Spinning horizontally, I threw myself sideways before slapping the ground to bring me back to my feet. With a flex of will, I let my lightning crash out around me to latch onto imaginary opponents. After a more than a week of frequent – if minor – arc blasts, DUK3 had somehow altered the hall I used for training so that it no longer conducted electricity, which was both a relief, and intriguing. A relief because it meant that I could release my Focus without worrying about injuring myself, and intriguing because... how do you stop a metal floor from being conductive?

Restricting the snapping arcs once again, I concentrated and formed the elongated spikes of aura and swept them through the air as I turned, using them to intercept the opponents in my mind as I ducked and dodged. As it turned out, the spikes did not actually do much on their own; I had hoped that they would cut people in the same way my sword had been damaged, but it seemed I had it backwards. Of course, it was a little difficult to test without an opponent, but sweeping them through metal had done literally nothing, and I suspected the differential had to be inverted to do damage, which is to say the driving force had to be in the field. When I had swung my sword, the hilt had suddenly moved so much faster than the blade that it had sheared off, the metal unable to take the stress. But a blade attacking me would be limited by the speed of the driving force, the hilt. It made my head hurt to think about, but what it meant was that while I could manipulate my aura into a vaguely weapon-like shape, it was not actually a weapon. Imagine a sword, its hilt attached somehow to super-fast whirlpool, blade out. Suddenly, a huge boulder appears around the blade; it should snap, because the hilt is still being driven by the whirlpool, but it cannot move the boulder, right? This is not a perfect analogy, but now imagine a huge boulder with a sword’s hilt encased in it, blade out. The blade dips into the whirlpool, and the blade might bend a little, but it should not break. Honestly, it all made me wish I had defeated Url and obtained a less... complicated... Exemplar. But only a little. Either way, while it did not seem to be a weapon in and of itself, it was almost enough for me to hold a sword inside it, so that was definitely a plus. Of course, I had not improved that in a few days, so it was possible I would need to locate a shorter sword to make use of it, but even a short sword was better than a spoon, which is about as much clearance as I had before.

Now, I can already tell that you are wondering why I was bothering, if the aura spikes did not do anything, and I get that. But if I was ever going to use a sword, I needed to be maintain at least one of them while I did everything else, and I only had one sword with which to practice, so breaking it by accident when my aura fluctuated was not on my list of desired outcomes.

Completing my evasive manoeuvres, I reached out and dragged my aura in close again, as tight as I could, and blasted my Praxis as hard as I could, feeling my reserves start to dip slightly as the world around me all but stopped, though there was no visible sign of it in the empty room. I skipped backwards and planting my feet, pulled myself into a straight punch before falling into a series of lashing jabs. It felt incredible to be punching with two hands again, and I had quickly become used to the added weight. It had thrown me off slightly at first, but other than its strange appearance, it was in every way my arm. With a grin, I threw myself into a backflip kick, exulting in the joy of movement. The kick was not something I would generally do in a fight, but as long as it was against somebody of my own level, I thought my increased speed would probably let me get away with it. But it was not something I wanted to get too used to, so re-focusing, I restrained myself and dropped my power usage. The insane levels at which I could get away with consuming Praxis on the dead world was fantastic for testing and practicing technique, but back home, it would drain me very quickly, so when I was actually doing combat practice – or as much as I could on my own – I tried to limit myself to short bursts.

Dodging another imaginary opponent, I pulled Praxis through my Focus and through my Exemplar again – this time limiting myself to what I guessed was a safe, conservative amount – and stepped in, driving my left hand forward, and at the point of imagined contact flexed my will once more, cutting off my Path and Focusing completely on my hand. Allowing the lightning to flow free, I pulled hard for a fraction of a second and watched as white lines of power lashed out like tree trunks before it cut off, and I switched back to speed.

My reserves were larger than many, due to my channels, and my maximum output was also much higher, but as much as that had likely saved me in the past, it did mean I could be wasteful. The last few days, I had been alternating between using everything at once, holding it all together with my will, and trying to change rapidly between uses for my normally limited Praxis. Using speed to dodge and close, and then switching to lightning or a time echo punch to strike. It seemed more efficient, though again it was hard to tell because of my insane recharge rates there, and thought it would be useful in actual combat. The problem with having any kind of visible energy output was that an enemy could block it, admittedly at the cost of their own reserves. It had occurred to me that holding my electricity inside not only made my Focus more efficient, because I was losing less to the world, but it might allow me to surprise an enemy by suddenly releasing it. It might only be useful once in a fight, but a sudden, powerful shock could be pretty devastating, and I would take any advantage I could, given how the difficulty of my missions seemed to be ramping up each time.

“Would you be interested in a non-mental opponent, Hunter?”

Keeping hold of my focus, I turned, balanced on the balls of my feet; I knew there was no danger because my Precognition had not gone off, and since I was already keyed up, I did not jump as I had the times Lucas decided to appear directly behind me.

DUK3 stood to one side, head tilted and their burning yellow eyes staring unblinkingly. Dropping my Focus, I offered them a nod, which was not returned.

“Hi, Dee Yu Kay Three. What did you say, sorry?”

“I enquired as to whether a partner would be beneficial to your training that was not a figment of your imagination, Hunter.”

“Sure! I didn’t think there was anybody else here, other than you, Lucas and I... Dee Yu Kay Three.”

“That is incorrect. At this time, you and I are the only life on this world, Hunter.”

“Uh, we are, Dee Yu Kay Three?” If this was a horror movie, this would be when the slender figure started stalking me through the halls. I knew that was unlikely, but given the flat tone with which the Construct spoke, and their lack of expression or affect, it was hard to intuit intention. And it was creepy as fuck hearing them say we were now alone on a world.

