73 What Lies Beyond (2/2)

I raised both my palms beside my face, making a tunnel for my vision, “Keep it simple.” I tilted my fingers forward, “Never forget the end goal.”

She nodded. She reached up her hand and ruffled my hair. She grinned, “Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind.” She glanced outside, “It’s about time I leave. Torix will bitch like there’s no tomorrow if I hold you up much longer.”

I grinned, “Thanks for the ring.” I glanced at the pile of miscellaneous stuff beside us, “Perfect timing for the gift too.”

She shrugged, “A thoughtful gift deserves one in turn, or something like that.”

Kessiah left before I lifted the ring and placed it onto the middle finger of my left hand. I channeled some of my mana into it. Spikes of the gray metal pierced into my finger. Strings of metal slithered through my finger before grafting to the bone. For a normal person, the debilitating pain would crush them to their knees. Being familiar with the sensation, I only winced.

Not from pain either. The feel of it was creepy. Imagine watching an assassin bug drain your blood. Sure, it probably won’t do any meaningful harm or even hurt. That doesn’t mean you want it to happen. I wouldn’t let something like that stop me from getting such a convenient device.

Once it grafted to my bones, it retraced back into the ring. A glowing red line appeared, the same color as my mana, at the center of the ring.

Coalescence finished. Access to 2850.8 kilograms allowed for Spatial Holder, C-137-Harbinger of Cataclysm.

I couldn’t tell if I should be impressed or disappointed at my weight. Based on what it was saying, I should be able to toss a car around with ease now. It made me wonder what Kessiah could really do if she tried with her blood arts.

I snapped those thoughts, willing the ring to open. In front of me, a ripple appeared. It was strange, something unseen shifting through my flesh and bones. Everything rippled, my armor and the space near me as the portal opened. Surrounding the ripple, a shifting portal appeared. Our reality bled into the portal’s edges, opening to a void.

Surreal and unsettling, I grinned at the feeling. It was familiar. Whenever Torix and co. opened a portal into another dimension, this same bizarreness took over. Curious as cat, I pressed my finger into the void.

My flesh erased. Even I felt the pain, causing me to wince. As I pulled out my finger, the white of bone and pale pink flesh looked back at me. A perfect cut was on my finger. As I pushed my weight into the portal, the portal used up my mana at the same pace. It turns out, the portal just becomes something that disintegrates me at the same pace as I enter it.

Lesson learned, I let my finger regenerate. It took less than fifteen seconds. As I moved my finger, the portal moved with it. No matter how I turned my hand, it stayed several feet away from me. I could move my hands and limbs to it though. The mechanics of it felt weird as fuck.

That’s how it worked though. After I finished toying with the portal, I packed over five minutes. I focused most of the weight on rations and some other miscellaneous survival stuff. By the time I finished, my time was up.

I ran over to Torix’s place. As I did, thoughts raced through my mind. Why does tampering with the ring cause such a stiff penalty? It made no sense, unless Schema was trying to hide something about the ring. Besides that, the mechanics for how the ring worked seemed oddly specific. Of course it could be a natural limitation, but I doubted it.

It was more like Schema didn’t want you crawling through the portal. Either that, or he was hiding something where he used his storage.

I shook those thoughts from my head as I walked up to Torix’s house. As I reached up into the building, Torix turned up to me along with Althea and Kessiah. He gave me a hard look, but he continued giving his breakdown,

“As I was saying, the rift you’re entering is here.”

He pointed at a map of Springfield. It was in the eastern side of town, somewhere I wasn’t familiar with. It was on the other side of our camp too. Torix covered my concerns seamlessly as he spoke though.

“This will be far and away the longest distance mission we’ve made. That will buy you and Althea time as you both develop your skills. Our lack of movement will alert them. Having most of our missions on this side of town will pay us back with surplus now.”

He turned to Kessiah “As those two are gone, I will whip the legion into shape. I’ll need you to be a drill instructor of sorts during this time. I’ll focus on other aspects, like the logistics during the operation.”

Kessiah looked like she was about to tell him to fuck off. She glanced at me, bit her lip, then turned back to Torix, “Fine. I’ll do it.”

Torix’s head swung back, “Really?” Torix coughed into his hand, dismissing his surprise, “Ahem, thank you Kessiah.” He turned back to us, “You two have plans for your skills, correct?”

