The Flow of Everything

In the primordial gray, Ged, a small green boy, sat beside a strange-looking tree, lost in thought.

Ged was visibly frustrated as he tried to figure out how to use the pull motion to put away the strange new objects Manduka had given him.

Now back in the dirt clearing, he attempted multiple positions in hopes of storing the objects, but he was starting to run out of good ideas. He had long realized why his idea of gravity being what directed the push was incorrect. There was already a force flowing through all of the primordial gray, the reason Ged was able to stand even with the absence of gravity in this strange place.

This force, Ged surmised, was the 'flow of everything,' originating from the eye of the swirl. Now, with his newfound eyes that could see mass, he noticed something interesting.

For his own body and the ground, the flow of everything passed through them like water entering a tube. However, when the flow of everything encountered mass, it resembled water hitting a large rock in a stream. It dispersed the flow in all directions, barely moving the mass that resisted its surface.

Ged observed this absorbing force with wide eyes, noting, "That small piece of mass is absorbing the force of everything, much like planets do to produce gravity!"

Ged continued to gaze at the atom with great interest, wondering where all the absorbed force went. He studied the atom curiously before picking up a scimitar from the ground, attempting to swing and split the atom in half.

To his surprise, nothing happened.

"Huh, I guess this thing can't interact with mass," Ged talked to himself. Pondering this for a moment, he then tried to grab the atom and study it up close. However, like the scimitar, his hand went straight through. His existence seemed akin to that of a ghost.

He pondered how he could interact with the rare floating bits of mass scattered among the gray. Inspecting his body closely, he tried to understand how he could stand without a force similar to gravity. Although he couldn't see the flow of everything, he could feel it entering through his head and escaping through his feet into the ground, where it dispersed away.

Using his existence as a rudder, he experimented with where the flow entered and exited through his being. No longer standing on the ground, he attempted to emulate what he observed with mass, absorbing the flow by cycling it—allowing it to enter through his head, diverting it into his chest, cycling it a few times, and releasing it later through his arms at the atom. In response, the atom moved slightly.

He floated to the ground in realization.

"This is 'power'!

This is what is released when I throw out a punch. The body is like a valve; the flow is absorbed naturally inside it, and when released, the flow is directed outward with the hit. However, what's strange is that based on how much flow is being absorbed from that single atom, it should be able to release a lot more flow than its total power would indicate."

He decided to conduct an experiment. Though he couldn't interact with mass directly, he could temporarily store the flow of everything. Utilizing this flow, he cycled it within his chest until it reached astonishing speeds. Ged's mind started to unravel, falling into madness reminiscent of his state before meeting Manduka. With his final sane thought, he released the flow at the atom, directing it towards a larger atom that was further away.

Desperately, Ged stared at the Tree of Mysteries, hoping to regain his sanity.

The atom was launched at an astonishing speed toward the larger atom. Upon collision, the larger atom split into two smaller atoms, triggering a violent explosion as the absorbed flow of everything spread out in all directions. The gray, massless strings danced wildly as the intense flow passed through them. Even Ged found himself caught up in the explosion's crosshairs, staring in disbelief at the incredible power contained in a single atom.

"Based on my memories, I was made up of seven billion billion billion different-sized atoms, yet my total power was only 60? Shouldn't it have been much higher?"

However, as the gray strings settled around him and the environment returned to the dirt clearing in the forest, Ged saw something that shocked him. Had the Tree of Mysteries reduced in size? The Tree of Mysteries had indeed shrunk; its canopy no longer extended far into the distance, and Ged could now see its end. An icy chill ran down his spine.

"What would happen if this tree reduced to nothing? Would the pain and insanity of assimilation return?"

The thought scared Ged. When he first discovered the Tree of Mystery and its insanity-curing powers, he was ecstatic that he could continue thinking coherently. But this shrinking tree felt like a very bad omen.

He realized that it was likely due to the cycling of the flow of everything that he had ended up in this state. However, from this harrowing experience, an idea struck him like a bolt of lightning.

"Is existence just a container that cycles the flow of everything?"

Examining himself further, Ged realized that, even though he was doing it in a minimal amount, the waters of everything flowed deeply within his existence. It swirled deep in his chest in a light spiral before exiting through his skin. Ged attempted to block off the flow from entering his body, but it proved akin to cutting off air from a person's lungs. His vision went black, and he passed out.

Upon waking, Ged found himself naturally cycling the flow of everything within him once more.

"It seems that, although this flow speeds up my assimilation, it is a necessary part of existence, something I cannot avoid doing. But if existence is just a container for the flow of everything, then the pull of existence would break this container and merge it to be a part of mine."

He looked up at the Tree of Mysteries. Utilizing the pattern he observed with the red and green strings, he directed the flow of everything, creating two lumps extending toward the Tree of Mysteries. With a mighty pull, the tree disappeared from sight. Now floating within his mind's eye was the Tree of Mysteries. Using the flow of creation, he generated arm-like lumps and pushed the tree out from his mind, completing its circuit of existence to stand on its own once again.

