Ar'Kendrithyst

Erick flew across the ground back to Ar’Cosmos. Jolts of Benevolence lightning scattered across the ground as he went, flickering small black lines across the soil, showing his inner emotional state as something less than happy.

Fairy Moon and Inferno Maw caught up.

Fairy Moon happily hopped across the dark ground, matching Erick for speed without seeming to expend any effort at all to keep up. “You need to gain [Gate].”

Erick flinched. Ahhh. Right.

That.

He did not slow down. “Are the wrought gone?”

“Gone to give your gracefully-given words to their gods!” Fairy Moon said.

Inferno Maw floated on Fairy Moon’s other side, asking, “He’s actually ready for [Gate]?”

“Erick cannot contain himself here anymore.” Fairy Moon turned to him, and instead of hopping along, she simply floated forward. Her words weighed upon the world, as she said, “Your true trial begins. Make your gateway and gain the way to a new world, one where your blessing of benevolence might manifest all the wonders you wish.”

Erick slowed down. Fairy Moon slowed, too. Inferno Maw slipped forward, through the dark, the monochromatic fires of his mouth lighting up so very little of the dark forest all around. The other Death dragons circled, and spread out. The wrought might be gone, but this Twisted Vision was still a land of monsters. Controlled monsters, for sure, but still… Monsters.

Erick stopped. He floated there, atop the loamy soil, and had a think.

Maybe he was ready.

Or, maybe he could make himself ready.

Fairy Moon stopped right in front of him. She seemed so small, and fragile; probably because she was. Her thin pink dress did nothing to protect her from anyone, or anything. Her white corset wasn’t anything resembling protection, either. Not like she needed protections, though. She would revive every time she died.

Her easy immortality made Erick wary about her insistence that he make [Gate] right now. What did she know about the risks involved with making difficult magic? And yet, as soon as Erick had that thought, he realized how wrong he was. Of course Fairy Moon, the last living fae (of two; where was the other one?) would know when it was best for a person to attempt to open a rift into the mana; into the world where the fae naturally lived.

From Inferno Maw’s expression, the dragon had gone through his own version of Erick’s thought process and arrived at his same conclusions, but not due to the fact that Fairy Moon was fae. He trusted Fairy Moon’s decisions because he trusted Fairy Moon.

Erick wasn’t there quite yet. He might never be. His first introduction to Fairy Moon had been after she murdered one of Erick’s teachers; Kydyr the bismuth wrought dragon. Apparently she had been murdering people all around Stratagold for the last year as the Letter Killer, too. She murdered men routinely, according to Archmage Riivo, of Archmage’s Rest. If that was all she had done, then Erick might have been able to approach her as one would a very dangerous monster.

But then she kidnapped Erick and mind controlled him…

And now they were here.

Did he trust her? Not really.

And yet...

Did he trust that Fairy Moon had certain desires, and those desires coincided with his own? Yes. Erick trusted that much. And yet...

Erick said, “There’s more to do in Ar’Cosmos, for I need to know my allies, and I need to hear the wroughts’ response.”

And he needed to keep an eye on Bright Smile, if only to understand what was going on with the ring of Benevolence lightning around her neck.

Fairy Moon said, “You spoke splendidly. The wrought response will either be to eradicate you the next time they see you, or they will work well with your wishes. Either way, your presence precipitates danger to Ar’Cosmos. They could breach the bulwarks and drive dragons to mayhem, and so, this most dangerous of ends needs to be eliminated. You need to leave, for your time is terminated in this land of no lies. But fret not! With [Gate], you can go where you wish, and we have hiding holes all over the overworld. If the best scenario shall come to call, then you already know of the sandy space set aside for the building of House Benevolence. This land will be open to you always.” Fairy Moon warned, “But if the worst of wars should come to this land, then run, and run well, Erick, for we will be running as well.”

Inferno Maw gave a sad, slow nod.

Erick felt a spike of worry. “The dragons would fight, though?”

“The Forest of Glaquin has been laid low by the crawling of the Curse into Ar’Cosmos many times before.” Fairy Moon said, “Some dragons will secure safety. Most will not. Most will fight each other as the Curse takes hold. While all that transpires, the wrought will do as the wrought will do, to fulfill the designs of that rapacious Rozeta, and her kin-killer, Kirginatharp.” She frowned at Erick, adding, “I am mad at you for offering a crown to that kin-killer, but means mean little in the light of a founded firmament.”

Inferno Maw nodded, then looked to Erick. “An odd offer, that one, but understandable given the circumstances.”

Erick said, “It might work to solve the Curse without actually solving the Curse, and he wants power, right? Just might take a while to actually happen.”

Fairy Moon waved a hand. “It is what it is! And it is acceptable.”

“It is acceptable; I agree. I doubt that he would actually agree to such an arrangement for the Curse might compel him otherwise, but...” Inferno Maw pulled back a fraction, saying, “I am not one to give in to unfounded hope, but that conversation just now did not seem like the wroughts’ usual overtures of war. We might actually be fine— Well. For a certain definition of ‘fine’.”

There was one more problem, though. Bright Smile.

As if knowing his thoughts, Fairy Moon floated in front of Erick, and said, “If you are worried about Bright Smile, do not, for I have designs to control that possible calamity.”

Erick flinched again, because yes, he was deeply worried about Bright Smile.

Inferno Maw pulled back again, eyeing Fairy Moon. He said nothing, but he would certainly be asking later. ‘What’s all this talk of Bright Smile?’ he would ask. Would Fairy Moon answer him properly? Or would she evade the question? Probably evade.

Erick turned halfway toward Inferno Maw, but he asked Fairy Moon, “Do you think I should tell him?”

Inferno Maw narrowed his eyes, first at Erick, and then at Fairy Moon.

Fairy Moon glanced at Inferno Maw, then turned back to Erick. “Do you believe you should?”

“I don’t like leaving problems behind me, so I think I should.” Erick said, “And yet again, I am not sure if she is an enemy. I might be making an enemy by letting that particular information get out. I don’t want to make more enemies… I won’t make more enemies. Never mind, Inferno Maw. Bright Smile is probably fine.”

