《Worlds Behind the Boundaries》
Chapter One, Autumar Faunt.
Chapter One, Autumar Faunt.
...
"Fourth rock to the left..." A man spoke, crouching down in front of a gated entrance. He lifted a big stone, a shiny golden key revealing itself to him, embedded within the dirt.
Much to his interest, there were worms crawling around it.
Unfortunately he would have to move them out of the way.
Grabbing the key, his disgust with the small creature''s slimy consistencies was noticeable.
He put the rock back in its place, covering the little... things.
"The fact I get no tour, and I have to explore myself... Really shows how much they care." He chuckled, looking up at the metal gate in front of him.
Beyond this gate lied quite the massive house. He wasn''t sure if it could be considered a mansion... Perhaps a manor was more fitting. There were two wings, and the place was two stories, rather grandeur in all.
He put the key into the padlock holding the gate shut, twisting it. The lock came undone, and he pulled the gate open himself.
Making sure it closed behind him, locking it once more, he turned to face his new home.
"But I guess the fact I get to live in such a place is more than appreciated."
It was early in the afternoon, and Autumar Faunt was familiarizing himself with what the government had gifted him.
A massive house, a sort of... reward. For participating in the countless experiments he had been through during his life. But also a... parting gift? From what test results had shown, it was clear that his conditioning was worsening these days.
Faunt Syndrome.
A mutation that only Autumar Faunt has ever been recorded to have. A mutation in which his body perpetually lived in a state of destruction and reconstruction. His cells were synonymous with cancer cells, ever reproducing. Yet, they were insanely fragile. They would die and wither away rapidly, making way for the new born cells.
His body was faced with a strange equilibrium, but sometimes this balance was disrupted.
Sicknesses amplified his cell destruction, putting him in incredible danger. While some regenerative processes¡ªlike a healthy diet¡ªwould send his cell production into over drive.
For him, life was a game of watching his every move.
Of course, to the government, his life was a huge generator of stem cells. So his existence alone furthered stem cell research greatly...
That was what allowed for him to own this home after all.
He was a government asset.
Of course, that wouldn''t last much longer.
At the ripe and fresh age of twenty three, his body seemed to be unable to hold this equilibrium any more. His body was in a slow decline, the amount of cells he produced, slowing, while the rate at which they died stayed the same.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Rather unfortunate, in his eyes.
"That concludes your tour, Autumar!" He spoke to himself, completing his exploration of his new home.
Thankfully, it was already furnished, holding everything he could imagine.
Making his way to the backside of the house, he found the back entrance. He exited, arriving outside on the porch.
He looked out into nature, staring forward.
It was breathtaking.
He stood there, for many moments, ever unmoving.
He was entranced.
Something was off.
Slowly, he stepped forward. He arrived at the edge of the porch, his brows furrowed.
Autumar was an incredibly aware person. Being raised by scientists, his parents had long given him up to them once they found he had little hope to live beyond his younger years.
He didn''t have many acquaintances, but there was one he was sure would always be around.
The beauty of the world.
He stepped down the stairs, one by one.
His head was tilted. His nose was scrunched. His nostrils flared.
The air seemed to be...
Weird.
It was like...
The atmosphere was breathing.
Step by step, he moved.
His shoes touched down on the grass, his legs leading him forward. He was being pulled towards something, like a moth to a flame.
With his eyes squinted, he found himself in front of an outhouse. Unhesitantly, he grabbed the knob.
With an absentminded turn, he opened the door, stepping inside.
It was dark. A workshop of sorts.
He continued forward, finding himself in the center of the room.
A sphere?
Like a magic crystal ball seen in witch movies.
His eyes flared. Question laced within his face.
His hand extended.
His fingers outstretched.
With slow movement, his palm found itself on the orb.
In that moment, there was a pricking sensation.
Black.
Everything darkened.
Nausea washed over him, but he didn¡¯t lose consciousness.
¡°What the hell?¡¡± He questioned.
But as he did so?¡ A wisp of cerulean light appeared just a ways before him.
Mentally, countless questions arose.
What happened? Where was he? Did he pass out?
As he progressed through each inquiry, the cerulean light expanded, growing in length and size. Snaking into different shapes.
As the light grew, a tingling started to emerge within his brain.
He squinted, thinning his vision to see if anything would change.
And it did.
¡°Welcome, hero.¡±
A mechanical voice, spoke in his mind.
Shock overtook him.
¡°I take it you are confused. I presume I can give you an explanation.¡± The voice spoke.
