The soothing moonlight rolled over his small body, lulling him into a state of complete comfort. His eyes slowly shut as he laid his body on one of the massive leaves that made up the vast canopy.

A strange dusky sky welcomed him into his soul domain as he opened his eyes.

‘That’s new.’ The swamp around him was illuminated by a large moon overhead.

The previously ghost-like swamp was completely overhauled. The grey-scale plants, water, and muck carried a new life to them that was unmatched by any of his memories of home.

It was the most lush and healthy swamp he had seen yet. The herbs had color to them that the real-life examples he had devoured even failed to match.

It was paradisical in all ways visual. Dark clouds would periodically shade the ground from the full moon’s light and leave him glowing alone in the marsh.

“Ehhem!” The strange cough caught his attention as he stared in wonder at the world around him.

“Oh, it's you. Hello Pangu. How have you been?” Egosum turned to the source of the annoyance.

“Do you think I appreciate platitudes in my old age? Really? Plus, I swear I could hear the derision in your tone.” The soul soil spoke rapidly and with unrestrained frustration.

“You are miss-hearing things. It's probably because you are just dirt in my soul domain now.” He turned from the old cultivator to watch the world around him.

“Whatever. You seem to be more accepting of what I said about qi and cultivation now. That is a step in the right direction. After everything you experienced, I continue to be proven correct, isn’t that right?” The smug tone drew his stare back as he finished speaking.

“I do not know if you are entirely right to be candid. I believe you are partially correct in some aspects. The stuff I have seen makes me believe your qi and magicians' mana are two sides of the same coin utilized in separate ways.” The deduction gave Pangu a moment of pause before speaking up again.

“Well, I would probably agree with you If I hadn’t dumbed everything down when I first spoke about it. The way they utilize it would be easy to replicate, it is just that they do not appear to be using their resources well. It's like water plants by hand while irrigating it at the same time. It has its uses sometimes, but not most times." The strange analogy caused him to quirk his head to the side in confusion.

“I see. Well, I believe I overcame my blockade, did I not?” Egosum glanced behind him at the colorful landscape.

“You did and you were awake while you did so. Incredibly impressive.” Egsum puffed his chest in pride as he listened to the praise.

“Now you just need to view the world with your sight for a while and you will finally be fully adjusted enough to start with the next sense.”

“So why can’t I start incorporating a new one right away?” The tone lacked much of the annoyance it had the day prior.

“Your soul domain would end up being an indecipherable mess of sense that mixed together to form a glob of stimuli. It’s not a pretty sight. A lot of those young masters who sought to bring revenge upon me for killing their families always had this issue from advancing too quickly. Made it really easy to tear them apart.” Egosum stared at the dirt with a strange look.

He sometimes forgot the person he called his temporary master was actually an ancient monster that undoubtedly killed an innumerable amount of people.

“Alright. That's a good enough reason I suppose. Ya know, you still haven’t really taught me much beyond not going too quickly in ‘cultivation’.”

“It's not my fault you don’t need help in anything outside of that. You can thank your own understanding for how smooth it is going.”

“Well, what benefits does mana sight have?” Egosum said.

“A lot of things really. Once you get to my level, you can use it to see through souls for weaknesses, tell what type of dao they follow, and a bunch of other things.”

“At your level, it is more limited to seeing strong flows of qi, hidden objects, spatial awareness, and some other niche uses that I abandoned a long time ago.”

“Then why has it gotten so much more subdued than when I first unlocked it and why did my qi refuse to stay inside me? It’s like it doesn’t want to be contained.” Egosum looked down at himself, dimly lit under the moonlight, unlike the glow he saw in reality.

“That was from the saturation of qi. If you keep your qi from fleeing, it will temporarily enhance your senses and abilities, For the next question it is a little more complex.”

“The qi you carry is stronger than before and desires nothing more than to return to the solar body you are on. That is how the planets grow once inoculated. You can keep it forcefully inside, but only for so long until it breaks free of your hold. The higher level realm you are, the easier it gets to hold onto it again.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Okay, that makes sense, I guess. So, as I add more senses, I will be able to retain more qi with their help and then I can combine those senses with that same Qi?” His deduction made sense to him, but something felt missing.

“Wow, yeah. That is pretty much spot on. Good job.” Pangu sounded impressed from his tone, but let the conversation die off as his student went quiet.

Silence fell between them as the toad looked around the clearing for anything of note. What would have once been an awkward and strange lapse in conversation felt more natural than before.

“It's nice to finally have color around, isn't it?”

Egosum blinked at the small talk before turning around.

