Jun was confused at the notion of leaving without an entrance when he felt a pull and suddenly he was outside. Like a real outside. With a sky. That shone with stars on a black canvas that lit the world as if daytime. So not his outside.

  Jun found himself with his back to a door he knew was his, looking out at streams of fascinating ‘people’ with all kinds of exotic features like animal ears and furs and limbs, many sporting beautiful wings of all imaginable varieties while others had body parts made up of different elements like fire or ice. Or was that just a really realistic armor? They all had really cool magical armors and weapons. Jun drooled.

  They were all trickling through a magnificent giant ancient stone archway visible off in the distance, along a cobble stoned path that went right past him and beyond, winding between ancient trees with branches and roots that arched over and covered parts of the sky casting many areas in lovely natural shades. Few would look in interest towards his small but clean little entrance, but all moved along in the end.

  Jun was breathless.

  He’d always fantasized about seeing real trees and looking up at clear skies, but never expected to ever experience them for real. Now he was standing next to an ancient dwarf god, looking out at the greatest fantasy cosplay event in existence.

  “This is the Elder’s Avenue, where the entrances of every Elder’s Domain resides. Yours, being the latest, is stationed at the front by the entrance.” The Old Dwarf patted Jun's back and encouraged him to follow as he began walking towards the archway, the floating hammer smacking impressive armored warriors away to the sides like they were children.

  Jun followed closely.

  Everyone he passed was obviously more powerful than him. Some radiated such might that his knees felt weak, yet all were smacked aside with ease by the jiggly hammer, their auras scattering away and lightening his load.

  As he approached the stone archway, Jun began to feel a stronger appreciation for the craftsmanship of the ancient titanic stonework. It was easily the largest structure of natural materials Jun had ever seen, dwarfing the tallest buildings of his city, and was covered in thousands of fine reliefs, faded and chipped by time, but undiminished in beauty.

  A spirituality existed that Jun could feel resonating with his soul as he approached. Passing through its entrance, he felt an intimate sensation of an embrace that was welcoming him.

  The door just gave him a hug.

  When the moment passed, Jun had no chance to dwell on the strange sensations as he looked out in wonder.

  He stood at a towering peak upon which the Entrance to the Elder's Avenue proudly stood, a commanding presence looking out at the impossible ‘city’ that sprawled out in all directions.

  Jun questioned what laws of physics were in play when he saw entire networks of streets of floating buildings on pathways of light where fantastical flying vehicles and fascinating creatures traveled. Underwater worlds rested in floating oceans that swam like floating watery behemoths that ruled the skies over landscapes of fire and ice and between towering mountains covered in all kinds of fantastical structures. Uncountable numbers of exotic figures moved through it all like chaotic armies of bees and ants.

  While the airspace around and above the Entrance Peak was given a wide birth leaving a distinct cylindrical void open directly to the stars, all other space, above and below, were filled with wonders.

  Jun felt a cold sensation close his gaping jaw and saw the magic floating hammer fly back to the back figure of the Old Dwarf that was already walking off. He carefully followed, avoiding the oncoming traffic, while admiring the rough wide white spiraling stone stairway that had been cut directly into the towering white stone peak. Nothing else existed all the way down but the path and its patrons.

  Jun followed for what felt like endless hours, desperately trying to not lose himself in his gawking. Every turn was a new discovery and a new oddity to tickle his curiosity and threaten to trip his feet.

  When they had finally reached the base, Jun was mentally exhausted from the sensory overload of too much crazy. All his understanding of what was real had been challenged by this place.

  When they had finally arrived at the base, the Old Dwarf did not stop till he met another ledge. When Jun finally caught up, he looked down at a chaotic sea of colorful tents and temporary structures that seemed to wrap around the wide base of the peak they had climbed down.

  “This here is the first level of the Nexus Market where newcomers are first limited. Only when conditions of strength and merit are met, can one go to the next district. This is where you would have gone after your awakening, if you were normal.”

  “I'm not normal?” Jun tried to joke.

  Dogadon was not amused.

  “Those from blessed worlds rich in mana and spirituality, usually start from the second to third stages of existence from birth, while the average world will birth beings of the first stage. Only those that can follow their Path to the peak of the 8th Rank can challenge the heavens to grasp a portion of divinity and become a Demigod of the 9th Rank and become an Elder of the Nexus.”

  The Dwarf looked complicated as he scanned Jun from head to toe in bewilderment.

  “Since the establishment of the Nexus you are the 136th and you accomplished that while only at the 4th Rank. Do you think that makes sense? The only way I'm functioning right now is by ignoring how ridiculous of an existence you are.”

  “So it's not normal to Glimpse before the 8th Rank?” Jun asked, finally getting a clue about his own abnormality.

  “Fuck no!” The Old Dwarf bellowed, frightening many passersby.

  Dogadon gave a wave and the boisterous sounds around them muted, as if passing through a cushioned barrier.

  “You've not even started your Path but you've already experienced the goal! What nonsense is this?!”

  Jun patted the Old Dwarf's back in comfort. He looked to be setting off again. He was a very emotional dwarf.

