Chapter 329: Rulers (1/2)

Spear peered up before tilting his head, ”I...I see you've grown in size. However, I doubt that goes for the will or direction of your mind.”

I stepped up to his tear in dimensions, ripping it further to my size. As I stepped through, I raised my brow, ”We'll see.”

Pulling my helmet over my face, I readied myself to see a piece of the galaxy's might. I stepped onto a panel of graphene, mirroring an Overseer's plating. Spear followed behind me, letting the dimensional rip close shut behind us. As it did, Spear seethed,

”We know something is amiss. Your guild carries unsystematized territory. There's one reason for that; you're performing illegal activities. Know that we will uncover exactly what it is after this war with Elysium is over.”

I frowned, ”You know, that might take a while since I'm not there to speed things along.”

Spear sheathed his dimensional slicer along his back, the magnet keeping the lance against him. He simmered, ”Your confidence has broadened into arrogance. When you see the others under Schema's wing, you will tremble. All have. All will.”

Keeping what he said in mind, I looked around. His portal opened into a smooth hallway without any plating. Only glowing lines of plasma offered light, their impressions faint. As I stepped in, I lightened. Keeping one of my hands through the dimensional opening, I peered around. I murmured, ”Where do we go from here, exactly? This place looks empty.”

Spear hopped over the veil, and I watched him walk off. Where he landed, bright blue plasma crisscrossed outwards with geometric lines spreading over every surface. It pulsed beneath the smooth plating, bringing the dead expanse to life. The writhing plasma threatened to crack out of the tunnel's walls at any moment, but it stayed contained.

Spear's casual walk demonstrated how reliable this gray plating was. The Sentinel lifted his hand, several starry portals opening in the hallway. Spear raised his arms to them, ”The system recognizes you as a dimension, but these are true microcosms, and Schema holds them within this vessel for his many purposes. The council's meeting place is within one of these spaces.”

I stepped out into the vast hallway, letting the warp snap shut behind me. I let my foot tap the floor, sensing the mana within. This place fluctuated with an unbounded quantity of energy. The portals exposed a dozen different worlds, not warps, but disconnected spaces made for and by Schema. Why the AI isolated those spaces, I didn't know.

What I did know was this whole place exuded a futuristic simplicity that exhibited wealth and power. It wasn't power in the usual sense, either. Instead of showing rare resources or outright luxury, Schema displayed strange technologies. This shuttle housed no doors, no sense of up or down within its walls. It carried no gravity either, being a blank canvas.

Despite that, an undeniable awareness spread over me. This place carried a wealth of secrets underneath its surface. Wanting to explore, I stopped using my gravity wells, allowing my mass to float in the shuttle. After experiencing the loss of levity, I hovered myself along, Spear walking with his boots keeping him grounded.

This gray expanse rose far into the distance, large as a mountain in all directions. Blank. Nothingness. Without the warps, this would be a warehouse in space. Somehow, an ambient light kept everything well seen despite the lack of lamps, torches, or any lighting really. It was another mystery.

Everywhere Spear touched, the listless gray sprung to life, the architecture responding to him. The Sentinel turned towards a wall. A starry portal opening further, and he walked into it. A bit nervous, I followed while keeping a section of my hand out in case it was a trap. Stepping into an identical hallway, the pulsing energy below offered light above like before.

Unlike the previous space, Spear pointed towards a doorway with two mana pits beside it. This new shuttle used crystallized mana for lighting, a demonstration of power. It reminded me of our guild's aesthetic, actually. The Sentinel to my side waved his hand in frustration, ”Come. Walk.”

Sensing no danger, I hopped through the new dimensional opening. Pacing into the tiny dimension, I stretched out with the Rise of Eden, wondering if it placed a different strain on this place. It did. My dimensional wake incited a whirling, aching tremble from the tiny pocket dimension.

Spear noticed nothing, the disruption purely metaphysical. Maybe because I was a dimension, it stood out to me. Regardless of the reason, the sensation strengthened when I stretched out Event Horizon to its greatest extent. By then, the dimension wailed. I pulled the aura back, unsettled by how alive the space felt to me.

We reached the crystallized mana lamps, and as we did, another warp opened nearby. From it, a purple, hulking beast made of miasma stepped out. Its eyes widened, the only expressions on its otherwise sharpened point of a face. Those pale oculi turned to me, and it stared through me.

My pulse heightened, a bit of nervousness shooting up my spine. The entity linked with my mind, and it ebbed through like a distant echo, ”I...You are the Harbinger...You fought the golden one...Impressive.”

I raised a hand, ”Thanks. Since you already know who I am, could you tell me your name?”

”I am...Shalahora.”

I gave it a wave, ”Good to meet you.”

”You...As well.”

Its voice pierced its surroundings, like talking to a walking sonic grenade. Somehow howling and quiet at the same time, it walked with its own Sentinel guard. It reached beside me, mirroring my own height. I checked its title, and that explained everything.

Shalahora, the Sun Swallower and Star Eater | Level 60,027 | Guild: The Celestials | Class: Sovereign

This thing could literally end Elysium by itself. Why it hadn't or didn't was beyond me. In front of us, a seamless doorway opened from the wall, the material bleeding away. Peering close, I recognized the material and murmured,

”Nanomachines, huh?”

Spear snickered before turning to me, ”This is only the beginning.”

We stepped into an elevator of glass or what appeared to be glass, at least. Once inside, Shalahora tilted its head to me. Another telepathic conversation began,

”If my communication bothers you...Tell me...Many species are driven mad by it...Others are hateful to it.”

I waved my hands, ”Oh, don't worry about it. I've talked with a species called the gialgathens for a while now. I can tell the difference between a conversational link and a militant one. You're doing a good job signaling your intent during that process.”

I moved my hands around more than necessary out of nervousness, ”It's like, you're probably just meeting species that are new to telepathy. If that's the case, one tactic I've seen is sending an anonymous chat log to the person. They'll know it's you, and it doesn't require any intrusion to someone's mind.”

I coughed into a hand, ”Ah, not that you need the advice.”

”I did not know...Am grateful.”

It stared forward, a comfortable silence forming in the room. I peered around, kind of surprised by that. Shifting us with a sudden jerk, the elevator shot upward, launching via magnetism. Several G's worths of force waved over everyone here, our systemized bodies well adapted for the stress.

We whirled past a glass viewpoint of space, several hundred other elevators leading towards the same area over us. The light source of this place rested over the ending point of our elevators, and when I looked up, it mirrored an eclipse. Turning my gaze elsewhere, other ruler class members shot upwards with the two of us.

We all headed towards the same place overhead. Beaming up, we siphoned into the space without worry. Other rulers looked around like I did, though I was the only one with my hands planted on the windowpane. Even if it showed my naivete, I couldn't help it. This was impressive.