TOL ~ 7/7

With a full understanding of runic magic, he had soon devised his methods. With grand workings, sacrificing much of his size and power, and borrowing unceasingly from the radiance of the star, he slowly transformed and reshaped them. {This is not a punishment, it is merely a way for me to preserve you. You will always be here, your memories will be untouched, but… never again will you be able to betray me. Or I, you. Truly, what happened between us is my greatest Sorrow.}

Each of his allies were transformed, their concepts merged in different ways to create unique artifacts of power. Perpetual Motion became a way for him to transport himself faster, Parting became a mirrored surface of metal meant to turn any one thing into two, Durability—his most steadfast ally—became a bulwark to protect him against all others.

In fact, the only concept he couldn't change was Soul. No matter what he did, the concept refused to change in any meaningful way. Instead, he extracted promises from the gem, and magically bound it to himself instead.

As soon as all resistance had ceased against him, sigils appeared along his bark, completely coating his tree from root to crown. He had not written it himself, and as Maine read over it, he realized it was the universe itself giving him instructions. 

The continued existence of the Eidolon now hinges on a single entity. Assessing… adjusting… The Sacrificial System has been activated, due to every Eidolon being either consumed or bound to the will of a single Greater Eidolon. All collected dimensional energy will be granted to the entity with the highest collection of Soul Potential gained through the use of the Sacrificial System, greatly enhancing their power and capabilities. 

Status of Maine, the Tree of Life: Tyrant Eidolon.

Upgrading Life energy… Upgrading Sigils to function on life energy… Complete.

At this moment, thanks to the influx of power from the dimension, he was filled with life energy equivalent to absorbing six worlds. Instead of needing to find a source of arcane power, or slowly collecting energy from starlight, he could now directly use his vital energy to power his runes and sigils. The words remained after they stopped appearing, and as Maine studied them, he realized that perhaps he had gained more than this odd ‘system’ expected.

With the patience of a tree floating through space with nothing else to do, he studied the carvings that had appeared on himself, slowly decoding and realizing they were simply a higher form of his own sigils.

Tracing, adjusting, and altering them over time, he slowly worked to understand them in their base form, instead of how they translated themselves into his mind. Ever so slowly, he put together a basic alphabet, and from there a minimalistic language.

Minimalistic, but enough.

With nothing else to carve upon, he sacrificed much of the surface area of his largest branch, drawing out instructions using this dimensional language of sigils. Thanks to the power granted by his new system, he was able to funnel a world's worth of life into activating them, knowing he could do so only once or twice more if this failed.

It didn't.

The collected power filled the words, and the words sunk into the very firmament of the universe, cutting away at it, pushing it to the side, opening a path out. For only the second time ever, the universe itself sent him a message.

You are attempting to breach the boundary to a new universe. You have paid the price in Life. What are you willing to wager as a personal sacrifice to begin breaking through the boundary? Be warned, if your wager is not adequate, your life force will be drained as a substitute.

If there was anything he didn't want, it was the loss of his own life force. {What can I wager? All I have is myself, which I won't expend… and my Sorrow.}

Calculating… Assessment accurate. Identifying worth of ‘Sorrow’, calculating against the Soul Potential requirement. 1 Sorrow, insufficient. Two, insufficient. Five, insufficient. Seven… sufficient. Reclassifying artifacts as ‘gear’, assigning rarity value. Error, rarity outside allowed bounds [Select, Prestige, Mystic, Esoteric, Relic, Mythos]. Generating new rarity, based on conceptual power and sapient items. Classification: Sorrow.

Congratulations! You have generated an entirely new rank of rarity for items. As a reward, you may consider these items wholly unique, and they will maintain a bond with you. Anyone who wishes to use them must get permission from you. They will take on characteristics from their creation within this dimension, which will be a trainable power for any entity you wish to teach. System Characteristics: Sacrificial System. 

Before he could object, his seven bonded Sorrows were pulled from his branches, his leaves, his roots, and encapsulated within a sphere of light. They then smashed against the breach between dimensions he had created, and in only a few moments, had all gone through—generating a stable portal. Looking through the breach between worlds, Maine saw an enormous planet, utterly teeming with life. 

His perception lasted only a fraction of an instant before a blast of energy ricocheted through the new tunnel, striking him and causing a strange sensation he had only felt once before in his long, long life.

Maine opened a new set of sensory organs which had vertical slits an unknown amount of time later, arching his proud, serpentine neck. “What happened?”

As an Eidolon of Life, you have been granted the unique ability to change your form to match the apex sentient, sapient life on the planet you are about to tread upon. Current form: Elder Dragon.

Maine looked at his tree, which he no longer had a connection to in the slightest. Already it was fading, its life energy, no…. it’s Soul Potential… having been collected and deposited into his new body.

“Perhaps Parting was right, all those years ago. That was not the tree, it only looked like it. It was only a leaf, unknowingly preparing to be discarded for the greater good. I am the tree. As always…”

“...the leaves wither, the tree remains.”