Wuji observed this mana through six of its seven parallel cognitive streams—each a figurative brain exploring different facets. Each stream constantly yielded novel insights—fascinating, yet often frustratingly disconnected or impractical during these deep meditations. The last of its 'brains' monitored the machinations of its brood and the world at large, not primarily for control, but to keep itself sane, anchored to something tangible while swimming in the magnificent, infinite ocean of mana.
As something clicked into place within its understanding of mana cycling, it felt the resonant attention of its master. Just the thought of it—the so-called ‘Master’, a being it despaired of ever surpassing, whose mere attention felt suffocating with a saccharine peace Wuji seldom enjoyed—caused a dissonance in its carefully maintained stillness.
Wuji, a creature whose form defied simple description—a confluence of crystalline structures and shifting shadow bound by immense mental discipline—flexed its considerable cognitive abilities. This island was its domain; it felt and saw everything within its bounds, tracked the intricate life cycles of the mana-adapted fauna, guided the evolution of every flora in relation to mana. Yet, this control felt petty, overshadowed by the distant, rhythmic thrum of its Master's 'Harmonic Field' that stretched across fifteen islands, stretched far beyond Wuji’s perception and its ability to traverse.
Looking back, Wuji remembered when things felt simpler. Despite the power it now possessed—power few on Emberia or the Ashlands could comprehend, the ability to reshape thoughts, analyze possibilities at speeds transcending mortal wit, touch minds across vast distances—the climb felt impossibly steep.
This plateau felt different from the earlier stages of its ascent. For centuries now, progress had slowed to a crawl, each incremental gain costing disproportionately more effort and time, while the Master's power remained an unchanging, distant star—an absolute that mocked Wuji’s straining ambition. The chasm between its current state and the god-like nature of its Master wasn't merely a gap; it was an abyss. It felt cornered, ambition gnawing against the bars of perceived impossibility. The Cognitive God, it’s supposed master, simply WAS. Effortlessly radiating a control that felt both absolute and sickeningly gentle, a constant reminder of Wuji's own ceiling. For centuries, Wuji had schemed, subtle manipulations and carefully laid cognitive traps all failing against its master’s seemingly passive awareness.
A ripple disturbed Wuji's meditative state. Nova, Wuji’s subordinate—the specialist painstakingly cultivated over decades for its unique, almost obsessive, focus on spatial resonances and portal theory—approached the sanctum's core. Nova’s mental signature blazed with an uncontrolled excitement that bordered on instability.
Nova’s thought-form projected, bypassing formal protocols in its eagerness. Images flooded Wuji’s consciousness – intricate mana pathways, resonant frequencies matching archaic System runes, a connection that seemed solid theoretically.
Wuji focused its formidable intellect, analysing Nova’s data streams. The pathway was indeed there, like a faded scar in the world's mana fabric, older than Wuji's own existence by millennia. Theoretically, it could be accessed. But the risk. The world's 'System'—the impersonal force that, if Nova was right, had brought life here, dictated the very rules of mana, resonance, circuits, and progression—was not something to be tampered with lightly. Like any ordered structure, it would surely react to anomalies, especially direct interference.
Wuji projected, intense caution cooling Nova’s fervour.
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Nova argued, the lure of providing its Master the ultimate tool overriding its caution.
Wuji considered. An army. Untrained, perhaps weak initially, but malleable. Creatures it could imprint upon, train in all resonances, perhaps even unlock combinations never seen before. A force loyal only to it, useful for exploration both outward and subtly through human society. The failure of its other plots, the looming stagnation, the maddening difficulty of reaching godhood… desperation warred with prudence.
As it felt the corner tightening, desperation won.
Wuji stated, a reluctant acceptance forming.
The ritual chamber hummed. Crystalline structures pulsed with stored energy, fed by the slow disintegration of priceless mana-rich artifacts – petrified hearts of ancient beasts to fuel the reaction, solidified calamities of all resonances to focus the energy, and finally deep-ocean mana pearls and volcanic gems to channel it. Nova stood at the center, vibrating with excitement, manipulating the intricately designed system of invaluable devices. Wuji noticed the reverent look on Nova’s face to its senses, Wuji likely looked like a god, directing the flow of mana with fine control, orchestrating so much power all at once—the culmination of Nova's existence. Yet even Wuji perceived the setup as a crude interface compared to the magnificent, terrifying complexity of the System's true architecture.
