The Runic Artist Chapter 55: Chapter 374 - Fallen Prime

Read chapter 55 of The Runic Artist by Ellake on NovelPedia.

Nate was assaulted by a blue so blinding it burnt away at the very essence of who he was. A last ditch flex of his newly acquired Pillar of Concepts had allowed him to close the cracks between the Prime Reality and his own. Beyond his own Reality, he found himself floating in a depthless ocean of mana so pure that it wanted to scour him clean and reset him to the beautiful underlying energy that made up everything. A bubble of his own making surrounded him, made up of Concepts that had always been his to play with and fueled by the mana around him and his Pillar. That small amount of separation allowed him to resist the will of the Prime Reality that wanted nothing more than to render him down and add him to its vast well of energy. Beyond his bubble of serenity, the ocean of mana writhed like a living thing. He watched as a strange alien being formed for a fraction of a second and vanished, only to be replaced by what looked like an ornate tea set. Then came an entire building, with people moving inside of it as though they were alive. In the distance, lakes and mountains formed as he watched, covered in trees with birds in the air, appearing for an instant and then being burned away just as fast. Without his high perception, he doubted he would’ve been able to even see each image, let alone store the details and process them with his incredibly fast mind. To a lesser being, the images he saw would likely just seem like odd swirls and eddies within the turbulent currents of the Prime Reality. For all their beauty and strangeness, they weren’t where the majority of Nate’s interest was flowing. He could sense it, something related to him and this Path he had chosen. Something waiting at the heart of the Prime Reality. With planned intent, he started making his way towards whatever was calling to him. He flew, or fell, or rose, often changing from one second to the next as if direction itself was not defined in this place. As he moved, he was forced to spend most of his focus on his connection to his Pillar of Concepts. His body struggled to maintain itself unless he used his own Pillar to reinforce himself. He pulled on Kiri’s Permanence, Ankh’aris’s Destruction, and Quellian’s Restoration in equal measure, anchoring his existence. It was enough to keep him from being snuffed out, but not enough to do more than protect himself from the ravages of the mana of the Prime Reality. As he floated, he started to notice a pattern in the scenes he saw play out. Each one appeared to represent a Concept he was aware of, infinite as they were. With the remaining part of his mind, he tried to recognise each one. The mountain and lake had been Mountain and Lake, of course. But it had also been Crisp and Cool, the air of a mountain home. The building had been Busy, but there had been Camaraderie there. Every scene had multiple layers, and Nate realised as he drank them in, he could feel something in his Vessel shifting. He knew what he was doing by now. This was the Path of an Ascendant. He was connecting his Pillar from his own Reality to that of the Prime Reality. He continued for days as he floated deeper and deeper into the heart of the Prime Reality. As he got closer to his target, the things that flickered around him became more and more frequent. They also started to become larger. With nothing better to do,Nate studied their Concepts. He was fairly certain he witnessed the birth of a universe only for it to vanish a moment later, the big bang scattering debris and space dust with such speed and force that Nate was sure it would wipe him out. Then it was gone and a chicken replaced it. Then something else, moving on towards infinity. He didn’t know how long he travelled, as even time in this place seemed to lack meaning and consistency. But he knew he had found his target when he saw the first thing in this Reality that did not vanish within an instant of appearing. Towering above him, taller than a mountain, rested a floating throne m