Chương 27: 14B. Wielding The Law

Now, Sam needed to rethink his strategy. Oros claimed that Genesis and Terminus were ill-suited for long-range combat. Both tended to diffuse and dissipate after being disconnected from the wielder's will. He had no choice but to get into close range unless new techniques came into his life that somehow subverted the issue. Given that his attunements were unique to Ouroboros, Sam wasn't helpful. The new path required a body technique.

Given how Genesis and Terminus functioned, and the IEF vessel's building material, a swift recovery and healing technique would be ideal. However, Sam didn't want to rely on a tool that required him to get hurt to be useful. Instead, he wondered whether the flexibility and sponginess of moss could prove useful. It felt in theme with a serpent spirit patron. For the time being, Sam carved the vessel to resemble a giant serpent bursting out of the ground, accentuating the crystal formations to look like giant scales.

He poured his intent into it, focusing on control and compression. Life would get easier once he could create and control ether constructs within his circuits more easily. It was also vital to reduce the blowback of techniques that taxed his joints and circulatory system. Once the muscle felt almost stretched to its limit, Sam moved away from IEF's vessel. It stood at four-and-a-half feet at its highest point and looked less like just a pillar made of finger-length crystal fragments.

Sam wasn't an artist, but he could see his vision slowly coming to life. There was significantly less material to use for Pulsing Palm's pillar. Before adding to its height, Sam carved it while envisioning his most recent use of the technique. First, he focused on the input. In far too many instances, an eighth of his energy stores was too much or too little. Pulsing Palm's effects spread too far or not far enough.

Much to his disappointment, the vessel trembled, threatening to fall apart when he tried to gain complete autonomy over the input. The building material felt too rigid and brittle. Since Sam wasn't as familiar or comfortable with the technique as IEF or Feather Step, he had relied on the manual's memorized contents. His initial construction was far too inflexible. Fortunately, he hadn't built enough to feel bad about losing progress and starting over. As a result, Sam had to proceed at a snail's pace.

He couldn't just change one thing, but the entire structure from the inside out. It wasn't just about how much ether Pulsing Palm used, but the compression, spherification, shell creation, and all the separate layers. The sphere releases a shockwave each time a layer shatters. I need a technique to adjust the number of layers, compression, and rigidity based on the layer count. A smart vessel was far outside of Sam's capabilities.

He was sure it was possible, but not something he could manage with his current control and understanding. Instead, he created two new pathways through the pillar. One consumed a sixteenth of his maximum ether stores. The other used a quarter. Ideally, Sam wanted to reach a point where the technique didn't rely on his total reserves and built itself around whatever energy he channeled through the vessel.

He needed to study the technique more closely and use it more frequently without the pillar's assistance to figure things out. Before adding to the vessel's height, Sam added a wavy banded designmuch like Oros's pattern along the outside. It carried the necessary element to add intent, or will, to Pulsing Palm. He doubted it was potent enough for specific targeting. For the time being, Sam settled for directing Genesis toward a specific origin. He was sure it would also come in handy for Terminus.

Finally, he made the vessel taller. The overall appearance remained like a tightly coiled rope made of several skinny serpent bodies rising almost straight up toward the sky. Sam hoped to eventually wrap them around each other into a single cohesive structure with pockets for all future stars. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. When he finished, the lights floating between the two foundations had multiplied and gained luminosity.

The growth appeared exponential. There was four times as much ether as when Sam started. They weren't just wisps floating around the area. Instead, energies of the same color had started to clump together.

"Good job," Oros said, slithering around Pulsing Palm's foundations. Lost in the process of construction, he hadn't detected her slip into the soulspace. She'd set out to slither through the roof without the nesting beasts detecting her. It proved harder than either of them expected. The creatures seemed to radiate a repelling aura that kept the familiar from climbing higher than the ninth floor. It explained why other nearby fauna kept its distance.

"It's a great start. Genesis and Terminus are far from easy to tame. You need to decide on the path you'll walk. Soon."

"What do you mean?" Sam frowned.

"I've unlocked my path already, haven't I?"

"You have started on it but not earned all of Father's gifts."

"I'm not sure I understand," Sam said, tearing his eyes away from the vessels. He sat down in front of the dancing luminous wisps. He reached into them and allowed the emerald and silver light to filter through his fingers.

"Genesis, Terminus, converting essence and corruption into building materials—what more is there?"

"You forgot about me." Oros sounded offended.

"Father also gave you a piece of himself and more. But your offering wasn't enough to access the rest."

"Are you going to leave me in suspense or just tell me?"

"Feed me more. Father asked you to purge corruption from this plane and grow stronger. The more you do, the more you'll receive in return." Oros adopted the infinity pattern, going around both foundations.

"But that will require leaving the security of the walls. Or going after the things above."

"I think it's best if we leave them alone for now," Sam replied after taking a moment to think things over.

"They're probably why no other threats have come for us. I'd rather go out and find something." He hesitated.

"But I don't know whether I'm ready."

"You'll never be ready. The last thing you want is for an emergency to hit and force your hand."

"Have you been keeping an eye out?" Sam asked.

"Anything worth noting?"

"There is a nest to the east," Oros answered.

"I worry whatever is within is dormant, and we've only seen the scouts out and about. Some look like exiles."

"Exiles." Sam raised an eyebrow.

"If they're solitary and like the thing we encountered on our way here, it might not be too bad. I don't want to risk drawing the nest's wrath."

"I'll keep an eye out. The next time I see one of them lingering, we can figure out what to do."

"Is there enough here to start formation yet?" Sam exerted his will on the wisps, trying to bring them together. All the individual green bits obeyed straight away, coming together as an amorphous emerald mass. The black was slower to react, resisting his directions. However, drawing on the silver weaving through them did the job, teasing them together.

"Nowhere close. There isn't enough mass to create a core that will hold everything together." Everything fell apart as soon as Sam tried to bring the two separate bodies of ether together. He exerted his will on them, forcing them to touch. They exploded outwards, diffusing and separating into all the wisps that he started.

"Passive absorption will take far too long. If you want to progress faster, you need to find me essences and corruption."

"Will I get anything once the star is complete? Besides deeper ether reserves, of course."

"Your ether channels will improve, and two new vessel foundations to start," Oros answered.

"To start? Why can't you just tell me?"

"The remaining boons are contingent on you meeting father's needs. I don't want to set expectations that never materialize. Besides, your actions and performance may determine what you get."

"Fine." Sam sighed, exiting his soulspace