Nova began channelling the spatial resonance through the sequence Wuji generated. Mana from the treasures surged, channelled, then focused into an impossibly fine point aimed at the theoretical coordinates of the dormant pathway. Wuji connected its own senses through Nova, feeling the fabric of space-time groan, the archaic resonance flaring briefly like a struck match. A connection sparked. A pull emanated from the focal point – faint, distant, but undeniable. Something was being drawn across realities.
Nova’s mental signature surged with triumph.
Then, silence. Not Wuji's controlled stillness, but an absolute null point that slammed into existence. The connection didn't just close; it shattered. Wuji felt an Attention, VAST. Was it beyond ITS comprehension? The focus slammed instantaneously onto the point of interface – on Nova. It wasn't even hostile, not in a way Wuji understood hostility. It was the dispassionate awareness of an immune response identifying an anomaly. Yet this simple attention carried so much… such pure, unadulterated mana, raw power beyond any Resonance, flooded Nova through the interface.
There was no scream, physical or mental. Nova simply… ceased. Its complex energy signature and physical form dissolved in an overwhelming surge of pure creation-potential, leaving only a faint, rapidly fading echo and scorched crystal where it had stood. The System Tools cracked and went dark.
Wuji recoiled. The being's mere attention, simply connecting to the interface Nova created, broke someone of Nova’s considerable power. It felt tiny. Not from the energy release itself – negligible at its distance – but from the implication. The brief touch of the System's corrective force carried a weight, a density of power that made the gap between its current state and its Master seem like a hairline crack in comparison. It was a glimpse into the furnace that powered the stars, utterly indifferent, utterly absolute. Terror, cold and sharp, pierced through Wuji’s ancient, calculating mind. If this was the System's casual response, what madness had possessed it to even attempt such a thing? What was it even vying for against such forces?
Wuji’s composure never returned; the psychic echo of the System's power left a profound dread that burned through all its cognitive layers. More out of practiced habit than conscious choice, an awareness split to focus outside the ruined chamber. The Treasures were spent. Nova annihilated. The chamber broken. A complete failure. Its attention was pulled to its island edge, more as a response to detected intrusion than active search. Faint, new signatures flickered into existence, remnants of the severed connection. A brief focus revealed two distinct points of arrival. Human, judging by the nascent, unformed resonance patterns. Potential waiting to be claimed.
And then, as if fate itself were mocking it, another energy signature flared—sharp, precise, and undeniably Cognitive. Wielding a skill Wuji had never encountered, a connection lanced out from beyond its perceivable distance, not towards Wuji's sanctum, but directly towards one of the newly arrived human signatures flickering weakly on the far side of the island domain. Wuji felt a focused pull, a sophisticated manipulation of spatial resonance—far cruder than Nova's foundational work but brutally effective in its targeted application. One of the human signatures was instantly snagged, diverted, pulled away towards Emberia's mainland by this unexpected interference.
The Oracle. Wuji recognized the signature profile of the Human Cognitive leader, a circumstantial ally of the past, ever opportunistic. For them to have either sense the ripple, the anomaly, and immediately be able to act on claiming a prize from Wuji’s disastrous endeavour.
Two arrivals, and one was already lost. The other stranded alone somewhere on the island's desolate coast.
Wuji laughed then, a grating, humourless sound echoing only within its own mind. All that effort, all that risk, centuries of Nova’s work… culminating in the System’s terrifying display, the loss of everything invested, and now, interference from its 'allies' stealing half of the pathetic result. A colossal, multi-layered waste.
Despite all this, the only thing on its mind, the lingering dread from the System's gaze solidified into a chilling hopelessness. The ambition to overthrow its master felt not just distant, but utterly ludicrous in the face of such power.
Wuji contracted its awareness, pulling back from the world outside. It sealed its sanctum, both physical and layers of cognitive defence, shutting down external sensory input. It chose seclusion, stillness, time to process the depth of its failure and the terrifying power it had witnessed. Ambition was buried under an avalanche of dread. For now, the world, the remaining human arrival, the schemes of the Oracle – none of it mattered. Wuji retreated into the deepest recesses of its crystalline mind, seeking refuge from a reality far more dangerous than it had calculated.