Creation Online

The Insight was elusive, hard, and stubborn. Like a hard pillar rooted into the ground, pulled but unyielding, clinging tightly to its spot like a petulant child.

What was the earth? The question fleeted in, and about in her head. The insight gave various answers that weren't at the moment useful for her. It was like getting the answers to a tertiary question while still in elementary.

So Hilde digressed. Her hands glowing green a chunk of rock levitating over it she tried to feel like she had done with the Divine Purity. Poured her will and intent into the piece of stone that she held up.

Her mind touched it like a living object feeling its shape, its contour, the ridges within its form, and the specks that made it up. Like a combining of several little pieces, atoms, to form a larger whole. Subatomic Manipulation helped her delve further into its atoms, its building blocks.

All this while the sound of fighting faded from around her. The world stilled, just her and the stone in their only little bubble.

Her mind felt the little atoms, felt specks formed from the joining of two and then onward to those formed by even larger pieces. Her mind willed the separation. Her head burned as the rock split into a thousand tiny pieces and then her will fizzled as the strain on her mind snapped.

Hilde frowned as her closed eyes slowly opened, the din of the battle before her not even grabbing her attention as she tried to get a sense of what she just felt. It felt like she had learned something but had done something else.

"A retry".

Yet another stone, yet another white place, yet another prodding. Slowly she split the stone into pieces. Not a thousand at once but one by one testing to gauge her limit. With each break, she found the weight on her mind increased. It baffled her since with tbe weight of the stone dropped by the separation her mind should feel eased.

Yet it was the reverse. Hilde unable to understand paused and felt around trying to know what was different.

She made another split and felt the increase of weight in her mind. She joined both atoms back and found the weight gone.

'Each atom represents a new earth.' she thought. Her mind could not bear to hold more of the smaller atoms. She could but it bore a weight that was heavier than even a closely clumped and packed-in set of atoms. 'Why?'

It made no sense to her. So she fused back all the atoms to reform the one stone and then spread her will to pull in more stones from around. She kept pulling and pulling adding more rocks to her collection as a cluster of stones of different sizes rotating like an asteroid belt around her.

'No strain.'

There was no weight. No matter how much larger the earth she added no weight came to mind. It peeved her. She remembered the pain in her mind when battling the First Unborn.

'Must be due to using just my mind'. She reasoned. Her hands dropped while her mind took the full brunt of both holding the rocks and guiding them.

Strain. Hilde staggered from the mental weight.

The pain appeared. Less, as the weight she felt and more like a rubber being pulled in several different directions. She realized her mind could barely hold up the rocks or focus on them all.

'Like I thought, my hands help to guide and focus the earth. Divine Purity too can work with the hand guidance until it enters a body then it needs the mind's full focus.'

'Still, why get heavier as they get smaller?' she pondered why retaking the stones into her hand's guidance. Hilde contemplated for a moment before she decided to try something.

The other rocks were dropped and then one got the focus. She began splitting it, tearing it apart till its atoms hovered in numerous specks of unseen stone and her mind began straining.

Then she joined the two together. But instead of joining the third she focused ten percent of her mind on that joining and squeezed.

Hilde felt her brain burn. Shaking it she fought through the pain as she added her mind to help guide that little one. Squeezing and pressing forming an image in her head of what she wanted and continually twisting it.

Sweat poured from her forehead as her head pounded. Her right arm shook a bit while her left was stiffened. It felt like whatever it was she was aiming for was far away, refusing to enter her grasp. Hilde's brain fought to keep up as her hands slightly shook.

Just when she felt she couldn't bear to hold on anymore a ding resonated in her head.

[Insight - Earthen Grace ]

[10% Comprehension]

[Earthen Forge Comprehended]

By understanding the core of the earth you have learned to forge it at will. Turning it from just a piece of mere rock to something more.

+2% speed to Earthen Grace.

+2% speed to Earth-related insights.

Finally, it was finished. Hilde opened her eyes to find a tiny inconspicuous earthen spike. Small enough to not be considered a stone dagger but large enough to not pass as a stone bullet.

Hilde frowned a bit. It went on to say that it was very surprising that she could manipulate and use energies like primordial Chaos, aether, and others with less strain but manipulating Earth was hard.

Still, she was glad. She'd succeeded after all. Her eyes moved from the spike to survey her surroundings wincing as she took in the sight.

The area around her was destroyed, with several pieces of stone and walls lying shattered and ruined around her.

"Maybe I should get a practice room" she considered.

Regardless her eyes closed but not before noting that the Unborn had almost cleared up the host of Gursers. A swift check showed the steady stream of ORP in her mind. And a glance at the floor showed several pieces of glowing red crystals. Shards of flame divinity.

Hilde spent more time practicing the Earthen Forge. From forming tiny spikes to crafting long poles and bullets. Round shields and maces. Her mind strained with each attempt at forging yet she felt that with each work it was like her mind grew less pained, less affected, and even more efficient.

Finally after a long two hours of work and now soaked in sweat which she didn't like Hilde opened her eyes. Looked to the Unborns that had long cleared the floor and were milling about.

