Unfortunately, finding my way proved to be even more difficult than the recovery, I discovered after a day of fruitless work.
The problem was that the Primordial Aether was both too chaotic and too confusing, stymying my attempt to find my way. In comparison, the confusion created by Aether was nothing, and even then, I had the advantage of feeling the direction of the other companion nodes.
Which didn’t work while the System was unpowered — I knew it was a problem with my connection rather than the planar barriers blocking the connection, because I was feeling Aviada’s faint presence up until I had been banished, but I couldn’t feel any of the girls right now.
Still, I didn’t lose hope, as I had occasionally seen the familiar presence of a planar wall in the distance, giving me a chance to once again step on the ground rather than floating in the emptiness of Primordial Aether.
I had long prepared a mana chain, waiting for one of the planes to get close enough that I could somehow hook myself, and spend my time practicing the throwing motion. Even as I waited, however, I wondered just how many planes there were, floating in the emptiness, because I was yet to see the same plane twice — the type and shape of energy that surrounded the place to create the planar wall were more than enough to indicate the difference.
It was also the reason why I had ignored the first real opportunity to actually get in, just treating it as a practice, because I could feel very familiar energy radiating.
Necrotic energy.
“Fuck no,” I murmured even as I let the chain disperse, finally catching enough of a sample to identify its nature. The Primordial Aether worked excellently to block my senses to identify the nature of the energy, and only after I pulled myself halfway, I got a clear perception.
And immediately dropped the connection.
Dealing with Zokras had been enough of an adventure, and that was when I had the System to help. The last thing I needed was to fight through a world filled with those monsters without my ability to cheat.
I had to admit, that my determination was tested when I repeated the attempt twice during the next day, only to end up finding two planes filled with necrotic energy. Was I that unlucky, or the planes were dominated by undead monstrosities, that was a question I had no answer to.
But, considering the chain of events that led me to my current situation, I wasn’t willing to write off the unluckiness as a factor. Maybe I was just near a part that was near a region that was ruled by the undead.
It was certainly possible. The other option was that neither Janelor nor Mariel mentioned the greater world had been ruled by undead, which would have been a dangerous omission.
It had to be a bout of misfortune, I decided, but as the days passed while I floated, every attempt hit another undead plane, but either way, it was convincing enough that, when I finally hit one plane that was only partially tainted with Necrotic energy, I actually pulled.
It had already been more than a week, and I didn’t have the luxury of delaying more.
Worst case, I could breach the planar barriers and throw myself back to the Primordial Aether. I continued to spend mana to pull toward the planar wall, squeezing my teeth.
The reason, the closer I got to the planar barrier, the stronger the sense of tribulation. As I pulled toward it, I had the opportunity to watch the show. Waves of Primordial Energy hit against the barrier, and most of it reflected back, creating a deadly turbulence that threatened to crack the shield and snap the chain, tugging me from all directions.
“I’m lucky that I had already stored some mana,” I murmured. I certainly didn’t have the opportunity to transform any mana under turbulence, even forcing me to repair the patches I used the get Primordial Aether.
Either that, or it would have shredded my shield into pieces, I thought grimly as I trudged my way through the great mess, ignoring the patches of void and shattered space. I had no doubt that, without the shield, it would have destroyed me in seconds, even with the assistance of my Divine Spark.
The difference between calm — if a word like that could even be used to that mess — Primordial Aether and turbulent Primordial Aether was that great. The difference between a lump of metal and a sharp sword.
Both were deadly, but one even deadlier.
It took all my preparation to even successfully approach, but luckily, right at the edge of the barrier, the turbulence left its place to a certain calm, enough to allow me to crack open the shield and start working on the planar barrier.
I paused a moment to identify the mana flow, trying to understand its nature. I could sense that it was little more than raw mana, with little rhyme or control, but it rotated around the plane strongly, with all the strength of a raging river, still achieving a successful blocking effect.
It was weaker than what was around the Material Plane, but considering the intensity of strength, it didn’t mean much. I could have still shattered it easily if I had the full range of abilities granted by the System, but that was not a possibility with my current abilities.
No matter how much mana I stored in my shield, because it was impossible to establish a ward in the chaos of the Primordial Aether.
Luckily, breaching was not the only way. I carefully reformed the shield even tighter before letting it swallow me, and I slowly sank ot the dimensional walls, letting it swallow me just like it was swallowing the Primordial Aether.
And I started moving even faster than I did with the assistance of my fake elemental mounts, the sensation particularly horrible with the chaotic nature of the movement, which granted me an unexpected challenge.
Motion sickness.
I wanted to curse, but despite the emotional release such a thing would bring, I decided to hold my breath and split my attention between keeping the shield stable and keeping my stomach in place.
What a ridiculous challenge to deal with, I thought, though as the journey continued, I was aware that without the boost of the Divine Spark, the sudden turns would have been enough to kill me.
Inertia was not a joke.
Though, I welcomed it even as it intensified while I got closer and closer to the center, the intensity increasing a corresponding rate. It was a sign that the rules of physics were established once more.
Welcome, even as one strip of mana suddenly breached the shield, leaving a badly bloody laceration on my body. I bit my lip, ignoring the wound, as I didn’t have the ability to actually cure it. Unlike purified mana, the primitive HP I managed to copy was too sensitive to be stored.
Luckily, Divine Spark still increased my body’s ability of natural recovery, the blood slow stymying slowly.
I focused on the shield not wanting to experience another such mistake. If that mana flare hit my neck… I shivered, not even wanting to think about it.
I missed the protective sensation of HP badly, any wound, no matter how bad, recovering rapidly under its flow.
If there was one advantage to pain, however, the queasiness I had been feeling was completely gone. Nothing like a mortal danger to cure motion sickness…
I squeezed my teeth and continued deeper into the chaos, doing my best to ignore the constant, painful drain of mana, unable to be replenished — technically, I could steal from the barrier itself, but not without hopelessly shattering my own shield.
Luckily, my preparations proved sufficient, and quite a bit before my stored mana had finished, I had felt the trajectory of my movement change, throwing me into the sky like an arrow, before ultimately slamming on the ground.
I let the shield disperse, pulling its mana back to storage, a wide smile appearing on my face.
The sensation of the ground under my naked feet never felt that good.
[Level: 36 Experience: 631374 / 666000]