Was that suitably cryptic? Would that cause Inferno Maw to investigate more, and then form his own opinions? Hopefully.

Inferno Maw frowned, and then he slowly nodded, and that was it.

With a sudden return to brightness and joy, Fairy Moon said, “Your access to Ar’Cosmos is forever granted, as long as you go with the flow of fairness and freedom. Keep the amulet, though, for it will annul your worldline and keep you out of [Witness] sight. Won’t do anything against normal Sights, though; it’s not my Amulet of Non-Presence.”

Erick touched the amulet on his neck. It would ‘annul his worldline’? Useful. Erick hadn’t even noticed it, but yes, as he glanced through his mana sense, into the nearby past, the path he had taken through the air of the Twisted Vision was already fading away.

Erick grinned. “It’s a good gift.”

Inferno Maw moved past the ‘warnings’ about Bright Smile, and spoke plainly, “We have allies in Quintlan if the worst should happen. With [Gate], you should be able to get there without much difficulty.”

Erick chuckled once as all his worries seemed to melt, just a little. Everything would be fine, and if it wasn’t fine, then it would make it fine. Erick said to Fairy Moon, “You did add another step to my Worldly Path, didn’t you.”

Fairy Moon shrugged. “We are beyond the Worldly Path, my walker of Benevolent Light. Have been for a long while.”

Erick shuddered.

Gods, he was past the Worldly Path, wasn’t he?

Erick’s sunform flickered out a handful of lightning jolts, sparking against the ground and leaving black streaks in their passing. Erick shook his head, then landed. Dark lines sparked across the ground where he touched down. He didn’t want to leave on such a poor note, and he certainly didn’t want whatever [Gate] came out of this to be so tainted with… burning, or whatever the blackening was.

He turned to Inferno Maw. “It was very nice to meet you, Inferno Maw. I might head over to Quintlan, but only if absolutely necessary. How well do you know that land? Do you know of Quilatalap? I met him at Last Shadow’s Feast and I hope he made it out okay.”

Inferno Maw smiled brightly. “Do I know Quilatalap? Ha! Yes. I know the most ancient and powerful of liches; the man who brought Necromancy to Veird and who has tried to bring the profession into respectability hundreds of times before. Though I must confess: my knowledge of Quilatalap is like the knowledge that a commoner might have of their king. Far removed from any semblance of truth. He has tried to come to Ar’Cosmos before, but that was long before my time and he has never tried again. I have sent overtures to him, but…” Inferno Maw glanced to Fairy Moon.

“We had a disagreement,” Fairy Moon said, and left it at that.

“That.” Inferno Maw digressed, “Quilatalap should be hale and whole, but even if he is not, I have a hard time imagining anything could overly harm him, though not for lack of trying. He’s made it through every single Forgotten Campaign, including one or two that should have culled him, but which failed. I suspect… He might be at the Temple of Shadow’s Light? It’s a Melemizargo cult, but they’re not that evil and destructive. They’re mainly just smugglers, though we’ve only ever dealt with their material operations. I don’t know how they actually operate.”

Erick sighed. “Ah. Right. I have to go back to dealing with Melemizargo, too.”

Inferno Maw said, “If you have to run to Quintlan, look up the Lavamancer Society. Tell them that ‘The Maw of Death’ sent you, though I am sure that they would want to have you as their guest anyway, just because of your own exploits. They’re a decent sort of people, and they are ours.”

“I hope to not have to do that. But.” Erick smiled, and said, “The offer is appreciated. Truly.”

Erick felt better—

Fairy Moon took an instant step back, more like a leap, actually. A fraction of a second later, Inferno Maw reared back, pulling out of the way of—

Now why would they…

Erick looked down. Ah. It was happening like this, eh?

His lightning had stopped leaving black marks. Casual jolts were even eliciting tiny white cap mushrooms out of the loamy soil. For a deep moment, Erick was intrigued. How was it doing that? Exactly? It was obviously a magical effect that seemed near to [Grow], and yet it was not [Grow] at all. That spellwork was more time and nourishment based. This seemed almost like… Pure manifestations of what could be, becoming real. Whatever Benevolence was doing, exactly, this was a good sign of things to come. This manifestation boded well for Elemental Benevolence’s ability to support life, which meant that whatever sort of place he made in the mana would be as nice as Ar’Cosmos, perhaps—

Flowers, now. In every color and glowing brightly. The flowers spread outward, turning a small patch of the forest floor around Erick into illuminated springtime. His lightning was still controlled, and under his Domain, but at seeing the sudden bounty of life all around, Erick decided to let his sunform relax. To let his power do as it would. Lightning crawled across the ground like trailing vines of iridescent white growth, touching upon seeds in the soil, and upon nothing at all, eliciting ferns and mushrooms and flowers out of both.

Erick smiled—

Something clicked inside of him, and mana began to pour outward like an uncontrolled river, sweeping away all outside influences and cementing his power in this space.

Fairy Moon’s pink and green eyes went wide as she laughed and danced away, far, far into the deeper gloom, getting out of the way of Erick’s magic. Inferno Maw and all of his Death dragon cohort vanished into the gloom, too, as fast as they could go, rushing to get away from whatever the heck Erick was doing.

Erick laughed at that, and then, a cycle began.

He felt a feedback loop begin.

He liked growing things.

That action caused him joy.

That joy caused more flowers, ferns, and mushrooms to grow all around. Even the largest trees more than thirty meters away seemed to be sprouting new growth in his direction, effortlessly stretching upward out of the ground like mountains rising. Sprigs of green branches began to knot out of the sides of those trees and grow toward Erick like arms raised in triumph.

The ferns under Erick’s feet spread wide, unfurling their leaves and popping glowing spores into the air. The mushrooms joined in next, streaming red and pink and green and blue glowing spores into an unexpected breeze. Flowers turned to seed, and then glowing white dandelion puffs floated away on a sweeping wind.

That wind spiraled around, falling in line with Erick's own personal tsunami of thick air.

