“There is no such thing as pure Luck.”

“Anything and Everything is interconnected by a series of tiny steps in between. Steps that lead up to something happening to us and our Community.”

“Yet, Luck does exist.”

“It exists because our actions are not set in stone. No, our actions are set in probabilities.”

“The closer you are to considering some possibilities, the closer you are to following a peculiar probability.”

“Yet, even then, the highest possibility of a probability happening is still not 100% certain to occur because Life belongs to Chaos.”

“Therefore, either Embrace Chaos and thrive in it, or become the fertilizer for those who Will.”

#35 Quote - Book of Races and Species.

*

Northern Continent - Zi Domain - Zenak’Si

“It's been confirmed.” Zenak’Si heard.

He ignored the informer kneeling behind him in favor of fiddling with his Fishing Rod.

He was setting the Rainbow Spider Silk line for it when he, slightly, absently considered the ramifications of what had been confirmed.

Once he was done setting everything up, Zenak’Si spoke.

“What was the response?” He asked although he had long since known and extrapolated the possible actions of his Council Members.

“It is as you predicted. The Council thinks this is an unparalleled opportunity to weaken the Li’On Domain.” The informer relayed.

“I thought so. It wasn't hard to imagine it.” Zenak’Si said. “ Deliver a message. I, Zenak’Si, as the Head of the Council, hereafter forbid any direct intervention against the Li’On Pantheon. Just because they no longer have the protection of the Ancient Artifact does not mean that the Li’On Pantheon has suddenly become prey. On the contrary, their ambition will probably spike in the coming years. Therefore, I am ordering to enforce our borders. At the same time, I am ordering a tripling of the number of Shadow Webs deployed. I want to know as soon as possible that something has happened.”

“It will be done!” The informer replied.

“One more thing.” Zenak’Si mentioned. “Deploy some numbers to the other Pantheons on the Central Continent and inform them of everything that happened. That should keep them on the edge regarding the Li’On Pantheon making them perfect bait.”

“It will be done!” The informer once more confirmed.

“That is all for now. Go.”

“Yes” The informer said and stood up.

Right as he stood up and turned around, his eyes stopped for one single moment on the young girl sitting beside the Head of the Zi Spider Council.

She looked to be 16 years of age and had stayed silent all this time as the current topic had nothing that caught her attention.

The next moment, the informer ignored her as made his way out of the Personal Laboratory with clear instructions.

Once he was outside, Zenak’Si returned to his fishing rod before glancing at his daughter once and just casting his fishing line into the huge Nether Gate.

Zak’Si, daughter of Zenak’Si, shrugged her shoulders and did the same.

*

Central Continent - Li’On Domain - Pa’Li and Ma’Li

The Twin Suns of Li’On lay in a meditative state beside each other.

From a young age, they had this habit. Whenever they could, they would meditate with one another.

They could never confirm it with surety, but the meditation always turned out to be better when they were close by.

Facts aside, moments passed when both brothers opened their eyes.

They looked around for a bit before gazing at each other for a moment.

“Whatever that Being did to us, it's working its magic.” Ma’Li, the younger brother, nodded as he confirmed once more that they were improving very fast.

Far too fast for somebody in their Stage of Ascension.

“I know, little brother.” Pa’Li, the older brother, reaffirmed as well.

“Do you think this is a good thing or a bad thing?” Ma’Li asked.

“I don't know.” Pa’Li replied. “The only thing I can tell you are the consequences of the event in question. At least in regards to the Council’s actions and the actions of the Prime Li’On. How about the Military? Are they behaving differently?”

“On the surface? No.” Ma’LI answered. “They've tried their best to make it seem as casual as possible, but I did notice the currents of those above me. Whatever they are planning, in the long run, it will not be without bloodshed.”

“I thought so.”

“We will be in the middle of it all, right?” Ma’Li threw a possibility at his older brother.

“Yea, probably.”

.

.

.

“Should we try doing something about it?” Once again, Ma’Li spoke first and threw out a suggestion.

Pa’Li denied it by shaking his head. “It will be a useless endeavor. Too many high-level individuals are in this. All it will do is cast suspicion on us so they could throw us under the mud. No, we will do the opposite. We will be more active in the beginning. Only to eventually slow down and distance ourselves in return. That way, we will show our Intent in the beginning so we can protect ourselves from the heat where even shit will dry out.”

.

.

.

“This… won't be like the two fuck ups… your thinking got us in?” Ma’Li inferred hesitantly.

“I don't think so.” Pa’Li replied with some surety in his voice. “Those two we were manipulated by either that Being or that Mirror. Maybe both? Either way, the initial connection between us is cut. So whatever we do from this point on is all up to us.”

“Besides, you remember what the Prime Li’On said.” Hearing his older brother say it, Ma’Li’s mind instantly returned to that event. And the time they woke up from their trance-like states.