“We are, Hunter. Lucas was required to return to his own world for a period, in order to deal with an issue raised by one of his peers. I believe their designation to be, ‘That Bitch’, from what I was able to ascertain from Lucas.”

I grinned at DUK3, amused by the assumption, though somewhat concerned – and annoyed - that Lucas had left the world without saying anything, after kidnapping me. Courtesy never cost anything. Hearing DUK3 speak, however had given rise to a question, something that I had apparently been missing for the almost two weeks since my arrival.

“I don’t think that’s their actual name, just something Lucas calls them. But, leaving aside where Lucas went for a moment, why do you and he speak the same language? It hadn’t occurred to me before, you do. I’ve not been to many worlds, though I suppose that’s relative, but on all the ones I have been too, they spoke different languages. Dee Yu Kay Three.”

“This language is not a complex one; I acquired it quickly after meeting Lucas for the first time, Hunter.”

“Oh, you just learned it. I guess that’s pretty normal. I have a tough time telling how complex a language is, it mostly just... comes to me. Is your language more complicated, Dee Yu Kay Three?”

“It’s quite a lot more complicated. Our language is tonal and meaning can change depending on relative social positioning and the relationships of the participants. It’s partially stratified, as those at Integration Level Five are capable of producing sounds an organic system can't. The highest tiers of meaning are reserved by station, you see, Hunter.”

I blinked at the flood of music that poured out of the Construct, a complex, symphonic harmony that there was absolutely no way I was replicating without a synthesizer. Even without having their heads and chests replaced, I doubted they looked remotely human if even a part of that sound was natural. Still, I made an effort, if only to let them know I had understood.

“Me am know you speak. Me speak you speak not good. But me can know you speak, Third Who One That Many.”

What I sang was more like a small animal being stepped on than the beautiful music DUK3 had made, though at least I now knew – within the context of their own language, that Dee Yu Kay Three meant, ‘One Who Is Many, Third of that Name’, though in a far more basic form.

“...Perhaps we should converse in the language we have used previously. Though I am curious as to the method by which you acquired my language so rapidly. To the degree which you did, Hunter.”

“I think that’s a good idea, Dee Yu Kay Three. I don’t think your language is really for me... As to how I picked it up, like I said, languages just come to me. Actually, I guess there’s no reason to beat about the bush, I already told you about Xiournal. She seems to have just jammed all the languages into my head. If I hear it, and it’s an actual language, I know it. So far, at least... Dee Yu Kay Three.”

“Intriguing. I am curious as to whether there are any of these ‘Agents’ upon my own world. We are not a remarkably prolific people, and it should be verifiable by simple behavioural analysis. Do you have much contact with your patron, Hunter?”

“I suppose it depends on how you define ‘contact’. She sends me text messages, instructions really. She’s not particularly happy I’m here, I think the gods are giving her a hard time. Though her tone in her last message wasn’t helpful.” The last said looking vaguely up, and directed at the hopefully listening Ascended. “I’d think there were Agents on every planet with life, if none of the gods can interfere directly. Maybe it depends on the gods? I don’t really know how it all works. I don’t even know what the point of gods is if they can’t do anything other than start wars. Dee Yu Kay Three.”

“Perhaps once I have completed my analysis of your particular peculiarities, I will be better able to scan for it in others. I would find it interesting to attempt to ascertain the designs laid out for my world, by the gods and their... intermediaries. In regards to the use of the gods, they create worlds, Hunter.”

“Create worlds? They don’t just... live here, uh, next to here, Dee Yu Kay Three?”

I was sure I had had a similar conversation before, but I guessed the whole creation bit had flown over my head.

“It is my understanding, that when a god comes into creation, they seek others of their kind, and then a suitable... gap. Into this gap, they create the star, the moons, and the worlds, all according to their temperaments and Intent. At least, these are the stories passed on in myth. Why has been a topic of rich debate amongst my people for many thousands of years. It is my thought that as life evolves and processes Experience, it is somehow refined until the gods themselves may ascend, in some way, Hunter.”

I thought about that for a moment as I faced him, and it made a certain sort of sense. Maybe gods cultivated by the people they made cultivating? But then, what sense did the dead worlds, like the one I was on make?

“And the dead worlds? How do they fit in, De Yu Kay Three?”

“Just as not all members of society strive to improve at the rates that some do, it is thought that it is so amongst the gods. Perhaps one day, far in the future, they will create life here. Perhaps all worlds begin this way. It approaches impossibility to know, Hunter.”

“Maybe it’s the energy systems. Why do different worlds have different systems? It doesn’t seem like all worlds have their own system; I’ve met people who came from other cultivation worlds. Maybe this world’s gods need a system that doesn’t exist yet, for their life to practice.”

“Dee Yu Kay Three. This is an interesting idea, and not one I had had heard posited previously. Perhaps this is due to the inability for the majority to traverse worlds other than their own. Perhaps that is your purpose, beyond that of being an Agent. Perhaps you are supposed to combine systems, to create new ones, so that new worlds may be seeded. Perhaps that is the purpose of the wars, Hunter.”

That was a bombshell. I had – despite the comments to the contrary – considered my immunity to divine annihilation a result of Xiournal looking out for me, but if it really was just a part of me, maybe that was why I had been chosen in the first place, just somebody exploiting a system that was already in place.

Maybe, when I was done figuring out my arm, and the Sigil Lucas had promised me, I would have a brand-new system, and a dead rock somewhere would be given life.