Breezes danced to his whim. Flowers grew at his lightning touch. A rainbow of light surrounded him, looking like the [Kaleidoscopic Radiance] crown that surrounded each and every Yggdrasil. Yggdrasil, still sitting on Erick’s shoulder, noticed the resemblance. His [Scry] eye brightened as he hopped upward, into the air, to join in the breeze. Ophiel fluttered into the air next, to play in the colorful wind.

It was a magical moment in every sense of the word, but it was also the culmination of everything in Erick’s Worldly Path. All his magical knowledge. Every lesson gained and trick learned from every master of their own particular magics. Rift Magic. Harmonics. Proper mana shaping and aura control. Elemental Mystical shenanigans allowed for a great deal more effect than normally possible. The Undertow Effect, but refined into [Renew]. Runic webwork to string it all together and to allow for continued growth. And of course, his personal Truth, that everything could be made better.

Erick took everything he was, and had done, and went one step further with Wizardry.

Elemental Benevolence responded, and like a vase spontaneously coming together in a world without magic, or life suddenly springing into being out of the primordial universe, Erick found the beginning of a Pathway that had not yet existed, until now.

Standing in a field of illuminated life, driving back the gloom, Erick spoke,

“We plow the fields and sow the seeds

“then call the rain to grow with speed,

“creating life out of the loam

“allowing us to make a home.

“Enspell the land! Create defense!

“Yet reach out with Benevolence.

“Enshrine the ways to better fates!

“Part the haze!

“Open the [Gate]s!”

Lightning unleashed across the land, exploding the forest into brilliance.

The storm passed quickly, racing out to infinity.

The light faded. Everything had changed. The Twisted Vision of Ar’Cosmos was awash in light from a million small sources, from ferns, to mushrooms, to lichen and flowers, and to the fresh new leaves on the newest branches of all the nearby trees. The brightest source of light was still Erick, still flickering Benevolent lightning in his sunform, but there was another source of light in front of him.

An archway made of white lightning stood before Erick, like the leafless branches of Yggdrasil. And yet green flickers and rainbow light held all around that gateway, like it was an abstract deconstruction of the World Tree.

Erick stood on one side of the archway.

And on the other side, was destiny.

He breathed deep, and stepped through.

The lightning archway collapsed, for its creator had passed beyond the horizon like the setting of a sun.

The forest plunged into shadow.

Some light still lingered in the flowers and the mushrooms but that light was barely a fraction of what had come before. It was enough to turn the dark forest to twilight, though.

- - - -

At least one person was thrilled with everything.

Fairy Moon laughed bright and happy as she hopped among the large toadstools, and smelled the flowers. Inferno Maw had a much more subdued reaction, gauging everything with his eyes, and with all of his other senses. Soon, he and his people were all collecting samples, but they stayed away from the epicenter.

Lightning still lingered in that space and Fairy Moon wasn’t answering questions about how long that would last, so Inferno Maw set a trio of guards to watch over it, and then he left. Other people had already reported what had happened to Erick, as Inferno Maw had instructed, so when Inferno Maw crossed the Silver Gate into the city, Bright Smile and Illustrious Moon were there waiting for him. Neither looked happy, but what did they expect? Did they want him to stop Erick from creating [Gate]? What nonsense!

Well… Perhaps Bright Smile would have liked Inferno Maw to interfere…

And wasn’t that telling.

In that moment, Inferno Maw had a hundred thoughts going through his head, but mostly he was worried over Bright Smile. What had Erick seen there? What did Fairy Moon continue to see? Their Sights had to be Elemental Benevolence related, and if that were the case, and since that Element was directly opposed to Sundering-type scenarios…

Well.

That could only mean one thing, yes? Perhaps Inferno Maw was making an unfounded leap of logic, but he felt he was more or less correct. Inferno Maw had never thought of Bright Smile as a worldwide danger, and Erick had expressly said that he was unsure what he had seen, and that he didn’t want to make Bright Smile an enemy if he didn’t have to… But he wasn’t sure.

Whatever the case, Erick had not wanted to mark Bright Smile as an enemy.

And therefore, Bright Smile was not an enemy. Not yet.

Besides whatever was going on with her and Elemental Benevolence and Erick and Fairy Moon, Inferno Maw had always liked Bright Smile. Sure, she was rather dangerous, but she was fair in all her dealings, which was why she had risen to become the head of House Carnage. If she were a wyrm then she would have been put down long before now, but she was not that at all. Her desire to create an empire was a rather popular desire, too, so the people liked her well enough.

Inferno Maw also desired to get as many of his people out there and to secure as large of an empire as he could, just so that he could protect his people in the best possible way. Illustrious Moon felt the same way about her own people.

Bright Smile was a bit of a warmonger, but who could blame her! War came to Ar’Cosmos 9 times out of 10 attempts to interact with the outside world, and the only way to throw out those aggressors was with total domination.

Would that be a problem once Ar’Cosmos wasn’t limited in size? Would Bright Smile’s warlike ways lead to some unexpected, true danger—

Inferno Maw could easily see the woman inciting the wrought in some way. Perhaps that was the true danger. Whatever the case, the situation with Bright Smile was not a current danger. There were more important matters to discuss.

Inferno Maw said, “Erick is a Wizard and an ally. What did you expect me to do? Impede his Path? No thank you. I have seen what happens when people get in his way. I’m honestly surprised that Fairy Moon hasn’t been ripped apart and remade into something better suited to his sensibilities.”

Illustrious Moon paled.

But Bright Smile balked, laughing loud, saying, “You speak nonsense, Inferno Maw! He could never do such a… thing.” She frowned. She looked at Illustrious Moon, then at Inferno Maw. “… No? I am willing to receive tutoring from my fellow heads of house, if you think me this wrong. Your expressions worry me.”

“We’re lucky he left.” Illustrious Moon shivered, her entire body wriggling once in a flowing wave from her neck down to her tail. She looked to Bright Smile. “Erick is a strong Wizard. Do not mistake his easy going nature for weakness. Fairy Moon barely managed to get him here to Ar’Cosmos before he could break free. Many people are calling him the reincarnation of Xoat.”

