"So… this big-ass thing, what exactly is it? Besides a monster crystal. The size of it… the monster had to be something special, right?"

Despite his anticipation and eagerness, just being here was incredibly taxing for a normal person, let alone Rou. In a childs body as he was, it was really only his Healthy Body/Immaculate Soul perk that was letting him avoid passing out. That, and apparently the fact that the actual crystalized heart was seemingly also being further restrained?

"A dragon heart." Affection chimed in mentally. "And a special one at that. Over a thousand years ago, an ancient dragon, arguably the oldest in the world that was still sane, knew his time was coming. He wanted to pass on his heart to a chosen successor of his own kind, perhaps even one of his own offspring. Unfortunately, before he could manage it, his end came. All he could do was forcibly crystalize his own heart - the source of everything for the Draconic race - and hope one of his offspring checked on him before others did."

She seemed a bit wistful. "He was a sweet thing. I knew him as a whelp. He had a fondness for foxtail for some reason and he grew an entire field of it. Of course he was also hopeless when it came to romance, only siring offspring eventually because of his power and age and other dragons wanting his genes. Which is to say, Rou, don't be like him. Sure, an old bachelor might have kids eventually but… it's pretty pathetic isn't it?"

Affection laughed softly, seeming a bit disappointed. Then again, Rou was pathetic as well. Even had the title!

So he felt a bit of kinship with the dragon.

"Perhaps it's a perfect fit for me." Rou mused.

"Oh, and why is that?" Affection retorted, looking through the boys eyes.

"Well, I'm pretty pathetic myself, or so even you Gods claimed. Right?"

–

"Affection, did you… plan this?" suddenly Creation's voice echoed through the High-dimensional realm of the gods. Affection tensed up. "How could I possibly?! Who would have expected this dummy to go through his short time here as he did? Asked for my contact, pissed me off to the point I snapped and - regrettably - harmed him by accident. Got a gift from you, accidentally came upon a black spore region when traveling with his father and wound up on his own thinking to ask the King for access to the heart - without even knowing it existed - simply because he was curious about why Aether's glasses perk wasn't letting him see something he thought should be there?"

Creation was quiet for a moment before his laughter echoed throughout the realm of theirs. "Interesting… and you really did have /no/ hand in this."

"...none. I may be young but do you think I am suicidal?" Affection's voice was soft, clearly frightened of Creation, beyond a doubt.

"Very well. I will trust him, and his trust in you. We shall let him make his choices. I will be watching." Creation finally responded, pulling Affection forcibly into his chambers as well as Aether.

–

"Rou… you haven't heard my voice before, have you?"

The young red panda boy tensed up, "...no? May I ask who you are?"

"Creation."

"...did I do something wrong?"

"No, no. But from here on, you will be cut off from the Gods for any purpose. Consider it… a test of sorts. We can see you, and if need be, I will personally step in, but until you finish what you are currently doing you are on your own."

Rou was hesitant before saying, "Sure. But… my redemption ticket?"

"Yes?" Creation asked in a confused manner. "Whatever this is about, if anyone's in trouble, feel free to remove that. I don't want others getting hassled on my behalf."

He heard a soft, amused sigh from Creation. "So be it. Who asked you to be quite so good-natured. You have my personal promise that no harm will come to anyone regarding this, no matter what. Also you may keep your ticket. No one was in trouble, I was simply worried young Affection may have inadvertently guided you. After all… that dragon, and you, both share a title. And a love of soft, fluffy things. I do not truly believe in coincidence. I built this entire world after all. Rarely if never do events line up like this."

So that was it. It really was just a series of things moving along.

"If it helps reassure you, I was pathetic far before I ever got here. And Affection only took an interest in me after she realized we had similar tastes in fluffy things and tails, when I customized my future body before being reincarnated proper."

–

Affection curled into a ball and very much wanted to choke and die.

Aether was trying very hard to stop laughing as Affection's tail fetish was exposed so bluntly in front of Creation.

Of course, Creation long knew this but didn't particularly care, every high-dimensional being had different interests and vices. Had to do something in eternity to keep oneself focused. But seeing Affection's reaction, it finally cleared it up.

–

"Well enough then. Carry on with my blessing."

