Jaxon watches the family of giants, his Homo-gigas-primus as the System now calls them, for what feels like hours. He observes the male use a sharpened rock to strip the tough bark from a crystalline tree, his movements deliberate and intelligent. He watches the female teach the young one how to find edible, glowing fungi in the damp earth beneath the great roots. They are not just animals anymore. They are a people, taking their first, slow steps on a long road, their existence a quiet testament to their resilience in a world of monsters. He feels a deep, paternal pride. This world, his wild, chaotic first draft, has produced something magnificent.
The weight of the long day, of the millions of years he has witnessed, finally settles on him. His focus blurs. The thundering waterfall on Genesis-01 fades, replaced by the soft hum of the air conditioner in his bedroom. He pulls his consciousness back fully, the transition a gentle release. He is just a kid in a room again, the moonlight painting a silver square on his wooden floor. He glances at his phone, the unread messages from Liam and Chloe a reminder of a life that feels worlds away. He sets the temporal sliders on all three of his creations to a near-stop and lets sleep take him.
He dreams.
He stands on a field of trampled grass under a bruised purple sky. The air smells of ozone, iron, and wet earth. Before him, a man stands alone against a tide of grotesque, snarling creatures. The man's armor is not steel, but a solid, seamless suit of what looks like polished granite, its surface etched with glowing golden runes that pulse with the rhythm of his heart. No light reflects from it; instead, it seems to drink the gloom from the air. In his hands, he holds a hammer that is less a weapon and more a block of raw mountain given a handle. When he moves, it is with the certainty of a landslide. He is a fortress of flesh and bone, his presence an anchor of pure, immovable reality. This is Aura, Jaxon understands instinctively, the power of the self made manifest, an absolute rejection of the chaos that surrounds him.
Facing him, atop a small rise, is a woman. She wears no armor, only simple robes of deep blue that whip around her in an unfelt wind. Her eyes are closed, and silver light leaks from beneath the lids. Her hands move in a slow, graceful dance, weaving threads of pure starlight into a complex geometric pattern that hangs in the air before her. The air crackles around her, the very laws of physics seeming to bend to her will. A falling leaf freezes mid-air, a raindrop turns to steam. She is not a fortress; she is the storm itself, a conduit for an external, infinite power. This is Mana. The power of the world, given voice and shape.
The knight plants his feet, the ground shaking as he grounds himself, his golden runes flaring. The sorceress opens her eyes, and they are twin novas of silver light. She completes her sigil. The world goes white.
Jaxon wakes with a gasp, the phantom light of the dream still burned onto the back of his eyelids. Sunlight streams through his window. The dream clings to him, not as a memory, but as a blueprint. Aura and Mana. Not blended. Not in balance. Two separate, distinct paths of power. A world of knights and wizards.
He sits up, his mind already racing. The System panel materializes, anticipating his command. He bypasses the worlds and goes straight to the daily report. The numbers make him sit up a little straighter.
[DAILY GENESIS REPORT]
PLANET: Genesis-01
RANK: Gold Tier
LIFE LEVEL: Nascent Sentience (Tribal)
GP GENERATED: +20
PLANET: Aethelgard
RANK: Silver Tier
LIFE LEVEL: Thriving (Complex Fauna)
GP GENERATED: +15
PLANET: Elysium
RANK: Copper Tier
LIFE LEVEL: Thriving (Arcane Flora/Fauna)
GP GENERATED: +5
TOTAL GP AWARDED: +40
He checks his balance in the corner. GP: 125.
One hundred and twenty-five. He has enough. He could buy the GATE right now and still have points to spare. He could step into Genesis-01 and walk among the giants he created. The temptation is a physical ache, a desperate pull toward the ultimate reward.
But the dream… the dream was a revelation. It offered a clarity his other worlds lacked. Genesis-01 is a beautiful, chaotic mess. Aethelgard is a controlled experiment in cultivation. Elysium is an exercise in extreme specialization. This new world, the one from his dream, would be a story. A grand conflict. A world built on a fundamental dichotomy.
Patience. The GATE can wait. He is not ready to be a visitor. He is still a creator, and he has a new masterpiece to design.
He needs this world to be perfect. He cannot afford the wild, unpredictable mutations of Genesis-01, nor does he have the eons to hand-guide every step of evolution as he is with Aethelgard. He needs a manager. An overseer who can execute his vision with perfect fidelity.
He remembers the item in the shop, the one that cost all his points just yesterday. He navigates to the CREATION SHOP, his new wealth making the list of items seem far less intimidating. He finds it easily.
[LESSER WORLD SPIRIT]
COST: 25 GP
He does not hesitate.
Buy.
His balance drops to 100 GP. Exactly enough for the GATE. The symmetry is not lost on him. He has traded his instant gratification for a long-term investment.