Bright Smile lost some of her smile. She eyed Illustrious Moon, and Inferno Maw. “I have heard those rumors but I put no weight to them.”

Fairy Moon popped out of the air to stand level with the three of them. She wore a crown of gently-glowing flowers and carried a basket of gently growing mushrooms in the crook of one arm. “He has more weight to him than the whole of Ar’Cosmos. If he requests reasonable events to enact a path of peace, we will respond with real and authentic attempts at peace.” She waved an arm, saying, “Provided the wrought settle for the same, of course.”

Bright Smile pulled back and reevaluated several things at once. “We will have to wait and see, then.”

Illustrious Moon asked, “Where did he land, anyway?”

Inferno Maw shook his head. “Unclear. I could not see past the lightning. My people report the same.”

“He’s inside Benevolence. When he is done with that...” Fairy Moon said, “He will land where necessity needs.”

“Yes, but that could be anywhere,” Inferno Maw said, his natural sarcasm coming out a bit harder than intended. “Ahh. It’s out of our hands, anyway. I must return to Redflame’s laboratory and continue our experimentation. Erick told the wrought of our new capabilities, so we might only have days to get a fighting force ready to fight outside of these lands.”

Bright Smile laughed, her characteristic smirk coming back. “We must prepare for war, but first we must evacuate the Free Dragons.”

Fairy Moon said, “Transform those who wish to leave behind their battered and bruised lives to better swell our ranks of ravagers.”

Bright Smile said, “I already had plans to do that, but those tables will need to be adjusted.”

“What about ensuring that [Reincarnation] isn’t going to lead to problems down the road?” Illustrious Moon asked.

“The initial procedure works well.” Inferno Maw said, “The interactions between cores and [Reincarnation] is something to pull apart next year, when we’re not in crisis mode, but the ‘reset to normalcy’ of Erick’s original design works exactly as he wished it to work. The one person with a core we have tested this on has gone through that process and come out the other side perfectly healthy. Without Dragon Essence, though, the man cannot accrete nearly as well as before. It is a problem; one of many.”

Bright Smile recognized what Inferno Maw wasn’t saying. She asked, “Something happened to the rats with cores.”

“Yes.” There was little point in hiding it, he supposed. Inferno Maw said, “As soon as the rats could, they tried to accrete, and since all they had was ambient mana, they monsterized. Spirit Beasts are likely not on the table, right now. We might be able to revive wyrms or anything else with a bit of smarts to it, who can listen and hear that accreting with a normal core is bad, but, as I said: we will have to work on that later. For now, we can likely field a coreless army within days.”

Illustrious Moon frowned. “Disappointing.”

“I’m sure Uncle Redflame and yourself can figure it out, and if nothing else, they can go back in the tanks when needs demand.” Bright Smile said, “This could be a good thing. It would be a self-limiting magic. Good for shock troops and ensuring our shock troops come back to us.”

“I prefer summons.” Inferno Maw said, “Or ensorcelled monsters. Much more disposable. And much less likely to get you slapped with the anti-Slavery protections of the Script.”

“Something to work around!” Bright Smile said, happily.

Illustrious Moon just frowned.

Fairy Moon said nothing, though Inferno Maw could not help but notice how she looked at Bright Smile, and specifically at Bright Smile’s neck, as though there was something there that no one else could see.

- - - -

Floating halfway off a cloud, Rozeta read the transcripts and watched the memories of the latest envoy to Ar’Cosmos for the third time. Her jaw still hung open in disbelief. Erick had not solved the Dragon Curse, but he had sidestepped the issue by giving [Reincarnation]s to all half-dragons. Also, he wanted to give Kirginatharp the next world to come along.

ALSO, he was ALLIED WITH AR’COSMOS NOW.

Rozeta had a hard time deciding which was worse, and if any of them were actual problems. They were shifts, of course. The alliance with Ar’Cosmos was perhaps the biggest shocker, but the threat of a Forgotten Campaign was a real threat to Wizards with Erick’s sort of power, so… Rozeta couldn’t really blame him for that.

She was going to blame everyone else who had made him uncomfortable, actually. She had half a mind to go down to Veird and yell at Alfonin and Kromolok and—

SITNAKOV.

That petulant, problematic child.

This was his fault.

It certainly wasn’t Kirginatharp’s fault, for Rozeta had already had a long talk with him and—

A very specific warning siren blared loud, filling the blue sky with noise, and then a notification came through, confirming yet another monumental shift in the balances of power of Veird.

Erick had just made [Gate].

Rozeta took half a second to sigh, and then she stopped time and stepped outside of her current thoughts. She reevaluated everything, checked on the futures and the past, and then began plotting what would likely be the best course for all. Then she took a while to check on the most obvious objections that everyone else would have and began running scenarios where she killed specific problematic people, or acquiesced to their demands. None of the scenarios would survive contact with Erick, or any of the other powers that would necessarily become involved, but she could at least prepare herself and her forces for the worst case scenarios…

She had an idea.

… She plugged some Elemental Benevolence into her calculations.

She had to use approximations, of course. She didn’t know Elemental Benevolence like she knew Book, and Stone, and all the rest. But her approximations worked well enough.

Strangely, or perhaps not that strangely at all, when using Benevolence in her strategies the outcomes were usually… softer, than they would have been otherwise. A little less violence, a lot more talking, and sometimes that talking actually worked. Usually less deaths all throughout, though, so that was qualitatively good. Rozeta still didn’t have a comprehensive grasp on the Element, but she would eventually.

She really shouldn’t have been surprised by what Benevolence seemed able to do, but she was.

When she was done with all that she spent several days and several half seconds making her final decisions.

Then, she started gathering people. Not many; only the ones that mattered and who could catch up quickly, who could best control the coming future. Erick had made [Gate] seven and a half minutes ago and he still hadn’t come out the other side, but when he did, she needed to be ready.

- - - -

Everything was white, and yet, it wasn’t truly ‘white’ at all.

