The children kept surprising me, and I wondered if it was because I did not expect them to be so quick to learn their racial and personal skills, or because I was jealous that I had not mastered mine as quickly.

"At least they are my children." I wondered if the other creators who chose infants were having similar experiences. They simply had to be.

With Freyja in the Spirit Realm, I was left with Freyr and Tora. Their realms were ones that I desperately needed to create. Throughout my time fighting and honing my skills, I developed a variety of thoughts and ideas. Then my fans provided the final spark, bringing it all together.

For this I was very glad.

I pushed Tora and Freyr away from me using Phys-Emission. Allowing them to see it and interact with it. Thankfully, they were not Haero.

While floating in the eighth ring, I brought up the template for my rings. There was a lot to add to some realities and a lot to create. "Time to start working."

First I concentrated on the Dream Realm. Its colors, which normally descended into the Mortal plains, rose into the Divine Realm like mists from the spirit realm.

"Gods sleep, after all, and they dream."My concept was this. What happens when a mortal dreams? The dreams are imbued with divine energy and granted physicality, but they remain within the Dream Realm. Now what about Divines?

"What would the dreams made of Gods be like?" I was really curious. Next, I added a new feature to the Dream Realm.

"Dreams are subconscious imaginations and scenes created in our heads. But what if it can be used for something other than actively crafting and shaping people's dreams? But rather actively forming and utilizing one's imagination to create their subconscious." A gentle pulse erupted from the realm.

I grinned.

I could feel it within myself. In my Form of Nothingness, I could already feel the new energy entering and forming.

"Psionics. Amazing". Even so, this was more than I had hoped for. "Dreams are the product of our imaginations. To enter a dream, one must first connect with one's mind. What better way to gain access than via a medium? Something both normal and unusual. When I added the idea to the template, another pulse emerged from the Dream Realm.

"A subspace of reality. "The Mirror Dimension" I watched the new additions appear. The colors red and silver in the mix of colors were shown brighter and stood out. Their energies flowed even more into both the mortal and divine realms and were carried down to the other realities via the Star River.

Thinking about it now, I realized that energies from the neighboring realities were probably closer to those from the river. I pondered if I should make the river boost the energy but decided not to.

The eighth and seventh rings showed what a ring would look like without a reality to bind to. The rivers that flowed past bore no vibrant colors. The space within the bands is an empty void.

"Time to change that". I closed my eyes and concentrated on everything I desired and understood. With each thought, the template was updated. More words appeared, and more words were deleted. Finally, I felt that this was sufficient.

I confirmed it.

The 8th Ring was empty for a brief moment. Then an explosion of matter, energy, and chaos erupted. The energies were so potent and so horrid that the bands almost faltered. Almost.

The energy was subdued and smashed back. Like a wave of pressure colliding with an invisible wall, it came to a halt. A snap later and it was sucked back into the epicenter of the reality.

The eighth Ring was the darkest of all creations. And yet I floated down there with Freyr. I set him down, adjusted his sitting posture, and smiled at him.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"Do not do anything frightening like your older brothers, okay? "And stay safe." Even as I spoke, I did not feel at ease. It was less due to him being a danger to himself than this place being a danger to him.

"It has to exist". I floated away from this reality and arrived at the last one. 'My headache'.

The 7th Ring, like the 8th Ring, had to be tailored specifically to Tora. Did not make things easy. Even after all of the advice and ideas I received, making it was more difficult. The implementation numbing.

Still, I knew what I wanted. Unlike with the 8th Ring, I did not use the template. I had to do this myself.

I floated down to the Star River and collected some golden water. I broke off a piece of the band and floated back up. Aether flowed from my hands, saturating both the water and the Rings piece. Phys-emission as a hand held it both up while I molded the water and banded it together.

Why was I using the band, and for what purpose? The band possessed a simple yet crucial feature. Just as important, if not more so, than the rivers themselves.

Reality Bind, Time Rings, and the Source Point.

Time Rings was a property that the rivers possessed but not the other two.

[Reality Bind - Lock and prevent reality's edge from moving beyond. Holds a reality in place as described and wanted.

[Time Rings - The Time Rings exist beyond time, generating the very flow of the time stream through all the realities.]

[Source Point: The Bands of the Star Ring are a source of immense power. And while they possess none themselves, their ability to hold and suppress makes them the ideal item for power sources]

Of course, there was a power conveyor that allowed the rivers to transfer the energies of all realities to one another. But I wanted something more. The band and water disappeared into my hands and reappeared.

A large, circular plate. Because there was no way I was abandoning the Rings theme now. The plate featured what appeared to be spherical ports. Nine of them form a circular band around the plate's edge, followed by a smaller band within it. Nine bands, each with one fewer port, until the center, which had only one port.

"I hope this works".

I wanted a spark that could connect with all types of energies. Magic was all about using energies that were not your own to act. I had planned to create the majority, if not all, of it, but I stopped myself. The excitement of using magic was evident in the research.

With the circular plate in hand, I took a deep breath. Holding it with my right hand, I used my left to grab and rip my torso open. Throughout, I was floating within the Rings' boundaries while using my Phys-Emission to push Tora further back.

I could sense the inefficiency of using my own Abstract to get past the rings. 'These things are quite good at keeping power'. I stopped floating in the center of the ring, hoping that they would work together to keep any disastrous events from occurring. I took a look around to see what it was like inside the ring with no reality.

Empty. I gulped while looking at the plate. 'This should really work'. Then I stuffed the disk inside me.

[Mirror of Nothing]

You have created the forces and beings of your universe. 'You are the Universe, and the Universe is you. All powers and abilities wielded and manipulated by forces within you are ineffective against you. The rate of comprehension and usage of available forces increased by 20%.

"If the universe was me as I was it, did not that imply that I reflected the universe as the universe reflected me?"

I froze as the plate vanished into my Form of Nothing. My dark visage faded as light emanated from within my torso. For the first time since using Form Of Nothingness, I felt..."Pain."

****

THIRD PERSON POV

Within the confines of the 7th Rings, the Creator was frozen. A blinding light poured from her chest through a crack in her flesh. Beyond the 7th Ring, baby Tora floated, her skin prickly as she felt drawn to the event. Large green eyes taking in the scene with a hunger that was like Haero's at the very beginning.

Then the Realities shook. The Star Rings quivered. The bands strained and the sound of creaking echoed. Like metal bridges undergoing strain, the sound spread through the vast nothingness.

BOOM

A great wave of light, energy, and something, something more that baby Tora felt her appetite spike for blasted out of the 7th Ring. The bands shook, and the rivers roared and crashed against each other, causing massive waves to splash against the bands from within.

The bands absorbed the spilled energies and light, and the rivers carried them along just as quickly, while even more water rushed down to absorb more of the energy.

Baby Tora watched everything with greedy little goblin eyes. Then a snap ripped through space, bringing her attention back to the epicenter. She unleashed a tantrum of barbles as the light and energy she desired were violently sucked back into the epicenter.

Just like with the 8th Ring, the implosion came to a halt as it gathered back at its epicenter.

At the center of a reality filled with nothing but gray and white energy floated Creator 79. Her Form of Nothingness already deactivated. Her body lying to the side in her Godform. Her body remained stiff and still despite the absence of any visible bruises or wounds.

Tora barbled impatiently again, yet the Creator did not stir.