¡±I am a Hero from eras past. The remains of a dead god, that once stood amongst the top ranks.¡±
Autumar couldn¡¯t help but gulp.
¡°You have just touched my shell, and entered my dimension. Do know that breaching this space is nothing coincidental. It means you were meant to inherit my power.¡± It said.
¡°Therefore, of course, I will give it to you.¡±
With those words, Autumar felt a change.
A jolt of energy ran through his body, reinvigorating every cell within him, as the Ancient Hero continued to talk.
¡°I was a creature beyond reason.¡± It started, as Autumar¡¯s body writhed.
¡°Capable of bringing anything to fruition, as long as I gathered energy.¡± He couldn¡¯t handle the power, his body involuntarily spasmed.
¡°This place you are in, this dimension. Is now connected to your body, like it is mine. Here, anything you think of, can be made a reality, but at the cost of energy of course.¡± He could no longer keep his eyes open, forcing them together as he fought the strangely ticklish but painful warmth in his body.
¡°Though, letting a creation exit into a different plane, requires a whole lot more energy¡ But don¡¯t fret, you can easily bring foreign existences here. Their energy can be converted into your own.¡± For a second, Autumar wasn¡¯t sure if he could maintain his consciousness.
¡°I presume there isn¡¯t much more I can tell you now. Just, do what you wish with this power. I will not stop you no matter the situation. In honesty, I cannot stop you. I am only a mechanical intelligence. A remnant of my dead self...¡±. Barely able to listen to the words being said, he found a slight sense of sorrow laced within the voice.
¡°This marks the end of my short monologue. I do hope you sleep well.¡±
Darkness once more.
But not just black.
Complete, loss of consciousness.
¡
Chapter Two, Not Human.
Chapter Two, Not Human.
¡
Hazily, he blinked. Things were blurry, and he was slow to move.
Drool was leaking out of his mouth, wetting his cheek against the cold surface.
Groggily he rose, lifting himself off of the wooden table.
He was still within the workshop, at the circular table that had the crystal ball in its center.
Or perhaps maybe¡ The body of the strange ancient hero?
Autumar stood tall, wiping his eyes as he gazed down upon the gem.
¡°A dream?¡¡± He questioned.
Wanting to understand what had just happened, he instinctively reached out.
His hand touched the orb, and like before, things darkened.
¡°Oh you have returned? So soon.¡± A voice spoke, the same voice from before.
¡°I¡ If this space is connected to my body now, why was I still involuntarily pulled in when I touched the orb?¡± Autumar asked, half ignoring the words of the voice.
¡°Well. My body is still connected to this place. Like I¡¯ve voiced however, I¡¯m only a remnant intelligence, I don¡¯t have full control of myself. Your body now would do the same if another came into contact with you. I recommend covering all parts of your body that can be easily directly touched.¡± It replied.
¡°Oh and I recommend creating protective gloves here. Realize them in the outside world so that you can protect all things you come into contact with. It¡¯s far easier than constantly controlling your spatial manipulation.¡± Autumar nodded warily.
¡°Anything that presses into your skin should be automatically transferred here. I can automate your ability and exclude clothes from this equation. Of course, things you touch yourself will automatically transfer, I cannot change that.¡± Autumar blinked.
It seemed this voice had a lot to say, all the time.
¡°I understand.¡± He replied.
There was silence, and it seemed Autumar was finally able to think for himself.
He looked around the darkness.
A fair amount of the cerulean light had been produced. It was moving around in a small area. A circular construct of the almost liquid essence.
¡°Bluelight, the energy that runs this dimension.¡± The voice spoke.
Autumar nodded.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
¡°So I can control this place?¡¡± He rhetorically questioned.
¡°Ye-¡° The voice had started to reply, but Autumar was already experimenting for himself.
The Bluelight moved.
Instantaneously, it changed forms.
¡±I think I¡¯ll have some fun with what is left of my life¡¡±
The construct that was likely the size of a human torso, had shrunken.
A yellow apple appeared.
Autumar¡¯s brows furrowed, his hand reaching for the fruit.
He floated within the darkness, almost all of the Bluelight having disappeared.
Yet, now he was holding something special.
He felt it within his hands.
This feeling was unmistakable.
It was no different from holding an apple in the real world.
Unhesitantly, his jaw went agape, taking a bite out of the apples side.
It was juicy, and he could feel the sour, but eerily sweet taste.
Moving it away from his face, he swallowed what he had chewed, his eyes examining the food before him.
¡°It seems you understand.¡± The ancient hero said.
