Chương 43: Greater Beast

Gasping for air, he finally stopped swinging as the shadows receded. This time, he was able to catch the moment the light became too much for them, and they melted away into nothing- those that were left didn't drop anything Around him, mounds of black rocks up to his shins. After so many hours spent fighting, he'd become attuned to his body, both this night and the night before.

Comparing the two, he could say, definitively, that he was most certainly not any stronger than he'd been before gaining the Abyssal stat, much to his disappointment. He'd also verified something: Two places past the decimal point was the furthest something could go right now, such as his Sensitivity being at 2. 22. The light from his case was wildly distracting, but he'd managed to fight through it, and even refine his sight further- which was something he hadn't realized was possible.

When he raised Sensitivity, it was like upping the resolution, but he was now learning that he hadn't actually taken in the new details. He hadn't realized that he was able to analyze things or, more accurately, he didn't know what he could analyze. This last fight, with his new experience and rested body, he was able to pick apart the shadows magically, and found a strange… hollowness about them.

It was difficult to really spot, but not impossible and the only way he could describe it was that they were lacking something that everyone else had, including other Imprints or, hell, even his whips. Aaron's own constructs were… more than the shadows. This wasn't natural, either, it didn't feel like they'd formed around this hollowness- it was more that they'd had something within them ripped away. Much like Abyssal magic.

It left him wondering if the shadows were natural at all, if they were actually a feature of the Underworld… or if he was facing one of the beings who'd been around for so long and entrenched themselves so heavily in their terrain as to be an environmental hazard. Looking at Bwurzix, he-'Wait, let's get the process of spreading more dandelions going then I can continue this thought.'

* Aaron hadn't channeled much of Bwurzix's power at all to fuel the transformation of his case into a Memorabilia, leaving the plant with a significant excess to eat on before it began to starve, which would last it… honestly, maybe a day. Still, it agreed with Aaron's idea to use all the rocks for seeds, even if doing so would chew into its reserves to actually make those seeds, as they thought it would be the best long-term plan.

Speaking of, he continued the line of thought from before while his hands worked, Bwurzix creating a bloom of hundreds of seeds for Aaron to use and spread out. Looking at Bwurzix, he saw a massive entity that couldn't sustain itself and so was sending out countless of energy collectors. Even now, the dandelions that he'd planted yesterday used the excess energy they'd stored in their roots, getting back into it within half an hour to produce more energy- all of which went towards feeding Bwurzix.

So, his question now was, were the mirrors actually a part of Floor 1? Or was there an Abyssal monster out there who happened to have gained some mirror powers? Dark Seeker, what was its title? Herald of the Fifth Fractured Abyss. It was a Herald, a person who signaled the approach of someone else, serving on their behalf. Which meant that there was someone or some thing called "The Fifth Fractured Abyss" that'd taken note of Aaron's actions and sent someone, which was… worrying, to say the least.

"Bwurzix, we really gotta get these seeds out asap, and maybe get some help from the town to see if they know what monster might be coming for us." THINKING (Hesitant, reassessing past, familiar powerset, known monster).

"You've been thinking about the Herald…? You recognize it?! NO CATEGORY (Similar monsters, different flavor, all attacked me but not in this way). DROP (During fall, after going fast, before arriving here, at birth). OTHERS (Things, indescribable, familiar in a way, related to Herald). ATTACK (Pull at me, rip my leaves. I formed a shield, and kept healing, but they never stopped). WEAK (Did little, not very strong, not infectious like herald, no real signature). SATISFIED (They felt happy. Reading signature, not hungry, not wanting. Small, weak, content). BROKEN (Herald, not satisfied. Not happy. Wanting. Hungry. Aura, sparks, infection, hungry. Signature, hungry. Broken. Incomplete. Searching). He waited for Bwurzix to keep talking, entranced by the tale as he could almost see it with his own eyes, but when he ended it there, Aaron snapped out of his stupor, translating it to words he could understand.

"So basically, after the angel pulled me out of reality, it dropped me, and on the way down, you were born. In the place between floors, there were other Abyssal creatures, that were weaker but happy. The one we faced- Dark Seeker- was broken, but strong, and different. The other Abyssals couldn't actually inflict you with Abyssal magic… hmm…

"The Fifth Fractured Abyss, that sounds pretty broken, doesn't it? And the Herald was able to summon little worms… I think it might be a creature that summoned the Herald and sent it out. Which is, honestly, concerning, but if it's stationary like you, we might have a chance to grow and expand. If all it can do is send out a million little creatures, we might be able to fight it once we have more energy. I just hope it doesn't send its entire militia like, tomorrow, or tonight.