Now, for the canvas. He opens WORLD CONTROLS, his mind already sketching the requirements. He needs a standard, stable M-class planet. He finds one quickly, another unclaimed jewel in a quiet G-type star system. It has continents and oceans, an axial tilt for seasons, and a stable molten core. A perfect, generic Earth-clone.
He assigns its designation. He thinks of the dream, of the foundational conflict. Argent. A name that evokes both the silver of magic and the steely strength of knights.
He installs a new Planetary Core, spending another 20 GP, bringing his total down to 80. Then he opens the Essence Conduit Design. This network must be unique. It will be Platinum-tier, a world of immense power from its inception. He creates two entirely separate, interwoven systems. The first is a telluric network, deep within the planet's crust and mantle, its conduits drawing power directly from the heat and pressure of the core. This will be the source of Aura. The second is an atmospheric network, a web of leylines that floats high in the stratosphere, drawing in cosmic energies and the raw Mana of the void.
With the planet built, he opens his inventory and selects the Lesser World Spirit. A prompt appears.
[SELECT TARGET PLANET FOR SEEDING.]
He selects Argent.
[INSTALLATION REQUIRES A PRIME DIRECTIVE. PLEASE DEFINE THE WORLD SPIRIT'S CORE PURPOSE.]
Jaxon focuses, pouring his intent into the text box.
[PRIME DIRECTIVE: CULTIVATE TWO DISTINCT PATHS OF SENTIENT EVOLUTION. PATH A: Guided by the Telluric Network, evolve a species that embodies the principles of Aura—strength, will, and the power of the self. PATH B: Guided by the Atmospheric Network, evolve a species that embodies the principles of Mana—intellect, shaping, and the power of the world. The two paths must remain separate and distinct, fostering a world of inherent duality.]
He submits the directive.
His perspective dives toward Argent. He watches as the seed of light descends from the void, a single, pure mote of potential. It phases through the atmosphere, through the crust, and sinks into the planet's molten heart. For a moment, there is nothing. Then, he feels it.
A new consciousness. It is a presence. A feeling of the entire planet waking up. He feels the spirit connect with the conduit networks, its awareness spreading through the veins of power he just created. It assesses the geological state, the atmospheric composition, the readiness of the primordial oceans. It feels the prime directive he gave it, accepting the code as its one and only truth.
The planet's systems, once inert, begin to hum with a quiet, focused intelligence. Argent is no longer just his creation. It has a will of its own. And now, he must give it the rules to build by. He accesses the LAW FORGE, opening a new file linked specifically to Argent and its nascent spirit.
First, the law of life. He titles it the 'Law of Divergent Genesis'. He lays out the evolutionary pathways for the spirit to follow. From a common primate ancestor, the spirit will guide four primary humanoid lines.
Humans will be the baseline, the adaptable race with a natural, albeit weaker, affinity for both Aura and Mana, their potential determined by individual talent and effort.
Dwarves will be guided to evolve in the deep places of the world, their bodies becoming dense and strong, their souls intrinsically tied to the stone and the Telluric Network. They will be masters of Aura and smithing.
Elves will be shepherded toward the great forests and places where the Atmospheric Network is strongest, their forms becoming slender and graceful, their senses sharp, and their minds perfectly attuned to the flow of Mana.
Finally, Beastkin will emerge from tribes that live in closer harmony with the world's fauna, their evolution guided to blend humanoid features with those of powerful animals, granting them a unique and instinctual form of Aura.
He also defines the lesser races. Goblins, Orcs, Ogres, and Trolls will be evolutionary offshoots, chaotic mutations where the nascent life is twisted by uncontrolled surges of either network, resulting in lesser intelligence but greater aggression or physical might. They are not a mistake; they are a necessary crucible, a hostile force to drive the evolution and advancement of the primary races.
Next, he defines the resources. He drafts the 'Law of Singular Saturation'. It is a simple, elegant rule: no material on Argent can be saturated by more than one form of Essence. Veins of iron ore in proximity to a strong Telluric conduit will, over centuries, transmute into Mythril, a light, incredibly mailable metal that resonates with Mana. Deeper, rarer deposits under immense pressure will become Adamantite, the ultimate conduit for a warrior's inner power. Conversely, common quartz near an Atmospheric leyline will crystallize into Manastone, a perfect storage medium for magical spells.
Finally, he establishes the framework for power itself. He creates the 'Law of Aptitude'. Both Mana and Aura will require innate talent to wield. The World Spirit will ensure that this talent is distributed, but not evenly. Some will be born with immense potential, others with none. He lays out a simple, ten-level progression for both paths, a clear hierarchy for Mages and Knights. From the initiate ranks of Apprentice and Squire, through the mastery of a Wizard or a Knight-Captain, all the way to the legendary, world-shaking power of an Archmage or a Grand Marshal at the tenth and final level. Power will have a ladder, and every inhabitant of Argent will know where they stand upon it.