The gains I had made towards integrating my Exemplar since my arrival in the underwater facility were nothing short of amazing. Before Lucas had pulled me to that dead world, I had sat at about three percent, and that was after weeks of practice and contemplation. But after half a dozen hours of practice in that place where the energy felt as deep as any ocean, and after abusing the hell out of that fact, I sat at a ridiculous ten percent. Of course, I was also stuck at ten percent. It was the day after I lost my arm for the second time, and I stood in the same hall I had found myself the day before, drenched in sweat and naked from the waist up.

Standing perfectly still as Praxis raged through me, I turned my gaze towards my lotus posed passenger, glaring at the no-solid neon that edged around its outlines. At my best guess, taking into account both the speed provided by my Focus and the multiplicative nature of my Path, I was now perceiving the world around me at a relative speed roughly equivalent to three hundred times that of a normal person. I had tested it by tossing things into the air and timing how long it took for them to hit the floor, and if my calculations were correct – which was not to say they were – when I was compressing my time aura, each percent of integration I had with my Exemplar gave me ten percent of additional time to act in, meaning that at ten percent, I was doubling the time I had to act, and with my Focus pushed to the maximum, I was moving three times faster than I should. Fifty times human standard – plus whatever my channels added – for completing my Core, multiplied by three and then doubled.

But as I said, I was stuck; unlike the staggering growth rate I had shown when I had first started... taking advantage of the local energy density, my Integration had not moved in in more than an hour, not since I had worked out what the actual rate of compression was.

A movement at the corner of my eye dragged my attention outwards and I turned to see Lucas stroll into the room; his movements were strange, almost jerky like he was on fast-forward, and I realised that he was strolling at the same speed as I was perceiving the world, or at least somewhere close to it.

“We’re ready to begin testing. This way.”

Lucas’ voice was pitched high and came at me in a rapid staccato that took me a moment to understand, and a moment longer to figure out why. It seemed the Paragon was operating at my relative speed, but I was not. Not really. My Focus allowed me to act and perceive the world faster, but I was not hearing faster. My Path did let me literally hear faster, to a degree, but it was off to see somebody trying to compensate for my speed for something as trivial as a conversation.

Dropping my Focus, and letting my Path fall away, I wipe sweat off my face before pulling a cleansing pill from storage and slapping it against my chest.

“That’s pretty impressive, is that a Sigil?

“It is. Developed by a Paragon an eon or so ago in order to facilitate battle with other systems. Sigils are powerful and versatile, but they mean little if your head can be torn from your body before you draw the first line.”

“Uh, I guess that makes sense.”

And it did; I had been told more than once that worlds could, and did, war with each other, so it made sense that different systems clashed. I had even been told of an explicit example, about the people who controlled the dead invading. Unless each of them had been as strong as a cultivator, they would quickly get wiped out if not for some kind of counter. I wondered what their specific counter was. And I wondered about the Shadow Faced Guy and his seemingly corpselike companions.

“Now, follow me.”

Turning and clearly expecting me to obey, the Paragon strode from the room, this time at a far more normal pace. Lucas was the most demanding of obeisance of Apex level people I had met, with perhaps the single exception of Flame Ever Dancing, though at least some of their attitude was likely due to the whole kidnapping thing... But everyone else that I had met had been really easy going, which I appreciated as despite my many decisions to be more respectful, I was not always successful.

Following after the golden robed figure, I pulled my shirt and robe from storage and got dressed clumsily. As I pulled the clothing on, I noticed new holes scattered through the material, which I guessed were the result of my exploding arm.

“I don’t suppose there’s a tailor anywhere in the vicinity? I go through clothes pretty quick and I’ve been wearing this one outfit for weeks.”

“We three are the only living beings on this planet.”

“Yeah, that’s what I figured. Uh, I don’t suppose you have a spare robe, your Paragonness?”

“I have many spare robes. I doubt they would fit you.”

“Uh, yeah. I guess not.”

It was easy to forget the Paragon’s childlike body, given his attitude and commanding air. Despite my intent to be tall when I had built my body, the majority of people I had met in my second life had been taller than me, so I simply was not used to being tall, at least in comparison to anybody but Darina.

After a few minutes of walking, I found myself in a room I had never seen before, as large as the hall I had left, but with concentric circles carved into the floor, and a number of glittering pillars of different colours scattered around the outermost ring.

At the centre of the arrangement stood DUK3 – at least a DUK3. The thin, scarecrow-like Construct held a bundle in their hands and the burning yellow eyes we already fixed on us as we entered. The other demi-Ascended I had met had seemed content to know where things were, and it was somehow very creepy to see one of them apparently following me with their eyes when I was not even in the room.

With a shudder, I follow Lucas to stand next to the pastel purple figure, who I was sure used to be a different colour.

“I have produced clothing or you. As your host, it is my understanding that seeing to your needs falls to me, Hunter.”

DUK3 held out the hot pink bundle they had been holding and accepted automatically, surprised at the consideration. I was not sure what sort of culture the Construct came from, but if their actions were anything to go by, it was substantially different from the others I had visited, and their interactions with me were based completely on things they had been told.

“Thank you, Dee Yu Kay Three. That’s really considerate of you. But, uh, and I don’t mean to be ungrateful, but I’m not sure this shade of pink is really my colour... I don’t suppose you have one in an earth tone?... Dee Yu Kay Three.”