Rou smiled at that only to step forward further until he felt if he walked a bit more he'd die, then promptly sat down and stared. And stared. And stared.

For well over an hour, Rou just studied the crystal heart. Thoughts going through his mind as how to how to approach it. Eventually he activated his Glasses perk and came to see that not only were there the physical restraints, but it seemed there were magical ones too. Unnatural and natural. The heart crystalized obviously had its own protections, but someone else had added the others. And as he couldn't actually interact with them, they were clearly natural laws of this world.

Something put there by a low-dimensional being on purpose. But it was a bit too imperfect. Clearly the one doing this wasn't actually able to see what they were doing and were just doing it through practice and feel. But it was so complicated.

"A veritable Gordion Knot."

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Of course, that fable implied he should simply cut it in half. But with the way it pulsed, Rou fair understood that if he simply destroyed the protections he'd kill himself and who knows how many others. But how was he supposed to access it? What little magical absorption he could use couldn't even get past the barriers. They were too tight, too… nuanced.

"Is that why all the others who tried to absorb it failed? They couldn't see the extra protections and were never able to get beyond them?"

Affection had mentioned the dragon had a thing for foxtails. Something he possibly shared with his offspring or partners? He couldn't imagine the dragons he sired offspring with would care, but would his offspring? If he wanted to leave this to them…

Perhaps that was put in place to save it for them?

–

"Fuck, Creation, he's going to kill himself!" Affection squawked in panic, "Stop him!"

"Hush. Let him create his own fate here. If he dies, it is a pity, and perhaps I will reincarnate him again myself. And if he lives? …"

–

Rou had stood up and took another step only to scream out in pain from the intensity of the reaction of the heart. But instead of stepping back, almost instinctively, he just reached back to grip his tail and hug it in front of him hoping to divert some of the repulsion and energy. Though as he took the one last step, he nearly blacked out, still nowhere near it.

But it was then that he realized… his tail was about the only thing that didn't hurt on him. His mind was a mess, his body was aching and at this point he thought perhaps he'd cracked a rib or two. But his tail didn't hurt. Why?

The energy was strange. This whole situation was strange.

But as soon as he sat down in frustration and was about to leave, the moment he gave up, it no longer hurt him.

"It's matching force with force? The more I try to force myself through, the more it hurts. But how could I possibly get through 'softly'? I can't just go slow, clearly.

–

Despite not having eyes, Creation watched with intent.

–

Rou turned his glasses off and looked around the chambers. It was a giant underground construct built specifically for the purpose of housing this thing. No decorations, no excess, just… utility. They hadn't even bothered to make the bricks even. He could climb the walls but it wouldn't do him very much good.

It's not like he had any equipment or rare items.

Status Screen 1.04

Name: Rou Erial

Titles: [Pathetic] [Miracle Child] [Affection's Pet Project] [Affection's Betrothed] [Feral Cat Tamer] [System Tester]

Strength: G - 7 [What do you expect, you're a child.]

Agility: G - 14 [What do you expect, you're a child.]

Intelligence: D - 26++ [A child with an adults memories from another world.]

Constitution: G - 34+++ [Still a child, but has an Immaculate Soul.]

Charisma: E - 10 [Cute child.]

Magic - Power: G - 1 [Unlearned]

Magic - Perception: F - 37[Competent]

Magic - Control: G - 72 [Studying]

Magic - Capacity: G - 1 [Unlearned]

Perks

[Subject to Affection's Whims] [Subject to Aether's Whims] [Subject to Creation's Whims] [Immaculate Soul] [Customized Looks] [Contact: Affection] [Contact:Aether] [High-Dimensional Reading Glasses] [Extended Lifespan] [Redemption Ticket] [One-time Luck]

Status

[Immaculate Soul] [Sublimated Soul I - 11.3%]

Sure, he had his luck but… part of him thought he shouldn't use it quite yet. He didn't want the luck to help him get to it, he wanted the luck to help him sublimate every last bit of it.

About all he had on him was the clothes he'd gotten from the Queen, and his cottonfluff accessories that his father had returned that he was wearing.

Suddenly Rou thought about something, and began to look around the room again.

–

"Clever little bastard." Creation mused.

