Chapter 275: Planet Lord

Ren opened his eyes and stretched his legs across the cold floor.

Late-afternoon light showed beneath the door. He waited for the feeling to return to his feet, then pushed himself up with a hand against the stone. Halvern stood nearby, watching until Ren had his balance.

"Everyone’s safe," Ren said.

Halvern nodded. "You did well, Ren."

The General walked past him and opened the door. John waited outside in his grey coat; he looked at Ren, then stepped aside to let him onto the path.

Ren turned once to thank them before leaving. Behind him, the hall door closed.

— • —

He asked for his status once he was clear of the seclusion halls.

[STATUS.]

[STAGE: SIX — PLANET LORD.]

[LIFEFORM TIER: TWO.]

[FOUNDATION: 16.2 MILLION TONS.]

[WORLD: PLANET. STATUS: STABLE.]

He read the foundation line again. The increase was more than he could judge by standing up and walking down a path. He opened his hand, closed it, and thought about where he could safely try Deepsnap.

Six still covered a wide range. Some Planet Lords had spent longer developing their strength within it than he’d been alive. He’d need to learn what his own body could manage now.

Before dismissing the panels, he asked about the sealed realm where Aldric kept his vigil, the place his bloodline provided a route to.

[SEALED REALM ACCESS: STAGE SEVEN.]

He had expected it. Ren let the line disappear and continued toward the Terrace.

— • —

Iris and Lyra were together on the path. Lyra came to meet him while Iris put away the slate she’d been holding.

"John sent word at midday," Iris said.

"Six is done. I still need to test a few things before I go back."

"And if the tests don’t go well?"

"Then I’m not ready."

Ren held out his hands, and they entered his world together.

They arrived beneath the Worldroot. His mother’s flowers still covered the field, but beyond it the ground stretched toward a shore much farther away. A sun stood low above the ocean.

Lyra stopped beside him. Iris looked from the sun to the new ground below the field, then back to the tree.

Ren walked down with them. The old bank opened onto land that had formed that morning, and the beach beyond was wide and pale. Water ran up the sand in long, shallow sheets.

Lyra took his hand as they reached it. He stayed beside her while she looked out across the ocean, letting her set the pace when they began walking again.

Iris watched the arch farther along the shore.

"Tomorrow?"

"Tonight, if the tests go well."

"Where are you going first?"

"Tide. I need to see how they’ve held up, and Spear knows the roads beyond it."

"And the thing that woke?"

"I haven’t seen what it can do yet."

Iris looked back toward the arch. Ren stayed beside them while a wave reached their boots and withdrew. Lyra kept hold of his hand as they turned toward the field, and he brought them back to the Terrace together.

— • —

At his desk, Ren wrote the letter he’d promised his parents.

It’s finished. I’m well. I’ll be away again for a while, and I’ll write when I’m back.

He read it once and folded it for the usual delivery. There was no need to put the sea or the new Law into it. He set it aside and returned to his world.

— • —

The pack was still at its posts. Ren told them the growth was finished and the residents could leave the gathering places.

Ward went out with the pod as the whales began spreading into the ocean. Along the shelf, the small keepers moved away from Lantern’s light. Ren watched their routes through his world while Keep brought the pack’s reports, then waited for Ward to return.

The whale carried him along the new coast until they reached an empty stretch of rock and sand. Ren checked the surrounding ground and water, including the seabed beyond his chosen target. No residents had come there, and no new life had begun in it.

He slid into the shallows and sent Ward back behind his firing position, clear of the rocks.

Two stone faces stood a short way apart, similar in thickness and composition. Ren chose a position at the same distance from each. He would use the first for the technique as it was now.

He raised his right hand.

Seawater gathered before his palm. Ren compressed it, narrowing the working until the pressure held at the point he knew from the deep. The familiar resistance built along his arm. He kept his wrist steady and released.

The hit reached the first face before the crack of sound came back. Stone split, and a broad piece fell into the shallows. Behind it, the impact had torn a hollow deep into the rock.

Ren examined the fracture through his world, then walked closer to look at it. Master-level Deepsnap had more behind it now. He let the water clear around the fallen piece before returning to his firing position.

Then he opened the optimization menu.

[OPTIMIZE: SELECT DIRECTION.]

[1 — EFFICIENCY: ENERGY COST PER SHOT REDUCED.]

[2 — COMPRESSION: CHARGE TIME REDUCED. CONTACT FORCE UNCHANGED.]

[3 — IMPACT: CONTACT FORCE INCREASED. CHARGE TIME INCREASED. RANGE AND AREA UNCHANGED.]

At the Glass Hearth, Snap and Saber had forced the Furnace leader to turn. Ren had remained anchored by Holdfast and fired into its chest plates. His shot had cracked them; Snap had broken the damaged plate away, and Saber had reached the coal beneath.

He remembered how quickly the leader had covered the damage with its arm. Every extra strike had given it another chance to retreat into its Lawfire.

A harder impact could break more of that protection while the opening was there. He would have to start charging earlier and trust the pack to keep the approach clear, as they had when Snap moved out of his firing line.

"Three."

[CONFIRMED.]

[OPTIMIZING PRINCIPLE ART: DEEPSNAP...]

