The integration went fairly smoothly considering all the issues on Earth while the inhabitants were making their choices. Many people chose to remain human. Some chose to customize their species and create a brand-new, never before seen combination of many different traits from various species. Sim had made this an option, but in order to customize your species, you needed to sacrifice other points you had earned through deeds prior to system integration.
As the integration completed and billions of people were now back on Earth, the overall census was one of happiness. So many people were miserable in their previous lives, and now they had the chance to start over. They had just chosen a direction for their life that they had never been given the opportunity to pursue before. While many were upset and frustrated with the instant death of so many, it was a new harsh reality. The death toll may be higher today, but this would not be the last time loved ones would die.
The 502 million souls sacrificed to Yggdrasil, the tree of life, were not lost but were now a part of the tree itself. As time goes on, their loved ones may be able to communicate with them depending on their mental fortitude. To be heard through all the noise, a soul must have sufficient desire and strength to focus their will and come to the surface.
This information was given to Mike from the Grand Magus. He was intimately familiar with the tree because one of his duties for Origin was to study and look for weaknesses.
During Yggdrasil’s activation, not only was the shield fully activated at exactly the right moment to push Origin The Omnipotent back through the connection, but it also closed the portal at the precise moment required to destroy his ability to recreate a wormhole. It will take at least a century to gather the required origin mana to recreate a connection unless he is willing to make an overwhelming sacrifice. His entire remaining universe would need to be condensed into base elements, ultimately rendering him alone. The Grand Magus didn’t think he would sacrifice so much so quickly. He was patient to an extent and believed he would slowly build his stockpile and plan for his next attack.
This was the absolute best possible outcome the Grand Magus had foreseen. They would have at minimum a decade before Origin could condense his universe and form the proper connection. If he was patient, it would be a century or more before the mana required could be obtained.
Throughout the world, eight hidden portals appeared. Yggdrasil had connected and was now the soul bridge between nine realms. These realms were not like the mythological realms in Norse mythology. The lore has some truth to it, but Yggdrasil actually connected to many places. The connections it made solely depended on the intent of the creator and the tree itself. The first connection made was to universe 158. This portal was directly at the base of Yggdrasil. When the two trees connected, their link caused a portal to appear at the exact same position for each tree.
The other portals were an unknown variable. Cookie had grown up learning about many different fairy tales. She had always loved any story that included fairies and satyrs. She had even created dryads right when she created the tree. This innate love of fantasy had allowed the first hidden portal to create itself in the same area as Yggdrasil. On the outskirts of the Amazon rainforest, where the fog was used to dissuade travelers from finding the tree, the portal appeared. It then created its own set of elaborate steps required to reach the portal. One misstep or wrong move during the incantation and dance, and you would need to start over. Coming back through from the Fae realm had no such requirements.
The portal creation sent a blast through the Fae realm the instant it was created, and the queen was informed of their new playground, Earth. The Fae were mysterious and playful beings. Now that the portal was open, it was only a matter of time before they began to come through to Earth. They had explored and ultimately shut off the portal to universe 158 due to the hostility some of her sprites had caused between the leadership and herself.
Sim and I sat down in the astral space we used for meetings.
“What was so important that you had to go through this with me right now?” I asked. I was still quite upset about the millions of people who had lost their lives so that the rest of us could live.
“It’s about the heroes,” Sim replied.
With confusion plastered across my face, I asked, “What about them?”
Sim’s demeanor changed. She looked at me with an expression of guilt and anger in one. “Most of them were taken by the tree.”
I immediately stood up. I just realized that I hadn’t spoken with Chris or Riley since the integration. “Did something happen to…”
Sim cut me off mid-sentence. “Relax,” she said. “Chris and Riley are fine. There was an overabundance of mana that Jeff had to account for, though. He needed to expand some of their channels to accommodate more power. So Chris, Riley, Juan, Lucas, and Johnson are just now finishing and will be teleported back any minute. They are actually quite a bit stronger than originally thought possible. Here’s the problem: all the other heroes were part of the first group released. The tree absorbed them all.”
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As I stood there contemplating all the horrific implications that news like this would have, I sighed. “Son of a…” I said as my voice trailed off. “This is not good. Sim, you still need to explain why you allowed this.”
As I sat back down and stared at Sim’s avatar, I felt my face show more and more disappointment. I was really hoping that there was truly no other way and that Sim didn’t just allow millions of people to be killed when we could have worked together to find a different solution.
