I. The Ruin and the Resonance
The center of Obsidios Iubeo—formerly the market square of Pravum—was a graveyard of Trazarch architecture. The Raven Legion had purged the defenders, but the broken buildings remained: symbols of a corrupt, coin-driven society built on weak mortar and greed.
Corvin Nyx stood amidst the rubble, the Obsidian Ordo swirling around him like a living cloak. The mandate was clear: this city needed a heart. It needed a Second Observa Tower to anchor his dominion and link with Obsidios Lithos. But here, unlike the open quarry of Lithos, they had to build upon the bones of the old world.
The construction crew was a mix of the newly recruited laborers and the specialized Earth Sorcerers transferred from Lithos. Among them was Vesper Thorne.
Vesper was young, his face gaunt from years of Union taxation, but his eyes burned with a feverish, obsessive intensity. Since entering Corvin's domain, his earth magic had mutated. The Obsidian essence didn't just enhance him; it spoke to him. While his peers struggled to impose their will upon the dense, heavy obsidian-infused stone, fighting the material's stubborn density, Vesper felt a resonating hum—a song of dark geometry waiting to be released.
II. The Flow of Stone
The challenge of the day was the foundation. The debris of the destroyed official's compound was vast—tons of shattered marble, limestone, and iron. Obel Harth, the Master Mason, was directing the clearing crews, but the pace was too slow for the Raven Lord's ambition.
Vesper Thorne stepped forward. He did not see debris; he saw raw material waiting for a new purpose.
He raised his hands. He did not use the standard, rigid earth-moving gestures of his peers. He reached out with his mind, tapping into the Obsidian-laced magic coursing through his veins. He didn't try to lift the stone; he commanded it to flow.
Corvin watched from the perimeter, his Eyes of the Abyss narrowing as he perceived the unique energy signature. Vesper's aura was not the jagged brown of earth magic; it was streaked with deep, pulsing violet veins of Obsidian affinity.
Vesper clenched his fists. The pile of rubble—the shattered marble, the twisted iron gates, the stone of the old slave pens—suddenly lost its structural cohesion. It turned into a grinding, swirling slurry of matter, moving like thick liquid. With a sharp, upward thrust of his arms, Vesper pulled the slurry together, forcing the chaotic matter to fuse instantly. The impurities were purged as gray dust, and the remaining material hardened in a single heartbeat into a massive, seamless foundational slab of dark, reconstituted stone.
He had done in thirty seconds what would have taken the crew three days.
III. The Obsidiarc
The silence on the work site was absolute. The other sorcerers stared, their own magic feeling suddenly primitive.
Corvin moved. He crossed the distance with the silent, predatory grace of a predator. He stopped before Vesper, who was panting, sweat dripping from his nose, but his eyes shining with the thrill of discovery.
"You do not fight the stone," Corvin stated, his voice low and resonant. "You listen to it."
"It wants to be strong, My Lord," Vesper whispered, looking at his trembling hands. "The Obsidian... it hates the cracks. It wants to be whole."
Corvin placed a hand on Vesper's shoulder. He felt the resonance—a mind that didn't just follow orders but understood the physics of the Void. His mind was a vault, capable of holding vast arcane schematics.
"Your peers move earth," Corvin declared, loud enough for the entire crew to hear. "You shape reality. You are no longer a mere sorcerer."
Corvin performed the Raven Brand on the spot. But this was not the standard mark. Corvin channeled a complex, intricate stream of magic. The brand on Vesper's neck formed with deeper, sharper runes, linking him not just to the Cohesion Collective, but granting him a direct, high-bandwidth connection to the Void Reservoir's structural logic.
"Rise, Vesper Thorne," Corvin commanded. "You are the Obsidiarc."
The moment the title was spoken, the atmosphere shifted. A sudden, cold gust swept through the square, swirling the dust around them. The very winds of his domain seemed to whisper the name: ...Obsidiarc...
The domain itself had accepted him. Vesper rose, his eyes clearing, his mind expanding as the Enhanced Cognitive Function of the superior brand took hold. He looked at the blueprint in Obel Harth's hands and understood it instantly, seeing the finished tower in his mind's eye.
IV. The Acceleration of Iubeo
With the Obsidiarc leading the arcane team, the construction of Obsidios Iubeo accelerated beyond logic. Vesper taught the others not to lift, but to fuse. The city's ruins were cannibalized, transmuting the history of the Trazarch Union into the foundation of the Imperium.
The Second Observa Tower rose rapidly. It was identical in design to Lithos—a monolithic pyramid with squared defensive walls—but its construction was seamless, appearing as if it had erupted from the earth rather than being built.
Corvin prepared for the final act. The Void Stone for Iubeo had been forged in the fires of Alcides Ynatos's new forge, a perfect, pulsing capstone.
V. The Synergistic Link
The placement of the second Void Stone was the moment the Imperium truly came alive.
Corvin stood at the apex of Obsidios Iubeo. Across the miles, far to the east, he could feel the pulse of Obsidios Lithos beating like a second heart. He placed his hands on the capstone and slammed it into the socket.
The Connection: The reaction was not local; it was continental. A massive beam of invisible, dark energy arced through the sky, connecting Iubeo to Lithos.
The Surge: Corvin gasped as the Synergistic Bond activated. It was not just an addition of power; it was a multiplication. The immense energy of Lithos slammed into Iubeo, and the two resonated, creating a feedback loop of limitless potential.
Corvin felt his perception explode outward. The boundaries of his senses dissolved. He wasn't just seeing through the eyes of the ravens in the city; he felt the wind currents fifty miles away. He felt the heartbeat of every branded soldier in both cities. His physical strength, already immense, condensed into a terrifying density. The burden of maintaining the domain, which had rested solely on his will, was suddenly shared by the network. He felt lighter, yet infinitely more dangerous.
The Expansion of the Ordo: The Obsidian Ordo did not just appear around Iubeo; it merged. The dark clouds rolling over Lithos surged westward, and the clouds over Iubeo surged eastward. They collided and fused, creating a massive, contiguous 70-mile zone of perpetual shadow and absolute order.
The two cities were no longer isolated outposts. They were the Twin Hearts of a unified domain.
Corvin looked out over his expanding empire. The Pale Ones were hunting in the south. The Ministry of Commerce was mobilizing in the west. But as the dark clouds knit together above him, sealing the land in his protection, Corvin felt a new sensation: Invincibility. Within this domain, his word was not just law; it was physics.
The Nyx Imperium was no longer a rebellion. It was a geography.