Multiverses were quite sensitive. Not that their structures were fragile, by any means. At least, not the ones capable of supporting many stable, concurrent realms in a consistent timeline. Still, they were quite susceptible to stimuli.

To operate a multiverse of one’s own, an entity needed to incorporate their essence into the energy network – assimilating, if it needed a word. Some do use that channel to fuel their multiverses, of course, to extend the structures’ lifespan or enhancing them in various manners; but the real goal was never that.

It was about claiming the multiverse.

Despite how it sounded, even though it was possible for multiple entities to be connected to a single multiverse and interact with its aspects, only one could attempt the claim at any time in relative safety. Thus, conflicts needed to be resolved before the process began.

Amusingly, claiming could be done essentially anywhere. Even outside the multiverse itself, as long as one was able to connect to it.

Currently, Caleb was in a one that had gone through at least two claims; the previous owner didn’t mention and the entity didn’t ask. However, it was certain the creator and the owner they met were two separate entities. The database had proven the conjecture as Caleb saw vastly different structures to the entries.

Maybe in their growth, the previous owners had gone through major changes in the very core of their being, but that was unlikely. To be able to manage a multiverse, one needed to be sufficiently… mature, in a sense. And the workings of their powers, their very nature, couldn’t be changed so easily. Not the way they shaped things, at the very least.

Speaking of change, though, the multiverse they now resided in was built with a remarkably stable framework, able to handle multiple major entities tampering with it simultaneously without suffering damages.

The feat was accomplished by a flexible mechanism to allow this multiverse the automatic redistribution of energy and evolved by harnessing said energy; a growing multiverse, if one was to put it simply. Its system was very responsive and processed power with amazing speed as well. Without input from Caleb, the multiverse had decided to loosen the dimensional veil and allowed energy to be distributed more smoothly.

And that might cause rifts to form, especially when one side or another was putting in the effort to open them.

Not that the entity cared that much about Otrea – there were many habitable planets with active civilizations in this multiverse, after all. They could even leave right now. Caleb hadn’t promised anything and hadn’t interfered in any major way; this planet’s manager still hasn’t noticed them, in fact. The entity wondered if they should have a word with that one.

Still, Caleb was slightly curious. It mattered little in the grand scale of things, but should the entity ignore these people’s plight? The shift partly involved them by association. Would it be irresponsible to walk away? The entity gazed at the maze-like garden through the tall window as they gave the issue a deeper thought.

With their own memories long gone and old Caleb’s views limited, there was no quick solution to their query.

A knock at the door drew the entity out of their shallow bout of contemplation. Flicking a finger; they walked towards the door as it opened, revealing the king’s steward – Toval standing in wait. There was a trace of surprise on his face, but the steward recovered quickly.

“His Majesty would like to invite you to the conference room for a word, Sir Caleb,” he made a brief bow.

“Of course, do give me a few moments to prepare.” before Toval could reply, the door closed once again.

“What’s gotten you so worked up, hmmm?” Caleb asked the beckoner’s soul when they managed to feel some anxiety from the thing.

Maybe the entity should dig up this one’s shattered soul to ask it some questions. Since the incident happened recently, they could still recover the fragments. Most memories would remain lost, but certain things were integral to one’s being and not easily erased.

Caleb used a command to clean the vessel and gave it a faint smell of mint and iris; the same could be done through the application of [Cleanse], [Imbue Scent], or a major cast of [Prestidigitation], but it was quicker this way. They were inspecting the fleshy thing for a final time before getting out when an idea came to them.

What if they only stayed until the vessel expired?

Since the entity had been acting in accordance with the guidelines, they hadn’t breached any laws or violated their beliefs. As long as they kept it that way… it was fine, wasn’t it? Things wouldn’t devolve into a situation where the multiverse becomes distorted from their abusive influence.

It could work.

Having made the decision, they restored old Caleb’s soul to its peak condition, barring its memories, of course. While they could have learned of the behavioral norms from others, it was best to avoid tampering with living residents. Especially when there’s a deceased one handy in their grasp.

They approached the door and opened it, meeting Toval’s apathetic eyes. “Lead the way,” Caleb smiled.

*****

More people had arrived while Caleb was waiting for the king. However, they were staying in the room adjacent to this one, where the connecting entrance remained hidden. The entity guessed King Basca was going to take their audience a bit more cautiously this time.

