Date (Wonder World): Year 0, Day 1.
Date (Real World): Tuesday, February 28, 2025. 4:00 AM.
The Wonder World was initially overwhelming: a place of pure, white conceptual energy that stretched into infinity, where thought instantly became reality.
The Code Garden
Fang, still in his magnificent Dark Dragon Form, stood before Kai, the sole focus of the first hour of training.
"Your Soulbond power is not a simple copy, Kai," Fang's voice thundered, softened only by the conceptual nature of the world. "It is conceptual assimilation. To use Aris's Kinetic Code without destroying yourself, you must integrate it, not merely mimic it."
Fang created hundreds of conceptual enemies—targets of pure Kinetic Code—that moved with blinding speed. Kai, wearing the Nexus Suit, fought them instinctively, struggling to stabilize the foreign power within his own Code Stream.
Meanwhile, Null watched, attempting to use his Shadow Mastery to better anchor his own Code in this unstable dimension. He tried to draw upon the power, and the Shadow King's Crown solidified on his head.
Then, he felt a subtle, deeply personal conceptual pull. It was the Shadow Prime Stone reacting to the pure energy of the Wonder World.
This world belongs to Fang... but the stone gives me ownership of the concept of my own domain.
Null reached into the source of his Shadow Code and whispered the command: Isolation. Negation.
The infinite white space around him shimmered, then abruptly dissolved into a personal dimension. It was the Blood Sea, but perfected—clean, dark, and utterly stable.
"A Code Garden," Fang's voice echoed through the shared conceptual link. "A Prime Stone user can use the ambient energy of the Wonder World to forge a personal domain—a perfect training environment tailored to their Code. Vane, Tyler, now is the time. Focus on the core meaning of your Stone."
One by one, the Prime Stone users followed Null's example.
Vane vanished into a dimension of shifting geometric planes and impossible angles—a perfect arena for mastering the Space Stone.
Tyler entered a conceptual singularity where time slowed to a near halt, allowing him to endlessly practice Temporal Code manipulations.
Null remained in his Blood Sea Code Garden. He used his Shadow Mastery to pull targets from the core conceptual energy: Legendary Creatures—Rank 4 monsters forged from pure Code. They were massive, winged, and wielded high-level conceptual magic, designed to push his Sovereign Code Discharge to its limits.
For Null, the year was spent in brutal, conceptual duels. He learned to manage the trauma of the Light Code Fragment and the chaos of the Void King Code. He learned to channel the Sovereign Code Discharge as a precise tool, not just a desperate measure, using the elemental chaos to systematically break down his legendary opponents.
The Interruption: King of Stone
Date (Real World): Tuesday, February 28, 2025. 4:00 AM.
Miles away, in a fortress built from condensed earth and kinetic energy, the King of Stone relaxed.
The King, whose true name was unknown, was a figure of physical and conceptual dominance. His long, vibrant red hair flowed around him like molten lava. His eyes were a startling, unsettling pink, constantly flickering with Kinetic Code calculations. His body, massively muscular and covered in subtle, stone-like dermal plating, was imposing—but his right arm was visibly missing, sheared off long ago in a dimensional conflict.
He lay in a shallow, steaming hot bath carved from a single slab of polished granite, a perfect contrast to the elemental chaos he waged.
A small, sleek dimensional communicator activated on a pedestal nearby. The King lifted a wet, massive hand and pressed the activation rune.
"Report," the King of Stone commanded, his voice a low, gravelly vibration that contained the conceptual weight of mountains.
The voice of his spy, muffled and respectful, filled the silence. "My King, the assets have moved. The Void King—Null—was successful in extracting the Space Stone user, Vane. They killed the containment unit. One hundred soldiers, all disintegrated. No survivors."
The King of Stone gave no outward response, remaining perfectly still in the granite bath. His pink eyes held a terrifying, cold patience.
The spy continued, unaware of the dragon in the room. "They have retreated to a highly unstable conceptual location. Initial analysis suggests it is a high-level time dilation field—the Wonder World. They are training, My King. Preparing for the final confrontation."
The King of Stone simply listened to the report—the death of one hundred men, the successful extraction of a Prime Stone, the enemy's strategic retreat to gain a year of training. All of it registered as minor static in his ultimate plan.
When the spy finished, the King of Stone slowly stood, water sheeting off his massive, stone-like body. He didn't raise his voice; he didn't even sound angry. His words were a conceptual decree, absolute and final.
"Find the Water Stone user. Her name is Maya."
There was a pause on the line. "Maya, My King? The low-sequence Elemental Code user? She is a civilian, completely isolated. She poses no threat."
The King of Stone slowly stepped out of the bath, the wet floor instantly evaporating around his feet.
"Kill Maya. Now."
The communication cut off. The King of Stone had established his priority: The enemy gains time; I take an asset.
The Execution
Date (Real World): Tuesday, February 28, 2025. 4:05 AM.
Maya lived on the coast of a remote, rainy island. She was exactly what the spy claimed: a beautiful, unassuming Water Stone user, isolated and completely unaware of the conceptual war. Her power was small, mostly used to clean oil spills and guide fishing boats. She was a gentle soul, completely divorced from the Code violence.
A few minutes after the King's decree, a dimensional rift tore open in her small, isolated cottage.
Three figures emerged: low-level King's Guard enforcers, not wearing the high-tech armor of the hundred men, but simple, dark uniforms. They were not powerful enough to fight a King, but they were more than enough to execute a civilian.
Maya stood from her desk, dropping a cup of tea. She instinctively channeled her Code. Blue, ethereal water rose around her hands, but it was defensive, not aggressive.
"Please," Maya whispered, terrified. "I don't know anything about the war."
The lead guard, a grim-faced man named Rael, didn't bother to answer. He simply raised his Kinetic Code rifle.
"The King regrets the necessity of your execution," Rael recited mechanically. "But your Code must be anchored to our cause, and your life force extinguished to send a message."
Maya's water shield flickered. She tried to shape the water into a spike, but her resolve was too weak; the conceptual energy melted away. She wasn't a warrior. She was a victim.
A single shot of concentrated, cold Kinetic Code hit Maya directly in the chest.
The impact didn't explode; it instantly shattered her conceptual stability. The small water shield evaporated instantly. Maya didn't even fall. She simply dissolved, her body turning into a cloud of shimmering, blue-tinged vapor that rose to the ceiling, before vanishing completely. Her small, powerful Water Prime Stone—the one the King of Stone needed—fell to the polished wooden floor with a single, tragic clatter.
Rael picked up the stone, its blue light instantly dimmed by the death of its user. He placed it in a secure containment field.
The message was clear: While the enemy trains, the King of Stone acts. The cost of Null's one year of conceptual training was the immediate, unheroic death of one of the people he was supposed to protect.
Back in the Wonder World
Date (Wonder World): Year 0, Day 1 (Cont.).
In the Blood Sea Code Garden, Null finally shattered the Rank 4 Legendary Creature with a massive Sovereign Code Discharge. He was panting, conceptually drained, but victorious.
One year down. Hundreds of battles won. The power is stabilized.
But as he celebrated the hard-won conceptual victory, he felt a sudden, sharp, cold feeling in the back of his mind—a conceptual echo of tragedy. The connection to the Elemental Code—a Code he shared with Sooji and his past self, Soren—felt distinctly thinner.
It was the whisper of a missing piece. Null shook it off, attributing it to the stress of the training, unaware that the King of Stone had just claimed his second Prime Stone while he had gained only a single conceptual day.
End of chapter 61
See you next time