Jason sighs, ‘With that I have two interconnected goals. Gain control of strings and my stats. Of course I can’t do either in the short term but there is one thing I can do tomorrow. I gained a bit already from continued exercise but there should still be a point or two I can grind out. The problem is, if I keep gaining stats like freshly fallen snow it will just make my job harder. Using that point or two, I need to observe how they form and figure out if I can force the new stats to take shape inside of my void.’

Plan in place, Jason logs out. He hasn’t slept properly in a while but a wild energy has taken his mind and held him. Even now that he can’t really do much sleep just isn’t an option. While being out of NeoRealm is a bit of a waste when Sunday is so close there isn’t anything else he can do in game.

Jason crawls out of his pod and staggers into the kitchen to look for something to drink. Though once he notices a note on the fridge he groans. There had been some orange juice he was saving but no chance of that surviving a visit from his mom. Even after they had bred the excessive amounts of sugar back out of fruit, juice was still quite sweet. His mom didn’t have the worst sweet tooth but if she can help it she goes for sweet drinks.

He ignores the note for the moment and opens up the fridge to see what is there. Surprises abound for him as while Jenny hadn’t replaced the orange juice, she had gotten some grapefruit juice for him. Not his favorite drink, but one of the few Jenny wouldn’t drink. Jason shrugs, at least his mom understands her failings.

And of course since only he drinks the stuff he indulges into one of his own failings and drinks straight from the bottle. Satisfied Jason turns to the note.

{Heyo Boyo,

Strange things happening and for some reason higher ups suspect you. Go figure. Anywho, I know you’ll probably be doing things Sunday. Don’t worry about me bursting in and ruining your “alone” time. Heh. But yeah, work has me working. They even authorized 5x Sundays until stuff gets figured. Oh, and as your mother I feel the need to shake my finger at you with an eyebrow raised over drinking out of the bottle directly. We both know you ignored this note and went right to the juice.

Good luck with whatever you’re up to,

Love Mom}

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Jason snorts at the message. To allow people to use the full time ratio on Sunday means someone is serious because the 5x doesn’t just mean the VR time. It is also the overtime rate they get. It might have taken a little time but people realized that unless enforced, companies would pay the penalties to work people at full speed on the day of VR slow day.

Juice put back Jason goes into the living room and actually uses the couch for once. Of course, he knows what they are frantic about. While he wasn’t one hundred percent certain it was almost certain that people were researching the various powers. While a bit of a worry early on as he didn’t want to be interrupted, it would be useful in the long run. At the very least, Courtney should be able to find out about the powers and help her believe him.

Jason frowns, he never was one to have friends but Rosha and Courtney seem like worthwhile friends. At the moment, he is holding onto them like a drowning man, a piece of wood. If he was to be honest, there are more reasons why he should go out on his own. Still, if friendships needed to be rational, that would be quite the shame. He won’t compromise his core principles but for now sticking with them for the quiet nights around the campfire just sharing each other’s company is well worth the cost of entry.

With a shake of his head, Jason gets up off the couch and moves to the center of the room. NeoRealm is an important base of power for him but this body in this world is his true base. Through it, he gained not only a longer life to further his goals in NeoRealm, but just cultivating has shown to help. Through the [Substance] of this [Civilization] he lives in, Jason will strive for a true [Ascendance].

His knowledge from beyond combined with the fruits of this realm breaking the barrier between other places of stranger qualities and rules will propel him. Jason sits and, with the barest of effort, wills the various powers that make up his three energies to saturate the world around him. Powers of earth and steel, flesh and bone, and other esoteric representations of reality given form settle into the very structure and material of his room and beyond. Further out representations of order, kindness, knowledge, and togetherness permeates the normal families and patches up the holes left behind. And directly upon Jason, being fed by all that is around him, the seed of growth, both physical, mental, and the soul itself begins to develop.

And so, as the environment conforms to his cultivation, his cultivation conforms to the environment. In his core, the walls of civilization grow stronger. The fertile land becomes richer. And of course the seed to his future ascendance, the plant that will reach ever upward through all of reality like Yggdrasil itself unfurls broad leaves meant to absorb the purest of the worlds power.

At this point, all the power around him resonates with him and presents a choice. Not much of one for Jason, though. He is no defiler, leaving behind barren lands. While the powers are constantly invading into this realm, at this point, he can feel their finite nature hidden within the infinite measure. For a realm without true cultivation, he will be the first and lay down the path. Of course, there will always be those darker parts of society where people will learn to take.