Jaxon's will flows into the System. The blueprint for Cultivator's Grass is finalized, a perfect fusion of natural evolution and intelligent design. He selects the volcanic coastlines where the original algae clings to life and overwrites the species, deploying his new creation across the entire shoreline. Then, he opens the temporal controls for Aethelgard and pushes the slider forward, letting the slow clock of evolution tick a little faster. A new panel opens, a simple notification manager. He sets the parameters.
NOTIFY WHEN: [Clade: Reptilia] AND [Clade: Mammalia] are simultaneously present in biosphere.
The alert confirms, a silent promise to ping him when this quiet world of worms and algae produces something more familiar. He shrinks the Aethelgard window, letting it run in the background, a low-priority process. His focus shifts. He turns his full attention to the roaring furnace of his first creation. He summons the live feed of Genesis-01.
His perspective rips across the void, plunging back into a world that has known his absence for millions of years. The change is staggering. He arrives not to a planet of sluggish amphibians, but to a world of titans. The fern-like jungles have grown into colossal forests of alien flora. Trees with thick, armored bark and crystalline leaves that chime in the wind soar hundreds of feet into the sky, their roots drawing up so much Mana that the air around them hums with a visible distortion.
He drifts over a vast, open plain where a herd of colossal creatures grazes. They are the descendants of the six-limbed amphibian, but any resemblance is now purely academic. These things, which his System labels 'Goliaths', are living mountains of flesh and bone. Each one is the size of a three-story house, their six pillar-like legs shaking the ground with every step. Their hides are not skin but a mosaic of thick, interlocking plates that shimmer with a faint, earthy-brown energy—a biological armor woven from Aura and the planet's own telluric force. A Goliath swings its massive, wedge-shaped head, its broad mouth shearing a forty-foot crystalline tree from its trunk with a sound like shattering glass. It chews the glowing wood, grinding it to pulp, its body a biological furnace that runs on raw magic.
This is a world of survival of the fittest, and Jaxon watches the principle play out in brutal fashion.
A flicker of movement at the edge of the forest. Low to the ground, sleek, and impossibly fast. A pack of predators emerges from the gloom. The System calls them 'Ravagers'. They are a terrifying evolution, built for murder. Each one is the size of a bull elephant, its six limbs carrying it in a low, sinuous lope. Their mottled green hides are stretched taut over cords of muscle, and a ridge of sharp, obsidian-like spines runs down their backs, crackling with contained energy.
The Ravagers do not roar. They are silent hunters. They spread out, a coordinated crescent of death closing in on the herd. One of the Goliaths gives a low, rumbling bellow, a bass note of warning that vibrates in Jaxon's disembodied consciousness. The herd turns, their massive bodies slow and clumsy, forming a defensive circle.
The lead Ravager strikes. It does not charge in. It stops, lowers its head, and its throat begins to glow with a brilliant blue light. Its chest swells, and then it unleashes its breath. Not fire, but a focused, compressed blast of pure Mana. The bolt of energy screams across the plain and strikes a Goliath on its flank. The creature's plated armor flares, absorbing most of the impact, but the sheer kinetic force throws the ten-ton beast off balance. It stumbles, crashing into its neighbor.
That is the opening the pack needs. They surge forward, their speed a blur. They move with an eerie intelligence, ignoring the armored backs and focusing on the joints of the legs, their serrated claws and powerful jaws tearing through the softer flesh. The Goliaths thrash, their immense weight their only weapon, but the Ravagers are too fast, too agile. They are a pack of living scalpels dismantling a fortress.
Jaxon watches the brutal, magnificent ballet of predator and prey. This is the untamed heart of Genesis-01, a world forging its inhabitants in a crucible of violence and magic.
The hunt ends. A single Goliath lies on the plain, its lifeblood, a fluid that glows with a faint golden light, soaking into the rich soil. The Ravagers feast. But Jaxon's attention is drawn elsewhere. There is other movement. In the shadows of the carnage, at the periphery, where the giant reptiles ignore the world beneath their notice.
