One trillion years—that was the deadline Ash had set for himself to make significant progress along the ta Road.
Not too long ago, when Minx stepped into Pantheos, he altered the flow of ti for the entire verse.
Now, a single year in the outside world would an an entire era passing for everyone within Pantheos.
’A year... that should be enough ti for little Nia to wrap things up,’ he mused, his gaze drifting to Emma, who stood across from him.
At present, he knew Nia was working on Reality Four—sothing that would normally be obliterated in the blink of an eye.
But this ti, for the final Reality, she was taking her ti, carefully crafting her own reality as she went.
All of this, however, circled back to Ash and the reason he would need essentially ten trillion years to fully ascend the ta Road.
Beyond his desire to savor life as a reclusive, overpowered master, the path he had chosen was vastly different from the 5th Wall that Minx had attained.
With her bond to him, he advanced to the 32nd dinsional level of existence and also achieved the first stage of ta.
Minx, however, was far beyond the typical first stage.
She was nearing the end of the Fifth Wall, on the verge of removing herself from the Narrative entirely.
Ash’s ta Road, on the other hand, wasn’t just about breaking free or resisting the story’s pull—no, his ambition was to beco the Narrative itself, the unseen hand guiding everything.
And... achieving sothing like that couldn’t be done through ordinary ans.
That’s where Emma and the other nine stars, scattered and lost across ti, ca into the picture.
Emma was the very embodint of world-building, the living, breathing incarnation of a novel’s core essence.
She was the entire abstract concept, and every stage of power that followed would center entirely around her... world building.
This was the focus of her work during her earlier trials, where she honed her craft with purpose.
She wasn’t rely weaving structures together at random; every creation was deliberate, each thread forming part of an intricate design destined to unfold into greater, more magnificent realms and places.
By now, Emma had beco a True God after the trials, fully aware of her purpose. World-building, at its core, wasn’t just about crafting land or structures.
It was about shaping entire systems — ecosystems that thrived on their own, societies that grew naturally, with things that seed destined.
It was the skill of making sothing feel as though it had always been there, as if the world itself had called it into existence.
A true World Weaver wouldn’t force creation; they nurtured it, laying a flawless foundation so the rest could flourish on its own.
---
Currently, Ash stood in the adow, his reddish-purple eyes calm yet focused as he looked at Emma.
The air around them felt alive, as if it was anticipating sothing itself — the silver-lavender grass swaying gently, the distant chis of crystal leaves carrying on the breeze, and the soft glow of the sky casting a serene light over everything.
Ash waved his hand, and a simple bow materialized in his palm — elegant, sleek, with a dark wood fra and a string that shimred like starlight.
He handed it to Emma with a small, encouraging smile.
"The path of the bow and arrow... it will not differ from what you are. The World Weaver."
Emma took the bow, her fingers tracing the smooth wood as she looked at him with quiet curiosity.
"What do you have in mind?" she asked, her voice soft but eager.
Ash’s smile grew wider.
"The bow and arrow... they’ll serve as the dark counterpart to your paintbrush.
While the paintbrush is ant to create — and, in its own way, destroy through creation — the bow will create by way of destruction, through the blood of your enemies."
He paused, his reddish-purple eyes locking onto hers with quiet intensity.
"The ultimate purpose of the bow and arrow for you... is to reach the point where a single shot could give rise to endless possibilities for world-building."
And with those words, the true training of the first World Weaver truly began.
-----
Ash waved his hand through the air.
HUMMMM!
The oasis around them transford in an instant.
The peaceful adow, the silver-barked trees, the floating lily pads — all of it dissolved and reford into a completely new world.
They now stood on a vast, untouched plain under a pale, newborn sky.
The grass was soft and vibrant, but fragile, as if it had only just learned how to grow.
In the distance, mountains rose like fresh scars on the horizon, their peaks still smoking from recent formation.
Rivers snaked across the land, their waters clear and uncertain, as if they hadn’t yet decided where to flow. The air itself felt new — crisp, untainted, carrying the faint scent of ozone and possibility.
Emma looked around, her eyes wide as she took it all in.
Newborn creatures — small, innocent beings with no prior mories — were appearing randomly across the plain, blinking in confusion as they took their first breaths.
There were no adults, no rules, no traditions to follow—just a blank slate waiting to be filled.
Everything was new, untouched, and unshaped, with life itself only beginning to take form.
The world felt delicate, as if it were balanced on a knife’s edge, where the smallest mistake could send it all crashing down.
"What... what is this place?" Emma asked, her voice filled with quiet awe and confusion.
Ash stood beside her, his reddish-purple eyes calm as he surveyed the newborn world.
"This is a world I just created," he said simply. "It’s filled with new things. Nothing here has been alive more than monts.... and the world itself is destined to be destroyed within an hour."
And by "just created," he ant it literally, as ntioned earlier. She wouldn’t be mastering the bow in the usual sense.
No, this would be creation through destruction.
Emma turned toward him, her face showing slight confusion.
"How does this correlate to the bow?" she asked.
Ash smiled, the expression warm yet carrying a deeper, more serious undertone.
"You will soon find out. However, your goal here... is to find the correlation between Creation and Sacrifice."
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