I spoke with my face held in a loose grimace; I was grateful for the robe, and it was really very kind nice of the being to go out of their way for me. But I was ninety-nine percent certain that I would look ridiculous in that colour. Luckily, the Construct did not seem to take offense, merely reaching out to tap the warm material. A wave, like ink spreading ran through the clothing, and within moments, it was jet black. Very glossy, but yet black. The reflective nature of the cloth had not been entirely apparent when it had been pink, but in the darker shade I could see it catching and tossing back the light, and while the effect was not quite mirrorlike, it was still more ostentatious than I would normally wear. But I was not about to ask for another change, and while I would likely feel a bit self-conscious, I could deal with it.

“Do you guys mind if I change now?”

“Hurry.”

Lucas’ voice was curt, and I could hear impatience in it. The Construct merely tilted its head at me, and taking that for assent, I turned and left the room once more, stopping just around the jam of the door to begin to change. I knew, intellectually, that both of them were fully aware of me, despite the impediment of the wall, but it certainly felt better than getting naked in front of them.

Slipping my tattered clothing into storage, I unfolded the set I had been given, and began to redress. The pants were skin-tight, but seemed to stretch easily regardless of how I moved. The shirt was similar, and while it felt a little restrictive, I once again found myself able to move without any issues. The outer robe, thankfully, was not tight. Sleeveless and falling to just above my knee, it felt almost slick against my fingers, like the whole thing was woven from metal, though it was more flexible than any metal I was familiar with. Lastly, I slipped on a thin pair of sock-like shoes that had been at the centre of the bundle; I was used to boots, but all the boots I owned would clash with the shiny nature of my new outfit, making it stand out all the more. They were made from the same almost metallic material as the robe, and as I discovered, had no sole. As I slipped them on, I began to think they really were sock, rather than sock-like shoes, but as I pulled them over my feet, they constricted slightly, forming around my toes as I felt the bottom thicken.

Placing my now shod feet on the floor, I pushed, half expecting the smooth material to slip frictionless on the pale-yellow floor, but instead I found my foot catching fast, budging only with a most extreme effort on my part.

Grinning at the amount of grip my new footwear provided, I pulled a beast core from storage and tried to stand on it. I could feel the orb beneath my foot, but as I placed my weight on it, I found myself wholly supported with no discomfort at all.

Grin growing wider, I slipped the core back into a ring and walked into the room once more.

“Wow, these shoe-things are fantastic! You could make a fortune selling them, I’m sure. If you want to set up trade back on my world, let me know, Dee Yu Kay Three.”

“I am gratified that you find the clothing adequate. I will now sever the link, Hunter.”

I wondered what he meant by link; he made no move and I hesitated for a second, unsure if I should wait for anything to happen. Whatever the Construct was doing, Lucas opted to move on without waiting.

“Let us begin. Hunter, Dee Yu Kay Three and I will attempt to force you from the room. Try to not let us.”

“Wait, what do you mean you’re going to force me-”

Something crashed into me and staggered. At least, it felt like something crashed into me, but as I strained to regain my posture, I realised that what I had felt was simply the will of Lucas and DUK3 for me to leave. It felt like the attention I had been given by Flame Ever Dancing as we had walked through their flames, but much more focused, and doubled up.

Leaning towards the pair as the world reeled about me, I found myself falling back as the world itself seemed to push me towards the door. It felt like the later stages of passing between worlds, like my presence was wrong. Like reality itself did not want me there.

I fought to stay still, to stand firm before the rejecting force and sweat once more began to build upon my skin as I bent my will to the task at hand. I felt my pace slow as I concentrated, though the effort did not seem to involve my Praxis at all; my core beat steadily as I focused my intent on maintaining my ground, only absorbing what my body used to move.

Of course, I was not an Apex and despite all the effort I could muster, I found myself outside of the room once more, sweat dripping from my new robe. As I stepped across the threshold, the driving force vanished and staggered once again and almost fell flat on my face as I overcompensated.

Taking several deep breaths, I looked up to see the two looking in my direction, and I wondered how long I had lasted. It seemed like it had been an age, but I guessed that it had taken mere seconds. Standing up, I slapped a second cleansing pill against my chest, making that the second in less than a quarter of an hour. I hoped I had enough to last through these tests, or I was going to end up smelling really bad.

Rolling my shoulders to loosen up, I walked back into the room, tensing as I crossed back inside, fully expecting their Domains of my testers to come crashing back down, but thankfully I was left unharried as I made my way back to them.

“Amazing.”

“The degree to which you resisted our Domains was well outside of any standard deviation, Hunter.”

“What, really? I felt like forever, but I stayed in the room for what, a handful of seconds? Doesn’t seem amazing.”

“Dee Yu Kay Three. Our Domains function primarily along the lines of our mundane alignments. We may only alter realty beyond the remit of our bailiwick at greatly reduced efficiency, however, even so, most beings of lower orders of power would have found themselves merely flung from the room, as if blown upon a strong wind, Hunter.”

“Huh. So, I did okay?”

I thought the answer was probably something related to Xiournal’s influence, though I was still hesitant to mention it after the advice I had been given; those two were nice enough, but I did not actually know their intentions. The next words, spoken by Lucas, did make me reconsider telling them, if only to save myself the suffering.

“It was shocking. I am very much looking forward to getting to the bottom of you, Hunter.”

A chill ran down my spine as I gazed into the childlike grin on Lucas’ face.

“Yay...?”