Althea and I nodded. Torix gave us the ok before clapping his hands together,

“Then let’s set off.” He turned to us, a gravity overcoming him, “You two…stay safe. It would hurt me dearly to lose either of you.”

Althea bent down, blushing at the sincerity. I kept composure, but on the inside, I couldn’t help but feel a bit warmed. Torix walked over, taking two stones from his robe. One was red and the other blue. He gave Althea the red one and me the blue one. He turned to each of us,

“The red is Aatrox and the blue is Kade. This will only work for about thirty minutes a piece. You will count as their summoners as well. Use these in your time of need.”

Althea walked up and hugged Torix. Surprised at first, Torix grinned as he hugged her back,

“Keep safe Althea. Remember what I told you.”

She nodded, pulling away before Torix tapped his map,

“Then it’s time to leave. Both of you, good luck in your venture. We’ll be ready to kill a follower when you come back.”

I grinned, balling my hand into a fist, “We’ll be ready too.”

Althea and I left, passing through the sewers. The colorful combinations of flowers and odd creatures melded into fanciful scenery. We passed it in silence, the pressure pressing down on us. Our mission clear, our minds ready, we passed by before reaching the destination thirty minutes later.

I was the vanguard, stepping out of the sewer first. Around us were old, small houses. They could be nice, but neglect made them ugly, like a beautiful painting covered in mud. Trees grew in the yards, already overgrown from the apocalypse. That gave them a head start the other suburbs never had. It gave the place less emptiness though.

More animals and wildlife thrived here. Less people fed the forests of Yawm, meaning more normal plants bloomed. Wildflowers grew along the edges of the roads. The cracks in the road, once a signal of being poor, allowed tiny blades of grass and flowers to peak through. What once was a symbol of being poor turned into something that gave it a second life.

The spawns stalked the insides of buildings still. Caked on blood and sun-dried bones baked under the midday sun as Althea and I sprinted through the city. We kept under shadows, dashing from brush to brush. My telekinesis stopped me from breaking through the scenery like tissue paper. Althea moved in absolute silence. Even with my hearing, I couldn’t hear her. Her build suited secrecy and silence.

It was a false silence built on the white noise of cicadas while we climbed up. This entire part of the town was built around a mountain. Once we reached the top of it, an enormous pile of sand was spread out over it. It was like the snow that dots the top of mountains, except heat and sand instead. The further up we went, the worse it became.

Once we reached a few feet from the apex of the mountain, a gaping, black chasm stretched into the earth. Brooding and black, it was a void. No named or other members of Yawm were here either. Strange as it was, it sure was convenient too.

We surveyed the area, checking for any hidden enemies. Finding none, we opened up our status screens and checked them one last time. The delay in rifts made checking through them cumbersome.

I found the 222 points given by the Words of Strength skill. Upon closer observation, the skill wasn't made out of the skills I expected. Unlike Torix's Words of Power skill, Words of Strength used Leadership in place of Debating. I chopped that up to differences in personality and style.

It's like the difference between a general that rides into battle and the general that stays behind the front lines. Different styles lead to different results, but both can be effective. Schema's system was a bit more fluid.

Still, it gave me enough points to dig deep into the Fearless tree. I already had 27 points in it, so putting the 222 tree points from the unique skill would put my one point shy of completing the tree. Having gained two levels in phaser during the travel, I had just enough points for the tree.

With that in mind, I invested the points all at once.

Some let fear consume them. Others conquer their fears. You are without fear. Skill gained! Fear Tolerance(lvl 1) - You swallow your fear like a bitter medicine. -1% to fear generation.

Your lack of fear will in turn evoke fear in others. Fear clouds the mind, preventing clear judgment. When surrounded by the masses, you weaken their minds while no fear weakens your own. Skill gained! Pressure(lvl 1) - There is power in your presence. Mental pressure exerted onto enemies is increased by the level of this skill.

Fears span more than just fear of the physical. Many fear failure, others fear success. What if I'm not good enough? What if I can't handle the success I've earned? You silenced those voices in your mind. Skill Gained! Confidence(lvl 1) - Confidence limits you more often then your potential will. Gives more accurate assessment of your limits with level.

There are many other fears in life. Some fear the unknown. They let uncertainty freeze them. They allow consequence to rule them. You are no such person. Rather, you see opportunity in its place. Skill gained! Pathfinder(lvl 1) - You are only home when among the unknown. +1% to processing of new risks. +1% to planning speed when many factors are uncertain.

