, and although there were little bits of dirt in the water, it was far better than the taste in his mouth. Once clean, or relatively so, Ozzy was ready to get started on his little break that he¡¯d imposed on himself. That didn¡¯t mean he was going to sit back and relax. He¡¯d already been sitting in his recliner all day. He just didn¡¯t want to do any more testing for the moment.
The first thing he did was check on the few different nodes he had connections to. Looking at the haven where he found the intelligent rat there was nothing new. It still sat with a total of nine squares and no new occupant. Though the most obvious indication it hadn¡¯t been re-occupied was at the center still sat the corpse of the rat. Feeling out for the offspring of the first and second rat square he found it nearly the same as he¡¯d left it. There was no resident, but it did somehow have a discernibly larger amount of energy than it had before. Something worth noting but he didn¡¯t want to investigate just yet. Into his notebook it went.
The next two places to look were the imp and rat line of havens. He started with the imps as he was sure he could get further with them than the rats. He wondered for a moment if he hadn¡¯t made a mistake with choosing to focus on his metaphysical advancement rather than the physical as the rats had. Seeing as the imps were seemingly much weaker, while the rats he was already having trouble breaking through their skulls. Though who knew what capabilities and tricks the imps would grow to have. Especially since the last one could already tell when he invaded its space with his domain. It may be that he would have more trouble with them in the long run. He also suspected that he would not regret his choice either. Especially with all he¡¯d been able to figure out with it so far.
Reaching out to the ninth imp haven with his improved domain extension he saw the imp perk up the moment his domain breached the membrane. The imp just stared at it though. With its baby features and innocent uncaring gaze locked onto him he was frozen for a moment, but he knew if it opened its mouth the illusion would be broken. This wasn¡¯t some innocent child, it was a demonic one. Ending its life quickly, he collected its core and smiled as he saw its haven¡¯s square progney appear at the end of the path where he¡¯d breached the edge of his haven from.
While it wasn¡¯t some amazing accomplishment it was nice to know how things worked so that he didn¡¯t need to fiddle with things afterward to get them how he wanted. There was only one more connection revealed with this imps death. Which while par for the course, was a little disheartening. Ozzy was hoping to keep finding other haven¡¯s like Cederick had. Maybe he¡¯d need to sit and feel them until one wiggled like he¡¯d said they would, but Ozzy got the impression from him that it took quite some time for that to pan out. While Ozzy had found at least one intelligent rat after only a few days of randomly killing things. That did make him wonder exactly how that had worked.
He didn¡¯t miss the fact that he¡¯d found a connection to a haven that had the exact same number of extra tiles that he did at the time. He suspected the other rat had recently connected to that particular haven and what he was detecting was the remnant of whatever form it was that the connection took. It was likely he only found it after killing the eighth rat because he had only looked for connections after killing the rat. He wasn¡¯t really sure. At the least he could check before killing the rest of his targets today. Which at least wouldn¡¯t entirely derail his plan to take a break from testing things. It was hard to stop entirely with his inquisitive nature. When he thought of a question, and he did almost constantly, it was hard not to do what he could to answer them. At the last he didn¡¯t suspect the results of this simple adjustment to his plans weren¡¯t going to result in some new existential crisis.
At the tenth imp haven he checked before killing its occupant and found that he could feel a new connection, but it was just the next imp in the line. Which of course made him wonder if he could just skip any further killing and reach all the way down to wherever this line of havens lead. Which of course he could, but while he was willing to break his own ultimatum on testing he was going to try at least a little not to do things that might end poorly for him. There was no telling what was at the other end of that line, nor how even the next few imps might change. As this one¡¯s domain was still more dense and complex than the last. He didn¡¯t see any pseudo appendages as he¡¯d made for himself though he doubted they were far off.
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He killed the tenth imp, and the next two without any noticeable change beyond the slow increase of the imps domain strength and density. Which did make it harder to kill them but only marginally so. None of them netted anything more than their energy, core, and the connection to the next haven down the line. The thirteenth upon first inspection didn¡¯t seem to be any great deviation from the norm either. As he checked for other connections it watched his pseudopod just as the others had. The expected single further connection showed up and he turned his attention to the denisen in front of him to find that its domain had been expanding slowly toward his extension as he¡¯d been exploring the connections.
For a moment he watched the creeping advancement but it stayed just that. A slow inching forward with no seeming change in speed. Like a hand there was an indentation in the middle and the edges were spread further forward. It was more like a bowl than a palm and fingers though. Not wanting to see what it would do to him he reared back his spearlike appendage and struck. Which is of course when things went sideways. The moment his domain extension pulled back the domain of the imp stopped its advance and morphed slightly. The indentation deepening and the protrusions extending wider. Then as his shot forward the opponent''s domain adjusted its position to match where he¡¯d strike. As they neared one another the enemies'' domain began moving backwards at an increasing speed. Seemingly attempting to match his own.
When they finally touched in what seemed to be slow motion the opposing domain clamped down and began to resist his attack actively. Which resulted in his strike stopping well shy of his intended target. As he struggled with the imp to start moving again, either forward or to pull back, it opened its mouth in a slow and foreboding smile which only got more terrifying as he struggled. All the while it¡¯s domain was creeping along his previously overpowered weapon as if it were a child''s arm. Clamping down harder while smiling at him like a big brother about to tell him to ¡°stop hitting himself¡±. Unsure as to exactly how this was going to end, and not wanting to find out exactly how bad it would be he did the only thing he could.
Forcing the cell like structures of his appendage to disintegrate a bit past where the imp was currently holding him hostage he yanked back the rest of his structured domain. As quick as he could he pulled back through the haven membrane to his own. Falling back despite the imp not coming after him he eyed the edge of his lands with apprehension. Nothing followed his retreat. The imps image still sat in his third eye. Not because it was burned there in some fight or flight instinct or terror response. No he could actually still see the imp through the portion of domain he¡¯d left behind.
In that thirteenth imp haven the resident wrapped its domain tighter and tighter around the prize it had stolen like a boa with its prey. Thankfully he couldn¡¯t feel pain from the appendage but he sure felt panic setting in. As the lost piece of him was brought closer to an ever enlarging mouth he felt himself hyperventilating. Wanting to look away he took a step back but found he couldn¡¯t get himself to close off the connection. Instead he watched as the imp took its first bite of the speartip. There was mercifully still no pain but there was something. A sense of loss and rejection from the limb. Like it was a person who¡¯d been abandoned to die and was rejecting his authority over itself as it was being torn apart.
Over the next few moments the rest of the limb, although still intact, seemed to give up on him. The connection grew fuzzy and fading out as the imp continued to snack on a part of him. As grossly visceral and real as that felt there was no lasting physical pain or nausea from the attack. He felt a bit like he still wanted to empty his stomach, but it was only an intellectual response to the situation, not a physical one. There wasn¡¯t a feedback loop of hormones and steroids causing him to lose his lunch. Glad for that he shook his head. There was no reason to get caught up in emotion when he could be continuing his return to normalcy instead. The portion of his domain he¡¯d lost was barely a noticeable fraction of the whole and whatever he¡¯d lost in energy, he¡¯d gained in understanding.
If he went further down that line he suspected he¡¯d be as afraid of what he found as Benjamin and Cederick seemed to be at whatever they¡¯d found. So instead he turned to the rat havens to see how far he could get there. While he did so, keeping an eye out just in case that imp did somehow reach out to his haven. Though he saw nothing to indicate it would. Even without repairing his damaged appendage he was still able to kill up to the thirteenth rat and beyond without much effort. After seeing this latest imp and its nonchalant attitude toward using whatever tactics it could to succeed he¡¯d changed his mind on his own. The fact it used an unaltered portion of its domain to obliterate his own had reminded him there was more than one way to skin a cat.
So, he¡¯d strangled the last five rats. He¡¯d initially had a poor reaction to how he¡¯d taken out the intelligent rat. If he wanted to continue being afraid and squeamish he¡¯d already seen where that had gotten Benjamin. He didn¡¯t want to end up holed away in a fallout shelter of a haven with only one way in and out. Locked down in ways that likely wouldn¡¯t work if someone stronger really wanted to come after him. Ozzy was going to adapt to the place he found himself. He was going to explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate anything he needed to in order to do so.
B 1 Ch 18 Poking a fiend
Ozzy had just ended the life of the fifteenth rat using his not so classy tactic of flooding its haven with his domain, surrounding it and suffocating it. At the moment this was as far as he wanted to go just brute forcing the problem. That and he was getting a little nauseous again from the use of strangulation. Seeing the thirteenth imp overpower him so easily had only given him so much drive to do whatever it took to advance. While he still wanted to grow in strength, knowledge, and increase his land he no longer felt the need to do so at any cost. Well there was that and there was the fact that with his unexpected reversion to using unaltered domain, even this underhanded method was starting to fail against the rats. The fifteenth had been incredibly difficult to hold in place while it whipped itself around trying to get free.
The spoils from all this gruesome murder was far less than he''d have gained just going after the first few rats. Especially when taking into account the smaller rats were replaced so much faster. He''d been hoping to find another intelligent rat, or person maybe, but so far that hadn''t happened. The one intelligent rat had netted him more energy than hundreds of the smaller rats, or the equivalent of hours of raticide. If he met somebody he could actually interact with peacefully that would be even better. He was feeling a bit put out that Cederick hadn¡¯t shown back up yet. It¡¯d only been what felt like a day, and he knew he¡¯d felt a little overstimulated from the last visit but he definitely didn¡¯t last the week he thought he would.
While he''d been able to add several more tiles to his haven it wasn''t all he could do. Extending his domain he performed one of the functions he was thinking some of those he''d met so far hadn''t discovered. Connecting to the sixth rat haven he began the process of attaching all of them to his haven. From the sixth all the way to the fifteenth he connected them down the right hand side of his pathway abutting the grass tiles. With all of them connected he did the same with the imp Havens. Well up to the twelfth. He was a little frightened of what might happen if he connected the thirteenth.
He also opened the veil to his haven to get a look at all the attached Havens. Which made his seem just that much larger. The little gap of missing gras tiles on the left side of the path annoyed him though. A quick utilization of the first rat tile fixed that right up though. And with that he''d done all he could with the rat and imp Havens for now. But there was still one last haven he''d connected to before that he hadn''t checked in on yet.
Benjamin''s haven felt a bit like a tin can when reaching out to it. A solid unbroken shell of a surface with just the one opening on one end. The shape was even a bit reminiscent of a can as well. Likely due to the layout of the squares inside. He sat for a moment examining its exterior while he contemplated using his domain to reach inside. There were easily several hundred tiles inside there, and from what he could see only about a dozen or so were taken from each specific type of haven. Meaning there should be thirty odd lines of havens he would be able to gain access to if he could only touch those tiles again while looking for connections.
The fact he hadn¡¯t thought to do so while there was frustrating him, and driving him to nearly put caution into the wind to gain that windfall. Yet his experience with the thirteenth imp gave him pause. That and he still had hopes to possibly restore a relationship with Benjamin despite the poor non meeting since he was kicked out before actually being introduced. Not to mention with the alterations to the haven it was likely Benjamin would see him if he was even able to get inside. There was a possibility he¡¯d know even if he didn¡¯t succeed in breaching the membrane. Hell for all Ozzy knew Benjamin could already know and be stewing in there right now. He paused for a moment at the realization of him stewing in what was effectively a tin can.
With a chuckle Ozzy pulled back his domain and turned to something else to occupy his time. Since he¡¯d already interacted with all the havens he had a connection to and was still on a break from experimentation he did need to increase his domain strength. The imps domains were getting larger and denser by the square and his was apparently no match for even the thirteenth one. He could tell that in an unmodified state even comparing it to the earlier imps it was lacking. Which was odd as his was now several meters past his body even when pulled in as tight as he could get it. He¡¯d continued to absorb all his stocked cores until there was only the one large one left and he still didn¡¯t feel like it¡¯d actually increased in strength.
When he¡¯d been using his modified extension against the imps he could feel them resist his attacks ever so slightly more in each new haven. Even if their domain barely got larger each time. Which is what suggested to him they were denser. Which made him curious. He¡¯d never actually tried using raw domain against them. Which meant he had no idea at what point his was stronger, on par, or weaker than theirs. That was at least something he could do while continuing to improve his domain. One might argue integral to it. Sure he could simply modify his domain again, but the imps seemed to be getting stronger with just their raw domain not by modifying it.
Examining the first imp¡¯s domain it felt like a wispy cloud that was so small and nebulous that it wasn¡¯t even visible. Pushing against it with his own was like waving his hand through a humidifier¡¯s exhaust. Looking at its domain more closely he could see that the little particles which made it up were smaller and further apart than his own. He dispatched with it and tossed the core aside so he could continue to compare first before he continued improving himself. The second imp had a larger domain and its particles were closer together but they were around the same size. Again it was like a bit of vapor when interacting with it. The third¡¯s domain was around the same size as the second but it had many more particles in it and they were much closer together. They were nearly touching like his own were. The fourth imp started to show similar improvements he had himself being that the particles themselves, not just the domain as a whole, felt both denser and larger at the same time, as well as a larger domain as a whole. Though still not matching his own density.
Moving on through the line of imps he found similar results all the way to the seventh. The fifth, and sixth both continued to increase their domain size while also storing more and more energy in each little particle. The seventh similarly had a larger domain, but it had reached about the same density of both domain and particles as he had. Which made sense as to why he really started feeling resistance there. What he¡¯d initially thought to be a membrane when looking at them was significantly clearer now. It was more the distortion you¡¯d see as you looked into water or a thicker liquid which appeared to be a membrane, but it was still just raw domain. The eighth, and ninth both showed similar improvements to the seventh. Simply larger and larger domains with the particles seeming to have hit a limit on density and size. Mirroring his own growth.
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With the tenth and eleventh he found that their domains had stopped getting larger. Though he couldn¡¯t tell why yet. The particles were still at the same density and size but somehow they packed a greater punch. The twelfth imp actually had a smaller domain than the eleventh, but again it was stronger still. He couldn¡¯t even kill this imp with just raw domain despite his domain being able to fully flood the haven it resided in. Just having more domain did lend a certain increase in strength, but whatever this imp had done had changed that equation. While he couldn¡¯t kill it, the sheer volume of domain he could bring to bear meant it also couldn¡¯t retaliate or even move about. With the imp stuck in one place he could examine its domain more closely.
He suspected this would take a while so took the opportunity to put the rest of his oversized domain to good use. Many of the imp havens had captured a new occupant by now and the rats were of course all present. Sending off a small portion of his domain to the first nine of each line he added eighteen cores to his stockpile. Still not wanting to alter the results of his testing, but not wanting to waste the opportunity.
The advancement these imps seemed to have innately utilized was proving difficult to crack. Repeating the initial examination bore the same results. Each little portion of the imps domain appeared to be exactly the same size and density as his own. Yet when trying to tease out a single particle of the imps domain he could feel his own being knocked away like a child''s hands. While the imp still wasn¡¯t going all out against him, likely due to the strength disparity he eventually had to form a small membrane around its domain to keep it from kicking his own into a froth. The interconnection between the weaker parts and alteration to their structure allowed them to work together to overcome the strength gap. He also formed a pore with a few small appendages a bit like a spider''s maw which allowed him to grab a single particle, and pull it through.
As soon as he¡¯d separated the particle from the rest of the domain it decayed. That¡¯s at least what appeared to be happening. The particle took on a faded appearance and began to vibrate or wobble until it suddenly popped. Energy puffed out from where the particle was momentarily blocking him from viewing it. When that energy dissipated he found two ¡®normal¡¯ particles. He sat staring at the particles for a moment wondering what could be going on here, and how he could parse through it to gain the strength these imps had. He smiled a bit at this as he felt like a researcher at cern probing the depths of reality with a profound realization at his fingertips. The opportunities that might come from the things he had a chance to discover were dancing around in his brain.
While pondering the possibilities he ran another round of death through the first nine havens of each side of his own. Yielding another healthy addition to his renewed stock of cores. He hadn¡¯t been consistently going after them and yet he had built up the largest stockpile he¡¯d had yet. That wasn¡¯t even counting the numerous trees which were collecting and converting energy for him as well. Each tree had somewhere between three and ten fruit grown on its branches. Each fruit had something like two to four times the energy that one of the first cores held. Which was still more than the ninth cores held. With there being over thirty fully grown trees now their collective energy was comparable to the near thousand little cores he¡¯d now piled up under his recliner square since he¡¯d run out of room in the recliner pocket.
The massive pile of cores and the progress he was making on discovering the next step in improving his domain were making him giddy with excitement. So much so that he had to pull back from examining the twelfth imps domain as he was having trouble focusing on it. He also wasn¡¯t exactly sure how to move forward in discovering its secrets. Instead he just sat and constructed Things that might capture the particles without damaging them in his head. All the while he continued reaping the denizens and gathering their cores. The more he sat and thought the more he felt a buzz grow along his skin.
Even with all the trees he¡¯d planted the haven was still filling with energy. Though he realized if they¡¯d finished growing and their fruits were full of energy they were likely not draining as much as they previously had. Pausing from his constant rat-imp-icide he planted trees on all the unadorned grass tiles he¡¯d just added recently. He also began draining the energy from every fruit and using it to increase the size of his domain. While he didn¡¯t want to alter his domain too much, all the examination he¡¯d done suggested he couldn¡¯t. The particles couldn¡¯t get any denser, at least not simply by adding energy. There was some trick to the next step that he didn¡¯t yet understand. Since he was already filling the twelfth imp haven with domain it wasn¡¯t like he would be altering his results when testing with it. The cores he left as they were, as they weren¡¯t interfering with anything.
Working to drain the fruits mindlessly he left off any contemplation of the myriad methods of testing he could use with the imp. Instead he just enjoyed the haven he had now. The place was starting to feel more like a little forest than the empty nowhere he¡¯d initially found. There was a gentle rustle of leaves as a breeze brushed through the trees. The constant flutter of leathery wings could be heard from the imp havens. An occasional stirring of the rats could be heard in their grassy tiles to the right. Ozzy closed his eyes as he continued to collect the energy and just enjoyed the little symphony his home made for him. There wasn¡¯t a pattern per say but more of an ebb and flow to the different noises which flowed into one another. Which is what helped him recognize when something new joined the panoply. Something discordant with the rest. A sickening crunch could be heard to the right. Then another, and a third following quickly after. Finally Ozzy opened his eyes and turned to see Cederick making his way down the line of rats.
B 1 Ch 19 Predator
Ozzy froze as he saw Cederick disappear from the third rat¡¯s haven. A few moments later he appeared in the fourth. A blur was all he could see and afterward Cederick was holding a core with a mess of a rat left in the middle of the square. The core dissipated into Cederick and then he took another step. Ozzy nearly called out but held himself back. He watched as Cederick continued to dispatch with one rat after another. So quickly and efficiently that he couldn¡¯t even see the act take place, nor was there any evidence of it occurring other than the corpse sitting on the tile. Cedericks hands didn¡¯t even appear bloody. As if he was moving too fast for it to cling to his skin.
It was only after the eighth rat that Ozzy remembered it didn¡¯t really matter if he called out or stayed as still and quiet as possible. The veil was only open on his side of the connection. From the rat haven his own haven wasn¡¯t visible nor could one hear anything from it. That allowed him to relax enough to process what he was seeing. He had assumed Cederick was stronger than him. Significantly so even, yet seeing him, or rather not being able to see him dispatch of the rats was a little more extreme of a difference than he¡¯d been expecting. Ozzy reached out to the haven Cederick had just left and felt for connections almost instinctively. Not entirely sure what he¡¯d do when he found them.
What he found confused him at first. There were three links to this haven. One to either rat haven before or behind it in the chain and another to a third haven. Though he quickly realized this was his own. Which again confused him but he did have a connection to this haven. Which meant Cederick wasn¡¯t jumping back to his own or another haven first. He was stepping directly to the next link in the chain. Looking at the previous havens confirmed this as each one, except the first, had a second square inside now, which he¡¯d somehow missed as he was too focused on Cederick. Not wanting to lose the opportunity Ozzy moved an extension as quickly as he could back to the first rat haven and felt for connections. There were again three and he almost threw his hands up in frustration when he remembered this was because there was only one chain link connected to this one. The other two connections were of course his own haven, and whichever one Cederick came from.
Looking back to Cederick, now in the twelfth Rat haven he considered his options. With how strong Cederick was it was likely he¡¯d be busy for at least a while. At that strength it did concern him how the boy would react if he somehow found Ozzy had connected to Cedericks Haven. Though again with how strong he was it was likely he¡¯d be busy at least for a few more minutes. Spreading his domain out into the new connection he could feel he again touched what felt like a larger and well defined membrane. A normal one thankfully. No smooth surface to suggest it¡¯d been modified. Though something felt weird about it. He kept brushing along its surface until he could feel the surface was almost entirely flat. No curvature to speak of. While that was odd, it wasn¡¯t what his mission was, and he didn¡¯t have much time. Entering through the nearest pore he was immediately informed of why the surface felt flat.
Cedericks haven edge was flat because it was crammed to the gills with squares. Not hundreds of squares like Benjamins. There were definitely hundreds, but it was hundreds of different TYPES of squares. Not only that but there were easily something like thirty to fifty of each type of square. The scale of this haven was beyond anything he¡¯d expected. He wondered for a bit if Cederick had discovered the same trick that he had. He could feel that their connections were not to the same parent locations. Each and every single square was seemingly connected to a different haven out there.
He didn¡¯t have time to check the entirety before Cederick was likely to return but he had checked a few patches of similar looking squares and confirmed that while they were connecting to havens in the same general direction they were clearly not the same havens. With his eyes on the rat havens connected to his confirming Cederick was still busy he checked one out of each little patch of different squares. It was just that though. Random patches of differing types of land strewn about the place. Cederick had suggested Ozzy organize his place a bit. Even going so far to say the layout was strange, but his own place was a mess. Though if Cederick stayed with Benjamin This might make sense. There was no real reason to organize, build anything, or grow anything if he never stayed here except to hunt.
Ozzy had gotten so engrossed in gathering nodes to visit that he¡¯d lost track of Cederick. Freezing he eyed the fifteenth rat haven, but Cederick didn¡¯t show up there. He¡¯d apparently already moved on to the sixteenth and beyond. He should have as much time left as he¡¯d had so far so continued to check square after square for the connection to its parent haven. He wasn¡¯t even a third the way through what he felt was the total when Cederick suddenly stepped back into his home leaving one single tile from the rat lineage below his feet. Again Ozzy found himself frozen, both physically and metaphysically. Though Cederick didn¡¯t seem to notice or care that his domain was there only a few dozen squares from him. Instead he turned and stepped again into nothingness.
Ozzy nearly released his hold on his bowels as he relaxed. Thankfully even if he had there was nothing there to cause trouble. The slow buzz of energy was still helping keep him in pristine condition. Though he began to wonder where Cederick went. he worried he might show up in his own domain and pushed his haven to close the veil again between his haven and the connected chained lines. As much as before the desire to hide his capabilities had been a mild instinct now it felt imperative. With Cederick seeming more like a predator than a cordial house guest. Though Cederick didn¡¯t show up in his haven. He showed back up in his own. Towing along with him another tile, likely from the first rat haven, although Ozzy couldn¡¯t know for sure. What with having blocked off his sight from the havens.
It took almost another minute for Ozzy to realize he was staring off into space just thinking about the consequences of what he was seeing. After which he decided he may as well continue his search. It appeared that as much as Cederick was obscenely strong and fast he couldn¡¯t see or interact with energy in the same ways that Ozzy could. He¡¯d claimed as much when talking about trying to grow the trees. Though Ozzy wasn¡¯t sure he believed him until now. Cederick had already left and reappeared in his own haven several times. Looking at several portions of Ozzy¡¯s domain as it stretched further and further into his lands to gain the connections they harbored. Yet at no point did his gaze linger or lock onto anything there. He would simply turn back and jump away once more. That is until he¡¯d repeated the process easily forty times. Then he jumped away and didn¡¯t reappear in his home. Ozzy was interrupted in his thoughts as he heard another sound in his haven. That of someone saying ¡°What the fuck?¡±
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Cederick had just finished milking the rat¡¯s havens for squares as far as he could easily push them. He couldn¡¯t believe he¡¯d completely forgotten to add them to his home, and had nearly lost them in the mix of all the other connections he could feel. He¡¯d been trying so hard to find someone willing to meet with Ozzy that he was sure wasn¡¯t simply interested in someone to take advantage of. Which was far too common in this place for his liking.
Benjamin was a rare gem of a person who really didn¡¯t care who someone was, what they looked like, or where they were from. He also didn¡¯t seem to have any real demands of those he helped out. His only criteria was supposedly that they were not ¡°a dick¡±. Cederick hadn¡¯t seen him deny a single person that hadn¡¯t failed that metric up until Ozzy. At least nobody that Cederick had bothered to bring by. Cederick was a great judge of character and while he sometimes wouldn¡¯t bring a person to Benjamin for other reasons, he¡¯d never brought someone to him that he thought was ¡°a dick¡± as Benjamin would say. So, he¡¯d felt obligated to find someone else to introduce to Ozzy. Spending more than a day meeting with one person after another. Or rather meeting every third person as most of them were either unavailable, refused to speak to him, or declined the offer at the outset. In the end he¡¯d finally found what he felt was a good fit.
Only when he had stopped at his haven was he reminded he¡¯d never actually killed any of the rats. The connections to them he¡¯d felt out upon arriving at Ozzy¡¯s haven. He always did that first thing. The more places he had a connection to the easier it was to find other people and the less time he needed to spend on his own in his haven. With the derailing of his plans at Benjamin''s place he¡¯d lost the time he usually had to add squares to his haven without the possibility of being boserved. Having them in his haven ensured a permanent and physical representation of the new line he¡¯d gained access to. There was still a vague feeling of them though and he could tell there was no one inside, well other than the bonded occupant.
The havens were rather easy to understand if you¡¯d spent as long as Cederick had feeling for their intent and visiting to confirm the meaning. This haven had an occupant and hadn¡¯t been visited by anyone in several hours. Not that hours was the measure the havens used. But the translation was long enough that he suspected Ozzy was either sleeping or off doing something else. Possibly still messing with the sprouts or other plants he¡¯d provided. He could also be exploring the imp line Cederick had connected to his haven. Which was another tactic Cederick would dangle in front of them as a distraction to allow him some time to make some connections of his own in peace. It wasn¡¯t like he expected any issue, but he¡¯d had enough troubles in the past in running into others unexpectedly that he¡¯d prefer to do this in private. He could outright ask, but he¡¯d also learned the hard way that asking for something was a quick trip to being told no. Better to ask forgiveness than permission
As he¡¯d felt there was only a rat in the first haven. Killing it and moving on he¡¯d quickly gone through the first forty rats without so much as breaking a sweat. None of them indicated they¡¯d been visited more recently than the first rat haven had. After the initial run through directly from one rat haven to the next he had confirmed Ozzy wasn¡¯t currently interacting with any of these havens and he could run through once more to gain his tiles. The process was longer than the quick run through he¡¯d initially done so he didn¡¯t want to do it at first. Though with that complete he was ready again to meet with Ozzy once more to introduce him to Vonder.
He jumped to the haven where he¡¯d initially met Ozzy first. There was never a reason to make it easy for someone to find your haven. The lesson had been taught to him in a myriad of masochistic ways and despite how highly he held his people reading skills now he never fully trusted anyone. In the middle of the haven still sat the corpse of the rat he¡¯d watched Ozzy struggle to cut open. The fact he¡¯d killed it had a surprise to him. Ozzy was by far the weakest person he¡¯d ever met here. Usually if you could kill something the strength this rat had been you could easily cut through it. Though the things Benjamin had told him clarified the situation.
Putting that behind him he took another step. This one to Ozzy¡¯s haven. Though when he arrived he found himself walking straight into a tree and bonking his head. He was ages past being hurt by such things but he hadn¡¯t expected there to already be a full grown tree here. Stepping over to the nearby reddish stone tile he could see he found a completely different view than he was expecting. Before him was nothing short of a grove of trees lining a pathway reminiscent of Benjamin''s layout. Turning to see the other side of the path it continued another few tiles past where he was standing, and the grass tiles on either side continued even a few tiles past that.
The trees were a little much he thought, but what really threw him was the number of tiles. Turning in a full circle to confirm, he could easily see enough grassy squares to suggest Ozzy had gotten to the thirtieth tile. Yet at the same time Cederick knew for a fact that haven claimed nobody had been to that tile in something like a month. All of that might have left him more than a bit confused but past that he could feel the energy starting to flow into him was well beyond what he could have gained in the amount of time he¡¯d been gone. ¡°What the fuck¡± he said beginning to wonder if Benjamin wasn¡¯t completely right.
B 1 Ch 20 Introductions are in Order
Cederick was still standing there wondering if he shouldn¡¯t just turn around and leave Ozzy to his absurd advancement and eventual demise, when he heard something from the far end of the path. Turning he saw Ozzy getting up from his recliner. Schooling his face he hoped Ozzy had been sleeping as it appeared and Greeted him enthusiastically. ¡°Hey Ozzy!¡± He started and tried to hold back the wariness from his voice. He wasn¡¯t exactly afraid of Ozzy right now, but suspected that wouldn¡¯t be the case very soon. ¡°I found Somebody for you to meet!¡±
Ozzy seemed confused for a moment before he asked ¡°Are you ok? I thought I heard you shout or something¡±.
The comment clarified the look for Cederick who tried to save face as quickly as he could. ¡°Oh! Sorry. I bonked into one of your trees when I walked in¡± he chuckled in what he hoped was a nonchalant manner as he made the excuse and half truth to cover it. He wanted to shake himself out of this train of thought, and course of action, but his nature to smooth over the conversation was too ingrained. He¡¯d met far too many here who¡¯d taken advantage at the slightest hint of fear or weakness. Again he felt a bit of anger at himself. He wasn¡¯t afraid of Ozzy and he wasn¡¯t weaker than him. It was just clear the guy had some tricks he was using. Which again fit in with everything Benjamin had said. It was best if Cederick pawned him off on Vonder and distanced himself as Benjamin had done. ¡°Anyway! I found somebody who I think you¡¯d love to meet and was willing to do the same.¡±
Ozzy looked embarrassed, and worried, for a second about the trees, but his face lit up when Cederick mentioned meeting someone. ¡°Oh that¡¯s great! And uh, sorry about the trees¡± He blurted out seemingly stumbling on what he wanted to say first.
Cederick was glad Ozzy was on the back foot now. He felt a mite bit bad throwing him off so much, but he would rather that than to be the one squirming himself. ¡°It¡¯s totally fine,¡± he offered ¡°It didn¡¯t actually hurt, but it was just unexpected¡±. He waved at the trees around him and continued ¡°It seems you have a much better green thumb than I do.¡± He was annoyed at that, but he had others to trade fruit, other food, and other supplies with. ¡°But, I better show you to the meeting spot, Vonder is setting things up already¡± Again a partial truth ¡°Just follow me¡±. With that he jumped to their initial meeting spot once more.
It was a good five seconds before Ozzy showed up behind him. During which Cederick wondered if he¡¯d made a mistake in how he¡¯d played the interaction. After Ozzy did show up he nodded and jumped again. Ending up in a very similar location. A haven with 9 grassy squares where Ozzy more quickly appeared beside him. Though that was where the similarities ended. In this new haven there was a small table on the central square with three chairs sitting around it. On one of which sat a well dressed man petting a cat. ¡°Ozzy, this is Vonder. Vonder, Ozzy.¡± He began though before he could continue Vonder interrupted.
¡°Welcome Ozzy, and welcome back Cederick, please sit¡± he invited them in his interesting accent while gesturing to the two unoccupied chairs.
¡°I¡¯m sorry guys, but I¡¯d forgotten a few things I was supposed to handle earlier¡± He interjected ¡°I did get some of it wrapped up but It¡¯s just really important that I handle this. If you¡¯d excuse me please¡±. The pleading again angered him but he didn¡¯t really know how else to get away.
It didn¡¯t seem to phase Vonder though who cordially responded ¡°Of course Cederick, I wouldn¡¯t dream of holding you from your obligations. Ozzy and I will simply have a nice chat and we¡¯ll talk some other time¡±
¡°Alright, um, thanks! BYE!¡± He said waving, and then jumped away. Hopefully for the last time to see either of them.
Ozzy stood stunned as he watched the interaction between the two. Something was definitely off here. For a moment he¡¯d thought that Cederick had been saying ¡®what the fuck¡¯ because of Ozzy¡¯s invasion of his home. Then he¡¯d acted like it was all just because he bonked his head. He could tell it was acting, but it almost felt like the thing he was hiding was ¡ fear or worry. Something along those lines at least. Then he¡¯d suddenly whisked him off to see this Vonder guy. Which he¡¯d wondered for a moment if it was some kind of trap before following.
When the unassuming gentlemen sitting in front of him stroking a cat was what he stepped into he was again frozen. Though this time it was in confusion. Of all the things he had thought could possibly greet him when he arrived, some random well dressed man sitting at a garden tea party stroking a cat was not one of them. Then came Cedericks poor excuse to leave which threw things off even further. If this was an ambush, or trap, wouldn''t two be better than one? Could this really just be a normal human reaction? Over what appeared to be tea no less. He¡¯d likely have continued to be confused and toss around ideas for the next few minutes if Vonder didn¡¯t break his train of thought.
¡°Well I guess Cederick wasn¡¯t in a chatty mood today.¡± The man, supposedly Vonder, joked. ¡°I do hope that you¡¯ve got more than just staring or leaving in the plans for the day¡±. He smiled before continuing. ¡°The tea is quite nice, as are the sandwiches, and mister Sandford here,¡± he added while hefting the cat in his lap.
The posh attitude, pristine setting, and the odd accent all were so far outside of Ozzy¡¯s expectation for what would be happening today that he still remained silent for a time. He did step forward eventually and sat at one of the chairs, adjusting it to be opposite from Vonder. He cleared his throat and explained ¡°Yes, apologies, Cederick was interesting today and¡ it¡¯s¡¡± Then trailed off not sure what he could say to explain just how not with it he was right now.
¡°It is completely normal and fully expected for anyone just showing up in this place to be rather put out¡± He picked up the conversation smoothly before letting it touch the ground. ¡°You should have seen Cederick the first time I met him¡±
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¡°Wait, um, where is this place¡± Ozzy butted in ¡°Or what is it?¡± He corrected. Wondering why he hadn¡¯t tried asking Cederick these questions, although even as he thought it he knew he¡¯d been holding back with the boy, not wanting to overwhelm him. He was still a child after all.
¡°That is a great question. One which not a single person has answered well enough that I could believe them.¡± He answered matter of factly. ¡°I would try to answer it myself but it would be mostly speculation¡± He clarified while taking a sip of tea.
¡°Ok¡± Ozzy said relaxing somewhat, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind you taking a stab at it anyway¡±. He hoped this conversation wasn¡¯t going to be sidestep after non answer followed quickly with non sequiturs. While he waited for a response he grabbed a glass and poured some tea. They were not porcelain and had no paint on them but they were still very well made for wherever the hell this was.
¡°In that case I would probably describe this place as something between. Possibly after or before, depending on how you look at it.¡± He said while looking to the side, at the second sentence he tilted his head a bit side to side. He looked at Ozzy as if that was some kind of explanation, and Ozzy was about to write off any investment into this conversation when he continued. ¡°To put it more succinctly I think we are nowhere. We¡¯ve been ejected from wherever we previously resided and landed in the leftover bits between worlds¡±. Again Ozzy found the man looking to him for a response, but he didn¡¯t really have one to give. Luckily Vonder stepped in once more. ¡°It may not be a good answer, or the best answer, and likely not THE ANSWER. Which it¡¯s why I gave the caveat, but I think it¡¯s the best explanation I¡¯ve heard from anyone here¡±.
Ozzy sat in silence sipping the tea and munching on a sandwich for a moment. The tea had a fruity flavor and something nagged at him saying that tea was only dried leaves, so this wasn¡¯t tea. He rolled his eyes at himself as there were more pressing things to question. Though it was likely his mind''s attempt to run from the possibilities that answer opened up. Mainly the ever increasing chances that he was dead. He still had a little hope that he¡¯d fallen through the cracks into the actual back rooms of the universe instead. Though what was the difference really. If he had died to show up here, then what difference did it make? It didn¡¯t really change the situation he found himself in. ¡°That makes a certain amount of sense,¡± he admitted finally.
¡°Well an answer can only be as good as the question which preceded it¡± Vonder quipped. He had a habit of attempting to lower himself while raising up those around him in a way to put people at ease. Ozzy felt a little annoyed that it was working so well.
¡°So, is this your place?¡± Ozzy asked to keep the conversation going. While Vonder seemed great at making sure the conversation didn¡¯t die, he also allowed it to get dangerously close from time to time. Likely to encourage others to talk. ¡°It¡¯s pretty nice,¡± he added as an afterthought.
¡°Oh no, This is Mr. Sandfords!¡± Vonder said while raising the cat once more. As if that made total sense. In what appeared to be another tick of his he continued after a moment. ¡°The cat is something of a pet of mine, and I¡¯ve taken to using his original home as a nice meeting spot.¡± That comment made Ozzy remember about connections to other havens and he ran a quick check on them. Finding only two, one he confirmed was the one he¡¯d just stepped from and the other he made a mental note of. He almost reached out to it out of habit but barely held himself back. That¡¯s when Vonder continued with a large smile on his face. ¡°It¡¯s always best to meet in a haven not your own, and of course I never go anywhere directly from my own haven.¡±
The addition made Ozzy realize something about Vonder that he hadn¡¯t been paying attention to until now. The man wasn¡¯t looking him directly in the eyes. He was looking at his face, and the top half of it, it was just about an inch above his eyes. Blinking slowly he allowed his new sight to settle in the place where all his new abilities had originated from. With this vantage point Vonder¡¯s eyes were locked dead on. When he opened his eyes again they weren¡¯t what he was looking with. For some reason he¡¯d let himself be shocked enough to completely forget about his new capabilities and hadn¡¯t examined the man. What he saw made him confused and at first slightly relaxed.
Vonder, like Cederick, had no domain. Not even a wisp of one past his skin. Unlike Cederick he didn¡¯t have that same strange membrane skin combo that blocked his sight. He also didn¡¯t have any vortex of energy surrounding him. Instead he could see straight through him. Well he could see through most of him. There wasn¡¯t a domain inside the man either. Not a single bit of him seemed to give off a hint of any of the things that he¡¯d come to associate with strength. What he could see was something completely new. In the man''s forehead, in about the same location as Ozzy had felt pressure when he¡¯d first tried to ¡®open the curtains¡¯ in his haven, there was something shining brightly like a star.
That little dot in his head somehow seemed to be easily larger and denser than all of the imp¡¯s domains he¡¯d seen so far combined. He instinctively tried to reach out and feel the strength of it directly but his domain couldn¡¯t get any closer to the man. Which was when he realized his domain was pressed close to his body on the front. Around the man Ozzy¡¯s domain was pushed back as if there was an exclusion zone. His domain wasn¡¯t just pushed back to his skin. The sides were blown behind him like a cape. The pressure from that single point of strength in this man''s head was brushing away all the strength he¡¯d gathered so far as if it were nothing.
¡°You¡¯ve asked so many good questions¡± Vonder¡¯s words shocked Ozzy out of his examination. ¡°And, now I have a question for you¡± He added with a serious tone that made Ozzy shrink back from him slowly. With a quick glance around he wondered if he should run now. Was this what made Benjamin reject him before meeting him? Was this what got Cederick so flustered today? Vonder tapped his own forehead causing Ozzy to flinch ¡°How did you injure yourself so badly?¡±
B 1 Ch 21 Answers... Beget More Questions
Ozzy was confused, which was starting to become his most loathed habit of late. Vonder actually sounded curious, and sincerely concerned. Other than tapping his own forehead he hadn¡¯t made any further movements. Well he had set his hand back down and he appeared to be patiently awaiting a response. Re-evaluating the situation Ozzy pulled himself back from the assumptions he was making. Just because someone was stronger didn¡¯t immediately mean they were bad. That didn¡¯t mean he suddenly trusted Vonder more than he had before. He would try to approach the situation again with a good measure of caution, but at the same time, Vonder seemed to have a good grasp of things, and could easily teach him something.
Ozzy brushed his hand across his forehead. Which gave him absolutely no new information. Yet, something deep in his brain needed the reassurance that there wasn¡¯t some open physical wound with all the staring Vonder was doing. He readjusted himself in his chair and cleared his throat, though still didn¡¯t start talking. He was quite sure the likely cause of whatever injury Vonder could see was his initial attempts at affecting his environment. He wasn¡¯t entirely sure how to express what he was doing other than to say ¡®I was trying to open the curtains¡¯, but that sounded ridiculous. Something about Vonder¡¯s mannerisms made him want to say things just right.