He pushes his perspective down, zooming past the feasting titans, to the tangled roots of a colossal tree. Something small and fast scurries from a burrow. It is covered in coarse, brown fur, with a long, naked tail. Its head is pointed, its whiskers twitch, and its black, intelligent eyes gleam with a cautious light. It moves on four legs, its body low to the ground. It is the size of a large dog, but it is unmistakably mammalian.
A new species tag appears in his vision: Rodentia-Majoris.
Another one emerges from the burrow, and then another. A whole pack. They are not here by accident. They wait, their bodies tense, watching the Ravagers. When one of the predators turns its back, distracted by a choice piece of meat, one of the rat-like creatures darts forward. It moves with a speed that rivals the Ravagers, a brown streak against the green grass. It snatches a piece of fallen flesh and retreats into the shadows in a blink.
Intrigued, Jaxon focuses on the creature, pulling up its biological blueprint. Its physiology is a marvel of adaptation. Its bones are light but incredibly dense. Its muscles are wired for explosive bursts of speed. Its brain is proportionally much larger than the reptiles', its sensory lobes highly developed. It is a creature built for cunning, for opportunism, for surviving in the cracks of a world owned by giants.
Then he sees the organ that sets it apart. Nestled near its heart is a small, complex gland the System labels a 'Harmonizing Gland'. It is not a raw power storage unit like the Ravagers' Mana-sacs or the Goliaths' Aura-infused hide. It is a regulator. It draws in trace amounts of both the ambient Mana from the world and the creature's own internal Aura, but instead of using them in their raw forms, it blends them. It finds a perfect equilibrium. It produces a calm, stable, internal energy. Qi.
Jaxon understands. The reptiles rule this world through sheer, overwhelming power. They are living conduits of raw magical force. But these mammals, these dog-sized rats, are taking a different path. They do not have the strength to fight the titans head-on. So they are evolving something else. Intelligence. Speed. And a more refined, more controlled form of power. They are not just surviving. They are adapting, specializing, and carving out a niche right under the noses of the monsters that rule their world.
The reptiles are brute force. The mammals are cunning. Jaxon watches the two strategies play out on the blood-soaked plains of Genesis-01. One is a hammer, the other a scalpel. He feels no preference, no paternal favoritism for one evolutionary path over the other. He is just the observer, the architect watching his program run, fascinated by the unexpected subroutines that emerge from the chaos.
This world is a pressure cooker. The Goliaths and Ravagers are the dominant processes, consuming all the resources, their sheer power shaping the environment. But the Rodentia-Majoris, with their refined Qi and their intelligent pack tactics, are a clever bit of code finding a loophole, an exploit in the system that allows them to thrive in the margins. He sees the potential there. He sees the long road stretching from this clever, dog-sized creature to something more. Something that stands upright.
He accesses the WORLD CONTROLS for Genesis-01. The familiar interface overlays the scene of the feasting Ravagers. He finds the notification manager.
"System, set a new alert for this world."
A prompt appears, a blinking cursor in a search bar.
NOTIFY WHEN:
He thinks for a moment, framing the trigger. He does not want the first clumsy tree-dweller that learns to hang by its arms. He wants the real deal. The moment of transition.
NOTIFY WHEN: [Species: Class Mammalia] develops [Trait: Sustained Bipedal Locomotion].
The System processes the command, the text locking into a solid, clear line.
[ALERT CONFIRMED. MONITORING BIOSPHERE FOR SPECIFIED EVOLUTIONARY TRAIT.]
Satisfied, Jaxon turns his attention to the temporal slider. He pushes it forward, cranking the speed of time. Not as fast as before, but fast enough. Millennia flash by. He watches the live feed window, a time-lapse of epic proportions. Forests of crystalline trees rise, wither, and rise again in pulsing waves of green and blue. Mountain ranges erode under the ceaseless assault of wind and rain. Continents drift, their slow dance imperceptible until viewed through the lens of a million passing years. The great reptiles evolve, their forms growing larger, more specialized, their Mana-fueled breath weapons becoming more potent. In the shadows of these titans, he sees the mammals change too. They become faster, smarter. Their fur changes color to match new environments. They are always there, surviving, adapting, waiting for their moment.
