"A word after a word after a word is power."
― Margaret Atwood
System flame extended from the star, countless tendrils that pressed themselves to the underside of Ven's newborn formation. A light, bright enough to fill the skies of the many Earth's who shared their orbits with the runic script.
Ripples followed the light, then passed it by. Strange energy that touched every corner of the realm. Harmless and unnoticeable, except to the strongest in Ven's inner world, it seeped into the cores of every planet with life.
"It's working…" Ven smiled. Each planet was within his sight, uncounted worlds that took the first step on the road to enlightenment. One of his eyelids twitched. There was a different note amongst the choir of newborns, not discordant… stronger.
"Eden…" Ven turned his focus to this central tone and squinted in surprise. The continent had changed drastically. "Kalina has been busy."
The upper surface of Eden's impossible structure was the same, but the underside of the rocky shelf had been reborn. Every inch was packed with inverted skyscrapers, each a mile wide at the base. They hung, an upside down cityscape that wore heaven's garden like an absurd hat.
"Looks like Eden has awoken a consciousness as well," Ven shrugged. He couldn't change it now, and its strength was honestly a bonus. "It can take a central role in governing the others and save me some effort."
The runic light faded, but the formation remained. Most of the system fire slipped back to the surface of the star, but a few tendrils remained. They kept the scripture in place, set idle until they were needed again. More life worlds would naturally form over time, and Ven may add more to the realm himself. Any time a life world appeared, the runes would activate and target it for awakening.
"Now to set up the real challenge." Ven took a breath to steady himself for the next step. He had given the worlds life, but now he had to lay down rules for them to follow. These couldn't be suggestions, but true laws. Any who broke from them would face the judgement of the realm.
"Min said I just had to let go and listen…" His focus diffused, spread to all points of his realm without direction. For his plan to work, he needed the agreement of the realm's will. A normal cultivator WAS the will of their realm, but Ven's path was a muddled mess from the start. Whatever spirit that remained within Cain's old realm held on and persisted.
"Hello there," Ven smiled. A sleepy whisper, a consistent background hum. It chortled and flowed, a baby who constantly tested its voice. "Now, how do I get your attention?"
Ven extended a hand and called a ball of system fire. It floated before him, a miniature sun filled with stardust and life. He began to carve a set of runes. Complicated, but not something he'd created. These were some of the first runes he'd seen, drawn by Ooulin to call on the world to banish Vernader from the earth.
He stripped away the primary segment, changed the structure to one of unification and communion. A flick of the wrist pushed the energy rich flame into the modified formation. He hadn't used these runes in years, not since he'd gained access to the system's power.
All was still, no change despite the glow of the runes. Ven leaned in to inspect his work, just in time to fall to his knees. A wash of reverence slipped over his soul like oil, some kind of instinctual reaction. Ven knelt under the eyes of a God, a battle in his heart.
The will of his realm stood far above any he'd encountered before. Logical. His inner world held a true fragment of a multiversal infinity within it. Ven rallied the power of his cores, ready to fuse it with faith and activate his runic tattoos, when he paused. Not all answers had the same solution.
A black mist spread over his body. The cool shield of his aura drank in the excess force and invigorated his heart. The realm will's energy was pure, joyful, the bliss of a well loved child. Min and his system had done well these many years, to foster such a thing. Ven pressed to his feet and smiled.
"Hello… can you understand me, little one?" Ven spoke softly, as he would to his own children. "If not, this might have to wait until you're older…"
A gentle tune filtered into his ears, a trigger that flooded his mind with sense memories. Min stood on his shoulder, a gentle smile on her face as she hummed a formless song. It spun and travelled, a thing of pleasure, done for the sake of music and happiness.
The world sang Min's song, the one that only she and the Giant had heard. Bubbles of laughter, a child as she expressed her heart. Ven rubbed the back of his head. He would still try, but it seemed his realm had yet to learn to speak. At worst, his runes would collapse. Worth the risk, since he could always rebuild them.
"I'd like your help with something, a change in the rules that will help make people happy and safe," Ven did his best to project his emotions into the link, alongside his words. "Follow me and help me cast this spell!"
Ven's aura sank beneath his flesh, replaced by the glow of his runic skin. Faith lit the scripture of truth within his eyes, hands a blur as he began. The pressure of the will's gaze bent his spine, but he persisted, joints locked as he carved his own will onto the world.
"Serve the many, but remember the individual," Ven's voice echoed in his own throat, joined by the amplification of his runes of truth and the power of the realm's will. "Stand for justice, never blind and true to its spirit!"
Outside his realm, blood tainted his lips. His body shuddered as he supported the unrestrained flow of power. Uncontrolled and rambunctious, it was the exact opposite of his system energy…
"Seek truth with every breath and wield it with kindness," As Ven continued, he reached out to the system star and channelled a stream of power. He twined it around the energy of the realm and balanced it into a manageable rush. "It is a sword, as well as a shield…"
More and more power flowed from the realm, as if it approved of his message and wished to ensure his success. Balanced by the system's flame, it resonated with his words and filled the scripture as he set it in place.
"...never raised in anger, but held up to protect all you love," fire burned in his veins, a feedback loop of pure joy, filtered back from the realm. His smile shifted to a grin, even as the connection tested his limits. "Walk into the world and make it better with every step!"
Silence… and then the realm sang out, a choir of worlds led by the will that stood above them all.