¡°How did you give me this power?¡± Autumar asked, letting go of the apple, placing it in the space before him where it stayed stagnant.
¡±Hm¡ I had to scan your body when you arrived here. Not just any old existence could enter my body while it was dormant. Now that you have awakened me however that has changed.¡± It started.
¡°This scan¡ It detailed to me what makes you special. Then, after seeing that. I implanted the small portion of leftover DNA I have into your genetic template. You now house the DNA you were born with, and the DNA of my species¡¯ Ancient Hero.¡± It spoke, the monotonous tone staying ever unchanging.
¡°You are now what you are, alongside being¡ I was the only kind of my exact species. But now¡ you are the second coming of the Ancient Devan Hero.¡± Autumar¡¯s brows furrowed.
¡°You are a Deva.¡± The hero explained.
Autumar stood silent for a moment.
¡°So I am no longer human? Full human, at least.¡± He asked.
¡°Human¡ That¡¯s what you are? Interesting¡¡± Autumar tilted his head, hearing this.
¡°No, hero. You are no longer full Human.¡±
For a moment, Autumar kept his silence.
Since birth, he was separated from humanity. In all honesty, hearing this words?¡
He felt no different.
¡°So¡ With this new blood. I can use energy to create anything here¡ But how do I get energy?¡± He asked, stepping forward.
He circled around the apple.
Blue light passively appeared, the depleted construct growing once more.
¡°As you can tell, this space is connected to your mind. Thinking, questions, formulating. All of it creates energy. You can gain energy by bringing foreign objects here and dismantling them. ¡°
Autumar nodded.
¡°How did the previous hero use this ability? Can you tell me about it?¡± He had countless questions.
¡
¡
Autumar navigated the isles, his eyes scavenging the rows.
From the information he had garnered, the previous Devan Hero was not¡ efficient, with his abilities.
A slaughterer of enemies, and protector of worlds he governed. He used his Bluelight to create weapons and artifacts that none could defy, realizing them and using them to destroy all those that went he against.
¡°Weapons? Pretty trivial¡ Having to kill and absorb the foreign energy to be able to create¡ Building a perpetual energy source within the dimension is the obvious best route.¡± He found himself before a row of bags.
He kept his fists balled within his pockets.
Then he looked around.
Checked his surroundings.
With the coast clear, his hand was removed from his jacket.
¡°It¡¯s time to build worlds¡¡±
His arm extended, and his fingers touched the bag. It disappeared, warping into his fingers and escaping reality.
His hand moved to the right,
another bag disappeared.
Five bags of soil, gone.
He turned around, exiting the back row.
Quickly he found himself in an isle full of creatures. Insects. Ants, spiders, all of the like.
¡°With this, I won¡¯t have to imagine up some dirt¡ These insects are quick reproducers¡ It should only take a few days.¡±
His two palms outstretched towards two glass containers across from each other.
And with the slightest touch¡
They disappeared.
¡
Chapter Three, Insect Civilization.
Chapter Three, Insect Civilization.
Autumar had no trouble leaving the store and returning home.
Rather quickly, he found himself opening the door to the outhouse once more, entering the workshop.
His eyes were not closed, but his mind was in a different place.
He took a seat at a stool, putting his hands on the central wooden table.
His elbows placed themselves on the counter, his head finding its way to his palms.
His eyes closed, and everything darkened.
He let his entire mind be consumed.
And he appeared within the darkness.
Floating in front of him were bags of soil, an apple, and two tanks of insects.
One held countless ants, all of them moving strangely. While the other contained innumerable dead spiders.
Autumar tilted his head in confusion.
The ants seemed to be moving at an incredibly fast pace.
¡°An anomaly. Likely the result of your bloodline mixing with the original Deva blood. You¡¯re rather gifted to be able to alter¡ and perhaps improve upon the Deva¡¯s base abilities.¡± The voice spoke.
¡±One hundred-twenty years to one day¡ªand some change¡ªI have calculated.¡±
Autumar squinted.
Human blood improving upon an ancient entities DNA?
That didn¡¯t sound right¡
¡°I never brought living creatures into this space as the ancient hero. You¡¯re pioneering new grounds¡¡± It commended, still monotonously of course.
Autumar listened to its words, but focused more on the sight before him.
Before he even had the chance to mess with the insects, they had already died and undergone countless generations.
The spiders aged, and without nutrients to keep them alive, they died out.
As for the ants, they cannibalized themselves. Eating their own kin to maintain life.
