His Qi squirmed around under his tightening thoughts.

Ever since he was startled from the dream-like state, he had continuously gathered more and more Qi while focusing on his control.

He had yet to find the point at which his body rejected the energy from entering.

There was a clear distinction in the quality and quantity of the life-giving power that coursed through him.

Every breath he took sucked more in and every exhale emptied the murky mess that once filled his core.

‘Pangu wasn’t kidding about this. It’s insane how much of a difference everything is. I already have tenfold the Qi than I had before and this shit feels extra potent.’

Memories of his master flooded back to him. The old salamander was at least another realm above his new level of power.

The fear of all of the other amphibians, as he had walked past, made much more sense.

‘His strength might be more than a hundred times that of a normal human. That would make him a certifiable monster. Respectfully.’

He slowly focused on the energy to fill himself up as fast as possible. The rest of the day passed by lazily.

Cinera and Natan talked back and forth about the strangest topics he could remember ever hearing while he worked away.

As the sun began to set behind the mountains in the far-off distance, balls of light began to fall to the ground.

Light flashes of memories darted him back to the eternal vernal pools on the day his civilization was wiped off of the map.

“Oooh, star flies everywhere! How cool! Almost makes me forget about being lonely.” Natan’s awe-inspired voice cut through his fears, drawing him back to reality.

His vision turned back to the ‘stars’ in the sky.

Their clear wings glinted with the reddish-white light that shined from their rears.

He pushed the thoughts that wanted to reemerge away and took in the views.

His heart calmed under the sights and his mind finally stilled from the buzz he had worked himself into when he noticed something.

The trickle of Qi finally came to an end.

He was positively brimming with energy.

The difference was night and day. He could feel the earth around him breathe with life unlike ever before.

He knew that the world was ready torespond if he were to come knocking.

His lips turned up into a grin as he felt at peace for the first time since leaving the beastmen.

The pillowy moss below his feet bounced with every minuscule movement as he grew comfortable.

His eyes slowly closed, and the humid night breeze coaxed his mind into his soul domain.

-

The sound of claps slowly shook him into consciousness.

The overcast sky barely let a ray of sun through as he stirred.

The clapping persisted as he turned to its source.

“What is it? I’m trying to sleep.” It took him a few moments to notice the lack of exhaustion that came from being awoken prematurely. “Who the hell is clapping?”

He turned to ever familiar spot of the soul soil and paused as a thought crossed his mind.

“How are you doing that right now?” The question rolled off his tongue just as the quirk hit his mouth.

“Asshole. It is just a projection of my thoughts. Stop reminding me of the loss of my hands. It certainly doesn’t make me feel happy.”

“Sorry sorry. I didn’t mean to hit a sore spot. If imaginary hands can even get sore.” The quirk of his lips stayed plastered on his face as he fought the laughter back.

“And here I was, ready to congratulate you on crossing the threshold to the permeation realm. My kind self is slowly being beaten back by your shitty attitude.”

Egosum looked around his soul domain, taking in the changes that had rushed through it in his absence.

The herbs had regained much of their vigor and vibrant colors that had been gone ever since taking their place inside him.

The water lost the faint fat slick that covered the surface as the currents and spring provided much more agitation than before.

The subdued trees that once covered the banks in sparse groups had taken over the land.

It was truly turning wilder than he could have ever imagined from the days of a bland, black and white, wasteland that it truly was long ago.

“Thank you Pangu. I doubt I would have been so speedy without you.”

The dirt responded with an intense scoff.

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“So speedy?! You mean to say, you don’t know if you could have done it at all. You wouldn’t even be close to this level or alive for that matter. My guidance is the only reason you are alive right now.”

Egosum thought back to all the points he had received help from the old soul.

“That’s fair, but I would still be alive without you.”

He just couldn't see himself dying to any of the things he had met in his journey.

‘That salamander he met in the cave was a push over. The crocodile didn’t even try to kill him. The witch was a little scary, but he hadn’t offered any help by then.’

“Well…..”

‘The orcs were a little iffy. The sloth almost got me, I guess. Everything else I just dug my way to safety of drowned them in mud.’

“Oh, yeah. You would have used the core to make it across the desert without my help because I think I vividly remember to the contrary. That isn’t mentioning all of the tips on advancement that saved your skin numerous times by virtue of strength.”

Egosum slumped slightly as he recognized Pangu’s help.

“That’s fair. You have done a lot for me, I will admit. If there was another way to say thank you, I gladly would.”

There was silence for a few seconds.

“With your newfound strength there might just be another way you could help.”

If the dirt had a mouth, he could have sworn it would have been upturned in a shit eating grin.

“Oh? And what is that?” He almost hated to ask, but he had already offered.

