Veni, Vidi, Vici

True to her word, Brun dropped off John at his home before leaving herself but not before leaving him with another kiss, "I'll hear from you tomorrow? Maybe I can arrange something for you to see Astrid, depends on who that Order person is. If they are as strict as Moira is, then it could be quite the uphill battle... Anyway, tell me how your stuff worked out later then!" With that, she swung herself onto her bike again and drove off into the night, leaving John in the dark in front of his house. The lights were all turned off, but there was a flickering light coming from the living room, probably the TV still running. As John entered the house, that suspicion was confirmed when he heard the opening jingle of the local news.

Looking into the living room, John could see that his mom had fallen asleep on the couch while watching something. He left the room as silently as possible so he wouldn't wake Brenda; though he did leave her a note telling her that he came home safely. Silently going upstairs and locking his door was an easy task by now. The darkness and silence of his room felt comforting after all of the trouble he went through today. Half of his mind was already prepared to just fall into his bed and get to sleep, but the bigger part wanted to go on. It wanted to see what would happen with the Nexus when John 'beat' the protector. So he once again inserted the card into the gap between his wardrobe and the wall, creating the same dark 'tear' in reality it did before.

As John stepped through the doorway, he was instantly tackled by a happy Gary, who then skittered all over John's body, forcing him to laugh. Gary apparently was really happy about this Nexus, and probably living in a place where he could freely move. Without wasting too much time, John immediately went back down into the big circular room where he had met the guardian the last time. They were still sitting there in a meditating position, awaiting his return.

"You have returned, John. I am glad to see you are all right. Are you here to try again? I am prepared for your attacks."

Instead of pulling out his spear, John simply shook his head, and sat down in a similar way to the protector. "Actually, I'd like to know a bit more about you. We don't have to fight, right?" At that moment, John was elevated from his position and came face to face with the protector.

They radiated an aura of calm, of knowledge, something that really soothed John's mind after the last two days. "You are correct, John Newman. We don't have to fight. Yet, in the Abyss it is the most used manner to resolve conflicts and challenges. Wars have been fought over Kingdoms, people have been assassinated for power, diplomacy is an option that is rarely used. You will face many adversaries that will not be ready to talk with you, both sapient and non-sapient. Ask your questions, John Newman, I am here to answer them."

John cleared his throat, "My first question would be, who are you? You said that you are the protector of the Abyssal Nexus, but what does that really mean? How old are you? What are these 'Kingdoms' that you mentioned?"

The protector simply nodded and answered his questions in that order, "As I have said, I am the protector of this very Nexus we are living in. Being the protector means that my life **** is tied to this Nexus, and I will remain as long as it exists. I will always remain and I will always protect the very being of the Nexus. I have no recollection of 'age', as there is no way for me to tell the time. Kingdoms are realms within the Abyss. They have varying sizes and stages of evolution and technology, and a part of them have a leader and part of them do not. There is no set rule on what is categorized as a Kingdom and what is not."

While John processed these answers, the next questions popped up, "Are there other Nexus...es? Nexi? Nexus? Anyway, are there other Nexus out there like this one? What was the last creator like? Does Gaia watch over all of these Kingdoms? Is the real world a Kingdom like that as well?"

Once again the protector answered the questions in the same order, "Yes, there are other Nexus between different Kingdoms. The last creator was a kind soul that had escaped from their original Kingdom. They abhorred war, and the constant fighting for power, which is one of the reasons that they designed the test in the way they did. I have heard the name 'Gaia' before, and from what I have gathered it is the primordial god watching over every Kingdom, yes. I do not know what you mean with 'real world' but the realm you came from seems to be different. It is far greater than the other Kingdoms next to it. There also does not seem to be a King there, due to its size. My conclusion would be that it is, in fact, multiple kingdoms creating a single realm. But I do not think that these questions will bring you closer to identifying me. Do you have an answer yet?"