Erick floated in the middle of an iridescent white space, the same color as his magic; the same colors as Benevolence. Superficially, and if one did not know what to look for, this space almost resembled that white space where Erick had floated before, where all possibilities lay, where he could have done anything. In that other white space, Erick could have gone back to Earth. Maybe he could have traveled back in time to when he first landed on Veird, and ensured that everything turned out better than it already had. And yet, he had picked none of those options. He had chosen to secure the future, and to prevent all possible Sunderings, and lesser apocalypses.

And the space had changed to this; an iridescent white.

An opportunity cost taken, and enshrined.

Before, Erick had needed to construct his body out of possibility, or maybe he had just realized himself into being, and he had been naked and alone. Now, though, he already existed, and he wore the same clothes that he had started with. Ophiel was still on his right shoulder, too, though the little guy was currently very small and quite scared. Erick gave him a pat, and he calmed; he wasn’t alone, neither of them were. Yggdrasil’s iridescent white [Scry] eye held on Erick’s other shoulder. The big guy’s eye color was almost the same as the color of the sky. Yggdrasil was not panicking at all.

There were smaller differences in this space, as well.

This time, his feet still had a bit of dirt on them which had followed him through the Benevolence archway. That dirt lay atop a flat plane that existed because—

Ah.

The floor existed because Erick had decided it should exist. The brown dirt on his shoes lay scattered on that flooring like he had tracked mud into a house. A house with an invisible floor, and yet, this place was not a house at all.

This place was to be a pathway, and therefore, it should probably have a lot more dirt than this.

As Erick had that thought, brown soil expanded from where his feet touched the invisible ground, expanding in every direction like the tilling of soil to aerate the good dirt. At that thought, a breeze filled the iridescent white air, and Erick realized that the breeze was coming from him. Mana still poured out of his body like a thick wind, inundating this Benevolent space with his power. He had forgotten about that outflow of power… or maybe that outflow of power had been invisible since there had been no air for his mana to interact with, and now, there was air. Atmosphere and soil and light all around. It seemed this space was still malleable, but it was not as transformative as it had been before.

All Erick had right now was a dirt floor and air to breathe and light to see. It was a simple space that could support life. It was not enough. And yet, how far did Erick want to go with this? Erick had a sudden, urgent thought regarding Ar’Cosmos, and about what he did not want this place to become.

He decided, and decreed, “A space for those in need, and absolute defenses for those who reside, but we are not hermits. We will connect to those outside, and in that connection, we will create civilizations.”

The mana responded.

The brown dirt underneath turned to solid hexagonal stonework one flashing brick at a time, spreading outward from Erick’s feet, brown dirt becoming simple, sturdy white stone. Something to stand upon, and build upon. Within moments the transformation reached a culmination, and Erick stood upon a rough circle of stonework ten meters across, hanging in a white sky that was about half a kilometer spherical…

A half kilometer? Ten meters across? Apparently he could just sense this land as though it was the inside of his body, but it wasn’t inside of him at all…

Ah! Well. Wasn’t that fun? Erick thought so. He smiled as he inspected what he had made.

It was a good start, actually.

Then wind picked up as Erick opened his mouth, to spread his words far and wide, “Let’s—”

He cut himself off. He had been about to say, ‘let’s have an ocean’, but right before he spoke those words a sudden awful feeling crept into his throat. A premonition warning? Yes. That’s exactly what he had experienced.

Creating an ocean would have been too much.

Way, way too much. In fact… Erick wasn’t quite sure, but he felt like he was about a third of the way to his limit, like he had used up half of a limited, yet still growing resource.

So he went smaller. But where to start—

Ah. Of course. Erick looked down. He was in the center of the platform, and this space could use a central marker. Something that would last for a long time and continue to support growth all the while. Something like that node of Ar’Cosmos’s that Erick had used to heal that land from the damage his Benevolence had caused. Redflame had once spoken of how he used his own core to stabilize and grow Ar’Cosmos, so Erick was pretty sure that every single node was actually one of Redflame’s cores, but Erick wasn’t going to take out his core and plant it here. Not yet, anyway.

There was another way.

Erick grinned as he stepped to the side, to stand far off center. He turned to the center of the platform, and said, “An ever-flowing fountain to continuously create this land of Benevolence, and grant succor to all who exist in this space.”

Magic took hold of the stone before him, and a weakness crawled into Erick’s body. He wasn’t worried, not yet anyway, so he just watched the magic make a miracle.

The hexagonal stones lifted from their bedrock in a wide circle about two meters across, like someone had pushed up from the other side, like the whole platform was a push pin toy. At half a meter high, they stopped, and the stone shifted directions again. The outside hexagons remained where they were, forming a lip, but the center dipped down, forming a well. Then, in the very center, the seven hexagons upon which Erick had first stood upon began to rise, and the center hexagon vanished. The stones stilled. The first part was done.

It was a basic construction made of columnar basalt.

Erick liked the looks of it a whole lot, for it felt primeval, and powerful—

Deep in the center of the platform, magics twisted the space where the center column had been. Water formed out of nothing, and then began flowing out of the top of the fountain like a hose barely turned on. That water flowed down the sides of the fountain to splash into the basin, filling the air with the soft sounds of a gentle creek. It was a lovely sound. It was the only sound in this space besides the wind.

The fountain was suddenly full from one second to the next. Half a meter of clear water sat inside the basin, just below the edge.

Erick wanted to sit down by the fountain and listen to the sound for a while, for he was tired, but he couldn’t rest; not yet. He was only about two thirds done, and his mana felt the same. The ground was almost set. One or two more magics should do it. This next one was perhaps the most dangerous, though.

“Yggdrasil.”

Yggdrasil’s [Scry] eye whipped around and locked on Erick’s face.

Erick looked down at the little, big guy. “We’re going slowly, this time. No big growth. This land cannot contain all of you right now, but it will, someday, and yet you must be here at the beginning. So you must start small, and grow steadily. Like a real tree, you must start as a seed.”

A distant rustling of leaves filled the sky as Yggdrasil’s eye nodded; he understood.

Ophiel trilled a questioning guitar sound on Erick’s other shoulder. What about him?

