Verde POV:
Bored.....
A patron god shouldn't admit something so unsightly, but the Blume estate's current generation? Inferior. Dull. Predictable. Their thrum signatures were stagnant. Their growth patterns flat. I had watched seedlings with more promise than these descendants. There was that one adopted kid who looked interesting however, he most likely will also be another disappointment.
I hovered above the estate, letting my consciousness drift through the garden I had once blessed into magnificence. Even the roses felt sluggish this year.
Pathetic… truly pathetic.
My boredom dug into my bones, gnawing like roots pushing through old stone.
Then A chime echoed through my mind like a blade dragged across crystal.
A system alert.
A system alert that should never activate.
[######## has used your access to your World Line System CODE]
I froze.
Then I snapped.
My presence surged across the world line, snapping through layers of reality like tearing vines off a trellis. Whoever dared, whoever even touched, my access code would be unmade without hesitation. A primordial system was not something mortals could even perceive, much less tamper with.
I reached the source immediately.
And what I found was… a human.
A human.A weak, collapsing, flickering human held together by stubbornness and madness.
For a moment, I was too stunned to speak.
His entire existence was wrapped in threads, thin, unstable, pitch-black threads. The system that swirled around him like dying smoke, like a shadow trying desperately to keep its shape. It was unmistakable.
Black.
Schwarz.
My initial confusion died instantly. My disappointment, however, did not.
"To think you've fallen so low," I muttered, observing the fragile shell he called a body. "A primordial reduced to a human form… unsightly."
He was collapsing inward. His existence constantly attempted to erase itself, and the World Line System propped him up like crutches, keeping a corpse standing.
Even now, he used the system to keep his consciousness tethered.
He spoke, explaining, justifying, recounting his situation, but truthfully, I hardly cared. His personal tragedy meant nothing to me. What mattered was simple.
He offered me something worth listening to.
Rouge's weakness.
And his allegiance to Weiss.
Those alone tilted the scales. Maddened or not, Schwarz had infuriatingly correct decisions. Fair and efficient.
But then came his final card.
He offered his authority. Naturally, I asked if he was mad, which he replied with his usual indifference.
.....
I looked at him fully.
This primordial, the most destructive of us, hated his own power more than anyone else ever could. His authority ate him alive every moment of his existence, constant destruction, constant erasure, constant decay, the complete reverse of what I represent. I'd always found him pathetic for it… yet now, seeing him cling to life with such desperation…
For the first time in my existence, I felt something I had never associated with Schwarz.
Pity.
His offer was hopeless. Even if he handed his authority over, it would continue to consume him. Authority was part of being. One could not simply abandon it.
So yes- this was a theft, blatant, shameless steal.
But he knew that, and he still offered.
"…Fine." To balance this farce of a deal, I shall grant you a fraction of mine in return."
A small one. Barely anything.
He nodded, and we shook hands on it.
And so began our twisted game of hide-and-seek.
I extended my authority into him, his memories, his body. I searched every fragment. Every crack. Every corner of his deteriorating self.
His memories were broken. His emotions amplified to the brink of implosion. Everything within him trembled under my touch.
He should have shattered already.
Yet he endured.
Why was it so hard to find his authority? Was he resisting? Was he incapable of handing it over? Either way, pressing further would tear his human shell apart.
I tried to retreat
But his desperate voice slashed through me.
"Disappointing… Is this all you have?"
I jolted.
I stared at him silently.
"…So this is the real you, Schwarz."My vines tightened unconsciously. "I underestimated your resolve." I inwardly said.
To acknowledge his resolve, I playfully replied.
"Nope"
If he wanted brutality, then brutality he would get.
This time, I dug in with no restraint. No care for the fragile body he currently inhabited. I tore through every layer of him, pushing my authority into every corner of his being.
Still.....nothing.
Nothing but madness.
Then he grabbed my arms and shoved them deeper into himself, forcing me to continue the search. For the first time in my life, a foreign emotion bloomed hot in my chest.
Shame.
Shame because I, Verde, Primordial Rank Three, could not help him.
I could not even find what he offered.
He then whispered, breath ragged, "Admit it, Verde. I win this bout."
