5:2 The [System]

“This shall be your first lesson in creation,” I said to the beings arrayed around me, standing before Sehuyun’s corpse. Bashikhan, the great white crocodile that was the biggest power in Sehuyun’s old universe, stood beside me alongside Randus and Astraea. Boitata, the fire serpent, was curled around my arm, just like they used to back when they were little. The snake was a warmth against me I wasn’t sure how to handle, a reminder of what Sehuyun had made me do and, apparently, a reminder that he didn’t hold it against me.

“And you are using the great dragon’s corpse to show us,” Bashikhan stated, snapping his jaws together, teeth clacking in something of a dominance display. I nodded once, stepping forward and laying a hand on one of Sehuyun’s cracked scales.

“I will, but this is a scale you will not be able to work at for quite some time. You have a lot of learning to do. However, this kind of creation will be the most of what you will end up doing; not creating something from nothing, that is the realm of an Origin Deity, but manipulating what already exists. Observe.” I reached out with both hands and, between my palms, created a small ball of Primordial Chaos from nothing. All four stared at me, and I chuckled.

“Sorry, that was not the lesson. I needed some fresh material to work with. The lesson begins now. While it is far better to deeply understand what you are making, understanding everything including the base, elemental processes, at your stage instinct is the better teacher. Primordial Chaos isn’t just a collection of all the various elements of creation, it is, fundamentally, reactive to intent. If you want it to be fire, it will become fire,” and just like that, the ball of Chaos burst into flame, the various bits of creation igniting into my deepest understanding of Fire. “Sehuyun is the prime example of this. Her body is made of Primordial Chaos in a way that is very much unlike how your body is formed. Your body is far more simple than Sehuyun’s. Yours is made of a collection of energies that the Primordial Chaos provides, condensed around a soul, to form a vessel. Sehuyun is a soul of Primordial Chaos, shaped into a Dragon. It may sound the same, but I assure you it is not.”

At this, I reached back and snagged a scale of Sehuyun’s that was floating beside me, to hand it to Bashikhan. He grabbed it, eyeing me as if I’d take it away or had some hidden trick up my sleeve with those glowing reptilian eyes of his. What he did not understand was that I did not need tricks for one such as him — powerful as he was in his universe, he was not even close to me.

I smiled indulgently, and walked them through the processes of creation step-by-step.

What followed was a lesson in humility for both Boitata and Bash. Compared to Astraea and Randus, both of them were woefully lacking in the ability to manipulate matter; they had gone all in on power and the ability to fight. A combat focus, I guess would be the best way to put it. Boitata learned quicker than Bash though, despite his nature being opposite that of creation, likely due to the time he had spent with me long ago.

We sat there for quite a while; I showed them lessons I had taught my children back when the Four Realms were still very, very young; a treatise on the Dao, and how to make a Sun. Light was, and always would be, a fundamental part of universal creation. I did wonder why that was, even as I wove these grand tales and tapestries for the four around me to observe. It likely had to do with how the Overgod formed his universe, and original form. Something to do with the Light and Shadows that were present in all universes.

While I did that for Bash and Boitata, Randus and Astraea got a touch more advanced lesson than the other two. By a touch, I mean quite a bit more advanced; they had been around longer, and learned more. Astraea soaked up knowledge like a sponge, and Randus was, surprisingly, eager to learn as well. He had grown interested in these concepts after the Big Four created their universes, and doubly so when Morgan started on its.

The other two were struggling with many of the concepts, Boitata because it was a being of destruction, despite picking it up relatively quick compared to Bash, and Bashikhan because he was a crocodile that seemed to solve all of its problems in one way; brute force. He was the type to beat his head against a wall until the wall broke, rather than find a way around.

Honestly, I respected it. It made teaching a pain, but I respected it.

After a few moments more, which was, in reality, a few years, as time was just different for beings like me, I sent them all on their way so they could absorb their insights and figure out what to do with them. Down time was just as important as the lesson itself. Only Randus stayed, but that was because he wanted to ask a few other things, and see what I was going to do with Sehuyun.

“Are you going to start reshaping her now?” he asked, as we both stared up at her floating corpse.

