[MA] 447. Phasespace (Patreon)

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[A/N: I'm undergoing an internship until Sunday, and it has been challenging to find time to write. Saturday's chapter might be delayed until Monday. I'll do my best to prevent that. 

Chapters this week: 2/3

Next chapter: (Probably) Saturday]

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Shen wished he had known a few things before he conquered Phasespace Cylek, one of them being that he couldn't take advantage of any of the treasures he had pillaged.

Habnor had told Shen not to call this place phasespace, and the reason quickly became clear after he investigated the records of the peak forces. Phasespace wasn't real, and knowing that was one of the best-kept secrets of said forces. Or rather, everything was both real and not.

Phase beings could use all resources in phasespace as they wished. Everything they put into their bodies was real for them. They also had the potential to become real; they only had to reach Main Space. Anything connected to their souls, like cyberware, would become real with them. However, after they did that, they would all suffer the same limitations as and other Main Denizens like him, as those from Main Space were called.

No matter how many resources Shen used, they would be useless to him. He could give up his arm for cyberware, link his soul to it, and it would disappear if he ever reached Main Space, just like any other thing from phasespace. Cultivating in phasespace was impossible for any Main Denizen walking the Grand Path of the Heavens. Any phase being who got Severed died, so they couldn't walk the Grand Path of Ideals either.

Shen's Grand Path of Ideals had given him an edge. Well, not just an edge. He was perfectly safe in this place. Yet, he was also at significant risk.

A phase being could turn into a Main Denizen by getting to Main Space. Likewise, a Main Denizen could become a phase being by breaking through the next cultivation level while in phasespace. Either change was a one-way ticket with no return. Sure, Shen bet that Ascenders could bypass that restriction, but he wasn't willing to take the risk; he would leave phasespace to become a Seeker. Perhaps that worry had been why Habnor had threatened Shen to seek forgiveness before breaking through; the threat would keep Shen from doing something stupid.

The advantages to staying there were evident at first glance. Shen had unrestricted access to every resource in Phasespace Cylek, maybe in the entire Third Overlord Underrealm, as that layer of phasespace was called. He could use all of them if he broke through to the Seeker level and became a phase being.

However, there was a reason everyone he saw was weak: distance from the Heavens.

Phasespace was the name for the multiple layers of Spacetime piled on each other. Just like you could pile a bunch of paper sheets—with width and length—on top of each other once you added height to the equation, Reality had multiple three-dimensional spaces piled on each other because Space had more than three dimensions. But phasespace was almost like an afterthought for Reality, a collateral effect of Main Space existing, like a permanent shockwave from an explosion. The Heavens only existed for and cared about Main Space. Only the unconsciousness of its living beings defined the rules. The Axioms came from it and only truly cared for affecting it.

The deeper a layer of phasespace was, the further away from the source of Reality it was. After some point, a phasespace layer wasn't covered by enough of Reality's Will to keep existing and became Void.

Shen had taken a long time to master his Path primarily because he had no sense of urgency, but he had noticed how the twisted Axioms made things a bit more challenging than they could be. Pinpointing the flaws in the Laws and correcting them took time and effort, but more importantly, it required you to have a reference value. No phase being had such reference. This was the Reality they knew. The twisted Axioms prevented them from growing stronger because the Axioms were faulty.

It wasn't just a matter of Paths, either. Even the Aspects and Expressions weren't as influential here. A living being born away from Main Space was more ethereal, less real. Its essence wasn't as well-defined. It wasn't as anchored to Reality. It was weak, feeble. Its mind and emotions weren't as powerful. They could be considered ghosts or shadows. Thus, forging a domain was incredibly more difficult for them than for Main Denizens.

Dominators were feared in the entire Third Overlord Underrealm, not just Cylek, because they were either Main Denizens who had come to shatter the status quo—as Shen had indeed done in the city—or absolute geniuses. And they could be controlled despite having a mighty domain because they were so rare. Only one in ten million Overlords mastered their Path in the Third. Only one in a billion of those developed a domain. The likelihood of their domains and weak Paths allowed them to resist the attacks Shen had withstood was nonexistent.

