Chapter 69: Anchored

Pneuma stepped next to Trint and placed his hand on Trint’s chest which flowed like liquid into Trint. The physical became Spiritual in hopes of entering his Soul. From there Trint sensed Pneuma was in his Spirit space like he usually was. After ten minutes of listening to Pneuma growl, Trint felt a silence. Not an absence of Pneuma but a depth to their connection never felt before. He immediately dove into his Soul.

Appearing next to the Tree Trint felt before he saw Pneuma was behind him touching the Tree.

“So, this is the Tree or at least your Soul’s representation of it?” the dark beast asked. “I wonder if this is a Soul Anchor. Everything else seems to spread out from this point.”

“How long have you been here?” Trint was concerned about their timing.

“Maybe five minutes,”

“I don’t understand whether it works differently for you as you are part of me but it’s my soul. Or whether I just timed it so closely.”

“We can run some tests but first give me a moment, I feel like I have my full abilities as if I am fully powered in Spirit.” Pneuma’s smile widened as he rose in the air through the branches of the tree.

Trint stepped out from under the branches to see Pneuma rise then shoot straight up and into the void.

“Pneuma! If you can hear me, be careful, I saw something in that darkness. I’m sure it looks appealing to you but watch out, I have no idea what might be in that there.”

“Nooooooo!” Pneuma screamed in pain from the depths of the void.

“Pneuma!” Trint instantly teleported to the edge of the void and only paused a moment before deciding to enter. Just as he made his decision, another pair of eyes, each the size of a midsized car appeared and took up Trint’s entire view. He immediately jumped 50 feet back to get some distance and a better view.

“Oh my god, you should see your face,” The giant eyes gained a dark smile that mouthed those words.

“P, what are you doing? You scared me. What happened? Are you sure there’s nothing in there?”

“Oh, there is something in here. Me. I believe this void is my Soul. We are more deeply linked than we both knew. Our Souls seem to both be expanding and mine borders the edge of yours. I don’t seem to have the same depth as mine is spread out around the outside, but I only barely notice a difference from my soul to yours. You should be able to enter my Soul here like I can yours.

Trint had a hard time being frustrated once the issue turned out for their benefit. He was still a little mad that Pneuma decided to pull that prank in his Soul of all places.

“So, I guess, being an ancient being would get boring if you didn’t have a good sense of humor?” Trint finally smiled as he moved toward the void.

Upon crossing the threshold into the void of his partner’s Soul, Trint’s vision suddenly pulsed with light, and he was able to see in the void just like it was daytime but there were outlines of things forming before him. An upside-down chair, table, and Pneuma smiling his big grin.

“Now this could be a nice place to relax while you adventure,”

“Yeah, but the time dilation or paradox of it stopping will be an issue if you want to wait out the time you will be here an eternity. Right?” Trint snickered.

“Hmm, well maybe a place to take a breather when things are too stressful. You can find your inner peace and then go back to listening to the Cease lecture or in the middle of a battle you could strategize and then jump back. How’s your memory and sense of the outside while you are here?” Pneuma raised his legs and a chair and footstool appeared from the void below him.

“This is like zero gravity space. There is no true up or down. Yes, I have a limited sense of the environment around my body outside. In here we will have to just orient based on some markers and my space below us. How did you form the furniture?” Trint sat and the chair was pliable to conform to him but firm enough to nicely support him. “How is there gravity but no gravity?”

“I formed these using the same mind control I use to form things in Spirit. And this space responds to my thoughts using the Soul resources and world here to do as I ask. In fact, I can feel my Spirit here. I don’t know how that is and what it means but we should focus on other things now. Before I forget, you should know that the ground the tree is on is a false barrier and you should be able to pass through it with a thought.”

“I was aware of the space below,” Trint defended, “I just hadn’t explored it yet. So, about those anchors. Do you have some guesses now or should we head out and talk to Phinry or the Cease? I know some basics of what he downloaded to my mind, but it might not apply to this space like a typical Soul.”

“As you mentioned you should consider your Profession Paths as I imagine they will play a significant part in your Soul. They do all have “soul” in their title,” Pneuma laughed to himself again.

“All right let’s pull them up here if I can,” Trint mentally requested that the System message appeared before them. Without delay the messages were visible to them both, floating in the air with large text to read from their seats.

Please select from the following professions: Note selection will use one of your three Anchors for Profession Pathway.

Soul General (Legendary): The path of conquest is paved with the souls of your enemies. Command and conquer.

Soul Architect (Legendary): The structure of civilization is built with the souls of your creation. Plan and create.

Soul Priest (Legendary): The faith of the followers is greater than the strength of many rulers.

Soul King (Mythic-Unique): The souls of the many serve at your command. Your kingdom to rule, your subjects to serve.

“System can you display how many Anchors I have?”

Soul Anchors: 2 or 3 remaining

“Can you tell me what the one used is and any detail relating to it?”