–

Rou's hands were quite bloody as he neared the top of the wall. His fingertips were bare, his nails chipped from having climbed up thanks to his body being quite light with the anti-gravity assistance on his accessories. Otherwise his four year old body couldn't have possibly managed that. But once he got to the very top, Rou turned and looked at the crystal and decided he just had to trust in himself and risk his life. He carefully took one hand off the wall and slid one glove back on using his teeth to grip the thing, having removed it to give himself a better grip, then the other after alternating hands again with the wall to cling.

And he just… kicked off the wall and slowly floated towards the crystal.

Making no effort or especially not to force himself, eyes closed, not even looking at it. He just… took the chance and trusted fate. He didn't think Creation would let him die.

Of course, he was incorrect, Creation very much planned to let him die here if he got greedy.

But after floating through the room for far longer than should have been possible, Rou opened his eyes and realized he was inside the crystal? At least, that's what it looked like. Unlike all the smaller crystals that were rigid and could be held in his hand, the moment he passed that matrix of aether that served as a hand-made barrier, his whole body was absorbed into the crystal and he found himself floating towards the core.

"But what now?"

Before Rou could activate his perk, he heard a deep, guttural and frankly quite terrifying laughter. "So after all these years… it wasn't one of my own children, or the thief kings progeny, but some unknown child who looks like the fluff on a flower who got access to my heart?"

"...so be it." the voice continued. "I prefer this anyways. If my offspring couldn't be bothered to check on me for so long that others found my legacy, and they were too inept to try the soft approach after a thousand years, good for you, young one."

Though the dragon was long since gone, as Rou looked towards the voice that echoed all around he could see the world around the crystalized heart fading and was replaced by what looked like an endless sky, and high atop the clouds, a terrifying-looking dragon that was probably half as large as the forest he'd passed through to get to the capital.

"What is your name, child?"

"Rou. Rou Erial."

"Your parents name of Erial, your name of Rou. It is a good name. A simple name. Have you anything to say before the last of my will fades and the process begins?"

Rou closed his eyes as he felt himself unable to stay awake longer, but before he lost consciousness, he thought.

'Creation, I would like to use my one-time luck. Help me maximize my gain through this process. I trust Affection to let… you know… the de…'

Before he could even finish the thought he was gone.

–

Creation turned to look at Affection. "He really trusts you, it seems. You could say anything now and his fate is in your control. To give him what he wants, to give him what you want. The boy didn't even try to declare it himself. Did he realize he wouldn't have time to fully activate it?"

Affection was lost. She shouldn't be trusted that implicitly. She'd never done anything other than casually chat with him when the mood struck or he asked. But Creation was right. She could just say anything at all. Of course, Creation could read /her/ memories but that was a soft taboo to the gods here. If trust was broken… it would never be fully regained. They were all in this together, so best get along as reasonably as possible despite the hierarchy.

"So, Affection, what does he want?"

"He doesn't want to become powerful. At least, that wasn't his intention going in there. You can confirm with Aether. He's under the belief that if he pursues the path of magic perception, in combination with the high-dimensional reading glasses perk he got from Aether, it will somehow allow him to observe some fundamental secrets of the world."

Creation did not have any eyes, but they would certainly be sparkling if he did.

"Does he now?"

"That is correct." Aether chipped in. "If I had to put an importance on what he wants, and Affection can clarify as she sees fit… he wanted to sublimate the entirety of the crystal towards his perception. He didn't know it was a dragon heart. He didn't know the capacity or limit of the crystal. He knew nothing of the draconic heritage, and he has no dreams of grandeur. He's… just exploring his own curiosities on a whim. If I had to sort them in order, Perception, Capacity, Control and Power in that order is what he cares about most to least as of now. He's not familiar enough with magic to even want anything further."

"She is correct." Affection confirmed.

Creation balked at the premise. "So you are telling me that one of the most dangerous legacies left in this world in the last few thousand years was granted to a kid who both didn't know it existed, and didn't want anything that came with it?"

The other two gods stared at him, equally in disbelief.

"He doesn't even like dragons to begin with." Affection reminded. "They're hard, scaly and spikey. He likes soft, fluffy things." she added with a grin, "Like me."

–

Throughout the world, a laughter was heard ever so briefly.

"Laughter?" a few thought, only to be wrong, as it wasn't Laughter who was laughing that day.

Creation itself laughed at the absurdity of it all.