Caleb stood, observing the walls, and wondered if there was any illusion spells or Skills that prevented electromagnetic fields from interacting with each other.

They weren’t informed when the king would return so Caleb decided to entertain themselves. A set of holographic goggles materialized; implanted into their temples. Miniscule metallic cables slithered beneath the vessel’s skin, ending at the fingertips as they merged into nails overlapping Caleb’s own.

In the process of working the database, the entity had found traces of experimental frameworks capable of connecting information from one multiverse to the other. Someone had extracted data from another multiverse and left it in various states of incompletion.

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All frivolous and simplistic pieces. Related to many themes of… entertainment? Although a small number looked similar to the system installed. So, someone might have taken inspiration from them to create the framework?

Unless the entity managed to figure out who did this, they might never get a definite answer. Too bad the previous owner went away.

The discovery had led to Caleb finding many games belonging to several time periods; thus, they needed to have multi-purpose neural implants to map all the controls. Though they had no idea which multiverse these had originated from, such a find would have been enough to last them the entire assimilation process; as long as the entity rebuilt the games. The one who procured this data didn’t delve too deeply into the original network so there was likely little trace to investigate.

With the decision of staying on Otrea in their vessel, however, gave Caleb a perfect chance to evaluate how the current system affected residents of the physical realm and modify it to function with more cohesion.

They’d absolutely be getting rid of the link between Friendship and [Ability Boost].

But that would have to wait; the king was at the door. Caleb rotated their head and met King Basca’s gaze; he raised a brow at the unfamiliar implants on their face. Following after were those who attended the conference earlier, with a few unknown additions. Noting the lack of chairs other than the one for the king, it seemed they wouldn’t be sitting down for this.

Basraeca’s ruler approached them and remained just outside the entity’s bubble of personal space.

“What caught your interest, Sir Caleb?” Drahomir asked.

“The people on the other side,” the king let out a huff as he heard their reply.

They both were looking at the sole painting in the room. A large, gold-framed thing taking up the entire height of the wall. It depicted the scene of a human male battling against a host of many griffins alone. Looking battle-worn, the man was standing proudly still.

“Is that you?”

“No, that was my great-grandfather,” Caleb could feel eyes on them. “It wasn’t anything grand, but his council had insisted.”

“We did have a griffin problem in the north,” he chuckled.

Noticing the conversation had come to a pause, the entity looked at his side to see King Basca gazing inquisitively at them, as expected.

“You have listened, Sir Caleb,” the man continued. “Now, tell us. What are you?”

“An outsider, just like them.”

“Avnir told me the call couldn’t have touched someone like you.”

“Someone did,” Caleb quirked their lips.

“Baron Ashling?”

“Hmm, perhaps,” the entity wondered if they should let the truth slip. “The beckoner gave up their life to reach me.”

“You are certain?” Caleb could feel a smothering air coming from the king.

“You did say the spell couldn’t have done that.”

Gleaning to the side, the entity looked into Drahomir’s eyes. They were somewhat intense, but Caleb couldn’t tell what emotions were boiling in the king; he didn’t act outwardly, however. The man rubbed his brows with one hand and exhaled after a few moments.

“Enough about that, then. What are your intentions, Sir Caleb?”

“Hmmm… that depends,” they tilted to the side. “I do want to see these demons of yours up close.”

“You have no need for wealth, I take it,” it was a statement. “What is it that you desire?”

“A favor… Yes, a boon for a boon,” a faint prickly feeling bore into Caleb’s back.

“We can’t promise that.”

Sensing the king still had something to say, they turned to look, meeting his searching gaze. “Not until we know your worth.”

“And can you tell me what’s Basraeca worth?”

“Enough of your insolence!”

Two people launched toward Caleb as they drew their weapons. The entity didn’t need to turn around to know who would decide to act at a time like this. With a tiny twitch of Caleb’s finger, two [Paralysis] spells landed on Marquess Julius and Toval. A minor feeling of surprise came over the entity when neither assailant was affected.

Oh, right. System Skills and spells could interact with each other.

Having never taken their eyes off of Drahomir, Caleb saw the king was casually backing away with a calculating look on his face. So, this was planned as well.

