"I had to deny knowledge in order to make room for faith."
― Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason
"Do you think he's alright, Giant?" Minder's words floated past his ears, wrapped in a heavy fog. "He's been asleep for so long…"
A huff of breath washed over Ven, his Giant's unconcerned response. He let his eyes peel open, a gummy texture to every movement. His last memory was of a joyous success, a stark contrast to his current condition.
"What happened?" A croak escaped his throat, harsh enough to make the Minder jump. She scuttled behind the Giant, who feasted on plasma once more.
"Older Sister said that you overextended your new realm," The Minder poked her head into sight, a guilty look on her face. "She said if the planets you called hadn't been life worlds, you would have exploded before she could've saved you…" The woman ducked from her hiding place and bowed her head to the ground. "I'm sorry… I almost got you killed by using Sister's power without her permission."
Ven sighed and patted the girl on her head. It was his fault, not hers. He'd been desperate to stop his mad rush and reach his goal. The Minder flinched at his touch, but didn't recoil.
"It's not your fault… do you really not have a name?" Ven hauled himself to his feet and held a hand out to the Minder. "It's no good just calling you by your old race…"
"It's the only name I've known," She squinted at his hand before she set her face and took it. "I don't know what else to call myself…"
"Well we need to think of something," Ven laughed as he pulled her to her feet. "You could just shorten your title… like a nickname until you choose something more permanent?"
"Just call her Min and be done with it," the system avatar floated through the barrier and settled next to them. "You've been bad while I've been asleep, adding all these new worlds without thinking about the consequences to the realm."
"Older Sister!" Min danced from Ven's side and wrapped the avatar in a hug. "Don't be angry, I helped to cast the spell so it's really my fault…"
"It is his fault and he knows it," the system snorted as she stroked Min's hair. A notice popped up in Ven's vision as she turned her gaze back to him. "I won't help you for free this time, use your wish if you want me to stabilise this realm."
Ven glanced at the system notice. A message that he'd lived for over a hundred years. He'd honestly forgotten… the last wish had been enough for a dozen lifetimes.
"I promised to revive Rafe…"
"If you don't bring your realm into balance, you'll die and so will all the beings you've placed within," The system shrugged. "You can revive your fallen comrades with the next wish."
Ven sighed and nodded his head. He wouldn't trade his life, and the lives of the loved ones who still breathed, to stay perfectly true to a promise.
"Do it…"
The system nodded and a white flash filled the world.
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"That's a good snakey snake…"
Dante tossed another rasher of meat into the Devil serpent's mouth. With each morsel, he inched closer to his goal. The beast could still target him, even in his miniaturised form, so he had to improvise. He was less than a foot from his target, a fruit of knowledge, the promised return of what he'd lost.
"Just a bit more…"
A snag of the hand and he palmed the closest red skinned pod. The snake howled, but Dante had already teleported to the barrier's edge, shrunken between its complex folds. He would enjoy his prize when he'd escaped from Ven's forbidden zone. A light flashed over his vision, a glow that brought stability to the realm.
"Looks like I finished just in time!"
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"That's…"
A groan slipped past Ven's lips as the energy from his realm changed its frequency. It slipped from an uncomfortable dirge, to a peaceful symphony. The unbalanced rush of change within his cells became ordered and refined. The working of clockwork, freshly wound and well tuned.
"You need to rest," the system waved her hand and a bed of flame rose from the surface of the star. "Some activity is good for your evolution, but you've taken it to the edge." An irresistible force pushed Ven down, into a warm embrace of downy fluff. "You'll need to be out for a while, especially with all the life worlds you've used to upgrade this realm."
"How long…" Ven murmured, already a half-step in the land of dreams.
"You'll see when you wake up, now sleep…"
Head filled with a smooth hum, he followed his systems advice and knew no more.
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"Miss Kalina, is it really true that there is a God of this realm?" A blond haired demi-beastfolk raised her hand, head tilted as she gazed up at the statue of 'Lord Vendak.' "The ancients like you always talk like he'll return one day, but…"
A murmur ran through the gathered first years, the elite class that had scored the highest in the entrance exams. This was their first introduction to the school principal, and someone had already started testing the boundaries.
"Quiet down!" Vice-Principal Aangor barked out over the build up of noise. "Speak only when it is your turn to do so ,or I will evict you from this meeting and place you into regular courses!"
Silence reigned as his threat echoed throughout the amphitheatre. No student who managed to get this far would dare risk their place in this class. It was a golden ticket to reaching true immortality, something that most people couldn't dream of. Average talents could cultivate to live for thousands of years within the Empire, but only those blessed by fate could rise above. Kalina cleared her throat and smiled at the group.
"This is always a question I face from someone, at least once per year since we founded this school on Eden," Kalina let her gaze trace over each student's eyes, one by one. "My answer is always the same… cultivate immortality and you might live to find out for yourself!"