“Permeation lets you permanently alter the world. I was thinking, if you can attempt to channel me into a golem of sorts, I could impart my will to the world once more. It would offer me a new lease on my life. A literal new life, if a rather muddy one.”

Egosum’s raced to his thoughts.

‘Was he asking to be separated from his soul? Did he want revenge of some kind? There were so many variables.’

“You don’t have to answer me just yet. You can think it over. You don’t currently have the knowledge to make a golem, but i am certain that will come with time. Just…..think about, please.”

The faintest hint of desperation laced his tone as his voice faded to silence.

“Alright.” His response came out awkward and tense.

“Thanks.”

The conversation fell into a lapse.

Egosum wandered off to enjoy the swamp he held closely to his heart.

It was a strange feeling to finally be back inside a wetland after being away for so long. He had trravelled for what felt like most of his life through hell to make it to this point.

Now, not only his core, but even his waking world felt like it actively welcomed him every time he woke up.

The beautiful landscape began to rock side to side in his vision as he relaxed. It was far different from what he grown accustomed to witnessing when it crumpled from his mind and forced him back to reality.

His sight darted around in confusion as he searched for the cause.

The entire soul domain began to invert completely as it shook.

Finally, the movement stopped, and he was left staring down at the sky.

An erie silence overtook the world as he waited for something to happen.

The milky clouds darkened with anger as he froze. A whirl of energy spread out from the center of his soul domain.

All at once, the world split in half as the horizon left the ground in the dust.

The void that sat just outside his core came pouring in waves across the lands.

He marveled as the complete and perfect darkness overtook his incorporeal form.

-

His eyes fluttered open as the faintest glimmer of light peaked over the edge of the horizon far in the distance.

The sphagnum meadows took over his vision once more.

The ancient energy below him was a constant anchor to the world.

‘Was that the new way I leave my soul domain? That shit was unsettling.’

He stretched his arms out around him and felt the taught muscles loosen in his shaking arms and legs.

He turned to the clearing around him and saw Cinera curled into a small ball to keep her heat as contained as possible.

‘I’ll need to make her a little over for her to sleep in. It would be worth the time now that we found our home base location.’

His vision panned to the rest of the area in search of the caecilian. No matter where he looked, it was devoid of the slinky creature to his concern.

He rushed to Cinera’s side and shovered her awake.

“Wah…Wuh… What? What’s going on?” She unfurled her body and looked around with bleary eyes.

“I can’t find Natan. I think she is missing.”

Her eyes cleared as the words sunk in. She scrambled to fix her clothes and began to help search for her.

They wandered around where they slept for any signs of the creature for minutes to no avail when they began to shout her name.

The noise echoed through the air, covering hundreds of hops in each direction.

A muffled noise hit Egosum’s enhanced hearing.

“Stop! I think I just caught something.”

They froze and waited for it to repeat.

Moments passed as they waited in silence.

Suddenly, the brushing of moss hit his ears.

“Follow me!”

He rushed to the source and began to claw away at the plants and muck before throwing his power at the problem.

The small hole he created quickly expanded when the familiar face of Natan poked just far enough to be blinded by the light.

“Argh! My eyes are sensitive! You can’t go blinding me like that!” Her voice was filled with annoyance as her stubby arms dragged her up the side and over the lip.

Both of the onlookers had tight brows as they watched her strench for comfort.

“We were yelling for you.” Cinera fought against her thoughts to try and speak calmly.

“Yeah, I heard. Look, the sun is barely up and you expect me to just be awake? Come on. A girl needs her beauty sleep.”

They exchanged a glance amongst themselves before addressing her as the light lit up their silhouettes.

“You could have said something about digging a hole to someone. We were worried.”

The caecilian looked at them with a wry smile.

“I’m not about to sleep in the open. You guys must be crazy. Whatever.” She batted her eyes towards them. “You did say you were worried. Does that mean you guys are starting to like me? Huh?”

Her teasing tone was welcomed by rolling eyes as Egosum pushed her back into the hole.

“Hey!” They went to leave when he did a double take of the edges.

They were perfect as could be. Not an inch of the rim dropped under the weight of the little worm climbing her way up.

He reached for the edge and pushed his hand into it. It gave way under the preasure but stayed firm despite the moist nature.

None of his Qi was present but the hole was familiar. It was like he had reinforced the earth and encouraged it hold in place.

“How strange.”

He felt the flow of energy within him and watched as his core begin to fill from the slight expenditure.

“Will this hole be permanent?” He almost couldn’t believe it as he forced muck back into the hole and pulled Natan out.

‘This is the effect of the permeation realm. I can actually build shit now without it falling to pieces before our eyes.’

He was almost giddy as thoughts roiled within his mind.

‘What will I build first?’