  “What is the Path Elder?” Jun asked in hopes of calming him down. That was the wrong question for that goal. The Old Dwarf's face flushed red in frustration once more, but managed to contain himself.

  A few deep calming breaths that sounded suspiciously like 'he's be a young idiot that know nothin' the Old Dwarf began explaining again.

  “The Path is the personal journey that one has taken in pursuit of the highest peak. Every Path is unique and can take vastly different roads, but they all strive for the same destination. The Origin.” The Dwarf began.

  “The first three stages of existence are stages for laying foundation for the fourth of awakening one's Spirit Fire. The journey defines the flames and must be nurtured into a powerful inferno. How one proceeds into the fifth is where no one can define for you and is the real start of one's Path. Each rise in one's rank of existence from the sixth stage is a feat worthy of celebration, and reaching the eight is a validation that takes many thousands of years of effort. Catching a Glimpse and reaching the ninth is believed to lay with fate and its judgment of your Path.” The Elder's hands were getting animated again.

  “As Elders, having reached the pinnacle of our Paths, we have seized our chances to Glimpse a part of the truth in order to qualify as a Being that is worthy to serve as the Host of our World’s spirit and step into the 10th stage of true divinity! And I, after eons, have finally achieved my third Glimpse and am one step closer!”

  Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

  “Oooooh!” Jun cheered at grandpa dwarf's enthusiasm, clueless of the significance of his achievement.

  “Oh, shut up! Ahem! Sorry, sorry. Honestly, I want to be proud, but in front of you it's too shameful.” And to his word, the old dwarf did look embarrassed.

  “Why is that? If it's worth being proud about, then be proud.”

  “Because you, a 4th Rank crazy bastard shows up out of nowhere having seen so much it's like the World Tree gave you the VIP tour while the rest of us are trying so hard to sneak peaks like a bunch of perverts!”

  “Ahem ahem Elder please comport yourself.”

  The Old Dwarf pouted as he looked out to what lay beyond the first level of the Nexus Market.

  “Crowns, as representatives of a world, are qualified to start groups and set the standards to join. These can be schools or sects following similar Paths like the Stupid Monkey, or groups that merely share similar elements, coming together to support each other like the Elf Hag. As long as one is willing to pay the fees to the Nexus, many kinds of groups can be formed.” he explained while pointing to the series of floating avenues of varying architectural styles.

  Pointing to the more luxurious estates and magical floating anomalies, the Elder continued.

  “Elders have a similar privilege that goes one step beyond the Crowns.”

  While the facilities of the groups established by Crowns ranged from poor to impressive, the areas run by Elders were like worlds upon themselves.

  “Elders can bring people into the Nexus from their world through their Domains, bypassing all entry requirements.”

  The world of water was now floating right above their heads. He could see cities of coral architecture where schools of magical fish and fish people, young and old, seemed to call home. There was no way that small group of fish gilled children on a school trip on their giant manta ray shaped school bus were all S-Ranked awakened with completed Keys.

  “As an Elder, the more Paths you assist, the greater your karmic merit and the greater your authority within the Nexus and thus a greater territory. For some Elders, this is where the last of their people take refuge.”

  Jun looked out and saw everything with a new appreciation. While everyone was struggling together to fight an eternal war, eager to gain strength and wisdom, no one was immune to ruin. Even the great Elders and their terrible powers could not guarantee the preservation of their worlds. Would there be a day when he would have to shepherd the last on mankind into his section of the Nexus?

  “How is it that I’m only the 136th?” Jun asked something that didn’t make sense to him. From the old dwarf’s tales, it was evident the Nexus had existed for a long time, connected to countless worlds. Surely there should be more of the highest tiers of battle strength after so long.

  Dogadon didn’t answer immediately, but looked out at the throngs of warriors busying themselves away, seeking strength and glory or mere survival.

  “There are no more gods to guide us. It took the sacrifice of every single surviving Divinity to barely create the Nexus. Without them, we are merely blind fools grasping at the dark.” The Old Dwarf gave another deep sigh filled with years of pent up frustration and helplessness. “Also, while the Nexus seals the Enemy’s movements, it also hinders us in seeing the Origin, raising the threshold for gaining new divinities to levels only true geniuses could dream of crossing.”

  The dwarf looked at Jun strangely. He mumbled more to himself, “…perhaps your ascension is the key that we’ve been missing…. Follow me.”

  The Old Dwarf started walking back towards the steps they had just walked down.

  And then he started walking back up.

  Ah. Why?

  Jun thought about all the revelations he'd had in this fantasy land that day while following the surprisingly long stridden dwarf back up a mountain they'd spent all day climbing down.

  His accomplishments aside, the precarious state of his world weighed heavily on his mind.

  The Elder's words had given him plenty of inspiration but also of doubts.

  What kind of group could he form and what kind of people could he bring in that he trusted to become strong enough to overthrow a system that had been in place for the last two centuries?

  What kind of qualifications did he have to make such a historic decision?

  He made a magic statue of his mom.

  That was it.

  How was he supposed to guide anyone with that?

