Chapter 419: Open to the Unanticipated (1/2)

Jason examined the loot from the Shadow Giant as it dissolved into rainbow smoke behind him. It was a dark sphere, just large enough to fit in one hand. It was cool and glassy to the touch.

Item: [Dark Orb] (unranked, uncommon)

Contains the power to unseal the power of darkness. (consumable, awakening stone).

Requirements: Sealed [Dark Essence] ability.Effect: Unseals a random [Dark Essence] ability.You have 5 sealed dark essence abilities.Would you like to use [Dark Orb] Y/N?

“Yes.”

Ability [Shadow of the Reaper] has been unsealed.

The orb melted into Jason’s hand in a sensation reminiscent of when he had absorbed awakening stones in the early days of his magical life. As the orb was fully absorbed, Shade emerged from Jason’s shadow.

“Mr Asano.”

“Shade!”

Jason enfolded his familiar in a hug.

“Ooh, you’re quite squishy. It’s nice.”

“This is rather awkward.”

“It’s great to have a friend here, Shade. I’ve been talking to myself a lot and what company I have had has been far from ideal.”

“We have been observing. Colin and Gordon are eager to help and unsealing either would have been more effective than me. While it is good to be liberated, you would be better served by a more combat-oriented companion.”

“Don’t underestimate the value of having someone to talk to. You know I don’t always make the best choices when left alone.”

“Quite.”

”You could have argued a little. Still, maybe the others will be next. There'll be more boss monsters that drop these orbs, right?”

“It seems likely,” Shade said. “We can reliably assert that the anomalies attacking your spirit domain are, at least in part, a direct reaction to your presence here.”

“Do you think it’s some kind of test left behind by the original Builder? Or part of some safety mechanism in case something went wrong with his experiment.”

“I would not have the temerity to speak to the mind of a great astral being, particularly one who diverged from its intrinsic purpose. Some idiosyncrasies are to be expected from the new Builder, with its mortal origins, but for the original great astral beings, their purpose is their nature. What would divert them from that is beyond my understanding.”

“Maybe he got dumped.”

“That seems unlikely.”

Jason and Shade stood on the top floor balcony and looked out over the city.

Initiate transfiguration of new territory Y/N?

The transformation of Jason's second territory was very different from his first. In the dark sky, the constellations set out like magic circles started to shift. Moving to form a grand circle centred above the pagoda. Then, in the middle of the vast circle of stars, a tiny but blindingly bright light sparked into being before flaring out to take the form of a sun, shining in the dark and bringing daylight to the domain for the first time. A cerulean sky started expanding out to displace the dark of night.

A column of glorious sunlight beamed down on the pagoda, then slowly expanded out to touch every part of the city, Wherever it reached, gold, silver and blue mist came steam up, as if the light were burning away its impurities, obscuring Jason’s view.

As the mist cleared, it revealed the transformed city. Previously, when he had claimed it for his domain, it had taken on the colours of Jason’s cloud house. Now, as he completed the process of incorporating it into his spirit domain, it wasn’t just the colours but the very materials of the cloud house that could be seen spreading out before him. The streets were dark crystal and the footpaths were light stone tiles, but the buildings were all constructed from clouds, like some make-believe kingdom. Gardens and greenery were more prevalent than ever, from planters lining the streets to traffic islands lined with trees and roundabouts containing flowering gardens.

In the sky above, the sunlight-filled blue sky extended as far as the great circle of stars, at which point the previous void of night continued to surround it. Only Jason’s domain stood in the light, while the night’s gloom continued to hold sway in the regions around it.

Jason and Shade observed the city made of cloud-stuff.

“It can’t stay this way if I manage to solve this thing and the transformation zone’s dome comes down, can it?” Jason asked.

“We are meddling with the building blocks of reality,” Shade said. “Anything is possible.”

”It seems odd, though. What I'm trying to do boils down to resolving the incongruity between the world's reality and the astral space reality after the transformation zone mashed them together. How is a magical fairy town not wildly incongruous? It looks like a children’s book, or a mobile app hiding its predatory business model behind adorable graphic design.”

“Perhaps this is the middle ground,” Shade suggested. “You are creating a bridge between the mundane and the magical. Like any bridge, it must cross between them and be anchored on both sides.”

“I guess we’ll find out, sooner or later.”

Your spirit domain has claimed a territory.Territory has been renamed [Soul Haven].[Spirit Vault] evolution status: 38.6%.Evolution of ability [Spirit Vault] is tied to the transformation zone. If the transformation zone is stabilised before the ability completes its evolution, the evolution will fail.

Anomalies attacking as a result of further spirit domain expansion will have increased power.You have claimed sufficient territory to stabilise the transformation zone and separate it from the convergent astral space.Separating the space with the current territory will have a disruptive effect on the dimensional membrane of the surrounding reality. Claim additional territory to reduce the severity of this effect.

Would you like to stabilise the transformation zone Y/N?