Chapter 31 – The Song of the Sanctum
When the Caloric Stone dissolved into light, the sanctum changed forever.
The heart of Aeternum Sanctum pulsed for days — a luminous storm of data that twisted reality like silk. Every wall hummed with resonance, the air thick with compressed mana and soundless vibration.
And at the center of that storm, a single construct began to form.
A weapon.
A symbol.
The soul of the guild.
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It hovered in the middle of the forge — a staff-like weapon, though calling it a "staff" felt too limited.
Its form constantly shifted: sometimes a blade, sometimes a spear, sometimes just a line of pure light twisting around an unseen axis.
Prismatic threads flowed from it, each one representing one of the sanctum's layers — from the shadowy Helheim to the shining spires of Asgard.
When the light dimmed, it finally solidified into something tangible.
A long, silver-white frame carved from crystallized ore, with a single circular core embedded at its center. The crystal shimmered with residual traces of the Caloric Stone — no longer infinite, but alive.
I could feel it breathing.
> "Designation complete," HIME announced as the light faded. "Guild Weapon registered: Aeternum Nexus."
The words echoed through every level of the sanctum, and the system responded in kind.
[System Message: Guild Weapon Created – Aeternum Nexus has been bound to Guild Master Traveler_R]
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Guild Weapon: Aeternum Nexus
Category: Guild Weapon (Caloric-Infused) Class: Supreme (WCI-Equivalent Potential)
Bound to Guild Base: Aeternum Sanctum
Primary Function: Amplifier Core
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Description:
Forged from the fused essence of the Caloric Stone and millions of units of Prismatic Ore, Aeternum Nexus stands as the living heart of the guild base. It acts as an anchor between the guild core and its master, channeling every level of the sanctum through a single point of control.
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Primary Functions:
Amplifier Core – "Echo of the Sanctum"
All abilities cast through the Nexus gain x2 amplification in output, duration, or efficiency.
When wielded by the Guild Master (Traveler_R), amplification scales up to x5 depending on synchronization with guild systems.
Linked Resonance
The Nexus is directly connected to every tier of Aeternum Sanctum. Each tier can be activated remotely to deploy traps, buffs, or environmental effects from any location in the world.
NPC Command Summoning – "Sanctum Call"
The weapon allows instantaneous summoning of any registered NPC within Aeternum Sanctum to any floor or battlefield.
Summon limit: up to 10 simultaneously.
Total available NPC roster:
34 Elite NPCs (Level 100)
10 Mid-tier NPCs (Level 20–50)
50 Doppelgänger Servants (Level 2–5, assigned to logistics and infiltration tasks)
System Authority Override
Temporarily grants the Guild Master administrative-level access within the guild base—overriding terrain, traps, and environmental parameters.
(Duration: 10 minutes. Cooldown: 12 hours.)
Guild Link – "One Mind Directive"
When active, all online guild members' stats increase by 20%, and shared communication bandwidth expands to full sensory sync—allowing tactical unity in large-scale raids.
(Cooldown: 24 hours)
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When I gripped it for the first time, I felt the entire sanctum breathe with me.
Every level.
Every NPC.
Every circuit.
The staff thrummed like a heartbeat.
HIME stood beside me, her form flickering as her consciousness synced with the weapon.
> "Integration complete. Guild-wide resonance achieved. All systems respond directly to you, Ren-sama. You have effectively become the core of Aeternum Sanctum."
I smiled faintly, looking at the staff — the Aeternum Nexus — and felt the endless hum of energy beneath my fingertips.
"Feels like… home."
> "Functionally accurate," HIME replied. "Your biological and cognitive signatures are now encoded within the Nexus's control node. It recognizes you as both user and foundation."
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The months that followed were the calmest Yggdrasil had ever felt.
The sanctum remained hidden, untouchable, yet alive. NPCs maintained routines, forges worked endlessly, and information streams continued to flow.
We didn't need to fight anymore.
We had already won our world.
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But outside of Yggdrasil, the world was changing.
Games evolved, genres shifted, and player communities migrated.
And as with every revolution in entertainment, the spotlight moved — new technologies, new experiences, new escapes.
Two years after the birth of the Aeternum Nexus, the headlines read:
> "World's New Obsession – Dead Zone: Sniper Frontier Dominates VR Charts."
"Rise of PvP Titans: Arena X Launches Global Esports League."
Both titles were different from Yggdrasil — linear, specialized, designed around precision rather than freedom.
One focused on long-range realism — a VR sniper simulator where milliseconds mattered more than mana.
The other was pure chaos — high-speed duels, reflex-based combat, team matches built for competition and fame.
And as always, curiosity pulled me in.
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When I first logged into Dead Zone: Sniper Frontier, the simplicity almost felt foreign.
No class trees. No skill webs. No fantasy lore or gods. Just the world, the rifle, and the hum of wind through broken cities.
My fingers — fragile in reality — steadied around a virtual trigger.
The moment the first bullet flew, I felt it.
The calm. The rhythm. The silence before a perfect shot.
Yggdrasil had taught me to analyze, predict, control.
This game rewarded all of that — but compressed it into seconds.
Within a week, my name Traveler_R appeared on the global leaderboard.
Within a month, I was ranked among the top ten.
They called me The Mirror Sniper, because I never missed twice.
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Then came Arena X — the chaotic PvP battlefield.
Different skill set. Different tempo.
It was all reaction, adaptation, psychology.
But to someone who had lived inside illusions and data for years, reading opponents was second nature.
In duels, I made them doubt their own moves before I even struck.
I'd feint a pattern, break it, let them overcommit — and then punish them for believing I played by their logic.
The players there didn't realize what they were fighting wasn't just reflex.
It was experience.
A decade of digital instinct refined by Yggdrasil's impossible freedom.
And yet…
as good as I became, as high as I climbed, something always felt absent.
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One night, after another flawless PvP run, I sat alone in the dark, headset still glowing, hands trembling slightly from adrenaline.
It wasn't the thrill that was missing. It was the depth.
These games were sharp — honed, exhilarating.
But they were confined.
Every system had a limit, every weapon a formula.
They rewarded perfection, not imagination.
And for someone who had built an empire on curiosity and control, that was a cage.
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I logged out, staring at the familiar glow of my Yggdrasil capsule beside the bed. Dust clung to its surface like memories that refused to fade.
> "Ren-sama," HIME's voice came through softly, through the AI module synced to my home terminal. "Your heart rate indicates restlessness."
"Yeah," I murmured. "The other games are great, HIME. But…"
I trailed off, fingers brushing against the cold surface of the old capsule.
> "But they lack something," she said. "Possibility."
"Exactly."
Silence lingered for a long moment.
Then I smiled faintly. "You know, HIME… Yggdrasil might've been just a game. But it let me build something. Every illusion, every creation, every world… it all felt alive. These new worlds—they just let me play."
> "Then perhaps," HIME said gently, "you are not done with the old one."
I looked at the capsule again.
And for a moment, I could almost hear the faint hum of Aeternum Sanctum's forges calling to me across the void — like the heartbeat of a forgotten god still echoing in digital space.
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End of Chapter 31 – The Song of the Sanctum