Translucent, cloudy liquid swirled gently within a crystalline vessel, echoing the silent dance of secrets within secrets.
These vessels, called Curirs, served as wallets—vital lifelines within the unruly flow of the production city's rhythm. Curir were coveted in this city. They were the only shield against the dangers of transporting Notium—a resource as rare as it was volatile—in quantities that whispered of promise and peril.
This resource was the primary energy source for all colonies spread across the Spacium and, at the same time, the energy on which the Authority holder functioned. In the early stages, this resource was mainly used to grow, but it loses that property as the Authority holder advances, taking a different place in their heart.
Sadly, however, nothing good came without an equivalent exchange, and one thing was certain in this bizarre world: nothing is truly perfect.
Yet Notium's beauty was deceiving. This elusive substance was branded by volatility and acid, threatening to consume any flesh it touched and ignite into wild bursts if provoked by flame. Its perilous nature hung unspoken in every Curir.
A shiver, cold and crawling, climbed Nox's spine at the knowledge that this volatile lifeblood now coursed within him. Greed, bright as a dagger's edge, nevertheless flickered in his gaze—fascination entwined with risk.
Unlike paper money, Notium had inherent value, and Nox had four whole drops. The highest amount he ever came into contact with was two, and that was when his mother passed away, receiving her inheritance in the process.
This was not a large sum, given that his father was an Authority Wealder, but most of his assets were confiscated after his father's death, leaving them with very little.
Twerling the Curir in his hand, weaving it through his thingers, not considering its dangerous properties, Nox thought of the gigantic web inside of his soulsea. It seemed fairly complete and required no strengthening. At least not through external sources.
And using this to buy my own stuff would be a very productive way to put it to use!
Much more productive than using it on his development!
After justifying himself, Nox planned to set these drops aside and maybe use one later to understand the process of absorbing and growing one's fragment, simply to experience it.
Putting down the Curir, Nox sat on the floor, planning to enter his soulsea.
As he tugged on the strings floating before his mind's eye, Nox felt himself fall back once more. Opening his eyes, he was no longer in his room but standing on the surface of a silent, still lake. This was his soulsea, the representation of his soul, and above was a golden web forming a gondola above the sea, illuminating the dark and silent surface of his soul.
So I come back where I last exited?
It was too bad that he did not enter the soulsea at the same point he did last time. After all, he was greatly interested in the web above and had no chance to see what sights it offered.
Unlike on his last visit, Nox came this time with a clear goal. This goal was to start the process of soul assimilation.
Right now, Nox was in the first stage, or, as others might refer to it, the first Rank.
The progression route of the holder stadium would have been to slowly accumulate and help the fragment grow. This could be sped up by feeding more Notium into the fragment, which was also the students' main task during their stay.
Nox did not need this. He was out of this prepubescent stage of not truly being an Authority Wielder, and at the same time, having a fragment inside him.
His fragment was of critical mass from the get-go, instantly throwing him into the first rank, called the Assimilation stage. This gave him many options to progress.
What did this include? Well, as the name says, you get assimilated by the fragment, and in return, you assimilate it.
This process was far longer and more complicated than the holder stage. Slowly assimilating one part of oneself at a time.
The usual starting point would be the Soulsea, where he was now. First assimilating the soul, then the mind, the body after that, and at the end the fate of the Individual. Slowly working from inside to the outside.
Each path for an Assimilator could have slight differences, as the concepts can affect assimilation, either speeding it up, slowing it down, or starting it at a different step.
Thinking about it, Nox couldn't help but second-guess whether doing it this way was truly the right way to go.
If one rationally thought about the process, one was giving up one's own humanity, step by step, in favor of the Authority. On the other hand, there were steps to take to preserve it, which was one of the primary difficulties of Authority Wielders.
Treading the line between Human and Concept, searching for strength while preserving oneself.
Nox exhaled, a soft resignation floating away with his doubts.
He was no fool to chase for hope in the darkness. Lessons etched by others who braved the path before him paved his way.
He cast his gaze to the web's luminous heart, noticing a subtle descent and gathering density at its center pulled down just a bit—perhaps, he mused, progress, barely perceptible yet achingly real.
If it were to continue this way, it would take years to reach the surface of the lake and fully integrate into the soul, which was where Nox's role came into play. Over the years, through trial and error, many ways have been discovered to move forward and accelerate assimilation processes that would otherwise take a long time.
This had many reasons, with the primary propellers being age and the Call. By going by the natural speed of Assimilation, the individual would succumb to one of the two sooner rather than later.
Now, Nox only needed to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors without taking unnecessary risks.
The most effective way to accelerate the soul's assimilation was through rituals, while the mind's assimilation was through understanding. Sadly, Nox was little more than a novice in the field of rituals, and understanding his source element, fate, would inevitably be arduous and time-consuming.
He did intend to do both, of course, having already started his studies of ancient languages and fate itself, but this was not the reason he had entered his soulsea today.
Lifting his right arm, five threads started flowing out of his fingers, every finger letting out one. Not resisting gravity, imposed in this space by his own subcocious mind, they flowed downward toward the surface of the soulsea.
As they broke the still surface, causing five small ripples where the threads made contact. What was strange, however, was that the ripples were far larger than such small threads should have been able to create. Something seemed to change, a silent, invisible, yet noticeable change in the atmosphere.
These white threads slowly took on a golden glint, not entirely turning golden, but simply radiating a similar radiance to the strings above.
The ripples, meanwhile, as they traveled, fused together, creating a wave that disturbed the tranquil embrace of the soulsea. Expanding in size, the wave that was now five, then eight, then ten meters tall, expanding towards all directions, closing in on the edge of his soul.
"Boom"
The wave flowed over the edge, entirely covering the pillar-like existence called the soul.
A tidal wave of sensation surged in Nox—no longer did he merely sense his form, nor the faint impression of his surroundings. Now, the vast, wild terrain of his soul pulsed with life beneath his awareness, as if he'd bled into its essence, and it into him—the boundary between self and soulsea utterly lost.
Emptily standing there, his body fell to his knees, and then, suddenly, his almost lifeless face made contact with the surface of the water.
"splat"