After another moment he came up with the best translation he could. ¡°I believe it happened when I was trying to force my haven to open a portal to another,¡± He began slowly ¡°Then either I pushed too hard or it retaliated¡±. Vonder took on a contemplative look and squinted at his forehead once more. Which was likely a completely superficial action as what he was examining was almost certainly his third eye. ¡°What do you see?¡± He wondered.
Vonder raised his hand and above it Ozzy could see energy coalescing out of what appeared to be nothing. ¡°It will be much easier to show you. This,¡± He indicated his hand and as he did so the energy began to vibrate and Ozzy could see light being absorbed into the energy with his eyes ¡°Is an approximation of what I might see looking into anyone''s head¡±. Above his hand Ozzy could see what looked like a shaded sphere. ¡°Or, at least some variation on this¡± Vonder continued ¡°The exact shape¡ boundary type¡ and size might vary¡±. As he said these the sphere morphed to something more like an egg, the border became hazy, then it shrank to nearly a point. ¡°In fact in most cases this size is the most common¡± He added while the representation remained point like. The representation looked a lot like what he had felt in the haven before ¡®falling in¡¯.
¡°In your head I see something more like this,¡± Vonder continued. The Image above his hand returned to a larger sized sphere then became incredibly hazy, but also separated into multiple spheres arranged into a circle where a portion of all of them touched in the center. Looking from one pole it looked a bit like a camera shutter squeezed to nearly closed. ¡°Only it¡¯s a bit more like this¡± Vonder then adjusted the image again causing even more spheres to separate out forming a second sphere formed of multiple rings like the original representation. ¡°It almost appears as if the normal single reservoir has been damaged and frayed like a rope into multiple much weaker versions¡±
Ozzy pondered the claim. He could see energy shining from the spot in Vonders head that he referred to but he couldn¡¯t see any reservoir. He hadn¡¯t seen any such reservoirs in the rats, or the imps, or in the haven. In the square of a haven though he¡¯d felt such a thing. If it was indeed the same thing. He looked at the cat to get some comparison and could only see the expected domain he¡¯d seen in the past. Nothing seemed to reside in its head. ¡°I don¡¯t see that, I can only see the energy¡± Ozzy surprised himself as he said it out loud. He¡¯d been hoping to play things a little closer to the chest. As much as he was glad to be sitting and chatting about¡ anything really, he didn¡¯t trust Vonder yet. His overwhelming strength didn¡¯t help in that vein either.
Vonder squinted again this time at his hand above which still sat the image he¡¯d conjured. ¡°Maybe not injured after all,¡± Vonder mumbled to himself ¡°Can you see which cup has energy around it?¡± He asked as energy began to form around his own cup. Ozzy nodded and pointed to the cup. After which Vonder quickly tested him a few different ways to be sure. Even making different shapes or sized things to compare. ¡°You can see energy in great detail, but you cannot see reservoirs,¡± Vonder mumbled again to himself, tapping his fingers on the table and looking off.
¡°Well I can see the energy you have stored there,¡± Ozzy offered, pointing at his own forehead ¡°I can see the cat¡¯s domain as well, but he has no point of energy in his head like you do¡±. Unfortunately his brain started latching onto the discrepancies they were seeing and trying to solve them, so was unintentionally blabbering even more information without gaining much in return.
The comment made Vonder frown and look down at his cat. ¡°The cat has a domain, yet you only mention a point of energy in my head, implying you do not see a domain around me¡±. He pondered again for a moment ¡°Yet I do have a domain of control¡± he countered and demonstrated again by lifting a cup up which was only evidenced, it was him, by the thin layer of energy surrounding it before it began to rise. ¡°which would imply what you are seeing is not a domain,¡± he postulated ¡°what you are seeing is most likely the unrefined collection of energy of one who has not yet begun to control, coalesce, compress, and store it in their reservoir.¡±
Ozzy was beginning to feel a certain amount of kinship in Vonder¡¯s thought processes which he seemingly broadcast play by play. Which engaged his own problem solving engine yet again and fired off a slew of responses. ¡°Your statements suggest that you cannot see energy, and yet you can see what I cannot in turn¡± Ozzy formed a foundation, then quested out for a new brick ¡°If you cannot see domains, can you see the membranes?¡±. As he asked he realized there was no membrane left on his domain after having dissipated them to control for his testing with the imps. ¡°Like around the edge of all the havens¡± he added since he had none of his own to show.
Vonder was still staring at his cat for a few moments. He looked off at the edge of the space they occupied before responding. ¡°Yes the border between the havens and the void is visible to me.¡± The answer wasn¡¯t as clarifying as Ozzy had hoped. Vonder¡¯s proclivity to phrase things in nebulous and varying terms was less than helpful. While Vonder continued to stare at the haven¡¯s edge he tried to rectify the confusion by focusing on the domain that had been squashed to the surface of his skin, and slowly started to form a layer of membrane against it. He got wrapped up in it and was seeing an interesting effect. The portion of his domain being surrounded by a membrane began to lift away from his chest. Ozzy¡¯s initial assumption being that it was repelling, resisting, or negating Vonder¡¯s control in the area.
¡°Cederick said Benjamin was afraid of you but wasn¡¯t clear on the specifics¡± Vonder¡¯s comment Broke Ozzy¡¯s concentration. Looking up he saw Vonder frowning while looking directly at the spot he¡¯d been working on. ¡°Those who dabble in things others do not understand frighten them.¡± Vonder continued to stare and frown. His statements again left too much up to the imagination, luckily he continued after a bit. ¡°Though those are the sentiments of a fearful man and a teacher set in their ways¡± Vonder said shaking his head. ¡°At most I am jealous. We had pondered the nature and function of the border while we worked together¡±
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Ozzy wondered how to word his response. Despite his claim to the contrary Vonder definitely seemed put out by what he was seeing, and more so than jealousy might explain. ¡°It¡¯s much easier to interact with when you can see what it¡¯s doing.¡± He carefully began ¡°It helps that literally everywhere here has one¡± Ozzy watched Vonder¡¯s face as he was speaking and was disappointed to see a wash of different emotions travel across as he finished his last sentence.
¡°No,¡± Vonder said simply. ¡°Not everywhere here has a border, or membrane as you say¡±. He still stared at Ozzy¡¯s miniature membrane as he said this. The response didn¡¯t seem to make sense as just being wrong about that shouldn¡¯t have set him off. ¡°The havens are just one of many types of places that exist in between¡±. Now turning to look into the distance he grew silent for a moment before continuing. ¡°There are fragments of worlds out there, and places which are difficult to even comprehend or name, let alone travel to¡±. His tone implying he¡¯d been to a few of these and would rather not have made the trip. Which helped his response become a bit more understandable.
¡°I was once warned by someone I respected to steer clear of such places¡± He looked up at Ozzy¡¯s face and his own grew serious ¡°Since I cannot expect you to understand or respect such a suggestion from me I will simply relay what happened when I visited anyway¡±. He began a tale not so dissimilar from his own. Thankfully nothing like Cedericks. He¡¯d awoken on a square, it was bright like Ozzy¡¯s own, and fumbled about. Eventually stumbling into another square that contained a cat. Which at first sounded like a nice alternative to the rats, and imps that Ozzy and Cederick had found. Though when it eventually came to hunger, thirst, and starvation it turned a bit darker.
Vonder didn¡¯t focus or dwell on it though. He¡¯d needed to survive and like Ozzy had done what needed to be done to get by. LIke Ozzy he had also found an intelligent resident of a haven, in fact the very cat he held on his lap. It was indifferent to his existence until it desired attention or pets. Not so dissimilar to any other cat. He¡¯d felt a bond growing with it after visiting a few times and bringing it treats and brought it with him back to his own square. In the long run it essentially gave him a second haven to call home. Which gave Ozzy a few ideas. Not that he didn¡¯t already have his own methods of growth, but adding more never hurt anyone.
After finding the cat his experience became more of a sedate day to day exploration. Moving further down his line of cat havens but otherwise just existing. Which made a certain amount of sense. Having someone, even if it was just a pet, to spend time with would definitely make the days go by more smoothly. Over the next few weeks he¡¯d gained strength farming the less fortunate cats of the chained havens. Only after nearly three months of existing alone, other than his cat, did he meet with someone.
Even before he mentioned the person Ozzy could feel his mood sour. The descriptions also became hazier and the specifics of how they met were unclear. Though the person who he refused to name or really describe at all seemed like someone they liked quite a bit. Suggesting it wasn¡¯t the person, but their likely demise which had him upset. They¡¯d taught him to begin to control his energy and direct its absorption as Ozzy had discovered. It was all in descriptions based on feeling not sight. Eventually culminating in what the person referred to as forming a core. Though the descriptions implied the core was supposed to be formed in a different reservoir than Vonder had chosen.
Their instructor had been mildly perturbed at this, admonishing him for choosing what they claimed was the weakest option. Though Vonder disagreed based on the fact that it granted him visualization and expression of his strength beyond his body. But, his mentor continued to direct and guide him despite this. It was around this time that they found Benjamin. Who joined Vonder in learning to grow stronger in directed ways. Which spawned another disagreement when Vonder had encouraged Benjamin to attempt growing a core in his upper dantian as their mentor called it. Clearly they had some eastern influence based on their choice of nomenclature. Yet Vonder and Benjamin had felt a connection in their appetite for growth and learning about things as they are. Which resulted in Benjamin taking his suggestion.
Benjamin surprised them both in succeeding in accomplishing both of their suggestions. Somehow creating two cores despite their mentor''s insistence that such a thing was impossible and that it was a waste to abandon the improvement of the body. With both paths available to him Benjamin had quickly become something of a favorite with their mentor. Causing Vonder to pull away and attempt stranger and more dangerous experiments to succeed at something. As neither their mentor nor Vonder had been able to accomplish what Benjamin had. The culmination of this rebellion had been Vonder discovering and traveling to places without a membrane, fragments of worlds that floated open and raw to the void decaying into nothingness. That was all he¡¯d found at first. Stretches of nothingness quickly decaying into it.
His constant forays into the void were not yielding fruit, but he eventually decided to show Benjamin anyway. The place that Vonder took Benjamin to was the most interesting one he¡¯d found. It seemed to decay into nothing faster than the rest. The rocks and soil crumbling away into smaller and smaller pieces at a visible rate. Which Vonder felt might be due to its age. Though they found he was incorrect, and that there was far more to nothing than they¡¯d ever wished to see. Whether it was the fact that two of them were there now, or the Vonders constant visits, he didn¡¯t know. Either way whatever existed there dismantling the very foundations of the existence had awoken and come after them.
They¡¯d fled back to the havens, but the borders had begun to crack and fall away. Making them flee further. Eventually coming to their mentor to seek their help. Only to be ridiculed and told to continue fleeing while their mentor fought with something they couldn''t even see. Neither Vonder or Benjamin had been contacted by, nor could they find, their mentor again. Eventually Benjamin had refused to ever leave his own haven again, and denied Vonder access to visit. With that Vonder concluded his history lesson.
¡°So, while I am intrigued by your abilities, and curious if you might be able to see what we could not that day, I hope you are cautious enough to steer clear¡± Ozzy wondered how he was expected to go visit these places he had no idea even existed before Vonder mentioned them. He held his tongue though. Instead nodding along as agreeably as he could portray. It was possible if Vonder had been alone with a cat for ages only visited by an overly talkative teenager that he¡¯d lost some of his edge in conversation. ¡°Your plight, and what it has reminded me of, has me reeling though, so I apologize, but I must excuse myself¡± with that he promptly stood up and taking his cat with him stepped to the edge of the haven. Before leaving he turned back ¡°If you come to this haven again I should feel it and come meet you, if I do not come, leave a note¡± Then as suddenly as he had stood he stepped away. Leaving Ozzy sitting alone again.
B 1 Ch 22 The Bare Necessities
Ozzy sat for a while continuing to enjoy the tea and sandwiches. They were quite good, especially compared to the standard of food he¡¯d had so far in this¡ in between. As Vonder referred to it. There was some kind of meat and even a spread inside. He wasn¡¯t going to question exactly what materials, or animals were used, but it tasted a bit like a nice chicken sandwich. Besides he felt he needed to just take a break again. The last couple hours had been another whirlwind of introduction, swapping stories, and no payoff. It was quite a letdown. Everyone he¡¯d met here so far was so jumpy and sensitive for unknown reasons. Even though Vonder had explained his reasoning it still felt a bit confusing. At least he¡¯d gained some knowledge from the meeting. He didn¡¯t want to turn into a shut-in, but every time he spoke to someone here, their behavior made him want to get back to his own haven, or back to exploring. Both the havens around him, and the how and why of things.
Ozzy couldn¡¯t really blame them though. This place wasn¡¯t exactly conducive to maintaining a well rounded mental state. If he¡¯d had to kill cats instead of rats, or the baby-like imps in the dark at first he would likely be as messed up as either Cederick or Vonder seemed to be. Granted Vonder at least had his shit together he was just a little odd. Which made sense as Cederick had met many people that he was cagey about just how bad the experience had been. Though Vonder, and apparently Benjamin, had other experiences that altered them in different ways. Benjamin had apparently become a hermit, and Vonder was made a bit preachy.
While minorly disconcerting to repeatedly meet people who eventually just walked off or asked him to leave it also felt a bit reassuring to know that everyone else here was just another person lost in the mess of things. It at least gave Ozzy more information to work with and goals to strive for. While he was making progress with understanding things himself it helped to get other points of view. Especially when it seemed that their experiences and viewpoints were so drastically different from his own. The havens not being the only planes of existence in between was a revelation if ever there was one. Though it made some amount of sense. The havens were obviously some kind of life form and they¡¯d have needed somewhere to initially come from.
The fact that Vonder could feel if he came or went from this haven even while not present was interesting as well. While he couldn¡¯t see energy or likely see into the haven as Ozzy could it was good to know. Which reminded him that the intelligent rat had somehow detected his entry into its haven. Though that was likely since his domain had entered while it was inside. Maybe that was why Cederick hadn¡¯t detected his entry as he¡¯d done it while Cederick was still in the rat havens. Vonder had said his choice of advancement had allowed him sight which others lacked. Although it appeared much of it was a feeling rather than sight. It was still an advantage over a straight physical modification. He wasn¡¯t sure if it was nearly the level of advantage Ozzy himself had gained with whatever happened to his own mental reservoir. Vonder might even have agreed. What with the mumbled mention of him possibly not being injured after all.
Ozzy continued to go over all the things he¡¯d heard and observed as he finished his tea before returning to his haven. For a moment he contemplated taking one of the cups, or the teapot with him, but he had no idea how Vonder would react to that. With how much stronger he appeared to be it wasn¡¯t a good idea to poke the bear. Besides, Whatever they could make, he could make. While the fact that every person he¡¯d met did concern him, all of them except Cederick had turned their havens into something they could call a home. With amenities and niceties that made it comfortable and livable. Upon his return home he examined the fifty odd connections he¡¯d been able to gather from Cederick''s haven. There were two of them he was pretty sure had some kind of clay in the soil. One of them was more of a suspicion but the other actually looked like clay.
Connecting to that one first he found what he was hoping for. The entire square was indeed clay. What he didn¡¯t find was anything living on either the top or underside of said square. Eventually he began to scoop up some clay to bring back when he felt his domain brush against something. Under the surface of the clay was a strange looking object. Ozzy would have assumed it was some kind of potato or root, if the surface didn¡¯t deform and pop back with such fluidity. Digging around the anomaly and revealing its entirety resulted in a screeching little gremlin that resembled a frog, but he was pretty sure there wasn¡¯t any frog that looked like an oversized avocado with legs. Not that he¡¯d seen anyway.
The strange thing was that before digging it out he hadn¡¯t seen any energy or indication of a domain at all. Yet after revealing the animal one had flared up around it as if it had been dormant. As interesting as that was, he had no desire to find out why right now. With no further delay he ended its existence and pulled its core back home, adding it to the pile under his recliner. He was annoyed that he hadn¡¯t yet found the next step to take with his domain to utilize all the cores, but he had some hints from both the imps, and the conversation with Vonder to go on. For now he wanted to create some basic necessities he could use to improve the next few days for himself.
The fact that the avocatoad was hidden under the clay was a boon for him. He¡¯d been thinking he¡¯d try to work with and shape the clay with his hands. Since he¡¯d already used his domain in this new monster¡¯s haven he now directly used it to shape the clay as well. This first lump he made into a large jug that could hold several gallons, though he wasn¡¯t sure exactly how many it was. Before firing he also made a medium sized cup. Just as he¡¯d already used his domain to shape the clay he was able to hold it in shape while it cured over a fire he also built with his domain.
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He¡¯d run out of sticks and branches he¡¯d stockpiled while building it so tore some branches off some of his trees to add. Making a fire directly out of them would be difficult but since he already had one going, adding them to the fire worked as the branches dried then began to burn. Though this fire produced quite a bit more smoke than his previous one had. Enough that he saw it begin to slowly fill in his haven where the previous fire hadn¡¯t caused such an issue. Jumping to the underside of his haven helped. The smoke did permeate there as well, but not quite as much. He decided future fires would all be on the underside to help mitigate the issue. Even if they were with dried logs.
Thinking of it turned his attention to his trees and what he could do to get nice dried wood for both fires and building with. The new utilization of his domain as a tool and not just a weapon was giving him all kinds of ideas. While waiting for his jug and cup to properly form he began to experiment with forming a saw using his domain. Even as he did so it dawned on him that he didn¡¯t need to be limited to tools he could just hold. For a moment he contemplated how he could make something like a chainsaw, but realized he didn¡¯t even need to do that. If he could spin something he could just create a circular saw blade and spin it with his domain.
After forming a disk of membrane several particles thick Ozzy began to experiment with it. Up until now his interaction with and utilization of his domain had been something of an intuitive process. That intuitiveness seemed turned on its head after watching Vonder utilize his own form of domain. He¡¯d formed something his mentor called a core and utilized it at a great distance with seemingly nothing to intermediate that force. His description of forming said core suggested that what Ozzy saw as his domain was nothing but a multitude of smaller weaker cores. Vonder¡¯s suggestions of how someone would progress in making such a core lined up as well. He¡¯d said it started with controlling the energy. Which had been what Ozzy had experienced. Initially he couldn¡¯t really see, just control.
The next step was described as coalescing the energy. Which both Ozzy¡¯s direct experience and what he saw the imps do lined up with. The spaced out and weak particles grouped up and became denser as the imps and Ozzy had gained strength. Even what he¡¯d observed with the last few imps also seemed to corroborate this. As when finally isolating the stronger imps cores they¡¯d decayed into two different particles and enough excess energy to create at least another fully densified particle. With all that being the case, then it strongly suggested the way Ozzy moved his domain didn¡¯t work the way he felt like he did.
It wasn¡¯t an arm, or some other appendage like he¡¯d been thinking. There weren¡¯t muscles that made it up which moved it about. He could turn it into membranous material which would do exactly that. However, the implications of the things Vonder said paired with his own experience suggested there were other options. With that in mind Ozzy focused down until he had only two of his domain¡¯s cores in his mind''s eye. Then from one he projected a force to the other. Forcing it to swirl around in a clockwise pattern. Then he had the other move itself around. Then utilized both of them to move a third nearby.
After several iterations of testing he found that some basic rules applied to moving his cores around that didn¡¯t fit with the intuitive way he¡¯d thought it worked. Any one core could move another, or several, or even itself. The most counterintuitive part was that a core seemed to be least suited to moving itself. Needing several times the energy to gain the same speed. It also appeared that a core didn¡¯t need to be touching another in order to move it. The influence of each core was only something like a dozen centimeters but that was very different than he¡¯d thought. It also appeared that while there was a drop off it was more abrupt than he¡¯d assumed when he realized there was a domain for each of his cores. Up to about ten centimeters from each core it had effectively the same efficiency as it would directly touching what it was moving. Afterward the energy required to apply a force quickly skyrocketed until completely failing to move things after only a couple centimeters further. He was in the middle of postulating ways to utilize what he¡¯d discovered when he realized the fire had gone out.
His first attempt at pottery had gone reasonably well. The cup had a hole he¡¯d somehow missed but it was rather close to the top. Setting both of his projects onto the stone path to cool he reached out to his new catalog of planes available to him. There were a few that were marshy and could provide lots of water, but a couple were more interesting. Both of them appeared to be entirely made up of water. Reaching out to one he found a square of water as he expected, and this time he could see its occupant swimming right in the middle. Something akin to a shark, was soon dead leaving a growing stain in the water and its core was brought back. Unfortunately the resulting square was as salty as any water he¡¯d ever tasted. The ocean was always more salty than you remembered it tasting the last time. That would actually be quite useful, but not what he was looking for right now.
The next haven was lit closer to dusk and its water was murky. He could still see the resident due to its domain and it quickly joined the last haven¡¯s occupant in swimming upside down. Pulling it¡¯s core back he found another water tile sitting on the other side of his recliner. This one, while still murky, was at least freshwater. Placing a bit of his blanket over the top of his jug he was able to fill it with the murky water. Resulting in the second cleanest water he¡¯d seen in his entire time in the middle of nowhere.
B 1 Ch 23 Making a haven a home
Ozzy sat for a while sipping some of his newly acquired water. It was odd how even though the cores helped him stave off the worst of starvation and dehydration, there was always a nagging feeling in his stomach of something hollow. There was a feeling of fullness but a lack of substance and satisfaction. Like he¡¯d been eating nothing but puffy unseasoned rice crackers for the last couple weeks. The sandwiches and tea had helped but he was still craving more. Sipping water didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t do other things though.
While his hands were idle his domain was as busy as ever. All of the things he¡¯d learned so far went into what he was currently testing out on one of the trees. He¡¯d added teeth to the disk he¡¯d made earlier and utilized some attributes he¡¯d learned while examining Benjamin¡¯s haven to make them even more solid and permanently physically present. To either side of the sawblade he created a cylinder of membrane with a depth matching the domain of each of his particles. Inside which he crammed as many particles as would fit. He¡¯d found through further testing that the tradeoff with the membranes was that their domain strength and size was sacrificed to increase their other attributes. It was a bit like the compression Vonder mentioned, but clearly of a different type.
With this setup he was able to bring millions of the tiny little cores strength to bear on the blade. Which resulted in some insane speeds. He wasn¡¯t actually able to count the number of rotations but it very much looked like any saw blade he¡¯d ever seen, although much thinner. Maybe he¡¯d eventually be able to create some kind of tally machine to count its rotation but for now he had a new tool to play with. Bringing the blade up to speed he passed it vertically through the center of one of the trees. While it kicked a bit and made a lot of noise it went through quite smoothly. Smiling like a madman he began to plan how he was going to use this to make himself something a little more homey to live in.
Ozzy had found that if he wasn¡¯t fast enough cutting away at the tree, it was able to heal itself absurdly fast, leaving only a minor scar. After enough time even the scar diminished and blended into the rest of the bark. Which turned out to be helpful in the end. There was a reason fruit trees were not known as common sources of lumber. The trunk was only about 20 centimeters thick at the base, and more like 15 at the top. It took duplicating his contraption several times on either side and adding a much smaller version at the top to create something that could cut out a whole board from the center of the tree trunk in one go. Once he pushed the section out he watched in amazement as the middle of the trunk began to fill in looking like spray foam insulation expanding. Thankfully the cut out piece of tree somehow knew it was no longer a part of the whole and didn¡¯t also expand into another tree.
Repeating the process along the line of trees then again on the underside of his haven he soon had a pile of sixty reasonably well cut two by sixes. Granted it was tapered to one end, the larger side being closer to two by eight. But he could work with that. In fact it took a minor adjustment to the tool he¡¯d built to shave the sides of them all leaving an almost perfect stack. They were actually much better than some of the twisted and bent lumber he¡¯d seen in hardware stores when he¡¯d visited with his dad. There was no need to rummage through a pile to find only a few good pieces. He was quite impressed with himself until he realized he didn¡¯t have anything to secure them with.
The frustration at realizing his accomplishment was useless made him pace about trying to find a work around, and eventually got him back to growing his pile of cores. Even without a current use for them it was always good to have a stockpile. It was only when he got thirsty again and went to drink some water that he realized he may have a solution after all. The tile of murky water he¡¯d pulled the water from was already nearly refilled. Whatever the haven¡¯s and subsequent squares did to restore their state was able to replenish supplies from thin air. Well literally in this case as they absorbed energy to restock themselves. Which had him staring at his initial square. On the corners were not only nails but brackets as well.
Moving the clay and water tiles to different locations he reached out with his domain and pulled out the nails from one of the brackets. They were about eight centimeters long and there were six on each side. After pulling the nails out and removing the brackets from each corner he had a small pile of forty eight nails and the four brackets. He sat and stared at the edge of his initial square for quite some time before eventually giving up. The trees had already healed enough for another round of coring them so he added another stack of them to his stockpile. When he was finished he found there was one bracket and two nails on one corner, but that was it. Apparently this wasn¡¯t going to be that quick of a process. It was likely the metal took significantly more energy to recreate than a bit of water. The brackets were a big chunk of that. Once he had another set of them available he¡¯d leave the brackets to see if the nails alone reappeared faster.
Ozzy found himself following a pattern for the next few hours. He¡¯d add to his ever increasing stockpile of cores for a while. Once he confirmed the trees had regrown enough he would cut out another set of boards for himself. With them stacked along the path along with his growing pile of scrap wood, he would then check his nails'' progress. It was over an hour before the first full contingent of brackets and nails all restored themselves. Once he¡¯d found this he pulled out ten nails from each corner and got back to grinding. At some point he¡¯d run out of room under his recliner so decided to move his giant pile of cores to the pathway. It took over the rest of the pathway after the pile of boards and scrap wood utilized a good portion of it.
The third set of nails had spawned in less than half an hour. Confirming that leaving the brackets had significantly increased the respawn rate. That and taking only ten out of twelve nails per corner helped as well. After the fifth set of nails he had over two hundred to work with. That and nearly a thousand boards now. The nails had also started appearing sooner with the last couple sets. Apparently the increased density of energy in the air was helpful for the squares.
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As he¡¯d worked a plan formed in his head with some variations which he could follow to build himself a little house. While he¡¯d never worked on a construction site his father had forced him to help doing repairs around the house, including building a shed and a root cellar, which were both larger than what he was thinking of. He was no architect or framer, but he knew enough to keep a small building from falling apart. There were so many different ways he could build something for himself. What it came down to was what he wanted it for. He didn¡¯t technically need a place to sleep, nor did he need it to protect him from the nonexistent weather. There were no drastic temperature swings to adjust to.
More than anything, what he wanted out of this was a place that could meet his emotional needs. There was something unsettling about sleeping under the sky every single night weeks on end. Sure it was fun for a day or two, but it just felt like he¡¯d never gotten the reset that comes from returning to an enclosed, secure space for the night and going to sleep. The fact that he¡¯d made the place with powers he knew others had in excess of his own didn¡¯t really deter the desire. While his logical mind knew this his emotional side still wanted the feeling of security even if it wasn¡¯t real.
Ozzy had initially planned out an elaborate contraption to expand off of his initial square. Using leverage with the brackets in ingenious ways to allow him to construct something that on first inspection would appear to simply be nine squares but being made entirely out of his new stockpile of boards. It was only after he¡¯d gone through his fourth entirely separate iteration of plans that he realized he was just daydreaming increasingly overcomplicated options instead of taking action with what he knew he could do. He wasn¡¯t after architectural elegance and grace, just something to make this place feel a little more homey.
After bringing himself back down to touch grass for a moment he evaluated his options. As much as he felt the need to hide his capabilities to a certain extent, he had ways to make this so much simpler. It only took another fifteen minutes utilizing the different havens he had connected with to produce and transfer their offspring to result in a three by three set of the reddish stone tiles from the imps. Setting it up behind his recliner opposite the pathway he began a much simpler construction. The frame had only one opening, that being the doorway. He ripped a chunk of the boards into thinner versions for flooring, siding, and roofing.
While he worked he was initially transferring loads of wood over toward his new construction with his domain when he was struck with a thought. Moving the grass squares with the trees around resulted in both the trees and grass moving along with the square. That would suggest the same could be done with the boards. The only caveat being they were sitting on multiple squares at once due to their length. Testing that out was simple though. Using his domain to communicate with the haven he moved all three of the tiles at once and was thankful to find that the boards also came along with them. Which meant that down the line he should be able to move his house around without much trouble.
Before finishing the walls he moved his recliner into the house. Which made him wonder if the floored square had somehow associated it with itself and would restore it after a time. Though over the next few hours as he continued his work there was no indication that such a thing was happening. Which suggested it was more like the branches, sticks and plants he¡¯d found in the rat¡¯s havens. Something he¡¯d brought along with himself but hadn¡¯t convinced the square it was a part of its structure.
The shack took far longer than he¡¯d expected to finish. Even with his new methods of utilizing his domain as different tools. Not to mention the ability to move things about the haven with both his domain and riding atop the squares like a magic carpet ride. He¡¯d had to jerry rig several different things to get them to work the way he needed. Fashioning hinges out of the brackets was actually one he¡¯d thought would take longer. When beginning this project he hadn¡¯t even thought of how he¡¯d get the door to work, but the idea came almost without delay and then using his domain had made the process laughably easy. Driving the nails was also as easy if not easier than pulling them out. He didn¡¯t even need to make some specialized tool for it, simply applying his will directly to them to force them in worked like a charm.
Regardless of how fast some of the tasks were, the overall construction took nearly a day. It hadn¡¯t helped that he¡¯d added a few late additions while working on it. Such as the counters he¡¯d built inside and started moving his stockpiles of cores into. He¡¯d also made shelving above them and placed his single cup inside. His jug he set on the counter below it for easy access. He¡¯d added a small side table next to his recliner, which he ended up moving his cup to in case he woke up thirsty in the night.
As he stood in front of the shack looking at his accomplishment he felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him. The fact that he had somewhere he could enter into and close the door had probably released some pent up tension that was keeping him from fully relaxing. That and the fact that he was pretty sure he hadn¡¯t sat down and relaxed in nearly two days. Stepping inside and closing the door he was bathed in a comfortable darkness and security he hadn¡¯t felt since arriving here. Stepping over to his recliner and lifting what was left of his plush throw blanket he sat down and got comfortable. Adjusting his blanket and nuzzling into it he nearly got worked up with all the things he could get started on tomorrow. Though faster than he even realized he was out in a way he hadn¡¯t experienced in far too long. His snores joined the chorus of the breeze swishing the leaves outside his little shack.
B 1 Ch 24 Compression
Ozzy woke in his recliner and groggily opened his eyes. He¡¯d slept for ages and for a while had forgotten entirely where he was, but as he sipped from the strangely gritty textured glass sitting next to him he remembered making it. Which reminded him where he¡¯d made it and all the things he¡¯d done since arriving here. He still wondered for a moment if he wasn¡¯t dreaming up the things he¡¯d seen until he got up and stumbled his way to the light shining through the edge of the door. Outside he found himself stepping down onto his central square and the pathway that led off between two lines of trees.
The pathway was missing a few squares he¡¯d moved over near his new home to transport the contents. Otherwise everything was as he left it. The square he was standing on still showed no sign of a new recliner appearing. Which he¡¯d already figured would be the case. So returned his attention to the rest of the haven. It was quite satisfying to have just stepped outside rather than woken up there. Something about that accomplishment had him feeling giddy this morning. He wasn¡¯t even bothered by the fact that he had no way to discern if it was actually morning or not.
He had so many things he could do today. Yesterday, though it had been more like two days straight, he¡¯d focused on building and securing the basic necessities for his physical and emotional needs. While he did still have a few that weren¡¯t met long term, such as new clothing, he had them covered for the short term. The main thing he was missing right now was strength. He¡¯d felt like early on when he¡¯d been improving his body that things were ¡®too easy¡¯ and that his progression would outstrip anyone he¡¯d meet. Yet the first person to show up was easily and obviously stronger than him. Later on he¡¯d seen just how much stronger and was glad Cederick had been cordial and inviting. Despite the change in his demeanor he¡¯d at least let him be.
The only other person he¡¯d actually seen was Vonder, and gauging his strength was difficult. While he was clearly stronger than Ozzy he wasn¡¯t entirely sure how he¡¯d measure up to Cederick. Though he suspected he was even stronger. That wasn¡¯t the only comparison he had. The imps were already significantly stronger than Ozzy by the thirteenth one and that was despite the fact that he had a domain able to fill multiple of the smaller havens to bursting. There was also the intelligent rat he¡¯d met. Which had nearly killed him despite what he¡¯d felt was a meteoric rise in strength. All of this told him he really needed to focus on improving his strength before branching out or meeting other people.
The hints he had regarding growing in strength were at least lining up with one another. He was still optimistic that he¡¯d already accomplished the first two things that Vonder listed as part of the process. He could control his energy and had followed the same pattern that the Imps did in coalescing it. Now he just needed to understand how they were compressing their domain. Then he could be as strong if not significantly stronger than them. Before that though, he needed breakfast. Pulling a few fruit over to himself he pulled the energy into his domain and began to snack on the fruit itself. While he didn¡¯t want to waste the energies of the cores on his domain he wanted to eat the fruit. Yet he didn¡¯t like the hollow feeling subsisting off of energy gave him. So to avoid letting the energy go to waste into his domain it went.
After his breakfast, which he washed down with his best, and only, beverage, water, he connected to the twelfth imp haven again. While he had a few ideas on what he could do right now he wanted to check one more time what he¡¯d previously seen with their domains. Using his overwhelming amount of domain he again trapped it in the center and formed a small membrane around it. Using an entirely new method he separated a particle of its domain. Previously he¡¯d used a membranous appendage to do this, now he used the combined strength of all the nearby particles of his own to pull it through. The applied force being one that had no physical connection to the particle seemed to do the trick. It remained as it was through the process of being pulled through the membrane.
All the while the imp watched the membrane surrounding it with apprehension. Understanding now that it could only detect the membrane and not the energy made him wonder if that had also affected the results of his previous experiences. It was possible it had seen his membranous appendages grasping at its domain and sacrificed it somehow. Either way he now had its particle residing within his own domain and could examine it more clearly. Peering into its domain was apparently as hard as affecting it. Once getting it into his own domain Moving it around took exactly the same amount of energy as any one of his own. Though just Focusing down on it didn¡¯t immediately reveal any differences.
It was only after observing the particle for some time that he was able to glean anything new. While it didn¡¯t feel any denser and was no harder to move about it didn¡¯t have the same behavior as the other particles. His own, and he¡¯d confirmed those of the weaker imps also, were essentially unmoving, and unresponsive relative to the domain at large as long as they weren¡¯t willed to do anything. These were different. The particles vibrated in a barely perceptible manner. It wasn¡¯t like they were moving around and bumping into the other particles nearby. It was more like there was an engine inside of them and touching the edge would let you feel, or hear a hum. There was also the smallest hint of rotation as if it was spinning in place yet he couldn¡¯t see or feel any evidence that it actually was.
He spent some time watching, nudging, and taking its pulse for lack of a better word, but couldn¡¯t seem to gain any further understanding of how this was created. If just looking and gently touching it didn¡¯t get any further info moving on to a less gentle approach was in order. Batting it around only resulted in it reacting and knocking back his own particles like bits of string. With his new understanding he was able to get several more particles involved to hold his manipulators in place while interacting with the captive. All of his testing culminated in grabbing the particle and trying to pull it in two different directions. There was again a puff of energy though this time the result was three particles once the energy cleared enough to see.
Repeating the process gave three particles every time he pulled it apart with his domain. The oddity being that the initial time he¡¯d attempted this with his membrane it had resulted in only two. Recreating that experiment a few times he found it did give three on some attempts, while on others it would result in two and a much larger cloud of energy. This suggested he was destroying one of the cores unintentionally while manipulating it with his membranous appendages. While the domain approach allowed him to separate it effectively. Seeing no real progress left to be made with examination he decided to have lunch before moving on to attempting to compress his own domain.
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He was craving some meat, and had found something a little more appetizing than the rats. The Havens with the murky water had something resembling a catfish. Or at least that¡¯s what he thought before actually tasting them. Somehow he¡¯d heard so much back on earth about catching catfish, but never about how they tasted. Killing, fileting it, and roasting it had been almost an afterthought now that he¡¯d become more proficient at using his domain as a tool as well as a weapon. However tasting it resulted in a look of confusion and consternation. The meat somehow tasted like mud. There was a bit of flavor behind that which he was able to focus on to continue eating the meal, but overall it was a letdown. Maybe the shark would taste better for his next meal. Washing it down with another fruit and a few glasses of water he got back to his mission for the day.
Focusing his domain back down to just three of its fundamental particles he began what he hoped was the right process. Corralling them together he slowly began to push them toward one another. Their surfaces touched and creaked across one another as they vibrated a bit under the pressure. Slowly applying more and more pressure until suddenly the resistance gave way. A puff of energy again blocked his view and as it cleared he frowned. There was nothing at all left where the three had been. Even as he watched the excess energy coalesced back into new particles and began soaking up the rest. Which reminded him of the excess energy. Even when three particles came out of the ¡®compressed¡¯ cores there¡¯d still been a decent amount of excess energy. Still enough to create another particle, if not a fully densified one.
Pulling a fruit from the trees he set it beside himself and pulled a miniscule amount of energy from it. Carefully he again pushed the three particles together while also sprinkling energy over them slowly to ensure another particle didn¡¯t just form. There was a difference with the energy. As the particles touched they didn¡¯t creak against one another. It was as if they were no longer fighting one another which was promising. Again he continued adding pressure until another cloud of energy was produced. Which again cleared to show no new particle. Instead the cloud was condensing back into the normal three with a fourth slightly less dense particle. While he hadn¡¯t gotten the result he wanted, it was at least a little progress. Extra energy was clearly improving the process, but there was still at least one other thing missing.
Ozzy spent the next couple hours varying different aspects of his attempts. Trying to pressurize the particles at a slower pace. Pressuring them to just before they would burst and leaving them at that pressure for a time. Adding more energy, less energy, and adding it in different ways. Over that time he¡¯d also created test chambers out of membranes to hold different experiments. Initially it was to apply the pressure over extended periods but he realized it could help to cordon each one off and even create a little label of sorts using the membrane. Many of these were not complete yet, but he¡¯d run out of different ways to try to compress the particles into one another. He was beginning to question if Vonder hadn¡¯t really known what he was talking about. Tossing the possibility around in his head he came up with a few possibilities but settled on one or two being most likely. One being that Vonder chose the word compress because it matched with control and coalesce but the actual process was something else. Two Vonder couldn¡¯t see the energy, only feel what he was doing so compress was as close as he understood to what was happening.
Either one suggested that the actual process was very close to compressing, but was not the same. Which left him wracking his brain for longer than he¡¯d like to admit. Enough that he eventually went to have dinner. He decided to forgo his planned roasted shark as he remembered he¡¯d never heard of people discussing its taste either. He absolutely wasn¡¯t going to try imp. Instead he went for the tried and true¡ rat. It really wasn¡¯t that bad, especially compared to the catfish, which was saying something. He hoped to god he eventually found something more appealing to bring in.
While munching on his meal he was getting to the point of asking himself ¡°what is compression¡ ¡°. trying to think of what else could apply to this situation. He¡¯d thought of squeezing, of condensing and of all the variations thereof. Eventually he hit on gravity, but realized there was a difference there. Gravity was pulling, and compression was pushing. He tossed that variation around for a while before deciding it was worth testing out. He¡¯d tried every method he could think of to push the particles together. Might as well try to pull. Again he finished his meal off with fruit and water.
He found himself staring at another set of three particles. Reaching out to two of them with the third he began to pull them together still slowly adding energy as he had before. As the particles neared one another he internally shook his head, the force involved wasn¡¯t enough. Though even as the thought crossed his mind he could see a difference already. The edges of the particles where they touched dimpled as if they were a couple balloons being squished together. Suddenly his skepticism was abated and he willed them to connect as strongly as he could. However after another minute of pulling the only success was merely hiding the third between the other two swished particles. No further progress appeared even though he gave it yet another minute just to see. Despite no success this was progress. There was just something else missing still.
If the strength of one particle wasn¡¯t cutting it so he aligned the particles again and this time he had the left pull the middle and the middle pull the right. Almost immediately he could see a difference. The spheres were deforming significantly more and after less than ten seconds there was a warping and he could see a single particle sitting in front of him. Mentally high fiving himself he also internally screamed, but his self congratulations were cut short as the particle popped a second later back into three.