“I guess it is yeah.” The world around him started to blink in and out of existence, signaling his departure.

“It hasn’t been that long since you arrived.”

“Yeah, it really hasn’t been.” Egosum waited for the world to fade away and for reality to force its way back into his life.

A rough stab to his back startled him awake. The pain was barely noticeable, but the force was definitely there.

He opened his eyes to glare at whatever had so rudely awakened him. Standing high above him was a fat crane.

He stood to his full height and gave it the most intense death stare he could manage. His head nearly came to its first row of feathers, much higher than he was expecting.

'I feel like this thing is smaller than it should be.’

He glanced at the leaf below him and noticed the once gargantuan platform that collected mana had shrunk considerably overnight.

‘Maybe I just got much larger instead?’

The bird standing above him turned its head slightly and poked him again with its yellow beak.

“Stop that!” He swatted at the feathered creature with his front leg and watched it crumple at the contact like a fragile blade of grass.

“Whoops.” The bird fell through the trees and out of sight, leaving to watch the rising sun.

The cool mana of the moon was beaten away by the warm mana of the star as they fought for control of the skies.

The serene nature of the celestial war was interrupted by a loud shout from a young elf down below.

“Woah! A giant spear crane. What are the odds? This must be the work of the gods. I can officially contribute to the banquet! I need to go tell my mommy; she will be so proud.” The sound of loud crashing footsteps entered his ears as the distraction fled from the location.

‘I know I was strong before, but this just feels like a whole new level.’

After the night’s sleep to adjust to the changes in his body, the full brunt of his new powers rested comfortably within him.

He looked down through the canopy to the winding rope bridges and bustling elves going about their business.

He climbed down the thick branches and made his way to the storeroom where Coyotl sat. His muscles rippled under his skin with each small movement. It was hard not to acknowledge the change as he walked up to the crates.

The loud frog hopped over in glee after several hours of loneliness. The touch on his back brought a light grin to his face.

‘I kind of like having friends.’

The thought was alien but also strangely comforting now that it wasn’t just him alone against the rest of the world.

The fight he vowed to take on did not seem so hopeless with even just a few more people.

Motion to his left caught his attention as Cinera ambled through the entrance.

“You look quite happy. What's up?” She looked at him with a slight head tilt as his grin finally lessened.

“I think I am happy. I’m not too sure. Just glad to have some friends I guess.” The salamander looked taken aback for a second before returning to her normal self.

“Comradery is quite nice. It was paramount when I was in school. Sadly, those relationships slowly died as we specialized our magic. It was doubly true for me since it is such a rare combination. No friends quickly became my norm.”

“But I thought you said having a varied outlook was beneficial to getting better at magic. Wouldn’t isolating yourself counteract the whole process?” She looked at him and appeared to stutter repeatedly.

“We...uh. Well, yes it would. I guess that’s true. Hmm. You got me there.”

“I see. Hopefully we become good friends so we can learn and grow together. What do you say?” The candid nature of the request threw her for a loop.

“Sure…” She trailed off in thought while Egosum advanced past her and to the exit, leaving the duo back in the room.

Ready to explore the outside world with his pacified mana sight, his journey was rudely blocked before it could even begin.

“Ah, Egosum. How are you? You look much larger. Must be all of the frogbit, eh? Hahaha” The old elf rattled off his speech, leaving no room for him to interject.

“Yeah, it probably was and I am fine. Just excited to be done with this chapter of my life. Ready to move on to the next adventure soon.”

“Oh no! You must stay for the festivities. It isn’t very often we have a feast of such proportions. We even invited a traveling troop to play some music. They will have some beautiful stories to spread from around the world.” The kind old elf crept closer and closer with each word with a strange glee in his voice.

“You know, you seem pretty happy yourself.”

“Of course I am. I was just promoted to a tenured position. How could I be unhappy?” Egosum watched his face contort with joy.

“Sure. I don’t think I will stick around for it sadly. I think it would be better to just move on.” Behind him, Cinera interrupted the conversation.

“We should go. I already helped them set it up and it would be a waste to miss the music. I bet you haven't heard any before.”

He contemplated the choice before acquiescing.

“Fine.”

The old elf walked ahead after informing them of the time and went about his business setting it up.

The day came and went with Egosum exploring the treetop fortress and using his sight to view as many things as possible. It wasn’t just the soul domain that had become richer in color.

The entire waking world appeared to have more life than ever before. Miniature insects crawled on almost every surface. Small points of mana leaked from the trees in little rivers of sap. The air carried the fading moon's mana through the shaded town.

It was a completely new world overlapping the old one.

He felt privileged to be one of the select few able to view it.