Even the magnificent beauty of Trident Gate City's jewel like barrier was slowly eaten away by the freezing darkness as it faded further and further from view.

  The hard polluted air whipped and slashed Jun's face as he rode atop the giant steel convoy, rumbling through the wilderness. He looked back at the marble of light that had been his home for the last eight years, wondering when he would see it next.

  He couldn't tolerate the greasy convoy leader's attempts at currying his favor, so he made an excuse to sit atop the rune vehicle, where he could see more of the land than he'd ever dared venture alone.

  To the east, crumbling towers stretched out as far as the eye could see, while the west was flattened out unnaturally smooth, just as vast.

  A terraforming device, prepared for the use of the space colonies, had been fired down on earth and marked the beginning of The Fall.

  Billions were lost from one push of a button.

  But the senseless genocide of billions of innocents wasn't what was on Jun's mind at the moment.

  He was staring at his fist.

  It was burning with white flames.

  He did not know he could do that.

  When he had grabbed the convoy leader's attention, he only intended to show off enough to prove his strength. Sure, it was a maneuver that needed utmost attention, and he wasn't really all there at the time, but when his fist caught on fire, he nearly shat himself.

  Luck would have it he didn't and that the convoy leader did, so all was well.

  Jun thought back to his mother's teachings.

  She had said that the practice of body refinement was to prepare the body for spirit awakening and required three initial cleansings. The first cleansing required talent and effort, the second required conviction, and the third required insight. To reach the third cleansing was to have a body ready to be sparked, for the soul to be ignited and awakened.

  The trigger to that spark was different for everyone, with only a few ever finding it.

  Jun watched in fascination as the flames twisted and curved, dancing on his palm to his will. A single flame divided into three balls of fire that wobbled about in orbit above his palm.

  “You have incredible control. I've never seen a newly awakened Spirit Fire be so obedient before,” a very feminine voice admired softly inches from his left.

  Jun whipped his head around to find a person of unnatural beauty looking deeply into his eyes, their face only inches from his own.

  What was with people and boundaries today, Jun stupidly wondered before he lost himself to the most beautiful pupils he'd ever seen.

  They were like jewels with how they sparkled and shimmered in violets, reds and blues, just like their long, flowing hair sparkled like shimmering glass. And they stared right back at him.

  “Can, can I help you?” Jun stammered as he tried to lean back, but the face just kept following to keep the distance. This person was way too beautiful, with a gently angled face, a delicate button nose and lips that shined in gold. She? He? Jun couldn't tell. Their beauty was gender-less and divine.

  “You are fascinating Jun Hopper,” the stranger said, as if they'd discovered a new amazing world or tasted ice cream for the first time.

  Jun tensed when his name was mentioned. Had they found him already? Were his enemies always so close?

  Sensing Jun's immediate defensiveness, they only giggled delightfully.

  “I'm not your enemy Jun Hopper. I am the Administrator of the Nexus. I felt a ripple in the fabric of the cosmos and found you. I've been by your side since you awakened your spirit flame but didn't think it appropriate to approach you when so much was happening,” the Administrator said with a sweet and understanding smile.

  They had been by his side since he awakened? Was that when he first saw the flames? That was hours ago.

  If the being in front of Jun wasn't so otherworldly, he'd have scoffed at the claims, but his new senses shouted at him to take the person in front of him seriously. He could sense the vastness. It wasn't suffocating, but it was deep.

  “Well, this is a refreshing change of procedure, I must say. I've never quite had a welcoming like this,” she continued once she sensed his acceptance.

  “Um, I'm sorry. I wasn't really expecting you.” Jun replied, defensive. He had no idea what was happening anymore. Maybe he was still drugged and everything from the day was a fever dream.

  “Oh, I am aware. I wasn't condemning you, my dear. Not at all. Oh, I feel I should start fresh. I don't normally get to meet those who aren't at least aware of me.” She said, finally sitting back and giving Jun his precious space back.

  Now he could see more than just her face. Her face which was distinctly more feminine than when she first appeared.

  Her figure was pale, slender and long and draped in beautiful translucent white robes that shimmered like starlight. She was a very sparkly person.

  Even as she knelt beside Jun's seated form, he could tell that she was a tall creature, much taller than him. It was only then that he realized that the foul winds did not touch her jewel like hair or her regal garments and that the shaking of the convoy did not disturb her baring. She sat in graceful perfection, looking down at him kindly.