Give us a week, and I think we'll be able to mostly repel whatever it can send.

"Although… now I wonder, why did it attack me, and not you?" SNEAKY (Hide energy, long time practiced, learned in fall, appear less, monsters less).

"Sneaky?! You're the size of a small moon!" he said, bursting out into laughter. TINY (Tiny energy, tiny appearance, hidden from attention in unique way). BIG (You, are loud, large, obvious, beacon). TEACH (Squabbling, unskilled, bad, will help guide you).

"Ouch, ouch, and ouch. I'd doubt you, but the proof is in the pudding I suppose. Even the shadows just climb right through you without attacking… Hey why didn't you tell me all this before? When I first started talking to you, it was harder to understand than it is now." SLUMBERING (Starving, low energy, mutters in response, dying).

"Ah, yea, fair. Hard to talk when you're on the verge of collapse." Looking at the rest of the pile, he realized he was already through half.

'Damn, this is going a lot faster than before. Am I that much quicker? I thought this would take forever but this feels like I'm able to get just as much in half the time. Still, it'll probably take me maybe another half-hour.'

"Alright Bwurzix, let's hear what you have to say about my sloppy control, and how I can hide myself better." * Watching his energy flow, Aaron could definitively say that Bwurzix was completely right, and he was practically flailing compared to now.

'Damn.' Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. When his energy sat still, it would apparently fray at the edges; though his own energy went nowhere and wasn't dissipating at any visible rate, when it frayed, that did something to people senses that made you more obvious- like a declaration of yourself as a magic user, and it made others pay more attention to you. In Bwurzix's experience, the blurrier your energy was, the louder you got.

Bwurzix mentioned that, at first, it just solidified its energy to make itself quieter, and this worked, but they'd been in the space between for a while, and even as a giant mundane dandelion, things tried to eat you, and when that happened, sparks of energy would be released. Their control increased in efficacy the longer they went, making even their wounds and healing quieter, but being hurt would always require some loudness. So they experimented more, and took it a step further.

Slowly, they found that if your energy matched your processes very, very closely, you became all but invisible. Not just matched to the shape of your body and evenly spread out, but for Bwurzix, this meant throughout every roots, matching the grain of their flowers, traveling along their stalks at the same rate as their sap. Everything.

They said that it would eventually start to happen automatically as their body remembered its own pattern, but the first step was solidifying his energy; if your energy frayed while moving, it seemed to invoke hostility in everything around you. Before he knew it, their lesson was over, he was out of seeds and stones, with the first ones that'd been sent out already well entrenched in their spots.

Quickly climbing one of the nearby towering dandelions now that his Windwhips were fixed, he looked out over the landscape, seeing the dots of yellow and green breaking up the monotonous blue in places.

"Alright," he said quietly to himself, "I think it's time to actually venture down to the town." * Maybe two and a half hours since the sky lit up again, he was at the bottom of Bwurzix, rolling his shoulders, sore from the descent. Despite going down, he felt like it was a bit harder than it should've been. As he looked to his goal, he could understand now why he'd missed it before. With shiny, reflective walls, it appeared just as the sky to him, barely a distortion in the air.

Carefully, he moved through the mirrors, making sure to not get close to any of them. He found them a bit… fuller than before. Not as many empty ones, too many of his own face staring back. For his own mental health, he decided to stay on guard but no longer stare them in the eyes. They weren't the only ones gunning for him though, and the other was a much more pressing, and historically more successful danger.

"I know you're awake, Onward Evermore, stop pretending to still be broken. Last night was more than enough to fix you." It spit acid at him, saying something that was very clearly the most hateful insult it could think of. The ground began to slope upwards, but his careful march was unimpeded. Raising his hands placatingly, he said "I know, that's my bad. I'm sorry, I really shouldn't have done that, or I should've warned you before I did." It insulted him again.

"Oh really? What was the alternative then? Go up to the surface? You know you get stronger as I go down, right? Did it not occur to you that you'd get weaker as I went up?" It was silent.

"And what about the experiment? I'm an experiment, yes, but all Imprints and abilities are. What would you do if the System decided it wanted to test out a different Imprint? What if it pried you away, killed you, and replaced you with something else for a different set of results?" It hesitantly denied that it was possible to be separated.

"But how do you know? Going up to the surface meant surrendering control. Yea, we're probably in more danger here, but at least we get a head start against everyone else plunged into the Underworld by the System." The best way he could translate its behavior was that it started sulking. He sighed, "Really, I think you should lighten up though. I already know I hurt you badly, and for that, I'm sorry.

I've been thinking of what to do as an apology, but frankly, the only thing you want is to be free, and I can't give you that… but, I suppose I can work with you for… let's call it enrichment.