Ged nodded with satisfaction over his newfound discovery.

Utilizing the pull of existence, he integrated all the dings given to him by Manduka, making them merged parts of his existence. With this accomplished, he moved on to his next task...

Creating a chest muscle capable of performing a Bench Press Rebirth.

***

In a room located somewhere in the Rookie Arena.

Brit knelt beside a knee-high table with a human-shaped body covered by a white cloth. Her face, recently dried of tears, expressed a profound sorrow as she prayed with her eyes closed, leaning against the corpse table. Behind her, Ralph and Fern stood with their heads bowed in mourning. Beside them stood a beautiful woman with glasses and tied-up hair, displaying a strange smile as she joined the two men in grieving.

Brit's prayer came to an abrupt halt, and she couldn't hold back her emotions any longer. She held her face and wept once more in front of her motionless brother.

Ralph turned to Fern, saying, "This has been the toughest day I have ever had to endure as the mayor. I don't know if I will be able to look at my own children the same way." Ralph shook his head, reflecting on the situation.

"To think that these kids were in such a situation. As adults, how did we let things get this far?" Ralph lowered his voice to a growl. "That man, Ross, how did we let him fall to such a degree to those damnable gangsters?"

Fern, feeling the weight of the long day, his hair losing its gleam, looked at Ralph with tired eyes. "It has been a rotten day," he admitted, massaging his temple with his fingers to feign a headache. "Once we get that man admitted to a hospital, I suggest we call it a day. If you keep on working tirelessly like this, it will begin to affect your health."

Ralph frowned at Fern's comment, responding, "I don't need your concerns. This is but a preamble to come, Fern. If we do not work tirelessly, then who will? Now that we know the Dirty Dogs are targeting the immigrants, we need to make our move to protect them from harm's way."

He turned over to Jen, who was still hanging her head in mourning. "Jen, thank you again for letting us into this place after hours. I know you must have been busy, but obliging this personal request, I'm sure it means a lot to her," he spoke, gesturing to the desolate Brit still kneeling and sobbing next to her brother.

Jen looked at the sad sight and shook her head, "For a grieving family member, even if you woke me up in the middle of the night, I still would have come here to let you in."

Ralph smiled at her sentiment. "Jen, your compassion is almost as boundless as your beauty. Your sentiments hit me deep within my soul."

Jen smiled at Ralph, saying, "You're too kind, Ralph. I hate to repeat things, but I agree with your assistant, Ralph. You can't go around trying to fix everything in the town all at once. You're really going to burn yourself out. Why don't you take a rest for today, and I'll look after the boy's sister."

"You would be willing to stay and look after her?" Ralph put his hand over his heart. "Jen, if you are willing to go this far, then I can't possibly refuse your words. I will make sure your efforts will not go unnoticed," he promised.

Jen gave Ralph a smiling nod.

Fern sighed with relief, calmly straightening his hair in anticipation of leaving.

"Fern, how much budget from the immigrant relief fund can we spare to give to this poor grieving child? Five hundred fit?" Ralph asked.

Fern turned red at Ralph's estimate, "Ralph, if we are going to provide relief, I would only start with three hundred, and I would recommend giving it in installments, not all up front."

Ralph frowned. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his wallet and took out five hundred fit bills, walking over to the grieving Brit. He kneeled to the ground next to her with his hand gently placed on her shoulder.

"Brit... How are you holding up?" Ralph asked.

Brit looked up at Ralph with puffy red eyes.

"It doesn't feel real. I-I just saw him this morning; he told me he was coming here to fight. But if I knew that coming here would mean he would never come back," she sniffled, "I would have stopped him from leaving in the first place."

Ralph shook his head, tears streaming from his eyes. "Don't shoulder this burden yourself. This entire town had a hand in your beautiful brother's untimely demise." Ralph wiped away his tears before placing the five hundred fit inside Brit's hands. "This is but a small repentance from my part; I hope you will accept it."

Brit looked at the money with hollow eyes; her once-starving appetite had dwindled with the news of her brother. From her daze, she nodded and thanked Ralph for his kindness.

"I'm sorry, but Fern and I must leave to make sure your foster father gets admitted to the hospital. Jen over here is one of the kindest people I know. Stay here as long as you feel necessary, and if you need anything else, do not hesitate to ask," Ralph spoke.

Brit thanked Ralph once more, prompting him to vault up to a stand, walking over to where Jen and Fern stood.

"Jen, thank you so much for everything; you are being way kinder than you should," Fern spoke jokingly.

Jen smiled before leading Ralph and Fern out the door, thanking them and saying goodbye. She looked at the backs of the two as they left down the dimly lit arena hallway with a secret smile plastered on her face.

Suddenly, she heard a voice from behind her. She turned around to see who the voice belonged to.

Brit had spoken up to ask, "Miss Jen, is there any chance that Ged is coming back?"

Jen looked at her with heartfelt eyes, "Brit, darling. I would prepare yourself for the worst."