Lief walked cautiously to the first nexus, holding the strands of sinewy material around the path as support. The path wobbled as he walked, threatening to send him straight into the unending darkness below. The portal glowed with ethereal light. It warped and flexed like ghostly, misty, glass, shimmering with scenes--memories--not his own. Years of struggle were depicted in the strange mirror like substance. As he stepped onto the nexus, Lief recoiled with disgust at its texture. Fleshy, organic, like living, breathing, flesh. It was composed of sinews of a meat like substance. And its slow, rhythmic, beating and pale red color didn't help much either. The stench reminded him of smells from Earth. Smells of decay, of rotting corpses. As he strode toward the portal, a red liquid oozed from the nexus. Was that blood? Lief shuddered at the thought of it.
Shaking off the nausea, he touched the portal, expecting to be instantly teleported to a parallel dimension. Instead, with an awkward silence, nothing happened. Oh. I have go into it. Lief entered the portal, an unsettling feeling pricking over his skin. His cells pushed through their limits, having to overexert themselves just to survive the journey.
"Arghhh," Lief cried in pain, his body sore and bruised from the portal's abuse. Opening his eyes yet again, he found himself lying on blackened, coarse, rock. The expanse of sky above him was dim and reddish. As always, all seeing eyes, mounted in the heavens, were observing his movements. Great. NowI'm in hell. Lief thought bitterly. Lief roughly pushed himself back up, muscles ruthlessly tearing as he did. He cried out in pain and fell back to the cold ground. He tried again. A rib fractured, perhaps it even cracked. Again. Internal bleeding as a blood vein burst from pressure. Again. Skin ripped and tore. He wanted to scream at the darkening sky, at the Prophet, at Rhysa. At whatever cruel god let this happen.
After several hours of trying to stand up, Lief managed to barely limp up from the ground and stand up. The sky had dimmed from time, the formerly bright red transforming into a deep crimson. Before he could rest, creatures appeared from the crimson haze of the realm. Kyran beasts. Lief remembered them. On Earth, he had spent countless night running away from their terrors. The beast had a gaping maw, filled with rows of needle like teeth that would not hesitate to rip into his flesh. It's beady, predatory eyes glowed with hunger, with desire to devour, to destroy, to infect. The beast slowly approached him, each step of its armored claws threatening his life. The ground thumped with each step of the beast, as if even it was afraid of the horror. Lief tried to run, to escape, but the beast ran with incredible speeds.
"Shit." Lief cursed as the beast began sprinting onto him. Lief ran as fast as he could, away from the impending doom. The rough ground scraped against the soles of his bare feet, making him grunt in pain. There! Boulders! He could use those as weapons. Lief rushed toward them, quickly grabbing a few with his arms.
With haste and urgency, Lief threw the stones he had collected at the beast. However, they barely fazed its charge. The ruthless force continued to dash to him. Hastily escaping, Lief's rocks fell out his hands, onto the ground behind him. Scrambling to escape, Lief tripped over a stone, falling face first.
"OW Ow ow!" Lief cried out, both in pain and in terror of his potential death. From behind him, the beast lunged. In that moment, Lief's world fractured. Lief didn't think--he simply moved. Or rather, something moved within him. The air shimmered around his body as arcs of blue energy cracked outward. The energy shifted, morphing, fluid-like. And then--impact.
The energy had formed a powerful, transparent shield, protecting him from impact. The shield's patterns were mesmerizing, beautiful even. It radiated a faint blue glow, with waves of energy rippling across its surface. Lief was engrossed with its beauty, as well as its power, which seemed to be barely hidden.
Shaking off his obsession, Lief focused onto the beast. "Saint, I see that you have awakened your Psyker powers." A voice appeared in his head. Who are you. "This is Rhysa, Saint." Ah, Rhysa. How are you talking in my head? Lief pondered. "Saint, this is an advanced form of mind manipulation. I will use this to tell you information about Nexus Goals and your abilities." Nexus Goals? "Nexus Goals are how you "finish" a nexus and return to the Lattice."
Lief shook off curiosity of Nexus Goals for later, focusing on the beast in front of him. "Rhysa, how do I form "weapons" with my Fluxcaster talent?" The shield was getting weaker, he could feel its power waning.
"Saint, concentrate "power" on one part of your body. Then "imagine" a shape. This is the basic method taught by the Republic, and before them, the Empira Galactica and the Haven." Rhysa promptly replied, her soft, but clear, voice, piercing through Lief's mind.
"Got it." Lief understood how to form weapons now. He imagined a large dagger in his hand. Sharp, with serrated edges that could cut through flesh. A wavy, watery, pattern that prioritized slicing rather then stabbing. Instead of a grip, the dagger would be directly connected to his hand. With power, he could rotate it however he wanted.
With a sudden crackle, the dagger materialized. An elegant curve of transparent, cerulean blue. Its beauty hid the ferocity and killing intent behind it. Unfit for an naive trainee, this was a weapon for a master. "Yes!" Lief exclaimed, excited about his new weapon. Calm down Lief, this is a weapon, not a toy. However, his joy at forming his first intentional weapon could not be forgotten.
He stared at the insolent beast that was still clawing at the weakening blue shield. It's bestial eyes still started at him with primal hunger, unknowing of its impending death.
"Time for you to die." A smile crossed Lief's lips as he readied his dagger.