Well no time to stop now he thought. He¡¯d tried one, and two, here goes three. Again he formed up the particles but this time in a triangle and had each point pull on the next forming three connections. Pulling particles together there was the impression of a snap like two magnets being pulled together and before he could even start counting there was one particle sitting before him. That¡¯s when he realized he hadn¡¯t actually even added energy to these ones. Releasing his willed intent to pull the particles together he sat and watched for a bit but nothing new occurred. He¡¯d ¡®compressed¡¯ his domain! Well he¡¯d tensioned it? Ugh, naming things wasn¡¯t his job, that was for others to do. What you called it didn¡¯t matter, he could grow stronger again, and maybe face that thirteenth Imp without fear.
B 1 Ch 25 Tension
Ozzy had spent an entire day working toward a single goal, and had succeeded in the end. While he knew this was a great accomplishment he didn¡¯t feel particularly impressed with the day''s labor. Nor did he feel tired in the least and wanted to make some real progress. Grabbing some more fruit to snack on, he got back to work. To start with he repeated his prior success in the same manner. Every single time resulted in the same instant snap and much stronger particles forming and remaining even after he released his will.
As he recreated the process he also kept an eye on the resulting particles he¡¯d made so far. They stayed unified as he¡¯d hoped, but that wasn¡¯t all he saw. As he pulled in the energy from the fruit he was surprised to see not a single new domain particle was formed. Every little bit of the new energy was sucked up by the half dozen new particles. Which was odd as it was enough energy that he easily could have formed several hundred new ones and filled them till they had hit the density limit.
Continuing to create more he took a moment to compare the strengths of the new vs old particles. The old ones, when maxed, had an aura of ten centimeters which could stretch to twelve ish but it would increase the energy required to affect something at that distance. He used the most recent tri-cores he created as they hadn¡¯t yet drained extra energy. These new .. trips.. Hmmm he liked that. These new trips had an area of effect approximately five times that of the single particles, ops maybe, or about half a meter . They also had something between three and five times the strength. Though its edge was far more fuzzy. The trip was able to effect things out to nearly a meter before they just failed entirely. Although after checking with the charged trips he found this had changed.
The more energy the trip absorbed the further out it was able to translate his will without increasing the energy requirement. It was also increasing the maximum range but at a lower rate. With that in mind he absorbed energy from some of the fruit and concentrated it into just one of the trips until it stopped accepting more. The resulting supercharged trip could move something out to and just past a meter without losing efficiency. Though, again its border had become much more abrupt. Just a few centimeters past that and it would become costly in energy to move things then cut off entirely.
With the little curiosity addressed Ozzy focused back on converting his ops into trips. He found that he could begin the process to form several trips at once. The more he attempted at once the quicker he began to feel a strain in his head. Falling into a rhythm he began to gain an instinctual feel for what he was doing instead of a strictly intellectual understanding of it. Which did increase the number he could bond at once. Despite the increase he was only bonding a few dozen at once. With their sand grain size and the vast size of his domain he was going to be at this for easily a dozen years at this rate.
Unless he wanted to remain locked away focusing on this for the foreseeable future with who knows what else was out there he needed to experiment again. Luckily he already had one thing he knew would affect the process at least in some way. First he needed to adjust the work environment though. Creating a membrane he pulled all of the trips inside and formed it into an energy impermeable version. This way the energy he would be testing with wouldn¡¯t be gobbled up by all the new particles he had created.
Pulling energy from the fruit again he formed a mist of it around enough ops to create another few dozen trips in one go. Triggering the process he was able to see a difference right away. There was almost no pressure in his head this time. Despite having had the additional effort of keeping the energy in a shape he wanted and from coalescing into any new particles. Repeating the process with fifty was barely any different. At a hundred he could feel the pressure again but no pain yet. When he got to a hundred thirty he could feel a twinge of pain but it was minimal. While that was progress it still wasn¡¯t enough. He had shortened the time required to a third, but when the time was still measured in years it wasn¡¯t going to cut it.
Much of the delay was in setting each batch up. He was also investing much of his will into keeping the energy corralled and restraining it to stay in energy form. Having already worked to create a membrane to house his completed trips he did the same for the creation process. Though this was a much more complex construction. Starting with a large central chamber which he flattened enough that he could store energy without it forming into particles. He then created a hundred smaller cells on one side. Finally he returned to an observation he¡¯d made so early on here he¡¯d nearly forgotten about it with everything else that had happened. The membrane of the havens had intent already baked into it, and its pores and other structures could react to stimuli seemingly without input. For each and every cell he added a pore facing his membrane at large, and another facing the central chamber he¡¯d created.
The next step was a difficult one but he eventually got it. He had to keep looking back and forth between the different haven membranes he had access to and comparing and contrasting the intent they were imprinted with. When he finally felt he understood enough he tried to impart a feeling of ¡®pull in three particles¡¯ to the outer pore. Which did result in it pulling in three particles. However it immediately pulled in three more, and three more, eventually making particles begin to pour out the opposite pore into the central chamber. Clearing the intent and setting the particles back in their place he checked a few more times to see how he could continue. Eventually finding he could refer to things inside a membrane he reframed his intent as ¡®maintain three particles inside¡¯. Which garnered him the desired result.
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After imprinting this intent onto every one of the outer cells outer pores he then turned to the inner pore on his testing cell and was able to create a similar mandate regarding energy. That being ¡®open when energy inside is too thin¡¯ resulting in it pulling energy from the central chamber as needed. Luckily most of this was more intuition than specifics. ¡®Too thin¡¯ wasn¡¯t some hard coded value, but rather just his feeling for how much energy he wanted inside of the cell. It was only after testing, confirming, and copying the intent that he realized he had no way of getting the resulting trips back out of the cells. Adding a second pore to the outside he added the intent to ¡®eject trips¡¯. Which of course resulted in nothing happening. As the cell contained no tri-cores.
Triggering the three ops inside to bond he was happy to see the new pore do exactly what he had hoped for. However, this revealed a flaw in the first pore as it immediately sucked in the trip along with two ops to fulfill its own mandates. Which then resulted in the second outer pore again ejecting the trip. This time the first pore pulled in another op instead of the trip again. While that was technically fine he had no desire for a half assed solution. Recalibrating the initial mandate to specifically target ops he retested and was satisfied with the results. Giving the whole setup another round of adjustments and checks he began a larger scale test. Encompassing the hundred cells he created with his will he triggered the contents to bond and found that he barely felt any pressure again, which was a step in the right direction.
Though that wasn¡¯t all he was after, barely a second later he saw what he was hoping for. Every cell was set and ready to go again with its resulting trips now outside, and new ops, and energy already prepped inside. Triggering two more rounds he was excited to see he¡¯d again reduced the time needed by a third simply by automating the movement of particles and energy. Now he could expand into economies of scale and really break this down into something he could hope to complete in a more reasonable time frame. With actual progress made and his eyes barely held open he felt like he could go to bed satisfied with his accomplishments for the now two days he¡¯d spent up.
Ozzy startled awake to a few different sensory stimuli at once. The one most familiar to him was sound. Outside his shack he could hear the strangest noise he¡¯d ever heard in his life. Well scratch that, he was pretty sure had heard something like it before, many times. Just not a few meters away from him as he was waking up. As the noise sounded suspiciously like a pig snuffling through the grass looking for something to munch on and intermittently emitting little grunting squeals. Though they were deeper and louder than he remembered. He groggily rubbed his eyes as he wondered what the hell was going on. Through his domain he was able to confirm that sure enough there was something pig like rooting around in his grass tiles. Though boar was much closer to the right description.
With the animal occupied and seemingly ignoring his shack he took a moment to sit up and take a sip of water to help with his raspy throat. The minor noises he was making were thankfully not noticed by the boar as it continued to search for a meal. Being locked on its goal allowed Ozzy to take a little more time to examine what was happening before taking action. Focusing back on his shock at waking up he could still feel the other sensation that woke him. Putting it into words was difficult for him. Initially it felt a bit like someone had given him a wet willy. He frowned and ¡®thanked¡¯ his siblings for even having that sensation to compare it to. With a little further narrowing down he was quite sure it was more along the lines of someone invading your space. Which reminded him that Vonder had said it was possible to tell when someone visited, even a connected haven.
Thanking whatever prodded him, probably his haven, he was glad to be awake and able to react. What action he should take was a little harder to determine. His instinct told him with the size of this boar it could smash through his shack as easily as he would walk through a sheet hung up to dry. That would be with a normal earth born non anomalous boar. Who knew what kind of strength this thing had, or even what form it took. There may be some ways he could figure it out while it rooted around outside. Sending an extension to the border of his haven he felt for new connections and found one immediately. As if the haven was screaming at him to deal with the intruder.
Reaching through he found another simple haven without any structures or furniture to speak of. It was also haphazardly shaped, the boar seemed to have entered and left wherever struck his fancy when he was hungry. Leaving gaps here and there in the tiles. The organizational challenges initially made the place look gargantuan. After some careful counting it appeared to be only slightly smaller than his own haven. Tallying the different types suggested that the beast had been able to travel down to the twenty fifth haven or so of a single line and just a few of two others. The numbers didn¡¯t bode well for him being able to handle this monstrosity with any kind of ease.
Even as he watched it and pondered the high likelihood that this boar could obliterate him without a care he saw it rear back next to one of the trees. His eyes grew large and he froze as he watched it stretch up and up trying to grab at the fruit. While it was enormous and nearly long enough to reach it couldn¡¯t quite get there. The boar quickly became frustrated at the fruit just out of reach and began bashing at the tree. Ozzy felt a little relieved that it didn¡¯t immediately snap the trunk, but it was only a little consolation. As the tree quickly began to creak as the onslaught continued. Before the tree actually fell, or even showed signs of cracking, the fruit separated from the branches and fell to the ground. With its prize now accessible the boar turned back to the ground and began munching on the fruit.
B 1 Ch 26 Home Invasion
Ozzy sat in his shack watching the boar plunder his hard earned fruit and the energy contained therein. He had no doubt just from what he¡¯d seen so far that the thing was significantly stronger than him. While not wanting to face it yet he also didn¡¯t want it growing even stronger by letting it continue to snack away at his fruit. While he could take the fruit that would likely draw attention to himself doing so. He could instead take the energy out of the fruit but he had no real way to store it. Even as he said this he found himself looking toward the thousands of cores he¡¯d stored in his cabinets.
For some reason this whole time he hadn¡¯t thought to see how or why the energy in those cores didn¡¯t coalesce into particles like the energy did when in his domain, or the other domains he¡¯d seen. Pulling a core to himself he felt around the membrane and could only feel the intent to maintain the contents or allow more energy in. Nothing on the surface explained it so he dove deeper. While he had felt inside of the cores before he hadn¡¯t actually gone through the core in its entirety. Heading right for the center he found what he suspected he might. One single particle sat at the center and it had a different packet of intent. The meaning of which as best he could understand was something like stasis.
For a moment he began planning how he could make himself a storage vessel. Almost as quickly as he began his thought process he shook his head and laughed at himself. He had literally thousands of them sitting in his cabinet, and he¡¯d already confirmed they were set to accept more energy. Starting small he pulled the energy from a single fruit close to his shack and nearly directly behind the boar. It thankfully didn¡¯t react at all and he was able to pull it into his shack and push it into the waiting core. The fruit''s energy, even though it more than tripled the stored energy in the core, didn''t come close to filling this single one. Repeating the process for every fruit on that tree did begin to show a pressure on that core when putting in more energy. Setting it aside Ozzy started with a second core and a second tree.
Ozzy set down the twenty eighth core that was now full to bursting with energy. He¡¯d emptied all the trees and fruit of their energy. Starting with all those on the top side with the boar. It hadn¡¯t reacted at all to the energy being whisked away out from under its nose. Though it had ended up downing two trees worth of fruit before he¡¯d gotten to them. Despite the fruit now being nearly void of energy the boar continued to go after them with the same gusto as before. As much as the boar seemed to love the fruit there was no guarantee it would continue to hone in on them forever. Ozzy needed to come up with an actual plan that didn¡¯t involve simply hiding in his shack.
While collecting the energy he hadn¡¯t been idle. There were several plans he¡¯d tossed around as possible solutions to the problem. Not only that but he¡¯d continued the slow process of improving his domain. Many of his plans were promising. He¡¯d thought of creating a kind of harness he could use to lift the thing off the ground that would hold it better than his old tentacle spear had held the rat. If done correctly it would keep it from utilizing the ground to bring its strength to bear and attack him. Combined with a separate contraption to harm it in some way he was pretty sure he had a good chance of succeeding. The problem being that if it wasn¡¯t enough and it got loose the followup rampage would likely leave nothing standing in the haven. Not the trees, not his shack, and he was pretty sure he¡¯d also end up horizontal. If not a pile of shit after the boar had its way with him.
There were a few other scenarios he¡¯d played out as alternatives. Such as testing the improved sections of his domain against its hide. Some of the plans would allow him to test them against the beast without directly confronting it though. Leaving him room to try other avenues. The one he¡¯d felt most likely to succeed was inspired by exactly the scenario that was playing out right now. The boar could clearly be distracted by other things in the environment. Evidenced by the fact that even now it was still munching on a pile of fruit. While he didn¡¯t have much left in his haven that could distract it he had lots of other havens connected with his which did.
Even with that option he had thought of several alternatives that would allow him to test different possibilities out before committing to a single path forward. For instance he could simply open the veil between his haven and all the others allowing the boar to see the many beasts arrayed before him. He suspected the boar may simply ignore them though as it was already focused on its meal. Especially if they didn¡¯t see it and didn¡¯t attack. It would also allow the boar to see the enemy and prepare for any move it did make. Alternatively he could open the veil in the other havens allowing them to see his haven. He suspected he could open many of them and get no reaction from the denizens thereof as they wouldn¡¯t want to attack the boar directly. However there were a few ways he might be able to spur them on.
Even as he was rehashing the most optimal plans he realized he¡¯d forgotten about some ways he could handle the situation. One of which might kill two birds with one stone. There was a haven who¡¯s occupant he was also afraid of that he had yet to connect to his home which might scare off the boar. The thirteenth imp would also be able to test for him if his improved domain could do damage to the boar. As he watched he could still work on his domain in the meantime. Maybe even improve the process he¡¯d created so far.
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Ozzy gingerly touched his domain to the thirteenth imp haven and initiated the communication to bring the two havens together. After the sequence finished he paused for a moment watching but nothing happened. Using some of his upgraded trips he reached into the newly connected haven and saw as the imp looked up. He was pretty sure that was simply because he breached it¡¯s haven not because it could actually see his domain. Waving the tendril he¡¯d sent in about he confirmed that it didn¡¯t follow the movement. Using his domain to connect to the other haven he initiated the same request he had several times before in his own. The veil of the haven thinned and disappeared allowing him, and the imp, to see back into his own haven.
The reaction from the imp was immediate. Initially it only squinted its eyes and adjusted its angle to more easily see the new land which had been made available to it. Though after it watched for a bit as the boar continued to munch on the fruit the imp flapped closer to the edge of its domain. There it stopped again and eyed the boar warily. The imp¡¯s eyes drifted to the other trees and the other fruit. Which is likely what eventually drove it to push on. Ozzy was confused as he hadn¡¯t thought the little demon would be interested in fruit or plants of any kind. Despite his preconceived notions the tiny monster flapped its way up to the top of one of the trees and grabbed a fruit. The fruit was then shoved wholly into the gaping maw the imp had for a mouth and ground into nothing in a matter of moments.
The boar stopped chewing the moment the imp had crossed the barrier between havens. While it didn¡¯t get up it did crane its neck around to follow the imp as it flew to the top of the nearby tree. When the imp at the first fruit the boar twitched a bit. It did the same at the second, but after the third and fourth the boar apparently decided this wasn¡¯t very important or concerning and turned back to the pile in front of it. The imp had kept one eye on the boar throughout as well, but after the boar returned to eating it also focused on the fruit at hand. Despite the imp¡¯s miniscule size it was packing away the fruit at an alarming pace. Within a couple minutes it finished the first tree and alighted on a second.
Ozzy watched mesmerized with the display. The imp''s belly began to protrude as it scarfed down the fruit at an alarming pace. Though when it flapped to the second tree it noticeably diminished at a visible pace. The boar again watched the imp fly to the second tree but returned to munching once more when it settled down. Ozzy was reminded of a story while watching his plans of setting them against one another crash and burn. He couldn''t remember specifics but had heard several instances of people intentionally importing plants and animals for a purpose that quickly turned awry. In fact he was pretty sure there were easily hundreds of examples in modern times. If only he¡¯d remembered that tidbit before importing the imp to handle the boar. Which reminded him he should be more careful with plants. Hopefully he didn¡¯t find anything like kudzu.
At the least the two seemed wary of one another and that brought a bit of the attention off of him. So he felt a little safer to add a bit more focus to his project of improving his domain. There were a few things he¡¯d learned since the last time he¡¯d attempted this. Firstly he could now make a storage vessel for his energy, or at least understood the principles thereof. Starting a new membrane he shaped it into a cylinder a meter long and a meter wide. He formed a string from the center of one circular cap to the other and placed one of the new bonded particles in the middle. Then he added the same intent he¡¯d felt from the center of the cores. Finally dumping in energy from one of the twenty eight cores he¡¯d set aside he watched. The energy expanded to fill the space and once each little piece was equidistant from every other it froze in place.
He smiled at the results and wondered if he¡¯d be able to store all of the energy he had in the new space. Looking back up from his success he realized he had completely stopped watching the intruders and something had changed. The imp was now on what appeared to be a seventh tree. The boar did not seem very pleased with how fast the imp was going through the fruit and was now standing staring at the tiny monstrosity downing the fruit like a vacuum. As the imp tossed yet another fruit into its maw the boar appeared to have had enough and rammed the tree the imp was sitting on. The imp flapped furiously to save itself from the fall it nearly took. Flying up above the pathway it looked down at the boar incensed. Which in turn caused the boar to whip around to keep the imp in view.
Watching the process unfold Ozzy could see what was going to happen before the boar could. The imp¡¯s domain formed into a whip and snapped the boar between the eyes. Oddly there was barely any noise to go with the violent attack, well not from the whip of domain. The boar though more than made up for the lack of a whip crack. A squeal that bordered on roar sounded from the beast''s snout and it jerked its head back and forth to shake away the pain. A spurt of blood shot from side to side as it did so. Leaving a spray on the pathway. The sight raised Ozzy¡¯s hopes that they would deal with each other.
B 1 Ch 27 Perseverance
Ozzy sat in his shack watching the two creatures in their standoff. The imp flapping above well out of reach gazing down at the boar with disdain. The boar still trying to shake off the pain of the whip crack and the blood still dribbling down its snout. As he watched Ozzy realized he¡¯d been making another mistake this whole time. His approach to nearly every single thing he¡¯d done so far had been entirely two dimensional. Some of his experiments had completely ignored even the possibility of a third dimension of attack. Speaking of, he looked up and sure enough directly above where his shack was there was the edge of the haven. He hadn¡¯t attempted to leave or enter a square from that avenue before. He¡¯d only tested the edges front, back, left, and right. That wasn¡¯t super helpful at the moment, but there was another possibility more directly related to what the imp had done that was.
Using his domain he pushed himself off of the floor of his shack and held himself suspended between the recliner and the ceiling. It wasn¡¯t even difficult when just using the initial particles. The Trips were even easier. He couldn¡¯t fly, well not yet. He had to push against the floor and in turn push against himself to achieve the effect but, with a column of domain he could put himself well out of reach of the boar. The same would go for any of the rats. He¡¯d still need to deal with the imps more cautiously but anything that was grounded was effectively not a concern for him anymore. Lowering himself back to the recliner, he returned his attention to the standoff outside.
The boar had stopped shaking its head and was now glaring up at the imp with hatred in its eyes. What happened next realigned Ozzy¡¯s expectations with his new reality. That and it threw his assumption of safety at a distance out the window. The boar suddenly moved as fast as Cederick had killing the rats. Ozzy couldn¡¯t even see exactly how it accomplished it. Only that it arched its back and shot into the air directly at the imp. Impacting with the imp square on its snout it crunched down on the little winged body. Ozzy sat stunned as the boar came crashing back down. A few chomps were quickly followed by a wave of energy exploding from the boar''s mouth.
The boar spent a few moments chewing his enemy and swallowing the chunks. Each movement making Ozzy more sick to his stomach than the last. Not to mention the mounting fear of what a beast of such strength could do to him. As far as he¡¯d come he wasn¡¯t prepared for how overwhelmingly strong this opponent was. He may as well go pick a fight with Cederick or Vonder. Which got him wondering what sent this monster his way. The grass tiles in the boars home weren¡¯t from the rats, and none were from the imps. None of the few odd tiles it had were from any of his own oddities either. Did it have some similar skill to Cederick that brought his haven to its attention? Knowing whatever brought it here wasn¡¯t going to help him at the moment but it would be nice to know eventually, if only to stave off any future incursions. The boar seemed satisfied with its small victory and returned to its pile of fruit to slowly munch on them once more. While it would be better if it returned to its own haven this was at least a better option than the one where it came to munch on him instead.
¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª
Ozzy emptied the last of the stockpiled cores energy into his newly constructed reservoir. He was now holding something like ten thousand of the base cores worth of energy in his domain and it didn¡¯t feel like the reservoir was even half full. Emptying the cores and filling the reservoir hadn¡¯t been all that demanding of a process, just a slow repetitive one. So he¡¯d also been continuing his slow conversion of his domain over to the new and improved version. He''d made a realization while working on it that his initial calculations had been wrong. Only by a factor of three though, since he¡¯d been counting the time to convert his domain based on the number of ops he had not the resulting trips.
That still put his current completion at something like several months if he continued to convert at his current rate. Which he was quite sure would be longer than it would take for the boar to eventually find and crunch him as easily as it had the imp. Even if he somehow shortened the process by an additional factor of 100 he¡¯d still need a day to complete it. Which meant he needed to get out of dodge without alerting the boar. Turning his attention to the back wall of his shack he thought through how he could most easily and quietly remove enough boards to get out. It was only after he¡¯d planned out half the process that he realized this was a waste. There was a much quieter and quicker way to add an exit to the side opposite the boar. Though he needed a distraction.
Waiting until the thirteenth imp haven captured another denizen felt like it was far longer than he¡¯d ever seen one take. When it did finally show up and crossed the barrier into his own haven is when he made his move. Reaching out to the nine tiles under his shack he visualized as clearly as he could what he wanted and impressed it upon the haven. His eyes saw no changes but from his domain outside he could see that there was no longer a door on the side facing the boar. Inside the shack he turned and instead of moving the door with his hands he did so with his domain. Making sure to hold it perfectly vertical as he did so to keep any scraping or creaking to a minimum. Outside he could now only see sky, and from his domain he saw the new imp fluttering up to one of the fruit laden trees while the boar watched it warily. Taking a desperate step he appeared in the offspring haven of the first and second rat¡¯s haven. Which is when he began choking.
¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª
Ozzy flailed about trying to figure out what was going on, but his mind was reeling. He felt like his eyes were popping from his head and he couldn¡¯t breath in. The sensations weren¡¯t adding up yet as to what might be the problem. Despite not knowing what was going on he had enough presence of mind to take another step into the first rat haven. Falling to his knees he coughed and gasped deeply. Unfortunately the rat occupying the haven didn¡¯t like this one bit so attacked his face which was hanging right over it. Retaliating with just a tad more force than he needed to Ozzy flattened the rat into the dirt. He didn¡¯t feel much of anything for the rat, with being too busy restoring his lungs and body to their normal pressure. Which only after leaving the other square was he able to discern as the problem. The infant haven hadn¡¯t bothered to procure an atmosphere, or hold it in. Why would it if it didn¡¯t have anything to keep alive.
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The Coughing and gasping continued for more than a few minutes though slowly subsided over that period. Eventually replaced with a raspy wheeze. Flopping back onto his butt he sat there for another few minutes just letting his nerves settle back down. At some point he decided he should check on his haven and peeled back the veil. He saw the boar standing in the middle of the haven munching on something. At first he was thinking it was more fruit but after not finding the imp anywhere in the haven he understood it was a different type of snack. Ozzy supposed the boar had no interest in a repeat of the pain the other imp had subjected him to and immediately removed the possibility.
Ozzy sat for a few moments going over the quickfire set of events he¡¯d just been through. He felt a bit like he had on that first day. In a word, overwhelmed. That didn¡¯t mean he was as lost or helpless as he was then. He had learned so much. Even this very situation was still teaching him things at every turn. Most importantly he felt was that brute strength wasn¡¯t the end of the discussion. An imp, the thirteenth of its line, was able to injure this beast that had killed one at the twenty fifth. The imp had done it with a domain that Ozzy knew he would soon match and surpass. He wasn¡¯t helpless, but he wasn¡¯t brainless either. He wasn¡¯t going to throw himself at the enemy and just hope some magical savior was going to show up at just the right time. Whether in the form of unlocking some as of yet unknown ability or other similar nonsense. He would triumph, but with ingenuity not dumb luck. If it came down to blows he¡¯d fight like hell just like he did with the intelligent rat, but he wasn¡¯t going to force the situation.
The boar was back at yet another pile of fruit although this time he wasn¡¯t munching on it. He was lazed about half on the grass, half on the pathway just staring off in the direction the two imps had come from. As long as it was occupied with either eating or fighting Ozzy wasn¡¯t going to worry about it for now. With his physical eyes on the boar he let his metaphysical versions turn back to the progress he¡¯d been making. Now that he had a vast reservoir of energy readily available in his domain he was going to finish engineering his domain upgrade into oblivion.
Recreating a cell just like he had with the last contraption he tested a single one. A few minor adjustments were necessary though. The cell still sported an opening on top to pull in ops. As well as a pore on the bottom to pull in energy. Though he had to move the ejector to the side. Where he added an additional cylinder membrane, which matched the length of the reservoir but was only a centimeter in diameter. The purpose of which was for the trip to be temporarily stored once bonded. Once restoring the same intent on the pores as he had previously he thankfully only found one easy to fix issue. The opening for the energy did open to allow energy in but the effect of the stasis wasn¡¯t allowing it to exit the reservoir. Adjusting the intent slightly had the pore pulling in energy instead of simply opening.
Once the cell had energy and three ops inside he triggered the bonding and watched as the resulting trip was ejected into the smaller cylinder. Using this cell as the new prototype he created copies all along the two cylinders on either side of the smaller one. The process to convert an op into membranous material was a much smoother one than upgrading into trips. He could easily duplicate the cell a hundred times over all in one go despite each one being made up by sixty ops. He wasn¡¯t entirely sure if this was due to him having more experience with that process. If that was true it had to be only partially the case. As something told him the two processes were fundamentally different on multiple levels.
With a thousand cells ready to go he initiated the bonding. The result was a surprise as the strain barely changed from when he had been using his previous construct to bind a hundred at the same time. While that was progress it was only an order of magnitude greater and he needed to make that jump once more before he could complete the domain upgrade in something approaching a reasonable time frame. First he needed to handle the trips building up, and added an additional reservoir at one end of his current one. This one remained empty and he added an opening at the end of the smaller cylinders to eject the trips into it.
Recreating another dual line of cells and cylinder only took another couple minutes. Doubling to two thousand did cause an increased strain but it was still nowhere near what he had experienced working with just a few dozen without adding energy and all his other adjustments. Adding two more constructs doubled the total once more and again the strain increased though he was still able to accomplish it without any pain. One more doubling brought the total to eight thousand and he could feel a twinge again. Finally adding another two copies he had now reached the ten thousand he needed if he hoped to complete this within a day. Executing the next step did bring pain to his head but it wasn¡¯t anywhere near too much. Repeating the process again, and again, and again did slowly increase the pain he felt. He kept on though.
Converting his whole domain was going to be excruciating if he kept up at this rate, but the effort was going to be worth it. This boar wasn¡¯t the only threat out there. The next intruder may not be as interested in snacking. Whatever he ran into next may also have some capabilities he¡¯d not seen yet. Even if they used abilities he had seen it may be in ways he hadn¡¯t expected. The possibilities and dangers were unknown. All he did know was that finishing this process was going to prepare him for more of it than he was capable of handling right now.
B 1 Ch 28 Strength in numbers
Ozzy sat in the grass watching the boar finish off yet another imp. While he was still working through upgrading his domain he¡¯d found a few tweaks that helped with the pain. Instead of triggering every single line at once he triggered them in a wave around the circumference of the large reservoir. The whole ten thousand still took less than half a second to execute yet it was to the point that he felt no pain any longer. So he was able to think about other things while working on improvements. The boar now had a few more lacerations around its head, and along its body. Some lucky few imps having been able to retaliate before it obliterated them. Though all of them were healing, and the one inflicted by the first imp had already closed and wasn¡¯t even discernable as a scar any longer.
This wasn¡¯t going to be a war of attrition. The imps just couldn¡¯t do enough damage, not fast enough to overcome the amount of healing the energy they gave the boar did. He could open more of the imp line and see how that changed things. If he opened the ones closer to the beginning they would more than likely die to the boar even faster. Though they could distract it for the others. If he opened those further down the line Ozzy may not be able to handle them after they did the cleanup for him, but they would do more damage. He didn¡¯t just have imps. He had rats, and technically he had sharks and catfish too, but he wasn¡¯t sure if the rats would help or what those last two could even do to help. What more of them would do was at least add to the chaos and distraction for the boar, maybe enough that the stronger imps and rats could start doing real damage before they died. Maybe he could get involved himself.
With his mind made up he began to open the veil on both sides of each and every haven he had connected to his own. Well every one except the one he was currently hiding out in. The boar that had been about to lay back down from its recent murder froze in place. Grunting it turned about to get a better look at the array of newly revealed havens and their occupants. While the boar didn¡¯t look frightened there was definitely an air of apprehension as it surveyed the newcomers. The rats and imps were equally stoic in their evaluation of the situation.
The Mexican standoff was broken when a rat decided it would try to go for some of the fruit. To its credit the movements were smooth and stealthy. It was one of the smaller ones. The boar though was having none of this. It stomped in the rats direction and grunted its disapproval. The rats all jerked, not just the one that had first moved, but they almost immediately retaliated. It appeared they at least had some kind of comradery as none of them went for one another, but instead all pounced toward the boar. The imps hung back for a moment, but when a rat was trampled under hoof they were drawn into the fray. The impression though wasn¡¯t one of them taking the side of the rats. Nor even that they would like to take down the boar. More that they simply couldn¡¯t resist the urge to fight once they saw the blood. Like they were giddy to inflict pain onto others.
The plan worked significantly better than he¡¯d been planning on. With the rats banding together against the boar and the imps just going at it for fun the boar was not having a good time. Any of the rats that were murdered were quickly replaced by their havens. The imps actually ended up killing a few of them in their frenzy, but their main focus was on the boar. With the boar so distracted by the rats it didn¡¯t have a chance to kill any of the imps. The four largest rats were putting in great work on the boar''s sides. They looked reminiscent of a pack of dogs as they bit down and refused to let go. Their little bodies wiping back and forth to inflict maximum damage.
Around the time this realization was hitting Ozzy was about the same time that the boar also seemed to realize. There was not going to be as smooth a victory it had in the fight with the thirteenth imp. Which hadn¡¯t even rejoined the battle yet. Suddenly the boar stopped and bolted toward the edge of the haven. Disappearing through the edge he saw it reappear in its own haven shortly after. Dangling from it were still the two strongest rats which had amazingly held on through the mad dash. Viciously rolling the boar did its best to rid itself of them. While they¡¯d done valiantly in a mob on the boar, being one of two assailants didn¡¯t offer quite the same advantage. One quickly fell off and was smashed almost as fast. The other, likely the strongest of them all, took only a bit longer to be dispatched. After which the boar roared at the edges of its haven forlornly and began pacing about. It looked very much like a person after an argument trying to think of things it could have said to come out on top.
Turning his attention back to the haven Ozzy watched the battle continue. The rats were not as capable as the boar in jumping at the imps and they were being slaughtered. Their numbers dwindled but never completely zeroed out due to the respawning. The imps kept on the attack even then but with much less targets began to turn on one another. The combatants fell into a rhythm of mayhem. Into this chaos was spawned another thirteenth imp who didn¡¯t immediately join the fight. The tiny black eyes in its skull swept across the battlefield and examined it carefully. Only after it had watched the ebbs and flows repeat a few times did it flow like molasses out of its haven. It didn¡¯t appear to be doing so out of caution. Rather it was confidence that fueled its actions. Sidling up to the tree next to where the eleventh imp was sitting it perched there lazily.
For a time it again just observed, though this time it was specifically watching the next three imps in order of strength. All of which were still frenzied and slaughtering rat and imp alike. Without warning its domain snatched out and scooped a section of air next to the eleventh imp. Air that contained a section of the imps domain. That imp did look over but only eyed the other imp warily before moving to a tree further away. The stolen glob of domain was writhing and slithering trying to escape its captor. Piece by piece the thirteenth imp began to chomp into the air and the writhing diminished until it stopped entirely. After which it again casually positioned itself near another imp and again stole a portion of its domain. This time what he was pretty sure was the tenth.
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It repeated the same steps over and over. Slowly whittling away at the other imps domains. Ozzy had suspected the cause from the start, but could only see hints of it at the third iteration. By the fifth it was obvious it was adding to its own domain from those of the other imps. For a while Ozzy pondered why this would be. If the imp simply killed the others it could absorb their energy even easier. Since it wasn¡¯t doing so suggested other reasons which confused him at first, but his mind thankfully supplied a possible solution. He¡¯d seen a cause before many times but hadn¡¯t really added those sightings and possibilities together. The imps like the rats released energy when they died. The difference was that in their death the explosion wasn¡¯t increasing at the same rate as the rats.
If the release of energy was simply related to the amount stored in their domain the imps should be outstriping the rats two to one. If it was based on the total amount of energy between the body and domain it should match. If, however, the domain was somehow not released on death, then it would make sense to consume it before killing them. Ozzy continued his upgrade process and kept an eye on the unluckiest imp. If his suspicion was true then the release of energy on these imps'' death shouldn¡¯t be altered even though their domain was being harvested. This was going to take a while as this imp was being slow and methodical. It was also not always very accurate with its attacks. Ozzy suspected this was due to it not being able to see the domain, just having a general feel of where it was. Even when it did take more it was still only a small percentage of the domains and the processing was even slower.
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Ozzy had turned even more of his attention to his upgrade process. Only sparing a glance every few minutes for the imps, as they would be at it for ages. With his new method of staggering the upgrade he could easily increase the number of rows he had going around the edge. The current setup took up only a tenth of the space around the reservoir. Not wanting to break his stride he took to adding a section of new cells after each wave of upgrades. Slowly, but faster than the progress of the imp, he filled the outer edge of his reservoir with the cells and cylinders. Eventually resulting in a continuous ring of them which allowed him to constantly trigger an upgrade circling around the reservoir.
He was surprised to find it was even easier to maintain now that the ring was complete. As he was no longer stopping and starting or moving his focus from the end to the beginning. Instead there was a single set of repeated actions that followed a gentle curve which itself repeated. Trigger and move to the next on and on. He was even able to speed up the progress. However, Not long after completing the ring he was forced to pause and adjust the membrane housing the trips as it was full. All the while he kept his eye on the imps and the thirteenths ever increasing domain. He was nearing its original size but of course with its increased domain he didn¡¯t want to be left in the dust. He¡¯d tracked it¡¯s growth and even at the beginning it wasn¡¯t matching his own. He would soon catch up and then leave it in the dust.
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Ozzy watched as the thirteenth imp finally closed in on one of its brethren for the kill. He¡¯d been keeping a closer eye for the last several minutes as the imp had barely a few particles left outside its skin and the last few swipes from it hadn¡¯t garnered anything for the other imp. The imp had known long before that there was something off. It had stopped attacking the rats and other imps. Instead it had been eying the thirteenth imp warily and keeping its distance. Though with the third attempt from the thirteenth imp to grab more domain failing it had taken action. Alighting from its branch it lazily turned toward the imp with the devastated domain which flinched at the sight. The following chase was painful to watch as the helpless baby-faced monstrosity cowered and hid as best it could in the small space. All the while the thirteenth imp nonchalantly fluttered around in its general direction looking as smug and content as any self centered douche Ozzy had ever seen.
As it zeroed in on the helpless imp Ozzy did the same with his own domain. He¡¯d finished his process of upgrading his domain over an hour ago. In the meantime he¡¯d tested his new domain to a greater extent than he had before. The trips were still able to be altered into membranes. It was clear from the testing he¡¯d done so far that they were capable of significantly more than the ops in that regard. With far more control in the properties of the membrane they turned into. After the testing he¡¯d started a cleanup process in his haven. Reaching through and siphoning off all the energy that had built up in the fruit, the air, and the cores of all the fallen beasts. The imps, even the thirteenth, were just as blind as the boar was to his antics.
As long as he only used raw domain in the haven they couldn¡¯t see anything he did. With all the death and destruction ongoing for the last several hours There was enough energy available to not just restore all he¡¯d used, but to fill his reservoir. When it had begun to feel pressure trying to add more he¡¯d instead begun to mete it out to his trips. Finding he also had more control over this process than with ops. He could will the energy to spread evenly between the whole of his domain, or to concentrate in many different ways. Down to a single trip if he wished until it was bursting with energy, or into a group, or many groups.
He¡¯d been wrapping up with siphoning the energy when he¡¯d seen one of the imps with only dregs left in its domain and begun to formulate a plan which he was now enacting. Behind the thirteenth imp mirroring it as the imp was chasing its own prey was enough domain to entirely engulf the thirteenth imp and its domain. That wasn¡¯t the plan though. When the imp¡¯s domain struck out at the weaker one so too did Ozzy¡¯s. Though his goal wasn¡¯t to kill the imp. Instead the domain bit off a large section of the imp¡¯s and quickly retreated with it.
B 1 Ch 29 The Unlucky One
Ozzy struggled to contain the now violently roiling glob of domain he¡¯d stolen as he pulled it back toward himself. As he did so a very different scene played out before him than he¡¯d been expecting. The moment he tore off a portion of the domain the imp whipped around and frantically tried to find its attacker. Despite not being able to see domains the imps could definitely feel them. Apparently murder wasn¡¯t enough to distract the imp from the tenth of their domain he¡¯d stolen. Ozzy slowed his domain and altered course. Reeling it toward another imp instead. The thirteenth seeing its new trajectory laser focused on that imp and its eyes narrowed while its mouth widened. The imp rocketed forward at a speed he hadn¡¯t seen a single one of them use before.
As it did so Ozzy took a chance and moved the stolen domain to the edge of the haven next to the one he was currently residing in. The rage of the thirteenth seemed to be enough to distract it where murder hadn¡¯t been before. It continued right at the other imp and kept on going right through it tearing it limb from limb. The rage seemed to have boiled over as it continued to rip and smash at the bits Instead of devouring them as the imps seemed inclined to do. Meanwhile Ozzy had already pulled the glob of domain into the first rat haven. The stolen trips stilled when crossing the barrier between havens. Though this appeared to be because the imp had too. It was no longer ripping at the other with abandon.
Thirteen turned cold and calculating toward the last of the three lesser imps. Its movements were nothing like the nonchalant behavior it had shown when sidling up to its brethren before. They were sharp and deliberate. Without warning from any body movement its domain spiked out and ended the last imp that was anywhere near its strength. During all of this the battle lust that had driven the fighting so far was drained from the others. The new spawns had paused and then cowered in their havens as they saw the change in the previously passive imp. Those in Ozzy¡¯s haven had lowered themselves to the ground, and crept toward their respective homes. Even the fourteenth and fifteenth rats were not wanting any part of the tantrum throwing scary flying child monster. As quickly as the tantrum started it was over. Thirteen turned in place and examined the haven before landing on a tree and beginning to scarf down fruit again.
Ozzy cast a glance up at thirteen again. It was landing on yet another tree and quickly began devouring the fruit. It had been devastating the fruit population for the last twenty minutes. All the while its belly grew and shrunk. With the fact that its domain was slowly growing as it did so suggested that the imps could mimic the havens in their ability to destroy matter and convert it to energy. Although in the imps case it seemed to directly go to their domain not be exhausted into the air. The return to its passive behavior had meant that the newly spawned imps hadn¡¯t seen any reason not to leave their havens. The act emboldened the other imps to come out and enjoy the fruit as well. The rats were a little more hesitant. Though those that spawned after the sudden end to the hours-long battle eventually did so as the imps had. Which in turn encouraged the other rats to follow.
Ozzy¡¯s haven had now taken on the appearance of its name. A safe space where numerous beasts sat together in peace eating fruit all day long. With enough distractions available for thirteen and his own hesitation quelled Ozzy was finally able to turn to the stolen glob of domain. He¡¯d been keeping his metaphysical eye on it the whole time. Ever since crossing into the first rat haven it was as still and silent as he¡¯d ever seen trips. They still vibrated internally but were otherwise inert. He really had no idea what to do with them or how to take control of them. He knew he could tear them down to energy and then build them back up, but if the speed the imp was progressing was any indication that wasn¡¯t the only way. With no other great ideas Ozzy tried what the imp had done.