"So, how about this? Every day, when we're not in danger, I will willingly let you out for one hour. After that, I'll take back over. If you fight me, then I don't give you any hours until my time is recuperated. You won't even be able to enjoy the extra few hours it'll take me to take back over." It posed a higher time limit.

"One hour." It posed a higher time limit, that was slightly lower.

"One hour." It posed that in this time, it should be allowed to help people.

"Help- No! Your version of helping people is to take over their minds! Our previous agreement still stands, until I won't fight you anymore, you aren't allowed to do what I would consider hurting people." It finally agreed, asking when it would be allowed out.

"I don't know, I'm not sure if this town will be stable or not, but we can definitely see. If you're interested in walking around town, I might have to get the go-ahead from the leaders, but if you just want to go plant more seeds or something out in the wilderness, that'll take its own preparation. We'll just have to see." It acquiesced for now, but said it wouldn't forget the agreement, making Aaron roll his eyes.

"If I wasn't serious, I wouldn't have even posed it as an option." The more he learned about Onward Evermore, the more it felt like just… some animal in captivity; one, that ate emotions and shat magic, but still an animal. He could try to break its spirit, and he was sure that others might do just that, but his was certainly quite different, not leaving that as an option. Plus, it wasn't entirely selfless.

When Onward Evermore was the one in control, it let Aaron feel his energy very closely, and with the new training regime he got from Bwurzix, he thought he could make a lot more progress in learning to use his Sensitivity with the disembodied form. So he'd let Onward Evermore have a bit of fun, as a way to both make up for it and hopefully get them working together rather than consistently against one another.

They continued to slog up the hill, but the further he went from Bwurzix, the more mirrors there were- never so many that there wasn't space to walk between them, but he had to get dangerously close in many places. When this happened, he'd just use his vines to hover over, but that became more difficult the closer to the town he got. He was left wondering why they didn't work to tear down the mirrors, and feeling like something might happen if he did. But, most of all, he wondered about the ground.

The blue floor, reflecting the blue sky, albeit slightly more gray. Under Bwurzix, the ground felt like grass, but here, it was like his mind couldn't decide if it felt like walking on a cloud, slogging through water, or stepping on a spongy ground. All he knew was that it took more effort than usual to stop his feet from sinking in.

Sometimes, they would pass by a dandelion, and he'd briefly say hi to it, having his own version of a conversation in the form of reconnaissance, though most didn't really know anything. It was as they approached the town that his sprouting dandelions began to inform him of ill tidings.

"Something's lurking around here?" he asked the most recent one, "Are you sure." It gave an affirmative, with the mental signal of a slinking figure, going about, studying the dandelions before walking away from each. Corroborating stories, he was immediately put in guard, glancing about suspiciously. Yet, the air was stale, and the mirrors as threatening as usual. No reason to stop, he could only stay on guard, asking Onward Evermore to warn him if anything came up with Sensitivity.

Yet, even Onward Evermore gave an exasperated shrug. Other that his eyes, when he was on the ground, it was just as blind as he. The air thick with history, neither could use Sensitivity as freely as he could atop Bwurzix.

'I'll have to be careful, I can't call upon that flow state when I'm here.' The hours passed, the mirrors thickened, but nothing happened, and soon, they left the area where his dandelions spotted a creature, letting them relax Which is, of course, the very moment things went awry. As he was carried over the mirrors on his vines, he lifted one up to place it down in the next spot, when the Windwhip currently holding him was abruptly cut in half.

He fell, flailing, and as he looked down, he saw that he was on a collision course, directly with a mirror, one black as the night sky of this world. His remaining whip flailed, and he thrust his arms out, throwing something below him just a moment before he fell, head-first, into the dark world- going right through, of course. His front half nearly plummeted forward, but his hands and whip luckily caught on the floor behind him, letting his chest and head dangle precariously.

The encompassing blackness revealed nothing. But the System did, as a notification opened itself before his eyes. {Place of Power - Corpse of the Fifth Abyss: Aluramet the Murmur} His face twisted in a rictus of confusion and fear. A force pulled him deeper into the mirror, despite his whip trying to reel him back, and his legs scrabbled for purchase on a floor that had none.

Just as he thought he was about to lose his grip, someone took hold of his legs, yanking with all their might, just barely outpacing the gravitational force trying to take him. After a few seconds of hard labor from them both, he quickly found himself winning the battle, and as his shoulders met open air again, the fine balance seemed to break, and he was abruptly flung backwards. Staring up at the oddly clear sky, panting, he repeated it to himself again, disbelieving.

"It's a Place of Power… Corpse of the Fifth Abyss: Aluramet the Murmur…"