NeoRealm - Staring back into the Future

Jason watched as the poison cloud engulfed the threads within his body and held them still. While movement of the threads didn't literally cause his body to move, it seemed that this poison somehow forcefully connected the concepts together and enforced its own reality onto him. He wasn't even able to do all that much about it.

Still, as Jason lay there and watched the poison slowly get processed, a few details were gleamed. Not about the poison, sadly, but rather about the NeoRealm and the System. When he had first started playing, he had taken the strings used by the System to be some innate part of this dimension. The abyssal poison however clearly showed that wasn't entirely the case.

Sure, the Dretches came from the Abyss, but their poison was like a chameleon and would adapt itself to whatever reality it was in. So if it could take the form of a cloud, that meant strings weren't the end all, be all of NeoRealm. Rather, they were just the method the System used.

Though that couldn't be entirely the correct answer. After all, the world's Energy also came in the form of strings. So there had to be some innate quality that it represented. Then it hit him.

Jason laughed as he realized another link to further his understanding of reality. It was specifically the Energy that formed lines. He used Energy, the world used Energy, and most certainly the System used it too. Lines were the form that Energy took and so the dots, the cloud, that must be Qi. The only question left was what form Mana took.

Whatever the form was, it probably connected back to his guesses on the basis for the three powers. Inertia, a line. That made some sense, though why was the equation for force a dot? A cloud? Unless more power equals a denser dot. Mass and acceleration combining together to create a force.

The reason the poison was a cloud wasn't because it necessarily came that way, but rather the fact that the Dretch could only use so much power and so each dot represented the max amount of Qi available for the effects magnitude. That it formed a cloud not because it was meant to, but because it had to as the dots were incapable of combining. Oh, and of course a dot could also represent a black hole, a dot of infinite mass.

So how would you represent action and reaction? The trite and off the cuff answer would be a triangle. After all, there is a sense of progression there. From a dot, to a line, and ending up with a shape. It could also explain why Energy could turn into the other two powers, but they weren't able to turn into each other, at least not easily.

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On top of that it would also begin to explain why Qi was mostly internal, Mana external, and Energy in between. By taking on a shape, the Mana had more structure and was likely able to more easily form larger compound shapes. Sure, you could do the same with dots, but it is going to take a lot more effort and there are going to be a ton more weak points. A line allowed for a sturdier structure, but still more likely to break apart.

Though in theory, Energy should be just as capable of external work as Mana. After all, it easily turns into the stuff, so why not? The reverse should also be true as well. Energy was seen as a middling power because it did what the other two did, but worse. Sure, you might need a little more Energy to do either, but it should be worse.

This divide smacks of System interference to Jason, but now wasn't the time to try and delve these particular secrets yet. After all, he hadn't even confirmed that the dots were Qi and that Mana took the form of shapes. Sure, it was an educated guess on his part, but each involved an even greater leap of logic to get to. Too much wool gathering can send you down the wrong path and so for now he gets up to continue his journey.

Though Jason does take a moment to sigh as he notices the destruction around him. The fight wasn't exactly the most bombastic, but that poison cloud at the end didn't do any good for the plants. Sure, even when condensed in his body it didn't do any actual damage, but plants aren't sapients and so it managed to kill off a large swath of grass. Anyone with eyes can see that something went down here.

He shakes his head and taps the shoulder harness, letting Lily out. It had been a while since she was allowed to roam about freely and he felt bad for basically ignoring her over the last week or so. Sure, he had been making sure she was fed and taken care of, but a rabbit really isn't meant to be kept in a cage. They need a lot of space to run around in and the only reason Lily was fine likely stemmed more from this being a game then anything else.

Jason was even half tempted to call it a day and just hang out for a while. Though in the end he decides to continue on at least a little longer. Sure, the original marker that called down abyssal wrath was gone, but at the very least that blob of dead grass probably has some connection to the Abyss for the moment.

Still, he doesn't go too far before setting up camp. In fact, the site of the fight was technically still within view, though that had more to do with how flat the terrain was and the complete lack of trees. Jason however felt it was far enough. Besides, if the Marilith did actually manage to call down more demons on that spot, by being so close to it, the System would continue to restrict what can show up. So no matter how unlikely, Jason didn't want to be the one who allowed a serious incursion to come in.