  “I am a being tasked with the honorable position of managing the Nexus, a system crafted by higher beings to unify the worlds in combating a common enemy that threatens the destruction of all worlds.” Instead of dwelling on the bombshell news that other worlds existed, her very existence providing all the evidence he needed, Jun wondered what was such an important cosmic being was doing there, riding on top of a rune truck in the wilderness?

  “When an eminent being of the 8th rank seeks to pry open cosmic truths, they will prepare a place for my visitation, which will always come when they are successful. It's become something of a strange superstition where the quality of the place of visitation is linked with their success. Which is foolish. It's not like I can see their attempts unless they succeed anyway, so what's the point, right? But regardless of my insistence, they prepare grander and grander venues, as if to entice me to allow them to succeed.” She mused.

  Seriously, what was she doing here? Was 8th rank on the same scale as what they used? So four ranks higher, right? Maybe? What was happening?

  The Administrator giggled again, seeing the lost expression of the child that had accomplished a miraculous feat, not comprehending its grand significance.

  “Normally, only an 8th rank entity is qualified to even attempt seeing into the greater secrets of the cosmos, having brought their bodies and souls to the limits of mortals, one step away from divinity and becoming a 9th ranked demigod. Very, very, very few will ever succeed, the rest eternally confined to their mortal shells.”

  She leaned in forward, looking again at Jun with intensity.

  “You succeeded while stepping foot into the 4th !”

  “Wha?! I'm a demi-god?!” Jun exclaimed, shocked.

  “Hahahaha! No, of course not silly. Well, not yet, but almost. You're a 4th ranked being having just awakened your spirit fire, but you've attained the qualifications and status in advance. Once you become a peak 8th ranked being, nothing will stop you from comfortably striding into the 9th.” The Administrator said animatedly. It was clear she was having fun. Jun didn’t like the slyness in her eyes, though.

  “What do you mean qualifications and status?” Jun asked, trying to catch up.

  “You saw a glimpse of Mother, didn't you?” She asked with a lonely smile.

  Jun wasn't sure what she meant, but if they were talking about visions, then he'd had one for sure.

  “Are you talking about the World Tree?” Jun asked to be sure.

  The Administrator's wide and focused eyes widened even further in shock. Jun was afraid her jewel like eyeballs would pop out of her pretty face at this rate.

  “Ho-how much did you see?” she stammered, no longer sure of herself.

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  Jun wasn't sure what was important, so he answered honestly. He described in his limited words the beauty he'd experienced and the darkness that was contaminating it, as well as the final plea that he was sure was from the World Tree herself.

  The Administrator gasped when Jun said he'd heard the World Tree's call. Had he said too much?

  “You've seen so much Jun. Most will only get a glimpse of their world fruit for their first glimpse and, at most, a part of a branch, but you saw the entirety of Mother in one go. And you heard her voice.” The Administrator was clearly shaken and now so was Jun. It was a good thing, right? His soul wasn't going to implode on itself, right?

  “This is a wonderful thing for you and the worlds Jun. You did something that resonated with Mother to such an extent that she deliberately showed you what countless powerful beings seek but a glimpse of.” The Administrator had found her composure and reignited her passionate gaze. Jun was getting tired.

  “Do you know what you did?” she asked, her nose once again mere inches from his.

  “Um...no.” Jun was blanking again. He really wanted to take a nap.

  “It was your sculpture, Jun. The one that awakened your Spirit Fire in crafting. You, Jun, created a Spiritual Artifact with your mortal soul. I know you don't understand why that's a big deal, but it really is.” Jun could only nod at her, pretending to understand. He didn’t, but faking it was free.

  “It's something that can normally only happen in nature after hundreds of thousands of years of nurturing. 9th ranked beings can create origin artifacts that are close to spiritual objects but even they cannot perfectly reproduce nature's glory.”

  So the statue of his mother was a work of the divine? That felt good to hear, at least.

  Seeing Jun's tired complexion not understanding her, the Administrator was about to start from the beginning when a violent shaking brought the entire convoy of vehicles to a standstill.

  The road was changing.

  Jun had read about this, but he didn't think he'd get to see it. It was supposedly a rather rare occurrence. Lucky right?