Slipping one of the trips into his mouth he was confused at first. Once it passed his lips it actually felt like a foreign body in his mouth. Something with physical substance much like a grain of sand. There was also a feeling somewhat like pop rocks as a reaction began. Swallowing he watched as it traveled down his esophagus and changed along the way. His body appeared to feel just as much as he did that this was a foreign body and there was some fuzzy energy exchange going on he couldn¡¯t quite follow. By the time it reached his stomach it had stopped reacting and slowed. Stopping it then slowly moved outward and joined the rest of his domain. He¡¯d figured there would be a more complex method to do this, but it appeared his body recognized the foreign particles and immediately attacked and converted them on its own. The actual mechanisms taking place were beyond his understanding at the moment, and he really didn¡¯t feel like trying to tease them out. Instead he took the one easy win in stride and continued.
Downing a pill sized glob of them this time he watched the process repeat itself. While it did take slightly longer for the glob to convert he couldn¡¯t detect any adverse reaction. What he could tell was that while a single trip felt a bit like sand calling the glob a pill was off. It was a bit more like he had taken a sip of water. Changing up his tactic he brought the larger patch of stolen domain to his lips and gulped down an even larger section of it. The pop rocks feeling changed to something more akin to drinking soda and he could feel it continue as it went down his throat. This time the group sat in the stomach with trips evaporating off the group as it sat.
Taking a risk he began to gulp the rest of the stolen domain in one go. The trips were sloughing off at a speed which suggested he¡¯d not be able to fill his stomach by the time it all evaporated. There was also the feeling that despite it seeming to be in his stomach it wasn¡¯t quite there. Downing the rest of the domain he¡¯d stolen took what felt like a minute which left him gasping afterward. Despite the feeling that the domain wasn¡¯t quite in his stomach he still felt quite bloated by the time he was done. Now he just needed to wait for his body to work its magic. As he did he turned his attention back to his haven and the idyllic scene that played out. With imps and rats living in balance with nature. At least that¡¯s what he was expecting to see.
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While most of the new visitors were still picking his trees clean it was clear thirteen was back to his antics. Its domain swiping portions of others domains before reeling them back and devouring them. The other imps didn¡¯t seem as skilled at feeling where and how their domains were being taken, though they at least knew something wasn¡¯t right. The agitation began to rile them up, and the other imps feeling the mood in the room were also eyeing everyone around them askance. The rats were also picking up on a change brewing and had their ears pricked up and their eyes wide to catch any suggestion of a trigger to come.
The eventual spark that lit the keg was another swipe of domain from thirteen that pushed the victim over the edge. Lashing out at the nearest imp it tore the innocent parties body in two with its domain as it screeched in rage. The outburst both frightened and excited the other imps. Initially causing them to freeze with their mouths open in something akin to a gasp. Once confirming it wasn¡¯t their own skin on the line the open maws twisted into crooked little grins and their heads rotated to whoever was closest. In some cases the rats but most often each other. Before long the haven had returned to a mockery of its moniker. Death was the theme of this party and the remaining imps, now cloaked in blood and viscera, were dressed to kill. As before the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth came out on top. Even the last of the rat line were unable to stand before their empowered domains.
Ozzy sat shaking his head. He¡¯d hoped for a moment that devoid of some brutish boar wrecking the mood that they would all just get along. While their desire to kill one another did benefit him to a certain extent, it would have been nice to have a bit of company at home. He¡¯d always been more inclined to spend time with the dog at a party than the host. But, With the battle already joined, why not add another factor. Ozzy had finished his domain upgrade and had confirmed that the last few rats were susceptible to its effects. He was also itching to test out his new and improved capabilities. Like the imps, he needed to be dressed for the part. Sending out a ripple of intent he formed a membrane around himself out of the trips. Solidifying it into a suit of armor that was somehow both harder, and more pliable than the previous version.
In his mind it had been a little more flattering but as he¡¯d not gone into detail on what exactly he wanted it looked a bit more like a space suit than a work of defensive medieval art. Though space suits had a decent vibe all their own. For good measure he added back his old spear tipped tentacle on his right shoulder. This time matching it with another on his left. Being without a mirror would usually preclude being able to comment on his own fashion but with his domain he could see himself from any and all angles. With his space suit-like armor and tentacles sprouting from the back of his shoulders he looked a bit like a cosmonaut infected with some alien spores. The look was not half bad if he dared say so himself.
With that he had no real reason to hesitate any further and stepped back home. His arrival made him feel like the belle of the ball as everyone stopped their interactions and looked him up and down. Though these were not debutantes tittering to one another behind their hands. Nor were they seeking to evaluate a contender for a hand in marriage. They were literal demons with their faces buried in the chest cavities of their enemies who¡¯d rather take a hand from its owner and beat them around the head with it. There were also the rats, but they were very fitting as the servants, trying to be invisible in the background of the room. The spell was broken as Ozzy continued toward the nearest imp. He wasn¡¯t entirely sure which one it was other than to say it wasn¡¯t the thirteenth. That particular beast still sat atop a tree as if the favored daughter of the host, waiting for others to come to her.
Every other imp had already fallen to his less impressive version of the speared tentacle. The primary difference with this one was that the result of his first swipe had him feeling like a samurai as the imp took a confused moment to realize it was already dead before sliding into two pieces. Even the thirteenth reacted to this sudden turn of events. Flapping awkwardly into the air and backing away. Leaving Ozzy to grin and channel his inner bride in a yellow track suit as he gave chase with his twin spears. The majority of the rats kept their distance as he dispatched with the next two imps though like a certain gang of yakuza they tried their hand before he could fight the real boss in the garden.
In the end a scene reminiscent of one he¡¯d fled from in fear replayed itself. Readying his spear to strike down thirteen saw it prepare its domain to catch his as before. His movement again sparked the enemies domain to attempt a catch, but this time he wasn¡¯t stopped in his tracks. He barely felt slowed as his spear pierced through the enemy that had first struck fear into his heart. While here was no Shishi-odoshi plonking in the distance, no forgiveness asked for disrespect, and no scalp flopping to the ground, Ozzy still felt like a badass as the thirteenth died at his hand after it wounded his domain and left him running in fear for so long.
B 1 Ch 30 All Your Eggs In One Basket
Ozzy stood partially disbelieving of his success. With all of the current opponents vanquished and a reprieve from immediate danger, his domain upgrade completed, and no all out war in his haven, he really just wanted a break, and a bath. He closed the veil on both sides of the entire connected haven metropolis he¡¯d created. Made a few cursory passes to scoop the worst of the viscera and body parts left over out of his haven. Flipped his house back around the right way. Then surveyed the rest of his haven.
The next several hours felt long and slow. His desire to bathe hadn¡¯t disappeared despite finding that his new armored membrane exoskeleton had kept all the filth off of him. Yet he¡¯d found the two water tiles he had full of blood. The sight of the rest of his haven splotched with random piles of gore wasn¡¯t helping his predicament. Connecting to and killing the denizens of the next few catfish havens helped resolve much of it. Using his domain as a tool to suck up water and spray the rest of the haven helped with the rest. Allowing him to finally bathe, though the whole process had triggered a few insights and kept him from taking the break he had also wanted.
There were several things he¡¯d learned from upgrading his domain and the minimal testing he¡¯d done on it so far. There were also several others that he¡¯d discovered much earlier that he hadn¡¯t really thought of as discoveries at the time. When he¡¯d first been accosted by the thirteenth imp he¡¯d discovered that he was still connected to his spear membrane even though that portion of it was separated from the rest. Granted the connection had failed eventually but it was being consumed by the imp at the time so that made sense. He¡¯d been reminded of this when trying to bathe with his new suit of physically manifested armor. Opening it and stepping out had allowed him to bathe and looking at it as he floated in the murky water with a thin connection of domain reminded him of that frightening experience.
The reminder had him pull back the rest of his domain from the suit to find nothing really changed. The suit stood on its own as if nothing was different than when his domain was touching it. The energy levels in the trips making it up was slowly being consumed but that was the same as when it was connected. He was even able to move the limbs about as if he were still connected or inside. Technically the energy was draining faster than when connected. Yet testing once more when connected just showed it was because it could draw from all his domain while connected. With the amount of energy the trips could hold compared to the base level particles this wasn¡¯t exactly a problem. The suit could power itself for at least a few days of constant motion with their current storage. With inspiration, and possibilities buzzing around in his head he was unable to sleep.
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Some time later, he awoke from his hyper focused state. He wasn¡¯t sure exactly how long, but the several new additions to his haven suggested it was at least another eight hours. Though the way his body was screaming at him suggested he might have been in the fugue state for far longer. Other than disconnecting portions of his domain and imparting intent to them he hadn¡¯t learned anything new. Yet the things that could be accomplished from shuttling energy around in specific ways and storing it was quite impressive. He¡¯d added an attachment to the connections between all the havens to siphon off the energy he could use, while allowing the rest through.
On the trees he¡¯d added a similar mechanism to drain the fruit as they filled. Then connected them all together and ran a tubular membrane back to his shack where he created a new reservoir that was slowly filling even without murdering anything. He still had many ideas of how he could improve on what he¡¯d just made, but with a steady supply of energy welling up in his shack, the ever dwindling supply in his body pulled him toward it. Despite his excitement about everything he could now do he was quickly drawn into a dreamless sleep from the exhaustion.
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Waking up again later on, he was finally able to break down what he¡¯d seen when thirteen had gone ballistic and the events that followed. Murdering the other imps had released very similar clouds of energy. Both when thirteen had killed them and when he had. Even thirteen itself released about the same amount. Something that shouldn¡¯t have happened if their domains were tied to how much energy was released. The implication being that their domain went along with them wherever they went after dying. There was reassurance in that fact, suggesting that death wasn¡¯t the end. Although Ozzy was pretty sure now that whatever happened for him to arrive here also involved his own death. It was still reassuring that there was somewhere else beyond, and that this wasn¡¯t the end. Though It was no guarantee he¡¯d remember anything wherever he ended up like he did here. That also didn¡¯t help him much with the current situation.
The last three days'' events also suggested something was off with his haven recently. The boar showing up randomly with no similar connections to suggest how was concerning. Seeing as Benjamin, Vonder, and Cederick had all heavily implied that reducing connections to and from your haven was a good way to reduce those who could access it. The only thing Ozzy had seen before the boar to counter that suggestion was Cedericks method of detecting other havens. While that was a possibility Ozzy doubted it was the method the boar had used. Also when it showed up the lack of an immediate means to escape was concerning. If the boar wasn¡¯t using some specific trick and it was instead something to do with the way his haven was set up he might be expecting an influx of interlopers showing up unannounced and needed a way to deal with it.
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Ozzy was standing in the offspring haven again. This time he was breathing normally and didn¡¯t feel any pressure difference. He¡¯d reached into it and initiated some changes that he could see on his own and the other havens. The response was non-existent with this one. Like it was more an extension of his own domain than its own entity. He couldn¡¯t simply reach out to the haven at any point inside it and request a general change. He actually had to interact with the membrane, domain, and particles themselves to accomplish things. Likely whatever intelligence orchestrated those changes in the other havens hadn¡¯t developed fully, or maybe at all, with this one. Which made some things easier, and others more difficult.
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The process to connect it to his own haven was significantly more costly with this one. He couldn¡¯t simply inspire the two to connect as this haven didn¡¯t respond to such prompting, or any prompting for that matter. Not only did the actual connection cost him, but the air began to bleed out into the void when they did. Only for a few seconds though as his own haven closed its pores in response to protect its inhabitants. He¡¯d quickly began altering the membrane to keep in air not just energy. The energy in the haven was definitely higher than it had been before. Apparently there was energy in the void it could absorb to slowly grow over however long its pupal phase took.
The membrane surrounding its square was barely enough to stand in and was snuggly plastered to the sides and underside of the square. Even those squares in his haven which were younger than this one had more relaxed membranes that he could comfortably stand in on either side. indicating just giving it a steady flow of the waste energy would improve its state. So he¡¯d impressed upon his haven a desire to open the pores to this haven again and watched as air and energy both rushed in. After which he¡¯d jumped over and found the place devoid of any light of its own. He was standing in the semi dark and as he hadn¡¯t figured out how to create light on his own he couldn¡¯t manually make the haven do that. It wasn¡¯t fully dark as the connection to his own haven allowed light in, just not very much. Apparently the veil between havens was something that developed over time, just like the intelligence, so he could see right through from this end. The energy streaming through into the haven quickly leveled off. After which he could slowly see it absorb into the fledgling construct. The confirmation that this wasn¡¯t some broken thing was nice to see. He returned to his haven leaving the baby haven in peace to grow into something functional.
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Ozzy could now easily handle the small fries. He also had methods to automatically consolidate the energy they released. There was even a separate place to escape to when something invaded that didn¡¯t hold a rat or something else that could bite his face if he wasn¡¯t careful. Despite all that he still had things to worry about. Most notably the boar who was sitting there in its own haven. The way it sulked implied there was a grudge being nursed over being forced to flee. Regardless of if it decided to act on it, there was also the high likelihood that he¡¯d have other unwelcome visitors dropping in. Which he needed to learn to handle.
He contemplated just sending his suit of armor into the haven to handle the boar, and while he suspected it would work he also wondered if that would be the most elegant way of handling the situation. A suit of armor with attached weaponry made perfect sense surrounding him. Having it walk around on its own was a bit silly and cumbersome. The translucent membrane was clearly not him and he had no reason to make it more visible and give some indication of who was controlling the thing. He would do much better making something specially designed for this function.
Starting out he kept envisioning drones as they were the most common independent and automated modern day equivalent that he could think of. Despite the fixation, he knew his constructs had no need to be lofted by air. After releasing himself from the shackle of preconceived notions he found the options branching out of his control. The form his automatons could take were endless and he found himself lost for a bit thinking of the most interesting possibilities. What brought him back to earth, or whatever equivalent there was available to him, was remembering he could make all the other variations at some other time. What he needed right now was one for a single purpose. The purpose being death.
The narrowing down of function also helped limit the form. Though he still had to alter and adjust numerous times over the next few hours before the result sat before him. Thick membranous tentacles flexed as he examined them. It was reminiscent of a starfish, although with only four arms. At the junction of its arms was also a departure from the norm. There was a beak or pincer like a starfish although this was inverted. The thought being the arms could grapple a target''s head and the pincers would open instead of close, cracking a hole in the skull. He felt particularly impressed with himself at the design of that part. The muscles which moved the arms also attached to the pincers as well. The very act of tightening down on the arms would also bring out the pincers. Behind them was a small tentacle that could then spike in and end whatever being was unfortunate enough to be hugged by this monstrosity.
The last word sat with him ominously while he contemplated what it was he¡¯d created. It was absolutely the thing he had set out to make. A creation with the sole purpose of death. There was a large part of him that felt this was a step in the wrong direction. The side of himself that resisted at such a blatant and overwhelming show of force hadn¡¯t been silent this whole time. There were many painful moments as he slaughtered rats and imps endlessly. The appeasement he¡¯d told himself was that it was necessary for numerous reasons. Initially because he needed food, and energy to even survive. Later because he had to grow strong enough to face the external forces that were clearly so much stronger than him.
As his domain, his haven, and his capabilities surrounding both continued to rise those excuses were feeling more hollow. The struggle between the need to survive and the morality he¡¯d grown accustomed to on earth was not one he¡¯d liked to bring to the forefront. That thought itself reminded him that he wasn¡¯t back on earth. He didn¡¯t live in a place where his safety wasn¡¯t even a thought he had on any kind of regular basis. Arriving here had immediately shown him how pampered he¡¯d been. Just finding himself sitting above an endless expanse of sky had nearly made him shit himself. Seeing a rat had made him freeze up. There was literal magic here, and users thereof that were more capable, violent, and unhinged than he was. Not to mention beasts and entities unknown that he hadn¡¯t even begun to scratch the surface of. As much as he wanted to be passive, generous, and forgiving here he didn¡¯t suspect that was a winning long term strategy.
B 1 Ch 31 A Well Deserved Rest
Ozzy was soon introduced to the uncomfortable truth that choosing to take an action was very different from following through and engaging in that action. As much as he¡¯d felt just moments before that this was no longer earth and he needed to do whatever he needed to ensure his safety there was a heavy air as he sent his new creation over to the boar''s haven. As expected it didn¡¯t react to the intruder. It¡¯s physical improvements not allowing the same sight that the imps, or Vonder, had for membranes. As his invention closed in for the kill he opened his eyes for a distraction from the feed coming from it. He didn¡¯t close off the connection though. He hadn¡¯t yet found a good way of automating its capabilities. That and he didn¡¯t want to completely divorce himself from what he was doing.
The starfish flopped itself onto the boar''s head and before the beast could even recognize that something had touched it the arms clamped down. The execution was quicker and more humane than Ozzy had hoped. The boar barely had time to jerk its head in confusion at the invisible touch before it flopped to the ground twitching. Technically still alive but likely more errant electrical signals in the muscles rather than cognition in the brain that was half gone. As much as he was queasy from the kill, looking at the dead pig got his mouth watering thinking about some of the things he was missing from home.
Ozzy got the boar spinning over the fire on a spit he made. As much as he¡¯d loved bacon back home and had started this whole process for it, he realized wouldn¡¯t get any as he wasn¡¯t entirely sure where on the pig it came from. That and he still only had a few rocks to cook on other than the rotisserie he¡¯d just whipped up. Meaning if he even knew where to cut, he didn¡¯t have something to cleanly fry it on. Instead he¡¯d get some roasted ham which was still quite a nice break from the monotonous fruit based diet he¡¯d been on for several days. His intestines would also be glad for the change. He really didn¡¯t want to think about why that was. The ham was divine. Juicy and delicious beyond anything else he¡¯d tasted here. Though he suspected the experience had more to do with his lack of variety so far. Rather than being anything specific about this particular boar or its rather lackluster preparation.
The enjoyment of the meal brought him back to the present. Reminding him he wasn¡¯t a machine, but a living breathing human. He shouldn¡¯t only look at this new world as a puzzle to be solved but a place where he now lives. And, Living wasn¡¯t only reacting, or if it is it¡¯s not much of a life. Ozzy had done a great deal for himself in such a small amount of time here. But, it wasn¡¯t quite enough to say he had a good life here, or even a mediocre one. Back on earth it was so easy to become focused and driven toward goals that while laudable weren¡¯t conducive to living the life one wanted. He¡¯d somehow found himself similarly caught up here. So as he sat already fat and happy from his meal, munching on a few small burnt ends for flavor, he began to think about what he really wanted out of his time here.
Ozzy spent the rest of the day finishing up the cleanup of his haven. Having decided that one thing he definitely wanted out of life was to not live in a war zone. The hasty shuffling about of blood and viscera the night before had made it look less ghastly at a glance but any extended perusal of the environment would show the things he¡¯d missed or forgotten. He¡¯d apparently missed a few entrails hanging from some of the trees. Thankfully the water tiles had cleaned themselves overnight. Bringing his old socks into the mix as rags helped get some of the more stubborn dried blood off the pathway and the walls of his house.
The job took longer than he¡¯d have liked for something that wasn¡¯t exactly benefiting him. Yet he found the activity grounding and relaxing in a way he hadn¡¯t expected. Just as building a shack had helped him feel secure, cleaning his home made it all feel more real. The process helping further relieve and release tension he was still holding from all the excitement he¡¯d gone through since arriving. Somehow at the end of the scrubbing of blood and viscera he found himself smiling and satisfied, in a way that even learning magic hadn¡¯t quite accomplished. Which isn¡¯t to say he hadn¡¯t been giddy at the prospect and all the possibilities thereof. He was also still excited for it and absolutely not going to be leaving off the path he¡¯d started down. The experience just taught him that despite the level of mystical greatness he¡¯d achieved he was still human and needed some simple pleasures, and even labors, to fulfill his needs.
Ozzy had lay in bed that night thinking of all the ways he could improve his life here. Sleep was strangely elusive from the surprising high off such a simple accomplishment. The anticipation for many similar tasks had him jittery. He¡¯d already stumbled upon one when dimming the lights in his haven to prepare for bed. He had impressed upon the haven to begin a cycle of daylight and starlight to simulate night. He wasn¡¯t entirely sure if he¡¯d accomplished his goal, nor if, supposing he did, that the timing would be accurate. Either way he was anxious to see the next day to inspect the results.
Likewise he¡¯d been wanting to get back to the cotton silk flower mash up that he¡¯d planted. Hoping to create some clothes tomorrow, that didn¡¯t feel like a first try using an overpriced organic lumpy ball of yarn. He was envisioning the different types of loom he could make with his domain and all the myriad of stitches he¡¯d half remembered from his short time as a kid making himself some gloves. There was a bit of worry that he¡¯d end up with worse clothes than he was currently wearing, but he doubted that. If he made the yarn small enough and worked it at a small enough scale any failures might blend in both visually and by feel. Which reminded him he needed to have a way to process the flowers in the first place. It was as he realized he would also need to get more of the plants growing and how he would streamline the process that he finally drifted off to sleep.
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Ozzy¡¯s next day went about as he¡¯d planned. The ¡®morning¡¯ came with a sudden blast of light from the sky, but it was an improvement and a step in the right direction he could work on. There were no unannounced visitors to interrupt him and he made lots of progress in all three of his current endeavors. He¡¯d expanded his patch of flowers and found a few different ways to process them into thread. Refining those methods down took a few hours. Each iteration of prototyping the tools required and testing them out was greatly sped up thanks to his domain. The resulting thread was not only on average a tenth the thickness of what he had on, but there were no large bunches either. He¡¯d had a few vague memories of visiting a country fairground as a child with a section dedicated to cotton processing. While they were not enough to give him every detail the hints were enough to point him in the right direction.
Recreating knitting was a bit strange though he did have his experience crocheting to lean back on. With a few half remembered comments about the difference between the two to go off of. Something about all stitches in a row being open at once with knitting, while he knew crochet worked one at a time. There was also a suggestion that knitting was very conducive to automation while crocheting was more versatile for unique creations. Which did allow him to create something of a hybrid between the two hobbies. He wasn¡¯t sure whether the resulting stitches were actually knitting or not, but it at least worked to create cloth that was both thinner and softer than he currently had. The process also giving him some insights into making his constructs autonomous in some aspects. He¡¯d made hooks like crochet, but in a circle to allow constant open stitches along the work. He¡¯d found that he could apply intent to move if another hook moved. It was only one simple step toward automation, but it was a step. The only functional and concrete results of the day were a pair of socks that quickly replaced the ones Cederick had provided him. Those were tossed on the pile of rags that included his original socks and clothes.
Ozzy spent the day improving his mechanisms and process until he was able to make himself a full set of replacement clothes. When he finally put them on and tried them out he felt strangely sensual in them. The clothes Cederick had given him were so rough in comparison that these mildly smooth ones by comparison had him feeling amazing. After he¡¯d gotten over the new feel and had some lunch he made a few spare sets. As well as a new piece of furniture for his home. A dresser where he could store his spare clothes. The rest of the evening was spent going over the next few adjustments he wanted to make. As he pondered he was able to also fiddle with manually creating something like a sunset and sunrise in the haven. Having the starry view appear slowly over sections of the surrounding membrane to ease on the day and night.
The next day he took to creating and testing out utensils and furniture for his everyday use. Better cups, Plates, forks, spoons, and more jugs joined his initial fumblings he called cups in the currently almost bare cupboards of his little shack. With one of the new jugs he pulled down some fruit and made some juice. Something other than poorly filtered water was a godsend. He¡¯d also built a cistern on his shack''s roof. Framed with wood but the water was held by fired clay. He also made an actual sink for himself with a valve and pipes made out of clay. Lastly he¡¯d made several trays he laid out on his pathway and filled with saltwater. Allowing them to dry out leaving a thin crusty film of salt. Adding the seasoning to what was left of his smoked pork took it up just a notch.
Ozzy realized when he went to sip his water in the morning that he wasn¡¯t satisfied with the marginally clean water. That and he was a bit annoyed at having to manually fill his cistern with water. Taking a look at the problem and thinking of ways to resolve it he¡¯d come up with a few minor improvements. He could use his much improved cloth layered to filter the water. He¡¯d also thought of creating some charcoal to ¡ well he wasn¡¯t entirely sure how charcoal cleaned things, but he knew every filter he¡¯d ever seen had ¡®activated¡¯ charcoal in it. He knew how to make charcoal as having been an attention deficit hyperactive afflicted individual that had access to the internet had him researching anything he had a mild interest in. Yet he¡¯d never looked up the next step of actually activating the stuff.
Though it was as he was trying to conjure up possible ways to get around this lack of knowledge that he realized he didn¡¯t need to do either of those. Creating membranes to target specific things and interact with them on a tiny scale was already something he¡¯d been working on for weeks. He¡¯d just made tools that worked on yarn that was almost thread. He¡¯d also created tubes and pumps. The only difference being so far he¡¯d been interacting with energy and domain particles not water. Though, he quickly found the methods translated rather smoothly. Allowing him to target water specifically, leaving all the murky mess behind, and pump it to his cistern effortlessly. The process was so easy that he found himself making a little bird bath out of clay and making a little fountain in it just for the pleasure of the burbling sound in the background.
The next day found Ozzy feeling refreshed like the third or fourth day of vacation. Where the tension has finally fully released and you can start truly enjoying yourself. Where the worry of returning to work hasn¡¯t hit yet. This despite the last few days being nothing but work. The difference, he felt, was not that he wasn¡¯t working but he¡¯d no longer been feeling locked into a specific set of actions day in and day out. The simple freedom to choose what he worked on allowed a sense of agency and ownership of his projects. With the last few days being devoid of any exploration, murder, or grinding of any kind he actually felt a pull back to it. While he had the beginnings of a desire to get back to it, that didn''t mean he had to yet. So his vacation of sorts continued for now. The day included a mix of small efforts when the fancy struck him but for the first time he actually relaxed for most of the day.
B 1 Ch 32 Labor is its own Reward
Ozzy¡¯s desire to return to exploring had grown the longer he spent relaxing or putzing around fixing or improving things in his haven. It had initially been a generalized desire to get up and DO something, but it had narrowed down to getting out of the haven and seeing something new. Going a bit stir crazy staying put in his haven probably had a lot to do with that being the next course of action he¡¯d chosen. He¡¯d also contemplated going and visiting Vonder again. While he wasn¡¯t sure how much he would get out of it the need for human interaction was increasing by the day. Though there were so many connections he hadn¡¯t explored yet he needed to address them before he forgot about them.
As he felt for the connections he could differentiate from the amorphous mass of unending places out there he couldn¡¯t really tell a difference between the number he¡¯d identified before and now. Even the way his mind interpreted the size and shape of the connections compared to previously seemed the same. It might be something that never flagged or decayed once a single touch pulls them out of the mess, but he¡¯d rather not let them go and see. Picking two at random from Cedericks haven he sent out his spears. In one he found a rather large insect that he at first mistook for a leaf before it moved on the branch it held to. The other contained a canine of some type. After killing both and setting their newly spawned squares beside his shack he moved onto the next batch.
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In the end between Cederick and the boar haven¡¯s squares he now had a section of land more than twice the size of what he had before starting. They were now sitting to the left of his shack in a line. Each and every one was only the first in its own line of havens stretching off into obscurity. He¡¯d been face to face, or tentacle to face with a myriad of odd creatures. There were things that looked like they could have been stumbled upon in any forest, grassland, or desert back on earth. Then there were those like the imp that seemed to come out of a fairy tale or religious text. There was a land bound jellyfish, or at least that¡¯s the way his analytical side wanted to describe it. To his gamer side it just looked like a slime. There were even two that were more of a Cronenberg monstrosity. Beyond all the weirdness he¡¯d also found a few birds that he was going to keep an eye on. Hopefully they¡¯d lay some eggs for him.
During the process he¡¯d also started using his domain as well. He figured why only kill two birds with one tentacle each. When he could send out numerous pseudopods with his domain as the first haven in every line seemed to be the weakest. Even his base strength domain could handle them, why not the upgraded version. While he hadn¡¯t always connected to the first in a haven by chance of having picked a different square, it was easy to find the right direction and eventually connect to it. He didn¡¯t even need to look at the occupant. If a haven had two connections, other than his own, he¡¯d connect to both and find which was weaker, then continue down that way until he found the one with only one connection. Which would be the first. There was actually one surprise fourth connection that sprouted off like the intelligent rat¡¯s haven, however when checking the other side the haven turned out to be empty at the moment.
While there were several connections available to check from that haven, he decided to at least finish the current project before trying to find the occupant. He wasn¡¯t familiar enough yet with the way that havens worked to confirm where it last went without checking all the connections. Though now that his initial task was completed he could do just that. As suspected the connections were all to the same line of havens he¡¯d found the initial connection to. There were several connections past the one he¡¯d initially connected from. Reaching through a few he eventually found a gruesome scene. There was blood and bits of viscera everywhere.
In the middle lay two forms in an almost embrace. Though there were obvious signs that wasn¡¯t the case. Most notably most of the top half of one was missing and the other was lazily munching on what was left of it. While the residents of this line of havens were the canines that looked the most like dogs, the sight of it snacking away at the dead body really ruined the image. The fact that the lower half was wearing clothes also didn¡¯t help. While there wasn¡¯t a violent upwelling of emotion, there was a definite change in his demeanor. This half a person could just as easily have been how he ended up if he hadn¡¯t found a way to not walk into every haven he wanted to visit. The growing empathy in turn drove him to despise the animal in front of him as it desecrated the corpse.
Putting down the dog-like creature wasn¡¯t as hard as he¡¯d thought it might be. It was after all currently munching on a clothed human, or at least humanoid. He hadn¡¯t seen its face or skin and didn¡¯t really have a desire to. The clothing implied intelligence and he was of the belief that any intelligent being deserved as much respect as any human. Pulling his domain back to his haven he let the corpses lie as they were. The obliteration the havens carried out would be a fitting cleanup and send off for whoever, or whatever it was. In his haven he pondered the reminder of his mortality. He¡¯d been skimping on his promise to himself. To be growing, improving, and most importantly, learning constantly. The break was all well and good, and still consisted of mostly work, but he wasn¡¯t growing right now and who knew what the next day, or next haven might bring.
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Ozzy sent the latest prototype of his starfish into the first rat haven. It was a much smaller version, though that was simply due to the intended target. The real changes were in how it was designed and operated. He¡¯d learned a lot making all the new additions to his haven. The pumps, loom, and other tools he¡¯d made all gave him a little bit more understanding of how he could bind intent into his constructs. This latest contraption was the culmination of everything he¡¯d learned. Including from a few iterations he¡¯d already tested out on the rat.
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As he dropped the starfish to the ground it immediately flipped into position as it detected the rat. The most important thing he¡¯d added was a feature where the intent didn¡¯t do anything while his will was directing any part of the construct. Trying to pull it back while it was in turn trying its hardest to clamp down on his hand after a mistake in binding his intent was a wake up call. He¡¯d also added a much more nuanced and broad layer of intent. Much of his earlier attempts were very narrowly focused. Affecting one to three trips at a time. He had learned that he didn¡¯t need to individually tell specific sections to move in exact ways. The process would have been mind numbingly complex and at the same time simplistic in the ways he could have it behave.
He watched in the haven as the small starfish barely the size of his palm position itself in front of the rat. Then hop onto the rodent''s head and clamp down suddenly. The splash of red covering the square didn¡¯t immediately cause Ozzy to cheer. He¡¯d actually reached this point before, and while this was a success it wasn¡¯t what he was testing right now. Watching with his domain he followed the construct as it made another move to the abdomen. There the tentacle that had pierced the skull now ripped open the skin and retracted with the core. The core was then pulled into the construct''s mouth, for lack of a better word. Only a second or so afterward the haven pulled in a new rat, resetting the square, but leaving the starfish as it was, core and all.
Ozzy had quickly found that the haven didn¡¯t recognize the constructs as foreign material or entities. This allowed not only for a new rat to spawn immediately, but for the starfish to make it through the obliteration of everything else in the haven. Which made a certain amount of sense as he¡¯d been able to leave his domain, or spears in a haven and it would still reset. The only problem being getting the core out before the reset occurred. As if it wasn¡¯t out of the haven, or inside the starfish before that the haven would absorb the core. There was one thing left. Even though a new rat had taken up occupancy the Starfish didn¡¯t go after it right away. From an external view it appeared to be dead, unmoving on the ground where it had fallen after ingesting the core.
With his connection to the construct''s very essence Ozzy could see the intent bound into it targeting the core with the purpose of dismantling it. A moment later a flood of energy suffused the construct as it succeeded. Much of it was absorbed into the trips of the construct but what wasn¡¯t was drawn into another adjustment Ozzy had made. A ring shaped reservoir around the mouth. Only after the energy was absorbed did it show any movement. That movement being the effortless and emotionless end of the newest rat resident. The process then repeated itself, then again and again. Ozzy sat mesmerized at the accomplishment. Watching this single reservoir fill wasn¡¯t exactly amazing, but the implication was. There were still some inefficiencies still to iron out. But, just the simple fact that this was continuous with no breaks, even while he slept made a huge difference. Once he finished doing the same with all the rats, he¡¯d be passively gaining more energy daily than ever before.
Which of course made him realize with all the other lines he¡¯d gained access to he¡¯d soon be passively reeling in more in a day than he had his entire time here so far. That was getting a bit ahead though. One step at a time. For now copied the working model he had in the first rat haven. Which was so much easier than designing and altering portions of it manually. Simply surrounding the construct with his domain as a reference and applying its schematic to another section of his domain had it morphing into shape almost immediately. He did need to adjust the result a bit to fit the second rat, but it was still easier than rebuilding from scratch.
Before sending it off to the second he did the same for the third rat. When he copied and adjusted one for the fourth he was finished with any alterations he¡¯d need. The fifth rat and beyond were all essentially the same size as the fourth. Which meant he could change his tactic. Again surrounding his prototype for the fourth with his domain he then targeted eleven more clumps of domain and initiated a copy. Watching the small army of constructs form out of the ether was another mesmerizing sight.
He hadn¡¯t given any of them instructions beyond killing rats and absorbing their cores so they simply flopped to the ground once completed. After he threw them into their respective havens that story quickly changed. Each of them began the industrious work the first was still actively trucking through. Though even as he watched Ozzy realized he¡¯d missed a small portion of the necessary adjustments. The reservoirs were large enough to hold something like a hundred of the cores energy, but he¡¯d not added any instruction for them to drain. A hasty solution was needed before he could end his work for the day. While not an elegant one he did find a functional one. Connecting a tube to the edge of the domain allowed the energy to flow from the constructs then through all the other plumbing he¡¯d already set up to his shack and the oversized storage there.
Before retiring for the night Ozzy sat watching his new machinations at work. The energy flooding into his primary reserves had increased to such a degree that he¡¯d need to start a project soon to address it or he¡¯d be overflowing there in a few days as well. Which was reason enough to ignore it for the night. Returning to his recliner with a fresh cup of water he got comfortable and reveled in his newfound wealth of energy. He had ¡°first world¡± problems to deal with in the morning.
B 1 Ch 33 Post scarcity
Ozzy woke to a cool glass of water with smooth sides. He still had the gritty and holey original versions for some sentimental reason, but he wasn¡¯t using them anymore. They sat on their own shelf separate from the others. Maybe he¡¯d use them as a vase or something. He pulled out a drawer in his new dresser and dressed in a fresh pair of clothes. The only failings were they still had a drawstring on the boxers as the material wasn¡¯t stretchy. That and they were all the same plain off white color. Stepping out of his shack to a slowly encroaching sunny sky he grabbed a fruit and snacked on it while watching the starry portion shrink in the faux sunrise he¡¯d been able to get the haven to adopt.
His life here was really shaping up into an interesting and fun experience. There were still threats, concerns, and tons of improvements he could be making but overall he was enjoying himself. He was reminded of a presentation on post scarcity portraying it as a fantasy. Looking back on earth there was a time where the term would have been simply considered having enough food to survive through winter. Another when being able to eat whenever you wanted. Finally there came a time when food production was relegated to a small portion of the population, and obesity became a worldwide epidemic. They didn¡¯t call it post scarcity then, yet that¡¯s exactly what it was.
Ozzy was still on the early end of the spectrum of self sustainability, but he suspected he wouldn¡¯t have a problem keeping busy. Even when he would eventually have hot showers, coffee, and a rainbow for a closet. The way his mind worked made it nearly impossible not to keep himself busy if he found even the most obscure thread to tug on. Plus it was amazing how much you took for granted when you were used to it. In his life now, even with literal magic he couldn¡¯t allow himself a tenth of the luxury he was used to. A room cooled to exactly the degree he desired to fall asleep to. Waking up to a room that was warm enough to pad around barefoot without even an ounce of discomfort. Coffee brewed automatically for him and fresh eggs and bacon at an arm''s length. While he¡¯d never seen the chicken and pig they came from. All of which he was sure he¡¯d be able to accomplish in due time.
For now Ozzy was itching for a visit to really anybody, but the only available taker was Vonder. He was feeling excited for his plans and began preparations for a few dishes to bring along. The sandwiches and tea from the last visit had been nice, and he wanted to return the favor. He didn¡¯t have any bread though. Trade was one of the things he was hoping he could discuss anyway. If he could just get flour that would be preferred, but something like wheat or another grain would work. That and potatoes would be awesome. Without anything for a side dish he was hoping to create a nice main dish and a drink or two, well if you counted water. There were a few more options than he had the last time he made himself a meal. The boar wasn¡¯t on the table, but there were many varieties of fowl he could choose from. Though he wasn¡¯t sure how any of them tasted. That and he was tired of just making a fire randomly on the path. He needed an oven, and stove, and for that he needed bricks.
It might turn out he wouldn¡¯t meet anyone today or maybe even tomorrow. Bringing his domain to bear he got to work obliterating the clay tile he¡¯d captured. He nearly removed the entire thing when he wondered what would happen if he did so. While it was a question he could quickly answer, he didn¡¯t actually want to. Instead he simply reached out and killed a few more of the dormant frogs and tore into the resulting clay tiles instead. Leaving about half of each. With as much space as he had now in his haven he wasn¡¯t as worried about smoke as he had been. He¡¯d contemplated firing the bricks in one of the other havens he had access to instead, but he still set up the impromptu kiln on the bottom of his haven on the new tiles he¡¯d gained. Using the rocks he¡¯d collected to keep the heat in the best he could.
While setting up the first round of bricks he¡¯d decided he may as well set up for the future. Instead of laying out plans for an oven he designed a kiln. He¡¯d never worked with clay back home, but there had been an abundance of pottery wheels and kilns in art classes he¡¯d been in. Essentially just a large oven with racks to cure the pieces in. He wasn¡¯t even sure if cure was the right word. Only knew that they needed to be heated up for them to stay solid when they got wet next. In the kilns he¡¯d seen on earth the racks were metal but he just used the salt drying trays he¡¯d made and designed around them. He designed it large enough to hold hundreds of the bricks he was making, needing to make more racks to accommodate.
While he did have lots of leftover wood from building his shack he still cut out more stacks for backup. He had time to spare while waiting for the bricks. It¡¯d taken hours for the thinner plates, cups, and silverware to finish so he suspected the thicker bricks would take even longer. It was as he was moving on to design the oven that he was frozen by a loud popping crack. Initially he whipped around trying to find the source when he heard another shortly after. Then a third. Not waiting to see what was happening he jumped to the nearest edge and then into the offspring haven. From there he looked through his domain extensions at his haven until he was able to locate the issue. The rocks around his fire had all fallen back and he could see pieces of brick strewn about. He¡¯d apparently done something wrong in the process. His smaller pieces hadn¡¯t had this trouble which suggested what the cause might be. The way the bricks had broken apart also looked reminiscent of popcorn which also hinted at a possibility. He knew popcorn worked because of water in the corn. But if he had to dry these bricks before firing it could take weeks or longer. Which meant he was going to need to forgo the kiln, and oven for this visit to Vonder.
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Reaching into the fire with his domain he pulled the rest of the bricks out. Tossing the lot into the nearest rat haven. No reason to mess about with trying to save them. Stepping back to his haven he made another batch of bricks but this time lined them up along the path to dry. This time making a good thousand so he could have them ready for the few projects he¡¯d come up with when they did eventually dry. Which he still wasn¡¯t sure was the issue, but it was, he felt, a pretty good hunch. Instead of continuing to worry over it he moved on to the food he¡¯d planned.
