I Can Assimilate Everything

Achilles's eyes opened wide.

He felt a boundless and vast Authority that felt fundamentally different from everything he currently wielded!

Not the Void's absolute negation. Not the Regulations he'd claimed through force. Not even the Existential Authority of Fables that let him perceive narrative structures underlying events.

This was something else entirely…an Authority that resonated with principles of growth, adaptation, propagation, continuation.

The fundamental drive that made existence persist rather than collapsing into entropy, that encouraged complexity rather than dissolution, that declared consciousness and life were meaningful rather than mere accidents of existence!

The Way of Life, manifested as barrier that would only permit passage to those whose existence harmonized with its principles.

And Achilles, standing before it with carefully constructed identity and genuine curiosity warring behind purple-gold eyes...

Had to decide how much of his true capability to reveal in pursuit of understanding what lay beyond.

The Peripheral Field of Life pulsed with authority that felt simultaneously inviting and exclusionary, welcoming to those who resonated with its nature while remaining impenetrable to those whose existence operated according to antithetical principles.

At this moment, behind him, the three Magi he had been following for weeks finally arrived.

Their approach had been slower than his instantaneous traversal.

They materialized into the region with expressions cycling through recognition, reverence, and barely contained excitement.

They looked toward the Foldless One floating before them with a mixture of awe and supplication!

Without hesitation or deliberation, all three of them kneeled.

Archmagus Solleth's voice echoed across the Void with respectful formality.

"This humble one and his disciples greet the Honored Foldless Ones!"

Achilles observed this spectacle with carefully maintained calm, his expression revealing nothing beyond mild curiosity at witnessing social dynamics he hadn't previously encountered.

He watched as the Foldless One, who had ignored his own greeting entirely, actually shifted his attention toward Archmagus Solleth and the two Magi kneeling beside him.

The guardian's abyssal verdant eyes tracked across the three supplicants with evaluation that lasted mere moments.

Then, with a gesture so slight it might have been missed by less attentive observation, he nodded toward them.

Coldly. Minimally. But with acknowledgment that carried tremendous significance given his previous complete silence.

Such an action caused the Magi to kneel even further with happiness so profound it seemed to radiate from their beings!

Eventually they rose from their prostration.

Then their gazes turned toward Achilles, examining him with curiosity.

Who was this entity who had arrived before them?

Achilles paid no attention to their scrutiny.

His focus remained on the barrier before him, on the faint but green transparent brilliance that stopped him from advancing toward the massive cube structure.

He placed his hand against the barrier with deliberate care, palm pressing against luminescence that felt simultaneously solid and incorporeal.

A light smile formed on his features as his consciousness examined what his touch revealed about the authority comprising this obstacle.

When his existence contemplated assimilating it...

He saw that such consumption was very much possible.

The authority wasn't inherently beyond his capability to claim!

But doing so would reveal capabilities that might draw exactly the wrong kind of attention.

And more fundamentally, he wondered- if he didn't rely on his gift of Assimilation, if he attempted to pass through as he was.

Did he possess inherent inclination toward Life?

The question intrigued him more than he'd anticipated.

His entire advancement had been built upon Assimilation…consuming and integrating rather than naturally developing.

With curiosity driving his actions, he tried to take a step forward toward the cube without employing his gift...

BZZZT!

He felt a sense of absolute resistance erupting through every aspect of his being.

The barrier rejected him with finality that suggested no amount of applied force would permit passage.

The sensation was unique in its totality, as if reality itself was declaring that regardless of how much power he exploded with, regardless of how determined his effort or creative his approach...

He would not be able to take a single step inward through natural means.

It almost declared that he was completely antithetical to Life.

He was?

Hah!

Achilles shook his head at such an assessment, finding the notion simultaneously absurd and concerning.

At this moment, with natural passage proving impossible and curiosity overwhelming caution, he opened up his existence to begin doing the thing that nobody else could accomplish.

'Assimilate.'

...!

He gave the command to his existence.

He wanted to begin very slowly and very calmly…a methodical approach that would allow him to gauge responses before committing fully.

To simply absorb a sliver of the brilliance of Life that emanated from the cube in front of him.

A sliver.

The most minimal amount that could be considered progress toward understanding what this authority comprised and how it might integrate with his existing foundation.

But then…

The moment Achilles felt that radiant green brilliance enter his existence, the instant that small minuscule sliver of Life's authority touched the vast ocean of his accumulated power...

BOOM!

He felt like something was exploding.

His entire existence began pulsing and trembling as if every aspect of his being had suddenly encountered catalyst that triggered chain reactions operating beyond his immediate control.

A terrifying transformative explosion erupting through dimensions of his existence he hadn't known could be affected so profoundly by single infusion of foreign authority.

Prompts materialized before his perception with urgency.

|You have assimilated an extremely potent form of Existential Authority!|

|You have assimilated The Living Existential Authority of Life!|

|This authority is extremely complex and pure, refined to concentrations that normal entities cannot safely integrate. It has begun transforming your existence rapidly across the Null Scale of Existence.|

|Due to how complex and pure this authority is, your entire existence will begin undergoing a surge in complexity and purity alongside it, your being restructuring to accommodate principles that demand refinement rather than simple power accumulation.|

|When the time comes that you have absorbed enough concentrations of Living Existential Authority of Life, you will transform and gain the distinction of a Living Existence, A Living Life!|

...!

HUUM!

The transformation was too strong.

Before he could do anything to modulate the process, before he could apply control, his existence seemingly screamed with hunger that transcended his conscious intent.

Every part of his being…every atom, every single cell, every aspect of his existence that could be considered discrete..cried out for more of this authority with desperation that alarmed him!

When he had simply wanted to absorb a sliver, to taste what this power comprised before deciding whether to consume more...

His existence erupted with gravitational force of devouring that overrode his careful planning entirely.

In the next moment, every shred of surrounding verdant authority surged into him with acceleration that suggested his existence had decided this was a non-negotiable acquisition regardless of anything else!

His body began to pulse with heavy verdant brilliance of Life that made him appear less like entity and more like beacon…condensed vitality radiating outward with intensity that declared something unprecedented was occurring in this region.

The Foldless One nearby turned toward him with speed that contradicted his previous lethargy.

Those abyssal blackhole eyes, which had shown only apathy before, opened wide with astonishment!

In the far distance, light-years away where other Foldless Ones floated at their guardian positions around the massive cube, their awareness also turned toward Achilles.

Attention that had been scattered across their individual vigils suddenly focused with coordinated intensity on the entity who glowed with terrifying concentrations of verdant brilliance.

Achilles's expression turned heavy as he recognized that his carefully constructed anonymity was dissolving with each pulse of Life's authority that his existence continued absorbing despite his attempts to slow the process.

The transformation refused to halt, refused to permit moderation, demanded completion with the same absolute certainty that the barrier had demanded compatibility.

At this moment, with multiple Foldless Ones now watching him with attention he'd hoped to avoid drawing...

"Fuck."

He couldn't help but curse!