Chapter 726 - The Nexus

Jack inserted the card and nothing happened, for a moment. Then, the roxite walls trembled slightly. A giant archway suddenly emerged from the wall, instinctively getting Jack to step back. Spatial energy flickered inside the arch until a steady stream of energy to form a giant spatial gate.

"Go ahead, Jack. You can go first," commented Daruun, nudging Jack along.

With a mix of excitement and anxiousness, Jack took his next step. The sensation of traversing a spatial rift and a spatial gate wasn't unknown to Jack, nor was it unusual. Yet Jack suddenly felt overwhelmed and burdened the moment he stepped through this particular gate.

Coming through to the other side, Jack almost dropped to his knees. His body was already exhausted from his regrowth after self-destruction, so the tremendous pressure of this new space was practically unbearable. But a layer of energy soon enveloped Jack and the others emerging through the gate, thanks to Daruun.

Now relaxed, Jack took in his surroundings and was left speechless.

The chamber was larger than all of Gilga by a wide margin. Jack wanted to assume that he could fit mountains and more inside as well, but the open area was so vast that it was hard to fully comprehend. It was entirely open with only a balcony extending out of the wall with no railing, which wrapped around the entire circular space. And what discombobulated everyone the most was the unfathomably enormous sphere of rampant energy floating in the center of the chamber.

"This is my nexus," Daruun stated, not using a barrier to protect himself. Beside him was Oli, who also lacked a barrier but was unable to hide the strain he felt when moving. Daruun then chuckled, adding, "Or shall I say, this is Jack's nexus?"

"WHAT?!" Oli shouted, being the only one able to comprehend the meaning of that statement.

Daruun ignored Oli for a moment, explaining, "This is a nexus, or better put, an ancient structure built long before any recorded history of the void. It's this that allowed me to create a world as complex and powerful as Kartonia, and it was with this that I managed to make a breakthrough, becoming a six-star cosmician and eventual district leader.

"But I've already learned most of what I can from it, though it still contains more mysteries than I can deduce… Put simply, nexuses attract cosmic energy like a magnet attracts certain types of metals. They've always been sought after as one of the greatest training resources throughout the void. However, Kartonia was the first-ever planet to be built using a nexus as its core. This allows Kartonia to produce two-star cosmicians naturally and gives me the ability to manipulate the world, like I am now to meet with you while the others are stilled at the present moment."

"Are… they always this big?" Jack asked.

"No… If I'm not mistaken, this is the largest nexus on record, or should I say off record…" Chuckling Daruun mentioned, "This nexus was purchased and delivered without the knowledge and consent of the former district leader, as well as the district council. Many of the district leaders have likely realized that there's a nexus in Kartonia's core, but they likely don't know how large."

"But… How?" questioned Jack. "How could you get this thing here without everyone--"

"Dominus." Catching the others off guard, Oli answered for Daruun. "Long ago, they made a deal where Dominus personally delivered this thing in order to keep it a secret. As for where this came from… I still don't know that…"

"Let's just say that my old business in making soul constructs was quite profitable…" Daruun shrugged. "As the leading soul scientist, I was getting orders from across the void, including the core districts. After more millennia than I wanted to count, I had enough to purchase this before it ever reached an auction house."

"Then, you bought in on the black market?"

Smiling back at Jack, Daruun stated, "Sometimes, you've just got to do what's necessary, right? If I hadn't gotten this, none of you would exist and my seventh body wouldn't be possible to create, along with both of Jack's bodies.

"Either way, this nexus is how I ascended to who I am today. And given that I've felt too restricted to ascend further for quite some time, I decided to put it to better use. Now, Jack will eventually be able to use it and claim ownership of Kartonia."

"No fair! You promised to--"

"Oli, calm down. I'm sure Jack would be willing to work out a deal with you, one that's mutually beneficial."

Turning to Jack, Oli put both of his hands on Jack's shoulders. The friendly ferocity in his eyes almost frightened Jack. "I can use this, right? Thanks! I'll--"

"Wait!" Daruun stopped Oli, who nearly jumped off of the edge in excitement. "Just give Jack a moment. I know he's got something in mind."

"Uhhh…" Oli groaned, impatient with the nexus finally in front of his eyes.

"I'm… already the owner?" Jack asked, turning the purple card around in his fingers. "Then… Oli, you said you weren't a human earlier. Does that mean you're a beast, perhaps?"

"What if I am?"

"Well… Would you mind if we formed something called a mutual seal? It wouldn't do anything other than connect us mentally."

"If that's all it does, then why would you consider that equivalent to letting me use the nexus for training?" questioned Oli, not falling for any tricks or misunderstandings.

"On Kartonia, it shares our earned energy. But since you're not from here and we won't be doing anything on Kartonia, that's really all it would do," explained Jack.

"Then why the seal? Does that seal have something to do with your different transformations?"

"Yeah… It does…"

"I don't mind, but I doubt you'll get what you want," laughed Oli, cutting to the chase.

"What do you mean?" Jack blinked, looking at Oli who was now pointing back to Daruun.

Sighing, Daruun mentioned, "Well, I never managed to reproduce Oli's bloodline… His gravity affinity was too rare and complex for anything I managed to create. Like Dominus, I never managed to replicate the mutation in Oli's bloodline that made him unique. I managed to succeed in recreating the Spectral Dragon race but I failed to replicate Oli's rather unique bloodline. And since his original race isn't wiped out, I saw no reason to replicate it on Kartonia."

There was only one part of that explanation that stuck with Jack. "Oli… has gravity affinity?!"