  Oh, you're stuck on your path to godhood and need guidance? Here's a statue of my mom. Isn't she pretty?

  Plagued by doubts and fears for the future, Jun did not realize how much they had traveled until he was met with the colossal stone entrance to the Elder's Avenue. Passing through, he expected to see his lonely little door within eyesight, as it had been when he left it.

  It wasn't there.

  In its place was a similar door but old and worn. It had the same number plaque, but Jun knew even without looking that it wasn't his. He looked to the Elder Dwarf with questions, only to see him walk off again without explanation.

  Jun was getting tired of that.

  They walked with the flow this time, first past the door that was not his, then after minutes another similar door, slightly more decorative and better maintained, marked 135, yet still not his. The dwarf and human pair trudged on in this manner as they passed door after door that was not his.

  After many turns and bends and passed doors more majestic than the next, they came to the simple wooden door that Jun recognized instantly as his. It's plaque read: Elder Jun Hopper 99.

  There was a long line full of very anxious faces where minor conflicts rose and fell like waves. Jun was confused about it till he realized that they were all lined up to get into his door.

  What the hell.

  Without looking at Jun's stupid face, Dogadon physically cleared a space to the front. Only then did he face Jun and signal for him to lead the way.

  Flabbergasted but obedient, Jun ignored the shocked glares of the heroic fantasy figures all around him and opened the door and passed through, the Old Dwarf following behind and shutting... space? What happened to the door?

  They were back where they had started.

  Jun looked to Dogadon for answers to find an ancient immortal figure that had seen the age where time had started and Gods were born and fell, rolling on the infinite floor of purple clovers, laughing hysterically like a lunatic without a shred of divine dignity.

  Jun took a few wary steps back. Looking around, he didn't see the hoards of people destroying his Garden like he had feared.

  There was no one. Yet Jun felt like there were many.

  As he questioned this feeling, he became aware of his connection to his Domain.

  Jun focused on it.

  Then he saw.

  As if the space and he were one.

  He stood within the ‘real?’ Domain, while hundreds were roaming through mirrored dimensions, experiencing hundreds of mirrored copies of the Garden.

  He could see them still pouring in after the Dwarf had closed the door.

  New mirrored worlds appeared with each entry, while those that were left empty, shattered back into nothingness.

  “You can see them, can't you?”

  Jun opened his eyes wide and glared at the Old Dwarf for an explanation.

  “When a new Elder enters the Nexus, for a time, their doors will remain open for all, to experience a glimpse of the newly ascended one’s Path. Most Elders have some visual display of their strength or a demonstration of their mastery of a Law, while only a few like you and I would have a display of our creations.” Dogadon explained, as he got himself off the floor.

  “There are times when a Crown gains something from the experience, and when that happens, you gain some Karma as an influencer of fates. The more Paths you guide, the greater the achievements, the more Karma, and finally a higher rank as an Elder. Bwahahahahaha!” It seemed the Old Dwarf couldn’t contain himself any further. Oh, he was on the ground again. The clovers here were resilient indeed.

  “So the reason for the hike down when we could have had that whole explanation from the peak was…?”

  “I just wanted to see how quickly your rank would shoot up after a short jaunt. It’s been millennium since I’d last walked em steps. It was quite invigorating…. Bwhahahahaha!”

  “And the reason for your manic bursts of laughter thats really creeping me out?”

  “Yo-you went up so much so fast! A craftsman! Hahahaha! Those combat junkies have always had the advantage in the ranking since it costs nothing for them to record and distribute their lessons, but us craftsman have to make each of our wares by hand one by one and only a few will gain enough to warrant much merit. Our rankings are carved with the endless effort of our creators’ spirits!” The Old Dwarf was on his feet now, arms stretched out in passion.

  Suddenly the world shook as a deafening boom knocked on the heavens and Jun’s skull three times, followed by a loud echoing shout that reached every corner of the infinite void, “Greetings to the newest Ascended Elder! We come to greet you!”

  “Ah! Lad, you have to configure your doorbell! By the Old Gods, let them in befur they knock again!” The supposed powerful demigod wailed, clutching his ears in pain, rolling on the floor once more.

  Jun really wanted to do that too, but he didn’t kno- oh. He figured it out.

  Reconnecting with his Domain, he allowed entry to some pretty powerful looking - ‘people’?

  Four entities had entered.

  A tall beautiful female blonde elf in a rather revealing magically flowing blue dress that appeared to be made of blue water that simply towered over him by a couple feet at least, an even taller dark silver giant robot that looked so cool that Jun wanted to scream a little, an equally giant gorilla dressed in elegant white and azure silk robes with golden accents, and a floating sphere of pink light with orbiting rings of glowing silver dust.

  This was his new normal.

  It was the elegant gorilla that stepped forward and boomed his greetings. “Greetings to the newest Ascended Elder! We welcome you, to, the,” or began to before stopping in confusion.

  “What are you?” it asked Jun, brows furrowed.

  “Bwhahahaha!”

  “Dogadon!” The elf and the robot both exclaimed in surprise at the Old Dwarf’s presence. The ball of light. Floated.

  This was going to take some time.