“I feel that his ‘Great Expectations’ don't actually line up with our goals at all?” Ma’Li proposed?

“Maybe. Maybe not.” Pa’Li considered. “But he's not wrong about our new opportunities. Best we make use of it as much as possible and gain as much as possible in the coming years. Once we are strong enough, nobody will mess with us, and even the Prime Li’On will have to think twice at that point.”

.

.

.

“What about the White Streak Fury?” Ma’Li asked. “I know, the Prime Li’On said to leave them be for now, but with a Being like that behind those beasts, it will be just a matter of time for them to Ascend. Right?”

“Probably, but they are not important right now.” Pa’Li redirected his younger brother's thoughts. “We focus on ourselves, as nothing else will matter in the long run.”

“Alright, brother. Twin Suns first, everything else second.”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

*

Dream World - ???

Lord of the Dream World.

A being so old that even his name got lost to the eons of Time.

Yet, just because his name got lost long ago did not mean his actions got forgotten. No, his actions got carved in the Annals of the Dream World. Somewhere and somewhen, for sure.

Now he is simply referred to as the Dream Lord.

As such, the Dream Lord opened his eyes.

Purplish-slitted lizard eyes stared at the wide cave walls that counted as boundaries for his lair.

With slight drowsiness, his robust forelegs received their orders and pulled up his upper body, with the long neck and horned head it supported.

Moments later, his spine stretched as his backside stood up. At the same time, his long tail swished around for a few moments.

Once the Dream Lord stood up fully in his lizard-like enormous body, he slowly walked out of his lair.

Outside, the light reflected off his white scales when he stretched his body a few more times before he flexed the limbs attached to his shoulders.

Instantly, massive wings flexed and fully unfolded themselves.

Only after the White Scaled Dragon Lord halted flexing them a few times did the Dream Lord feel that he was truly awake.

Then his wings collapsed on his back, and he trotted to the left side of the lair’s opening.

Walking on four powerful legs, the White Dragon Dream Lord came upon a cliff, and from that cliff, its purplish-slitted eyes observed the spiraling stages of his territory and the spiraling landscape that was the Dream World.

For a few moments, his powerful eye gazed upon the mountains/forests/rivers and all kinds of environments when his eyes locked in on the thing that had come to its sleeping attention.

Tiny little stars dotted the spiraled skies of the Dream World as the stars traveled all over the place.

Some hit mountains, some hit the forests, some hit the rivers, and some hit the grasslands.

Some hit the territories of other powerful beings of the Dream World.

None were as strong as he was, but even he paid them attention from time to time.

Then, the Dream Lord’s locked into one specific star. It was coming in his direction, yet would definitely miss his lair at the peak of the greatest mountain peak in the Dream World.

However, that would not do for this White Dragon.

Whatever the stars were, they had woken him up, and now he would find out what they were.

Flexing his Magic, the star changed direction slightly.

Moments after moments passed, as the star gained the distance between them when his powerful eyes finally gazed clearly at what had woken it up.

Egg? Eggs? The White Dragon realized.

Moments later, the flying egg was about to hit the mountain cliff beside it when another flex of its mighty powers caught the Egg and slowly brought it to its nozzle.

Compared to its mighty size, the egg was indeed very small. Yet inside, he could feel quite a bit of power stored.

Of course, nothing like he possessed, but for an egg, it was very substantial.

Another thing that caught its attention was the scaled black gold pattern on its shell.

For a few moments, the White Dragon deliberated if this was perhaps a Dragon Egg, yet, the size was different, and even the feel the egg gave him was different.

Another feeling that caught his attention was the insides of the black-gold scaled Egg.

The inside was defined, yet not at the same time.

The White Dragon Dream Lord determined that perhaps it needed more time, but another line of thought wondered what would happen if he infused the Egg with some of his Draconic Magic.

Would the embryo shift to something closer to a Dragon, or would it remain what it was?

The White Dragon Dream Lord pondered on what to do with it.

Should he mess with it to see the results? Or would he refrain from it?

Ultimately, the answer was simple.

The White Dragon opened its mighty mouth with teeth the size of big boulders and swallowed the Egg.

However, this Dream Lord was not done for the day.

With intent, its wings unfolded again, and with powerful thrusts, it lifted itself into the air.

Its sheer size contrasted with its ability to fly at all, but when one lived in the Dream, everything was possible. And for this White Dragon Dream Lord, it was possible to do the same in the waking world.

Only, he did not like going there. It felt far too stuffy when compared to the Dream World.

With decisive flaps of his wings, The Dragon came upon another mountain peak not too far from its own mountain. There it already saw a few distorted Nightmare Harpies fly above the egg that had crushed into their territory.

Yet, one simple action of his scuttled them all away.

