"A-Ahjar, what the heck are you doing?" Whaccha stared at her son in fear, watching him inch towards her, knife in hand, "I'm your mother, damnit!"
"I'm well aware," Ahjar smiled calmly, but he continued to approach her and in the end, staring right into her terrified eyes, he brought down the knife and plunged it into her head.
Blood spurted out of her forehead and sprayed all over his body. Ahjar stared at the blood in all seriousness as he focused, extracting traces of information from her body. A few seconds later, he turned around and rushed out of the house.
Right as he left, the room lit up as Lore and Tell-Tale inspected her corpse, observing a fraction of her data had been stolen. Thankfully, unlike the clobbered corpse from before, her soul wasn't affected.
It meant she could go through the reincarnation cycle and be reborn into the world once again. At least, her data wasn't much damaged. The few stolen pieces could easily be replaced.
Standing right beyond the entrance and staring into the room, observing the actions of Lore and Tell-Tale was Ahjar, his gaze bottomless, 'Indeed, when I'm fully exercising my true nature, even Lore and Tell-Tale cannot detect me. But, it's only a matter of time before they adapt to this.'
He stared at his arm, observing faint energy flickers. Unlike the laws of the various worlds out there, Faith Grounds was different in that its laws were alive, had sentience, and could actively rewrite their own laws as and when necessary.
Therefore, as long as Ahjar continued to behave in such a highly profiled manner, it was only a matter of time before they figure out his secret and adapt to his nature. Once that happens, they would steal his foundation.
'I already had to sacrifice Peddler's power just to avoid their gaze. I'll truly become nothing if my core too is lost.' Thinking as such, Ahjar condensed a needle on his palm, watching it behave like a compass and point in a certain direction.
Without any hesitation, Ahjar began to travel in the pointed direction, mining for data in every location he chanced upon, gradually accumulating more and more of them.
Days turned into weeks and weeks into months. Eventually, after five decades of nonstop travel, Ajar, now bearing the appearance of an old man, arrived at a stretch of plains surrounded by three rings formed by mountain ranges.
"This is the spot where they fought." Ahjar muttered as he looked around and found the sole boulder in the place, approaching it as he caressed his hand on it, "This is where Arnark slammed his head and committed suicide."
He took a seat atop the boulder and exhaled slowly, taking almost ten minutes to do so. He then inhaled, taking an even longer time. With every breath, the duration of his inhalation and exhalation continued to grow longer.
Slowly but surely, mysterious lights began to waft out of the grassland, like rivers that streamed through the grass before surging out like a geyser through the boulder. Seated at the mouth was Ahjar, absorbing all the data voraciously.
Hump!
His eyes shot open with force as instantly, a torrent of information was absorbed from the region, for a moment destabilising the place.
"What is happening?"
"It's that strange disturbance again."
"Just what is this? I can't seem to find any traces yet."
"I can feel something, but I'm not sure yet."
"No, remember that scene when we devoured Peddler."
"Right, that worm!"
Ahjar focused on his senses and was able to hear the conversations of Lore and Tell-Tale, amazed as he muttered, "Sentient laws with self-governance and conscious evolution capabilities. That's terrifying."
He sighed, "This is what happens when two Main Characters wage their all. In that sense, I'm nothing but a bystander."
"I can hear something. Listen closely!"
"Is that what I think it is?"
"Someone is seated here!"
"He's stealing our data!"
"Quick! Stop him!"
'As expected, the moment I created such a large disturbance, they've begun to detect my existence. It's only a matter of time before they assimilate my entire being into their database.' Ahjar chuckled wryly, "Lore, Tell-Tale, don't hold it against me. I just want to survive. And hence, I'll be taking some of your data with me."
Boom!
The converging data condensed within his body as for a moment, Ahjar mimicked Compass Carburettor. Not just appearance or energy signature, but Compass Carburettor, as a whole.
In that instant, he fooled the senses of Lore and Tell-Tale, taking advantage of Compass Carburettor's authority over them to use their powers on himself, giving life to the data condensed in his body.
Of course, Lore and Tell-Tale came to their senses a moment later and broke free of his influence. But that one moment was enough as Ahjar's body floated to the air as a concept was birthed in him, one of the oldest, the most primal of concepts established in the multiverse.
Space!
"I'm only regaining what was originally mine." Ahjar waved his hands towards the vast streams of power condensed by Faith Grounds in an effort to destroy him, "Sorry, I don't wish to die."
Instantly, a rule emanated from him, causing all the strength gathered by Faith Grounds to pause in place for a moment, unable to be overcome easily.
Tertiary Factor—Restriction Order!
'Hmm, I'm able to hold back the functioning of Faith Grounds itself for a few seconds despite just gaining authority over the concept.' Ahjar smiled contently, "Good, this means my powers will be effective against Zaira."
The space where his body existed churned and blurred, causing his figure to vanish as Ahjar waved his hands at Lore and Tell-Tale, "It was nice meeting you."
Primary Factor—Exploration!
His figure escaped from the confines of Faith Grounds as he appeared in the void beyond it. Energy streams gushed out of Faith Grounds, intending to capture him. But an instant later, they returned to Faith Grounds.
Ahjar stared at the entity hovering before him and chuckled wryly, "So you've come, Compass."
"Did I generate too much commotion?"
"You…" Compass Carburettor fragment stared at Ahjar, frowning at his appearance, one that seemed to be a fusion of himself and Arnark, "Who the fuck are you?"