Erick smiled, saying, “You’re going to stay with me, following me around for many years to come, but Yggdrasil needs stability. You’re both just built differently, and that’s okay.”

Ophiel trilled in happy violins and fluffed out a bit on Erick’s shoulder. He had been a bit scared of this space before, but he was acclimating.

And Yggdrasil was ready. He knew what was happening. He was ready to become Erick’s ultimate defense, here in the mana.

Erick gestured to the right as he spoke to the fountain, “A stream of water leading off that way, to support the growth of Yggdrasil, who will become this land’s greatest defender, supporter, and continual creator.”

The fountain and the ground barely shifted. A dip formed on top of the basin’s edge, on the right side. That dip led to a winding groove between the hexagonal stones, forming a pathway for water to travel out to the edge of the platform. Water began flowing through that dip, and into that groove, creating a stream, etching a winding, tiny canyon into the platform.

That stream did not fall when it reached the edge. Water simply floated out into open air, into the nearby distance, like a tendril reaching out to touch something that had yet to be planted, which was exactly Erick’s intention.

Erick readied Yggdrasil, and Yggdrasil readied himself.

Erick cast.

Rushing cold ripped through Erick’s body as his eyes fluttered shut and—

And then it was over.

Erick barely noticed the gold threads of divine power reorganizing inside his soul, securing Yggdrasil within him, for floating in the sky, just twenty meters away, was the big guy. Erick almost admonished Yggdrasil for not starting out as a seed, but this was fine, and maybe Erick had blacked out for a moment and missed that part. Yggdrasil wasn’t nearly as large as he usually was, anyway. He was rather small, actually, but he was still ten meters tall from top of crown to his lowest root…

Actually really small for a tree. Normal oak trees were bigger than him, but Erick had asked him to start small, and he had. This was good.

Half of Yggdrasil was a bright green canopy with a rainbow crown, while the other half was bright white roots, floating in iridescent white space. The waters of the fountain already circled around the base of his trunk, trickling through his upper roots, linking him to the core of this Benevolent domain in a way that nothing would ever be able to sever. Sure, it merely looked like a free-floating stream of water, but it was anything but that. And this way, Yggdrasil could grow himself and this land as large as he wanted, and move himself and the platform around as needed…

In fact.

Erick had expected Yggdrasil’s planting to take a lot more out of him than it did, but while he felt that cold chill, it went away rather fast. Yggdrasil’s planting hadn’t taken much out of him at all. Maybe because Yggdrasil was already made, long before this land was made? And Erick was laying down actual Truths in this land as he made this land? The laying of Truths was what cost Erick some power… Perhaps? Just spending mana was easy.

He wasn’t sure, but that seemed right.

Whatever the case, Erick felt he had one more trick in him.

And he knew just what it needed to be.

Stone land. Water fountain. Windy sky. Light all around. Shadows down below. There was even some Darkness down in the depths of the water…

This place was missing Fire. Or at least something to drive away the chill—

Yes. That was it. Something to make people feel more welcome. A refuge was not a refuge without a fire to give warmth, after all.

Erick smiled, and spoke to the fountain, “And a gentle, renewing fire, to bring healing warmth to this new age.”

The air sparked above the fountain. Six small fireballs took hold of the air above the six hexagonal pillars of the fountain; one fireball per stone column. And then the fire shifted. One final fireball manifested in the air above the water, and then transformed, its center vanishing, leaving a ring of gentle orange flames with a gap in the top. It was the rune of [Renew]. That same rune was mirrored upon the hexagonal pillars under the waters of the fountain, and at the top of each central pillar. Inside, where the water generated from nothing, was yet another rune of [Renew].

It was all connected. It was all as it had to be.

Erick stretched a little, feeling the warmth in the air. That warmth helped to counter the cold that filled Erick’s bones and threatened to drag down his very soul to the bottom of his feet. He was exhausted. But he was done.

This was good. This was balanced. This would grow with time, and with mana. Yggdrasil would grow, too, and ensure that everything here continued to grow as it should. But for now, Yggdrasil hung out in the sky just over there, tethered to this stone platform by a ribbon of flowing water. The water looked stable. The platform was very stable. The wind was steady…

And this was enough, for now.

Erick breathed deep. He had received no notifications, but he would probably be getting some as soon as he returned to normal space. But this was definitely [Gate]—

Something clicked, metaphysically.

Perception shifted.

Erick blinked several times and—

The land solidified. Everything seemed more real.

Nothing had actually changed, though, for the platform still hung here in the middle of the sky and a tendril of water still connected to Yggdrasil and the runic fire still radiated warmth from atop the fountain… But Erick had changed. Yes. That is what happened.

The fugue was over.

The time of creation had passed.

Erick’s torrent of inner mana began to wane, turning into a trickle, and then shutting off entirely. Ah! He hadn’t even noticed that he was still leaking that much mana, but now that it was gone, he was back to normal. The Script had reconnected to him. That was good. Erick wasn’t ready to go on his own yet.

A small blue box appeared, followed by a very large blue box.

Special Quest Complete!

The Worldly Path 1/1

Reward: The ability to cast Gate

Gate, instant, special range, 50 mana + Variable

Primary Function: Open a gate to another location.

Special Function, Special Cost: Open a gate into to a known location OR create a node inside to claim a portion of that space as your own gate space.

None may enter or interact with your gate space without your awareness. Expand your gate space by fortifying your node, or casting another node. The size of your gate space determines the distance you can cross through this spell’s primary function. Multiple nodes are possible, but be aware that nodes decay without proper upkeep. If all your nodes should decay all the way, the cost to founding a new node is a Special Cost.

Personal features:

Erick smiled as he read the blue box. It was a large box. It even rivaled [Ward] for size. Ha! Erick’s smile grew. He felt good.

This was good.

“This is good, Yggdrasil.” Erick patted Ophiel, adding, “Ophiel. This is great.” He giggled a little, then openly wondered, “I wonder what the anti-Sundering stuff looks like…” His voice trailed off as his eyes went wide.

… And nothing happened?

Erick looked up. He had expected the iridescent white sky to open up with lightning and show him the way to the next problem. But… Why would it?

