Nate sat across from Ankh’aris in a room buried deep inside of the Risen Sun Sect’s temporary mountain residence. A single day had passed since the return of Hrung’Jak. Gwen and Fili had barely left the orc’s side as he recovered from the grievous wounds he’d sustained defending a Calikex city from a beast wave.

Luckily for Jak, the Calikex had held onto his missing arm. So, Gwen’s reattaching of it had been a relatively simple operation. However, the orc was all out of Divine Energy and Ankh had forbidden Gwen from using any of her own, which meant Jak would spend a couple of days in recovery. Ankh’s demands had been well received by Jak, owing to the fact that Jak had shifted his Embodiment from Stalwart to Heroic. The orc couldn’t have been happier and had talked Nate’s ear off in lieu of the still missing Wulfgar.

With one of the four now handled, at least in terms of getting them to the right Embodiment, Nate had asked Ankh about his Divine Vessel. That was how Nate found himself down in the depths of the mountain that Ankh had literally carved a path into the stone with his very presence.

“So, your Vessel has reached satiation?” asked Ankh, still in humanoid draconic form.

Nate glanced at the sphere of destruction Ankh was manifesting around them and decided that the ancient dragon knew how to keep their conversation a secret.

“Yes. It’s at what The System would have classified as five percent. It refuses to accept any more Divine Energy.”

Ankh’aris nodded, “You have completed the Vessel stage. You’ve made your body a place where the Divine Energy of our Reality can gather. But your body is finite and, so far, that is all you’ve been empowering. Right now, you’re taking the power of this Reality into yourself. The next step is to start connecting your body to the rest of Reality. Before The System came, this step was called the Nascent stage.”

“And I do that through artifacts that are already connected to our Reality?” asked Nate as he thought of the names The System had given to the items he had collected.

“Yes. You have at least one on you, right? The one you competed for?”

Nate produced all three items from his Created Space, taking a second to make sure Vicoli remained bound in the created prison. Satisfied that the Void Disciple was still secure, Nate focused on the three items before him, his eyes strobing up with colour as he activated Conceptual Sight.

Nascent Wisp of Destruction

Nascent Seed of Creation

Nascent Spatial Spirit

The Nascent Wisp of Destruction looked like a black, gaseous cloud with a nugget of pitch black stone at its heart. Nate could feel how it wanted to destroy the stone table that Ankh had crafted for them. In the presence of the ancient dragon, it also seemed to be quieter than Nate remembered, as though it recognised a greater power.

Then there was the Nascent Seed of Creation. A small yellow seed that brimmed with possibilities. Except, it felt like a hardened shell in the presence of Ankh’aris, as though protecting itself.

Finally, the Nascent Spatial Spirit buzzed like purple broken glass, assuming shapes and forms that both should and shouldn’t exist. Unlike the other two nascent artifacts, this one was kept in place by Nate and didn’t seem to care one whit about Ankh’s presence.

The ancient dragon peered forward and looked over them.

“I’m impressed that you already have one for each of the aspects of your Vessel. How did you get them?”

“Two from The System for my victory in the World Reaping. One from Worldhammer’s Vault. He’s a Greater Divinity of…”

Ankh cut him off with a wave, “I don’t care about the insects. You won. That’s all that matters to me. You showed these weaklings what a true Path looks like, even if most of them are too blind to see it. Now, do you know why Kali’Terra names these artifacts Nascent? What makes them different?”

Nate leaned back and stared at the artifacts. He knew the simple answer, but his understanding of why was lacking. It was true that each was Peak-grade, but that alone didn’t make them feel any stronger than something like his Regalia. In fact, looking at them, he couldn’t tell anything different about them from each other or the other Peak-grades he’d held. They just seemed like Peak-grades of their Concepts to him.

Ankh’aris waited patiently as Nate continued to review them. He couldn’t sense, see, feel, or smell anything different about them. With an annoyed grunt he looked up at Ankh and gave the simplest answer.

“The System told me they formed without the presence of mana.”

Ankh tilted his head to the side..

“This goes back to a discussion we had over a year ago now. You asked about what mana is. I told you the prevailing hypothesis. That mana is the condensed energies of another Reality. Now, I will tell you why that is the prevailing hypothesis and reveal to you the stage you are about to aim for. Vessel, then Nascent, then Integrated. What do you think that means?”