I despised how those words rang true
Reluctantly, I withdrew my arms from his torso.
"You will perish again," I said quietly.
"I know," he answered. He breathed heavily."
And, do you mind if I use your system again? I'm… too weak to speak all of it aloud."
Normally, I would have crushed him for even suggesting such a thing.
But after the shame.
After the failure.
After witnessing the desperation of a primordial on the brink of erasing himself…
How could I refuse? "As promised… a fraction of my authority is already within you."
He then made one last request.
"…And I'd appreciate it if you kept this silent from the others."
I stared at him.
At the ruined body.
At the mad, flickering existence, trying so hard to persist just a little longer.
After a long silence, I nodded.
He coughed raggedly and activated my system one last time, transferring the promised information directly.
Then his personal system, which was constantly trying to prolong his existence, began to fade.
Perishing.
Again.
And he would come back to die again. Such is his fate.
I turned away.
But before my form dissolved back into the world line, I paused.
And for the first time in millennia, I lowered my head.
"…I apologize."
Then I vanished, leaving him to die.
_____
_____
Matt POV:
Lying on the ground, I felt like a chilled strawberry-glazed donut. A wet, oozing, chilled strawberry-glazed donut.Wet because of the pool of blood under me and oozing from the crater in my torso.
The pain was amplified, but strangely, it didn't feel like pain, just a lot of pressure and discomfort, perhaps because the pain resistance is amplified as well.
Then I remembered an episode of a pirate anime I watched, where I was practically in the same situation. However, this case was entirely self-inflicted. No grand cause like protecting someone or anything, I just did this because I wanted to have the best foundation there is.
And as much as I wanted to monologue and indulge in this bizarre scenario I'm in, if I let it continue, I will actually die.
I used Verde's system one last time, forcing it to transmit the information I owed her straight from my mind. I also sent a termination command to stop the progress of my awakening and heal my body.
The moment Verde vanished,
Static ripped through my skull, and warmth returned in my cold body.
Lines of code. Glitches. System failures. System recoveries.Layered voices screamed over each other until they blurred into metallic thunder.
Then—
A clean sequence pushed through the chaos.
[World Line System… Reconstructing Host Awakening]
[World Line Integration Attempt #50139… Success]
[Host Successfully Integrated Into Current World Line]
[Weaver Awakening: SUCCESSFUL]
[Factors Detected: Schwarz.User / Verde.User / Outworlder]
[System Self-Integration: FAILED]
[Future Access to World Line System: DENIED]
[Authority Detected: Undefined]
[Final Awakening Classification: CONCEPTUAL WEAVER]
The familiar mechanical tone echoed in my skull.
Everything froze.
Then a clean, stable window unfolded.
〈STATUS PANEL〉
Name: Matthew Pier Salinin
Weaver: Conceptual Astute Weaver
Race: Human (Stabilized)
Core: Blue
Potential: SS
〈 STATS 〉
Strength: H-
Endurance: F+
Agility: G-
Thrum Capacity: A
Thrum Recovery: G-
Thrum Circuit: D
Mind: C-
〈Extra Stats〉
Charm: D
LUCK: ####
〈UNIQUE SKILLS〉
Growth Factor — Rank A
Origin: Verde
Status: Passive
Effect:
A conceptual fragment granted by Verde.Accelerates all forms of growth—physical, mental, conceptual, adaptive.
I wonder if the word "minuscule" means something different to primordials. This will be very helpful.
〈AUTHORITY SLOT〉
Authority: Flourish
Origin: Verde
Status: Active
Effect: The user can flourish their thrum until it reaches instability, at which point it condenses into a concentrated energy burst and detonates.
I knew she must've been annoyed, but the authority I was most anticipating turned out to be subpar."This authority… did she just turn me into a walking suicide bomber?"
My consciousness numbed due to accumulated physical and mental stress. I could feel myself passing out. It's a bit early to go out, but whatever.
I smashed my wrist on the tile, which was filled with my own blood to break the device.
"I'm completely drained, and it's only day one." I let sleep lay its comfortable blankets over me and muttered, "Best day ever…"