ROAR

Once his mighty Roar echoed for the ugly things to hear, they vanished from his sight, and the egg was free for his taking. With a tiny flex of his powerful Magics, the egg flew from its landing crater and entered inside its mouth.

With this one collected, the White Dragon pondered on maybe taking a few others, but then it just shook its dragon head, alongside the mighty horns on them, and returned back to its layer.

With skill, he landed at the entrance of his layer.

THUD THUD

After a few more flaps of the wings, he folded them back, and moments later, he was back inside his layer and laying down for another nap.

As for the eggs it had swallowed? One got infused with its mighty Magics, and the other remained the same.

Now all that was left was to wait for the hatching.

Once they hatched, he would finally observe why the Eggs had caught his attention.

YAWN

With one big yawn, the dragon laid down his big head and closed his eyes.

*

Northern Continent - Zi Domain - Zak’Si

Zak’Si was no longer a young girl.

Over the last millennia, she learned a lot of things.

Many of those things had to do with Skills acquired through repetitive learning, but when her Father was the teacher, there was no way she would not turn out great.

As such, her Runic Weaving had begun to rival many of the best weavers in the Si Spider Pantheon. Yes, she still had a long time to go, but she still had many, many years to truly embody the Art of Weaving, no matter what form or purpose it had to take.

Today was one of those rare carefree days where she could spend time with her Father without any stressful things bothering her.

All she had to do was use her fishing rod [Made by Zak’Si], and cast the fishing line[Made by Zak’Si] into the Nether Gate and subsequently into the Nether Sea.

After that, it was all about waiting for the prey to bite and to be reeled by her. Then it was either stored in the various cages nearby for later usage or eaten straight away.

Yet, despite trying her best, she could not forget the statement she had heard not long ago.

Zak’Si had tried her best to stay neutral. As the hours went by, her mind kept returning to the topic. Eventually, she capitulated to her curiosity, and a conversation between her and her father began.

Much of the stuff he told her she already knew. But the topic in regards to the Ancient Artifact of the Li’On Pantheon became the center of the conversation.

Many intriguing and hidden facts about the Artifact later, Zak’Si felt something attach itself to her fishing silk line.

Instantly, she zoned out of the conversation and began to reel in whatever she had caught.

Still, it didn't even take a few moments for Zak’Si to realize that whatever she had caught was light.

Very light.

So with disappointment on her face, Zak’Si reeled the silk line. When the last part came through, Zak’Si stared at the strange… Egg that she had caught.

With curiosity, she grabbed it with her left hand and held it just before her eyes.

She rotated it left and right as her eyes gazed at the…Egg.

From the feel in her fingers, the black-gold scale shell was hard. Nevertheless, it was the glass-like quality that earned her curiosity.

“Father, do you have any idea what kind of Egg this is?” Zak’Si asked absently. But when her Father made no mention at all, she turned her head to see him stare at the Egg in the same perplexity as she had.

With a slight gesture of his right hand, the Egg left her hand and floated into his.

Just like she did, he rotated it for a careful examination. Then came touch and even taste.

“Father?” Zak’Si prompted.

“It's a Dream Egg, of that I am quite sure.” Her Father finally answered.

“As in an Egg from the Dream World?” Zak’Si asked just to be sure.

Her Father nodded, and Zak’Si asked another question. “I wonder how it fell into the Nether See then?”

“Probably a Planar Instability happened somewhere, and the egg fell through.” Zak’Si heard when a thought came to her.

“Can it hatch outside the Dream World? If not, I want to try and see how it tastes. I've yet to try anything from the Dream World.”

“I don't think it can, under normal circumstances.” Her Father replied, giving her hope that she might indeed taste it. “But, it should not be hard for me to Weave a Dreamcatcher for drawing in Dream Energy instead of catching any prey. However, its hatching will still be out of my hands.”

“Want to try it?” Zak’Si pondered for a second before replying.

“If it does not work, will I still get to taste it?” She asked her Father.

When he nodded, she also nodded, and the next moment, Zak’Si saw, from somewhere in the Laboratory, a wooden branch flying into her Father's outstretched left hand.

It was thin and supple, therefore very easy to bend into a circle. Moments later, white silk began to manifest around it and inside it.

Zak’Si watched her Father's Weaving with mesmerization, no matter how many times she had seen it before.

Tiny strands of spider silk attached themselves to other strands. They made up ingenious patterns that even now, after millennia of learning, she could not recognize the true depth of the woven pattern.

When it was done, Zak’Si observed her Father place the Dream Egg inside the cocoon in the center of the Dreamcatcher. The next moment she saw it hang from the ceiling not far from them.

At first, it was hard for her attention to stay away from the possibilities of the Dream Egg.

Then the second prey caught her line, and the Egg was forgotten in favor of something delicious.