"Did they wander into the Void for sightseeing?"
Rowan Mercer studied the silent estate suspended within the flow of time. After a brief pause, he stepped forward anyway.
The Mage's Apprentice world showed no signs of multiversal complexity. It was a self-contained universe. Powerful, yes, but finite. That meant its creator should exist somewhere within the upper bounds of a single-universe authority.
Someone at that level could hide from lesser beings.
But not from Rowan.
If the creator were still present, Rowan would at least sense a shadow, a distortion, something.
The emptiness pointed to only one conclusion.
They were gone.
Probably traveling beyond their own creation.
Rowan approached the front gate.
A massive barrier flared to life, layers of interlocking sigils sliding into place like overlapping shields.
He exhaled slowly.
"If you were home and actively maintaining this, I wouldn't stand a chance," Rowan said. "But an unmanned lock is still just a lock."
He extended a finger and pressed it against the barrier.
Power flowed outward, not raw force, but the quiet pressure of a complete inner universe asserting itself.
The barrier fractured.
Three seconds later, it collapsed into drifting motes of light.
As the last fragment faded, a translucent human figure appeared in front of him. Young. Calm. Artificial.
A recorded message.
"Greetings, visitor," the projection said. "I am Zero, creator of this world.
"If you are seeing this, I am already dead.
"I failed to resist temptation. A being named Hongjun once visited me and left behind books describing countless other realities. Curiosity won. I chose to leave my world for the first time and explore the greater Void.
"I feared that my absence would bring disaster upon what I created, so I left this message behind.
"If you are a lifeform who grew strong within this universe, then I gift this world to you. Guard it. Nurture it. Do not follow my mistake until you can create a second universe of your own.
"If you are merely passing through, I still offer you this world. My only request is that you treat it kindly."
The projection dissolved.
Silence reclaimed the estate.
Rowan stood there for several seconds.
"So the Void really is that dangerous," he murmured.
Ilúvatar's earlier warnings resurfaced in his mind. Combined with this message, they carried more weight than before.
He had originally planned to send his avatars into the Void as soon as possible, allowing them to reunite and fuse quickly.
Now, he reconsidered.
Rushing meant gambling with extinction.
Better to stabilize first. Reach the peak of his current stage. Only then think about large-scale fusion.
Losing even one avatar out there would be an irreversible setback.
Still…
There was nuance.
A creator who carried their universe with them was vastly stronger than one who abandoned it behind. If Zero had brought this world along, perhaps they would not have fallen so easily.
Which meant this tragedy was equal parts misfortune and terrible judgment.
Rowan shook his head.
"Hongjun again…"
Both Ilúvatar and Zero had mentioned the same mysterious figure.
That meant Hongjun had likely visited every world where Rowan now possessed an avatar.
And if that was true…
Then Rowan's own strange existence, his ability to manifest across multiple universes, might not be random at all.
He considered the possibility, then dismissed it.
"Speculating won't make me stronger."
He straightened and bowed once toward the empty estate.
"Since you offered it… I accept."
Rowan opened a connection between his inner universe and the Mage's Apprentice world.
Slowly, gently, the two began to overlap.
Not a violent devouring.
Not destruction.
A gradual assimilation.
Rowan's inner universe was still young. Most of its planets were lifeless, still forming. This world, while not extraordinary on a cosmic scale, was far more developed.
If Zero were alive, absorbing it would have been impossible.
But a universe without a master was different.
Over time, the Mage's Apprentice world would become a part of Rowan's own.
His cosmos expanded.
A second star system formed within it.
A living world took shape.
The laws governing magic, matter, and energy grew more refined.
Most importantly, the process caused no harm to the inhabitants. The transition was so subtle that not a single being would notice it happening.
As the merge continued, Rowan sensed something unexpected.
Synchronization was no longer perfect.
Before, whenever one avatar grew stronger, every other version of him advanced equally. Body, soul, energy, and even inner-world development remained identical.
Now, that symmetry had cracked.
The Rowan present in this universe grew faster than the others.
The reason was simple.
This version of Rowan gained an entire developed planet.
Its life.
Its star.
Its surrounding celestial bodies.
The other Rowans did not.
Their inner universes expanded in abstract size, but they did not suddenly gain duplicates of this world's Earth or its inhabitants.
Just as acquiring a weapon in one universe did not magically place the same weapon into the hands of every other Rowan.
External assets could not be synchronized.
Only the self.
Rowan absorbed the implication calmly.
From this point forward, his avatars would no longer be perfectly equal.
Some would be stronger.
Some weaker.
It didn't matter.
One day, they would all become one again.
And when that happened, every fragment of power would stack.