Crucible Aeternum: Ascending through Skill Trees

[Shaper is attempting to influence the complexities of Pyrokinesis and Vibration.]

[The Vernal Bloom rejects the influence.]

[Shaper of Self overrides the Vernal Bloom's authority according to the wishes of the Master of the Vernal Bloom.]

[The complexities of Pyrokinesis have been linked to the complexities of Vibration.]

[The Vernal Bloom has extrapolated more complexities.]

[You have obtained the trait: Cryokinesis]

[A new form of sprawling complexities has been discovered. Future compatible traits and complexities will be arranged into a System. Individual traits and their branching complexities that stem from a System will henceforth be designated as Nodes and Nodal Skills.]

[A new System has been created: Molecular System]

[Molecular System: Vibration (T2-S1) | Pyrokinesis (T2-S1) | Cryokinesis (T2-S1)]

[The Vernal Bloom wishes to incorporate Lux, Bringer of Light as a Node in the Molecular System.]

[Bringer of Light rejects the Vernal Bloom's authority.]

[Shaper of Self overrides the Vernal Bloom's authority.]

A long series of notifications appeared to distract Galeon from the boring flight, but his expression did not change much. The notifications may have spoken a lot about many things, but he did not really need them to tell him every single thing, especially whenever Shaper of Self overrides the Vernal Bloom's authority.

Of course he knew it happened. He was the one who did it after all. He was the Shaper of Self. And he was also the Master of the Vernal Bloom. His authority over the Vernal Bloom was much greater than the authority of the Vernal Bloom itself. He might not understand much about it, but he can surely override its decisions. So he instead focused on the results of his little experiment.

[System: A newly discovered form of sprawling complexities created from the seamless melding of different compatible complexities. The distinct complexities that make up a System are designated as Nodes. As the complexities of one Node is defined, other Nodes of the same System share in the process. This allows a System to be more easily defined in a comprehensive manner, allowing the Vernal Bloom to better extrapolate more complexities. Possible complexities resulting from a System's Nodal Skill evolution is currently unknown.]

A System, this was the result of his experiment. He was honestly pleasantly surprised by how well it went. His thought process going into this was just that he found it unnecessary to use Pyrokinesis when he had Bringer of Light which was arguably still a lot hotter than his fire. It was a lot faster too. But he also did not want to let it go to waste.

If he left it alone to gather dust, then he would never know if it could ever reach the same level as Bringer of Light or even beyond it. He was unwilling to let it go, especially since with Shaper, he could see a possibility of making it stronger, reaching a level that Bringer of Light could only barely reach currently.

And then there was Vibration. It was honestly one of the most practical abilities he had. It had a lot of uses that only required him to be creative in its application. And one such thing is understanding that flames are just a product of heat energy which is only a product of molecules moving swiftly. And what was that if not Vibration?

So he wanted to see if he could just connect Pyrokinesis directly to Vibration, letting him progress in both at the same time without necessarily using Pyrokinesis. He also thought of getting Cold Resistance and Cryokinesis through Retroactive Physique sometime later and connect it to Vibration as well. Who would have thought that Vernal Bloom managed to grasp his intent and make things a lot easier for him.

Not only did Pyrokinesis and Vibration become connected, he even obtained Cryokinesis that was also connected to them. Their System, which was now called Molecular System, could also progress in the way that Galeon envisioned. He would be able to use Vibration and constantly define it and in turn, Pyrokinesis and Cryokinesis would also be defined.

Although he did not think that they would share the same amount of progress in definition, just sharing it at all was already enough to satisfy him. With this, he would not be wasting the potential he sought for and he could slowly build up these weaker abilities until they reach the level of Bringer of Light in the future.

Speaking of Bringer of Light, it seems the Vernal Bloom wanted it to be part of the Molecular System, but was actually rejected. It seemed the Power of Light had enough authority to resist the Vernal Bloom, but it was still missing one last push which was given by Shaper of Self.

From the moment he became connected with the Light, he had doubts about its power. It was simply too potent to be a mere Tier 3 in the Second Stratum. Galeon knew it was way stronger than that. Could it be that the Vernal Bloom made a mistake in categorising it? It was possible, but Galeon thought that it might not be the case.

He had a feeling that from now on, he would not be seeing anymore evolutions for his Bringer of Light. He could feel the Light itself telling him that it had yet to reach its purest and most potent form. It was likely that when it came time to evolve, Bringer of Light would only advance in Tier and Stratum, but retain its name.

And just when he was finishing his thoughts and preparing to descend into Melchior, Galeon suddenly froze abruptly. His entire body turned numb as his mind felt incredibly heavy. Something else within seemed to be reacting as well, as though it was being squeezed and suffocated by an intense pressure from all around him.

This pressure did not come from anything material. It was not even something he could find in his surroundings. No, this pressure was caused by something unfathomable, something that he should not have encountered yet if at all.

In the depths of his being, Galeon felt like he was standing an empty void. He could see stars and the countless worlds in the distance. It was an entire universe, but they were far from him. Their matter could not even reach this isolated domain whatsoever.

Here, he felt empty and weak. He was completely vulnerable. Whatever power he had just received over the course of the beast tide, none of them mattered here. Here, he was a mere speck of dust waiting to be wiped clean. He was not the Master of the Vernal Bloom. He was not the Divine Blade of Finality. He was not the Bringer of Light. He was not...

"I am..."

He forced out weakly, his voice seemingly grating through his constricting throat. It was as though every part of him was begging him not to do anything foolish, that he had to keep quiet with his head low. But how could he? He was...

"the Shaper..."

An ember was lit within him. It glowed with a seemingly ephemeral light, as though a light breeze could end its incandescent bloom. And yet it remained, holding strong and fast to whatever parts of himself it could grab. And it sought to grab everything, his very being, his entire existence. How could he let his body move against his own wishes, his own desire? It was unthinkable!

"I am the Shaper!"

He was the Shaper! He who moulds his very being according to his own design. No power in the world could ever hope to trump his authority over his own body. He was the god of his own being, the master of his own mind. He was inviolable both within and without!

[$#@&{%]

A sound that he could not fathom echoed out all around him. A voice that he could not understand resonated within his mind, within his very being. Something ethereal within him seemed to want to escape him, as though it was reaching out for the source of that sound.

It was horrifying as a single momentary sound practically collapsed all the momentum that Galeon had built up. The glowing ember within him seemed to flicker, wanting to hide away in the darkness of nothingness, away from the gaze of whoever made that sound.

Gaze... indeed, that was the case. As Galeon was forced to lower his head once more, his eyes finally caught sight of something both so utterly magnificent and absolutely absurd. There was no orientation in this empty void. It was much like space where direction was a meaningless concept. But below him was a gigantic something that he could barely understand.

It was so massive and expansive that if he thought he was a mere speck of dust earlier, then he now would not even suffice to be a mere atom. Galeon never thought he had megalophobia, but the size alone was something that would haunt him in his dreams for years to come. It was so vast and expansive that he feared that even his imagination and estimates of how huge it really was could never come close. It was beyond the scope of his cognition, that much was certain.

Its radiant plates seemed to cast its light out into the universe far away, bathing them in this inexplicable splendour of both horror and majesty. But what truly took Galeon's attention were the massive rings on its body, each turning with a unique cadence that seemed so enchanting that he could lose his mind to it. They turned and turned all while rotating along axes that seemed anchored on something deep within it, at its very centre.

Its core was a radiant masterpiece that Galeon could not clearly recognise. Just looking at it gave him a feeling of vastness as much as the universe around him, but it must be something else. It felt both familiar and unfamiliar, as though he was staring at something that could only exist within a dream.

A dream...?