Lex sat in silence, his gaze sweeping across the assembled Primordials. He sat with an unnervingly calm demeanour, his eyes sharp and taking in everything.
The energy around him hummed with tension as he observed closely. He could see the fire of ambition and hunger for power burning in their eyes; their desires barely veiled behind masks of civility.
Seated in the far right corner of the hall beside a white pillar with gold carvings of runes, Timorath slowly stood up and walked towards Lex. Though he strove to keep his expression composed, the memory of his earlier defiance and the moment Lex had seen through him echoed in his mind, tightening his chest with unease as he said, "I am ready," his voice steady and polite, though a slight tremor showed the tension beneath.
A ripple of quiet curiosity passed through the assembly. The Primordials exchanged glances, some intrigued, some quietly alarmed but none dared to speak. All eyes turned to Lex, waiting.
He rose from his throne with unhurried grace. The golden mist cloaking him shifted like living light, responding to his will as he floated forward.
He stopped just before Timorath, his expression unreadable through the golden mist. "You are wise to step forward," he said calmly.
Timorath bowed respectfully. Though he remained composed, a hint of caution crept into his voice as he asked, "Removing this essence will not affect my control over the laws of time, will it?"
"Not only will your control remain intact," Lex replied reassuringly, "but might strengthen your connection to the laws. There's no need to be concerned. It won't change anything that truly matters."
Timorath studied Lex for a moment, then nodded, seemingly satisfied.
Without hesitating further, Lex raised his hand. Timorath rose gently into the air, surrounded by a faint glow. Lex's power wrapped around Timorath.
The hall fell utterly silent. The gathered primordials leaned forward slightly, their attention fixed on the unfolding scene.
A faint glow appeared at the center of Timorath's chest. It was soft at first, but gradually grew brighter. As Lex's hand hovered closer, Timorath's body tensed and his eyes widened. The glowing fragment of his essence began to emerge.
A small, radiant droplet floated from his chest and was drawn toward Lex's palm. It shimmered with an ethereal brilliance and pulsed faintly, as if resonating with the flow of time itself. It was an essence containing fragments of the Origin Law of Time.
An unexpected emptiness washed over Timorath as the essence left him. He felt as though a vital part of himself had been severed.
His breath quickened, and doubt crept in for a moment. "This feels like a mistake. Am I truly whole without it? What if I've miscalculated?" His form flickered, as if struggling to maintain coherence.
He quickly steadied himself, focusing his thoughts. "No, the connection is still there. This is just temporary. He promised it wouldn't diminish my power."
As Lex's hand closed around the droplet, the emptiness subsided, and his connection to Time Law returned, grounding him.
His form steadied, the flickering ceased, and he exhaled deeply. His expression was now composed and introspective.
The other Primordials watched in rapt silence as the droplet in Lex's palm pulsed with an otherworldly glow. Its beauty was strange and captivating, impossible to ignore.
A few of them exchanged uneasy glances; their apprehension was unspoken, yet clearly felt. Others remained motionless, their gazes fixed on Lex. He held the fragment with effortless authority, as if it weighed nothing yet carried the fate of stars.
For a moment, the hall was silent, except for the faint hum of lingering energy. Then, Timorath slowly descended, touching the ground with a grace that revealed no internal turmoil.
He stood tall, his composure intact. Though the experience lingered in his mind, leaving a complex blend of unease and newfound clarity, the clarity prevailed.
Lex turned his gaze back to the Primordials, his expression impassive. "Who will be next?" his voice echoed through the hall.
The Primordials glanced at each other, trying to see who would go next.
Then, Eryndral stood up from her seat. Her molten form radiated heat, distorting the air around her as she stepped forward.
She stood where Timorath had stood. The flickering glow of her molten essence dimmed slightly as she steadied herself.
Her form softened, showing that she was ready. Seeing this, Lex was pleased and, with a subtle motion, he gently lifted her into the air and slowly extracted her essence. A glowing droplet emerged, radiating fiery brilliance.
The moment the drop was extracted, a hollow emptiness washed over her. For a fleeting moment, doubt crept in. "What is this? Am I losing something I can't get back?"
Her thoughts turned to Timorath. "He persisted. He recovered. So will I. I cannot falter. I am stronger than this," she resolved.
As her connection to the law began to return, she felt a surge of relief. "It's still there. My fire, my essence—it hasn't left me.
"Somehow…it's a little clearer now." Her confidence returned, burning brighter than before. She descended slowly and returned to her seat.
Lex remained silent, his gaze still fixed on the remaining Primordials.
This time, there was no hesitation. Vastoth stood confidently and approached Lex with fluid movements.
He raised his hand, and Vastoth's essence was extracted with such efficiency that it seemed to end before it began. Vastoth returned to his seat with a calm expression.
Next came Vyrinox. The serpentine primordial moved forward, narrowing his eyes as he studied Lex.
Though his composure was outwardly smooth, his movements were cautious and his eyes held a faint uneasiness.
Lex greeted him with the same calm authority, and the process unfolded as it had for the others. Vyrinox returned to his seat with a quiet, introspective demeanor.
One by one, the other Primordials followed, each stepping forward, offering their essence, and returning to their place.
After seven hours, the hall hummed with energy as the last 108,000 drops of essence hovered in the air, glowing with an otherworldly light.
The droplets floated in perfect harmony. Each one resonated with its own unique energy, yet none interfered with the others. A balance maintained by Lex's will alone.
Satisfied, he floated at the center of the hall, his eyes glowing faintly. "Follow me," he commanded. "I will take you to the realms I have created."
With a gentle wave of his hand, the air in the hall shifted. In an instant, the Primordials felt an energy ripple envelop them.
The glowing mist around Lex flared briefly, and then they vanished without a sound or trace.
Only the faint hum of Origin Energy lingered in the hall where they had sat moments before.
The grand palace slowly faded into the deeper layers of space.
The Primordials reappeared in unison in the Void, their humanoid forms intact. They stood before the entrance to a vast realm.
This realm stretched out before them, a boundless expanse that seemed to stretch endlessly as their eyes could not see its end.
They could see impossibly high mountains, curved with such precision that they screamed perfection, their surfaces glowing faintly. They could also see a forest of enormous trees, taller than any structure they had ever seen before, with leaves that shone with a faint glow.
They descended slowly, and when they reached the ground, Vastoth instinctively turned his attention outward to analyze the laws of the realm's space. His sharp eyes glimmered as he attempted to understand their intricacies, but after several tries, he furrowed his brow in frustration and gave up.
"The space here is extremely solid," he thought, his frustration hidden behind his composed demeanor. "Even flight would be a struggle if one lacked sufficient strength."
The others around him were similarly engaged in testing the laws tied to their domains. Eryndral's flames flickered erratically as she attempted to manipulate the laws of fire within the realm, but they remained stubbornly unyielding.
Timorath frowned, narrowing his eyes as he tried to influence the flow of time, but found it unnervingly stable. The Primordials exchanged glances one by one, silently communicating their shared realisation that this realm was designed to be beyond their immediate mastery.
Lex, walking behind them, observed their attempts with quiet amusement. The faint mist around his form shifted gently as he watched them move toward the center of the realm.
He could have teleported them all instantly to their destination; it would have taken no effort at all. But instead, he allowed them to walk, wanting them to feel the vastness of the realm he had created.