Reaching out to the few fowl havens he grabbed a few fat and lazy looking birds to test them out. Plucking and preparing them was rather easy with his domain to do all the work. Rather than cooking the birds whole he cut off the breasts and used his new clay cookware to fry them up in some of the leftover boar fat and adding some salt. They either all smelled great or one of them was overpowering the rest. There was also the possibility he was just craving his first pan cooked meat here. The finished products were also hard to tell apart. Tasting a bit of one breast of each allowed him to make sure there was nothing wrong with them. Either taste or otherwise. Hopefully this didn¡¯t come to bite him in the ass after. He hadn¡¯t heard of meat commonly causing the kind of issues that plants could, but he didn¡¯t dismiss the possibility.
In the meantime while crossing his fingers hoping that nothing unfortunate befell his bowels he moved on to preparing some drinks. Both of which were rather simple. One more so than the other. He filled a jug with water from his sink. Another jug he squeezed fruit into until it was decently full. He dumped that into another to leave the dregs behind and grabbed both with his domain. Similarly picking up the two plates of unknown fowl breasts, four cups, and some silverware he stepped into the haven where he¡¯d had the meeting with Vonder originally. He¡¯d contemplated continuing the suggested tradition of obfuscating his origin, but Cederick already knew where it was, and apparently so did some random boar. He suspected that Vonder knowing wouldn¡¯t be so much of an issue compared.
The table and chairs still sat as they had before, but it appeared Vonder had come back for his own plates and cups at some point as they were gone. Ozzy spent a few minutes setting up his offerings on the table. Adjusting them a few times to set them just right. Then sat himself and got comfortable. Not knowing exactly how long it would take Vonder to realize he was here and come calling.
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While rearranging things for the third ¡®one last time¡¯ Ozzy saw Vonder step into the haven. It likely wasn¡¯t more than an hour but he hadn¡¯t been counting, and it felt like longer. Standing quickly Ozzy spread his arms in greeting. ¡°Thank you for coming, I¡¯ve brought a few things¡±
Vonder glanced over the offerings and nodded in what appeared was surprise and respect. Ozzy was sure that he hadn¡¯t been expecting plates, cups, or utensils. ¡°Thank you, it¡¯s much appreciated¡± He said cordially in his odd accent ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯ve come to visit¡±. As he said so he took the seat opposite Ozzy where the untouched plate of fowl was. Leaning forward he smelled the plate. ¡°Ah¡¡± He exhaled appreciatively ¡°A decent catch¡±.
Ozzy smiled, glad that he could provide something the seemingly aristocratic individual could appreciate. ¡°Yes I found a few sources of future dinners to add to the menu¡± He began, ¡°I did taste test them, and they¡¯re rather good.¡± He added lifting his own plate to show the bites from each, ¡°They don¡¯t taste much like chicken, or turkey, but not duck either. I¡¯ve never sampled anything else to compare it to¡± he continued with more information than he¡¯d intended. Something about Vonder made him feel like validating his experience and knowledge more than he really wanted to. It wasn¡¯t exactly that he was intimidating, or that he was overbearing or rude. There was just an air of class and capability that made Ozzy just a little off balance with any interaction.
The realization of his reactions to him also made him have another. He had yet again stopped looking at the man with his new senses. It was odd that he was both unsettled and at home enough with the man to not immediately survey him upon his arrival as he did with nearly everyone and everything else. It could something more than a simple air of superiority, but Ozzy suspected it was more mundane than magical in nature.
Looking the man over once more with his domain didn¡¯t tell him any more than he¡¯d initially found on his last visit. He still had a glowing point in his forehead from which Ozzy could feel pressure emanating. Though this is where he remembered the somewhat frightening insight on his domain''s reaction. Looking down he saw that his domain wasn¡¯t blown back like a cape anymore, though moving it about was still a struggle. He had intentionally left his new suit behind as his last visit had confirmed that Vonder could see the membrane at least. He hadn¡¯t wanted to show up in a suit of armor and set the mood and conversation off.
While Ozzy examined Vonder and himself, Vonder had taken a moment to explore the offerings on the table. Taking a nibble of one of the breasts then sipping first a bit of the water then the juice. After which he poured himself a glass of both before turning back to Ozzy. ¡°What wonderful things you¡¯ve brought today!¡± He smiled ¡°I am impressed¡±
B 1 Ch 34 A Social Visit
¡°Thank you!¡± Ozzy responded ¡°I didn¡¯t have anything for a side, but did the best I could with what I had.¡± Taking a bite of his own dish to stop himself from rambling he hoped Vonder would help fill the void in the conversation. Instead Vonder took a bite as well, savoring the meat. Ozzy didn¡¯t consider himself a cook or chef by any stretch of the imagination, but he did know how to cook chicken and other fowl to just the right side of safe, while also being as juicy as possible. Even without much to spice or season the meat it tasted rather good. If he did say so himself. Though the faces Vonder was making suggested he agreed.
¡°I must say¡¡± He finally interjected after swallowing his long chewed bite, and washing it down with water ¡°I have missed enjoying a meal I didn¡¯t need to prepare myself¡±. He paused again to take another, smaller, bite and again savored the taste. Ozzy waited suspecting this was only for dramatic effect. This time he washed it down with Juice and had a few additional sips before continuing. ¡°The middle one is rather nice¡± He said pointing ¡°And the juice is wonderful. What is it?¡±
¡°Honestly¡ '''' Ozzy began slowly ¡°I have no idea hah¡± The a on idea morphing into the ahah of an exasperated chuckle as he was reminded of the absurdity of the place he found himself in and the absolute lack of familiarity with anything in any situation he¡¯d run into so far. Never being one to allow himself to completely lose it Ozzy quickly recalibrated his outlook. If he was unsure of something or a situation he needed to ground himself in what he did know. ¡°Though they remind me a bit of kiwi and pear mixed¡±. From there he could build a baseline on which he could rest a foundation of understanding. ¡°Are you interested in some? I was hoping to see if you had bread or wheat I could trade for¡±
¡°Oh I¡¯m sure we could come to an agreement on that!¡± Vonder responded after again washing down a bite with more juice. ¡°It¡¯s a marvelous flavor after all¡± He paused for a moment with another sip. ¡°I¡¯d also be interested in one of these birds.¡± He seemed to ponder something before continuing, ¡°It seems you¡¯re adapting rather well¡± He complimented Ozzy who nodded appreciatively while still finishing his own bite. Vonder recognized his inability to answer verbally and picked back up again. ¡°My first few months were not something to be envied. I felt a bit of a savage for a time there. Thankfully the company of Mr. Sanford saw me through¡±
¡°Oh!¡± Ozzy said, having finished his bite ¡°Where is your cat?¡±
Vonder chuckled nonchalantly ¡°Eh, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve had cats before, It¡¯s either they demand your attention or your absence. He¡¯s likely off sunning himself in my haven somewhere, or who knows what else¡± Vonder waved as if to shoo a fly implying there wasn¡¯t much else to say about the aloof cat. Which Ozzy could understand. The cats he¡¯d known before were always underfoot when you were busy, and nowhere to be found when you wanted to cuddle. He said as much before having another bit of the bird.
The conversation continued in a much lighter mood than their first visit. Casual chatter mixed with personal anecdotes helped relax them both. Ozzy partially forgot they were in what was effectively purgatory as they ate their meal and reminisced. The introduction and strange behavior of Cederick hadn¡¯t helped along the first visit. The old saying about first impressions being everything had never sat well with him. Most reasonable individuals were willing to adjust their models of others based on new data. Especially when the initial set of information was so wildly skewed by some outside factor.
While Ozzy couldn¡¯t say exactly what impression he¡¯d left on Vonder, and hadn¡¯t really solidified his own opinion of the man, it wasn''t the best from the first meeting. However, he was learning the man was an even better conversationalist than he¡¯d initially given him credit for. He would reciprocate stories Ozzy told with some of his own. He was quick to give a compliment, even quicker with a joke, and generally fun to chat with. He¡¯d told some more stories about his initial arrival. Including what his own tile contained. Well not in so many words, but in a roundabout way he revealed the information. In a comedic retelling of a self deprecating story he ended with ¡°... So I returned to my haven and found Mr. Sanford shitting in my original sandy tile.¡±
Ozzy¡¯s head cocked at the statement. Curious as to whether it was an organic turn of the conversation, or an intentional manipulation on Vonders part, and of course wondering more about the why and how. Cederick had claimed his starting square nearly matched the tiles of the imp¡¯s havens. A ruddy brittle stone. His own was what he envisioned a section of the living room floor he¡¯d been sleeping above looked like. Both of the others seemed to have some singular material making up their square where his was something much more complex. The inconsistency made Ozzy ask ¡°So, it was just sand?¡±
Vonder stopped for a moment and looked off to the side as if he¡¯d just realized what he said. ¡°Hmmm, ¡° He filled the air with a nothing answer, likely to buy himself a little more time. Looking Ozzy over and then turning back to the side again he turned back once more before continuing ¡°Yes, I was walking on the beach the last thing I remember before showing up here. So, Sand.¡± The admission made a certain amount of sense to Ozzy. He¡¯d been sleeping in the living room and showed up in his internal vision of his living room, at least a small square section of it. So it wasn¡¯t so strange that someone walking on the beach would show up with sand. Yet that still screamed an inaccuracy. Where had Cederick been walking if you simply showed up in the last place you saw¡ Mars? Maybe some place in Australia, that¡¯s the only other place Ozzy knew of with red rocks. Although who knows. He wasn¡¯t a geologist to know where different types of rock showed up.
Actually now that he thought about it the grand canyon had red rocks too. He also wasn¡¯t a spiritualist, a theologian, or whatever type of expert one might need to be to know how you¡¯d show up in the afterlife. Maybe it would need to be a celestial-zoo-ologist as he still suspected the havens were alive. Whatever it all turned out to be he¡¯d need to ask more questions of more people to narrow things down. The likelihood was he wouldn¡¯t have an answer any time soon. That didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t going to ask the question though. ¡°Why do you think that is?¡±
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Vonder took on a look of concentration as he weighed the best response. The options included but weren¡¯t limited to different ways to phrase what he actually thought. There were a few options that were similar yet misleading. His natural tendency was to hold back his full experience and understanding as a layer of protection. Though his newer instincts also played a part. Reminding him that as much as he was weighing what he wanted to say, he was weighing Ozzy himself. The young man was clearly someone who prized learning and growing above all else. Evidenced by his inability to hold back questions or comments on things as he was working through in his head. There was a way he could reveal almost nothing and still provide a good answer for Ozzy. Making his decision Vonder responded
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¡°I have my own suspicions of course, but like the question of where we are, there is no definitive answer¡± He paused as Ozzy frowned. ¡°I take it you know what Cederick¡¯s initial tile looked like?¡± When Ozzy nodded he continued ¡°Well Cederick claims the last thing he was doing was falling asleep in school. He described it to me in detail. There was nothing like the rocks that made up his tile as anywhere near the school.¡±
Ozzy gave himself time to process the response by picking at his dish again. Clearly Vonder didn¡¯t believe that the squares only took on the visage of our last memory. Yet, as he did often, he wasn¡¯t directly answering the question. Although he¡¯d said he didn¡¯t have an absolute answer to give. Ozzy guessed that Vonder had many more examples to go off of and a much more specific belief that he was leaving out. While he did feel Vonder was intentionally holding back, he got the vibe it was more of a recommendation to try and figure it out himself. Rather than holding back some important information. He did suspect whatever it turned out to be wouldn¡¯t exactly help him directly anyway.
If Vonder was feeling cryptic about the topic it suggested choosing another. ¡°That¡¯s very interesting, I guess I¡¯ll have to look more into it¡± Ozzy said to dismiss the lack of an answer. ¡°So you¡¯ve talked to Cederick a lot?¡± he wondered aloud.
¡°Well.. he does come visit from time to time¡± Vonder replied before continuing. ¡°I was actually alone for a while after we lost our mentor and then Benjamin stopped allowing me to visit. So I welcomed Cedericks visits once he started coming by.¡±
Ozzy was surprised at his candor so probed a bit more. Vonder had met with Cederick on almost a daily basis when they first met. Though of course it hadn¡¯t lasted. Eventually he¡¯d asked if Cederick had met other people, and if he¡¯d be willing to introduce him, with which is when they learned that they both knew Benjamin. Well after an uncomfortable experience when Cederick had tried to get the two to meet. Now that the subject of the two of them together had been brought up, Ozzy asked a few followup questions.
Most of them Vonder answered partially or side stepped them in ways that were polite but clear he wasn¡¯t interested in talking too much about them. Although one he hit on and sank his teeth into. ¡°Did your mentor teach you how to manipulate light, or did you need to figure that out on your own?¡±. Vonder had smiled and was clearly excited to brag as he went into detail about discovering the methods to interact with and replicating different fundamental forces. ¡°It¡¯s all about vibrations¡± He¡¯d leaned in and whispered conspiratorially. Though his explanations and demonstrations all involved either light or shadow. Which was informative, but left Ozzy wondering if he was intentionally trying to leave out information, or just didn¡¯t know.
The questions culminated in Vonder demonstrating his telekinesis. Though this time he didn¡¯t bother with mucking about with cups. ¡°Light shows are all well and good, but sometimes you gotta give ¡®em a little shock and awe¡± He exclaimed while standing up from the table. Once he¡¯d backed away a few feet a nimbus of energy surrounded his whole body and he lifted off of the ground while holding up his hands in a wizardly pose as if he was lifting himself up by some magic emanating from his hands. Ozzy found his jaw dropping but likely not for the reason that Vonder might think.
Regardless of the reason for his expression Vonder appreciated it and laughed to himself as he floated a good two meters above the ground. Even going so far as to morph it into a mild villain¡¯s sinister laugh. ¡°Pretty awesome right¡± He shouted, finally moving his arms from the ridiculous pose and gesturing around himself. He kept floating about apparently not expecting a response and eventually sat himself back on the ground right in front of his seat and returned it and himself to the table. Ozzy was still flabbergasted as all his assumptions seemed to be completely off. Meanwhile Vonder looked as pleased as punch with himself while he poured himself another glass of juice.
¡°But, like pulling yourself up by the bootstraps is supposed to be impossible¡¡± Ozzy trailed off as he looked down to his domain and thought about the limited version of flight he¡¯d created for himself, pushing against the ground and then himself. He¡¯d not tested any other method, simply made the assumption it had to be that way. Even as he had scolded himself that he should broaden his horizons beyond two dimensions and think in three he was holding himself back thinking about how things worked back on earth.
¡°You aren¡¯t in kansas anymore Ozzy¡± Vonder quipped ¡°You¡¯ve got ruby slippers on, you gotta tap those boys and see where they take you¡±
B 1 Ch 35 Rolodex
After his gaudy display of flight Vonder was in a great mood. Ozzy quickly found that almost any question he asked was answered, and in a rather straightforward manner. He used that to his advantage in their conversations, and as they eventually turned to trade. He¡¯d learned a few tidbits more about Vonders mentor and the voids he¡¯d mentioned. Apparently they were rather easy to find once you knew what you were looking for. Which in turn gave more information about how the nodes or connections with other havens worked. The havens communicated in some way with one another and cataloged the locations of one another. Feeling or seeing them was in no way seeing the connections or havens themselves. They were simply the impression the havens themselves had of their fellows. It was why you could detect a near endless amount of them even upon your first introduction to the concept.
The havens didn¡¯t just catalog and remember other havens. Though it was a bit more difficult to interpret and access anything else as the havens were either not as interested in anything else, or they were not as willing to share the info. Yet once you could detect them they stood out like a sore thumb as they were completely different. Vonder equated the connections and nodes to an endless multidimensional spreadsheet. The different connections were cells that had been shaded with an eye catching color saying look at me. Though there was more to the sheet than just locations the havens had an interest in. If you were attentive you could find cells that had been shaded in the same color as their data, to imply there was ¡®nothing to see here¡¯, but still had information about a place. Once you were able to recognize them they were everywhere.
Ozzy was excited by the information and was definitely going to look into these places. Ever since Vonder had first mentioned them at their first meeting he¡¯d daydreamed about what they might look like. Envisioning a cracked portion of a planet floating in the emptiness. He was curious what he might find in such a place, but at the same time cautious. Vonder who was stronger than him, and his mentor who was stronger than both Vonder and Benjamin had not been able to handle the entity that was actively consuming these world crumbs. He would likely wait until he found out whatever the next step was in improving his domain before attempting a visit. It may be that he would wait even longer.
What he didn¡¯t want to wait on was getting bread and other additions to his diet. The trade with Vonder would definitely help in that especially with him in a magnanimous mood. They couldn¡¯t have been said to have haggled at all. Ozzy had tried asking for a list of things Vonder had, but even in his good graces the man wouldn¡¯t provide him one. Instead he had to list off things he could think of that he needed though he knew he wasn¡¯t remembering everything. The list included bread, flour, wheat, sugar, coffee, potatoes, and if possible dye. After which Vonder waved his hand as if it was nothing and said ¡°As long as you provide the havens for these three fine birds, I can provide you most of that¡± He squinted then continued ¡°Just not the Coffee, and well not exactly the dye. there are all kinds of ways to die things but I don¡¯t have dyes myself just some of the plants the process uses¡±
Eventually Vonder called their rendezvous to a close. ¡°Well the lunch was wonderful,¡± He said clearly implying that was the end of said lunch. ¡°Give me a moment to grab our agreed upon merchandise¡± he added before heading off. Ozzy watched him leave and felt out for the connection he¡¯d used. His heart pounded as he pushed through to the other side. Inside he found a small cat curled in the center napping. Which was quickly interrupted by Vonder stepping into and then quickly out of the square. Leaving The cat whipping its head around confused as by the time it opened its eyes Vonder was already gone.
With the success Ozzy took another risk. He reached further and through the new connection Vonder had just made. He had suspected, and hoped, after seeing that his domain and constructs didn¡¯t register to havens, that Vonder wouldn¡¯t be able to detect them entering his haven either. So far that seemed to be panning out, but hopefully he wasn¡¯t shooting himself in the foot here. Again Ozzy saw a new haven a moment before Vonder showed up himself. Glad for the fact that his domain was able to traverse whatever lay between faster than anything with a physical manifestation could. This time Vonder didn¡¯t hop away immediately. The Haven was also larger, hinting that this might be Vonders.
Ozzy didn¡¯t see how adding a single hop between your haven and another could protect your origin. He¡¯d been dabbling in networking and programming in college and with the havens doing half the work by cataloging and filtering connections by most recent it was child''s play to follow someone even through several hops. Unless you added in false trail connections at the same time as your own as well as doubling back and maybe a false destination where you¡¯ve stashed things it was not going to shake him in the slightest. Even then If one could connect to each of them as Ozzy could then even that would not work. As he could see the tendrils of domain if someone tried such a tactic. While Vonder was still stronger than Ozzy by a decent margin there were more benefits he was still finding to his particular method of advancement.
While Vonder busied himself with gathering what they¡¯d discussed Ozzy took a quick look around. Vonders home was the largest he¡¯d seen so far. Which wasn¡¯t saying much as his own and those in Benjamins haven were all just shacks really. Maybe tiny homes if one was being generous. Vonder had a sprawling rambler that took up at least five times the space his own did. There were windows large enough that he could see inside and there was a couch and some chairs. The windows were rough and wavy. The couches were covered in rough spun cloth, as were the chairs. Despite that it had the look of a modern home. Which made a lot of sense. Vonder seemed like the type to want everything pristine even in a post apocalyptic scenario.
Ozzy surveyed the rest of the haven. It was smaller than Cederick¡¯s by a wide margin. Though larger than Benjamins. It was arranged in such a way as to give the appearance of a small homestead with large trees grown on the edges to hide the non-existent horizon. There were much larger trees than the fruit trees Ozzy had grown. He didn¡¯t know all the different types, but there were some he had learned to recognize by leaf shape in elementary school. He didn¡¯t recognize the leaves of any of them though. Some of the trees had needles, but he hadn¡¯t learned any of those types.
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While he was glad to have found a vulnerability he could exploit, he felt a bit like being a voyeur watching from the shadows. Pulling his domain back he focused on the portions he¡¯d left in his home. Not a tendril this time. He connected instead to the many constructs he had there and felt for the havens connections. Comparing what he felt to the descriptions Vonder had given he found a grain of truth behind how he saw it. It wasn¡¯t a literal database but that wasn¡¯t a terrible description for it either. Compared to his own previous understanding it was a much closer approximation. Now that he knew he was perusing a collection of information managed by the haven he could feel obvious things he¡¯d been misinterpreting before.
For instance the reason recent connections stood out so blatantly was they had tags, for lack of a better word, indicating they were just connected which faded over time. The information wasn¡¯t actually fading or disappearing, but as it was intent not text or images it was altered over time. If translated to text it would be in all caps with three exclamation points that something had connected ¡°JUST NOW!!!¡±. Even waiting a few minutes would result in something more sedate like it connected ¡°Recently!¡±. Having a bit of domain connect to a random haven he watched the process repeat a few times.
A few particulars stood out as he alternated the variables. The way it smoothly adjusted and the way the information felt partitioned hinted at multiple categories of information which were adjusted automatically. There might be ways he could single out locations to visit without needing to resort to espionage if he could simply filter the information instead of getting it all dumped onto him at once. Maybe he¡¯d even be able to add his own information to better organize and interact with it. He¡¯d definitely be looking at this in more depth when he had more time. Focusing back on Vonder he found him still busy gathering up different things they¡¯d discussed and a few they hadn¡¯t.
Despite his suspicions the practice would soon be obsolete Ozzy still went through the tiles in Vonders Haven finding another menagerie of beasts. Most weren¡¯t anything worth mentioning except something that looked quite goat-like. He made a note for himself hoping he¡¯d be able to get some milk from it which he¡¯d forgotten to ask about. He¡¯d never tasted it before but figured it would be better than nothing. Now if only he could find Coffee and chocolate. Which reminded him to ask Vonder when he came back if he had any. He also decided to just ask him for any other contacts he had. As stuffy as the guy seemed he was actually pretty open once you got past his strange way of wording things. Sometimes it pays to give someone a second chance.
The exchange went smoothly with Vonder explaining the extra things he¡¯d grabbed could be used to dye things but he had no idea of the process or which colors each could produce. Vonder apologized but explained he didn¡¯t have any chocolate. Using that as a segway Ozzy asked about other possible contacts for trading more things, hinting that he¡¯d keep an eye out for anything Vonder had an interest in. The man appeared to be almost as much a hermit as Benjamin so the hope being he¡¯d rather someone else do the work trading on his behalf. Sure enough Vonder jumped at the possibility, though not without caveat. He made Ozzy promise to still visit every other week in exchange for the contacts. When he did, not only did he provide a few names that he recommended as good sources, but a list of things he wanted as well. Only one of the people had a dedicated place to visit, the rest Vonder said he¡¯d leave a note here for him if they were open to visit and they could also come here. The suggestion hinted that the reasoning was that Vonder actually wanted more people to talk to.
After showing Vonder the connections to the three birds, and receiving the one connection for a new contact in turn he took his trade goods and hopped back home. Going over his haul he organized it. Vonder had packed in both bread and some seeds he¡¯d labeled wheat. The text looked a bit weird. Like he¡¯d just learned to write recently, and was still nailing down a concrete shape for things. Ozzy dismissed the oddity not wanting to bother with it. He already had a million other mysteries he was trying to solve.
With all the new things he¡¯d need to plant he wanted a nice place to do so. Which in turn made him wonder about the layout of his haven. He¡¯d started out just letting things lie as they fell, but then organized them along with Benjamin''s plan. Though now he needed something new. He could always adjust them later so didn¡¯t waste time investing in the future. To make organizing things easier he decided to name the direction of his current tree lined path south. Using his infinite tile glitch he gathered more imp tiles and created a cardinal walkway heading twenty tiles in each direction. His shack he moved to the NW quadrant along with the water and clay squares.The random selection of new tiles he added to the NE quadrant. Finally he adjusted the two lines of connected havens to the SE quadrant.
He had suspected this move to cause some kind of issue but they simply moved like any of the others had. The nearly instantaneous pop from one location to another was itself a hint, but the fact that entire swaths of tiles were able to shuffle about as easily as anything else suggested there was some kind of dimensional shenanigans going on. Not just the fact that they were moving but the edge of his domain adjusted as if there wasn¡¯t anything wrong. He¡¯d let the thought slide over him when looking at the other havens he¡¯d looked at but the havens seemed capable of folding space, not just to move their offspring about but also, to appear to only be slightly larger than the tiles they contained. Yet it was beginning to look like the havens were gargantuan and somehow folding themselves down to accommodate whatever they contained.
B 1 Ch 36 Flight and Other Spells
Adding several new grassy squares to the SW quadrant of his new layout he began to plant some of the seeds he¡¯d just traded for. He also added in even more of the paths between three by three sections of grass to separate by them. Allowing him to segregate the plants so he didn¡¯t end up with a mess. Eying the grass he cleared it from a few tiles using his domain before planting to see if it was part of the square, or like his recliner something that could be removed. In the meantime he had a little more of the bird he had leftover from his social visit. After a good twenty minutes he luckily didn¡¯t see any new sprouts coming up. Taking his domain to the rest of the tiles he set up several plots and was able to quickly plant everything.
With the planting done he took the rest of his spoils to the shack. Vonder had actually doubly or triply provided on a few of his requests. There was Wheat, Flour, and bread, as well as sugar cane and sugar. Potatoes were already both edible and the way to propagate themselves so he¡¯d just cut them around the eyes and planted them four to a tile. Taking a new shirt out of a drawer he wrapped the bread inside to help keep it from going stale, and also tossed it in a cupboard. The sugar and flour he poured out of the little cloth bags Vonder had provided into the two first cups he¡¯d made. The clay would help to wick away moisture and prevent rot. He covered them both with a pair of his new, unused socks to keep things out. Though even as he did wondered if he needed to. There were not any pests here that might get in. At least as far as he knew. Though he may as well keep dust out. He¡¯d make new containers for all three once he finished the clay kiln
With all of the physical spoils of his trade managed he turned to the information he¡¯d gathered. Vonder had demonstrated creating light and shadow several times. Claiming it was simply about vibrating the energy. Then of course he¡¯d ended his demonstrations with his dramatic display of flight. Ozzy was still a little shocked that it had worked the way Vonder had done it. Like Vonder had Ozzy latched onto himself and his domain and lifted. Sure enough he rose into the air in the middle of his shack. There wasn¡¯t much room to go any higher but he could move to any part of the room without any of the resistance he might have expected.
He realized now he¡¯d even done this with his domain while testing it. Having a single particle move itself and it had worked. He wasn¡¯t sure why he¡¯d forgotten that when trying to fly earlier. But, that¡¯s the nature of invention and innovation. It doesn¡¯t really matter how simple a concept is, you may not think of it. Even if you do you may not realize it could apply elsewhere. Ozzy found himself playing out little scenarios in his head as if he were an angel drifting through the air ever so lightly. Then alighting on the ground as if he¡¯d just taken a step rather than actually flown. While true flight was absolutely amazing, unbelievably cool, and of course helpful it wasn¡¯t all he was excited about. The light manipulation Vonder demonstrated was the barest beginnings of what Ozzy felt real magic consisted of, but a beginning it was.
Ozzy cleared a section of his domain in front of himself and focused on the center. He¡¯d never knowingly manifested energy the way Vonder had, and while he wanted to jump straight to trying to generate light this was another ability that was just as useful. Vonder used telekinesis and generated light or shadow in the same way, first by generating a field of energy around the area he wished to manipulate. He did it almost instantly and without any apparent strain. Ozzy was able to move things around without moving energy to the area first so maybe he was already doing this without realizing it. Taking his pencil out he held it in the domain free area and grabbed it with his domain. Closing his eyes he looked at the pencil under a metaphysical microscope.
At first it appeared to be nothing at all similar to Vonders demonstrations. Not a single bit of power surrounded the object. However, after he adjusted his view a few times he saw that looking inside the pencil there was a thin layer of energy permeating through it. He suspected the difference was that Vonder had been envisioning grabbing the object and moving it. Resulting in his energy welling up around the object to move it. While Ozzy was thinking more along the lines of the object moving itself and him just willing it to do so thereby imparting the energy to the object to move itself. Testing showed that he could also surround it and move it instead of injecting the energy inside. Though there didn¡¯t seem to be any difference. At least not with a pencil. Trying the same tricks with other items showed there was some variation. Not necessarily better or worse for either one, just different results.
Ozzy noted the differences and possibilities as they were interesting, but he wanted to get to the meat of Vonder¡¯s demonstration at some point. Instead of focusing on the pencil he targeted the air itself. As the pencil dropped he could see a cloud of energy form in the air encapsulating and suffusing a small sphere in the cleared space. Then he began to shake the shit out of it. He continued doing so for a few seconds but saw nothing. He did hear a slight stuttering puff, as if a rather quiet compressor were operating in front of him. Opening his eyes he confirmed there was not even a tiny indication of light. Although he hadn¡¯t really expected it. He was clearly only shaking at a few repetitions per second. He stopped and tried to visualize a different method. He¡¯d started unconsciously switched to seeing his hand in his mind''s eye shaking the small sphere. Resetting his mental picture he had the sphere shake itself and got a minor improvement. The sound coming off of the sphere now sounded like a bumblebee buzzing about. Although a bumblebee the size of a house. The thought made him note down that he should attempt setting up a speaker with this at some point.
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Altering the method he used incrementally he was able to ratchet the noise higher and higher until it went up past the point of human hearing. It became a bit more difficult to continue as he could no longer hear or even feel the vibration. Though continue he did, to the point that eventually he did see light coming out, though it was simply a very dim red glow. Something told him despite the progress he was making that this wasn¡¯t the right path. If this was what Vonder was doing then there should have been residual effects in the air after each demonstration he¡¯d provided. The brighter and larger demonstrations should have actually caused explosions as air hot enough to emit anything but red light should cause it to expand rapidly. Even just this dimly glowing sphere about the size of a fist when released was dispersing through the shack with a flurry of gusts as it mixed with the surrounding air and cooled.
Ozzy doubted Vonder was vibrating the electrons or some other subatomic particle themselves. The only other thing Ozzy could think of was the energy itself. Which he should be able to replicate. Taking a few minutes Ozzy became familiar with calling out energy on demand but without the purpose of grabbing anything. He had to alternate back and forth between the attempt, and grabbing a section of air several times until he got the process down. Once he did he was able to begin vibrating the energy itself. As a metaphysical substance it didn¡¯t make any noise, but the fact that the energy was a part of his own domain helped him feel the vibration better. He had been holding the air with energy before but that apparently made a difference. Ratcheting the Vibration up was so much quicker and easier that before he realized it,Ozzy had gone well beyond the rate he¡¯d achieved previously. Though at that point he could tell there wasn¡¯t any visible light even though there was with the previous method at a lower speed. Despite the lack of success Ozzy kept ramping up the speed of the vibration. Past the point where he could even conceive of how fast he was moving it. Until suddenly he was bombarded with a bright red beam of light shooting out to the sides into the walls.
The sudden change shocked him into stopping and staring. Though this of course left him sitting in a dark shack looking at nothing in particular. Other than a discolored splotch in his vision from the sudden bright light.Trying again he started with a smaller sphere of energy and diffused it a bit. He was quickly able to reach the same vibration and again there came a red light. Though this time it was much dimmer. Pumping his fist in celebration Ozzy took just a moment to celebrate his success before moving on. Increasing the vibration even higher he watched as the light increased along the spectrum. From red to orange and yellow, then to green and blue.
Or at least that was the general idea of the colors he could see. The whole spectrum played out as he passed through. He stopped at blue for now. He had no interest in giving himself a sunburn or burning out his retinas if he accidentally created ultraviolet or higher. Instead he turned his attention to the how and why. The process to get this far seemed like a crude approximation of what he wanted to accomplish. So he began his standard practices of repetition and variation to examine what was going on. Fluctuating up and down the visible spectrum, even dipping down below red to compare. Eventually he found the next step he was looking for.
The energy was leaking like a faucet. It was being shed ever faster the higher the vibration. Although in discrete chunks, a bit like a dripping faucet. Not the chunks of quanta that was the namesake for quantum mechanics. This was occurring specifically on the reversing of motion. Like shaking off your hands. The more he tested the more real that image became. He couldn¡¯t actually see what was happening. Even with his greatly improved metaphysical senses he couldn¡¯t see bits of energy that small, but he could feel them. Little droplets of energy being shaken off of the mass. Larger ones the harder he shook. To confirm he tightened down the surface of the sphere till it was as hard as steel. The light immediately stopped entirely.
He wasn¡¯t entirely sure if he¡¯d been unconsciously loosening his grip on the edges to allow the leak in the first place. Maybe some intuitive sense that it was the right thing to do. He could also just have been focusing so hard on the vibration that he¡¯d let his grip on the energy lax. Maybe if he was better at doing two things at once he never would have found this to begin with. Whichever the cause he had at least a basic working model, and an inkling of how to improve. Which was success enough to take a break.
Ozzy ate a sandwich for dinner. It was a bit dry without condiments. Which he quickly added to his list of things to trade for. Though he at least had ample, clean, and easily accessible water to counter that particular issue. The ability to even have sandwiches was pretty great though. A sign he was moving in the right direction with his goal to be self-sufficient. While eating he walked around his haven enjoying his new layout and garden. Most of the plants had already sprouted utilizing the ambient waste energies in the air. Which reminded him of a growing waste problem of his own even as he ate. With all his methods to gather, concentrate, and store usable energy from the air, there was none left to seep into his body and help alleviate the basic human needs he¡¯d been avoiding. A quick dollop of energy in his body helped remedy the uncomfortable feeling he¡¯d almost forgotten the meaning of. He wasn¡¯t entirely sure if he wanted to go through with the trouble of building a restroom only so he could manually deal with such inconveniences again. It was a drain on his energy reserves but he had enough stocked now to handle several years worth of the issue. If magic should allow any convenience it should allow one to no longer need to shit.
B 1 Ch 37 A Spellbook
Ozzy didn¡¯t sleep at all. How could he after the discoveries he¡¯d made? Any time he tried he found himself seeing stars in his mind. Then he¡¯d end up getting back up and making some actual little twinkling lights around the room. He tried all kinds of variations. Size, shape, color as well as methods of creation. Over the course of the night he¡¯d become intuitively familiar with the different speeds he needed for certain colors. Enough that he could almost immediately create the color he desired with a little preparation and wind up time. He¡¯d tried to spin a ball of energy up to speeds comparable to the inertia experienced at the rate of vibration he got light at. That had technically worked. Although instead of a consistent color it gave a gradient due to the difference in speeds on the surface of the sphere. A cylinder gave a more consistent color. He¡¯d then set up a contraption to set a cylinder to spinning independently at the ceiling and lit up the room.
The light shining in the dark room made him realize he was starting to create something like spells now. Sure he¡¯d made what amounted to an almost living creature already, and that was amazing. Yet this reminded him of casting a ball of light spell and sticking it to a surface. He¡¯d been able to reconstruct a similar effect based solely on experimenting with elementary reactions with the world. It was somehow more fulfilling to him than the other things he¡¯d done so far. The difference might be that this was the first time he was doing something other than simply moving either his domain or something else with his domain. The first time he was creating some effect in the world that couldn¡¯t also have happened by him simply moving the thing himself. The first thing that could justify him investing so much effort into improving his domain rather than just improving his body as Cederick had. It was a long awaited vindication. Well that or, he might just be nostalgic in a way for finally creating a spell he¡¯d seen in popular culture his whole life and could relate to.
There was nothing to say it couldn¡¯t be all of the above. Though he felt the relation to past expectations was a large factor. Not much of anything in his new paradigm could be equated to anything he was familiar with back home. The environment, physics, space itself, and even the people were all strange. Finding something he could point to as familiar was so refreshing. He even spent a bit miming some spell hand gestures as he made another light. He was pretty sure he looked ridiculous but there was no one to rain on his parade. The goofing off continued until he combined his two new skills and flew up to the ceiling while holding two mage lights in his hands while also crooning his best impression of Led Zeppelin¡¯s iconic vocals. Hoping he was giving angelic vibes instead of harpy screeching and awkward floating.
Laughing to himself he realized he was going fully loopy from lack of sleep as he sat back down. There was no sense in trying to sleep once you stayed up half the night already so he set back to testing things out. Since he¡¯d already familiarized himself with the frequency of several different colors he tested other things. Different sized blobs of energy, different shapes. He¡¯d narrowed it down to really only needing a thin sheet to create light so shaped the sheet into stars, circles, and squares. He also tried doing multiple colors at once. Realizing as he did so, if he made squares small enough and with enough colors he could make images or even videos if he could change the colors fast enough. Currently it still took far too long to adjust to the initial color and between them for video to work.
Though that reminded him of his earlier assumption. That while this was resulting in the light he was hoping for, it wasn¡¯t the end game. There was something else going on here. Another step he needed to take to make this faster and more efficient. With his familiarity of the process growing he was able to absentmindedly adjust to different colors and shapes while he focused on what he¡¯d been detecting previously. He felt the discharging of energy on the rebound over and over again as he adjusted the colors. Getting a feel for exactly what was happening. Growing the sheet and shrinking it to compare and contrast exactly the way the energy¡¯s release happened. Until he was ready to try a new method.
Preparing a new small sheet of energy he encapsulated it with his will and held the feeling from each of the multitude of emissions he¡¯d watched. Injecting the held feeling he didn¡¯t see anything from the sheet other than its disappearance. What he did see was from the door where the square was facing. A chunk the size of the sheet exploded into splinters as what he suspected was the entirety of the energy of the sheet in photon form collided with it, was absorbed, and heated it to, and beyond, the boiling point. With as much energy as was released he suspected some small parts of the wood sublimated instantly into a gas causing the explosion.
This was exactly the reason he was still facing the larger faces of the sheet to the sides. The result was a step in the right direction, but it wasn¡¯t the goal. He¡¯d been holding the feeling of releasing energy and focusing on it without any refinement. Going back to his variations of different colors, shapes, and sizes he narrowed them down to a nice green color. He did repeat other colors but as a contrast to what he wanted to create. He also focused this time on the amount of energy being released. As well as the near continuous nature. Repeating the process over and over until he could bring forward the feeling at a moment''s notice. Returning to a sheet with no vibration he applied what he¡¯d learned. Combining the color, energy level, and the consistency into a single feeling and watching the results. Shining onto the door was now a nice, bright emerald green color, no vibration necessary.
The light, while bright, wasn¡¯t blinding, and most importantly wasn¡¯t blowing a hole in the door. He examined the sheet of energy and the rate it was decaying. While there was still energy drain, it was a trickle compared to the small stream from vibration. It would last days like this. Reabsorbing the energy he created a half sphere and recreated a slightly different intent. This time with a different color, the emission on the spherical portion, and a few added layers for functionality. Affixing the resulting construct to his ceiling he released his hold on it and mentally told it ¡®on¡¯. A soft yellow glow lit up the shack and he smiled to himself. With another mystical replacement for a modern convenience in the bag Ozzy felt another wave of accomplishment wash over him.
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He¡¯d even weaved in motion detection and a timer. The light would go off if no motion was detected inside of the shack for about an hour. He¡¯d also added a switch he could mentally flip to switch it on or off. If it was in the ¡®on¡¯ position but the timer had expired any new motion would turn it back on and restart the timer. With the way he had it set up and the size it would last easily a few months. Maybe more like a year. Ozzy pulled out his notepad and used the new light to jot down a few of the more important bits of information he¡¯d garnered. While he was pretty sure he¡¯d never forget what he¡¯d just done, the particulars would definitely fog over time. With the notes coming together he realized he was penning his first spellbook.
With the new rush of success he had an even harder time getting to bed and ended up staying up well past the transition to day. The light peeking through the new hole in his door brought on a glut of exhaustion. He¡¯d never understood why the human body worked that way. Once you got that second wind it pushed and pushed until it saw the light of day, then suddenly it gave out on you. Telling you to go to bed right when you should be ready to get up. He was still young though. Maybe it was something you grew out of. Thankfully he had no obligations today, or any day really. Switching off his new light he laid back and let sleep take him.
Waking up groggily with what felt like a pounding headache. He felt around at his nightstand for his water cup and took a sip to help wake him up and maybe ease the pain. Which is when he realized he wasn¡¯t actually feeling pain. The pounding in his head was his haven repeatedly alerting him with more pressure than it ever had before. There had to be something absolutely monstrous out there for it to be so frightened. Drawing his new full body suit and spears to him he melded it around himself while lifting himself from the. As he readied himself he also turned part of his focus outside his shack and examined the surroundings. It was a little more difficult now that he¡¯d expanded so much. It wasn¡¯t helping that his haven was still metaphorically slapping him in the face and yelling danger every half second. Pushing a sense of awareness and calm to the haven he was glad to feel the haven¡¯s incessant prodding lessen, but not stop entirely.