Erick’s smile returned.

“The Worldly Path is over.”

No more Fate shenanigans. Even the problem posed by Bright Smile wasn’t that pressing…

Erick lost a little bit of his smile.

No more Fate shenanigans meant that everything that came next was up to him. He would have to deal with Melemizargo and the soul slime’s Truth, and Kirginatharp and the angels and demons, and whatever Ar’Cosmos was going to do, and…

All the rest.

Suddenly, Erick felt unmoored. Fate had been with him there since the beginning of his fall to Veird. With his own Wizardry, he had reached back in time and made it so that all of his big spells had Elemental Benevolence in them. It was very possible that he only survived meeting his Other Self in the Deep Paradox because of Fate shenanigans. And now…

He was on his own.

… But! Maybe...

Erick had put a bit of Fate into this Benevolence, didn’t he? Yes. He did.

So maybe he would always have Fate backing him up?

Ah. Well. That could be a problem, too. After all, Fate had lined up the Chelation War, and that had killed nearly 4 million people—

Erick’s heart beat hard as sudden clarity ripped across his mind.

Fate was here, and it always would be, to a certain extent. Elemental Benevolence was not Elemental Fate, but they were cousins.

Ah.

So what would happen now?

With understanding eyes, Erick stared out across the iridescent white sky, and watched. He waited. He didn’t have to wait long.

Lightning gathered.

Small sparks fizzled at the edges of the stone platform, transforming into something larger. Off in the distance even more lightning gathered, like a storm brewing on the horizon. Lightning flashed. A soft thunder rolled throughout all existence, and in its passing lay a tangled weave of danger. This, then, was Elemental Benevolence’s primary purpose. This, then, was why Erick had made this Element in the first place.

Three large bolts of lightning hung in the sky, tangled with each other at three primary spots, thrashing around and yet not moving much at all, reminding Erick of hissing snakes. They were simply the largest and closest of the tangles, though. Countless other tangles held in the far, far distance, but those were too far out to matter.

Erick had a vague sense of those distant tangles though, and so, as he looked for a specific one, he found it.

That one over there, hiding behind a cloud and rather loosely dangerous. That one was Bright Smile, and it almost looked as beneficial as it looked dangerous. Erick had no idea how he could tell that much, but as he stared at that distant tangle, he caught glimpses of Bright Smile upon a throne. All of the other ones were unintelligible, probably because Erick had no idea what they were. Many of them looked to happen in a hundred years, and were probably all about the opening of new worlds.

Most of those hundred years tangles actually looked more like opportunities.

He would deal with those later.

Erick focused on the closest tangles; the three that stood out as problems that needed to be solved sooner rather than later. They were not opportunities at all, and the Benevolent lightning flickered black upon those specific situations, and where appropriate, upon those specific lives.

Past a curve in eternity, Erick saw Patriarch Xangu Terror Peaks. The man responsible for the aggression of Terror Peaks and the inciter of the Chelation Wars. The man had never been found by anyone, and yet, Erick had found him. He was right there, on the other side of that tangle, and he had found out that Erick was a Wizard. Erick got the distinct feeling that as soon as he stepped out of this land and showed himself, Patriarch Xangu would devote his entire life to killing him, and every single thing that he would ever create. That man would bring Extreme Light bombs to all the cities that Erick inhabited. The threat Xangu posed would only grow larger with time.

Erick could not give him that time. Erick needed to do what he needed to do.

The second black tangle was the Red Dot Mage; the mass murderer who worked with the Lower Trademaster of Portal, Caradogh Pogi, in order to attack Spur and wipe out the Farms. Prior to that, the Red Dot Mage had killed the Village of the Life Binder, Messalina, murdering hundreds of people in a bid for personal power, or something along those lines. Erick didn’t know much about them, but the Red Dot Mage was both a Hunter and a Face Stealer of the worst sort. Erick would have no trouble doing what needed to be done to the Red Dot Mage, either.

He still had no idea who the Red Dot Mage was, exactly, but they were currently living in Archipelago Nergal.

The third tangle was more nuanced and larger than all the rest, for it was the manifestation of all of Erick’s greatest fears coming true.

It was a fractal confluence of the entirety of Veird allying against him, trying to kill him, to End Elemental Benevolence, and destroy everything he had ever touched or created. It was the death of possibility. It was a million individual minds all believing that Erick was a danger to all reality. It was shortsightedness, and smallness. It was the destruction of Spur. The descent of the Converter Angel upon Veird. The killing of Poi, Kiri, and Teressa. The lynching of Nirzir. The purging of the Songli Highlands by outside forces, and interior conspirators.

The burning of Yggdrasil.

The murder of Jane.

It was almost too much.

Erick breathed deep, squared his shoulders, centered his mind, and stared out into infinity.

He went over the whole of the problem again. The three large tangles were connected, each feeding into the other, and the threat they posed was coming sooner, rather than later. Collectively, they were the death of Benevolence, and the return of the threat of the Sundering.

Erick could not solve the fractal tangle right now. Even if he could navigate that tangle with perfect precision, pulling apart the bad and fortifying the good, there would still be smaller wars. Those smaller wars would spill into larger wars. There was no way around that.

The other two tangles, with Patriarch Xangu and the Red Dot Mage, were easier to solve.

Two portals, and then two [Vivid Gloom]s, or anything else that he felt like casting…

That would permanently solve those problems.

And yet… Erick didn’t want to be just one man going up against the world. Complete tyranny was no way to begin this new world order. That would just lead to more problems down the road. No. While he could solve these problems himself, he knew he should not.

… Erick knew what he needed to do.

Some of his mana had regenerated while he gazed out into eternity, so the first thing Erick did was summon some more Ophiel. While he did that, he spoke to Yggdrasil, “Are you feeling okay?”

“It’s weird, but I’m good,” Yggdrasil said, in his child-like voice. “I am floating, but I am not.”

“Do you need help understanding how the space works? How the node works? How to work this space?” He had already handed off [Gate] to Yggdrasil, but communication was important.

“I got it! I’m smart. I know magics and responsibilities.”

