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DRR Book 4, Chapter 49 — Impossibilities
🕑 Added 2025-06-05 14:18:38 +0000 UTCThe fourth phase shift requires a practitioner's core to support a certain amount of physical reality. I've been looking for something that might fit almost as soon as I realized this, but there are very few things that actually fit my requirements—and there are requirements.
Anything I want to support the fourth layer of my core needs to align with my Truth in some way. Try as I might, I haven't encountered many things that embody Change. If that hadn't been necessary, I probably would've simply tried to shove the largest quantity of dirt possible into my Soul Space, although Gheraa had seemed quite horrified by that suggestion back when I brought it up.
Go figure that the solution to all this could very well involve me shoving a large quantity of dirt into my Soul Space.
Or, more accurately: I'm going to bypass this problem by shoving as much of the city I can into my Soul Space.
"I have concerns about this plan," Novi says. She seems a little thrown by the direction the conversation has gone; apparently, her Sight indicated to her that something very different would happen. "Are you certain it will work? What if attempting to hold a dungeon within your core harms you? And what will happen to us should you succeed?"
"Whatever it is, it can't be worse than what's already happened," Varus points out mildly, and then shrugs when everyone turns to look at him. "What? We've been stuck in First Sky for decades. The only time we get to see any hint of color or eat anything new is when Ethan brings us something. Even if this process kills us, it's not going to be any different from just completing this Ritual. The only difference is that this new plan isn't guaranteed to do it. I'm all for it, personally."
"I am too," Yarun announces. Juni seems a little more uncertain about it, but finally nods.
"They're right," he says. "I doubt this is going to be worse than getting eaten by a tree."
"I..." Novi trails off, shaking her head. She seems troubled. "It is not often these days that I make a decision without being certain of its outcome," she says after a moment, the words accompanied by a small, hesitant smile. "They are right, of course. To offer ourselves to the Tree would result in certain death; the uncertainty you offer is a kinder fate by far. My hesitation is only that I no longer remember what it was like to be uncertain."
"It's not like it's completely unprecedented," Gheraa offers. "It's actually pretty common for Integrators to use places to support their fourth phase shift. The result is usually something like a pocket dimension the practitioner can visit at will."
"But it has never been done with the remnant of a soul," Novi says. "What you refer to as a dungeon is called soulrot for a reason, Ethan. It is not truly a location. It is a warping of reality caused by a core's desperate attempt to rewrite events that can no longer be changed."
"And that's exactly why this will work," I say, holding her gaze. "Whatever I use for this fourth shift has to embody my Truth, and my Truth is that of Change. Can you really say you don't want to change what happens here?"
"I... I do." Novi falters for a moment, but then something in her gaze hardens. "You are certain this will be enough?"
"If we pull this off, it's going to be the first and only time the outcome of a Ritual is directly altered," I say. "Not failed, not completed, but rewritten. It's going to have to be enough."
Novi nods slowly. "Then I will speak to what remains of my people," she says quietly. "And tell them what is to come."
—
The process for doing something this big isn't quite as simple as what I was able to pull to bring that makeshift Intermediary into my core. That, at least, was a structure restricted to one room. To use Soul Space on something as large as the city of First Sky, I'm going to need a great deal more prepwork.
The solution lies in my Chromatic Strings. If I imbue the Soul Space skill into its threads and weave it throughout the city, it should give the skill enough of an anchor to take effect. To that end, I summon as many of them as I can and call for Guard, Ahkelios, and Gheraa to carry its ends to the farthest edges of the city they can reach.
The thing that surprises me, though, is how willing the scirix are to help. I'd expected fear and worry, but the prevailing emotion I see amongst them isn't either of those things.
It's hope.
I lose count of the number of them that come up to me and ask for a String so they can bring it back to their own homes. They see it as something like a good luck charm, I think—they want to make sure their homes survive the trip.
And to my surprise, it helps. It makes sense, in retrospect: like Novi said, First Sky isn't exactly a place. She called it the remnant of a soul, but it's grown into something more than that. Partially with the help of the Interface, partially simply because its own people have already deviated so greatly from the original script.
It has a life of its own now, and that means there are places within the city that are more important than others. Places that hold the memories, hopes, and dreams of its inhabitants. The more my imbued Chromatic Strings are taken through the city and led to these places, the more I can feel Soul Space beginning to take effect.