In just minutes, generations succumbed to time, and new ones were born.
Under this dilation of time, even one hour in the outside world was equivalent to five years. here¡
He could stay here for five years, and only an hour would have changed in reality?Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Wouldn¡¯t that be prolonging his life?
His real body wouldn¡¯t be inside this dimension unless he wishes for it to be, or if he touched the old Hero¡¯s body¡
But, maybe his mind wouldn¡¯t be able to handle living for so long. Over a century in just one day¡
It made him wonder if it was really possible.
His vision focused back on thr ant colony. They continued to grow, feasting on each other, and living strangely.
With an intent gaze, Autumar leaned in, watching the small civilization.
He could feel the energy running around in their bodies. He could even feel the energy from dead generations floating within the air.
Already, just from this small ant colony, he was gaining the same amount of energies he was producing when he first entered this place.
When he was in emotional distress, asking himself countless questions.
Slowly, a smirk appeared on his face.
¡°This is genuinely amazing¡¡± He chuckled.
His hand touched the glass, the ants scurrying away like lightning for a split moment, before they resumed their activities.
¡°Let¡¯s see what more speed will do¡¡± He manipulated the Bluelight that was still passively accumulating in the distance.
He moved it, pushing it into the terrarium.
The light washed over the entire area, every individual ant.
There was a great change.
Some ants keeled over and died, rotting in an instant.
Some wriggled, spewing extra legs and screeching.
He wasn¡¯t even sure ants were able to make noise.
They grew in size, changing form.
Their bodies grew more stable, gaining far more maneuverability. Their exoskeletons grew more resilient, and their strength increased.
More importantly...
Their intelligence increased to a notable degree.
Autumar had used droves of energy to speed time up to 200 years in one hour.
It took all he had gathered so far, but considering the space was barely four square feet, he was capable of doing it.
Of course, that was a surprise to him, he didn¡¯t think he would be able to do it.
In just a few minutes, ants were standing upright in a way. Their form had changed, and they were moving around like gorillas.
Their forearms were longer than their legs, their backlegs had grown more joints.
Out of their mid section came two more legs, while an additional two sprouted from their back.
Autumar smirked.
He couldn¡¯t help but realize
He was watching evolution in real time.
Evolution happened over generations, countless years.
These ants were living hundreds of generations in minutes!
Swiftly, Autumar found himself uncovering the lid on the other terrarium, fishing out aged spider carcasses.
With his free hand, he opened up the ant lid, using energy to create a film to prevent any ant from escaping.
With little effort, he dropped multiple spider corpses into the box, watching as ants dodged each one.
In an instant, the ants flocked to the bodies.
They were carved out and devoured in one blink.
The energy Autumar had provided them with, along side the spider bodies¡
The period of evolution did not slow.
Some ants that consumed the spiders grew in grotesque ways.
The energy was still enhancing their intelligence, growth speed, and all else.
It was slowly coming to a halt, but the brief half hour of heaven was all they needed.
He watched as the energy dissipated, examining the ant civilization.
It was a real civilization.
There was a queen ant. A queen ant that enslaved lesser workers, forcing them to do her bidding.
There were guardian ants, protecting her, letting her leisurely lay around.
His gaze hardened, honing in on the ants. He watched as they scurried around the soil, building structures and slaughtering each other.
There were groups, warring tribes. Those that belonged to the queen, and then the rebel states.
Autumar held his smile, examining the form of the ants for a moment.
Most had taken on a similar build.
Quadrupedal, moving on two legs and two arms. With two extra arms sprouting from their back. Multiple eyes on their face, and countless pinchers on their mandible.
They looked like nightmare spawn.
Worst of all¡ you could see the intelligence hidden in their eyes¡
¡
Chapter Four, To the Sky.
Chapter Four, To The Sky.
¡
Two more hours, mesmerized by time and evolution.
Four hundred years.
For a group of ants, with short lifespans?¡ That was thousands of generations.
Autumar watched with a hardened gaze. Entranced, as the ants built up to the sky.
Seeking god.
Watching the civilization rebel against their tyrant queen.
Watching as the queen burrowed into the terrarium, attempting to hide from the bombardment of her own people.
He watched intently, as the ants progressed to the farthest possible point they could with the resources they had.
And he watched as the queen herself experienced a breakthrough.
As the central node of the hivemind, her brain was far more powerful than the other ants. She could sense each and every one of her kin, and she had a small influence over them all.
Unfortunately they were growing intelligent enough to function entirely independently.
But that didn¡¯t stop her...
