Chronos bolted out of the Awakening Center, his lungs burning. Behind him, he could hear the frantic shouts of the City Guard, but he didn't look back. He dived into the "Rust District," a labyrinth of corrugated metal shacks and steam-pipes where the law rarely ventured.
He ducked into a derelict warehouse, sliding behind a rusted shipping container.
"System... status," he wheezed.
[Mana: 2/100 (Recovering...)]
[Warning! The 'Blue Rock' Seeding has begun.]
[A parasitic mana-shard has latched onto your Dimensional Anchor.]
Chronos felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his chest. In his mind's eye, he saw his beautiful, dark Void. Near his tiny, molten core, a jagged purple crystal was growing out of the empty space. It looked like a cancer, pulsing with a sickly light.
[Entity Detected: Void-Crawler Larva (Rank: E-Sub).]
[Description: A creature born from the corrupted mana of the Asteroid. It eats worlds from the inside out.]
"It's eating my core," Chronos realized. He could see the molten ball he worked so hard to compress starting to dim as the purple crystal sucked the heat out of it.
If the core died, his dimension died. If the dimension died, he was just a powerless orphan in a world full of predators.
"I can't fight it with World Pressure. I have no mana left," he growled. "System, there has to be a way. I'm the Creator, right? Give me a tool!"
[The 'Genesis Engine' does not give gifts, Creator. It only provides 'Conversions'.]
[Would you like to open the 'Emergency Exchange'?]
"Yes! Open it!"
A new screen flickered to life. It wasn't the Creation Menu; it looked more like a pawn shop for Gods.
Emergency Exchange Option A: Sacrifical Burn – Burn 10% of your Soul to gain 500 Mana. (Warning: Permanent Stat Loss). Option B: Matter Deconstruction – Convert a physical object from the 'Real World' into 'Raw Essence' for the Void. Option C: Loan – Borrow 1,000 Mana. Interest: 50% daily.
"Option B," Chronos said immediately. "I'm not burning my soul, and I'm not becoming a slave to System interest."
He looked around the warehouse. His eyes landed on a pile of discarded Mana-Batteries—spent fuel cells used to power the city's streetlights. They were supposed to be empty, but they always held a trace amount of "Dreg Mana."
[Target Identified: 12x Spent Mana Cells.]
[Beginning Deconstruction...]
Chronos touched the batteries. A black vortex opened in his palm, and the heavy metal canisters vanished as if they had never existed.
[+12 Mana Essence gained.]
[+50 Metal Scrap gained.]
"Not enough. I need more!"
He began grabbing everything. Old pipes, a rusted engine block, even a pile of copper wiring. The warehouse was being devoured.
[Ding! 100 Metal Essence accumulated.] [Creation Menu Updated: 'Basic Weaponry' unlocked.]
Inside the Void, the Void-Crawler Larva had fully emerged. It looked like a hairless, multi-eyed wolf made of purple glass. It lunged at the molten core, its jaws open wide.
"Not today," Chronos hissed. "System, I don't have enough mana to create a planet, but I have enough 'Essence' to create a Tool."
'Physics... remember the laws of physics. Kinetic energy equals half of mass times velocity squared.'
"Construct: The Spear of Gravity."
[Cost: 10 Mana + 50 Metal Essence.]
[Construction... Complete.]
A spear made of heavy, dense black iron materialized inside the Void. It didn't fall; it hung in the air, vibrating with the weight of the Star Dust it was forged from.
"Calculated Vector: Larva's Skull," Chronos commanded.
He didn't need to throw it. In his world, he was the force of gravity. He simply willed the "Down" direction to be throughthe monster's head.
The spear accelerated instantly, breaking the sound barrier within the tiny dimension. CRACK!
The Void-Crawler didn't even have time to howl. The heavy iron spear slammed into its head with the force of a falling skyscraper. The creature shattered into a thousand purple fragments.
[Ding! First Kill Confirmed!]
[You have gained: 200 XP.]
[Level Up! Level 2 -> Level 3]
[Loot Found: 'Corrupted Mana Heart'.]
The fragments of the monster didn't vanish. They began to melt, being absorbed by the glass floor of the Void.
[The Void has consumed the 'Corrupted Mana Heart'.]
[Processing... Integration successful.]
[Your Void has gained the 'Chaos' Attribute.]
[Current World Population: 1 (Deceased).]
[New Feature Unlocked: The Bestiary.]
Chronos leaned back against the shipping container, gasping for air as the Level Up warmth healed his strained muscles.
He looked at the notification. He had just turned a parasite into a power-up. In the real world, hunters spent weeks tracking these things for a few coins. He had just fed one to his soul.
"If I can bring matter in... and use it to kill monsters inside..." Chronos's eyes sharpened. "I'm not just a Creator. I'm a recycler. I'll turn this world's trash into my own private heaven."
Suddenly, the warehouse door creaked open.
A young girl, no older than fourteen, with dirt-streaked cheeks and a jagged scar over her eye, stood there holding a rusted knife. She wasn't a guard. She was a scavenger.
"I saw what you did to those batteries," she whispered, her voice trembling. "They just... disappeared. You're an Awakened, aren't you?"
Chronos looked at her. His System flickered.
[New Quest: The First Citizen.]
[Objective: Every God needs a follower. Recruit your first 'Apostle'.]
[Reward: Shared Mana Pool unlocked.]