"Rest now. I'll be back and then we'll engage the next floor". she instructed. A collective nod answered her before they all took up several positions, some sitting while others stood but leaned against walls.

She found it interesting to watch how they had gone from bones to humanoid entities. As she retreated into one of the rooms on that floor while instructing First to keep guard outside her door she once more felt her astonishment for the game grow.

Making sure First was where he had to be and getting a chair to wedge the door she seated herself on the floor.

Fortunately, there would be no mobs respawning here so she could rest her avatar here with less worry while logging off to calm the ache in her brain.

*****

The forums were abuzz with news and talks. Atleast just among the alphas who were eagerly awaiting their first meet. It was scheduled for the day before their launch into Creator Online.

At this point, the Creator players had already been asked to keep silent about everything within the game. One reason was to avoid bribing and convincing the alpha players to leave some universes and stick to theirs.

The game had a way to make sure all universes received an influx of players. After all, there were only about four thousand five hundred alpha testers. With just over a hundred creators getting 50 Alpha players each and not to mention if the alpha players liked what they saw from a certain universe it would boost that universe as these players would also have their streams and more.

It was an intense competition.

Most creators were already done with creating their first world mostly due to choosing the easier lost worlds. The tougher players had taken on harder worlds.

While the streams of the Creator players were huge references for the alpha players to make a choice there was little to no footage of the universes in existence themselves. Streamers had only shown nothing but darkness and creating templates, while others had shown fights with the denizens of the lost world.

Nothing more.

So the Alpha players were going in blind. Just like the creator players had.

*****

There are two things people hate in life. Being right when you severely wish to be wrong and being wrong when you desire to be right.

Right now Hilde found the aforesaid to apply to her she didn't like it.

Who would have liked correctly guessing that the next opponent would be a fire-breathing one? Even worse was what it turned out to be. Not a dragon. Hide had faced one before. So she felt it wouldn't have been much of an issue. No, what stood before her was a famous mythological creature.

The very guard of the gates of the underworld. With a body as large as a tourist floaterbus and three heads, each having the standard two eyes and breaths of red fire billowing out its jaws and noses as it breathed. Hilde could only curse mentally.

The Unborns didn't even seem surprised though. To them, it was more like an expected event. Something they didn't exactly remember but also when shown was not shocking

The hound lay where it was as its right head looked at them with a mere sliver of attention. Of the other two heads, the central one looked bored while the left slept.

Then Hilde stepped up and the right head snapped up. Why it hadn't reacted to the Unborns was beyond her but her presence seemed to have awakened something within them.

But if that wasn't surprising enough the next thing shocked her.

"Hey, Anos we got guests "The central head which seemed to be Anos looked up. Its eyes a completely red glow stared straight at her.

"Food?" it asked salivating.

"Probably. Hey, wake up Treus" The left head still sleeping was yelled at by the right one. Treus shook its head while blinking sleepily looking at the other two heads before an annoyed glare formed.

"What?" It was evidently not a fan of getting awoken.

"Food"

"Chew toy"

Both heads gave different answers making Anos stump his jaw atop the right one's head. "It's food, Deus. It's too small for chew toys"

"Sure sure. " Deus agreed though not looking sure.

Hilde right about now was certain she had to kill this dog. The Cerberus rose, paws cracking the ground and tail a ruffled fur of spikes wagging excitedly.

It's six eyes, two for each head fixed straight on Hilde completely disregarding the Unborns

"Food"

"Food"

"Chew toy, I mean food. Hehe". The two other heads gave Deus a look that it ignored by casting its gaze away. With what was certainly a doggish sigh both refocused on their upcoming meal.

They crouched, their muscles locked and body stiffened. Their control over their body fluid and precise

With a loud shatter, the ground cracked, stones and dust flying in all directions as the Cerberus pounced forward drool dripping down Treus' mouth while Deus had a sniggering look. Only Anos had a proper snarling feature, yet for some reason, all different expressions frightened Hilde more than the one snarl of Anos.

As she stared rooted and shocked while watching what felt like a slow-motion descent of the hound midair the Unborn reacted.

Some rolled to the sides, and others slid forward or just made quick dashes forward on the stone floor to get behind Cerberus's landing position. The rest moved backward while pulling their Creator with them and First appeared before Hilde his body blocking the girl while his two hands held his sword up.

Blocking her from the Cerberus sent them into a rage the moment they landed. Their weight shook the floor, their jaws opened as Deus and Treus howled while Anos just snarled straight at the blockade to their food.

"Kill it"

Hilde's words were final and the Unborn obeyed. All sixty-five jumped forward in a remarkable choreographed display of efficiency that stunned her, each of their blades striking out in one similar slicing move. Black swords flashed as they cut into the Cerberus's skin. Skin that for the first time Hilde noticed.

A fur of black that looked more like an adornment of thin metals, muscular paws with mini, dagger-like claws.

The black blades sunk into the Cerberus' skin eliciting a whine from Deus and causing the three heads to shiver as their mouths steamed.

Hilde watched eyes widening as it came. Bodies shook as the left and right heads lowered while the central rose above.

Then with a huff and a puff, the three heads blew in three directions. Fire spewed like a flame thrower spitting out and embracing the Unborns in its raging and hot waves.