While staying hidden from the world, she meditated, trying to surpass her mental limits.
She did not want limited influence.
She wanted full control.
Something strange happened, and Autumar was left with his jaw agape.
Like a singularity, the Ant Queen broke through some barrier. Her achievement reverberated throughout the entire terrarium.
Her brain waves leaked into the air, causing small but tangible changes.
She emerged from the depths of the soil, screeching.
Her yells fell on deaf ears.
Every single ant had lost their autonomy.
Each and every single one, was fully controlled by her.
She screamed, and shouted. Her mandibles clicked with pride, and Autumar watched as her knees bent.
She leapt into the air, jumping towards the lid of the terrarium.
Her claws attached the reinforced plastic, gripping onto it.
Autumar¡¯s eyes were wide open.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
She clawed, cried, and shook the barrier in the sky with all her might.
She pushed, punched, and even bit. But she just seemed to not be strong enough.
Reluctantly, she screeched once more, turning her head back down towards her small earth.
In an instant, the dozens of thousands of tiny ants moved.
They climbed atop one another, crawling to the highest point into their terrarium.
Then they started to pile up.
They made a tower, growing tall until they barely scraped the roof of the small world.
Then¡
With their powerful mandibles, they used joint effort to nibble away at the plastic.
For the ants, it was years, but for Autumar it was barely minutes.
The Ant Queen made the final push, breaking through the barrier.
Autumar was not worried, the Bluelight film was tied thickly. It was sturdy, and woven well.
But perhaps that wasn¡¯t enough¡
The queen jumped through it like it was water, appearing on top of the construct she called home.
She screeched into the darkness, all of her ant kin unable to follow behind her.
Autumar gazes upon her figure, her guttural yell shaking even he.
But then for a moment, he felt something strange.
A tingly sensation washed over him, and he could understand.
¡°God! Where are you! I have felt your mind!¡±
The Ant Queens brain waves? He could infer what her screech had meant.
After all, he was standing rather close to the terrarium.
Of course, he had used Bluelight to mask his presence, so he couldn¡¯t be seen.
But he was very much right in front of her face.
¡°Freeze her.¡± Autumar mumbled, the Bluelight moving into action.
¡°Freeze them all¡¡± He continued, the Bluelight swarming the entire glass.
All of the movements within the dimension stopped.
Autumar moved over to the soil bags, ripping them open with his bare hands.
He poured their contents out individually, soil floated stagnant in space.
With his hands, he clumped the soil together, forming a rough massive sphere.
In all, it was huge.
He moved over to the terrarium, removing the lid.
The ants were all frozen, sitting atop of each other.
He grabbed the terrarium, bringing it to the soil planet.
Turning it over, her poured the contents onto the sphere, thousands of ants falling onto the soil.
The dirt fell as well, their ant civilization constructs shattering as they touched down on the ground.
Then, Autumar turned away.
He moved towards the queen, scooping her up in his hand.
He brought her to his face, glaring.
He could¡ feel? Her mental movements.
Despite being frozen by the Bluelight, her brain was still running internally.
The wave of Bluelight failed in putting her to sleep like the rest of her kin.
She could not see, nor could she hear, nor could she feel.
But she was surely stuck to herself. Her mind was stuck in its own cold solitude.
Rather unfortunate¡ But Autumar did not care for that in the moment.
He had countless questions.
Bluelight churned, more being produced by the second.
¡°Is this like some spiritual mind evolution?¡± He questioned.
¡°I would say that is an elevation of the level of life. This probably one of the smallest level one creatures I have ever seen...¡± The voice spoke in his ear.
¡°Life level?¡¡± He mumbled, confused.
¡°Indeed.¡± It replied.
Autumar turned the insect all around in his hand. It had grown just slightly, becoming roughly an inch and a half.
It was still tiny compared to he, but he could tell they differed intrinsically.
This creature¡ªas much as he didn¡¯t wish to admit¡ªit was smarter than he.
He could feel her thoughts seeping out of her body. They sunk into his hand, and he could feel what she was thinking.
¡°What are the levels? What level am I?¡± He questioned.
Fortunately the Bluelight encasing the Ant Queen disabled all of her senses. She didn¡¯t hear a word he said.
¡°I¡ Cannot give you that information. In this moment, I am an almost completely empty slate. Of course I have calculating and processing abilities beyond what you could ever imagine¡ But my memory is rather spotty. ¡° Autumar tilted his head.
He did not complain.
He would simply have to figure things out himself it seemed.
¡