Exploration- Chapter 43

Sorry I didn't get this done last night. It sorta went in an direction I hadn't been expecting but which felt so right.

Chapter 43- A Most Welcome Friend

I managed to sleep for several hours, which was odd given my excitement, but dad has always said the most useful skill he’d learned in the Corps was the ability to sleep anywhere at anytime on anything. Grab your sleep when you could. As woke up that thought struck me followed by another realization. By now, I’d seen more combat than my dad had ever dreamed over. A part of me said that what he did was more heroic because he didn’t have powers but another said, he also hadn’t had to face down primordials, ascendant matrons, inhuman cyborgs from another universe, or a freaking goddess. At the end of the day both positions were valid.

I immediately noticed three things. Selena and the dungeon party weren’t back. They’d been going at it for hours. A moment of worry passed my mind, but Selena had been capable before getting her ascendant tier swords, now she was a wrecking ball. The same for Samvek, he’d always been everything I wanted to be in a warrior but with his new class added in, he was even more powerful. I didn’t need to worry about them.

The second thing I saw was Tad standing over my drafting table looking at my designs. The third was disheartening. There was no sign of Clay or Oliver. Hopefully they weren’t in any trouble and just as hopefully, they’d be back with the iron soon.

I stretched, stood up, and walked over to Tad, as I moved, I didn’t see Fara anywhere, but for all I knew, she might have the ability to hide from even my senses with her new upgrades. While I was looking around, I noticed Lexa had returned. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor and facing the one door to the warehouse.

Tad saw me and smiled, “I rarely let myself get enough sleep, but I’ve found even with boosted stats that it’s still good for me.”

I nodded. “Same.”

Then he started asking me about the designs. I decided that he needed to know about my conversation with his grandmother. “Before we go into that, I need to tell you about something that happened while you were sleeping.” I paused for a second to make sure I had his full attention and then continued, “I was trying to understand the control disc and used an ability I have in my system to see the base code of the system.”

“Base code?”

I cringed. How could I explain the concept of a computer to someone from a culture like this? “Uh, probably a bad example. Something from my world. Just think of it like the instructions that everything runs on. I can see how the system orchestrates things.”

He nodded. “And what did you find out.”

“At first, I couldn’t find anything but I kept pushing. I’m stubborn like that. Instead of being able to will it to happen, my efforts drew attention from someone else. She identified herself as Queen Simari of the Void Court and essentially called you her grandson.”

Tad seemed to need the drafting table to support himself as he sorta feel back onto the stool I’d been using. “She was here?”

“Well not here,” I tapped the side of my head, “more like here.”

“And what did she say?”

“She gave me a quest which was affirmed by my system. She allowed my System Sight skill to extend into the Fey System for 7 days as a sign of good will and thanks for helping you. But she offered me a bigger reward like a class from this system if I could complete a quest. She gave us 7 days to remove all the Order from Basetown.”

Tad got quiet then and he was lost in though. Finally he asked, “Was that it?”

“She made it clear that recovering you was important but that dealing with the Order was more important. She implied that dealing with them in Basetown would only be a tiny part of the task but I got the sense she was talking about the real battle being against their god. I want you to know that I made it clear from the beginning that she couldn’t use me to get to you.”

“Thanks for that. I guess, in an odd way I’m sorta relieved by that. She wants me back, I get that. I’m part of the family. But I’m hardly her top priority. That also makes sense. If I was, then how would I have ever been lost in the first place.”

I knew he had a lot to think about, but after that our conversation refocused on the designs. We talked about how I’d been able to enchant items in my world and that it was done with rune smithing. The entire thing seemed odd to Tad. “I can feel the magic in your armor, but it feels artificial and temporary, maybe long lasting, but not indefinite.”

“That’s my understanding too. Enchanted items eventually run out of magic, but since coming to Aerth, I’ve learned that there’s a lot more to enchanting than I knew. I have already been trying to figure out how to use raw spiritual energy to match what you can do. My companion might have a better idea about that, but I can’t summon him here. Apparently, the Fey System has something against astral beings.”

Tad’s expression was one of surprise. “I don’t even know what that is. Can you explain a bit more.”

I did my best to tell him about the Astral plane, what an eidolon was, how I was bonded to Urg. He listened and commiserated with me at how hard it must be to not have Urg here.

Then his eyes lit up. The expression on his face was that of a mischievous or defiant child. “You know, you said you now have the ability to see into the system and I have authority as a prince. I wonder if we could find a work-around to get Urg here?”

“Hmm… maybe, are you willing to do that? It sounds like it might piss off the System which is basically your grandmothers isn’t it?”

He shrugged and laughed. “It’s not like I’m being entirely selfless with this. You said Urg is powerful right?”

I nodded. “Maybe stronger than me, Selena, or Samvek. I honestly think that his connection to me is holding him back from expressing all of his power.”

