Chapter 6

“Use all my stored energy to create a universe.” I said. Everything was silent for a few moments and then another message popped up.

A universe has been created.

Quest completed. You have successfully created a universe.

New quests. Grow your universe - 309/50,000

Store an item in your universe.

Store something living in your universe.

It looked like the dimensional originator was already proving itself useful. I had expected I would need to gather a large amount of energy before my universe had any use. The ability to store items inside a pocket dimension was highly valued. There were only a handful of mages that were talented enough to make such items. And this storage space was even better. It wasn’t something that could be stolen. More importantly it would let me store living things. There was nothing in my new memories about a storage container that could store living things.

“How much can I store inside my universe?” I asked.

Current storage space in the universe is equal to 309 cubic inches. Adding more energy to the universe will increase the available storage space.

Angelos had certainly made things easy to understand. One cubic inch per point of energy. Looking around I tried to find something that I could store inside the universe. Obviously my bed was far too large and I wanted to keep my sheets, blankets, and pillow.

Finally I spotted a candlestick on the dresser. Reaching out a hand I grabbed it. Nothing happened though. “How do I store items?” I asked.

Say store and the name of the item you want to store. If the system is unable to figure out what item you want stored it will ask for clarification. You can also mentally imagine it being stored. It will take practice in order to store items mentally.

“Store candlestick.” I said and the candlestick disappeared.

Quest completed. You have successfully stored an item in your universe.

New quest. Retrieve an item stored in your universe.

“Retrieve candlestick.” I said assuming it worked similar to how I had stored the candlestick. The candlestick appeared in my hand.

I couldn’t help but grin a bit. This would have been a seriously useful ability when I was being attacked by the guard. I could have disarmed him simply by storing his sword. Better yet once my universe was large enough I could store the guard himself. Then I could bring him back out once I had reinforcements that could deal with him.

In fact it was such a useful ability I’d need to devote some serious time figuring out how to mentally store and retrieve items. I was also sure I’d be making a couple of other universes just for storage. I wouldn’t want to send an enemy to the same universe where I was storing all my items. At best they would potentially destroy them. Worst case there would be something they could use against me.

Of course all of that was predicated on me getting enough energy. I wasn’t sure how many cubic inches a person took up. I was sure that it was far more than a mere 309 cubic inches. 309 cubic inches wasn’t even a cubic foot of space. I refocused on the message that had appeared in front of me when I retrieved the candlestick.

Quest completed. You have successfully retrieved an item from your universe.

New quest. Mentally store and retrieve an item.

That was in line with what I had planned anyway. I spent a couple minutes trying it but eventually gave up. I didn’t have a lot of time before Emma returned and I wanted to see if I could complete one of the other quests. Storing something alive seemed like it would be easy. I just had to find something alive first.

Looking around I eventually spotted a bit of green on the other side of the window in my room. Rolling out of my bed I found that I couldn’t quite stand without holding onto something. Luckily I seemed to be a tiny bit better than earlier. Apparently Emma had done more than just heal my injuries, she’d also helped fix my atrophied muscles.

Using the wall to steady myself I made it to the window. Looking outside I realized I was on the third floor of a large stone structure. Probably a castle of some sort. The window looked down into a courtyard. Which made sense. The room wouldn’t be very secure if the window opened up to outside the castle walls. It was also tiny. Far too small for a human to fit through.

It did let in some light though. And on the other side was a box with some flowers growing in it. Opening the window I reached out and touched the flower. “Store flower.” I said. The flower disappeared along with some of the roots and soil.

A living item has been stored in your universe. You will gain life energy passively from this item while it is in your universe and death energy if it dies while in your universe. This item passively produces less than one life energy per day. Upon death this item will also release less than one death energy. No message will be displayed when items produce less than one life or death energy. Please view your status sheet to view your total energy and the total passive life energy you are gaining.

Quest completed. You have successfully stored a living item in your universe.

New quest. Retrieve a living item from your universe.

That was a far longer and complicated message than I had been expecting. It was all good news though. Storing living things in my universe would be another useful source of energy for me. Especially if my universe became large enough. I could have an entire ecosystem growing with plants and animals that could provide me energy.

The other thing that caught my eye was the fact that there was a status sheet. I really should have known there would be one. Angelos had set this up to be similar to the games I had played.

Before I took a look at the status sheet I decided to first put the plant back. It wasn’t gaining me much energy and I didn’t want to risk someone noticing it was missing. I was sure that somebody watered these plants regularly. “Retrieve flower.” I said. The flower reappeared in the box. The soil was a tiny bit disturbed but it would probably live.

Quest complete. You have successfully retrieved a living item from your universe.

New quest. Increase the passive energy gain from living items in your universe to one energy a day.

This time I had a new quest. Once again it was something that I would be doing. However, it was something that was going to take some time. For one thing I’d need to find something small that would produce plenty of energy. I doubted even 309 cubic inches of flowers would produce much energy. I wondered if animals would be better. Or perhaps a high grade plant would produce more energy.

That was something I’d figure out later though. For now I wanted to get back in bed before I collapsed. Then I’d take a look at my status sheet and start working on being able to mentally command stuff to be stored and retrieved. A couple minutes later I was comfortable. “Open status sheet.” I said. Surprisingly that worked. I’d expected to have to try half a dozen commands first.

Adam Black

Status: Core shattered. Muscles atrophied.

Total Energy: 309

Total Stored Energy: 0

Total Universes: 1 (click for detailed list of each)

Total Passive Energy Gain from Universes: 0

Equivalent Cultivation Rank on Universe: Apprentice 3

Equivalent Cultivation Rank off Universe: Initiate 2

Most of that wasn’t new information. However, the last two lines surprised me. I had a shattered core. I shouldn’t have any cultivation rank at all. “What do the last two lines of my status sheet mean?” I asked hoping I’d get a clear answer.

As the owner of a universe the energy from that universe flows through you. This gives you benefits equivalent to cultivation. While in your universe you have access to all this energy. If you were in your universe you would have roughly the same benefits as a third rank apprentice. Although your universe is currently too small to fit in. While off your universe the amount of energy flowing through you is severely curtailed. Currently you have the equivalent benefits of a second rank initiate.

I couldn’t help but grin. This dimensional originator was giving me more and more benefits. Cultivating essentially multiplied the attributes of your body. The only confusing part was that I was unfamiliar with the words it was using for my cultivation ranks. Most cultivators and mages were referred to as level one through nine in this world. The tenth level was considered legendary and I didn’t know of anyone that had reached it.

“What is the equivalent cultivation rank in the terminology I’m familiar with?” I asked hoping the tutorial was smart enough to answer.

A third rank apprentice would be equivalent to an early level 3 cultivator. A second rank initiate is equal to an early level 2 cultivator.

Knowing that I was a level three cultivator while in my universe was excellent news. Level three was when cultivators started to have a barely noticeable increase in their strength. I’d be a tiny bit stronger, faster, and tougher than I would be if I wasn’t a cultivator. Being a second level cultivator outside my universe was a bit disappointing though. At that level my improvement would be less than a single percent.

I felt a bit better when I remembered that often it took a new cultivator at least a week to reach the second level. If they lived in a low energy environment and were poor it could take months. I had reached it in seconds simply by being near someone that died.

If I got lucky I could gain a massive boost in strength. I’d just need to be near someone really powerful that died. Even if I couldn’t arrange that I could slowly increase my strength over time.

There was a knock on the door to my room. A couple seconds later Emma opened the door. A delicious smell filled the room and my stomach rumbled. I was looking forward to my first meal on this planet. Mostly because I felt like I was starving.