I’m so bored.

Literally.

There’s very few predators in the Void.

There’s even less now that I’ve eaten the few we’ve encountered.

Even with the time between naps, my guess of our current situation is rather vague.

I can’t use the time of Vespar, or Durant’s Leaf, reason being I’ve slowed them down with Time’s Shadow. I’d rather not have our second trip through the Void be accompanied by the birth and death of countless generations.

Oh?

I halt the ship and move closer to the strange distortion in my senses. It mimics a portal, yet doesn’t close like one would.

Scanning the strange construct I realize something is keeping a tiny tear in the Void open, while at the same time eating the Void energies that flow into it.

This…

This is incredible!

A stable portal, without the use of Dao!

The tear is minor, the size of a single finger, yet its construction is incredibly complex. The best part is the self-sustaining method being used, I am not ashamed to admit even I can learn something here.

Moving the Voidship closer, I start to study the complex formation of energy that holds the entire thing in stasis, while allowing it to function.

Eventually I decipher enough to be confident, opening the ship, I move the runic barrier close. A single root is extended through the opening, like a human dipping a finger into a pool.

On the other side, I sense enormous machines spinning, each one assisting in converting the Void energies into electricity. A small piece of solidified Chaos is being used as a catalyst in order to promote the reaction.

Essentially, someone has created a tiny motor that changes Void energies into large amounts of electricity!

Thrilled, I start sending more roots through the tear in order to learn more.

In order to ensure they don’t close the tear, I take control of the energy construct tying it into a tiny piece of Chaos. This creates a much more stable reaction, while at the same time ensuring that a power loss on the other side won’t ‘lock’ me out. Destroying the machine itself though would cause issues, so I need to protect it.

Since they have such amazing machines, they must have something I’ve been wanting for quite some time.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

That’s right.

Computers.

Slowly I begin the process of widening the tear so that I can fit the ship through. I already know that the other side has enough space for it to fit. Now it is just a matter of time.

If there are Divinities on the other side, as long as they aren’t too numerous I’m willing to take a chance.

Of course, they might also have enough technological might to push me back into the Void. If that happens to be the case, I’ll be forced to be more aggressive.

Currently, my roots are not detecting any other energy sources except for electricity.

No magic.

No Dao.

No divine power.

I’m a tad shocked.

A civilization that managed to get far enough to touch the Void with nothing except science?! They are damn lucky it is me that found them instead of something nefarious!

The collector in me is drooling.

Besides computers, they could have even better!

Flying cars!

Nano-machines!

Short distance teleportation devices!

I must have this planet!

At all costs!

I send the mental message to my servants, and a personal one to Dryad.

Prepare for battle.

Immediately after sending the message to my talented minions, I thwack myself on the head with a branch.

There’s no need to waste time making the tear enlarge enough for the Voidship!

I use one of my remaining leaves to hold the Voidship, while resisting the Void with my own Chaos Wood body.

I might not be able to hold out for eternity, but the mere amount of time it will take to open this tear is nothing!

A bubble of Time envelopes me as I start to accelerate the process ripping the tear wider and wider.

I can hear faint alarms screaming on the other side as my energy senses push through the dimensional barrier.

In a snap decision in order to move even faster, I seal my soul once more, reducing my power in order to allow me speed up even further.

On the other side of the dimensional barrier, my roots start to take a punishing attack based on various types of energy.

I control my roots to dig deeper into the ground, yet a strange metal resists them.

A sense of urgency overtakes me, and I spend a portion of power to cause the corrosive decaying power of Time to assist my roots in digging.

Finally, I am able to penetrate through the thin metal sheath that protected the rocks beneath. Without delay I send my roots burrowing downwards, seeking a source of Flame. When I finally hit a vein of magma, I feel the thrill of victory surge through me.

I start to draw power from the Void to push me out and Flame to pull me in.

I would use the energy of the strange machine, if I wasn’t already using it as a focal point for the dimensional coordinates. A large portion of my roots are dedicated to defending it at this moment. Someone on the other side has realized if the machine is destroyed I will lose my anchor point. The dimensional tear alone cannot do anything other than mark a point in the Void. Without the machine on the other side, feeding the coordinates of their plane to the tear, it would be the same as a tunnel without an exit.

I am lucky enough this time that they have no sort of shielding, next time, I doubt the mind on the other side will make the same mistake.

I cannot let this singular chance slip past.

All the power in a thousand thousand suns is useless if one cannot strike their target after all.

My roots are cut, and regenerated, as I edge my physical form slowly through the barrier.

Strange weapons corrode me, terrible energies slash at me, yet I persevere.

The damage they are dishing out to me now, I shall return a million fold.

If…

I can…

Just…

Snap!

A grin stretches across my hungry maw as my physical form is slingshotted through the wormhole tear and into a glorious new world.

Within seconds I take root, reaching deep below the surface of the world for Flame. Utilizing this power I begin to spin a Bubble of time around the machine. Once the machine is secure, I start to branch out, pushing my energy senses to their limit to sense the enemies.

I start my attack, with the simplest method.

Like all horrifying things, it starts from the smallest trigger.

I stretch my branches forth, and begin to steal.

Where the armor I made for Sam could steal seconds, I steal minutes at a time.

My defenses set faster, my barrier is formed quicker.

Within a fifteen minutes span, I have already created an almost impenetrable barrier around the machine. I reach inside it with a root and begin to tap the delicious energy for my own use.

Like a flower unfolding, a massive maze of Time is woven in ever widening circles around this installation. Since I am unsure of what I might encounter on this world, I have decided to use the most basic premise.

Bunker.

I shall create a massive defense, like a spider spinning a web, I shall spin an unbreakable seal of protection for myself.

However, defense alone cannot win a battle.

My branches sway as the figure of Dryad, Mishra, Guido, and even S’neli appear.

I cannot, as of yet, do both attack and defense at one hundred percent certainty of safety or success.

Even now, I reserve enough power to escape in case of emergency back through the Void tear. This prevents me from attacking at full force.

Thankfully though…

I am not alone.