If Shen became a phase being by breaking through to the Seeker level, the odds of him ever reaching the pinnacle of the Seeker level despite the twisted Axioms and weakened essence would be slim at best. The odds of becoming a Realizator would be infinitesimal. Becoming an Ascender to defy the rules and probably return to being a Main Denizen? He wasn't that talented and knew that. But even if a miracle happened, it would take way too long. Who knows if the Divine Mandatary would wait for him that long or just destroy E'livia's essence and be done with it?

No, Shen had to return to Main Space. The issue was, of course, that he didn't have the means to accomplish that.

The reason every phase being hadn't been enslaved and used as delivery soul-crates for phasespace resources to Main Space was how prohibitively expensive it was to pierce the Phase Veil that kept Main Space and phasespace apart. Furthermore, you needed to pay the price with resources from Main Space. No matter how many phasespace resources you turned real with each trip, you would always incur a significant cost. Cylek's peak forces occasionally visited to check if the phase beings had advanced in their cyberware research, but it was also unlikely because of their feeble existences.

Shen didn't have the Main Space resources needed to pierce the Veil and was left with two options: find a Main Denizen with the means to send him back and negotiate, or delve into deep phasespace.

Phasespace wasn't usually as well-structured and populated as in the Shaft. The Divine Mandatary had made it so copies of the structures in Main Space appeared up to the seventh layer of phasespace, including the way he structured the Realms by power levels. He also made it so the Underrealms were more life-friendly. After the Seventh Underrealm, there were no more Realms like in the Shaft. Things reverted to being about galaxies, except twisted by the distance from the Heavens. There were two layers of such phasespace, then you reached deep phasespace.

Deep phasespace was also technically separated into layers, but it was impossible to tell where one layer started or another ended. Eventually, you'd find the Void. But even before then, you would be discovered Void creatures that would try to kill you. Deepspace beings were also all feral. Most of the beings who could survive in deep phasespace were stronger than an Overlord. Moreover, things there usually made no sense, as the rules of Reality were less firm; you needed a domain to be able to impose some logical rules over an area and fight anything.

Everything in deep phasespace was more real than in the first nine layers. Some theorized that things became so distant from the Heavens that anything born there couldn't even be rejected by the same Heavens. Or maybe the Heavens were just impressed or curious about the items that appeared there. Whatever the case, that place had unique treasures that could let Shen return to Main Space, but they were terrifyingly rare. Worse, he had to find two rare items or one he wasn't sure actually existed. The rare items would be two Star Seeds or other objects of similar power—one to leave deep phasespace and return to the Underrealms, and another to get to Main Space. The mythical item would be a Galaxy Seed, allowing him to reach Main Space straight from deep phasespace.

So, everything pointed at the annoying truth that adventuring in deep phasespace would be suicide, if he cold even reach it.

Shen had to find assistance instead of delving into deep phasespace. Habnor was the obvious choice. Yet, he did not want to owe the high elf anything. Not after the asshole revealed he would've watched E'livia get enslaved without forewarning.

"What's in your mind, master?" a childish voice said.

"I'm not your master," Shen replied mechanically. The voice brought him back from his musings, though, and he looked at the thirteen-year-old human boy standing nearby.

Balatt was a skinny brat with no hair anywhere on his body. Everything had been permanently shaved by a potion fed to him by his now-dead owners. The weak Conceptualizer had sold himself as a guinea pig to a corporation and had just finished going through the cleansing procedures when Shen saved him. The experiments done by the corporation weren't that horrible; they were merely testing new cyberware, which was seldom painful or lethal. Some experimental cyberware was known to cause soul injury from time to time, though, permanently changing someone and almost always blocking their Path for good. Only those who believed themselves to already be at the end of their Paths would do something like this, and a thirteen-year-old Conceptualizer definitely shouldn't have reached such a point in their life.