Now John thought long and hard about this, and he had one theory lurking in his mind. Since there was no apparent penalty for simply guessing, he just went with, "I have one idea. You keep saying how you protect the Nexus itself, but you never said anything about the things in the Nexus. You also say that everything in it can easily be wiped away for something new. You said that your lifeforce is directly tied to the Nexus, but I think there's more to it than that... My guess would be that you are the Nexus, or some physical manifestation of it. You protect yourself, but what happens with the 'creator' doesn't really concern you that much, because there will always be someone else."

As if to respond to his assumption, the protector grabbed their helmet and removed it. Underneath was a darkness, just as dark as the entryway to the Nexus, but with a single white star-like light in the middle of it. "You are correct. I am the Nexus; I strive for my own living, and I strive for the coexistence with a creator, for I am without a shape and I am without a direction. A creator gives me shape, gives me a purpose. But if the creator misuses me, I will wipe him from myself, just like I would destroy an enemy. If this physical shape is destroyed, my existence will be as well, for the shape before you and the heart of the Nexus are one. Know this, John Newman: I will give you infinite possibilities in what you can do, I only expect from you to use this with purpose and with a good heart. It is one of the directions bestowed on to me by the last creator, to never again either be the reason for a fight or be the battleground. I am to remain peaceful, for there is enough malice and **** in the rest of the Abyss.

"Do you accept the responsibility of being my next creator, to keep me out of conflict and to shape me into something benefiting you? I, in turn, will listen to your wishes and fulfill them to the best of both our abilities. I am not omnipotent, but I am willing to be shaped as you want. I will not deny you the abilities to arm yourself or comrades, and I will not deny you the ability to strengthen yourself here, but do not arm the Nexus or weaponize me in any way, for then I will fight you with all the abilities that I can muster."

This seemed like a situation that he couldn't say no to. He didn't plan to get into any fights for power anyway, and arming another dimension sounded like a really bad idea. "I accept. I will shape you into a home that I would want to live in, and that I want to protect. I will not drag any conflicts here and I won't drag you into any conflicts for the purpose of destruction or gaining power. I will try to follow your rules as well as I can, but a lot of things can happen... but I would like to face these things with a place that I can call a 'home away from home'. So, I'm in."

The Nexus nodded their head, "Then place your mark on my soil."

Huh, using Bond on the ground, that was an idea he hadn't even considered to work. So John was once again let down onto the ground, where he placed his hands on the cold stone of the underground and activated Bond.

The ground around John immediately flashed in a soft blue hue, and he could immediately feel the changes. He didn't just feel the ground beneath him, he felt the very essence of the ground and how he could shape it with his own mana. He felt the life radiating from all around, his mind wandered through the halls of the mansion above, into the garden, the lush greenery all around. He could feel the sky through which the island was flying, he could feel the boundaries, and he could feel every single detail that was put into this place.

John opened his eyes, and he felt happy.

This was his place, this was his home away from home that he could shape however he wanted.

The Nexus seemed to react as well, "It is done, we are now linked to one another. I will now retreat this **** body into the core. If you have further questions, ask them in this room and I will answer them." And the manifested body of the protector phased into the ground, leaving not a single trace of its existence.

Wipe Nexus? (Y/N)

John immediately selected No as he didn't want to lose all the progress that the previous creator had put into this place. He immediately got some new pop-ups:

Achievement unlocked: Hail to the King
Claim a piece of land or a Kingdom. Now you only need the harem to fill it~
+150 XP (Reduction applied)
+2 STR
+2 INT
+2 CHA
+1 Enchanted gemstone

Achievement unlocked: Symbiotic Relationship
Bond yourself with a piece of land or a Kingdom. So you're a shaman now, spending part of your life with some forest?
+150 XP (Reduction applied)
+2 WIS
+2 CHA
+1 Skill Level in Bond
+1 Essence of Nature

Achievement unlocked: Remember the Name
Take control of a Nexus and keep the creations of the last creator. Now, this is either to fuck up their ideas or to respect them. I'm interested to see which.
+50 XP (Reduction applied)
+1 WIS
+1 Essence of Memory

Now, what can he do with this place?