Erick felt a wonderful warmth spread out in his chest. “Yes, you are. Smart and responsible and so much more. I love you, Yggdrasil.”

“I love you too, Father.” Yggdrasil asked, “Are you headed out?”

“I am.”

“The lightning?”

“Yup. The Benevolent lightning shows problems that I need to solve. I don’t expect it to always show problems, but sometimes reality is reality.”

“See you soon, Father!”

With ten Ophiel floating around him, Erick smiled at Yggdrasil, and said, “I’ll see you soon, Yggdrasil.”

Then he turned to the side, toward the dark lightning in the air. He cast [Gate].

Iridescent lightning crashed down onto the edge of the stone platform and transformed into a hole in the air. Beyond lay blue sky and orange sands, and the occasional scattered crystal mimic in the far distance. The Crystal Forest. Somewhere far north of Ar’Kendrithyst, if Erick had managed to target the right spot. It wasn’t any place special; just a random part of the desert that was mostly sand and little else.

Erick stepped through the portal and landed on that sand.

- - - -

The lightning portal silently shut behind him.

A dry wind rushed across the orange dunes, kicking sand off of the top. Heat seeped deep into Erick’s clothes, causing him to sweat. It was high summer and near the end of Wyrm Season so the air was unusually hot. He almost cast an air conditioning spell, but not yet. With eyes wide and mana sense fully open, Erick studied his surroundings.

In the far distance, crystal mimics held to the tops of dunes, glittering in the midday light, but not a single one was anywhere close to Erick, or his Ophiel. Erick was worried, and on edge, but nine of his ten Ophiel happily zipped up and out, each one in a small not-sun form, surrounded by a thorny silver all-reflective shield. Erick had already made them cast their protections, so they were well guarded against normal magics.

Erick doubted that he would be facing normal magics if the worst should happen.

In a flicker of thought, Erick cast his own silver [Animadversion] upon his left wrist and summoned some nicer [Conjure Armor]. Armored white robes flowed down his body. It wasn’t complete protection, but it would help. He also cast a little AC [Ward] on his clothes to keep him cool, and calm.

He was ready—

Ah. He wasn’t quite ready.

He opened his Status and— That looked different. He would deal with that later. For right now, all he wanted was to find— Ah! There it was. The note from Rozeta had been right. Koyabez had granted him some spellwork, or rather, Koyabez had returned a spell that Erick had created. It was a little bit different from how Erick had made it, but that was fine.

Zone of Peace, instant, 24 hours, super long range, 500 MP

All magic cast inside Zone of Peace with the intent to harm, or entering a Zone of Peace with the intent to harm, is transformed into a Cleanse of commensurate size. Zone of Peace has no effect on ongoing magic.

May the peace of Koyabez enable benevolence to flourish.

Erick cast the spell. The air filled with a saturation that passed like a gentle breeze, and then settled down into the sand, and into the sky. Peace took hold of this small part of the world.

And then he waited.

- - - -

Rozeta whipped around. “He’s back— Ah…” She frowned. “Shit.”

Kromolok frowned. King Alfonin waited for Rozeta to continue.

Sitnakov simply asked, “What’s wrong?”

Rozeta sighed. “My father has decided to show.” She looked to the people she had gathered, and decided, “We’re going to wait.”

- - - -

The blue skies of the bright desert began to darken as shadows lengthened from the sides of the dunes, like water seeping out from a broken dam. The sun dimmed, and then went out. Stars appeared.

Darkness grasped the desert.

With feet firmly on the ground, and his body wrapped in a thin layer of lightning, Erick waited for the God of Magic to fully appear—

The dark air shifted, revealing the monumental form of Melemizargo. He towered in the near distance like a smiling menace. Glowing white fangs the size of people. Bright white eyes that rivaled Erick’s own light. He wasn’t nearly as large as he could have been. Maybe only 40 meters tall, and therefore only slightly larger than the dragons Erick had recently seen at the Rotunda in Ar’Cosmos, but he had wings. Those wings were spread to the sides like he was a cat relaxing in the sun, making him seem four times as large.

And he smiled.

Erick wasn’t sure how he felt about that smile, but there was no reason to be antagonistic, so he said, “Hello, Melemizargo. Welcome to the talks. You’re the first to arrive.”

“I had to show, for you deserve a gift. How about a gift of temporary safety?” Melemizargo smiled wider, showing off his glowing fangs. “I was thinking of stripping [Teleport] from every single person, orexpanding my power out from the Underworld and onto the Surface, to prevent [Teleport] that way. That would make your new [Gate] rather useful and necessary for all involved. Would prevent a war, too! Or at least delay such a war for a long while, giving you time to set up proper defenses against all who would do you harm. Wouldn’t do anything against competent assassins, of course, but I have the solution to that problem, too. Someone here wishes to make amends for her part in that Chelation War.” He lifted his arm.

Darkness coalesced halfway between Erick and Melemizargo. That darkness rapidly transformed into the form of Goldie, the goldscale dragonkin Shade of Assassination. She wore serious black leathers while her gigantic adamantium sword floated behind her like a plank of dark void.

She bowed, then rose. In that moment she was not her normal, bubbly self. Instead, she enunciated her words in a strange manner as she spoke, “Wizard Flatt. I wish to enter into thy service, to do as thou wouldst command from now until eternity shall pass.”

Erick’s eyes had widened at first, but he had mostly managed to contain that involuntary reaction. At Goldie’s declaration, though, his countenance was less controlled. “Uh. We can discuss… Events and responses. Maybe no one needs to do anything that drastic. Uh. Hello… Goldie. We will… Discuss that, too.”

Goldie bowed again then stood resolute; waiting for orders.

Melemizargo shrugged. “I feel I will need to do things much more drastic than this, but if you want to try talkingwith the petty tyrants to come, then that is your prerogative. I don’t know how much good it will do— Eh! My offers remain open.” He turned his head to the left. “So who shows next, eh?” With a half-giddy smile, he said, “It’s always so difficult to see what will happen next when Wizards start changing everything. Quite fun, though!”