Chapter 554: Lets Start The Grind
I stood by the small window of the cabin, looking out at the stars. Vaythos was far behind us now, a tiny dot in the distance. Space stretched endlessly, quiet and calm, and I just watched it for a while.
The hum of the ship was steady, almost soothing. I took a deep breath and rubbed my face, thinking about what I needed to do next. After a few moments, I turned, walked to one of the beds, and sat down. It was time to focus.
My mind was filled with thoughts of what I needed to do before pushing myself to Transcendent rank.
The benefits for someone like me would be enormous. An increase in life expectancy, that alone was no small thing.
Then came the ability to modify my own domain, to reshape the very fabric of the field that answered to my will.
On top of that, I’d gain the capacity to create law constructs, manifestations of pure order and command.
And of course, the surge in physical power that came with every rank up.
But I couldn’t move forward yet. There were three prerequisites, and I had only completed two.
The first, finishing my quest was done.
The second, reaching the required level was also complete. I was sitting comfortably at level 300 now.
The last one remained.
I needed to push one of my laws, any one, into the realm of a Major Law.
And I’d decided to do it before we reached the location.
I checked the list of my laws:
[ Minor Law of Space, Minor Law of Elemental Convergence, Minor Law of Devour, Minor Law of Stormfire, Minor Law of Froststorm, Minor Law of Assimilation, Minor Law of Polarity, Minor Law of Resonance, Minor Law of Time ]
The law I chose was the Minor Law of Elemental Convergence, the one I’d been refining the longest, and the one that sat closest to the nature of Essence itself. It was the easiest among my set to evolve, and the most intuitive.
“Absolute,” I whispered, and my domain unfolded, tightly contained within the cabin.
The air shimmered as Essence responded to the command, outlining the faint boundary of my control. Then, one by one, the elements emerged.
Fire first, then water then air and finally, earth.
But it didn’t stop there.
The derived elements began to manifest, lightning sparking between air and fire, ice spreading where water and wind intertwined, magma bubbling where earth and fire fused. Mist, sand, crystal, all the intermediaries of nature’s dialogue came to life.
And that was the essence of Elemental Convergence, not the dominance of one, but the harmony between all. A law that understood conflict but thrived in equilibrium.
To elevate it to a Major Law, I needed to refine that principle further, to understand not just how elements met, but why they could meet. I needed to see the thread of Essence weaving through them all, the unifying pulse that made opposition possible.
If I could isolate that pulse, if I could make the convergence itself the focus rather than the elements, it would evolve.
I activated [Right to Insight], and the world around me shifted into clarity. My perception expanded until every spark of Essence and every flicker of reaction became vivid, traceable, meaningful. Then, I let go of all distraction and lost myself in the process.
Inside my domain, the scene grew increasingly volatile yet mesmerizing. Fire intertwined with air, forming streams of plasma that danced like serpents. When fire met earth, molten rivers pulsed and solidified into fragments. Lightning tore through the space between elements, birthing new patterns, while wind twisted everything into chaotic harmony.
My goal was simple: understand.
Understand every permutation that could occur, every balance that could exist, and every limit that could be crossed. I wanted to grasp why Essence allowed these oppositions to coexist, how it mediated creation and destruction within the same breath.
The domain pulsed, responding to my growing comprehension. Flames no longer burned the water, they danced over it like threads of gold. Lightning didn’t shatter stone, it resonated within it, humming faintly in rhythm. Slowly, the chaos began to find order.
Minutes slipped into hours, yet my focus didn’t waver. The patterns grew sharper and cleaner.
Then it happened.
A shiver ran through my domain, like the world itself inhaling before revelation. The elements froze mid-reaction: fire suspended mid-flicker, lightning halted mid-arc, water droplets hanging like scattered gems. The stillness was absolute.
And then—bang.
A thunderclap echoed through my mind. My perception stretched, tore, and expanded all at once. I wasn’t in the cabin anymore. I wasn’t anywhere. I was watching creation.
Darkness first. Infinite and silent. Then raw, unfiltered Essence spiraling into itself. It twisted, compressed, collapsed and exploded outward in a surge of color and force.
I felt it, the heat, the gravity, the violent harmony of formation. The birth of a star.
It was more than light. It was balance made real, convergence so absolute that chaos became stability. Fire, wind, stone, lightning, everything that had once opposed now existed as one continuous current, feeding and restraining itself in perfect measure.
That was it. The truth of the law.
The star blazed brighter in my perception, flooding my domain with energy that felt alive, sentient even, and I knew, my Minor Law had changed.
Then the familiar sound echoed in my mind.
[Law Upgraded]
[Minor Law of Elemental Convergence → Major Law of Elemental Convergence]
The stillness within my domain broke.
The frozen reactions stirred back to motion, but now they moved with purpose, each element flowing in harmony rather than conflict.
I reached forward, willing the Essence to respond. A fragment of obsidian floated up before me, spinning slowly in the air. With a thought, its bonds loosened, its structure unraveling into its base components. Tiny sparks of earth, fire, and trace metal shimmered apart like dust suspended in sunlight.
Then I reversed the motion. The elements bent, compressed, and reformed under my command.
The moment my law evolved, I felt a deep vibration echo through the Dawn Core.
The island that represented the Law of Elemental Convergence began to change before my eyes.
The ground trembled, the air rippled, and the island slowly started expanding within the void, as if it had been holding its breath all this time.
Then the volcano at its center began to grow. Its sides cracked open, spilling rivers of glowing magma that pulsed with energy.
The light from it grew brighter and brighter until a massive eruption shook the entire Dawn Core. Streams of molten energy shot upward, exploding into a shower of colors—red, blue, gold, and silver, before raining back down like falling stars.
The blast sent waves of power rippling through the void, and I felt the energy being drawn directly into the generator core floating above everything else.
After a few moments, the tremors began to calm. The volcano settled, but it wasn’t the same anymore.
Its peak had widened, and a glowing pool of molten essence now rested in its crater, swirling with all colors of the elements.
When it finally went quiet, I could feel the difference immediately. The Dawn Core felt denser, stronger, more alive, like every part of it had awakened alongside me.
Seeing the results of evolving my law filled me with motivation. If this was the change from just one law, then what would happen if I pushed them all forward? The thought alone was enough to make my blood rush.
So, I decided to keep going. I would binge through my laws one by one, starting with Time.
I closed my eyes and reached inward, focusing on the second time rune that rested within my mind. It pulsed faintly, its rhythm steady but incomplete. First, I needed to push it to Level 5 before attempting anything greater.
With that goal in mind, I began and soon, the world outside faded away, replaced by the endless rhythm of the grind.
Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!