“I am,” I told him, my powers swirling within me. I reached out and laid a hand upon Sehuyun’s tail. There was so much power still surging within her that some part of me expected at twitch or reaction of some kind, but of course she did not. Instead, the power within seemed to accept some of my intent, not simply or easily, but because I was stronger and I was not going to turn it into something it wasn’t. Even in death, a Dragon like her would always be a Dragon.

That was why I was going to turn her body into lungs. There was nothing so draconic, after all, as a good Roar. I wrapped her entire body in my power, yin and yang swirling together in twin discs of black and white, above and below and all around as I started my work.

It began with her tail, binding it and twisting it up and around, her form destabilizing beneath my will, shifting, squeezing, and pinching as I cast the spell that would reshape her. The yin and yang came together to form a taiji symbol, spherical, not flat, wrapping itself around her like an egg. The primordial matter that was her body fighting against me despite accepting me, because that is what it does. I let it fight, because that’s what I wanted, and because that was how I had beaten her in the first place. Her rage had blinded her, and now I would be able to use it to make something new.

With a flick of my hand and no small expenditure of my power, my shoulders sagging from the effort, my divinity straining to move her, the entire thing was thrown through a hole in the One World created specifically for this. I watched as the gods of the One World worked to quickly close it up the moment the budding universe was through, patching the massive hole.

Someone would have to take control of this world, this new universe that was slowly being formed and transformed into lungs. I did not have a good answer for that yet, though. It would come in time.

In the meantime, I had two more things to attend to before the next meeting between origins. Neither of these things was Morgan’s universe. The stubborn shadow had not yet said another [Word]. I did not expect it to, if I was being completely honest, for the simple fact that I knew what it was waiting for.

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It was waiting for a time to intervene, when it saw something it believed need adjusting, or something might happen, that it could capitalize on. For now, all of creation was moving in a way Morgan approved of, and for the moment that was fine. But it was so stubborn and single-minded, there was no doubt in my mind that eventually that would not be the case. Eventually it would speak again.

If I was really lucky, it would decide to help and become another system that supported all the others, even in an unwitting or unexpected way, just as its Hidden Realm had been for the Four Realms.

The things I needed to attend to were a bit simpler than Morgan, thankfully. First was the Oshun, who had finally completed the [System] for the One World, and how I intended to return some Authority to the [System.] Second was the Rival, who had begged, no, told me quietly but firmly that he would be accompanying me to the meeting. Something I would allow, but not before confronting him about what had him so worried.

Thankfully I was being allowed to bring a decent number of people with me to the meeting, likely because of the nature of my universe, and our unique position.

The Oshun first, though, as that would be a simple enough task. While this incarnation of mine focused on the introduction of the not-yet-fully-formed or properly named “Sehuyun Universe” into the systems that were currently being created, a decent bit of the rest of my attention shifted to the incarnation standing with the Oshun. She stood before me, red hair flapping in the wind, my arm still cradling little Amari Ren, the baby burbling happily. And in the Oshun’s hands floated a multi-dimensional object, a fractal cube, constantly flickering and rotating, almost like it was glitching as it shifted this way and that.

It was the core of the [System] she had been tinkering with, coding like a programmer. It was the most stable I’d ever seen it, actually. In fact, it was so stable it recognized the moment this incarnation of mine had more of my Mind in it, and sent me a message.

[Hello, [Statera Luotian], the [Heavens.] Level: ???.

How may I be of assistance to you today?]

What, no Ding! from this one? Sad.

“It’s working,” the Oshun said, visibly pleased with herself, a light in her eyes that I had not seen since we first met. It was the light of someone who had completed a large piece of art and was actually proud of the results, and lit up her whole face.

I smiled at her and sent the [System] a quick message back. It replied with a little hum, pleased. “I figured out what the bug was that was causing all the glitches. There was redundancy. It was reading the soul twice, and that, at higher [Levels], was creating feedback that kept it from understanding what was actually happening, thus causing mild glitches and crashes. The solution, actually, was not to get it to stop reading the soul twice — it needed to, in order to double-check its work — but rather to increase it to three times and create…”

A smile crept onto my face a little as she continued to rattle along, observing the flickering, rotating cube. To my eyes it was, at least until patches needed to be made, complete. The bulk of it, the “main game,” if you will, was completed. Now all that was missing was one little piece, to give it real power.

