Chapter 11: Understanding chaos

As night once more fell Alex was once more left alone with his thoughts, but recently his priorities had changed drastically. Having learned how he had found himself in this world with a new body, Alex wasn't pleased, he was outright terrified. From the brief amount of contact he had had with the so called 'old ones', Alex had felt an amount of dread and terror which succeeded in convincing the more primitive part of his mind that he could not currently beat them in any way shape or form, so for now, he had to obey his new masters.

('Become powerful so you can fulfil the purpose of your life'... Well, while that's not exactly a cryptic message, it isn't that easy to figure out how I achieve that goal before my new masters become unsatisfied with me.)

Alex's largest area of possible improvement was definitely chaos, the seemingly all powerful force and or physical element his new body was made of. From what he had so far understood, his body's shape was a product of his subconscious, but trough active effort its properties could be changed, a skill which proved far more powerful than he had initially believed with his newly acquired resistance to sunlight. That's not to say that his new body was an overall plus for Alex, the reality was far from that, as he acted on his new body, it too acted on him, its most apparent effect on Alex was the pure disdain for all life, something which he needed to constantly suppress through sheer willpower.

(It might be the case that my creators intended that I became some sort of killing machine with that amount of pure hatred, although I fail to imagine how that would lead me to 'become powerful' as they want me to…)

Alex realized that all he had done so far was simply manipulating his own body, which was coincidently made of chaos and not actually understanding or manipulating chaos itself, what he understood about chaos was also fairly limited.

(I need to think of chaos as a system, what are its advantages and what are the disadvantages? What can it do and what can't it do, in connection to that what are the costs of doing things with it? I need to ignore all the wonder and legends which surround chaos and is so important to all the residents of this world, as I hold preconceptions and memories of my old life I can't relate to it, so I shouldn't try to… I should talk with Venessa about this when she wakes up and have her explain how she uses chaos to me.)

With his plan for the immediate further set for the moment, Alex figured he would spend the rest of the night figuring out what the current limits of his body were.

WIth morning once more dawning Alex immediately asked Venessa to teach him about chaos.

"You want me to teach you, my lord? But as a he-"

"Don't call me that."

"- I apologize my lord. As a creature with complete control over chaos, I don't really see the point in teaching you. If anything, it should be me that request tutorage from you."

As expected Venessa didn't really understand Alex's request at first, but luckily he had already anticipated that.

"Even if I have complete control over chaos as you state, that doesn't also mean I know how to exploit that knowledge. Think of it this way: If you suddenly, for whatever reason, grew a tail would you know how to use it? And even if you could move it about would you have the same proficiency as a creature born with one?"

Giving an example to his current struggle, Venessa initially took Alex's words way to literal, thinking about how she would even use a tail before she realized the meaning behind his words.

"Ah, I see! So what you're asking about is more of the knowledge behind chaos my lord?"

"Yes, that's it exactly. Even if I'm able to manipulate chaos as you say, it only extends to the limit of changing the properties of my body. Sure I can turn my hand into a blade, shoot out tentacles or even grow resistant to sunlight but I can't use chaos the same way as people of this world. I can't create insects like you do to hunt down your enemies or create blades of wind…. Perhaps I should change my request to make my intent clearer, Venessa, would you please teach me how you use chaos so that I can gain a deeper understanding?"

Reaching out for a handshake Alex hoped that he had come to an understanding with Venessa, but he once more failed to take into account exactly what Venessa saw him as.

"Of course I will my lord! Please leave it to me!"

Bowing down deeply as a display of utmost respect, Venessa unknowingly left Alex hanging, but luckily he was already somewhat used to her behaviour.

"Then let's start with the basics on a theoretical level. I don't want to hear how chaos came to be or what its nature is, just how you use it for spells."

Gesturing for Venessa to sit down with him Alex took a seat on the floor as he continued talking.

"For example, those insects. How do you create them and tell them what to do?"

"That's…"

Immediately walking onto the fields of learning and stepping on a landmine, Alex resisted his mounting urge to facepalm. Even if Venessa's face was still hidden by her mask, Alex could tell by the tone of her voice alone that she really didn't want to talk about that specific point for some reason.

"Then let's start with that, although to properly explain that I need to tell you about my atonement."

Having hardened her determination Venessa removed her mask as she continued explaining.

"Chaos a system of miracles which can be granted in exchange for payment, but it's not a monolithic system. The old ones who have bestowed chaos onto this world are all different, and thus they grant different kinds of miracles depending on one's payment, we mages call those different gods 'pillars' for easier distinction."

Venessa's face looked as unhealthy as the glances Alex had seen of her arms, her cheeks were indented like she had been starving for years with the right half of her face looking like it was stuck in a constant state of decay and regrowth while the eye on that side was bleached white and not functional. From the state of her body alone he could easily guess what her atonement for using chaos was.

"The pillar I've dedicated myself to is U'rakg, the dark god of disease, famine and plagues. As a result of that devotion, I'm able to summon her plague flies and enact her miracles in exchange for my own bodies decay."

Putting her mask back on her face Venessa was clearly ashamed of the state of her body, but even if Alex wanted to tell her that he didn't mind it, he couldn't find words that would not sound patronizing under the current circumstances, thus he remained silent.

"As for how I go about summoning and controlling those plague flies through a series of runes that are engraved on my skin, those runes have been passed down my clan for generations."

Rolling up her one sleeve, Venessa showed Alex one of the runes which had been engraved into her skin. At first glance, it looked like some sort of tribal tattoo with its bright green colour and irregular and sporadic geometry, but simply by looking at it Alex felt some sort of deeper understanding, it was like reading one's native language after spending years abroad, even if he couldn't express what it meant he still understood its meaning.

"So how would you activate that rune?"

"By focusing my mind on it and visualizing its shape in my mind., in response U'rakg will grant me her power in exchange for my atonement."

As a demonstration Venessa activated the rune, making it glow slightly as a single wasp looking creature formed on the palm of her hand before disappearing after a few seconds.

"In that case could you use the 'spell' by just visualizing the rune from memory?"

"No, if I did that nothing would happen."

"I see…"

Falling silent as he thought about what he had just learned Alex came up with an idea.

(It can't be this easy, can it?)

Holding out his hand with an open palm Alex changed his hand at the same time to add a black stencil of Venessa's rune at the same time, having created it in only a fraction of a second he focused his mind on it. Without delay something started materializing in the palm of his hand, forming a small completely black wasp which only managed to maintain its shape for a few seconds before disintegrating.

"As I tough, it isn't that easy…"

"That was amazing, my lord! When I learned how to use chaos it took me a year to get to the point you're at now, please allow me to follow your greatness for the rest of my life!"

Brimming with excitement Venessa would later explain that it normally takes years of practice to be able to use chaos in any meaningful way, although it would take some time before Alex would be told that as it took Venessa quite a long time to calm down.

---

At the same time on a different plane of reality, something reacted to Alex's failed spell, it was the being known by the name U'rakg by mortals with far simpler minds than itself. Baring almost no will or intent the creature was more of a natural force than a god which it had been misidentified by those feeble minds who had hardly grasped its presence leaking through the dimensional shroud, but that description was also simply an excuse to easier rationalize its existence, in reality, there was no way something as simple as a human could describe or even come close to understanding what it was. Putting the nature of the being aside it still reacted to Alex's spell, not because it gained a new follower, but because by paying atonement for the spell to that creature, he had inadvertently weakened the dimensional shroud which separated U'rakg from its followers a tiny bit more, bringing the creature even closer to a new and fertile plane of existence.