Sword in hands glowing red like molten metal, the marquess led the front with a horizontal slash while the steward poised to support with a pincher attack from the other side; long-bladed katars dripping with viscous dark-green liquid on both fists.

Upon reaching Caleb, Marquess Julius abruptly veered off course and swung his sword at the steward. Toval leaped back in the nick of time as an arc of light bisected his after image. Before he could recover, the marquess launched at Toval at an impossible angle, tackling the steward; the two rolled for a few steps and ceased moving, limbs tangling.

Julius was locking Toval’s arm in a tight two-handed grip; his sword thrown aside. Legs hooking over the steward’s leg and pressing against his other arm, the steward should have been able to struggle out of the position, but somehow didn’t. The free fist was lying flat against the carpeted floor, flexing futilely.

Befuddled, the men barely had time to react when the marquess’s sword and a large mace previously on a display rack flipped through the air.

With an application of [Electromagnetism], the weapons twisted from their arch and aimed downward. A mere push from Caleb’s mind cast the pieces of metal at the men’s heads like spears thrown by a mighty warrior.

The resulting impacts emitted explosive booms as Julius and Toval bounced, almost comically against the floor, separating them and leaving large indents on the hardwood.

Their [Holy Bulwark] enchantments had collapsed with a single strike.

Flimsy.

Detecting magic being gathered at the mages’ location, Caleb flicked a finger at only those who were shaping offensive spells. [Lightning Spark] latched onto the mages before they closed the spell circuit and unraveled their magic entirely.

Half of their number were thrown back, crashing onto display cases. And the contents dropped on them. Their shields were still functional, so the pokey bits hadn’t gone through anyone unfortunate enough to fall on the wrong side.

By this time, the entity had come around to peer down at the two’s prone forms; knocked unconscious. “Testy, aren’t we?”

“If you wanted to play, you could have told me,” Caleb slowly rolled their head to face the king. “Something very, very bad could have happened to them.”

“That’s what they’re here for,” King Basca indicated the group.

The group immediately rushed to help the marquess, the steward, and the mage. A few of them looked to be quite shaken, however. It seemed not all were informed of the strategy – or lack thereof.

As the mages began to apply healing spells, a small smile cracked Caleb’s face.

“Now then, what can you give me, ruler of Basraeca?”

*****

Striding through an empty corridor, Grand Councilor Avnir Jorgensen and Toval followed behind King Basca, their expression thoughtful. After a long bout of silence, the king began.

“You’re certain that’s not him?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. His master confirmed it,” even though his voice was even, Avnir appeared to be amused. “Duchess Ashling’s son had never been that confrontational. The boy doesn’t… didn’t have a filter and was prone to mouthing off, but… he would have avoided violence.”

“Could it be true? I don’t-he doesn’t seem to speak of falsehood,” the king closed his eyes for a brief moment.

“I’m afraid it’s likely,” Avnir’s tone was low. “Such a shame, the boy had a brilliant eye for the arcane.”

“Speaking of which… did you notice that one casting [Paralysis] at such speed, Your Majesty?

“Whoever this Caleb Ashling is, his proficiency in spellcraft is a magnificent thing to behold! Purely at a technical point of view; without the aid of Skills and Gifts, the way he shaped [Lightning Spark] and compressed it could be considered one of the best method possible! Selecting appropriate spells and unleashing them without a catalyst acting as a medium is a rare feat… I do wonder if this strange Gift of [Electromagnetism] affected the blistering speed or was it experience…”

“You talk a lot, Avnir,” the king had a slightly exasperated look.

“I’m flattered by your compliment, Your Majesty!”

“… Anyway, good job today, Toval.”

“It is fortunate that no harm came to Marquess Julius,” the steward inclined his head deeply; there was no sign of the wound he suffered prior. “He scared me for a moment; rushing in so suddenly without a word.”

“Kaeso is a good man,” the councilor laughed ruefully. “His temper, however…”

Drahomir shook his head. “Yet, he is most loyal. Perhaps it’s time to clue Kaeso in our plans.”

“How about we survey Lady Julius before that? Marquess Julius often consult matters with his spouse, after all.” Avnir mused. “We should be cautious.”

“Yes, I should have a word with Cecile about that,” the king pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Shall I send for the queen right away, Your Majesty?”

“No… no, let’s handle something first…”