But first, I observed it, reading what it was.

It was a skill-based [System.] People leveled by leveling up their mundane or magical skills, living their lives seeking mastery in one, or a decent skill in many different ones. It was also based off of the number 100, as the absolute base. Once a skill reached level 100, it meant you had reached the realm of the gods. It was also able to catalog everything, breaking it down or leaving it as general as the user wished from the interface. It was both micro-driven and macro-driven.

Take the skill, for example, knife wielding. It could be broken down into a thousand different variations; the different kinds of knives, what you were using it for, etcetera, or it could be left as its combined, simple build of just “knife wielding.” And the stats; the stats were quite interesting, split into four different groups. Three main, and one hidden. Mind, body, and soul, the fourth, hidden group being things like fate, luck, and talent. Fate, however, was not anything written in stone but rather the cumulative weight of one’s life decisions and things. In this way, it could influence both talent and luck.

There were achievements and titles and skills and so many simple but beautiful moving parts that came together into a cohesive whole. The [System] designed to allow people to explore and not necessarily control who or what they became. There were classes, which while originally had not been a part of it, the Oshun had decided needed to be present. From here, I imagined it would only continue to grow. It was an adaptable [System] with a lot going for it, but it was still in what I was going to call the beta phase, because I was still going to have to patch it while she was gone.

And as any good programmer will tell you, the minute your application went live, there would be bugs that you would find, sometimes requiring a complete overhaul.

“It’s beautiful,” I interrupted, as she continued to explain how Skills were used and gifted as compared to the regular, mundane skills. She flushed a little, realizing she had been rambling. “It is time, I believe, for me to give it the finishing touch.” She hesitated for just a moment, clasping her hands together, the [System] hovering in the same exact spot, pulsing once, then twice.

“Are you certain?” she asked.

My answer was a small smile and a bounce of Amari Ren. And the Heavens spoke.

Thunder boomed as my Will reached within my being, seemingly scattered though it was, and wrapped around the third of the Authority I had over the One World. I cut it all away and pulled, relief momentarily flooding me as the excess weight was removed from my core, allowing my soul to continue to grow in its more natural state. A sliver remained of course, a leftover from holding onto the Authority at all. One singular percentage point of the Authority of the One World was all that remained, but was all that I needed.

I traced my mind over it, feeling where it sat right next to the small percents of Authority I had over my children’s universes, and the growing bit that come from within Sehuyun’s body. The [System] pulsed once, then again, as I fit the Authority into its like a final puzzle piece - and it exploded with life and purpose, expanding to ten times its previous size.

Then it promptly shut down, turning into an inert, metal cube that the Oshun caught with both hands. She looked at it with wide eyes.

“It wasn’t supposed to do that.” She said, checking it over. “I think it’s ok, though. It should be just in a dormant state.”

“That’s good. It probably was a little overwhelmed by the expanding of its abilities.” I sagged a little from the effort, breathing out, centering myself again. Amari Ren cooed and laid their head on my shoulder, closing their eyes, sleepy and tired. I patted their back. “Thank you for finishing this. It will be a great help,” I told her.

She smiled sadly and shook her head, red hair falling in front of her face. “I’m only sorry I could not do more.”

“You will eventually. You are not leaving for good, only until you are healed properly.” I told her. “Now come, let us make sure that everything is in order for when you leave.” And together, we descended towards the Four Realms.

However, a piece of me focused on the other thing I needed to do. The Rival.

I sat beside him, appearing in the meadow he meditated in, consolidating his aura in preparation to ascend to divinity. What flavor it was going to be I did not investigate, preferring to keep it a surprise. That was part of the fun of him, after all. Despite how powerful I was, despite how much I could see, he could still surprise me.

“Yes?” he asked, cracking one eye open to meet my gaze. His aura did not move an inch, quite the feat considering how deep he was meditating.

“I believe it’s time you told me about what has you so worried.” I said, resting my hands on my knees. “I believe it’s time you told me about the First.”

The Rival was silent for a long, pregnant moment, then he sighed. “I’ll tell you some,” he said softly. “Sit down. It might be a long story.”