“When I linked with the Grand Magus’s mind, I saw the absolute horror he had lived with for many millennia. I saw that the being he called Origin The Omnipotent had devoured 157 universes. Quadrillions of sapient beings had been sucked dry of all their mana. His power increased with each universe he consumed, and ours was next. The only universe to ever stop him was designated universe 158. They had developed enough to create a life form known as Yggdrasil. It was a tree that linked with their entire world as well as eight other realms. As soon as a connection was made to their universe, the tree began to shield the planet. It then expanded its shield to encompass their entire universe. At the time, Origin was extremely powerful. He had never been contested, let alone stopped. As Origin battered against the shield, Yggdrasil was ultimately successful but was damaged in the process. It had introduced an element that slowly deteriorated all origin mana production into the universal connection. This severed the connection, but it also damaged its ability to produce origin mana. On Origin’s side of the connection, the element went rampant. It took over a century to stop the destruction. In order to save himself, Origin devoured his own universe, shrinking it down to the size of a single planet. He is now surrounded by nothing but the void between universes. He utilized his remaining origin mana to condense an orb of each type of mana. He pulled the orbs from his core and expanded them.
These production orbs feed each type of mana directly into him, kind of like your cores do for you. His are currently much more powerful than yours but according to the Grand Magis, he can retract them at will and form his body as he desires. If given the chance, he would have and will still try to consumed you and Peaches, incorporating all of yours and Peaches’ cores into himself, which would have given him the ability to produce much more of each type of mana.
Had I not allowed the tree to complete its goal and consume the life essence, everyone and everything would be gone.”
As I processed the information, I spent a few minutes replaying it in my mind. I could see the logical thought process, but it was still so hard to accept that millions of people were just dead.
“You keep saying souls and life essence. What exactly do you mean? Did you find evidence of souls and what they are exactly? Do we all have souls?”
“This is actually what made me bring Mia back when I did,” Sim replied. “I saw in the Grand Magus’s mind that not only do each of us have souls, but they can be brought back and reintegrated with a human body if you know the process. I’m including myself in that but his mind is unclear and we will need him to assist us to know for sure.
There is a power needed and an incantation to open the path, and he knows how to do it. He can help us make Mia whole and recreate the bond between you two.”
My eyes shot open with excitement. I had hoped for an outcome like this since I learned of her demise and was so afraid it would never happen.
“Does this mean that we can bring back all the people who died to activate the tree too?” I asked.
“I actually looked into this already. The souls used to activate Yggdrasil were not sent on. They are actually a part of the tree now. They cannot be brought back because they are not truly gone.”
This was a little disappointing. I was really hoping we could make this all turn out how we wanted.
“At least we made it through,” I told her.
“I’m worried that your connection to Mia is not what you would deem as love. It’s your bloodlines pulling towards each other and may end badly if not stabilized.” Sim said with a twinge of hesitation.
“What do you mean?” I asked
“We will go over everything with the Grand Magus. I don’t know enough yet and his mind has now been shielded.” She replied
Without anything further she changed the subject to avoid more questions. “How long do you want me to keep Cookie unconscious in the cryostasis chamber? She really did have the right intentions. She just went about everything in a horrible way.”
“I just want to make sure I have all the info before I sit down with her. I need to talk with the Grand Magus and find out everything.”
…
In front of the grand hall, Origin took a bipedal form. His eyes burned with a crimson fire. The master of illusion stood next to him. “It played out exactly as you predicted, master.”
Origin let out what was assumed to be a laugh. No one had ever heard him laugh, so they were unsure but also too afraid to even acknowledge the sound. “The Void King really thought his simple mind tricks could block their true intentions from me. What a fool,” he said.
“Did Lord Deception make it through in time?” the master of illusion asked.
Another small chuckle escaped Origin before he began to speak. “Yes, and he brought a surprise with him.”
…
At the base of Yggdrasil in universe 158, the lead scientist was staring at the control panel. All of Yggdrasil’s abilities and functions were controlled by the tree directly but could be guided through a series of controls. Ultimately, Yggdrasil did as it pleased but had bonded with an inhabitant who was linked with the controls to help guide it in certain directions.
As soon as the price was paid, all the controls lit up. The connection had completed, and the other universe was in the process of fending off an attack from Origin. The activation of the shield was not only using its initial supply of mana but needed the added connection to our universe to fully fend off the attack. Origin had obviously learned the shielding technique and was attempting to disable it.
As the code was pushed through, the connection solidified and the shield was strengthened. This solidified the protection, and Origin was repelled. The assistants started yelling in excitement through the crystal, but it was completely incoherent. As soon as the attack was fully defeated, a strange sensation hit the lead scientist. A portal was forming at the base, and he was being drawn into it. He attempted to flee but didn’t have enough time to get away, and he vanished.
**End of Book 1**