“Then I think it’s a great idea. As for upsetting some family that I’ve never met, maybe they shouldn’t have lost me in the first place.” His grin got positively wicked.

In the end, I didn’t care about his motivations. If he could help me understand how to overcome this restriction, then I’d get Urg back. I’d feel better just for his presence. His power would definitely be helpful in the upcoming struggle.

I focused my attention on Tad deliberately, not with curiosity but with the same care I used when negotiating with a system interface. System Sight slid into place, and the world peeled back in layers I was only just learning how to read. His presence wasn’t a single authority or a unified signature. It was two distinct forces braided together, each reinforcing the other while remaining unmistakably separate.

For just a moment, I imagined that I was seeing the world with green lines of code floating in front of my eyes, but then I let the fancy go. This was called System Sight but it was as much about feel as it was sight.

The first felt warm and expansive, like sunlight filtered through leaves. It carried growth, renewal, and an instinctive generosity that pushed outward rather than pressing down. This was Summer, and it resonated with life, momentum, and the idea that things were meant to become more than they were. When I brushed against that authority, it didn’t resist me so much as acknowledge me and move on.

The second was colder and far more precise. Void authority didn’t spread. It condensed, sharpened, and defined boundaries with absolute clarity. Where Summer encouraged, Void selected. It felt surgical, deliberate, and deeply personal, as if every ounce of power had been weighed before being allowed to exist. Standing between the two, Tad wasn’t torn. He was balanced, and that alone explained why the system tolerated him instead of rejecting him outright.

What struck me most was what wasn’t there. I could feel the absence of the third court like a sealed door, not empty but locked, its outline etched clearly into the structure of Tad’s authority. He didn’t lack it because he’d been denied. He lacked it because it was never his to begin with. That distinction mattered, because it meant the system wasn’t waiting for him to claim it. It was waiting to see what he’d do without it.

System Sight: 11 >> 14

I compared that to my own standing and felt the contrast immediately. I didn’t have authority here in the same way. I wasn’t recognized as native, royal, or bound. What I had instead was permission, broad and unsettling, to observe, interpret, and intervene. Where Tad was acknowledged by the Fey System, I was tolerated by it, and only because my own system vouched for me as something useful rather than something safe.

That realization made the path forward clearer. Tad didn’t need to force anything. His authority already fit the framework of this world. I was the irregular element, the one who could push where the system preferred stasis. Together, we weren’t breaking rules. We were exploiting overlap, using legitimacy from one side and leverage from the other.

I pulled my awareness back and met Tad’s eyes. He was watching me closely, not with suspicion but with the same quiet intensity he brought to everything that mattered. I nodded once, slow and certain, because now I understood what he could do and what he couldn’t. More importantly, I understood exactly where I fit into this.

“If we’re going to try this,” I said quietly, “it has to be both of us. I can force the question, but only you can make the system accept the answer.”

Tad didn’t hesitate. He just nodded back, and in that moment I knew we were past theory. The next step was action, and whatever resistance waited for us, we were about to find out how hard the Fey System could push when something truly new tried to enter its realm.

I turned inward next, letting System Sight slide along the familiar thread that connected me to Urg. That bond had always been deep, older than most of my other connections, anchored in shared growth rather than command. I was reminded that it was only because of Uncle Dan that I had Urg at all. It was an ability that I’d inherited from him even if I’d made it my own. Even now, with distance and interference, that connection thrummed steady and patient, as if he were simply waiting for me to stop being blocked.

The resistance showed itself immediately once I tried to follow the bond outward. It wasn’t a wall or a denial, but something closer to static, a constant interference layered over the connection. The Fey System wasn’t cutting Urg off directly. It was drowning the signal, flooding the space between worlds with noise that made coherent passage nearly impossible. I could feel the intent behind it, not hostile exactly, but defensive in a way that assumed anything outside the system was a threat by default.

As I examined that interference more closely, the logic behind it became obvious. Astral beings weren’t just powerful, they were conceptual. They existed as thought, or rather as thought given form, which meant they didn’t fit neatly into the authority structures the Fey Courts relied on. Letting something like Urg move freely through their realm wasn’t just a risk of violence. It was a risk of change, and everything about this system was built to preserve a carefully managed equilibrium.

That understanding didn’t make the resistance any weaker, but it made it predictable. The Fey System wasn’t reacting to Urg specifically. It was reacting to what he represented. A being outside its hierarchy, outside its lifecycle, and outside its control was the exact kind of variable the courts had spent millennia eliminating. Knowing that shifted my approach from confrontation to redirection.

System Sight: 14 >> 16

I opened my eyes and looked back at Tad. “I see why they don’t want him here,” I said quietly. “Urg isn’t under their authority, and he never will be. He’s a being of thought and intent, not growth and decay. To them, that’s chaos.” I paused, then added, “But you’re proof that they can tolerate exceptions when it suits them.”