And the final fear is fear of suffering. Make no mistake, feeling pain and overcoming it are two different things. It is the act of pushing forward despite pain that creates tolerance. Learning to cope with pain is conquering it. You've learned this as well. Skill gained! Pain Tolerance(lvl 1)*&$%ERROR

Skill already known. Processing...Nearest breakthrough given in place of the reward. Breakthrough achieved! Pain Tolerance(lvl 100)--->*&$%ERROR

Maximum skill level reached. Processing...New reward tier achieved. Unique skill gained! Fuses the skills Fear Tolerance, Pressure, Pathfinder, Confidence, and Pain Tolerance into Dominating Presence. *&$%ERROR

Pain Tolerance is currently maxed. Skill cap exceeded. Rare variant given in place of common variant. Unique skill gained!Fuses the skills Fear Tolerance, Pressure, Pathfinder, Confidence, and Pain Tolerance into Overwhelming Presence. No tree points rewarded due to the nature of the skill's creation.

Overwhelming Presence(lvl 1) - The force of your mentality is made palpable. Passive mental pressure is amplified greatly by the level of this skill, enhancing influence and sway during conversation and battle.

The errors were weird, but outside of that, it looked like a solid tree. It was the first one to be based on skills instead of stats. Since my goal was to collect unique skills, I wasn't complaining. Outside of that, the skill made me feel different.

How exactly, well it's hard to explain. Have you ever felt the aura of a strong, powerful person? They walk with purpose. They hold themselves high with a humble pride. What they say is respected innately. They don't demand respect. Respect is simply given.

From me, that same kind of aura ebbed but with a greater intensity. Althea even noticed, though she might not have been aware of it. She just looked at me for a second from her status screen. She narrowed her eyes before glancing back. A subtle gesture, but it showed the impact the unique skill already had.

With nothing left for status screen, I closed it and tinkered with the skill. It was a passive skill, almost like the ability Cosmic Soul. The way the ability worked gave me some ideas too. My charisma wasn't high, but with the right investment, I could bypass that weakness.

The concept was simple. A person can influence people with strength and power. An easy example is someone holding a gun, pointed at your head. More than likely, whatever they have to say to you will be compelling. If I could create the same effect with skills like Overwhelming presence, then I could bypass my low charisma.

In other words, I make my influence on people become dependent on other attributes.

Satisfied with my status screen, I turned and waited for Althea to finish with hers. A minute later, she turned to me,

”You ready?”

I nodded. Not wanting to waste anymore time, I stepped forward into the chasm. Althea followed, each of us flying through the black fog. The icy sensation covered my skin before I detached from Schema’s system. My HUD left me, opening up my peripherals. The fog lessened, showing rocks and a tunnel of light ahead. The tunnel tightened before I stabbed an arm into the wall of stone.

Harder than normal rocks, the gray brick broke as I dragged further and further down. At the bottom of the tunnel, the pathway curved outwards so that we could walk upright. Althea floated down behind me, wings already formed for the occasion.

I jumped down, landing on the stone. The air smelled sweet here. Ahead of me, a wall of white covered the entire entrance, except some sand beside it. I raised an eyebrow as Althea landed on one of my shoulders. A set of talons gripped on my shoulder, but they didn’t pierce my shoulder. I held her weight with ease as I walked forward.

The wall turned less pale. Cracks and marks were few and far between, like a wall of weathered stone. I reached it, touching the smooth rock. I tapped against it, noticing a hollow ringing. I walked a few steps towards my side before reaching away from the stone. Behind it, a vast desert stretched outwards.

Like a lake of sand, mountains turned the horizon jagged in the distance. The sky was red, gray clouds floating by. I breathed deep. The air was sweet and clear. I walked out a few more steps, turning back where I came from. There was a pile of stones tall as a house. I glanced up, seeing the wall of white stone arch overhead.

It curved around the mountain, taller than trees. I glanced to my side, noticing the same white walls of stone set in a pattern. Over a football field away, a giant, pale stone was at the center of the white pillars.

A chill ran up my spine as my blood ran cold. These weren’t walls of stone. That wasn’t an immense, white stone either. These were ribs, and that was a skull. We were surrounded by the bones of a monster.

I gulped, “Holy fuck…So that’s why the named aren’t here.”

Althea glanced down at me, “Why?”

I grimaced, “Because whatever monsters live here, they’re too big to tame.”