Shen had freed the boy but didn't care about asking for his story. He couldn't even bring himself to Main Space, much less someone else he had no connection to. They wouldn't ever see each other again after he left this place.

The ignorant fool didn't know that, of course, and was trying to tie his fate to Shen. It was actually smart and brave of him. Shen would've considered taking the boy as a disciple under different circumstances, but this wasn't the case.

In fact, that was a hidden danger of the Underrealms. Phase beings were real yet not—or so the missives he had read said. The missives didn't explain it, though, only mentioning their weaker essence made them different from the real Main Denizens. For Shen, that they merely had the potential to become "real" meant they were real enough for him. And with that conviction came the risk of getting attached.

Shen was aware of how needy of affection he was now that his mind was balanced and he could grieve for E'livia—and the Third Underrealm actually tempted him.

He could stay here forever, even without breaking through. He could rule over all of the Third Overlord Underrealm and create an empire. He could improve these poor people's lives without having to keep pushing forward. He could accept the harsh truth that he would never defeat a Divine Mandatary and enjoy the rest of his life doing what he believed was just instead of struggling until his inevitable death.

He wondered if he would've taken that way out if not for his Will of Absolute Power that demanded more and his True Boundlessness that insisted limiting himself such would be a terrible idea—or his honor, which demanded justice.

"You saved me, master," Balatt replied as usual. "My life is yours."

Shen sighed and looked around. The boy was the only person ballsy enough to stay close to him despite his stated desire to be left to his thoughts on this stroll. The dirty cyberpunk streets were clear of other people, and the outdoor ads were turned off so as not to risk annoying him.

Cylek was kind of sad like that. Its charm was in the people struggling to find meaning in life while surrounded by ads from decaying morals that would never fulfill them. Its charm was the constant triumph of hope at a better tomorrow against all odds. Its charm was in the simple fact that a general sense of goodness was still appreciated and valiantly fought for despite all moral corruption.

That was it.

Shen had to get the hells out of this place before he decided to help.

Or rather, before he decided to help more than he had already decided to do, just once.

"Come find me if you ever reach Main Space, and I'll take you in," he told Balatt, then shot straight to the city's skies.

Once there, he deployed his domain. It covered all of Cylek, every corner, every crank. He found plenty of anti-domain enchantments and did nothing about them. That would be their loss.

Then, Shen demanded that everyone in his domain who had more good Karma than bad Karma be Infinitely Improved.

His Domain of Infinite Improvement flared to life, making the whole world more vivid. All colors were enhanced. Everything was saturated with potential and purpose.

Willing it wasn't enough; Energy was required to fuel the changes. Enough qi left his body to make him shine like a sun. His One Self started breaking as it couldn't withstand the Energy output, and he had to decrease it until he reached net neutrality. There was no rush to do everything at once. He had time.

Shen pumped Infinite Improvement upon those people for weeks. Every Conceptualizer reached the limits of their own understanding of their Path. Shen's domain couldn't push insights into himself or anyone else; it could only force them to reach the peak of their current potential. If all they lacked was time for cultivation or resources, Shen's domain and qi made up for it. The effect was considerably less pronounced for Overlords with Laws different from his, as the domain's ability still depended on him to a point. 

After the last person stopped reaping the benefits of Shen's Path, he used his domain to scatter thousands of spatial artifacts throughout the city, making them more abundant at the lower city levels. Each ring had many goods of varying levels of quality. He couldn't take them with him to Main Space, so he distributed everything.

Finally, he went through one of the permanent rifts between the Third and Fourth Underrealm—a strange phenomenon going on for the last few hundred years that no peak force could explain—and knocked on Habnor's door.

Shen didn't want to owe the annoying high elf anything, but he also had no alternative, and it was better to leave this place sooner rather than later.

The door opened, and Shen stepped in.

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[A/N: Special thanks to our A-rank patron, Gordon Freeman!]

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