Tad’s expression tightened, not with anger but with focus. “So what do you need from me?”

“Your blessing,” I replied. “Not as a workaround, but as a bridge. I can push the summon, but the moment it manifests, the system will try to shut it down. If your authority is already present and accepting him, it won’t be able to reject him outright.”

Tad didn’t answer immediately. He closed his eyes and reached inward, the dual authority within him stirring as Summer warmth and Void precision aligned. When he opened them again, there was no doubt left in his gaze. “Then do it,” he said. “If they’re going to fight this, they’ll have to fight both of us.”

I drew in a slow breath and centered myself, fingers curling as I reached for the summoning. The static intensified the moment I began, pressure building behind my eyes as the Fey System pushed back harder. Even so, the bond to Urg flared bright and steady, unwavering despite the interference. I braced myself, knowing the next step wouldn’t be gentle, and nodded once to Tad.

“I’m ready,” I said.

The resistance spiked the moment I committed. The static turned into pressure, then into pain, like trying to force my way through a storm that existed inside my skull. I felt Tad’s authority surge beside me, Summer warmth and Void sharpness interlocking as he accepted what I was doing rather than trying to control it. The Fey System pushed back hard, and the air around us began to vibrate with a high, keening tension that made my teeth ache.

My knees hit the floor before I realized I’d lost the strength to stand. Tad went down with me, one hand braced against the stone, the other clenched tight as if he were holding the world together by will alone. I could feel his power straining, not slipping, but stretched thin across too many vectors at once. Somewhere behind us, I heard Fara move, felt her presence snap into place at Tad’s side like a drawn blade.

“What are you doing to him?” she demanded, her voice sharp with fear and fury.

“No,” Tad muttered, the word dragged out like it cost him something. “He’s not hurting me.”

I couldn’t spare a thought for her, not now. The bond to Urg was blazing, a clear line of certainty cutting through the static, and I followed it with everything I had. I shoved the summoning through Tad’s acceptance, anchoring it in his authority instead of letting it collide directly with the system’s rejection. The pain doubled, then tripled, my vision fracturing into overlapping layers as the Fey System tried to reassert control.

I screamed inward with my will. The static tore. It wasn’t clean or open but it was enough.

The air in the warehouse rippled like heat over stone. Space folded inward, then outward, reality stretching to make room for something that didn’t belong and was coming anyway. I felt the pressure release in a sudden, violent rush, and the system’s resistance collapsed into a furious background hum that no longer had purchase. The summoning circle burned itself into existence, not drawn, not cast, but asserted.

Urg stepped through.

He emerged fully formed, no flicker or half-state, as if he’d always been waiting just beyond a door someone had finally opened. Ebony skin caught the light like polished obsidian, muscles carved deep and precise as living stone. His torso was broad, his neck thick, and his head tilted slightly as he took in the space with eyes that glowed with quiet awareness rather than aggression.

Four arms unfolded as he moved, each one powerful and steady, hands flexing as if testing the rules of this place. White wings spread behind him, vast and immaculate, feathers edged in faint luminescence that contrasted starkly with his dark form. The air shifted around him, pressure equalizing, the dungeon itself reacting with something that felt suspiciously like respect.  A moment later, I heard Spot’s voice audibly. “Greetings, Astral Lord to Be. The Ways acknowledge you.”

I felt him then, fully and completely, the bond snapping into perfect clarity. Relief crashed over me so hard it almost knocked me unconscious, and I sagged forward, catching myself with one hand on the floor. Urg turned toward me immediately, his presence enveloping, familiar, grounding in a way nothing else ever had been.

He didn’t speak. He didn’t need to.

The static faded into nothing, the Fey System’s resistance withdrawing into sullen silence as if it had just lost an argument it hadn’t expected to. I could feel Tad’s authority settle, the strain easing as he sucked in a ragged breath and pushed himself upright with Fara’s help. Around us, the warehouse felt different now, altered by the presence of something ancient and uncontained.

Urg stood there, wings half-spread, four arms relaxed at his sides, a being of thought and power made manifest in a realm that had tried very hard to keep him out. My strength ran out and both Tad and I collapsed. I felt Urg catch me and saw Fara catch Tad.

Then the notifications hit.

You have acted in defiance of the Fey System… error… authority granted, authority used… consequences being calculated.

Diplomatic Immunity as a System Mediator acknowledged.

You have summoned your Companion Urg. His status has been boosted by 10% as he is here more than ever before.  Ascension draws closer.

Summon Eidolon is ready to evolve to Legendary Tier. This cannot be delayed. Prepare for the evolutionary process to begin.

Then there was blackness. It wasn’t oblivion or unconsciousness. It was a state that I was pulled into as I found a oneness with Urg. He was so much more than I knew.