The process will take an unknowable amount of time. He cannot sit here and watch it all. He needs a break. He needs to be a person again.
With a deep, mental sigh, Jaxon pulls his consciousness back. The swirling cosmos and the warring monsters of Genesis-01 recede, collapsing into a single point in his mind before vanishing. The solid, familiar reality of his bedroom rushes back in. The scent of dust and ozone from his computer. The faint sound of a lawnmower from a few houses down. The weight of the comforter tangled around his legs.
He is just Jaxon Steele. A kid in a messy room.
He reaches for his phone on the nightstand, the cool glass a solid, grounding presence in his hand. He unlocks it, his thumb swiping past the weather app and a dozen game notifications. He opens his messaging app, the list of recent conversations a map of his other life, the normal one. He taps on the group chat with his friends, Liam and Chloe.
JAXON: You guys alive?
Liam's reply is almost instantaneous, a string of rapid-fire bubbles appearing on the screen.
LIAM: Steele! The hermit emerges from his cave! We thought you were dead. Or grounded into oblivion.
CHLOE: How are you feeling? For real. Your mom texted my mom. Sounded scary.
JAXON: I'm fine. Totally fine. Doctor said I'm not allowed to spontaneously combust anymore. I'm bored out of my mind, though. My dad's got me on a strict no-computer lockdown.
LIAM: Dude, that's a violation of your human rights. Want to do something tomorrow? We could hit the arcade. See if you can still beat my high score on Starfall without electrocuting yourself.
CHLOE: Or we could just get pizza and watch a stupid movie here? Low key. Probably better than a loud, flashy arcade if you just got over a concussion.
JAXON: Chloe's right. Pizza and a movie sounds perfect. My brain feels fine, but I don't want to push it. Chloe's place. Say, seven?
LIAM: Works for me. I'll bring the good soda. Not that weird organic stuff your mom buys.
CHLOE: See you then. Don't die again between now and tomorrow. <3
Jaxon smiles, a genuine, easy expression. He tosses the phone onto the bed beside him. Normal. It feels good. For a moment, he is not a creator of worlds or a shaper of realities. He is just a guy making plans with his friends. He closes his eyes, thinking about what movie they should watch, when a sharp, clean chime, a sound only he can hear, cuts through the quiet of the room.
His eyes snap open. The System panel is back, unsummoned, a single, stark notification box hovering in the air.
[SYSTEM ALERT: AETHELGARD]
[BIOSPHERE ANALYSIS COMPLETE. SPECIES DIVERSIFICATION THRESHOLD REACHED.]
[Clade: Reptilia] AND [Clade: Mammalia] are simultaneously present.
The promise of pizza and normalcy evaporates. The casual text conversation with his friends feels like a memory from a different lifetime. That sharp, clean chime slices through his reality, a summons he cannot ignore. His focus snaps back to the hovering blue panel, the words stark and absolute.
Reptilia and Mammalia. On Aethelgard. Simultaneously.
His breath catches. This is faster than he anticipated. Aethelgard was supposed to be the slow-burn project, the intricate engine of cultivation taking eons to warm up. Genesis-01 was the chaotic explosion of life. This… this changes the timeline.
Jaxon closes his eyes, dismissing the solid reality of his bedroom. The scent of laundry detergent and the muffled sounds of the neighborhood fade into nothing. He pushes his consciousness outward, past the confines of his skull, past the atmosphere of Earth, and into the silent, star-dusted canvas of his private cosmos. The journey is instantaneous, a thought that traverses an impossible distance.
His perspective coalesces high above Aethelgard.
The planet is transformed. What was once a world of raw, black volcanic rock and steaming, new oceans now pulses with a soft, internal luminescence. Vast swathes of the continents, particularly along the coastlines and sprawling river valleys, are covered in a shimmering, silver-green carpet. The Cultivator's Grass. It drinks in the light of the system's yellow sun and breathes out not just oxygen, but a faint, visible haze of Heaven and Earth Energy. The planet's entire atmosphere feels thick with it, a tangible pressure of pure potential.