Slowly, First Sky begins to merge with my core—and slowly, the world around us begins to change.
It starts with the sky. I hear the gasps and murmurs all around me as the gray, empty sky suddenly flickers, replaced abruptly by the light blue of my Firmament. The flecks of gold within it are usually small when I use my skills, but here they hang amongst the clouds like golden chandeliers, each one emitting a soft, warm light.
Here, I feel a slight resistance. The Interface pushes back against me, trying to retain access to its dungeon. A notification flickers into view.
[Ritual Stage 5: ERROR]
I ignore it, instead focusing on pouring my Firmament into the skill. Deep within me, the spin of my core helps that Firmament flow smoothly. I can feel the presence of the city inside me and around me now, a bizarre confluence of sensation that makes my soul feel unbearably full.
If I hadn't deepened my core, I'm not sure this would be possible. All that space I generated is now being taken up by the massive volume of reality I'm bringing into it. It's worth it, though, because it's working.
The next change to appear is the makeshift Intermediary I only recently brought into my core. It merges with the ground and the buildings, a supporting network of Firmament that holds it all together the same way the roots of a tree might grip the earth.
Just in time, too, because right after that, the ground shakes. A few of the scirix cry out, and a few of the less stable buildings begin to crumble. Once again, I feel the Interface pushing back, trying to pull the city back into reality.
Before it can, the four Aspect Pillars I've established in my core flicker into existence. They manifest as massive towers that anchor the city into place, each one radiating with power; around them, color begins to bleed back into the once-colorless landscape.
First Sky shakes again, but with barely half the force; the third attempt barely shakes it at all. The Pillars stand strong against the Interface.
Beside me, Novi stares up at them in wonder. "Force, Body, Energy, and Mind," she says. "You were able to manifest almost all the Aspects?"
"Was that not what I was supposed to do?" I ask, half-joking. Novi can only shake her head in wonder.
There's one last step. I can feel it in the center of the city, waiting.
"For the record," I add. "I don't do almost."
The Interface categorizes the last type of skill as Firmament. Novi calls it the Aspect of the Spirit. It's the one category I couldn't evolve or resonate with my core, in large part because it requires exactly this—a reality strong enough to hold it in place.
This is the reason I couldn't complete my fourth phase shift.
I understand more about it now than I did before. This final Pillar is different from the others because it performs the same function a Heart does: it uses the potential of Firmament to create something new. New things, new effects. But it can't do that from nothing. It draws from the reality around it, creating a new node in the Web of Threads.
That understanding rings out through my soul, pulsing through the city of First Sky. It coalesces in the center into a roar of power—I can feel the Interface flinching back from it, its hold on the city snapping under the power of this new force.
"Ethan..." Novi's breath catches with wonder. Around me, the other scirix are muttering, staring at what's emerged in awe. Ahkelios and Guard both watch in quiet reverence. The only exception to all this is Gheraa, who makes a sound somewhat akin to that of a dying squirrel. I ignore it.
I was expecting another tower to appear, but instead...
There's a miniature star there. It hovers high above First Sky, about double the height of its tallest buildings and burning with a blue-gold flame that matches the color of the sky.
Surrounding it are three smaller stars, spinning around it in lazy orbit. One blazes prismatic fire, spitting massive flares of pure, dense Firmament. Another bears resemblance to a living spark, a smear of green-white power that rings with the sound of clashing blades if I gaze too long upon it. The third doesn't shine like the others—it's a solid, deep-blue gem cracked with a gold more brilliant than my own, and it seems to dance and sing with every orbit.
I can't help but smile. I know without needing to reach out exactly what they are. Each one represents the bond I share with Guard, Ahkelios, and Gheraa respectively. If I stare closely enough at the central star, I can even see flecks of Tarin, Mari, and Akar; they'd donated their Firmament to help me form my very first layer of Firmament, and traces of that remain even now.
Something seems to ring out through my soul as the star finishes manifesting. I can feel Soul Space taking full effect and bringing the rest of the city into the depths of my core. A new well of power rises within me, stronger and brighter than I've ever felt, and its presence changes the city around us.
Damaged buildings repair themselves, glowing Firmament filling in every crack and clearing the rubble. Color spreads through the streets and people, and I hear more than a few scirix breaking down in tears as they feel a piece of themselves restored.
And as if to congratulate me on this accomplishment, the Interface flickers and hands me a notification.