  Ahead of their convoy, rubble of all sizes, from metal scrapes and rusty screws to boulders larger than their rune vehicles, started to rise and collect into dozens of piles, some smaller than a person, others larger than small buildings.

  Hunters poured out of the convoy of vehicles, some arming themselves with rune shields and weapons, while others set out carts filled with rounds of ammunition to be fed into wicked rune guns that Jun had seen only in the vids.

  Jun was still calm until he realized he was one of the few ones. From the sounds of things, the size of this group was a little too much for their convoy to handle. Messages for reinforcements were being shouted into a dozen different short wave coms while their leader's greasy and now sweaty head popped up from over the side with a strained smile as he wondered whether Jun would like to participate in the defensive.

  Jun paid him no mind while the Administrator had disappeared. He watched with fascination as the smaller piles of rubble finally started taking shape.

  Turning to the greasy man, Jun briefly wondered if there was anything else he needed from the man. He'd already gotten all his info on the area’s networking between five Gate Cities, which was way more than he was expecting to find, and all his provisions were now in order.

  He didn't need them anymore.

  “I'll take care of this. You can go around and move on. I'll be continuing a different path from here.”

  “Ah, ah yes?” The Greasy Man stuttered, unsure if he was being dismissed, or if he'd help them.

  Jun didn't care anymore. He hadn't hunted in years. He was much stronger now. Would the fight still be fun?

  The smallest piles were the first to finish forming themselves into shapes as large as a grown man. Most looked like small animals, likes dogs and cats and rats made of rubble with a red glowing core.

  Jun kicked off from the top of the rune car and appeared in front of the nervous hunters that didn't have much fighting spirit. Was this group of hunters that unprepared or was this group of monsters that terrifying?

  Jun wanted to try something.

  Once he'd achieved the Shattering Realm, two years prior, he'd never had an opportunity to really let loose. He'd never gone past the relative safety zones around the city where he felt comfortable about not exposing himself., having a heft respect for the dangers of the outside world.

  The Shattering Realm was about absolute control of one's body. Only at the peak of third cleansing was such control viable, but once achieved, one's body entered a new realm of focused power where it was possible to concentrate the entire body’s potential into a singular point of contact with but the merest vibration. The goal was to concentrate that energy even further until a vibration from one's hand could cause massive destruction many times beyond one's normal capabilities.

  Jun had been stuck in this realm of body control, constantly refining his body's capabilities without understanding his true strength even before he awakened his Spirit Fire.

  Now he was presented with the perfect opportunity. Test his strength, kill monsters and create eye witnesses of him leaving. Perfect.

  The medium and large size mounds were almost finished forming into giant humanoid figures as the small ones hissed and snarled while they lurked between the feet of their larger relatives.

  Jun didn't think it wise to let things play out any further. He wasn't 100% certain about how strong he was yet, after all.

  Step

  Step

  Step

  Jun approached as he lightly raised his palm. For the first time, Jun focused his everything into the next movement.

  Eyes closed, palm out, he focused.

  All his repressed frustrations.

  Creaak~

  All the unanswered questions.

  Pop!

  All the rage that had no outlet.

  Snap!

  Apparently, he was special, so he wanted to see what he could really do. He took all his spiteful emotions and released it with a breath.

  !!!

  Time seemed to stand still as a reverberation shook reality and all things felt it.

  The silence was broken when Jun gasped for air. That was exhausting. Like climbing up a flight of stairs after a belly aching meal. He needed a moment.

  The next to awaken were the confused hunters. What happened? He strode out so confidently, built up their anticipation with some ominous sound effects, but all the golems were fine while he was not.

  They were utterly still.

  But fin-

  The ground in front of the gasping solitary figure, and everything on it for hundreds of feet, turned to dust.

  Huh.

  What?

  “Wow. I guess I am bad-ass.” The heroic, manly figure said to the wind as he bravely strode forward to examine his handiwork. He gave the newly flattened ground a few good stomps before turning around and addressing his stunned audience.

  “You can totally keep driving on this. Just sandy dirt now. Well Greasy Man, we part ways from here. Thanks for the ride.” And with that, he was gone.

  “Greasy Man?” Walter Charleston, the Fourth of the prestigious Charleston Family, mumbled, wondering who that terrifying man was addressing. He looked around to see everyone looking at him funny.

  “What?”

  “I've got a great facial mask you should try, boss.” His secretary said to him sympathetically.