He extends his senses, following the thread of the System alert. His view sweeps across a vast savanna, a plain of the glowing grass broken by jagged, obsidian mountain ranges. Down he goes, his perspective diving like a hawk, until he hovers invisibly above a herd of creatures that steal his breath.
They are mammals, unmistakably. Their form is equine, all sleek muscle and elegant lines, but their coats are the colour of a moonless night sky, absorbing the light and seeming to hold shadows within their depths. They graze peacefully on the Cultivator's Grass, their movements fluid and serene. And from the centre of each creature's forehead grows a single, spiraling horn of what looks like pure, polished alabaster. The horns glow with a soft, constant, white light, a beacon of refined energy. As one of them tears a clump of the glowing grass, the light in its horn brightens for a moment, a pulse of power drawn from its food and perfected within its body.
Jaxon opens a query panel, his thoughts forming the command.
IDENTIFY SPECIES.
[SPECIES: AETHERHORN. CLASS: MAMMALIA. DIET: HERBIVORE. UNIQUE TRAIT: SPIRIT HORN. ORGANICALLY REFINES INGESTED HEAVEN AND EARTH ENERGY INTO PURE QI. PASSIVELY RADIATES A SOOTHING AURA.]
Aetherhorn. He likes the name. They are living, breathing cultivation tools, purifying the very essence of the world just by existing. They are perfect.
His attention is then pulled a few miles away, toward the rocky foothills of the nearest mountain range. There, another creature moves with a completely different kind of energy. It is a reptile, low to the ground, with four powerful legs and a long, whip-like tail. Its body, about the size of a large wolf, is covered in scales that look like they were carved from smoky quartz, each one a multifaceted crystal that fractures the light. It has no wings, but its form is undeniably draconic, a primal ancestor to a future legend.
It is hunting. It stalks a large, beetle-like creature that is digging at the base of a rock outcropping. The reptile's movements are patient, a study in contained power. Its jaw is lined with teeth like shards of obsidian. With a sudden burst of speed, it lunges. It does not simply bite. As its jaws snap shut, a visible ripple of force, a wave of colourless energy, erupts from its mouth. The beetle is thrown against the rock with a sharp crack, its chitinous shell shattering. The small dragon-like creature then tears into its meal.
IDENTIFY SPECIES.
[SPECIES: GEODE DRAKE. CLASS: REPTILIA. DIET: CARNIVORE. UNIQUE TRAIT: QI STRIKE. EXPELLS A CONCUSSIVE BURST OF REFINED QI AS A SHORT-RANGE ATTACK. POSSESSES CRYSTALLINE BONE STRUCTURE FOR ENHANCED QI CONDUCTION.]
A Geode Drake. Jaxon watches it for another moment. It is efficient, deadly, and perfectly adapted to its role as a predator in this energy-rich world. The Aetherhorns are the passive refiners, the gentle heart of the ecosystem. The Geode Drakes are the active force, the sharp edge of this new food chain.
He pulls his perspective back, ascending high enough to see the whole continent. He now sees the world is teeming. He spots flocks of six-winged avian creatures with iridescent feathers soaring on the thick, energy-laden air currents. He peers into the oceans, watching schools of fish whose scales are like shimmering steel swim through vast coral reefs made not of calcium, but of solidified, crystalline Qi that pulses with the planet's heartbeat. Giant, multi-limbed insects burrow through the volcanic soil, aerating it and drawing energy directly from the leylines far below.
The entire planet is a symphony of evolving life, each piece finding its place, its unique way to interact with the Heaven and Earth Energy he seeded here. It is a world of incredible balance and burgeoning complexity. But the Aetherhorns and the Geode Drakes… they are something more. They are not just creatures living in a world of power. They are creatures born of that power. Their very biology is woven from the fundamental laws of this place. They are the first true cultivators, even if they do not know it. They are the most unique, the most promising. The foundation stones for whatever comes next.