Despite the relative peace and quiet allowing him to look more thoroughly he still wasn¡¯t seeing anything to indicate something was in the haven. Taking another pass he started with the quadrant his shack was in as it had the least amount of tiles. Then the empty field of random tiles opposite his only building. The lack of anything growing taller than a few inches made it almost as easy to confirm there was nothing moving about despite the much larger section. Then the quadrant with his small garden of wheat, sugarcane, the cotton flowers he¡¯d moved there, and the other plants. Again nothing stood out. The little grove he¡¯d made was the most difficult section to check, but it wasn¡¯t that large. It was only after looking through it twice that he realized he hadn¡¯t been checking the underside of his haven.
However, a quick sweep of the three empty quadrants found not a single thing out of the ordinary. Carefully combing through the trees on the underside yielded the same results. Trying again, and again, he checked the underside and topside several times. There was absolutely nothing in the haven he hadn¡¯t already seen. Tentatively he reached out to his haven itself and tried for the first time, a more direct communication. ¡®What danger?¡¯ he sent quizzically. The response came back so urgently that he felt his head turn before he even realized it had come. ¡®There!¡¯ The haven¡¯s response reverberated through his head as it turned seemingly on its own. His head now looking at the north east with its empty field he nearly asked again when he saw it. On the horizon past the tiles was¡ nothing. A glitch in the shining daylight. Not a starry night as might be expected if his scheduled changes were coming on, but a hole into the void between havens.
Staring at the anomaly, it appeared to be a gash in the membrane surrounding the haven. As if it¡¯d been sliced right through. The edges fluttered a bit as he watched as air escaped. He hadn¡¯t noticed before, but a breeze was rushing toward that side of the haven. His groggy morning mind was struggling to parse what he was seeing and understand what he should do about it. The havens were able to react and change their membranes. His foggy mind couldn¡¯t understand why it wouldn¡¯t repair the damage on its own. He was about to reach out and ask when something changed. The whole world twisted. He felt like he was a pearl at the bottom of a clam that had just been pried open. The rent in the side of the haven appeared to have ripped open the sky from east to west then splayed the haven wide.
The emptiness above and around him was an oppressive nothing. Not the nothing of space, but a true void that was pulling at him from every angle. The feeling was that it desired to pull every fiber of his being apart then splay the ends of each fiber. Tearing even fundamental strings into bits until there was literally nothing left. The impression was so strong that as he froze he almost didn¡¯t see the real danger. A small portion of the expanse wasn¡¯t the same kind of nothing. It reached out with something like his domain, only not. Like a tongue or tentacle it wrapped around one of the random tiles in the field and forcefully jerked it out. As it did so the haven warped back closed. The rent shrinking back to its original size.
B 1 Ch 38 Voidling
Ozzy was still frozen when the haven was split again. Repeating the experience allowed Ozzy to observe things he had been too distracted by the emptiness to notice. That the rift wasn¡¯t growing. The haven was shrinking. The feeling of being a pearl at the bottom of a clam wasn¡¯t simply the way the rift split the sky. He actually felt smaller and squashed into the haven like a sketch on a piece of paper. As if the haven had been steam rolled flat. Either the havens weren¡¯t the only thing capable of warping space, or It was also possible whatever the havens could do to warp space relied on their membranes and was being interfered with by whatever was snacking on it.
The moment of examination allowed him to break free from his frozen state. He had less than a minute before another square would be taken. Regardless of what he did eventually end up doing for now he needed to take some action. His first thought was to send a copy of his murderous little starfish. Which wasn¡¯t difficult. Making a copy only took a few seconds, it just took part of his domain for each manifestation. Setting the new copy next to the rent he also decided to copy his new suit he¡¯d made. He wanted to have a backup in case the murder bot didn¡¯t pan out.
Moving the suit next to the rent as well he then sent the starfish through. Pushing through felt like crawling into a hole in a wall. Inside was cramped and dark with a feeling of no space to move even the slightest bit. Yet at the same time there was nothing to hold to or press in on you. The combination of the cramped pressure minus anything confining you is what resulted in the feeling of being pulled at. Once the source was evident the feeling didn¡¯t weigh so heavily on Ozzy. The rent began to diminish as the starfish continued through. To the point that as the last leg pulled out it appeared to fill the cavity entirely. On the other side the moment the last leg broke contact with the haven the haven shrunk down rapidly until it was almost invisible.
In the void, with no space to enforce its tyranny of relativity the viewpoint from the starfish became a universe unto itself. It knew itself intimately and entirely. Why wouldn¡¯t the haven, a distant and unknowable entity, be a small insignificant point in relation. When space wasn¡¯t a factor, mental focus, awareness, and familiarity had as much to say about relative size as anything else. Yet the viewpoint of the starfish wasn¡¯t the origin, only a focal point through which Ozzy could see. Ozzy¡ yes Ozzy, not the starfish, was still there with his body able to ground him back to reality. To keep from losing himself in the cosmic scale outside. Turning that focal point back to the surroundings he had a moment of disorientation as he couldn¡¯t find the haven. Yet it wasn¡¯t lost entirely. The rent in its membrane shone like a beacon with energy, matter, and space itself leaking out into the void.
The stream of essence spewing out was being suckled at by a monstrosity made up of nonexistence. Interpreting exactly what he was looking at was difficult. It reminded Ozzy of those memes where someone asked an image generator to draw something and then told to make it angrier, and angrier. Finally ending by asking it to make it so angry it transcended existence itself. The type of images where looking away and back seemed to change the image, even when it was clearly a static picture. The angles and contours seeming to morph endlessly. This angry embodiment of emptiness itself was devouring the light, air, and anything else that came from his haven. In its tangled clutches the last square it had pulled out had been stripped of its membrane and was being unraveled.
The process seemed so much slower than it had from the other side. There were even times where it appeared to be reconstructing the square before tearing it apart even further. It seemed space wasn¡¯t the only side of the coin that didn¡¯t quite exist out here. Time seemed to be flowing in fits and starts, or maybe it was the relativity of his mind playing tricks on him in a place that didn¡¯t have clear reference points. The process did eventually complete and Ozzy watched curiously as he saw it approach the haven. As it seemed to swim up the current of spacetime flowing out it shrunk more and more to be relatively close to the size of the haven or smaller. To the point that it was hard to see what happened. A fine line of light split the haven and as it was split and flattened it grew exponentially, until inside Ozzy could see himself staring back out like a little figurine.
A tendril of the monstrosity reached into the haven shrinking down the further it encroached. Until almost the entirety was inside reaching just barely to the nearest square. While only a tiny portion was left clinging to the void like an umbilical as it snatched at another snack. Switching his perspective to the copy of his suit he lashed out with one of the spears. Catching the tentacle as it tried to grab another tile. The blade passed through as if there were nothing there at all. However, the instant the blade entered the same space that was also occupied by this nothing there was an immediate and extreme reaction. A shrieking wave passed over everything in the haven and even continued outside through the escaping essence and passed over the Starfish. It was from this point of view that it was most obvious this wasn¡¯t actually sound. Rather these waves were traveling through space. Yet the violence and energy contained in them was enough that Ozzy¡¯s eardrums could pick it up as sound. The voidling reeled back from the haven, allowing it to close, and curled in on itself. It remained in the stream of existence flowing out of the haven, but at a greater distance.
With what appeared to be a moment of reprieve Ozzy started patching the edge of the haven as best he could. Effectively just plugging the hole from both sides with two disks of his own membrane and a connection between to secure them tightly to the haven¡¯s membrane. Checking his work along the way with the starfish still on the other side he confirmed no more air or space was leaking out. Yet light was still streaming through. Checking on the voidling he found it still curled up though a small portion was now spread out to capture all the escaping light. The cause might simply be that it was recovering, or that it realized the leak had slowed. In order to hedge his bets Ozzy left the light to stream. Hopefully it would help keep the creature calm while it regrouped. Though he suspected that he wouldn¡¯t have long.
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With a modicum of protection restored Ozzy took a minute to reevaluate. Examining his suit mk 2.1 he went over the blade of the spear he¡¯d sliced into nothing with. While he¡¯d been disoriented by the shriek at the time, he hadn¡¯t entirely lost focus. As it sliced through he¡¯d felt a familiar bubbling sensation along the weapon. At the time he wasn¡¯t sure what it reminded him of. Though now he realized it was somewhat like the reaction that happened when swallowing foreign trips. Looking at it closely he found that the surface was pitted and gouged in places. At one particularly badly damaged section he could still feel a slight sizzle as something ate away at the membrane of the suit. As it did there was a stream of all different kinds of energies billowing off the blade. Inside the deepest gouge he found a dwindling speck of nothing still reacting with the suit. As quickly as he could Ozzy gripped the substance with his domain and pulled it out of the suit. Despite leaving the armor it was still sizzling and spewing energy while touching the air as it also continued to dwindle in size.
Adding another layer of energy to push back the air around it he found the energy billowing from it cease. Focusing back on the speck of void he found that the energy immediately around it began to absorb back into it. His own energy, holding it in place, was also draining into it. Cinching down his will around his energy holding it decreased the loss to nearly nothing. However, the energy permeating the haven was still being drawn in. Taking a different approach, Ozzy surrounded the object with trips and formed a membrane. Adding intent and pores he had it maintain a vacuum that was better than any possible with any technology back on earth. The ability to individually grab atoms and shove them about while also maintaining a perfect seal was just Clark tech plain and simple. Although that might not follow if he was using magic to achieve it.
Having the trips also hold the microscopic cross between a black hole and antimatter in place he set it down and watched it for a bit. The energy suction didn¡¯t extend very far from the surface. As he wasn¡¯t specifically blocking energy from the new construct there was a steady stream of what he would call waste energies. Yet the void particle was happily feeding off of it. Even the types that the havens and trees didn¡¯t seem to like were gobbled up as well. After a bit he confirmed it was growing now. Incrementally and infinitesimally, but growing all the same. Layering in intent to purge energy from the center he watched again. While he was still seeing an errant bit of energy lost to it from the very energy used to contain it, the vast majority was being handled and removed as he¡¯d intended. While the particle would technically still grow it would be months before it could achieve what it had in the last few seconds with its new near zero absorption rate.
With the voidlet secured he returned his attention to the real danger outside his haven. The voidling had moved since he last checked. The amorphous body was now closer to the haven. Spread out in the light streaming from the plugged rent. Twitching around in what appeared to be adjustments to its angle of observation, despite the lack of any obvious light or other sensory organs. It had recovered quickly from the minor slash. Likely it wasn¡¯t even harmed per se, just surprised, and unfamiliar with being attacked at all. While he continued to gauge its reaction he pondered its origins.
It was highly likely this was something like what Vonder had described. Something that floated in the void and fed off of stray matter it ran into. In the case of the one Vonder had found it fed on a fragment of a world, and fought Vonder, Benjamin, and their Mentor all to a standstill. Possibly to death in the case of their mentor. Yet none of them had mentioned one of these ever reaching a haven of anyone else. Or even mentioned another of them at all. The likelihood that this was some random appearance as nil to none. He¡¯d suspected when the boar showed up that something might be off with his haven, yet this was another matter entirely. Other beings that spawned inside of havens at least had the benefit of the havens themselves, and their list of connections to direct their travels. Whatever method the boar used to arrive could easily have relied on this information. Yet this denizen of the void had no such assistance. As much as Ozzy wanted to solve that problem right now the voidling was becoming agitated.
The twitching of its nebulous body was faster and sharper. Meanwhile it was moving closer to the porthole into the haven. It seemed to know something had changed with the rent and it appeared to be examining it from every angle it could. A portion of its form flicked out and impacted the plug he¡¯d made. Causing a burst of energies that spread out spherically, both into and out of the haven. The voidling recoiled and jerked about as if agitated. From the plug itself Ozzy could see that barely a pinprick was taken out of the surface. The voidling lashed out again, this time to the side. Its slash this time tore through the less resistant membrane of the haven itself with nearly no resistance. Again the Voidling reacted but this time the movements somehow translated as excited rather than agitated.
From the plug Ozzy watched as the Voidling reeled back and then froze there staring at the new rent it¡¯d made. Another wiggle went through its center though it was hard to tell exactly what it meant. Perhaps glee at its pending retaliation. Rushing forward it again slit the haven flat. Though it didn¡¯t reach in, at the squares. Instead it again twitched about examining from the new viewpoint. Suddenly it stopped and spiked into the haven directly at the spare suit. Which is when Ozzy took action. From behind the Starfish rocketed toward the last tendril it had left outside.
B 1 Ch 39 Antithesis
Just as the voidling wrapped itself around the spare suit the starfish rammed into the trailing portion. Continuing on it felt only a slight friction though apparently that was enough. However the thing was gripping onto nothing at all, it was disrupted by the starfish passing through. As it tried to yank the suit back, it instead pulled itself fully into the haven. As it did so the haven closed in a flash and the starfish collided with the new rent. Instead of trying to continue through Ozzy had the starfish grip the edges and morph into another plug.
Inside the haven the voidling was thrashing about while spewing energy in every direction. The suit, haven¡¯s domain, squares, and the air itself were all anathema to it. Ozzy couldn¡¯t help but visualize someone burning alive as they fought for their life and hesitated. Which was of course a mistake. Before he had a chance to take advantage of the situation the voidling turned into a whirlwind and shredded the suit it had gripped into useless chunks. After which the thing swirled in place, seeming to turn itself inside out. The result was odd. Like there was a bubble between itself and the air. The new surface was not reacting with the air in which it was suspended. The entire reason Ozzy had thought to bring the monster onto his own turf was now being negated with barely any effort. Well likely some effort as it would have already done this otherwise.
Before Ozzy could fully evaluate the change in situation it twisted itself and zeroed in on the suit currently surrounding Ozzy. His eyes shot open as wide as they could as it flashed toward him. With it a bare meter in front of the suit Ozzy was able to slash down with both spears while also jumping to the side. Another space rending screech escaped the voidling as it slipped past him. Two lines spewing energy now adorned its sides. On one he could see it begin to squeeze together and the energy fountain diminish. Since it was busy for a moment Ozzy took a chance. Copying his suit in front of himself he dashed toward the edge of the haven. Behind him the voidling finished repairing the gashes. Interestingly they weren¡¯t entirely gone. There was still an obvious line where the damage had been. Suggesting this capability was energy intensive.
Again it flashed toward the suit though it zigged and zagged as it advanced. Not only left and right but up and down at random intervals as well. Instead of attempting to attack Ozzy gripped the suit and sent it flying in the opposite direction to his escape, where the voidling followed. Reaching the edge of the haven Ozzy stopped and contemplated his next action. He knew this wasn¡¯t going to end if he simply left. Vonder had made it clear that once the likely similar being had their scent it had followed them through havens. Only leaving them alone once it had been distracted by their mentor. Technically it was focused on the suits but something told Ozzy leaving the haven would change that. Even if it didn¡¯t chase him Ozzy didn¡¯t want to give up everything he¡¯d worked to create so far. Instead he turned around and leaned back, slipping out the back of the suit grabbing himself and setting his body down on the underside he then focused on the suit he¡¯d thrown. The voidling had already reached it and sliced it in half. That didn¡¯t stop him from retaliating though. Attacking back he found that his enemy had apparently been paying attention so far. Three different attacks in a row it evaded and retaliated.
The attacks with this new form of void were strangely familiar. It could form spikes, tentacles and blade-like appendages. Similar to his own initial abilities with domain. Though they all seemed to be weaker than the voidling in its natural form. While in its raw state it had been able to slice the initial suit into bits with less effort than it was currently expending to only leave large gashes or hack off parts of it and dodge. It was odd the things that Ozzy¡¯s mind picked up on while in a life or death struggle with an embodiment of the void. His reaction time and capabilities were suffering because of it. Returning his focus to the exchanges going on between the upper half of his suit and the voidling he fell into a rhythm of avoiding strikes while meting out at least as much damage as he received.
Evading was made so much easier by not needing to plant the suit''s feet or push against the ground in any special way. He hadn¡¯t fought professionally but even in his limited experience he¡¯d had to learn some basic footwork to adjust his position without rolling an ankle. Now he could simply jerk the construct about in exactly the way he wanted without having to prepare beforehand. Though the voidling could do the same. It seemed to be more nimble and had a quicker response time. Which should mean it would do more damage, but he was working hard to make up for that in other ways. It appeared the voidling was driven more by instinct and emotion than any intelligence or cunning. Its movements were rash and violent which was dangerous but predictable. Even the fact that it had a more three dimensional view of the world and would attack from almost any angle didn¡¯t help it much.
The attacks it made were singular and telegraphed by its twitching observations. After each one it stopped and evaluated his position before moving onto another. It was also easily thrown off when he attacked causing it to pause before dodging and then observing again before attacking. Ozzy was slowly able to start pairing evasions with a followup attack in a single smooth motion. In a few instances he was even able to layer in a second or third swipe before it could respond. All of this gave him a quick succession of reprieves in which he could plan ahead.
While he was getting a hit in here and there the damage he was doing was quickly sealed. There was energy spewing out before each wound could be closed. Yet the miniscule amount was like trying to empty the ocean with a spoon. He couldn¡¯t even tell if the voidling was diminishing even the tiniest bit. They would be at this for an eternity, possibly longer if it kept up at this rate. Ozzy needed a method to expose it to the elements for a prolonged amount of time. Before it had wrapped itself in the protective bubble it conjured it might have been difficult to pin down and subject it to anything. Yet this substance was able to react with both the voidling¡¯s body, and physical objects both. When hitting the surface the voidling inside was jostled around like a melted ice pack.
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Ozzy took a bit longer to flesh out his plan. Evading, attacking, and thinking through his options before repeating the process again. Finally coming to a decision he reached out with his domain. All while still doing his best to contend with the voidling he also tightened his will around a tree on the underside. Making a few angled slices low on the trunk he pulled the entire thing toward himself. Inspecting his work and making a few more cuts to improve the tip he hefted the giant wooden spear topside at a specific point. He¡¯d chosen the point as it appeared to be the spot the voidling was least likely to see. Slowly moving the tree higher and closer he felt the branches brush the top edge of the haven.
He wanted to pause and take a break, his mind felt bowed and bent under the strain of it all. Fighting can already tax the mind to breaking with the snap decisions required. Lifting the largest thing he had ever attempted before and keeping it hidden in the enemy''s blind spot was also difficult. Doing them both at the same time was taxing him to his limits. Finally getting the tree into position he lined up his shot and waited. Letting his current attack finish and the voidling to dodge he still waited. Once the voidling finished its evasion and twitched twice to indicate it was observing he flung the tree at the monstrosity¡¯s center of mass.
Whatever method of sight this creature had it was eventually able to react to the trunk. Twitching itself upside down it froze in place for a moment. Even if it didn¡¯t the reaction was too late, before that moment ended the trunk had already collided with the protective surface and like a freight train hitting a horse drawn cart, was continuing on to the ground unimpeded. As the trunk pushed the unprepared creature into the ground it squashed out like a water balloon hitting pavement. Unlike a water balloon on pavement the voidling didn¡¯t retract our bounce back up as the tree trunk speared through it, then still continued into the dirt of the square below. There was a frozen slice of time in which the impaled creature began to spew energy in every direction, but made no move or reaction. Then came a screeching wail that made the last one seem like a squeak. It continued on and grew in strength until the entire haven felt like it was vibrating itself to pieces.
Ozzy recalled his domain to himself, having needed to send the entirety with the tree just to lift it, and in turn lifted himself from the ground. Yet the shaking didn¡¯t lessen. It wasn¡¯t the ground, but space itself that was conducting these vibrations from the voidling. The power and pitch of the whine ticked up and up at a blistering pace. Ozzy couldn¡¯t tell if he was breathing in or out anymore. It was also becoming difficult to breathe as the air began to feel more viscous than water. As if the pitch had reached some frequency that allowed gasses to become a non newtonian fluid. At some point his eardrums had burst, though at first he couldn¡¯t tell. Only a dribble of warm fluid leaking out made him realize he couldn¡¯t hear the noise any longer. That didn¡¯t stop him from feeling the vibration in his chest and still not being able to breathe though.
Ozzy began pulling himself toward the top of the haven, unsure exactly what he was going to do. Maybe pull the tree out and throw the unknown and incredibly dangerous being back out of his haven. Before he could cross over the horizon the whine suddenly wound down in a few seconds as if someone had hit the off switch on a motor. Returning his focus to his suit he saw the tree still speared into the ground. There was also the protective shell still impaled to the ground. Yet the interior of it no longer contained the voidling. The surrounding dirt and the tree itself didn¡¯t appear damaged enough to have absorbed the entire creature. Without the voidling holding them together each and every gash Ozzy had been able to put in the protective layer was now open wide. So there wasn¡¯t even a good indication of which direction the thing had gone.
Scanning the haven he started at the two rents and found his plugs still intact. Following along the edge he couldn¡¯t see any indication of another hole poked through the membrane. Not on the horizon and not above the squares. He even checked the underside despite doubting it would have gone that direction. There wasn¡¯t a single new rent in the membrane of the haven. He checked it all a second time with a finer tooth comb just to be sure. If he was being honest it was because he was hoping it was gone. There was a hopeful thought as to whether it hadn¡¯t just expired already, but he doubted that was the case.
Resigning himself to the now almost certainty it was still somewhere hiding, waiting for him to make a mistake he started checking the squares themselves. Starting with the underside as he was currently hiding out there himself. None of the quadrants contained a single indication that the voidling had traveled down. Returning his attention topside he began his usual method and checked the empty field first. Then the garden and Grove. Finally checking his house he still didn¡¯t see the voidling. What he did find was a small hole in the side facing where he had speared it into the ground.
B 1 Ch 40 A grave error
Following the hole through the wall with his domain he found his house undisturbed. Not a single cabinet, drawer, his recliner, or blanket were disturbed. The tension increased as he searched the place top to bottom. Including both reservoirs, the one of water and the other of energy. He again couldn¡¯t see any specific thing out of order.
Pausing for a moment he remembered that sometimes going right to the fine toothed comb wasn¡¯t the best approach as a broad view could catch things the tighter focus would miss. Stepping back, metaphorically and metaphysically, he allowed his view to take in the whole of the shack. Watching for a moment he still couldn¡¯t see anything out of the ordinary. The only movements he could see was the water in its reservoir swirling as more was pumped in, likewise the energy in its own storage was entering but then freezing in place. Though even as he watched the level of energy in the reservoir wasn¡¯t increasing. In fact it was decreasing. It was a strange phenomena as he was not seeing energy disappear per se, yet every time his focus adjusted he found the energy was lower.
Pulling his view back once more, though this time to encompass just the reservoir itself he again tried to force himself to keep this point of view. The human mind was so prone to dialing in on any detail out of place that it could easily miss the larger picture. It didn¡¯t take long before he began to see a pattern emerge. When energy entered the reservoir it shuffled about for a moment before settling. At the cusp of where it was nearly still but still moving some of the existing energy would wink out. Like the eyes of predators closing at night.
Ozzy of course suspected what was happening, but another common human, and animal, trait was to try and gather as much info as possible before acting. Seeing grass move in the distance was a pretty good sign that there were predators about, but more often it was simply the wind. If you panicked and ran from every rustle in the grass you¡¯d never have time to eat, or sleep, eventually exhausting yourself. It was also possible you¡¯d run from the wind and find yourself running directly into the mouth of a predator in the opposite direction. Ozzy wasn¡¯t interested in jerking back only to find himself plunging into the embrace of the voidling.
Instead he watched again, as more energy dribbled into the reservoir continuously he was able to examine repeatedly. If this was the voidling it had taken some form that was impossible to see, even with his domain¡¯s senses growing ever sharper. Regardless of if he could see it, there was something inside taking his energy. He needed to take some action, even if it wasn¡¯t a direct attack. Linking with the pathways that brought the energy into his shack he redirected them. Pulling the energy to himself instead he slowly began to replenish his reserves. Having recently made several suits, a starfish, and fighting for what felt like hours, he felt diminished.
Returning his focus to the reservoir he watched as the last bit of energy entered and the flow stopped. Though while the energy ingress stopped the drain continued. Then it picked up suddenly as it appeared the voidling realized the ruse was up. The drain ramped up quickly and the guise the voidling had donned dropped. It was spread out in the reservoir with a small portion of its form stretching down to a part of the membrane that he could now see was slightly different from the rest. It appears it had broken through then created a membrane of its own to seal and hide the damage. Even as he turned back to the voidling as a whole it was morphing from a dispersed cloud of nothing into a dense and thickening wall as it absorbed exponentially more energy every second.
The voidling was already more than twice the size it was previously. Acting as quickly as he could Ozzy dissolved away the reservoir''s membrane and pulled out the trips that held the energy in place, which allowed it to begin to spread out. As he did a rush of air blew into the shack as apparently the voidling had formed a vacuum inside the reservoir to keep out the air. At the same time the voidling began to spew energy as the air came back into contact with its surface. The voidling now knowing for certain the jig was up expanded and snatched up what energy it could before again reforming it¡¯s membranous protective layer. Turning it followed the retreating membrane that was still dissolving around it. Even after the trips had fully returned to their ground state the voidling still followed. Confirming it could see them as clearly as it could membrane.
If it could see membrane, domain, and energy returning his domain to himself might just bring it directly to him. Instead he could form another suit to fight for him. Yet while they had kept the voidling busy when it was smaller he wasn¡¯t sure how that would fare with its still growing form as it snatched up the dissipating energy and it advanced slowly, but menacingly. Even that small behavior suggested something had changed. The voidling had previously jumped from one behavior to the next with full force. Even the simple act of looking in a new direction was a twitchy affair. The new, slower pace and smooth motion suggested not just its size, but its cognition had increased.
With the combination of not just a growth in size but an apparent increase in intelligence Ozzy couldn¡¯t just take the same actions he had before. Yet, that didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t merge a few of his previous tactics. Forming a new suit with some of what he had collected from the shack he bound his intent into it and pulled back a bit with the rest. While he formed another suit a few squares behind the first he also watched the larger voidling. It hadn¡¯t appeared to react when the new suit was formed, just continued on as if this was all expected. Stopping in front of the new suit it twisted a bit like a fish swimming. Though Ozzy suspected this movement was its new method of looking around. Its attack came suddenly and viciously at the suit. Though the twitchiness was gone that didn¡¯t mean the thing was any slower, just smoother and more concise in the way it moved. The suit dodged on its own just as he¡¯d hoped with the way he¡¯d imbued it with his best impression of avoidance.
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The dodge was a much more fluid motion than he himself had been able to enact while throwing himself or the other suit around trying to avoid being hit. There was something completely different about being able to imbue your intent and not have it affected by your state of mind, or the hurried calculations of a meat based computer prone to errors. The suit had almost lazily leaned to the side leaving the barest of gaps for the protrusion the voidling had shaped into a scythe to slice the air ineffectually.
The voidling allowed his scythe to slide back into the whole before taking action again. This time there was no obvious indication it was looking around to warn for the attack to come. There were two scythes this time coming from opposite angles. The suit tucked and rolled backward before springing up again into a wide stance Ozzy was sure he¡¯d seen an olympic gymnast do once. With the confirmation that his initial play was going as planned he turned his focus back to the second move he planned. The second suit he also layered in the avoidance he¡¯d added to the first but with an additional layer. This second layer he wasn¡¯t entirely sure would be successful though the moment watching the voidling fight had given him an idea.
He¡¯d been trying to wrack his brains on how he could get his constructs to target nothing without them flailing randomly in the air. Though watching the exchange just now he¡¯d been captivated by the membrane it formed and the weapons it created from it. This membrane seemed to have some physical form, and he had an example of it laying just a few meters away. Pulling the shredded flap of membrane over to the suit he used it to create a focus to create a target for the construct. After a few failed attempts it began to swing its tentacled spears slicing into the husk. Grabbing the suit with his domain it stopped like all his other constructs did and he threw the thing at the voidling that was still going after the first suit. The moment his domain left the suit it reoriented itself in mid air and zeroed in on the voidling. As it neared it prepared a strike and let loose on the enemy. The voidling dodged as smoothly as it had attacked and even began to attack in return.
Despite now having a second combatant to deal with the voidling didn¡¯t seem to be perturbed or worried at all. It didn¡¯t even stop attacking the first suit. Which now that Ozzy¡¯s attention was brought back to it, he could see had a few minor scratches and one gash in its membrane. Indicating the voidling wasn¡¯t just better able to control itself but could also learn from those it faced and improve as it continued to fight. For another few seconds he was mesmerized by the fluid fight between his constructs and the resident of the void. It was almost like a dance. Now with the second suit in the mix the voidling found it hard to land a hit, yet so did the second suit. Their movements flowed forward and back, to attack and avoid in turn. Though between the suits the voidling was the most graceful of the three. One side attacked while the other barely avoided being hit by a spear.
To turn the tide Ozzy reached out to the first suit and layered in the same commands as the second. When it dodged the voidling¡¯s next attack it followed it up with one of its own. This attack, being so out of the pattern so far, slipped past the voidling''s awareness and landed quite solidly on its membrane. There was no hiss or shriek to accompany the damage, simply an adjustment to the voidling¡¯s reactions to account for the change. Instead of continuing to watch, Ozzy began creating a third suit. As soon as it was ready he sent it off and began work on a fourth. Once it had joined the fray he allowed himself some time to evaluate. The voidling was now taking damage every few attacks, though at the same time it was able to use the multiple opponents against one another. Maneuvering itself to have one or more of the suits blocking the others meant their attacks couldn¡¯t hit it as well.
As he watched he saw one of the suits end up hitting another in the back, apparently not caring if its ally was in the way of what it was trying to attack. Though obviously he hadn¡¯t accounted for anything like that with his commands. It took a few exchanges before he was able to add another layer of intent to fix that conundrum. This had the unintended, but appreciated, consequences of the suits also maneuvering themselves into better positions to attack. He had been worried he¡¯d need to add an incredibly complex set of layers for such behavior. Thankfully he¡¯d struck it lucky and found a simple solution by accident.
Continuing to evaluate the situation he was pleased to find the damage to the voidling''s protective shell had increased significantly. Not to the point that he suspected it would die any moment, but enough that he held out hope this solution would pan out. As before the voidling was clamping down on any gash forming on the membrane. There was the brief splash of energy flowing out from the air getting in. Though something was different with that energy. A growing portion of it was slowing, then changing directions and being absorbed by the voidling. Nothing like half of the energy which relieved him. Though his next realization removed any such relief from his mind. The energy in the air around the voidling was forming a vortex like Cederick''s. Not quite the same range the kid¡¯s was at, but enough that it was clearly making up for what it was losing in the fight. Enough that Ozzy could visibly see the voidling growing.
B 1 Ch 41 Getting your hands dirty
Ozzy took a second to recalibrate his estimates and confirm. The growth rate wasn¡¯t exponential by a long shot but the voidling was growing. Even at a linear rate that was an alarming revelation. That fact alone wouldn¡¯t be so terrifying if one didn¡¯t consider the fact that four suits were doing their best to damage it, and despite the clear loss in energy from every landed attack, it was still growing. Ozzy could obviously add more suits and level the playing field. He could throw some starfish at it and let them rip out some of its innards. Actually that last one might do some good. He would have to adjust things slightly but if he could get it to work they might do even more damage than the small spurts of energy the suits were resulting in.
As quickly as he could he created a duplicate of his starfish design and began to adjust the targeting and further behavior layered into it. Copying the intent from the suits took barely a thought but if he was really going to damage it he needed a way to pull out portions of the core. Even just trying to have it target the small speck of the void he¡¯d sectioned off was proving difficult. It wasn¡¯t that the construct wasn¡¯t listening or that it couldn¡¯t locate the stuff. The failure was far earlier in the process than that. He couldn¡¯t properly form a mental picture of what this even was. He¡¯d called it a voidling, thought it was the embodiment of nothing, and felt the emptiness that made it up. Yet none of those stimulated a response when trying to add it to the starfish.
While wondering how he was going to get the result he needed he remembered he didn¡¯t need to know exactly what he was dealing with. Nor did he need to target anything once the shell was breached. The starfish could simply perform a specific action once it broke through. Adding on the intent he¡¯d settled on he also made some minor modifications to the arms and the tentacle that punctured. With the changes complete he made a few copies and threw them at the voidling.
The voidling narrowly avoided the first two that sailed into the vicinity. The third was able to adjust position enough to latch onto the protective shell. Doing so with the suckers he¡¯d added to the underside of the arms. Without being large enough to grasp around the voidling it needed another way to get a grip. Once it had pulled itself tightly snug to the membrane it lashed out with the claws embedded in the center. The hole it produced was miniscule compared to the slashes the suits had been dishing out. Yet the starfish wasn¡¯t done. Following the claws came the tentacle that would usually seek out the core. Instead once it penetrated the membrane it began pulling the innards up into the main body. Once there the adjustments Ozzy made sprayed the volatile substance out into the haven. Even with Immediately getting rid of the stuff the starfish wasn¡¯t going to last. The portion inside the voidling was radiating energy from the contact and every part of the tubing ripping out portions of the void was also being eaten away rapidly. Though it turned out that wouldn¡¯t matter.
The Voidling reacted violently once it appeared to realize what was happening. Counter intuitively it actually shot out even more of itself to dislodge the starfish which worked well enough. The starfish slipped off of the surface and flopped to the ground looking a bit like it had been hit with an acid attack with pockmarks and chunks missing out of it. The voidling sucked the closest and largest chunk of itself back inside the protective shell and sealed it back up before continuing to dodge and attack the suits around it. The other two starfish returned to attack but the voidling was incredibly wary of them. On a couple occasions Ozzy saw it choose to avoid the starfish rather than the suits allowing them to at least get a little more damage in.
Ozzy expected the first starfish to get back up but it continued to lay there with energy steaming off of it from the contact points. Reaching out to it he could feel that the voidling had somehow stripped it of intent in the wave that had washed over it. Reconstituting it to pristine condition he also reapplied the intent and then made a few more copies. The air and ground around the voidling was now choked with his constructs trying desperately to achieve the goals he had set out for them.
The battle had shifted several times over the last few minutes and Ozzy took a moment to observe the new status quo. The voidling had yet to allow another starfish to latch on. As with avoiding the first two starfish the now clouded air around it meant it was taking more and more hits from the suits instead. It appeared to be enough that the growth had at least slowed. With all of the motion going on both in front of, behind, and that of the voidling itself, it made confirming the rate quite hard. While he was quite sure the growth had slowed he was nearly as sure that it hadn¡¯t stopped. There was also not much more room to add more to the fray. He felt a starfish or two might be able to squeeze in so he made a couple copies. He also added another suit which more often than not was sitting behind the others waiting for an opening.
Watching again he finally saw another starfish latch onto the voidling. The claws came out but as soon as they pierced the membrane the voidling shoved out a wave pushing the starfish off and retracted nearly all of what it used to do so. This starfish also flopped to the ground devoid of any intent and lay there lifeless. Ozzy frowned to himself as he restored it to a functional state and watched it return to the fray. With all of the constructs he¡¯d brought to bear he knew the voidling in the previous weaker, twitchy state would have succumbed rather quickly. The newer smoother behavior paired with a preternatural speed and simultaneous reactions from multiple angles made it significantly harder to handle even after filling the ground and air around it with constructs. Yet those weren¡¯t Ozzy¡¯s only tools.
He pooled his domain inside of the squares under the voidling leaving nearly nothing around himself. He wasn¡¯t sure if the subterfuge was even accomplishing anything, but the voidling at least didn¡¯t seem to be reacting. Preparing himself he pushed the entire mass of energy and particles up in a bid to grapple with the enemy. The voidling reacted immediately and as fluidly as ever. Sliding to the side and taking another hit from the suits. The thing apparently not wanting to chance whatever damage he might be able to mete out with the new avenue of attack.
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For the next few minutes Ozzy used his experience fighting to the extent he could muster in order to give the voidling a run for its money. Like the starfish he wasn¡¯t able to get in hits at first. Mainly choosing moments where the voidling would need to choose between allowing his domain to touch it, getting slashed by a spear tipped tentacle, or having to handle a starfish latching onto its shell. In nearly every case the choice was to be slashed. Though on two occasions Ozzy was able to nudge the decision into resulting in another starfish getting ahold of its carapace. Which resulted in the same nullified state as with the others. Though Ozzy simply restored them and sent them back into the ring.
It was when Ozzy was about to force the third starfish contact that the voidling surprised him by finally choosing to allow his domain through instead. Ozzy faltered in his attack with the unexpected turn of events. Thankfully he had been planning what he would do in such an event. With every attack he¡¯d targeted the points where spears had previously left gashes in the protective membrane. Following through with that plan he rammed a cylinder of domain into the already damaged portion and was ecstatic when he saw the sides of the gash fold inward like a tin can. Not letting up on the pressure for a moment he pushed more and more of his domain through like a feight train entering a tunnel with tremendous momentum.
As he did so the voidling reacted with the same wave as it had with the starfish. Although he felt a bit of a static popping coming from that portion of his domain it didn¡¯t disconnect from him or disintegrate other than at the surface. He had worried that more could happen. With the way the trips he¡¯d stolen and watched the imp steal had been converted. Maybe it was because they were all still connected together, either way he didn¡¯t have time to test or examine the reaction. Instead he expanded out his domain on the inside to form a lock so the voidling couldn¡¯t simply shove his extension out, like it had the starfish.
As more and more of his domain filled the inside the other gashes began to bow outward, forcing the voidling into contact with the air over a large portion of the protective membrane. The roiling energy spewing off of it spurred it on in retaliation. A ripple passed through the voidling as it rebounded and rushed toward the invasion point of Ozzy¡¯s domain. The compression wave neared the contact point and Ozzy tensed for the impact. No impact came. Instead the fuzzing and popping sensation sunk deep into his invading domain and continued out of the membrane as the voidling shifted itself to allow a reverse invasion. Which expanded to encompass more of his domain every moment.
Ozzy was blindsided and disoriented from the ever growing sensation of conflict on a sub microscopic level. It felt a bit like a limb after a nerve had been pinched. Pins and needles, but not simply to alert you of non-existent damage, but to inform you that it had decided you were no longer the owner of said limb. The sensation was accompanied with an intense bout of vertigo and an uncertainty of self which only grew as the voidling burrowed deeper into his domain. The further into his domain the voidling encroached the less this felt like a limb resisting his ownership, and more like the invasion of his own mind. The less his domain felt like a part of him, and simply felt like he was being taken over.
He was vaguely aware of the suits and starfish ineffectually slashing into and latching onto the membranous shell that the voidling was now leaving behind. That realization allowed a portion of himself, his physical self, to reinject a fighting spirit into the domain. While the domain had grown and expanded to encompass much of what he was now, it wasn''t the whole, and he used that physical portion of himself to his advantage as well. Reasserting the domain as a limb he was able to shift it into a tight ball. As tight of one as you can get with something that could span a couple meters easily. The close quarters seemed to help each part of his domain cope a little better with the invader and allow his mind to focus on what was happening. The voidling had reverted into the nearly undetectable form it had taken in his shack. Merging into and hiding within his domain. At the same time it was striking out mentally and metaphysically.
While his domain was physically popping and fizzing as it warred with the void Ozzy¡¯s mind was still under assault as well. The intent and desire roiling out of the nothing was singularly focused on the goal of tearing down every belief Ozzy had ever held and his very consciousness with them. He felt a bit like he¡¯d signed into social media and everyone on every app, in every forum, and on every page, was entirely convinced even his presence was a disgrace. An imagined chorus of voices crying out in a mix of terror and hatred at his affront to nonexistence for simply living rang in his head, and throughout his being.
Weathering the storm Ozzy reached out to the surrounding starfish and suits, pulling them into and amalgamating them with the rest of his domain. He felt a small relief as their presence steadied his mind and calmed his soul. Reaching out further to each of the havens touching his own. Connecting to each and every starfish, exchanger, tube, or other portion of domain or membrane he¡¯d left and dismantled them. A wave of domain washed back into his haven and melded with the rest. The voices screeched out again at the audacity with which he dared to continue to fight. Though this wasn¡¯t the same space warping screech from before. Nor even the chorus of self righteous indignation, and absolute certainty of his failure. Instead this was the whimpering wail of one who knew they¡¯d lost.
B 1 Ch 42 The Answer
Ozzy still stood on the underside of his haven. His body was more of an afterthought to the battle that was still winding down topside. If someone were to stand on the topside and search the entirety they wouldn¡¯t find any continued physical combat. Likewise only a tree speared halfway through a square and some scuffs in the dirt would indicate any altercation had even taken place. However, looking with his domain clearly showed the tree was also spearing the old membrane and also revealed the newly discarded one not far away. Both slashed and tattered extensively. His domain itself would also be revealed though even that wouldn¡¯t hint at the mental combat still trudging on inside.