Soul Anchor Active: Tree of Life (Lineage Unlocked)

Tree of Life: Details

Enables expansion of Soul Capacity, Scale, and Scope.

Provides additional protection from outside Soul influence.

Branches and Roots anchor and assign Lineage. When matured anchor will allow System Instance Control Access

Meets System requirements for Ascension.

Additional details are unavailable due to System Errors with the request.

“What does it mean to have System Instance Control Access?” Trint sat forward in his seat, hoping for something different than what he had gotten when he became a Sovereign.

System Instance Control Access allows teleportation into Instances of your choice to or from System or Subsystem. They are both connected through the instances and unlocked control of this feature of the System will allow you to move between either of them.

“This is a big deal!” Trint looked to his advisor and friend. “I can back to the System. I might even be able to avoid those forces looking for me if I can just jump back and forth between the Instances. I need to figure out how to mature the Tree of Life. System how do I mature the Tree of Life?” Either the system wouldn’t or couldn’t answer as there was no response.

“I guess somethings will still need to be figured out on our own or with someone else’s help,” Pneuma added, “This is great news. We are a huge step closer to our goal. We should spend a little more time here exploring, and I suggest you create a place to stay or at least a place for us to relax near the tree. Then we can go back to the Cease.”

“What’s your thought about allowing Phinry access to this place?” Trint now more than ever had reasons to protect the tree in his Soul. “Any risks there?”

“There will always be risks but I feel like I have absolute control in this place. I don’t feel the same in your space, but I have some control still.” Pneuma appeared before the Tree. Trint noticed with his eyes and his near-omniscient awareness of his Soul Space when and where Pneuma moved. He followed and saw Pneuma forming a chair. It didn’t immediately form but the outline of one was there. Trint saw what his friend was doing and willed the chair to form.

“So, it seems I can suggest things here but not materialize them. We can use that. Let me try building some templates or outlines of some things while you meditate or try to influence the growth of the tree.”

“Good idea,” Trint said as they both turned to work on their tasks.

For the next few hours, Trint stood near the tree, sat with his back against it, and meditate under its branches. No amount of effort or thought or meditation seemed to influence the growth of his new Soul Anchor. Eventually other thoughts of what his Soul could do and what his partner was up to, drug him out of his meditations.

Turning away from the tree Trint felt what Pneuma had been preparing. Trint was a little shocked. There was a sort of outlined template of a river, hills, more trees, and a house. There was also a giant dome around the Tree that went in a Sphere around the entire thing roots and branches alike.

“Pneuma what’s all this? Do you think I need a river for the Tree of Life to grow? And what’s the dome for?”

“I don’t know if any of this is necessary, but I thought you’d like it. The dome might not be necessary or do anything, but it was a thought I had so I formed it for you to consider. I don’t know if light or water is necessary, but we can experiment.”

Trint nodded at the logic and mentally willed into being all that Pneuma had been working on, except for the dome. “Let’s hold off on the dome. I want to see if I can form some sort of night and day. To make this a more natural place to be.”

Trint again willed there to be a night and day and he felt the change but now it was day and the sun now appeared into his left nearing its setting.

“That feels better, or at least a little like Earth. Let’s call it where the sun sets, west. We can orient by that and call below the ground the underground. Do you have any names for your Soul to help me orient there too?”

“Well to make it easy for you, how about the stratosphere and then the space beyond my Soul the void? If that works for you, I’d like you to decide on the Profession path before we leave. I’ve decided you will be fine with any of the options and it’s better to move forward and explore it before we return.” Trint pulled up the System messages again.

Please select from the following professions: Note selection will use one of your three Anchors for Profession Pathway.

Soul General (Legendary): The path of conquest is paved with the souls of your enemies. Command and conquer.

Soul Architect (Legendary): The structure of civilization is built with the souls of your creation. Plan and create.

Soul Priest (Legendary): The faith of the followers is greater than the strength of many rulers.

Soul King (Mythic-Unique): The souls of the many serve at your command. Your kingdom to rule, your subjects to serve.

“I can see the benefits of the general path, but I don’t think that will be the best option for me. Architect I could see lending itself to structuring my Soul for the future. It seems like others could be allowed to inhabit this space. If that is true, then I need to provide them with places to stay and things to do. The priest path may be powerful but leaves too many questions and probably won’t fit with what I want. It’s no surprise I’m drawn to the Mythic one, but I hate seeming pretentious going for the king path.”

“You don’t need to fear leading others. And depending on how you read the text as a king you can either force your subjects to serve or you can work to serve them. Those don’t even need to be mutually exclusive. The best leaders know they have a responsibility to use their power and leadership to provide for their followers. If you choose that path and do have others follow you, you will need to determine what kind of king you will be. I will help you though. So don’t fear the crown. Even if it becomes a burden and the throne is uncomfortable for you, I will be there to help. Accept it already, I know you wanted it from the beginning. The fact it is a Mythic could only have drawn you more to it.”