Time passed...
And before long, Ash opened his eyes.
The first thing he did was check the time, and upon seeing the result, a genuine smile slowly blossomed across his face, carrying a quiet sense of satisfaction that he could not suppress.
4 hours...the time has just been cut by half...
Ash felt relieved seeing this change.
With this improvement, his Rune comprehension speed would increase drastically, allowing him to attempt comprehension more frequently while reducing the recovery period that previously slowed his progress.
Even such a change was extremely valuable considering how long and difficult the path of Rune comprehension was.
Thus, Ash informed Eric that he was once again going back into his long seclusions, knowing that these isolated sessions were necessary for his growth and could not be avoided.
Hearing that, Eric showed a gratified smile, which again made Ash speechless.
The smile was faint but clearly genuine, as if Eric was quietly satisfied by Ash’s decision. This only made Ash more confused, because he could not tell whether the kid actually enjoyed his presence or simply preferred being left alone.
Why is he so different from all those novels I have read about? Isn’t it that we should be bonding splendidly? We should have grown closer, right?
Ash subconsciously compared their relationship with the companion bonds he had seen in countless stories, where such partnerships naturally deepened through shared experiences and emotional connection.
Ash slowly shook his head, realizing that reality rarely followed the patterns written in fictional stories.
He only hoped that Eric would not get influenced negatively by the countless novels stored inside the Soul Library, especially considering how seriously Eric seemed to imitate certain characters.
Pushing all those thoughts aside, Ash steadied his mind and began his comprehension once again, allowing his focus to settle as the golden glow slowly returned to his eyes, preparing himself to dive back into the endless ocean of Rune knowledge waiting for him.
***
While in the outside world, different kinds and sizes of life planets continued to fuse with each other, growing larger with every passing second.
The Universal System, which was already nearing completion, continued to evolve steadily as more planetary masses merged into its expanding structure, reinforcing its complexity and stability.
Unknown to everyone, a high density mass of golden and violet matter continued to drift silently toward those same lands.
The matter, after all this time, remained extremely unstable.
It appeared as if a small, round ball of slime had imprisoned something inside it, something that was constantly struggling to break free, causing the outer surface to ripple and distort with suppressed turbulence. The surface stretched and contracted in irregular patterns, as if barely managing to hold together under immense internal pressure.
Time continued to pass, but with each passing second, the instability increased further.
Energy began leaking out of that matter in uneven pulses, occasionally distorting the surrounding space and creating faint fractures within the nearby void. Yet, before the mass could implode or collapse under its own chaotic pressure, something unexpected occurred.
An unknown energy suddenly manifested inside that miniature universe. The energy began cutting away the unstable regions with remarkable precision, almost as if it possessed intelligence and intent.
It carefully removed anything that threatened the structural balance, while preserving and stabilizing everything that still had the potential to survive and function properly.
Slowly, but surely....the golden violet matter stabilized, but it was not achieved without sacrifice.
While the previous inner universe had once been considerably vast, after removing numerous unstable regions and stabilizing only what could endure, the remaining universe was reduced to only the size of a solar system.
Large portions of unstable matter were discarded to prevent a complete structural collapse, forcing the inner universe to shrink into a far more condensed and stable existence.
Indeed, it might appear very small.
However, it was not as small as it seemed. The miniature universe itself had originally spanned only a few light years in total, and the stabilization process had removed nearly 60% of its overall structure and energy distribution to prevent total annihilation.
What remained was not large in scale, but it was stable enough to exist independently. And all those unstable energy and cut off parts did not get released in the outer universe, but seemed to have sucked by something.
A/N: Maybe his trait?
Even after stabilization, the universe remained completely empty. There were no planets, no stars, and no celestial filaments of any kind. Only endless void, space, time, dark matter, and other fundamental forces existed, forming the base framework that supports any universe.
This condition remained unchanged both before the miniature universe stabilized and even after the stabilization process was completed.
Ash would have to create planets, stars, and other celestial bodies within the foundation of this miniature universe himself if he wished for it to evolve further and transform into a true cosmic system.
As for what interfered with this catastrophic process, and what that mysterious energy truly was, the answer was far simpler than expected.
It was none other than the autonomous activation of his Codex of Creation.
Protective Override.
**
‣ Protective Override:
- If something poses a danger to the user, such as an unstable mana flow or harmful energies, the CODEX intervenes, overriding the process to shield the user from harm and guiding them toward a more advantageous path.
**
Ash had no idea that his earlier decision to not sacrifice [Protective Override] had ultimately saved his life, preserving not only his existence but also the fragile universe that was forming within him.
But the transformation did not stop there. The Golden violet matter continued to pulse, before taking a shape of a small heart.
The heart somewhat looked like a human heart, but it was anything like it.
It was no larger than the heart of a newborn, small enough to be held between careful palms, yet it carried a weight that did not belong to its size.
Its surface was smooth and layered, a deep violet hue blending into pale white matter that wrapped around it like living silk.
The white did not resemble bone or porcelain. It felt denser, purer, as if it were condensed essence given shape.
Thin golden veins traced across it, glowing faintly, weaving through the folds in intricate patterns, symbols, runes and glyphs binding the structure together like sacred inscriptions etched by unseen hands.
Within its chambers there were no stars, no galaxies, no light and neither blood. The universe inside had not yet begun.
There was only void. Endless darkness stretching without boundary, silent and untouched.
It was not an empty space, but a waiting one, heavy with potential. A womb before creation. A stillness before the first spark.
Occasionally, faint wisps of white matter drifted within that darkness, like the earliest remnants of something yet to be born. They moved without direction, dissolving and reforming, as though testing existence itself.
A/N: If u want to see the image of the heart, join the discord. Link at the end of the Chapter.
Eventually, after the formation of the heart, every fluctuation and every trace of leaking energy slowly faded into silence. The violent turbulence that had once shaken the forming structure gradually settled, until everything became still, as if the heart had concealed itself from all senses and observation.
It was not merely silence, but a complete withdrawal of presence, as though the newly formed heart had instinctively hidden its existence to preserve its fragile stability.
After an unknown amount of time, a single drop of golden blood condensed within that heart.
The drop formed slowly, gathering layers of dense energy, essence, and primal matter before finally stabilizing into a perfect, radiant drop. That single drop pulsed faintly, carrying within it the blueprint of life, structure, and existence itself.
The moment it fully stabilized, the true process of body formation finally began,
***
Discord Link: https://discord.gg/nZUQaVmnPD