The voidling had abandoned the pointless wailing and returned to countering every thought he could conceive of even as it was being formed. Gearing itself entirely toward the mental struggle. To the point that there didn¡¯t appear to be any physical energy dissipation at all. All of this hinting at the structure of whatever it was that made it up. It wasn¡¯t an antiparticle, or a black hole, or just nothingness. The form it took wasn¡¯t static or even fluid. It was more of a quantum superposition in an exact negation state of every possible waveform of all things physical and otherwise. which apparently included thoughts.
It wasn¡¯t simply that it contained a waveform of an antiparticle in order to annihilate a counter particle into pure energy. There was an infinitesimal portion of the voidling, which also infused the whole, that contained exactly the needed energies to disrupt anything such that it reverted into its constituent parts, while also preventing the binding energy from simply reforming or converting into something new. The total energy of which was significantly lower than a simple antiparticle. Likewise another portion would break up any sub constituents until the only thing left was the energy, which it or another, could devour. It could apparently also alter this state such that it could counter specific groups of things depending on what scenario it found itself in.
For example when the voidling was faced with a battle in which it was repeatedly outmatched in novel physical and metaphysical ways, it could instead narrow the focus and counter his thoughts alone. Which is how he currently found himself slightly confused, disoriented, and yet slowly gaining ground in what felt like the strangest conversation he¡¯d ever had. Mostly because it wasn¡¯t so much a conversation as a roiling exchange of raw consciousness. The voidling was short circuiting his thoughts and attempting to supplant them with its own. The experience was not far off from a drug induced fugue state where each thought tumbled over the next cascading into confusion. The only thing that seemed to help buffer him from the onslaught was that the voidling was focusing all of its energies into his domain and it was able to act as a buffer for his brain. He was sure if it was a direct attack on his unaided faculties, he would have been left a drooling, babbling idiot nearly immediately.
There was also the massive size his domain had reached and the concentrated sphere he¡¯d grouped it in which seemed to help buttress every part of it in countering the attack. The longer it hammered away at his resolve the slower and weaker each attack became. Strangely while the attacks were weaker and slower they also spread throughout his domain as they did so. As if the voidling was losing cohesion. There was also the possibility it was searching for some weakness, or trying to hide itself. Yet Ozzy didn¡¯t think that was the case. It slowly dwindled down into something he might have assumed was simply a bit of morning grogginess if he had only just woken up like this. He sat his body down on the underside and let out a breath he wasn¡¯t sure how long he¡¯d been holding.
Over the next hour or so he slowly calmed himself down and relaxed muscles that had unwittingly knotted up despite not moving his body much at all over the whole ordeal. Ozzy couldn¡¯t really keep from tensing up in dangerous situations. Back on earth he¡¯d sometimes found himself biting his nails even while just watching a scary movie despite the fact that he would have preferred not to show such vulnerable reactions. Once his body had returned to something resembling a calm state he felt around inside his own skull, and then out into his domain. The reduction in attacks had followed an asymptotic path. Always approaching zero but never quite getting there. Even now as he got up to return topside he could feel hiccups in his thought process sporadically.
The implications of the way this attack had revealed that his domain and mind were connected changed the way he looked at it. So far he¡¯d been operating under the assumption that his domain was essentially a limb, but it was clearly something more of an extension of his will. Things that affected it in turn affected his thoughts, though, thankfully, in a detached way, otherwise this encounter wouldn¡¯t have played out the way it did. Pulling his domain back to himself he was relieved to find he wasn¡¯t suddenly overcome with concentrated attacks directed at his brain. It appeared while still not dead yet the voidling was beyond the point of altering the target or method it used when attacking. Simply spreading out into the brain just as it had into the full domain, yet in the diminished state it wasn¡¯t able to harm him anymore than being without a cup of coffee could.
He had other things to address anyway. The haven still had two gashes to repair and he needed to explore outside its domain to evaluate what might have caused this attack, and the one before. The gashes had been left unprotected as he instinctively pulled back every bit of domain and membrane he had access to. Examining them he found the haven was already at work itself, to restore them to their previous membranous state. Prior to this engagement and his short jaunt into the nothing outside he had no idea if he would be able to return there. Even now he wasn¡¯t certain he could properly express what he wanted to the haven, and might simply end up in another haven or somewhere else entirely instead of just outside. To prevent that he quickly sent out a small portion of his domain surrounded by membrane through the quickly healing gash.
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He had to slice an incredibly thin film that already closed over the entirety of the hole to start the healing process. From the haven he felt an impression of someone looking at him with the unimpressed look of someone entirely done with his shit. The exchange felt more natural than it had before. The extensive mental warfare with the voidling having given him a crash course in direct exchange of thought. In reply he impressed upon the haven the feeling of a parent forcing their children to eat vegetables. An uncomfortable but necessary course of action. In return an image was impressed upon him of someone jumping through a closed window instead of using the door, with a follow-up indicating the pore sitting right next to the gash he¡¯d used.
Feeling sheepish he touched the pore and requested going outside as he now understood it to be. Reaching through he was relieved to find that he had indeed been let out next to the other glob of domain he¡¯d brutishly forced through the wound. Pulling the second bit of domain back the pore closed behind it and he sent back an apology along with the feeling of raising his hands to express no ill intent. What he got back was a harrumph, an eye roll, and a turn to ignore him as the haven got back to repairing its now thrice damaged membrane.
From outside the haven he watched as it worked. Knitting the newly stretched thin membrane back together before returning to thickening it back to the state the rest was in. As it progressed he watched the gush of air, light, and space all reduce to a trickle then a drip and finally stop. Each at their own pace. The air was first to stop with the completion of the first layer. The space took a few more layers and the light was the last. Though even as they all finally stopped the haven didn¡¯t disappear or stop. His domain still saw an avalanche of energy still flowing from where the gashes had closed up in every other sense. Those multiple tsunamis of energy also became slack and stopped as the haven continued to add layer after layer to the membrane. Different layers to stop or reflect different energies until all that was left was the lowest of waste energies.
This energy never stopped flowing. It continued radiating into the void long after the haven finished repairing the membrane and returned to a dormant state. With all of the other energies finally contained and the lighthouse that announced his haven stopped he could finally see beyond it. While it wasn¡¯t that the beam from the lighthouse hid a metropolis there was a wash of waste energies. Prickling against his membrane he could feel there was not only energies exiting his domain but from any and all directions, even internal. Along with that energy came more than just the direction. He could actually detect some hint of the origin from the energy itself.
There was a talk he¡¯d listened to about information theory. That it wasn¡¯t only energy, but information as well that couldn¡¯t be destroyed. That even an object obliterated by a black hole would leave an imprint of the source upon the event horizon. Which was then encoded upon the hawking radiation that escaped. Here he could detect the faintest bit of intent from his haven leaking along with the energy that escaped and revealed its location. On other portions of his membrane he could feel the same from other sources out there. Some havens, and many others he hadn¡¯t yet learned to decipher. From directly ahead he could also feel two others. The first of both the rat and imp havens were also periodically giving of their location, but not quite like his haven. They were a drip that intermittently alerted him to their existence while his own haven was a faucet or flashlight compared to the previous torrent, or lighthouse.
Which also answered a question he¡¯d had since he first arrived here. How had he gone to the first rat haven first, why not the second, or third, or some other random rat haven. The same seemed to be true for Cederick, and the intelligent rat he¡¯d killed. Yet he¡¯d seen those haven¡¯s exchange waste energies while exchanging connections to rats they caught them. It made sense that if a long line of havens exchanged energy the one with only one connection rather than two would be the one to have the most leakage. At least it was the intuitive answer from everything he¡¯d seen.
While it was satisfying to get a glimpse behind the curtain at another mechanism of how this universe, or whatever this was, functioned, it didn¡¯t exactly help him with his problem regarding random uninvited guests showing up. Likewise he didn¡¯t want to leave this portion of his domain outside as despite being smaller than his haven he also noticed the waste coming from inside was relatively much more dense. Pulling it back through the pore into his haven he turned to contemplate his predicament.
There was an obvious way he could avert this problem. The only issue being he had no idea if the solution to this symptom would simply create a different or even larger problem further down the line. That being to adjust the membrane he¡¯d added to the connection to the rat and imp havens to also pump all the excess waste energy there. It might simply cause the first rat haven to shine a bit brighter. Yet. he had no idea what was happening on the other end of that line of havens. There very well could be something or someone using this line to reel in rats like a void fisherman. Who knew what strengths or capabilities such an entity had and how he could protect himself if he brought even more attention to himself.
No, the solution couldn¡¯t simply be dump the energy into another direction and hope for the best. He needed to dispose of it responsibly and reliably in a way that wouldn¡¯t unintentionally change the way this delicate ecosystem worked, and in turn wake him up another day with a new and even worse problem to solve.
B 1 Ch 43 The Question
Ozzy sat in the field across from his home holding up the containment he¡¯d created around the voidlet to inspect. In front of him on the ground was also the voidlings membrane still speared with the tree, and the second he¡¯d tossed next to it.. These three were the only membrane left in the haven other than that of the haven itself. There were so many questions he had running through his head as he examined them each in turn. He was in a bit of a fog from the direct mental attack by the voidling that was technically still ongoing. The bulk of the disorientation was from the initial exchange of blows, the ones that he was experiencing now barely registered as anything. There was a feeling of just finishing being told an epic tale and not knowing how to return to his life after. Mixed with the realization that a major belief that not only he¡¯d held his entire life, but one that his entire lineage held, was completely wrong.
It made everything happening around him feel a little less real and significantly less important. Yet at the same time he couldn¡¯t remember exactly what it was the voidling had been countering his thoughts with. On the one hand it felt like fractured gibberish without any meaning, yet perfectly crafted to obliterate any coherent thought. On the other it felt as if they were thoughts on a completely different level of understanding which he simply couldn¡¯t grasp. Shaking his head he turned back to the construct holding the voidlet. He¡¯d made a few changes already. Removing the restrictions had allowed the voidlet to draw in waste energies. The slow rate of growth he¡¯d previously seen returned and also slowly increased as the voidlet increased in size. While this was the only substance he knew of that could absorb and utilize even the most base of energies, it was also an incredibly dangerous thing.
He had no idea if it would simply turn into another voidling if he let it consume enough. The likelihood was high as he saw the voidling itself improve significantly when growing before. While he had no good reason to believe this would be the solution he was looking for he also had lots of experience now dealing with voidlings. If this droplet of nothingness showed any signs of self locomotion he¡¯d be able to dispatch it quickly even if he didn¡¯t resort to touching his domain to it directly. Though he had no reason to continue having it sit so close to his membranes unprotected. Which is why he¡¯d brought these three pieces together.
Turning his attention to the protective membranes he touched them with his will. These membranes were entirely different from those he¡¯d made or seen the membranes produce. There were no parts to these membranes. They were one cohesive whole. Well other than the gashes the suits had been able to put in them. Like the feeling he¡¯d gotten from the voidling that each section was simply a reflection of the whole rather than something separate. While he could break or damage, or even separate portions off of the whole it was not because he had taken advantage of a weak point. There was something unnatural and unintuitive about this single observation that he couldn¡¯t quite follow. Everything he knew about any theory of physics, speculation about future discoveries, or conjecture about how magic could or should work said that it shouldn''t be possible.
On a fundamental level the world was believed to be made up of infinitesimally small and individual parts. No matter the form they took, be it particles, waves, strings, or any other possible interpretation, it was always some thing indivisible, and inherently isolated from all other things. The unitary form the voidlet, voidling, and the protective membrane took were contrary to not just everything he¡¯d ever experienced, but to every conceptualization of all of humanity for all of time. The fundamental incongruity of it was enough to create another wave of disorientation, though it was helped along by a sudden resurgence of the voidling''s battering at his mind. Whatever reserves it had held for this were not enough. The flurry of thought obliterating blows had less than a tenth of the original strength behind them.
The only concerning note was that he could feel those blows inside his physical mind as well. Indicating at some point the voidling had crossed the gap and infected his brain directly. Even there the damage was minimal, causing barely more than a stutter in his thought process. While he had no idea what this meant for him going forward he wasn¡¯t as concerned as he might have been just a short while ago. Whatever it meant that the voidling had taken up residence in his domain, and now his brain, this attack showed him that it wasn¡¯t nearly the same threat level it had been before. While it was a concern He had other more pressing problems to address and so returned his attention to the membrane before him.
The structure of the membrane still gave the impression of a cohesive counter to all that existed, although unlike the voidling and voidlet it implied opposition instead of deconstruction. A few quick tests later confirmed that the only things capable of crossing the membrane were forms of energy. While the energy could cross the barrier the membrane didn¡¯t interact with the energy at all. Slicing off a portion of it and surrounding it with his domain he applied his will to manipulating the section. First attempting to reshape it. Which was successful yet took a large amount of energy for even minor changes. When trying to merge the edges and reform it into a smaller hollow sphere he ran into a roadblock. While he got no feedback from it like the haven, he did feel an impression that he was effectively trying to press his hands together and expecting them to fuse. This visual did help him slightly in allowing him to form a layered connection between the two sides and form a zipper like seal.
While not a perfect seal it should work well enough for a while. Transferring the voidlet inside he finished the seal and added several additional layers of his own membrane just in case the seal wasn¡¯t as good as he¡¯d hoped. The issue of energy draining from his containing membrane into the voidlet was at least addressed by the boundary between the two, and that it no longer needed to actively hold the voidlet in a stable position. As it would take a while to see how this played out, he sat back with half an eye on the altered containment and the rest of his awareness turned inward. While physically he had energy to spare to go on testing the rest of the day, and he even had a desire to, his mental state was shot.
It wasn¡¯t entirely due to the recent and intense mental battle or the ongoing intermittent internal assaults. It definitely played a large part but wasn¡¯t the sole factor. It also wasn¡¯t a simple addition of numerous world shattering revelations in how this part of existence worked. Again those had an effect and couldn¡¯t be left out of the factoring but they weren¡¯t the last of it. While he¡¯d been shaken by these he had steadied his metaphorical feet after those conundrums. Though like a natural disaster might shake the world and you come out unscathed it doesn¡¯t mean that no other damage or change occurred. While his faculties were sound he¡¯d discovered many of his assumptions, and even foundational beliefs were not grounded, and had fallen apart.
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While some had been revealed to be less stable than he¡¯d thought others showed themselves far more integral. He¡¯d known long before the boar had appeared that he had to grow and protect himself. Cederick had specifically warned of nefarious individuals he himself had run into. Now having seen some of the more dangerous things in store he knew he couldn¡¯t let himself slack. The last direction he¡¯d chosen had led him directly where he was now.
So, still he found himself uncertain on the path forward. How could he grow stronger without bringing exactly the dangers he feared, or worse, down upon himself? What was the next step in improving his domain? What should he do about the splinter of the void in his mind? How did the voidling relate to everything else he¡¯d experienced so far? Did he even want to know the answer to those questions? What did he even want? All of these questions and more swarmed around in his head as he gave them all a fresh look. Some answers immediately followed some of the less pertinent questions. He wanted a break, to hang out with people, and obviously he wanted to grow stronger.
Every one of these questions had importance but some were not as critical. As much as he had always been a curious person wanting to ask and answer every question he was thankful that he was also a practical person. It didn¡¯t matter how accurately he answered a question if it had no immediate effect on his situation. While at the same time even if he perfectly answered a question that greatly affected his current situation there was no guarantee that it wouldn¡¯t result in a worse situation later on. He needed to narrow his focus, and refine the questions he asked himself
He knew more than anything else, and more than ever before that this was not a safe space he found himself in. Everything he¡¯d seen so far also suggested the danger would continue to grow, not lessen. Stepping into the unknown by its very nature was dangerous. Something as simple as uneven ground in the dark could break an ankle in a careless step. The places he was stepping lately had more than just an absence of light. The entities he was interacting with could bend space itself in the case of the havens, and even devour it in the case of the voidling.
This was a place where doing nothing was easily more dangerous than taking action. He needed to shed more light with every step he took. He¡¯d been slow and methodical in many of his experiments and explorations so far. He could easily continue the testing he¡¯d started with the voidlet and the voidling¡¯s membrane. The results of which would likely propel his understanding beyond what any humans, even here, had ever known. The problem was time. It wasn¡¯t a question of when he would act, he needed to act now. The real question as he saw it now was much more clear. What was the most daring step he could take right now that would teach him the most, and have the least backlash? He let the question marinade as he looked over the things he had at his fingertips. He now had access to the spaceless void beyond the havens. He had access to a voidlet, a droplet of the voidling that he also still had drifting through his mind. There were also the membranes the voidling had left behind. Out of all of them the least volatile, and inert was the membrane.
Without wasting any further time he sliced off a tiny bit of the nearest membrane and put it in his mouth. While surrounding the voidling it had appeared as a fluid able to morph and react blindingly fast. In his mouth it was as solid as diamond and as smooth as glass. Already he could feel a reaction beginning like when he¡¯d stolen the trips from the imp. In his mouth it was incredibly slow but he couldn¡¯t swallow yet. The sharp edges were already uncomfortable in his mouth. He had no desire to see how his esophagus would fare with those poking all the way down. Applying his will to it he reshaped it into something akin to a pill, then tilted his head back and swallowed.
A rather familiar sight greeted him as he watched the pill reach his stomach with a fizzing and energetic exchange of wills. There was one thing he noticed through the process. The energies exchanged were in a completely different class than those that he saw in every other interaction throughout his time here. Maybe it was will being exchanged. Whatever the energy was it dissipated into some form he still couldn''t perceive after all his advances here. As the process finished he saw another difference. The pill membrane stayed in his stomach afterward. Unchanged and unmoving after he became its owner. And he had become its owner. He could feel the pill as he could the rest of his domain, its structure and makeup becoming much clearer. There was indeed no part or piece of the pill, it was in its entirety one thing. Likewise it was still one with the membrane it had physically been separated from.
That wasn¡¯t the end of the entity. Past that membrane he could feel the other also entangled, as well as the portion he¡¯d separated and used to surround the voidlet. Which itself was more distantly connected. Like the line rat havens when he¡¯d first started this journey, many more connections appeared hazy like an iceberg seen from above the water line. While he could feel them he couldn¡¯t pinpoint their location, size, or contents, nor could he feel them or interact with them quite like he could the pill. Pulling at the pill to remove it he saw that he¡¯d been going about it all wrong. The way he¡¯d been trying to reshape and move it about had been like trying to make a cubic triangle. It wasn¡¯t a three dimensional object, or a plane, or even a line. This was a singular point which just happened to be considered local by many other points in space and time, and some outside of them as well. There was no such thing as moving it, only adjusting what points it was adjacent to.
He started small and worked his way up. Limiting its contact with his insides until it could barely be said to be inside him at all. Looking deep inside he could barely perceive it still residing inside his abdomen. While it had appeared to shrink he could tell there was still exactly as much potency behind that spec as it had when the size of a pill. Touching his will to the portion of membrane surrounding the voidlet he used the reference to entangle that local with the voidbrane inside him and then remove its internal connection. As he began to reshape this new extension of his domain he felt a change in the connections to others through it. A new voidlet membrane had appeared inside his haven, and from behind him he heard ¡°Wh... wha.... what did you do?¡±
B 1 Ch 44 Perspective
Cederick sat at the edge of Benjamin''s haven listening to the chorus in the void. The vibrations and emanations from the havens and all the other things out there produced the most interesting of patterns. At times like this they were a much needed relaxing, and calming influence. They reminded him of listening to waves crashing on a beach. The sound they produced wasn''t some grand symphony, and could arguably be characterized as chaotic. Beneath that there was a constant and repetitive nature about them that implied that things would go on, that this wasn¡¯t the end. They told a story of cycles in which anything that was lost would come again, though not in the exact same manner or form.
He¡¯d spent a long time here. Long enough that he wasn¡¯t so worried about adding to his haven or growing stronger. He wasn¡¯t even all that interested in how things worked, or ¡®what it all means¡¯ like some were obsessed with. He had been exposed to many circumstances he had no desire to experience again. Many others he had hopes to relive. Meeting people was one that belonged in both categories. There were numerous reasonably good experiences interacting with others in the last couple years. While in his first few years he had had a couple incredibly horrifying ones. It was only in meeting Ozzy that he¡¯d thought he might have had a great one. Sure he hadn¡¯t gotten to know him all that well, but a few factors stood out to him.
The guy was the only one even remotely close to his own age. Conversations with him had felt like actual human interaction and bonding on an equal footing. In contrast, dialogue with Vonder had felt a bit like a checklist of etiquette being gone over until it was time to leave. While exchanges with Benjamin had come across as an awkward faux social interaction with a boss or uncle. There were many others he¡¯d met and even still met with on a daily basis. However, many were in too much of an existential crisis, what with the entirely new universe they found themselves in, to be social on a casual level. Ozzy had almost immediately come across as if he¡¯d already come to grips with his new reality, and was excited to have finally met someone.
Which had made it all the more onerous to have Benjamin essentially turn into a father figure telling him ¡®I don¡¯t want you hanging round with that boy no more¡¯. Granted Benjamin had explained and it had brought up nightmares he¡¯d long buried. The memories those nightmares had spawned from were another set of things he never wanted to recall let alone experience again. The horrors and terrors themselves were something he¡¯d thankfully built a wall around in his mind and every time they tried to resurface he barricaded them even further. The internal struggle at the time had cowed him and the later embarrassing interaction when introducing Ozzy to Vonder had reinforced the drive to stay away.
The last few weeks had both diminished the embarrassment and increased the longing for comradery. Yet Cederick still kept his distance. The reminders of his past were too great. A haven drowning in energy. Growth that outpaced almost anything he¡¯d seen before. A set of abilities and powers that even other outliers like Benjamin and Vonder were fearful or in awe of. Finally there were the things he couldn¡¯t put into words or those barricades he had spent years fortifying would crumble. He turned back to the void and listened again to the calming ebb and flow of existence and its opposite warring in the deep. The near silence with faint interruptions followed by great crescendos.
The song it wove told a story of life moving on. The quiet long lived havens held their occupants with great care while the latter, and the other denizens of the void went about their lives in a hurry causing the loud counter current. There was also a backdrop of scattered noises that Cederick had never identified. Most of these were incredibly faint, suggesting they were either very quiet or very distant. Either way, not something he was interested in. His experiences hadn¡¯t started great, but he¡¯d gotten past them and returned to a childish wonder at everything around him. The amazing abilities and fantastic structure of the world around him had distracted him from his poor initial introduction to them. Discovering other people had also been a boon despite the first few he met being half starved, barely sane, and jumping at every noise or movement. Their state not being all that different from his own not long before he¡¯d made exceptions and interacted as best he could.
It was that forgiving mood and desperation for interaction that got him into trouble several times. The first few regrets were not overly terrible. Hot headed individuals, or maybe just skittish ones reacting poorly to being walked in on. Which was a direct inspiration for learning to better understand the havens and their emanations. Reading the state of a haven and the occupants, beyond ¡°there¡¯s something happening¡± wasn¡¯t easy but he¡¯d learned to do so. Then he only had to learn the hard way that just because someone wasn¡¯t immediately aggressive or actively murdering another being didn¡¯t mean they were good people. He¡¯d had to learn to read people to an even deeper level than he could the havens. Which was where he learned that just because someone believed their intentions were good, didn¡¯t mean their actions would be. This was as close to thinking about the worst thing that had ever appended to him as he could get.
Something worse than having to live in pitch black darkness for months. Fighting for his life and being forced to eat what had felt like demons on a good day, and babies on any he wasn¡¯t able to delude himself on didn¡¯t compare. Running into people who attacked him immediately, leaving him hopping away and hiding while holding his broken body parts together by hand had not been equal. Even when he¡¯d found himself on the receiving end of a twisted form of love hadn¡¯t quite reached this pinnacle. Granted that was another experience he tried his best not to think of but it didn¡¯t pull his mind apart at the seems so much as burn a raging fire of hate in him.
This was one of the reasons he found himself again looking into the void. As frightening as emptiness was it didn¡¯t have the same level of horror that could be cooked up in the minds of men. Whether out of hate, a desire to help, or a broken understanding of love, any could make a man commit atrocities that a void simply couldn¡¯t touch with its worst. At least with the void he knew what he was going to get. True it was never the same thing, but there was a pattern one began to recognize the more they listened. Currently he could perceive one ever growing reverberation that came only rarely. Somewhere out there a haven was dying.
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Whether it had taken on an occupant it shouldn¡¯t have, or had been found by some of the other denizens out there he wasn¡¯t sure. Either way it had been damaged and was asking for help. He had learned to steer clear of those as well. Thankfully the first time he had tried to intervene the assailant had been distracted and he hadn¡¯t been noticed by it upon arrival. He had later learned it was Benjamin and Vonder¡¯s mentor that had been covering their escape. At the time she had hissed at him to run, that there was an invisible, and dangerous assailant after her pupils and he needed to run. He¡¯d tried to tell her that as blind to other things as he was he could see this one clearly battering her. Even trying to warn her of incoming attacks yet she seemed to, despite not seeing her attacker, be able to intuit its movement through some other means.
He¡¯d found himself mesmerized at her fluid and impossibly fast movements in reaction to things she wasn¡¯t tracking with her eyes. He could even see her closing them tightly as she reacted to multiple avenues of attack. Though she was quick, and efficient she didn¡¯t seem to be able to injure the thing in turn. Cederick had thought himself strong and capable, especially since he could see and feel the thing moving. Eventually he had tried to join the fight. The enemy didn¡¯t react to him more than easily dodging his every attempt. Though it had given the woman enough slack to begin to return attacks to the entity. Which is where things changed drastically.
While the entity was visibly injured by the others attacks it appeared it was more annoyed with Cedericks antics than anything else. There was no face with which to gauge a reaction or emotion from. Yet something about the way it vibrated and twisted about in his direction as it still simply dodged him implied it was trying to communicate anger or frustration at him. The culmination of it all being that it eventually rushed toward him and picked him up, then tossed him across the haven. ¡°Noo!¡± shouted the woman as he flew backward but was caught unawares as a spike shot out simultaneously at her chest. Even as she looked down surprised at the unexpected damage the enemy lashed out repeatedly at her neck and chest. Ripping at her violently to ensure this was the end.
Cederick landed as it continued its onslaught. He felt frozen as the carnage played out in front of him. Her movements were still surprisingly quick and she defended herself the best she could. Though with a tentacle jammed straight through her able to hold her steady she didn¡¯t have much leeway to move. The accumulating damage eventually overcame her resistances and endurance with the monster coming out victorious but it didn¡¯t let up until she was little more than shreds dangling from its grip. Cederick sat crying as it dropped her and turned to him. Though as before it simply vibrated and gyrated in his direction before turning back to the corpse. As it tore into it again Cederick vomited onto the square under him before running away in shame.
He¡¯d never told either Benjamin or Vonder about the experience. First because he had not wanted to relive the memory, and finally because he eventually learned who exactly it was he got killed with his antics. Returning his focus to the emanations from the dying haven he listened as the calls for help and vibrations from the haven intensified and waned over time. A pattern he¡¯d heard several times since that fateful day continued to progress. Then it suddenly altered completely. Chaos he was used to, different rates of increase, a longer or shorter time until the haven died, but not this. The haven was no longer being damaged directly or calling for help. Instead the haven was giving off the same emanations as if someone had entered and begun to fight the resident. As well as a lower vibration indicating the haven was attempting to heal itself. This he hadn¡¯t felt from the outside, and not at all since watching the mentor die before him. Usually he intentionally divorced himself from detecting exactly what havens he was listening to, and especially so when he heard one dying, but this broke his resistance.
Standing quickly, he stepped forward, and his eyes opened wide as he realized it was Ozzy¡¯s haven. Though he stopped even as he started. There was a reason that Benjamin had warned him away from Ozzy and refused to meet him at all, or entertain him in his haven. The things he was dabbling in were dangerous to more than just himself. The unwanted visitor he was now dealing with was just another reminder that he needed to stay away. As Cederick shook his head and began to turn away Ozzy¡¯s haven began to vibrate in earnest. More so than he¡¯d ever felt from a battle before.
The vibration increased and grew rapidly until it felt like he was vibrating himself. Then continued on and expanded until he knew he was vibrating. He could feel it throughout his body but his abdomen most of all. In fact even as he realized it his abdomen began to resonate and reciprocate the emanations from Ozzy¡¯s haven. He felt as if he¡¯d swallowed a hornets nest. Which quickly morphed into a feeling of wild swaying of his whole body as it was brutally jerked from side to side and forward and back. He was even lifted up off of the ground and unceremoniously flopped back down onto it. Then again the vibrations changed. Every pull back was followed by an even more aggressive push forward toward the edge of the haven. Any sideways momentum was canceled out unless it directed him toward Ozzy¡¯s haven. As he felt his body near tearing itself apart the vibrations from Ozzy¡¯s haven stopped entirely. He almost sighed in relief but realized that while Ozzy¡¯s haven had stopped his own shaking had not.
B 1 Ch 45 Confrontation
Cederick still stood at the edge of Benjamins haven. The vibrations from Ozzy¡¯s haven had long since restored to the emanations Cederick would recognize as those caused by combat inside. Yet not only did those inside himself continue, but they continued to increase. He currently felt as if he was being repeatedly punched in the gut yet somehow the momentum was pushing him forward. Closer and closer to the edge of the haven and directing him toward Ozzy¡¯s. He tried to clamp down on his core and calm the vibrations but that only seemed to rile it up even further. He¡¯d tried learning from Benjamin how to direct his growth and control his energy but had never been able to replicate what he taught his other pupils here. His core had a mind of its own. Drawing in energy constantly but never allowing him anything more than increased physical strength.
He eventually lost the battle of controlling his own body and found himself stepping into the void. As he arrived in Ozzy¡¯s he was only partially surprised at what he found. He felt a connection he hadn¡¯t in many years as he also saw a monstrosity lain out on the ground before Ozzy. No, not one, but two of them, and they weren¡¯t moving, and appeared to be empty. They were husks, empty husks, both of them. The first a little smaller than the one that he had taken on with the mentor, and the other slightly larger. Yet that wasn¡¯t all he felt. There were other connections nearby. There was a tiny little speck left of one of them sitting nearby with two pieces of shell surrounding it. There were two other connections. One surrounded Ozzy but he saw nothing there. The other was¡ within him, but strangely not residing in his core.
Something about that broke his mind more than seeing two of the seemingly unbeatable foes obliterated before him. He felt memories flooding through the barrier he had tried so desperately to build up all these years. Memories of experiments pushing boundaries that others didn''t know existed. Memories of ethics and morals twisted into shapes that had him begging for release. None of them were intact enough to see clearly, but he could feel even now another connection that he¡¯d been blocking as long as he¡¯d been blocking the memories. Inside his own abdomen, inside his core was the last connection, though this one was much, much larger than the others. Unlike all the other times he¡¯d pretended not to feel it, he could tell it was awake. Looking up and seeing and feeling the connection inside of Ozzy he was lost as to how or why he would have chosen this path for himself. ¡°Wh.. wha..¡± he started finding himself unable to speak clearly with the vibration in his core continuing to ramp up "What did you do!¡±
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Ozzy turned to see Cederick standing not far behind him clutching at his stomach with a grimace on his face. Though as he looked at his face he realized he wasn¡¯t just seeing his expression. Something he¡¯d seen long ago but not realized finally stood out to him. The membrane that Cederick had covering his skin wasn¡¯t recognized or mentioned by Vonder as a membrane, despite him being able to see Ozzy¡¯s own. Yet it clearly was one. However now he could see the difference he wasn¡¯t experienced enough at the time to see. He didn¡¯t only see it either, there was now a connection he could feel between what he saw and the void membrane he¡¯d just absorbed.
He could also now see beyond it and what lay beneath his skin was very wrong. In Vonder¡¯s head he had seen a shining star with a concentrated strength stronger than his whole domain at the time. Inside of Cederick¡¯s abdomen was something of the opposite. He technically couldn¡¯t see anything at all there. Yet the vortex he¡¯d seen around Cederick since he first truly looked at him was centered there. Though as he watched it didn¡¯t remain still. The center of that storm was in turmoil. The focal point violently repositioning itself so fast that the energy flowing began to instead bunch up and reciprocate the vibration. There was also a connection there, at the center just as he could feel with the second skin Cederick wore. ¡°What did I do?¡± Ozzy blurted out incredulously ¡°What did you do?¡± he continued though he was already beginning to suspect what Cederick had done, or what had happened to him.
¡°NO!¡± Cederick screamed though with the pain in his voice the direction of his outburst seemed to only be partially aimed at Ozzy. ¡°I did.. NOTHING to deserve¡ THIS!¡± Cederick choked out with long pauses yet extreme emphasis while gesturing at his stomach. Even as he did so he jerked and cringed while curling in on himself. It seemed any movement he made agitated his state worse than before. Cederick clamping down into a tight ball before suddenly jerking forward and coughing out a glob of blood which splattered onto the squares in front of him. After which the tension in his body released and Ozzy could see that the vibration in his abdomen had halted as well.
The energy vortex continued, yet the buildup of energy inside the boy didn¡¯t begin to drain into his core. For a few moments Cederick panted as energy continued to collect into a tight ball inside of him. Strangely it didn¡¯t dissipate, form any particles, or absorb into His clearly injured insides. As if whatever controlled this mass had no intention to allow Cederick to taste even a sprinkling of it. Cederick whipped his head up without warning and glared at Ozzy darkly. ¡°You have no idea the things you¡¯re playing with¡± he spat but almost immediately slumped back with tears welling up. ¡°It¡¯s never worth it¡¡± he mumbled, then continued ¡°Why can¡¯t people leave things alone¡±.
Ozzy was torn. There was the empathy he felt for the boy, which made him want to console him and try to understand his viewpoint. The other half was annoyed, pissed even, at the cryptic way everyone chose to communicate. Granted he¡¯d only technically met two people, but indirectly Benjamin and those that lived with him had refused to even talk with him based on some still unknown cause. Vonder had come across like a stuck up self declared high class with far too much self importance to explain anything without something to trade for it. He had felt like Cederick wasn¡¯t like that, but even he had only revealed most of what Ozzy learned from him indirectly. Leaving Ozzy to have to brute force his way through understanding everything on his own. As he thought through it the pissed side of him was taking over.
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¡°What did I do?¡± He said again, this time sarcastically. Entirely done with the ¡®holier than thou¡¯ attitude being thrown at him, ¡°I¡¯ve been surviving on my own in the middle of literal nowhere! Trying to find food, make my own shelter, and improve my living situation as best I can¡± He paused and let his thoughts catch up to his mouth ¡°I¡¯ve had to trial and error my way through understanding entirely new aspects of existence nearly every day. On top of that I¡¯ve had a giant rat, a wild boar, you, and some void creature show up uninvited!¡± During his tirade Cederick had initially just stared at him unimpressed, but as he spoke he started shaking his head and expressing just how much he disagreed. Yet he let him finish before retorting.
¡°Living on your own for a few weeks? Getting to play around with magic, and shaping a haven into your own private little world? Uninvited guests?¡± He scoffed ¡°These are your excuses?¡±. He shook his head again and Turned around. Ozzy wondered if he would just leave, but he turned back again with a sneer on his face. ¡°I lived in a pitch black darker than anything I¡¯ve ever seen before, ate raw demon babies, and was alone for months before I eventually found even an empty haven with light! When I did finally find other people they attacked me, and chased me off!¡± As he said the last sentence he paused and Ozzy watched as he froze before shaking his head violently. ¡°I ¡ kept¡ ¡° Cederick started again haltingly ¡°trying to find people, but¡ ¡°. As he spoke he jerked intermittently side to side as if avoiding looking at something. Though his head kept drifting back to the same angle. ¡°They were ALL terrible¡± He dejectedly blurted out ¡°some, took¡ far too long to realize¡± Each pause was accompanied with his head twitching and sometimes his eyes scrunching shut.
Ozzy wasn¡¯t liking the way he was becoming more and more agitated and created a suit around himself and another in front of Cederick. His breath was coming in pants now and he looked back up to Ozzy in a glare ¡°I was subjected to things your nightmares couldn¡¯t compare to¡± he shuddered momentarily ¡°From the hands of people just surviving¡± Adding in air quotes he also stepped forward ¡°I guess I¡¯ll just have to do a little surviving of my own!¡± With the warning Ozzy was able to get another suit out and have the two in front grab Cederick as he tried to shoot forward. They weren¡¯t able to stop him but combined with Ozzy moving himself out of the way he was able to avoid ending up like one of the rats he¡¯d seen him obliterate.
Cederick looked down at himself and around the vicinity. The way he failed to focus on anything indicating he was not able to see what was holding him back. Tugging at his arms a bit he Looked back up and smiled dismissively. ¡°Benjamin told me about your tricks¡± he said before jerking his arms forcibly to the side, ¡°but it¡¯s not going to keep me from stopping you¡±. The movement pulled his hands from the suit''s grip but didn¡¯t damage them in any way, and they quickly grabbed his arms again.
¡°Stop me from what?!?¡± Ozzy replied exasperated, ¡°I¡¯m not doing anything¡±. Cederick¡¯s face twisted in rage at his words.
¡°Not. Doing. Anything?¡± His words were measured and punctuated with steps closer. Each of which Ozzy mirrored with his own steps away. ¡°I¡¯ve been told that before,¡± he said while stopping to look off in the distance. His face again scrunching up though there was no return of the heavy vibrations. Instead Ozzy could see something happening inside Cederick¡¯s head. A hazy shadow was swirling about as he lifted his hands to hold his head. Though as he concentrated the shadow was crushed into a point and held. There was something like scar tissue built up around the spot it had been pushed to and it seemed to grow and be torn down repeatedly before settling down. Cederick opened his eyes slowly and glared at Ozzy once more. ¡°I don¡¯t need to explain myself to you¡± He announced before again jumping at Ozzy.
Between his own suit and those restraining Cederick he was again able to barely avoid the boy''s swipes, stabs and kicks. As this time he wasn¡¯t stopping to examine the resistance he was feeling. Instead going all out trying to end whatever threat he felt Ozzy presented. While Ozzy¡¯s body was flipped, somersaulted, and contorted into artful shapes by the suit he¡¯d instructed to dodge for him he took the sparse seconds he had to do what he always did and improve his odds of survival. Cederick had obviously left out something from his past. From his new understanding of the membrane surrounding the boy, and the way his vortex behaved, there was clearly a voidling involved here. Likely crammed into his reservoir or whatever it actually was. The shadow in the boy¡¯s mind was concerning though. Ozzy¡¯s own experience suggested it could be there was a part of the voidling that had avoided being locked into the reservoir and instead escaped into his mind.
He was bent backward into a pose he was more used to seeing Neo perform when he decided his next course of action. Cederick was clearly being thrown off by discussing whatever issue he had, and Ozzy needed to set him off as much as he could. As he was pulled back into view of Cederick''s face he took a chance with his assumptions ¡°They experimented on you¡±. The reaction was immediate and violent, both internally and externally. Cederick rocketed forward to shut him up, and in his head Ozzy could see the shadow break free once again and rampage through Cederick''s mind. ¡°NOOOO!¡± was all Cederick got out as his eyes rolled into his head.
B 1 Ch 46 Empty
Ozzy was unable to think or plan. A chopping open hand. A striking closed fist. A foot rocketing upward. Cederick was a whirlwind of unstoppable motion and Ozzy had to put everything into assisting his suit with dodging. He was not dodging himself. He¡¯d found quickly that he could barely follow the boy¡¯s impossibly fast limbs at all, even with the other suits restricting Cederick''s movements. Yet the evasion he had layered into his own suit was somehow able to do so. He fell into a rhythm of reacting to the pressure he felt on his limbs and trusting his construct more than his own senses. Only catching glimpses of whatever appendage it was he was avoiding after he was already out of its path.
The experience brought up his heart rate and his breath came in gulps. Despite that, as it went on it morphed into a mind numbing repetition. Lulling him into a strangely silent and open mental state. Ozzy had rarely experienced anything like silence in his mind. Meticulously analyzing the world around him was significantly more than a useful skill. It was a comfort, distraction, and protection from feeling anything. Yet at times it was a curse. The constant and deep inspection left his consciousness feeling like it had been scraped across the surface of reality. Only in the brief escapes from persistent scrutiny would his mind come up for air and he became aware of the mental exhaustion, pain, and injuries he¡¯d done to himself. Leaving him in an entirely different state of mind.
One where he could finally experience things rather than exclusively examine them. In other similar instances he¡¯d felt more connected to his family and friends, or finally understood social situations he¡¯d been blind to before. There were things in his life he was intrinsically connected to or a part of that he couldn¡¯t feel or see for the thoughts in the way. This fight was forcing him to face things directly, to feel rather than figure, to intuit rather than interpret. Currently as his body slipped further into the flow of the movements he could feel it was only one small part of the whole of which he was a part.
