Malakai had been allocated the M cluster of worlds following the spawning. There had been fourteen primaries and just under two hundred secondaries on his initial list. Each with a Transcendent representing Aeon on the world. The sum total conveniently dividing into seven. Of the fourteen primaries, despite the odds suggesting otherwise, none were aligned in Aeon's favour and in one the candidate had already been eliminated. In theory it was quite hard to fully eliminate a Transcendent as overseers like himself could use their link to resurrect them but in practice it was not that simple. When Malakai had checked in on M-004 the Transcendent was working in a labour camp chained to hundreds more constructing a fortress for another power. Each subsequent check showed her becoming more frail and wasted. With the natural disadvantage she had to start on that world; there was no way to become dominant now so Malakai had crossed M-004 off his list.

The reason for his lists were to help focus and coordinate his attention. Despite his perfect memory and skills at multitasking with over two hundred worlds to watch there was little time to dedicate to each if he wanted to learn anything meaningful. Now he knew the only goal in the primary worlds would be to slow the progress of the other transcendent candidates he was reallocating the time and energy he would spend on each secondary world.

He was pleased to see that after his third review there were over one hundred that he had marked as high or medium potential. More specifically 41 high potential; 73 medium potential and 35 he had marked as low potential. There were another 39 that he had deemed not worth his time to invest any further energy and had been struck through on his list. Leaving 8 in a category of their own which he had labelled wildcards.

There was little Malakai liked more than order which was why the wildcards frustrated him so much. It was his cautious nature that meant he had not yet given any direct guidance to the candidates in his worlds. This same cautious nature was what helped him rise through the ranks to the point he was overseeing one of the clusters in the first place. He knew some of his colleagues would have already acted and approached the Transcendents on other worlds to guide; teach and nurture them. Having listed; relisted and ranked his worlds Malakai now felt ready to do the same but was now stuck deliberating how to split his time.

He sat tapping his stylus to his chin as he thought through the problem. After the merging it would be easier to split his time. Unlike the primary worlds where one of the Seven had put extra energy into its creation all of the secondary worlds were truly only fragments. They represented no more than a continent on the primary worlds without enough life force or mana to sustain themselves longterm. This was why in the second stage after the spawning of the new worlds the secondary worlds would merge to form full worlds. He wished he knew which of these worlds would favour Aeon greatest as then he could focus on these. Instead he had to choose now and spread himself thinner; waiting longer would just put all the Transcendents at a disadvantage rather than help.

There were 1,024 units in a cycle; each of which could be split further into 8 portions. That gave him just over eight thousand portions of time to distribute. Time worked differently for him than it did on the new worlds; a cycle was probably equivalent to a five days in most cases. If he split this right he could make small adjustments across a cycle that would have an impact. Even spread so thin, he only had to hope it would be time well spent. Once he left the observation station he would not be able to return until the end of the cycle; not to use his time efficiently and he would have to make his choice before he left.

He felt he had been decisive in reducing the worlds to visit so far so wanted to give each at least a chance in the first instance. So early on he didn't know which would have some turn of events that would favour Aeon in the future and which he should ignore instead. Combined with the fact that seven worlds would soon become one he needed to foster champions across many worlds in case there were some merged worlds that held an advantage he could not see yet.

In the end he decided to spend the most time on the high potential; half as much on the medium potential worlds and half again on the low potential worlds. The last question was where did the wildcards sit? Which group should he give them the same time as? He surveyed the list and frowned, frustrated. Each was unique to the level he could not categorise it. They kindled something inside him that he couldn't quite place. An excitement that despite the lack of primary worlds in the M cluster he might be able to turn the tide in Aeon's direction by the time he reached the end of his work.

Internal debate over he allocated them the same proportion as the medium potential group. Perhaps he was over thinking things. By the seventh cycle he would know. Once he was summoned back to prepare for the greater battles to come. So little time; but so much to do. Stepping away from the glade he had created in his time so far he stepped into the void between worlds to start his journeying.