The words had barely left his lips when she felt it begin.
Even though he had stopped holding her chin, even though there was now space between them, she felt him everywhere.
Blinding beams of green and gold light wrapped around her form like an embrace made manifest. Above her, clouds gathered- those impossible clouds that had no business existing here but did anyway because he had called them forth.
The light didn't just touch her; it pressed against her from all directions, concentrated waves of purity and complexity flowing into her being with relentless certainty. And throughout it all, she could feel him in the light. His essence, his touch, his presence pressing against every aspect of her existence.
It was... exhilarating.
She ordered her existence with deliberate force, commanding her knees not to buckle, her expression not to reveal the overwhelming sensation of being completely surrounded by him.
She stood tall, proud, refusing to show weakness even as power beyond comprehension flooded through her channels.
Her eyes fluttered…a momentary lapse in control that she would deny if asked, as the prompts began to materialize before her vision.
These words of information that she had begun seeing since joining him, since becoming part of his impossible story.
|You have received an Endowment from The Early Creature, Osmont|
|The Harvest Festival celebrates your accumulated efforts|
|Your dedication to Order while embracing chaos has been recognized|
|Your role in stabilizing impossible growth has been acknowledged|
|Complexity gained: +5,000,000,000,000 (+5 Trillion)|
|Purity gained: +6,000,000,000,000 (+6 Trillion)|
|Additional Boon: Order Authority enhancement - 300% increase in imposed structure|
|Additional Boon: Chaos Resistance - Can maintain Order in 500% more chaotic environments|
|Additional Boon: Synergy with The Early Creature, Osmont - Shared authorities amplified|
|Current Total Complexity: 10,842,000,000,000|
|Current Total Purity: 11,156,000,000,000|
|Classification Update: Duke-level power achieved|
|Benefit: Can impose Order on Duke-level existences|
…!
The words gradually faded, leaving her standing in the aftermath of transformation.
She raised her hands slowly, watching them as if they belonged to someone else. Through them…through her entire being, she could feel it coursing like liquid starlight, like ordered chaos, like structured impossibility.
The power of a Duke.
Duke.
And it had come from a wave of his hand. A gesture. A decision that he had made as casually as someone choosing what to have for breakfast.
She almost shook her head in disbelief but caught herself. When she looked toward him, he had that smile again. That warm, devilish smile that made her want to abandon all pretense of order and just jump into his arms, to show him exactly how much affection THE Living Order was capable of when properly motivated.
He simply began the endowment process with the same casual power but without that particular intimate gesture.
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