The pattern shifted through his channels. Ren kept his hand lowered while it settled, following the altered pressure rather than trying to force it back into the familiar shape.

[DEEPSNAP — MASTER. IMPACT.]

He faced the second rock and raised his hand again.

The gathering began as before. He reached the point where he would normally release, but the new working needed more time. He held it, feeling the strain spread into his wrist while the compressed point remained the same size.

An enemy would have time to move during that extra charge. Ren kept his attention on the target and waited until the working was ready.

He released.

The second face broke inward. Fractures ran beyond the shallow split he’d made in the first, and a larger section came away, falling into the water with a splash that reached his knees.

He compared the two breaks. The second reached farther into the stone along the line of impact. A lower shelf behind the remaining rock was still sheltered; the strike hadn’t reached it. Harder contact hadn’t given him a way around whatever stood between him and a target.

His fingers were numb. He lowered his arm and tried closing his hand, but it responded slowly. There was plenty of energy left in his world; his hand still needed time.

He left the third shot unfired and called Ward back.

— • —

At the gathering shelf, Ren sat with his right hand in the shallows while the feeling began returning. He took the relic rack from storage with his left.

The five pieces rested in their frame. He lifted out the one the System had identified: a smooth grey stone that sat heavily in his palm, cold against his skin. He set the rack beside him with the other four still sealed.

[POWER REQUIRED.]

Ren supplied a little planar energy and watched the water around the stone.

It darkened first. Then the cold spread, carrying the pressure he remembered from the drowned streets. The change stopped a few body-lengths away, leaving a visible boundary against the surrounding water.

He kept the supply steady.

[POCKET-STONE: ACTIVE.]

[ENVIRONMENT: SEA OF ORIGIN.]

[POWER SUPPLY: EXTERNAL.]

[DIRECT LAW ATTACKS: NOT BLOCKED.]

Riptide approached the boundary and paused before crossing. Inside, it spread along the bottom and settled. Ren watched for any difficulty, keeping the stone where it was.

"It knows that water, Ren."

Snap came next, lowering its claw as it backed into the pocket beside Riptide. Both fit without pressing against the boundary. Ward remained beyond the shelf; there wasn’t room for the whale in the space Ren had made.

He checked the boundary all around them. The conditions held while he supplied energy, and neither Subject seemed troubled by the change. Ren shifted his grip on the stone. The pocket held while his hand moved, and he stopped before its boundary reached the edge of the shelf. He let them rest there before warning them that he was stopping the flow.

The boundary blurred as soon as he withdrew the supply. Cold water mixed with the surrounding shallows, and the pocket faded around Riptide and Snap.

Ren waited. It didn’t form again until he fed the stone a second time.

That answered the first question. It needed a continuous supply. He could use it between trips, but it would not remain a refuge if he fell and stopped powering it. Nor did knowing it worked here establish how well it would hold its conditions in the Burning Sea. That test would have to happen somewhere clear of the fighting.

He ended the small working, returned the stone to its cradle, and put the rack away.

— • —

His right hand could close by the time Anvil reached him, but Ren waited until the remaining numbness faded before testing his grip again. He pressed his fingertips into the sand, lifted a wet stone, and turned it without dropping it.

Then he knelt beside Anvil.

The scorched seam remained visible along the shell, with Balm spread over it. Ren eased the moss aside enough to inspect the repair. The opening had closed, leaving a dull, hard edge beneath his fingers.

He stepped back and had Anvil turn, brace, and settle its weight through the leg below the mark. The seam stayed closed. Ren watched it repeat the movement before resting his hand beside the repair once more.

"You’re coming. Balm stays with you."

The moss settled back along Anvil’s shell.

Wick and Loom would remain home. Ren gathered the other thirteen at the shelf: Ward with Keep, Riptide, Snap, Lantern, Knock, Bolt, Mosaic, Saber, Ribbon, Hearth, Anvil, and Balm.

"Ward carries Keep. Riptide checks the water ahead, Lantern watches the route. Hearth carries anyone who needs it."

He indicated Snap, Bolt, Mosaic, Saber, and Ribbon.

"You keep the carrying group clear. Knock, same signal. Anvil stays with Ward for now."

Anvil shifted beside the whale, keeping Balm above the water.

"We collect Spear before we go beyond Tide. If I go down, Ward leads you back to the settlement. Get Spear to guide you to the arch. Don’t wait for me."

He let the instructions pass through the link, then continued.

"The stone is for resting when we’re clear of the fighting. It needs my energy. If I fall, leave it and follow the withdrawal."

Ren checked the route from the shelf to the arch through his world. The shore between them was longer now, but the water remained open. He had Ward take the carrying group ahead while he walked beside the shallows, watching Anvil move with the others.

— • —

The arch stood upright on its stretch of beach, grey light steady within the stone. Far behind Ren, the Worldroot rose above the new coast.

He stopped at the threshold and checked the allowance for the Burning Sea.

[REVIVALS REMAINING TODAY: 1.]

His hand closed without hesitation. He held it shut for a moment, then opened it and let it rest at his side.

The Hearths were still failing beyond that arch. He had seen his own world settle, spoken to Lyra and Iris, and tested what he could before returning. The next part had to happen on the other side.

Ren waited until Ward had Keep settled, then stepped through.