It was strange being back. For the first time in a long while, there was no battlefield waiting ahead, no rift tearing open in the sky, and no armies trying to tear the universe apart.
Just home.
"You know," Vivi said suddenly, her small voice breaking the silence, "you are very famous here."
I raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Oh?"
She nodded enthusiastically.
"Everyone talks about you all the time and are eagerly waiting for your return."
I began walking toward the huge tree.
"That sounds exaggerated."
"It isn’t," Vivi insisted.
Her wings fluttered as she lifted from my shoulder and hovered in front of me.
"When you left Vaythos, you were known as the Guardian of Vaythos. At first it was just a title for the time you protected the planet."
Her glowing eyes brightened slightly.
"But later they decided the title should never belong to anyone else."
I blinked.
"So it’s permanent now?"
"Yes."
She nodded again.
"You are the Eternal Guardian of Vaythos."
I let out a quiet breath.
"That sounds... excessive."
Vivi ignored the comment.
"Also, your birthday is celebrated every year now," she continued proudly. "They call it Guardian Day."
"Guardian Day?"
"Yes!"
Her tiny wings flared excitedly.
"On that day I raise the planetary shields across the sky so everyone can see them. They glow violet across the whole world."
She looked toward the sky above the forest.
"The people gather outside and look up to celebrate you."
For a moment I didn’t respond. The image of an entire planet staring at the sky in celebration of someone who wasn’t even there felt... strange.
"And that’s not all," Vivi added.
"You’re in the academy books now."
That made me blink again.
"The military academy teaches about your life," she said proudly. "Your awakening, your battles, how you claimed the world core, and how you left to protect other worlds."
I rubbed the back of my neck slightly.
"So I’m a history lesson now."
"Yes."
She tilted her head.
"They say your life is an inspiration."
I couldn’t help letting out a small laugh at that.
"Well... I expected that much."
Vivi drifted back toward my shoulder again, clearly pleased with herself for sharing the information.
I looked at the tree for a moment before raising my hand.
Essence gathered instantly.
A circular depression formed in the earth beside the tree, shaping itself into a smooth stone basin roughly four feet wide. Once the structure was complete I released a stream of violet essence from my palm.
The energy condensed rapidly. Normally essence dispersed naturally into the atmosphere, but under heavy compression it could transform into liquid form.
The basin began filling with glowing violet fluid. The liquid essence shimmered like molten light as it settled inside the small pool.
Vivi’s eyes widened immediately.
"Food."
Before I could even respond she launched from my shoulder and dove directly into the glowing liquid. The tiny phoenix disappeared beneath the surface with a small splash of violet light. For several seconds the pool bubbled gently as she absorbed the essence within it.
Then she resurfaced.
Her feathers glowed brighter than before as she hovered above the pool again, clearly satisfied.
"Thank you," she said happily.
"You’re welcome."
She fluttered back onto my shoulder again, clearly in a much better mood now.
For a moment she simply watched the forest around us.
Then she asked quietly,
"What is the outside world like? I have never seen anything other than Vaythos."
I glanced toward the distant horizon beyond the forest.
"It’s... much larger than Vaythos."
She listened carefully as I spoke.
"There are worlds far more powerful than this one. Entire civilizations spread across stars. Planets where the essence in the air alone is strong enough to crush weaker beings."
Her eyes widened slightly.
"And the Eternals?"
"They’re not from our universe."
I described them to her. Their strange bodies. Their armies of abominations and phantoms. The rifts they used to invade worlds.
Vivi listened silently the entire time.
When I finished, she remained quiet for a moment before speaking again.
"I want to grow stronger."
I chuckled slightly.
"You already control an entire planet."
"That’s not enough."
Her voice suddenly sounded far more serious than before.
"I want Vaythos to become stronger."
I raised an eyebrow.
"And how do you plan to do that?"
She looked down at the small pool of essence beside us.
"You can give me more essence while you’re here."
"That’s true,"I said.
"But that won’t be enough,"She replied back.
That answer caught my attention.
"What do you mean?"
Vivi’s glowing eyes lifted to meet mine.
"To truly grow stronger..."
She paused slightly.
"I need to devour other world cores."
For a moment I simply stared at the tiny phoenix sitting calmly on my shoulder.
"Devour other world cores?"
The words sounded absurd when spoken out loud. Yet the way Vivi had said them carried no malice or hesitation. To her, it sounded like a simple statement of fact. I narrowed my eyes slightly.
"How do you know that?"
Vivi paused.
Her wings stilled for a moment as if she were thinking deeply about the question. She tilted her small head to one side, staring at the lake as though searching for the answer somewhere inside herself. Then she looked back at me.
"I... just know it," she said.
The answer came out with a small shrug of her wings.
"It feels like something inside me understands that if I consume other world cores, I will grow stronger."
I watched her carefully for a few seconds before asking the next question.
"And what happens to those planets if you do that?" I asked. "Will they be destroyed?"
Vivi shook her head immediately.
"No."
"The planet itself will still exist," she explained. "The land, oceans, forests, and all the life living there will remain."
She lifted one wing slightly as if trying to explain something complicated.
"It’s just that the planet will no longer have a being like me."
I frowned slightly.
"Meaning?"
"It won’t be intelligent," she replied simply. "The planet will still function normally, but there will be no consciousness guiding its essence. And the System will not interact with it anymore."
She glanced toward the lake again.
"Without a world core like me, the planet will remain... ordinary."
I crossed my arms thoughtfully.
"The people cannot help me grow stronger," she added honestly. "Their lives will not change much."
She pointed one tiny wing toward the pool of liquid essence I had created earlier.
"It can either be your essence..."
Then she tapped her chest lightly.
"...or other world cores."
"That is how I grow."
I remained silent for a moment, processing the implications. Finally I asked the question that mattered most.
"And what exactly happens when you grow stronger?"
Vivi brightened slightly.
"Oh!"
She fluttered upward from my shoulder and hovered in front of me as she began explaining.
"The planet itself will evolve."
"How?"
"The size of Vaythos can increase," she said first. "The land can expand. New regions can form."
Her wings moved excitedly as she continued.
"The amount of essence in the atmosphere will increase as well. That will allow stronger beings to be born naturally on the planet."
I nodded slowly.
"That makes sense."
"And there’s more," she said.
"Different species will begin appearing as the planet becomes richer in essence. New forms of life, stronger races, and more powerful creatures."
Her eyes sparkled brightly now.
"More essence also means more treasures."
"Treasure?" Ragnar would have loved this conversation.
"Yes."
"Rare plants, special minerals, powerful materials, and natural artifacts can begin forming across the planet."
She spun lightly in the air.
"Talents will also improve."
"Children born on Vaythos will awaken stronger abilities naturally. Warriors will grow stronger faster."
She paused for a moment before finishing with quiet pride.
"And I will become stronger as well."
"How?"
"My control over the planet will increase," she replied. "The shields protecting Vaythos will become more powerful. The essence I can command will multiply. I can also develop power to control laws, not only Essence. I can reform Vaythos anyway I want."
She looked toward the distant capital below the cliff.
"And I will be able to protect this world better."
For a moment neither of us spoke. The tiny phoenix hovered quietly in front of me, waiting for my response.