  “Oh...”

  ---

  Jun found himself, once again, floating in a void. At least he had his whole body this time. Progress?

  While Jun was trying to deny reality, reality decided to say hello.

  By changing.

  Suddenly there was a floor that Jun was sure he wasn't standing on before.

  The Administrator poofed into existence as he was still examining his surroundings. Which were empty. Like really empty.

  An infinite white floor in an infinite white space.

  He was going to have to find out what he'd been drugged with. This was the craziest dream of his life. He might want to try this again. Maybe.

  “Welcome Jun, to the core of the Nexus.” The Administrator said with solemnity.

  Jun didn't know how to tell her it sucked without hurting her feelings.

  “This space is your own private Domain, as is your right as the newest Elder of the Nexus.”

  Okay, so now she was hurting his feelings.

  This crap show was his?

  And what?!

  “What?!” Jun exclaimed, finally participating. What did she mean by ‘the newest elder’?

  The Administrator covered her mouth to stifle her laughter.

  “As I was trying to explain before we were rudely interrupted, was that your Path has touched Mother, who has given you the qualifications to sit on the Nexus Elder's Council.” Jun was tiring of being told things as if they made total sense.

  “Hahaha. It's okay if you don't understand right now. Someone will come and explain more about the Elders Council. Let’s talk about this space, Jun.” The Administrator gestured around her at the white void.

  “As the master of this domain, you have the authority to shape this place as you see fit. I’ve also taken the liberty of transferring your wonderful Garden here. Don’t worry, I’ve left behind a mirrored image behind. No one will notice. Now imagine the ground as something nice.”

  'Something nice? Like the purple clover beds my mother and I would take refuge on.' And with a thought, the world was a never ending field of soft purple clovers. And his Garden sat right there too. All properly set up and deployed and runes activated. Didn’t he leave that with the University? Did she say something about leaving behind a mirrored image?

  ‘Oh man. Drugs are so bad for you. I think I should sleep this off. On this nice bed. Of purple clovers.’

  The Administrator couldn't help giggling at the sight of the child that decided to check out. He just slowly got down and felt the soft clovers before laying down to rest. And then he was out.

  It's not like she couldn't understand.

  She'd been by his side since the moment she felt the ripples.

  Normally the ripples were abrupt and violent, as was the nature of forcefully prying into the greater secrets of the cosmos, but this time the ripple was gentle and warm, like the small ripples she’d felt recently, while being so powerful they demanded her attention. This confused the Administrator. She had never experienced anything like it.

  The sensations were not of someone’s ascent, yet were even stronger.

  She sought it out, as was her duty, to welcome the newest demigod into the ranks of the Nexus Elders Council before they even succeeded with a sense of confidence she couldn’t explain.. It had been thousands of years since the last ascended, but it was the gentleness that rushed her.

  When she arrived, she believed herself mistaken for the first time in her long life. It was a newly tapped world that had been nearly entirely suppressed by demonic mana in only its first Wave of invasion. How was it possible for any being to see through the Laws in this place? Surely not this weak child.

  But then she saw what he was doing.

  It made no sense.

  How was a mortal child, unawakened to even Spirit Fire, able to craft a spiritual treasure that even the gods could not?

  She watched as the child accomplish a miraculous feat through his awakening process.

  She froze the surroundings to allow him to awaken without the distractions of screaming mortals.

  Then he saw a glimpse of Mother.

  It happened so naturally, without great tribulations of thunder and lightning to test his worthiness. What did that mean?

  She was tempted to appear immediately after his successful Glimpse, but recognizing the newest Elder’s unconventional situation, she waited until he had less pressing matters to attend to.

  That minor consideration brought her the unintended result of witnessing firsthand the tribulations of the newest Elder. The great betrayals, the destruction of his home and life’s work, to his forced abandonment of his remaining loved ones for their supposed protection.

  His entire world had been flipped, and then of course she had to butt in, flipping it again and messing with the poor child's worn down tolerance with too many surprises he wasn't ready for.

  She would let him sleep.

  She'd have to arrange for someone else to fill him in, though. Someone dependable.

  Oh no.

  None of these idiots were dependable.

  How about indebted?

  The Old Dwarf would gain much from a visit to the boy's Garden.

  Yes, that would do.

  The Administrator looked kindly at the sleeping form of her miracle child, for whom she had many expectations.