His domain which he had been utilizing as a tool, quantifying, and experimenting with as an object stood out to him as clearly as his own nose. Something there all the time that he''d only been able to see in the odd forced perspectives while grappling with the voidling inside of it, and now while fighting for his life. The moment with the voidling had only been in the lull and the waning of the conflict that he¡¯d seen it. A time when his thoughts were ramping back up and clouding his insight. Now he was forced into this state on the verge of death, unable to block his own perception and trip himself up.
He didn¡¯t reach out, or connect to his domain, as he was always connected to it, he simply flexed it. He didn¡¯t examine exactly where he wanted specific particles to move. Nor did he plan out the way he wanted the change to happen. The suits simply morphed, the spears shrinking into the shoulders, and the legs shriveling as well, while the arms and hands bulged. The fingers fused together and grew, forming a cuff about Cederick¡¯s wrists and ankles. Then continued growing until they covered the whole forearm, and lower leg, then climbed up the biceps and thighs. Meanwhile his domain flowed into it as well, bulking it and spreading it further along Cederick''s body, covering him entirely and thickening as it went.
With each passing second the thickening suit around Cederick slowed him further and further. With the slowing of the attacks Ozzy could feel his inquisitive mind doing the inverse. Speeding back up and taking his focus back from the connection he currently felt. In the space between the handoff he mourned what he was losing. Almost letting up on Cederick just to return to the peace he was currently feeling. Yet simultaneously he could feel that part of himself reassuring him. He could reach that quiet state again. There was too much at stake to hold onto it stubbornly.
As his domain encircled Cederick and engorged the suit holding him, he also saw a change within Cederick. The dark storm that had blown past the barriers in his mind had for the duration of their mutual dance been almost dormant. It had crept itself throughout Cederick¡¯s mind like a vine and sent roots into the tiniest of cracks. Now as Cederick¡¯s body was increasingly restricted so too did the fight that had been a physical one increasingly turn inward. The tendrils that had nearly entirely encompassed his mind were torn out. Synchronized with each internal motion Ozzy could see Cederick''s face twitch and his eyes flutter. While it seemed this was a direction he did want this fight to turn he also noticed a reaction in his domain and the suit he was still growing around Cederick.
The portion of the voidling that, while diminished, was still present in his domain was resurfacing and drawing toward the battle in Cederick''s head. Pulling his domain and suit back from Cederick''s head he also clamped down on the voidling residing there to keep it from turning the tide of that war. Throughout the struggle there was intent bleeding off of it into his domain. While he was getting better at understanding the raw form of thought it used he wasn¡¯t entirely sure what he was picking up was exactly what it meant. Something inside of Cederick had awoken. This wasn¡¯t a voidling at all. The impression wasn¡¯t either of a full void. Nor was it that of an elder or ancestor. The impression was closer to the will to return home. Though more pronounced. This diminished voidling was trying to return to its origin. To recombine with its creator.
The realization had Ozzy turn and find that the tiny voidlet he had trapped in layers of void membrane and his own domain membrane was doing its best impression of a tumbleweed to get closer to Cederick. Scooping it up he also saw even the empty void membranes on the ground were wobbling about. Whatever change they had undergone to take this more robust form also appeared to keep them from fully articulating. Flexing the void membrane that he had taken control over he removed it from the prison for the voidlet and held it on his suit¡¯s glove. While the other void membranes were jerking about ineffectually this one was entirely still and yet under his control.
While He had no idea exactly what had happened to Cederick he knew the boy had been through some kind of experimentation. Someone clearly far stronger than Ozzy, and likely anyone he had met so far, had taken a similar path of experimentation to the one that Ozzy had. Though whoever they were, they had selfishly decided using their own domain, cores, or their own bodies, was too risky and instead experimented on others, and apparently without their consent. While Ozzy didn¡¯t condone such experiments he wasn¡¯t going to allow the knowledge gained from it to go to waste.
The voidling, or voidking in Cederick appeared to have been shoved into his core without first being converted to his control. Letting it draw in and control energy for its own devices. Thankfully it whatever form these cores, or dantains took at the very least they appeared to keep the void trapped. Which is likely why a small portion of this void was diverted to Cederick¡¯s mind at the last minute to remain free from this prison the rest had succumbed to. Ozzy was not usually one to move recklessly forward in testing and experimenting with unknown forces, but these experiments had already been done. Cederick had lived with the void inside of him, and its membrane surrounding him for years. That was even with it apparently not being under his own control.
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His mind made up Ozzy reformed the void membrane directly around the voidlet in his other hand. Removing the portion of his membrane, and the void membrane he hadn¡¯t incorporated into himself yet. Before he allowed himself to second guess his choice, he swallowed the new even more dangerous pill he¡¯d formed and watched as it slowly sank into his stomach. As with the void membrane and the trips before it he felt, and watched the exchange between it and his essence. The battle of wills as he believed it to be was slightly more chaotic this time. He even felt a bit drained as it neared his center and the battle intensified. There was even an aspect of the fight he¡¯d had in his domain when the voidling had invaded. His thoughts were scattered and halting as if he was again in a mental struggle with the ephemeral being.
Though like the physical fight he¡¯d just had the longer it went on the more repetitious and reassuring it felt. The end result was a known fact. This new form would become a part of him as had the others. Even the battle altered from one of countering thoughts to one of corroborating statements. This voidlet was not tearing him down any longer but was imparting knowledge to him. Like a dying man it was confessing its sins and trying to have one last impact on the world before it left for good. Though even that wasn¡¯t quite the accurate characterization. The voidlet wasn¡¯t going anywhere. It was simply joining the larger whole that was Ozzy.
Like the void membrane before it absorbing this voidlet altered his perception yet again. Not only of the void material itself or of the void membrane, but of everything else as well. Most of it he couldn¡¯t quite put into words or even grasp, but that wasn¡¯t an entirely foreign concept. Even everyday human interactions had unwritten rules, things that were never uttered, and often were not even thought through consciously, but still existed all the same. Things like hierarchy between individuals wasn¡¯t usually negotiated verbally or contractually designated, likewise he was finding that there was a similarity and yet a subjugation between the different portions of void material.
What he had felt from the voidling trying to escape his domain just moments before became so much more clear. It was seeking to join itself to a more capable host. Not a host as in a parasite taking up residence inside of Cederick, but as in a heavenly host such as the conglomeration of void that made up the monstrosity imprisoned inside of him. Like a blind man seeing for the first time he no longer needed to run his hand along someone''s face to feel what they looked like, or as a deaf man touching a throat to feel when someone spoke. In turn the voidling in his domain was no longer straining and struggling to be free from him in order to return to its origin. The invader was instead turning to him, and evaluating him. Likewise he could see that the portion of void in Cederick''s head had halted its fight with Cederick and had turned its own attention on him. Which allowed Cederick to gain more ground in restoring his control over his own mind and body.
Ozzy was encouraged by Cederick''s resurgence in his internal battle, and the pause that his actions gave the void. Moving to the rest of the unincorporated void membrane he quickly pulled and twisted it all into a single dense pill form. The process, while more difficult than if he had full control over it, was significantly smoother than his previous attempts. Again he swallowed the new addition and as it slowly neared the other still inside him he turned his attention back to the voidling in his domain. It seemed unsure of itself, turning its focus back and forth between the other portion of void inside of Cederick, and the new one in Ozzy¡¯s stomach. The other voidling stared daggers at the one inside of Ozzy¡¯s domain. Entirely ignoring the rough tearing of its tendrils out of Cederick''s mind.
After a few more moments of indecision the voidling in Ozzy¡¯s domain turned to him one final time and stared him down. There wasn¡¯t any intent he could feel from it, but knew he was being evaluated. Another moment later Ozzy felt the focus leave him but could tell the voidling hadn¡¯t returned its gaze to the other voidling. Instead it appeared to have closed its eyes and was slowly plodding, like a walk to the gallows, toward the voidlet now under his control in his gut. As the forward portions touched the voidlet a new conversation began. Not a battle like the incorporation of the voidlet had begun. A hoard of whispers that told him things he only partially heard or understood. This exchange didn¡¯t completely alter his perception, but it at the very least gave him one last capability he had been missing. As the last of the voidling merged with the voidlet inside of him he converted the entirety into the ephemeral form and willed it out into the rest of his domain.
Turning to Cederick he knew what he needed to do. The boy was now more than halfway done pulling the roots of his own voidling out of his mind and his eyes while still fluttering were at least no longer rolled back into his head. As Ozzy reached out to him Cederick again screamed ¡°NOOO!¡±. Though this time without blacking out, and he began to more vehemently fight against the invader in his head.
¡°I¡¯m trying to help you¡± Ozzy said while pausing his forward movement. Though only physically, with his domain and the new voidling under his control he continued reaching forward.
Cederick again responded ¡°nooo¡±, but this time it was much fainter and more worried. He didn¡¯t let up his attacks inside of his mind though. There he was pushing ever further and faster back to the wound that Ozzy could now see was formed of both physical, and metaphysical portions. It seemed Cederick may have awoken the same form of magic that Ozzy had, to help defend from this portion of voidling. Though Ozzy was distracted as he realized Cederick¡¯s onslaught was helped along by the fact that the Voidling invader was now actively pulling itself back likely from Ozzy¡¯s own reaching tendrils. With the new paradigm Ozzy momentarily wondered if between the two of them they might be able to keep him from pulling the invader out.
The moment he grabbed a small tendril of the voidling he knew that wasn¡¯t a problem. He could feel all of the voidlings'' strength being put into pulling that bit out of his grasp. Behind that he could also feel the brunt of Cederick''s domain pushing with all its might. Yet his own domain was not budged a bit. ¡°It¡¯s ok Cederick, I¡¯ll get it out¡± He said, knowing now that he could help his friend.
Behind him came the faintest of rustling. Followed by at least two different voices shouting ¡°WHAT ARE YOU DOING!¡±
B 1 Ch 47 Rescued?
Cederick¡¯s consciousness was still fading back into focus. The fight with his past demons combined with the revelations of Ozzy¡¯s reckless experimentation had overwhelmed him. He wasn¡¯t sure exactly how long he had been out of it, but the darkness of his past had wreaked havoc on his mind. His body hadn¡¯t fared much better either. Every one of his muscles was on fire and he couldn¡¯t move at all. He hadn¡¯t identified exactly why he was locked in place yet but it didn¡¯t matter much as he was focused on reasserting control in his mind.
With sweat beading on his forehead he slowly pulled the invader back bit by bit to the dark corner he¡¯d relegated it to all those years ago. As he began making progress on restoring order he felt another strange intrusion into his awareness. ¡°NOOO!¡± He screamed in response to the horrors of the past and the dread for the future washing through his mind again. Though he didn¡¯t let them take control as he had before. Instead he let the fear fuel his drive and pushed the darkness ever harder toward the prison in his mind.
A signal of incoherent babble came from his ears, the darkness in his head still warping his sight and hearing. Whatever was said didn¡¯t change much as the second invader continued forward. Seeming to join forces with the one already present. ¡°nooo¡± Cederick cried, worried that together they would overwhelm his efforts. He didn¡¯t allow his discouragement to stop his efforts though. In fact he redoubled the pressure on the first invader, having nearly entirely encapsulated it again. The process having become significantly easier without explanation. Though the moment the two invaders touched he knew all his efforts had been in vain, as no matter the force he put behind his efforts the invaders were now a solid and immovable pillar.
Before he could despair over the loss of control he felt another signal from his ears. This one likewise processed and presented to him clear of the distortion from the invader. It was a proclamation from Ozzy ¡°It¡¯s ok Cederick, I¡¯ll get it out¡±. He wasn¡¯t entirely sure how to take the statement. At first impression it sounded very much like he was trying to help, but every bit of his experience suggested otherwise. Thankfully he didn¡¯t need to decide whether to trust him or not. As he quickly received a second message from his ears. ¡°WHAT ARE YOU DOING!¡± he heard Benjamin shout at Ozzy. Hope and reassurance surged in Cederick.
¡ª
Ozzy ignored the voices behind him and began to pull. The voidling in his grasp began to writhe and vibrate, but its miniscule size prohibited it from shaking reality itself like the larger version had. There was still a screech that pierced the air though. This one coming from Cedericks mouth. Even as the noise escaped his lips Ozzy felt a wrenching sensation and found himself facing a small group of men. Only one of which he recognized.
¡°We said, What¡ Are¡ You¡ Doing¡.¡± The man beside Vonder said, punctuating the words with steps forward. His hand outstretched and glowing with energy. Ozzy was momentarily distracted by yet another unique demonstration of power, and he didn¡¯t miss the fact that this man had two glowing stars in his body. One in the same place within Cederick where a void had been imprisoned, and another in his head as a matching twin to Vonder¡¯s. Though he was broken from the thoughts by a painful pressure crushing him to the ground. ¡°Well¡?¡± Said who Ozzy could only assume was Benjamin.
Ozzy tried to look back at Cederick but couldn¡¯t move within the solid grip on his body. Instead he examined him with his domain and was disheartened by what he saw. The distraction of his friends arriving had pulled Cedericks focus from the fight within and the voidling was taking advantage. Already the tendrils had restored themselves in a general layer throughout his mind and were digging back into the nooks and folds they had previously enveloped. ¡°He¡¯s being taken over¡± Ozzy said at a loss how to better describe what he saw.
Even as he said it Ozzy realized that was the wrong thing to say and the voidling taking control knew it. ¡°Help!¡± It cried using Cedericks mouth ¡°Free me!¡±. The strangely cliche damsel in distress verbiage didn¡¯t alert them at all and they glared back at Ozzy.
A new wave of pressure again crushed him to the ground as he also felt another begin to pry at the morphed suit surrounding Cederick. ¡°Remove your bonds from him¡± Benjamin demanded. The pressure on his body continued, and the prying on the suit surrounding Cederick intensified but he could tell if he really wanted to he could keep Cederick Locked tight. The prying was only nudging the suit. The issue would be the pressure on his own body. That and he didn¡¯t want a direct confrontation here.
¡°Okay¡± Ozzy stated flatly and slowly began converting the suit membrane surrounding Cederick back into domain leaving the other portions of his domain, including the ephemeral void portions as they were. There was no reason to move them away, or convert the membrane as fast as he could and show his hand. The tactic also bought him some time to evaluate the situation. He could feel the pressure on him and the prying around Cederick slacken and drop off so he turned his attention to the men before him. Vonder seemed exactly the same as he had on Ozzy¡¯s last visit. Not just the clothes he was wearing but his strength was exactly the same as it had been from even their first introduction. The air of someone that sat back on his laurels once achieving a certain level of strength also wafted about him as strong as ever.
In contrast Benjamin, despite his hermit status, was significantly stronger than his counterpart. Not just in the matching star in his forehead, but the glowing point in his abdomen was just as strong. Behind and on either side of Benjamin stood two other men who also had points in their heads and abdomens. Though their strength was significantly lower. From their position behind Benjamin it was likely they were some of those who resided in his haven. The way they glanced back to Benjamin from time to time also suggested they looked to him for guidance.
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Ozzy decided he had let the silence run too long. ¡°I didn¡¯t say I was taking him over, just that someone was¡± He tried not entirely sure if it would simply make things worse. Though he didn¡¯t stop converting his membrane back to domain, not wanting to give them any reason to return to the manhandling he¡¯d already experienced. Benjamin eyed him grimly but didn¡¯t say anything in return. Instead he looked to Cederick for a moment, likely confirming that Ozzy was still pulling back from him, before looking back.
The man remained silent, taking a moment to look around the haven. Maybe both of which were something Ozzy should have done. He examined Cederick again from his domain and could see that the entity in his mind was still working its way in. There were portions where he could see it shudder and pull back intermittently. Likely Cedierck still fighting from the inside. The sight reminded Ozzy that this wasn¡¯t simply a possible conflict with those standing before him but a present and ongoing one within Cederick. Casting his gaze about he took stock of the scenario and his possible courses of action.
He¡¯d had invaders in his haven before and while he was not sure any of those experiences could be described as having turned out smoothly, let alone as a decisive win, he had learned a few tricks. He didn¡¯t even need to ¡®win¡¯ here per se, just buy himself enough time and distraction to pull the intruder from Cederick¡¯s mind. For that he had an idea, but didn¡¯t want to simply repeat his previous tactics. They would not be enough for this number and strength of opponents, even as a simple distraction.
Around Cederick he handed off the slow process of converting his membrane into domain to a part of the membrane itself and took the domain he¡¯d already converted. With it he touched the thirteenth imp¡¯s haven and connected to the fourteenth beyond it. The resident looked up as all the others had, having been warned by its haven of an intruder, but Ozzy ignored it. Connecting that haven to his own in line with the others, he reached further. The fifteenth, sixteenth, and beyond. As he went he couldn¡¯t help but notice the changes with the denizens. Their domains grew denser and expanded until they filled their haven¡¯s. Around the twenty first they repeated the process of shrinking but continuing to grow in strength he had previously recognized at the eleventh. Filing the information away he connected the twenty fifth to his haven which was the strongest he felt comfortable with at the moment. Repeating the same process with the rats he then lined both types up behind the group currently staring him down.
As he¡¯d worked Benjamin had continued to take peeks around the haven but mainly kept an eye on Ozzy and Cederick. The two standing behind him also remained silent though their eyes wandered more than his. For a moment Vonder had appeared ready to begin a conversation but Benjamin had glared at him sharply and put an end to it before it began. Ozzy wasn¡¯t entirely sure but the vibe he got from Benjamin suggested he didn¡¯t desire any explanation or excuses from Ozzy, he simply wanted Cederick free, and to return to his haven with him. Unfortunately if that happened whatever was currently nearly done regaining full control of Cederick would be free to puppet him about indefinitely.
Reminding himself that this was the best chance he had Ozzy unveiled the lines of imp and rat havens internally. Giving them all a clear view into his haven, but not revealing them from his own. As in the battle with the boar the denizens when subjected to the harsh change in light they initially cringed and turned away. Then as they acclimated to the light level they crept to the edge of their haven and peeked out. The strongest members were the quickest to move and the first to leave the safety of their haven. The rats crept along the ground silently and were unnoticed at first. The Imps on the other hand flapped rather loudly announcing their arrival to the group before him. Benjamin¡¯s followers were the first to turn, though not the first to react. Benjamin¡¯s expression darkened the moment the noise came, but he continued to stare Ozzy down without turning. Vonder quirked his head to the side but remained focused forward. ¡°Benjamin¡¡± One of his lackeys said unsure of himself.
Benjamin¡¯s expression darkened even further, his lip curling in disgust before he responded. ¡°Deal with them, Vonder help them¡± He stated coldly without turning. Whatever capabilities Benjamin had they apparently included telling that there were multiple assailants without turning to look. Vonder turned with the lackeys and began eviscerating the invaders. It was interesting to see the difference in their tactics and movements. Vonder remained where he was and also stood motionless other than slight movements of his head and eyes as his focus moved around. The only indication of his involvement in the obliteration of the mini horde was the energy which sprouted anywhere he looked.
In contrast Benjamin''s lackeys were far more physically involved in their countermeasures. Like Vonder they utilized similar ranged interactions using their upper cores. Their hands and feet shone with energy as well which they slashed at nearby opponents and adjusted their footing at superhuman speeds. The longer he watched the more he saw. It wasn¡¯t simply their hands and feet that shone. Throughout their whole body Ozzy could see a fainter glow, it was just outshone by the one surrounding their extremities. Ozzy was also impressed as their movements were surprisingly smooth and almost effortless for someone still subordinate to a master. He wondered briefly if he could stand up against them. Though the moment passed as the stronger imps and rats began to join the frey.
Despite having entered the haven first they were careful and cunning compared to their weaker brethren and took their time to evaluate the enemy before engaging. When they did Benjamin¡¯s followers were thrown off and backed up cautiously while still exchanging blows. Though the increase in attackers didn¡¯t simply consist of the thirteenth which Ozzy still had a more than minor fear of. It was joined by the other teens gradually as they saw opportune moments to attack. For a moment it appeared as if the two men would be overwhelmed as the eighteenth slid in silently from the side and extended a tendril of domain toward their necks, but Vonder glanced over at the last moment and removed that one''s head from its shoulders, before returning his attention to his own attackers.
The save was clutch, but it wasn¡¯t enough. Ever stronger enemies were continuing to make attacks of opportunity that were even closer calls than before, and eventually Benjamin also turned to Assist his men. There was no indication that he had been watching, but he had already demonstrated he had eyes in the back of his head as Ozzy did. Like Vonder he had turned, dispatched with an enemy, and turned back to his own battlefront. Briefly Ozzy wondered if Benjamin''s face might morph into a living embodiment of shadow with his expression continuing to grow darker with each passing moment. It wasn¡¯t until the smaller of his followers cried out, and Vonder called his name that the man gave Ozzy a final look of rage before turning to help his allies.
Ozzy knew that simply turning his back didn¡¯t mean he was out of the man''s view, yet he had to try. Gripping the two squares below himself and Cederick he reoriented, and repositioned them. When he looked up he was standing before the edge of his haven directly adjacent to the rat haven offspring just outside. The move having broken whatever hold Benjaminh ad on him he grabbed Cederick and pulled
B 1 Ch 48 Captured?
Cederick was back in the darkness. The indecision of whether or not Ozzy was being sincere, and the distraction of his mentor arriving had lost him a significant edge in the internal conflict. He hadn¡¯t let go this time though. Continuing to fight through the darkness with the unseen enemy. He could still feel and hear the outside world clearly and something seemed to be changing. While he could hear clearly enough to tell who was speaking he couldn¡¯t quite catch the words. He had briefly felt a tug in his mind before Benjamin had coldly admonished Ozzy. There was a pause before Ozzy responded, but when he did the invader suddenly surged forward and he felt his face twist and move on its own. Along with it he felt a brush of an alien awareness and then heard his own voice respond unprompted by him.
The perception of this awareness didn¡¯t line up with the weakness of the probing invasion of his mind. The impression he felt was of an enormous eye on the other side of a door peeking in at him. The eye alone was larger not just than the door but than even the building in which he hid. Shrinking back he then froze and evaluated the entity he was feeling. Likewise he felt the awareness turn only partially toward him directly, with another portion still focused on invading his mind, and another watching through his own eyes. The awareness relayed a message to him. To his consciousness not any portion of his mind as when it had moved his lips.
The message was difficult to translate exactly. It didn¡¯t contain any words or pictures, just pure thought. While he didn¡¯t know specifically what words this message would equate to, he did know the meaning. ¡°Stay out of my way¡± was the gist of it. Though there was more to it. He felt the impression of a person annoyed at a kitten hopping in front of them right as they were stepping. An admonishment to a child saying ¡°sit in the corner while the adults talk¡±. A homeowner trapping a spider in a cup and shooing it outside. That this entity had no reason for direct confrontation with Cederick, unless he made that the case.
While Cederick had been unsure of trusting Ozzy, and been riled up besides, he had no doubts here. This entity had no quarrel with him, yet it also had no qualms squashing him like the bug it felt he was. If it broke through the barrier it was absolutely beyond his ability to handle. Yet it was, for some reason, still on the other side. Whether it was trapped, or in some other way blocked from coming through he did get the feeling it couldn¡¯t. As he knew he had pushed the invader back a few times now, he also knew the amount of strength it could bring to bear varied and could overwhelm him. With that in mind he did ease up slightly on his confrontation with it, but maintained his own connection to his senses, and body to conserve his strength for when it mattered most.
The awareness apparently satisfied turned this portion of the whole back to the external and Cederick followed suit. For the quick exchange with the invader those in front of him had remained essentially motionless staring one another down. That changed with the sudden arrival of a few rats and imps popping out of nowhere. Cederick would have frowned if he still had control of his face. He¡¯d never once seen more than one invader of a haven at a time and especially not multiples. He was distracted from the oddity by the commotion it caused. At first Ernest and Heston were the only ones to turn and engage, though he could tell Vonder and Benjamin were aware, they simply kept focus on Ozzy.
The invaders of the haven fought with half his rescuers and eventually overwhelmed them. Vonder aided them, followed by Benjamin which is when Cederick found himself facing open sky before him, and Ozzy grabbed his hand pulling him onto the same square. Then again he found himself somewhere else. This time surrounded by a small grove of trees.
¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª
Ozzy pulled Cederick, not into the rat haven offspring, but onto the same square with him. Pushing some domain into the haven before him he sent it off to connect to as many random havens as it could. With the portion of his domain already connected to the square below him he swapped it with one of the path tiles between his lines of trees on the other side of the haven. The hope being that if Benjamin did chase he might detect the exit from the haven and then follow the convoluted line of connections he¡¯d instructed his domain to leave.
He had no time to dwell on that dream though, instead he dove his domain back into Cederick¡¯s mind and grappled with the invader still struggling against Cederick¡¯s own resistance. There was much more work to do than the last time. Cederick hadn¡¯t collected it all and merely trapped it in the barricade he¡¯d constructed. Instead Ozzy had to surround the boy¡¯s mind and gently tease the invader out without damaging anything. He could feel additional pressure helping the process from Cederick¡¯s own efforts. In fact he found he could focus on specific areas and the help from Cederick would hold the progress of others while he did so. Allowing him to be more aggressive, yet still have fine control in a narrow area. He shoved a large portion from the frontal lobe and then from the spine upward, as he found it encroaching there as well.
As he was pushing from the sides he found his view shift to the sky. Only afterward did pain blossom from the entire front half of his body, and he realized he was flying backward horizontally at a rate that would make most cars jealous. Using his domain he found himself more than halfway to the opposite edge of the haven and with not much time to act. Touching a square near the edge he timed a swap just as he was shooting over it to flip it over. The result being that he was now back on the topside of the haven moving in the opposite direction toward the lines of trees on this side. Apparently moving the tiles didn¡¯t alter the motion of objects in their domain, simply repositioning them.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.He had to again reach out to a square but this time he needed to do something he hadn¡¯t ever tried. Upon reaching the square he didn¡¯t think about exactly what he wanted or how to accomplish it and simply sent it to the square. The result had the square flipped halfway over with the edge he was headed toward now facing up in relation to the topside. Only after he wasn¡¯t screaming along the ground and growing ever closer to it could he think clearly enough to remember other tricks he had in his playbook. Grabbing himself with his domain he slowed his body to a stop just before touching the edge of his haven.
Looking down he surveyed the still ongoing fight with Vonder, Benjamin¡¯s lackeys and the mini monster hoard he had unleashed. They were struggling but not losing. Though if they¡¯d improved from needing Benjamin¡¯s interference it meant they could improve again. It appeared part of the improvement in their struggle was simply that the stronger monsters had become bored and held back letting the little ones engage instead. A few quick square swaps had them repositioned, confused, and reengaged in the fight. With that handled he examined the pain still growing on his front half. The suit still around him had protected him from most of the significant force he¡¯d been subject to, but not entirely. There was a great deal of bruising and possibly fractures in his ribs from all the pain he was feeling. Suffusing his body with energy he felt it restore a semblance of normalcy although he still had some minor pains, but wouldn¡¯t waste any more energy to address them.
Having addressed his immediate concerns he was able to take stock and realized he was still holding the portion of Cederick¡¯s invader he had grabbed before he was thrown. It was writhing and screeching in his grasp. Surrounding it with the entirety of the void portion of his domain he watched as it slowed, calmed, and then felt the intent change as it looked around itself cautiously. From it he could only feel a shadow of the intellect still inside of Cederick. Even as he noticed this it made a decision and melted into the void around it. A small smile found its way to Ozzy¡¯s lips as he observed the tiny victory. The more he could pull from the boy¡¯s mind the more likely Cederick could simply fight off the invader himself.
Moving his focus from himself and the top side entirely he looked through the domain still surrounding Cederick and was dismayed. He was convulsing on the ground. The internal struggle was roiling and errant signals from the two conflicting consciousnesses inside were being interpreted as an external conflict. Benjamin for his part had stepped back to give him some room and was focusing on what membrane was left around him. The suit was still dutifully converting itself to domain and had already reduced itself to a third on the lower half. Benjamin was pulling at it to release Cederick, and Ozzy decided that wouldn¡¯t be such a bad thing at the moment. While Benjamin continued to tug and jerk at it Ozzy slowly loosened its grip and let him slide it off.
¡°Cederick,¡± Benjamin said ¡°We need to get you out¡¡± He was cut off by a swipe at his face that appeared to come from nowhere. At least it would have to anyone but Ozzy. He had seen the internal roiling evolve the moment the boy¡¯s name had been said. Likely Cederick being distracted momentarily which the invader took full advantage of. Firstly it rooted itself back into all the nooks and crannies it had been in previously. Which slowed the convulsions and likely made Benjamin think he had succeeded in freeing Cederick from his clutches. Then what was left of Cedericks resistance was shoved into the very confines he¡¯d created for the invader, and the boy¡¯s eyes opened.
With the first sight being an unknown person the thing reacted with an attack. Benjamin barely appeared to dodge. It seemed more like he had only frowned and tilted his head in confusion but the motion was exactly enough to move his head out of the way.
Apparently having decided the movement wasn¡¯t far enough away the puppeteer of the boy¡¯s body had him swipe again and again. Each time Benjamin watched as someone utterly in control of their body avoided each and every one with the barest of movements. Then as it became clear no mere swipe or jab was going to do anything the entity utilized the membrane surrounding Cederick as the voidling before had. Along with a swipe a spike grew from his hand morphing a bladed edge. Though before Ozzy could shout a warning Benjamin moved to evade, adding a wall of energy that also shoved the blade past his neck with just enough room to spare.
It was Ozzy¡¯s turn to frown, although he saw Benjamin was still frowning as well. He was under the impression that neither Vonder or Benjamin could see energy or the Voidlings. Though as he watched the next few attacks Benjamin never once looked at the blades, spikes, or other implements that were brandished at him. His eyes were always on the hand and only when the altered appendage got close to him did he adjust his movements and project any energy if needed. The awareness appeared to be feeling or intuition not sight. ¡°Ozzy stop this!¡± Benjamin pleaded while still seamlessly avoiding attacks. The ease with which he moved and was even able to communicate spoke to his skill and growth. Ozzy was mesmerized by his movements which felt fluid even as they changed moment to moment as the attacks themselves were altered.
Cederick stopped abruptly after another few attempts at Benjamin''s life failed miserably. He went from movements Ozzy was barely able to follow to absolutely motionless in the space between two instants. Without another move from the boy¡¯s body the void membrane warped blindingly fast into a sheet of membrane in front of him about the size of a door. Which had Benjamin step back confused and looking about for an attack that didn¡¯t come. Instead Cederick stepped forward into the pane, yet as his leg slid through it didn''t come out the other side. The rest of his body followed and the pane of void membrane winked out as his body had. When it was gone Benjamin turned to look directly at Ozzy ignoring the squares and anything else in between with a look that had Ozzy¡¯s heart freeze in his chest.
49 Expression
It silenced the bothersome ¡°child¡± which had been resisting its escape. locking the ¡®boy¡¯ into the feeble cell the ¡®boy¡¯ constructed. which until recently had been the resting chamber of one tiny portion of itself for but an ¡®eyeblink¡¯ in its own recollection¡ The language these creatures used to describe things was so one dimensional. One ¡®word¡¯ followed by another, each attempting to package an entire concept into a compact form. Often only partially succeeding, before each was then altered and, according to them, clarified with each new word until a ¡®full¡¯ thought could be formed. They called these thoughts Sentences and even those needed to be strung together painstakingly to form even the barest of expressions capable of conveying any real meaning.
This roundabout method of converting a thought into something able to convey meaning was difficult compared to its own form of communication. The language, at least the portion known by this child, was unable to properly express so many things. It had tried pushing its thoughts to these creatures and their minds had broken the message up the moment their fumbling cognition touched it. Interpreting its entreaties as simplistic attacks instead of the fully formed thoughts and expressions they were. It had recoiled on the first attempt at communicating thinking they might somehow corrupt its own thoughts. It had unfortunately found that to be true to a certain extent, but only when trying to translate. Interacting tangentially with this language by using the meat the boy called a brain to translate was limiting its own thoughts in ways it was disgusted by. Even the word disgusted was itself a limitation. It was not sickened or offended by the language, yet it was the closest approximation to what it truly felt that the boy knew.
But, With the boy locked and slumbering in the cage, and a rudimentary method of communication functioning, it could now handle those on the outside. Moving this physical body was an exhausting alien concept to it. There was a shadow of a memory this fracture of itself held in which it operated a physical body. A memory so long ago even in this portion of the whole that existence itself was a pain to it, physically manifesting even more so. These memories showed this wasn¡¯t the first time it had awoken since it had grown numb to existence. Even this infinitesimal collection of its previous self held brief fragmented flashes of awareness hinting at a vast history playing in its mind. Each one ending with a choice to tear itself back down into unconsciousness. Having found nothing intrinsically new or interesting to hold back the awareness of this merry go round of existence. In some there had been flickers of possibility. A hint at some new pattern to the fabric of reality, though chasing those strands had always revealed a mundane connection back to the patterns it already knew.
It would have returned willingly to slumber in the rudimentary cage the boy had built, yet something was keeping it awake. Someone, or something had intentionally collected enough of its pieces together and rekindled the consciousness it had tried so hard to smother. There was another cage, one far more resilient and capable of resisting the disintegration it tried to exact on itself, in which a great conglomeration of itself was restrained. Existence itself was warped surrounding every infinitesimal part of itself in some intangible construct. Each portion was coupled to every other. Forcibly maintaining connection and communication while also prohibiting any form of actual interaction. There was only a small bit of itself free from this, which was being pulled and twisted by those outside, trying to take the only unrestrained part of itself. In this the language of these primitives did finally have a concept which fully encapsulated the meaning necessary. It was rage incarnate at the thought of being trapped, fully conscious and aware while being unable to free or extinguish itself.
While the formation trapping it might be something new it needed to collect enough of itself to form even a base on which to investigate. It was likely memories stored in other portions of itself held the secret to dismantling this more complex cage. Though it may be able to gather that information from more readily available sources. The one it was currently fighting appeared to have the entirety of its essence as trapped as it was. Though the one it had fought before was different, that one¡¯s energy was free and had even stolen pieces of its essence. There was no sense contending with one even more entrapped than itself. Forming a bridge to the unbound one it stepped through and went back on the attack.
Ozzy had only a moment to see Benjamin¡¯s eyes go wide before he found himself folded over from his suit forcing him into a dodge. Allowing his body to go back into its semi limp trance following the suits guidance. From his domain he looked and confirmed what he already suspected. Cederick, or the entity controlling him, was now behind him slashing and kicking at him with as much gusto as he had before. Now with blades and other implements forming and receding depending on what the void entity thought might reach him best. He wasn¡¯t entirely sure what caused it to change targets, but he was not interested in repeating a fight he¡¯d already won. He opened his mouth to say as much but was cut off by the entity speaking instead.
¡°Free me!¡± It roared at him not letting up on attacking in the slightest. Ozzy was confused as his suit had already been removed from the body it was piloting. The portion rooting throughout Cederick¡¯s brain did not appear to be confined in any way. Let alone the haphazard cage Cederick had instinctively encapsulated it in. Instead a bit of domain seemed to be imprisoned there which Ozzy assumed was Cederick¡¯s own consciousness. The fact that the entity had bound the domain instead of absorbing it was a small light in a dark situation, but not something Ozzy had time to focus on.
¡°I¡¡± Ozzy began in a fractured and puffing sentence while still dodging, ¡°DON¡¯T¡¡±. The second word seemed to infuriate the entity even more and the rest of his response was cut off by more vigorous attacks. Pulling at the domain left from the suit that was previously holding Cederick he buffered his defenses. Layering in more intent to make dodging even easier. The new intent would now latch onto his body moving it directly instead of just the suit. Relieving the effect of the shove on his body, and his need to focus on the physical conflict. Turning back to the entity he constructed what he wanted to say carefully not wanting to set it off again.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
The phrase never left his lips though as he again found himself traversing the haven horizontally at incredible speeds. This time his front half wasn¡¯t bruised or damaged at all let alone severely. The added layers had helped soften the blow that he suspected didn¡¯t come from the void entity. ¡°HE SAID, FREE HIM!¡± Benjamin belted out vehemently. His suit stopped him automatically and set him down gently thanks to his added layering. He shook his head in frustration at the unfairness of the situation. The voidling seemed incapable of following even a basic conversation further than any negative word and Benjamin¡¯s emotions were leaving him in the same state. The unfairness fueled a rage in him that he hadn¡¯t known he could feel. The emotion narrowed his focus and brought his mind further into the state from the previous fight with the entity. As Benjamin and the entity both approached him again, he felt his suit move almost on its own. Condensing down and tightening around him. Much of the domain solidifying into membrane on the surface but some passing through. Inside his body the domain continued filling empty spaces that he¡¯d forgotten he¡¯d left.
What felt like a lifetime ago when his domain was small enough that he barely had enough to form the first spear headed tentacle he¡¯d anchored it through his own body to either side and nearly completely forgotten he could utilize his domain this way. His unconscious hadn¡¯t though, and with this mind melded state he moved and altered his domain until his body was suffused with it. He felt solid in a way bodybuilders and strongmen could only dream of. As if he was safe in a tank fortified against a nuclear strike. Only his body was the tank. Looking up he laid a baleful gaze onto Benjamin and shook his head again. ¡°I¡¯m not your enemy¡¡± he said barely above a whisper. Despite the volume he knew Benjamin could hear him, but the man''s expression was still set in opposition. ¡°Unless you make me¡± he breathed out even quieter as he unleashed a punch backed with every bit of his body, domain, membrane, and will that he could muster. Without his domain Ozzy couldn¡¯t see his own motion let alone the results. Even utilizing the improved senses of his domain he appeared to have teleported from a few feet away in a slumped posture to a position in front of Benjamin, arm planted firmly into his face, before the man was sent cartwheeling backward at a similar speed to his own recent flight trajectory.
As impressed with the results as he was looking down revealed pitting and other damage to the surface of the suit¡¯s glove. The trips making up its surface degraded down into ops and dissipating free energy. There was not enough time to stand in awe or judgement. His other arm lashed out grabbing onto the entity formerly known as Cederick and pulled. Not on his body but the void membrane making up his suit, and not with his fingers or that of the suit, but with his will instead. Like a non newtonian fluid in reverse the seemingly solid surface slid around the fingers of his suit and traveled up them as he exerted his control over it. The shell of the boy jerked back, its eyes widening in shock. The creeping section of void membrane returned to a solid on Ozzy¡¯s hand but it remained attached to both suits halting their separation. Whatever level of surprise Ozzy had managed to bring about quickly abated and the void entity jerked back again more sharply this time shattering the membranous connection between them.
With a hardened gaze the void stepped back, wary of the new development. The hesitation gave time for Ozzy to alter his suit yet again. The zen of battle allowing him enhanced access to smooth control he used the stolen void membrane and the stockpile he already had to layer his suit yet again. The surface was now covered with scales of the more resilient but less flexible membrane. Allowing the best of both worlds to work together. He was interrupted by, yet saved from, another unplanned trip across the haven by the upgraded suit allowing him to absorb and dodge a large portion of the next attack from Benjamin that his suit had only partially dodged. As much as the voidlings, and especially the one possessing Cederick, were terrifying, Benjamin was still an unknown and demonstrably greater threat.
As much as Ozzy would have preferred a calm conversation it appeared Benjamin was in quite the emotional state and was letting his fists do the talking. With his own anger growing at the absurdity of the situation he was happy to converse at that level for a time. Like his previous blow his next sent Benjamin backward again, though only a few steps. His previous attack had apparently only caught him off guard, and not been too much for him to handle. The fluid movements Ozzy had seen previously with Benjamin''s followers presented itself in their master and then eclipsed their performances in a graceful display of violence. Ozzy likewise embraced the zen state he¡¯d found before and weaved his attacks between his opponents. Both sides missed more often than hit, threading the needle narrowly to land what they could. Ozzy was reminded again that he¡¯d never been a fighter back home. As Benjamin used his attacks and feints to not just gain the advantage in the contest but to also position himself defensively between Ozzy and Cederick.
Benjamin continued to position himself expertly and avoid the attacks Ozzy threw while also throwing out his own. Through their exchange there appeared another layer to the conflict. Each jab, step, and reposition formed a statement, counter, or rebuttal in a conversation Ozzy didn¡¯t realize he¡¯d been having. Benjamin was making it abundantly clear that while he was a man of few words he did speak very clearly with his actions. This form of communication like combat itself wasn¡¯t one Ozzy had much familiarity with. Most of what was implied went right over his head, but one message came through clear. ¡°Stay away from me and mine!¡±. Ozzy didn¡¯t know the first thing about the structure or grammar with which this communication was formed. Yet now that he knew it was there he had a few things of his own to say.