Re: Timeless Apocalypse

Uriel was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"My body has a defect that stops me from awakening my spark and true core," Samael explained as he scooped the pile of crystals and hurried to his room.

"So, to awaken them, my older brother came up with a method using crystals. But we couldn’t find any as of late... until I found you!"

"With this, I should have enough to finally begin ascending!"

"So, thanks for that!" he said before entering the room and slamming the door in his wake. "I’ll be in seclusion for a while too!"

"Huh, that’s interesting... I have the same condition..." Uriel muttered absentmindedly.

Shaking his head, he entered his room and let the matter slip from his mind.

He had more important things to do.

...

The suite’s rooms were rather simple.

The beds lay positioned against a marbled wooden wall, the bed frame a slab of dark, jagged rock that seamlessly harmonised with the stretching dark marble floors, identical to those of the lounging area.

The bed was wide and soft, positioned parallel to the large, open windows through which gusts of wind streamed in.

To the left and right of the bed, wooden nightstands could be seen. Not far off, a door led to an en-suite bathroom, and next to that, a large wardrobe stood.

Parallel to the bed, a desk was placed, and in between the two, a simple mat lay upon which Uriel sat cross-legged with his eyes closed.

He let the wind and rain anchor him.

’...’

It was about time he regained his mage circles.

’Let’s begin.’

His Mage Ring project—one that had been brewing in his mind since he’d undergone his first evolution—was a complex one.

Not only was it complex, but it required dozens of smaller components to work together.

And the first of those components was Resonance.

’Core Resonance, Mind Resonance, and Body Resonance; those are all the fundamental resonance types I’ve comprehended so far.’

’Core resonance is a form of resonance with my core as the anchor. Mind resonance is one with my mind as the anchor, and body resonance makes my flesh the core of it all.’

’Core resonance, specifically, lets me easily control massive amounts of aether by leveraging my own pool. On the other hand, Mind Resonance lets me control aether in a finer way.’

’If core resonance relates to the macro scale, then mind resonance serves as the anchor of the micro scale. With the former, I easily control massive amounts of energy, and with the latter, I seamlessly collapse that sea of energy into smaller units I can turn into runes—and then into spells or formations.’

’And body resonance lets me bridge the two. It lets me use my very body as a method of control to fill the gaps. It offloads part of the pressure from my mind and boosts the efficiency of my core.’

’It deepens my level of control.’

During his battle with the Flon-Men Emperor, mere moments before he was sucked into the Tropis Legacy Event Space, Uriel had a massive breakthrough.

Through Timeless Resonance, he’d comprehended Resonance as a whole.

Resonance was Change. Resonance was Chaos.

But he wasn’t so sure anymore.

’Is resonance a kernel of change, or is it one of control?’

He let his thoughts flow. ’What even separates change from control? Is it perspective, or intrinsic definition?’

Was control not an avenue of change—or in some cases, the absence of it? Was control the spark of change? Or did change spark control?

’Why am I thinking in binary terms...’

For some reason, he remembered a thought he’d had while dancing in the void.

[’...an ever-changing constant anchored in nothing...’]

’Unity and multiplicity, singularity and infinity, inner and outer—all made meaningless... all made void...’

Then, his mind drifted back to the sight of the origin source elemental trees he had witnessed after ingesting the elemental star heaven pill.

The trees had been one whole structure, yet had been divided across layers of complexity; roots, branches, leaves, and fruits.

Could the fruits bloom without the branches they hung upon? Could the branches sway in the wind without the trunk to which they were anchored?

Could the trunk remain unphased by heaven without its roots, which ruled over earth? And could its roots remain firm without the waters of creation from which they drank to grow?

It was one, yet it was infinite. And it had no boundary.

WHOOOSH!

A deep hum echoed from Uriel’s body, and his dormant sparks softly infused into him, even without the scent of death to awaken them.

The gates of his mind were flung open, and comprehension came in waves that seemed endless.

’I see.’

He felt as if he were submerged deep within waters, pulled by strong yet gentle currents guiding him toward truth itself.

It felt as though the runic fabric of the world whispered its truths to him, as if its runes were dying to reveal everything about creation.

’Control is the source of it all. Then, upon that source, three seeds bloom; resonance, dissonance, and harmony.’

’Resonance is an expression of control that causes change. Dissonance is an expression of control which...’

Uriel thought back to his uniqueness, [Earthly World Dissonance], an ability that had saved him more times than he dared count—and which had recently evolved.

When he thought about its core mechanics, when he thought about its truths... he saw a pattern.

Whenever his uniqueness activated, it slowed his perception of time. And when pushed to its limits, it stopped it entirely, stretching a moment into infinity if he so desired.

When he peeled back the layers of his ability, did it not simply... anchor him?

When his perception slowed, did it not anchor his mind to a singular point in the present, slowing its passage across the river that was time?

And when his mind fully stopped time, was he not simply static within its flow?

’Stasis.’

Another boom echoed from Uriel.

’If resonance is change and chaos, then dissonance is stasis and order.’

Atop Uriel’s head, a radiant halo of rose gold formed, like that of the most divine of angels—of the most holy of beings.

And soon, above even that, a floating thorny crown of ivory and obsidian embers took shape, reeking of the purest forms of sovereignty and majesty.

While the halo wafted thick waves of heaven’s essence, the crown ruled over it, infusing it with the most regal of intents.

The mysterious force Uriel had begun to call Will—the source of his intent—suddenly surged.

His Will actualised and solidified, tainting the world to such a degree that the runic fabric around him twisted, becoming a mirror that reflected nothing but his intent.

’And Harmony...’

It came the easiest to him.

’...is transformation. Harmony is transformation and balance—a swirl of order and chaos, of stasis and change, without end.’

BANG!

Behind Uriel, a wheel of crimson and purple runes formed, a swirl of ivory, gold, rose, and obsidian taking shape within its depths.

As the wheel spun, all it emanated was equilibrium. It was a force of balance that perfectly melded the purity of his halo with the majesty of his crown, allowing his Will to flourish in ways he could hardly comprehend.

"..."

The three constructs settled onto Uriel with unmatched ease, as though they had always been meant to be there.

Aether in the air twisted and collapsed into runes that fed into him, the primordial energetic fabric of the world bending so far it threatened to rupture at any moment and flood him with void flames.

But under the tyranny of his Will, it remained firm.

Under the tyranny of his Will, space remained static, unable to change. Under the tyranny of his Will, space changed, becoming sturdier.

And under the tyranny of his Will, space oscillated—growing and transforming, becoming sturdier by the second, able to accommodate his presence.

The shocking scene occurred almost instantly, but Uriel did not miss it, even while drowned in his enlightenment.

No, if anything, it only brought him closer to its peak.

As he observed the scene, he comprehended something.

Something crucial.

’And control... is born of Will.’