Nate gathered his thoughts which had started running in multiple directions at the first whiff of new information.

“Well, if a Vessel is aligning your body with a particular Concept or Concepts, and the Nascent stage is about using your Vessel to start to connect with Reality, I suspect Integrated would be when you start to do away with the separation between Vessel and Reality. You become a part of Reality, a representation of your Concepts?”

“I prefer the word Truth to Concepts, but in effect, yes. It’s always nice to have an intelligent Disciple. Saves on time. So, if you need to Integrate with this Reality, what might be the difference between these artifacts and the others you have accumulated?”

Nate smiled, enjoying how Ankh would lead him to answers rather than hand them to him. Solving a problem was almost as satisfying as painting a new artwork. Nate’s Vessel had made vast improvements to his speed of thought, memory, and ability to hold multiple ideas simultaneously. He ran along various threads of thought, going over past conversations with Ankh’aris and others as he tried to put all the pieces together. So, what were the facts?

It was a fact that Divine artifacts appeared more frequently where there was mana. The more mana, the more artifacts. The Heartland’s Reaper Accord and World Reaping competitions were all built around that idea to the point that they set aside entire worlds with the express purpose of forming new artifacts. It went even further than that, with some factions specialising in creating the natural formations that improved the odds of certain Concepts appearing. The Evergreen Grove was one such example, who specialised in Nature related Concepts. Nate had a suspicion that Eternal River Sect was another such faction that specialised in Water Concepts. But he was digressing from the original fact that mana gave rise to more artifacts.

Then there was the fact that Divine artifacts could appear without the presence of mana. Ankh’aris had stated it specifically when he’d been explaining Gwen’s issue. The Divine artifacts she would need to form a Vessel without risking her death could only be found in the Seven Heavens, the realm of the Celestials. And apparently there was almost no mana there.

He wondered if some of the mythos of Earth had been caused by Divine artifacts. Zeus’s lightning bolt? Achilles’ shield? Had these just been Divine artifacts, slowly absorbed by their wielders until the humans that had held them were revered as gods? What about the Nemean Lion? Nate was forced to rein those lines of thought back in as they weren’t pertinent, even if they were interesting.

So, artifacts could appear with or without mana. Which led to the hypothesis about mana. If it truly was the condensed energies of another Reality, what did that mean?

Nate glanced up as the answer came to him.

“Nascent artifacts only carry the Concepts of our Reality?”

Ankh showed his razor sharp teeth in a horrific smile.

“The reason that it was hypothesised that mana was the condensed energies of another Reality is because artifacts that are grown in its presence cannot be used to start connecting to our Reality,” explained Ankh.

“Because they’re ‘tainted’ with the Concept of another Reality,” finished Nate.

“Precisely. The artifacts grown in the presence of mana are perfectly fine for using Divine Energy, but not for connecting to this Reality.”

“Does that mean we’d be more powerful in this Reality than, say, a being who came here from another Reality?” asked Nate.

“Yes, and the inverse is true. If you went to another Reality, you would be somewhat weaker there, assuming you had reached the Integrated stage.”

“What comes after Integrated?” pushed Nate.

“Pillar. But that won’t matter to you for a long time yet.”

“Why?”

“Because the Nascent stage takes longer than the Vessel stage. I had Luci complete the Vessel stage in under a month. Nascent should take you a few years, and I am saying that as a compliment. Most take a decade or two. But you seem to have a knack for Truths.”

“Why did Luci take a month? Couldn’t you have built her Vessel up in a day?”

Nate thought his question made sense. After all, the Vessel was just about accumulating Divine Energy and Ankh’aris likely had a pile of it, since his home universe was basically next to the Source of Mana.

“She needed time to adjust to her new power. Plus, she needed to learn patience since the Nascent stage will take her years, probably longer than you, if not by much. Do not tell her I said that.”

The last was said as a growl and Nate took the not so subtle hint, nodding his agreement.

“So you already have her Nascent artifacts then?”

“Not yet. Soon though.”

Nate raised an eyebrow out of curiosity. He very much doubted the Golden Tide had anything like a Nascent Light or Solar artifact lying around.

Ankh’aris revealed his sharp teeth, smiling in amusement. “You think you’re the only one who can make deals with Kali’Terra?”

“Felt that did you?” countered Nate.