[Soul Space (Rank S) has evolved into the Submerged skill: Soul Realm (Rank F)!]
[Congratulations, Trialgoer. You have uncovered the Revelation of the Spirit.]
[You have unlocked the Spirit Aspect Pool.]
[Firmament has been upgraded to Aspect of the Spirit. Your Firmament credits will be converted into Aspect points at no additional cost.]
I can't bring myself to feel very good about it, though a part of me wonders what this Aspect does. The thought keeps running through my head: if I'd done this sooner, maybe we wouldn't have lost so many. I didn't even have the time to go to their funerals, like I had when Isthanok's people died.
But that's a dangerous line of thinking. I hadn't known better at the time, and I'm not sure it would even have been possible. First Sky didn't truly represent my Truth until now, when I understood the true purpose of the Ritual and both I and its people chose to subvert it.
Besides, we have a much bigger problem to worry about. Kauku's still out there, and Hestia's still dying.
"Ethan," Gheraa says. I glance at him. He's staring at me with a look that sits somewhere between reverence, awe, and a third emotion I can't quite identify. "You're..."
"What is it?" I ask, looking down at myself. Nothing's changed physically, as far as I can tell.
"This is your fourth shift, right?"
"Yes?"
Gheraa shakes his head slowly, then looks back up at the star that hovers above. "Sometimes," he says. "Very, very rarely, an Integrator will accomplish a special type of phase shift. We call it an Emergence. It's what happens when a core exerts so much pressure it begins to bend the world around it—practitioners that experience an Emergence can exert their will like a physical force."
Like an expression of the self, imposed on the world around me. That answers the question of what the Aspect of the Spirit does, I suppose.
"Is that what Kauku did to us when he showed up?" I ask. He nods. "Why are you bringing this up now?"
"Because a side effect of this is that it can be debilitating for Integrators," Gheraa says. "Our Firmament remembers. It remembers needing to eat, to drink, to breathe. It doesn't affect us most of the time, but a strong enough Emergence can enforce it. It's how—"
Gheraa seems to choke on the word for a moment. He takes a deep breath to gather himself. "It's how Lhore killed me," he says quietly. "Or it's part of it, anyway."
"Are you saying..."
"Yeah." Gheraa looks over at me. "I don't know how you did it, Ethan. This isn't something that can happen until the seventh phase shift. This is your fourth. But I know this feeling. Whatever you did, it qualifies as an Emergence."
I look up at the sky. That means some Integrators were able to uncover an Aspect as well, but if it took them until their seventh... Maybe they don't have the other Aspect Pools unlocked. "Will this help us against Kauku?"
"Almost certainly," Gheraa says. "At the very least, he won't be able to disable us all with his will alone. Not if you're in the way." He hesitates. "The Integrators that achieve this all stand at the highest echelons of Integrator society, you know. Their word is law. We have a name for them."
"And what name is that?" I ask.
"Those whose souls cannot be bent," Gheraa says. "Those whose cores weigh heavier than the world around them."
He looks directly at me. "We call them Conquerors."
--
Author's Note: Posting this quickly because there's something flying around me. I need to stop doing things late at night.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Been waiting to do this for a while. Along with a lot of things coming in the next few chapters.
Comments
Digit
Possibly the laws of the universe itself considering his quite literal soulmate (not even in a romantic way) is now by all means a god by our standards.
Digit
Gheraa’s new truth is *changing* law to include gay rights
J.Daniel Call
I was thinking sleep deprivation hallucinations... So glad it's merely insects, but sorry you have to deal with that! Thanks so much for the chapter!
Silver Linings
I am realizing belatedly that my author's note made it sound like I was talking about ghosts or something. I live in a tropical area and bugs like flying to light sources like my computer. >_>
Silver Linings
I spent so long trying to figure out a name for it and then was eventually inspired by Haki, haha. It fit perfectly.
Silver Linings
Whoops, thank you! Fixed!
CM
Thanks for the chapter! I think that with between gem and cracked needs to be removed. "it's a solid, deep-blue gem with cracked with a gold more brilliant than my own"
Melissa Harden
Haki by another power system has been achieved. New digs for every resting remint, Trialgoer eco, and spirit reincarnated Ethan adopts to chill until summoned. Can't wait for the wtfs of Kauku's reaction to what this nonsense will achieve when combined with the power of friendship.
Mr.Turtle
Thanks for the chapter!