Ankh simply nodded.

“What did Kali’Terra ask of you?”

“It wants me to stay out of most of your battles. Including the ones with True Divines. Asked that I observe, and perhaps save, but not to interfere otherwise.”

Nate’s blood ran cold at those words, since he already knew that Ankh’aris had agreed. After all, it was a win-win for the ancient dragon. He got the artifacts he needed for Luci to venture into the Nascent stage while also getting to force Nate into life or death situations. That was exactly the kind of training Ankh’aris preferred.

“So, the Patriarch of the Severing Blade Sect?” asked Nate.

Ankh nodded.

“And Belori’khan’andur?”

Ankh nodded again.

“Are there any others I should know about?”

“The Golden Tide mentioned you killed an insect named Drim Hall of The Eternium. Apparently a Disciple of Ban’Jin. Once my own Disciple…rumour is he is coming for you as well. Though that may change if he hears of my presence. Then he’s more likely to go hide under a rock as far from us as possible,” answered Ankh.

Nate put his head in his hands. He didn’t bother asking about Arikanvil. That had always been his problem to deal with. If it wasn’t, then Kali’Terra could have just forged a deal with Ankh’aris to take out the annoying God of Space. But he had at least two, potentially three, True Divines, all of whom at the very least had a Divine Vessel, gunning for him. Maybe more.

“Please tell me that none of them are at the Integrated Stage?” asked Nate.

“They can’t be. It’s not possible,” replied Ankh.

Nate had a quick think about it. A couple of seconds tops.

“Because they have Class Cores! And Kali’Terra is a being from a foreign Reality. So, I am guessing its Embodiment, Divine Energy, is also foreign?”

“Like I said, Nathaniel, I do like an intelligent Disciple. Still, they could have completed the Nascent stage if they found the right materials. And Ban’Jin and Belori both know how. As for this Severing insect, I couldn’t tell you.”

“Alright, how do I advance into the Nascent stage?” asked Nate, since it seemed he didn’t have any time to lose.

“Oh, that’s easy. You’ve done the hard part already, which is finding the right materials. Just absorb them into your Vessel, into the core of your body where you store Divine Energy the most easily. Then start feeding them Divine Energy laced with Truths. The same Truths…or Concepts, as you prefer, will have diminishing returns. However, feeding them Concepts that don’t align with your Concepts will cause…problems.”

“Ah, so that’s why you think I will go through this stage quickly. I’m less likely to encounter diminishing returns.”

“That is true,” replied Ankh’aris. “But it also means that if you’re not careful your Truth will diverge. Too much of any of your three Concepts will start to shift your Nascent Vessel and I believe you have seen what happens when your Vessel doesn’t align with your Truth.”

Nate thought about Perenthia and what had happened to her. She’d ended up catatonic as the conflicting and overwhelming information eroded her mind and, eventually, her sanity. He wondered if that had been a contributing factor in her decision to do what she did. It would make more sense if she hadn’t been in her right mind. Either way, Nate understood the warning. He’d have to be careful about what artifacts he drained to feed his growing Nascent Vessel and monitor it closely.

Looking down at the three artifacts, Nate reached out with his Divine Energy and scooped them up, pulling them inside of himself. He’d expected resistance but they slid into him like they were coming home, nestling into his chest in a sort of small bubble. The Seed of Creation on one side, the Wisp of Destruction on the other, with the Spatial Spirit in the middle. Tendrils of energy would snake across from each side, passing through intervening distance, giving off small flashes of light and explosions of darkness as Creation and Destruction fought for dominance in the purple fractures of Space.

He activated his own little measuring tool for his development and glanced at the changed entry.

Nate opened his eyes and looked across at Ankh.

“Welcome to the Nascent Vessel stage, my Disciple. Now, you have some other work to do.”

Nate nodded and stood, heading for the stairs. Ankh’aris only seemed interested in teaching and training, which meant it was Nate’s job to deal with the Golden Tide and Eternal River Sect. Since it meant getting the second artifact demanded by The System, Nate didn’t mind. After all, that meant it would be Kiri’s turn to divest herself of her own Class Core. What would come after was yet to be seen, but Nate was pretty certain the Risen Sun Sect was going to live up to its name. The waves they had been creating were only going to continue rising. Which meant one thing. He’d need to set aside some time for painting while he still could.