Enchanting all the rings took Robert and Noah three days. Noah made other items that would be donated to the Academy in exchange for credits. The teacher seemed especially happy about that. Apparently, the success of this expedition would greatly improve his standing with the institution. But they ran out of basic materials. Robert hid the leftovers from all the crafting in the liminal void anyway. No need to throw away perfectly good stuff if an easy storage solution exists.
Just as Noah said, the first one was the best of the batch. Yet, they had made an easy couple hundred million each if they sold these rings at an auction. Robert even discarded some of his smaller ones and traded them for bigger rings from that batch. The ring on Freddy's tail also got an upgrade, going from 125 liters to two cubic meters. Not that the alien refugee had much to store in there but it was nice regardless.
But now it was time to leave the puffbloom islands for good. Amanda and Noah set their gliders, now with the safety of the puffbloom parachute. Robert followed them in his fairy form and finally enjoyed a stress-free flight. He noticed that he had little fear of heights in that form. Robert conjectured that he could even experience some mental drift as his thoughts adapted to the alien physiology but he didn't intend to remain a fairy for months on end and his mental palace protected his psyche from mind-altering effects, both natural and artificial.
It was also a good test for the limitations of his fairy form. Robert still didn't know his top speed but he could keep up with the gliders without breaking a sweat. He recalled reading that hang gliders could reach speeds up to 80mph 129 km/h. They weren't gliding that fast, though.
The big chasm, a circular spot without any islands they crossed on the way in was still somewhat unsettling. They flew for hours without seeing anything, no island, no puffbloms. Only their calibrated shadow compasses guaranteed they weren't going to miss their target island. He knew he could lift the haze if he entered the liminal void but that was how he got into a fucking mess last time. No. He trusted Noah wouldn't lose his bearings, and trusted that he could fix any mistake they made.
It was still heartwrenching. He was free flying over a massive chasm, spanning dozens upon dozens of miles, without a single landmark in sight. Just the too-nice clouds, the glaring sun, the blue sphere around them, and their own images above and beneath them.
"Land ho!" Noah shouted after too many hours.
The tip of an island, with a landing platform, was coming out of the illusory haze as if it were a deep fog. But they were at the wrong height. If they didn't dive, they'd fly under the island.
"Circular holding pattern!" Noah ordered. "Dip forty-five degrees!"
"I'm going ahead if you don't mind," Robert sent with silent message.
The gliders couldn't climb but Robert had full reign over all three dimensions. He could hover, fly backward, and do anything a hummingbird could. He had class-A maneuverability.
*
*
With his human butt firmly planted on a patch of grass a quarter of a mile inland, Robert waited. He'd cleared his liminal void time, using the month and a half he had to convert into almost six months in his mental palace. He trained sword and spear forms and techniques on training dummies he imagined out of thin air. His time compression abilities were becoming ridiculous. At least his mind compressed all that repetitive work into a single event. It made the feeling of detachment more manageable after the fact.
The two gliders came in one after the other, Amanda first. A perfect landing. Robert stood up and approached her.
"Is everything okay?" He asked.
"Yes, no problem at all. This is such a long flight. It's too tense. My whole body is stiff."
Robert put a hand on Amanda and sent a healing pulse. She almost melted under him. After that, he helped her unlatch her harness from the glider. Then he retrieved Cotton's cage and released the furball. Cotton happily floated around. Then he released Freddy from the front. Robert knelt next to the huge hound.
"And you? Do you need any healing?" He asked.
"All good," Freddy woofed. He then ran to catch up with Cotton.
"I can disassemble the glider for you if you go help Noah," Robert said.
"Okay!" Amanda skipped to where their teacher had parked his glider.
They stayed the day in the cabin, then flew to the corner island with the passage that led to the Gravity Slime Caves. The next day, they were right in front of the passage.
"I don't sense any danger," Noah said.
"Neither do I. Let me go in first," Fairy-Robert said.
"Good luck!" Amanda waved her hand, clearly not interested in sacrificing herself for the greater good.
But it was kind of Robert's job to keep her safe, he reminded himself. Not his fault, to him it was more than a decade ago that they left Earth.
He went through the passage.
*
*
The smell of a damp cavern and the sound of rushing water were the first things to greet him. The stone platform Amanda created was still here, with the ladder carved on one side. The river was flowing less than one foot above the passage but the water wasn't glowing. In fact, the whole realm was very, very dark. Not pitch-black but the light coming through the passage was bright enough that he couldn't see much near the passage even with his back to it.
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"No enemies," Robert shouted as he poked his head through. "But the realm is fucked."
"Language!" Amanda chastised with a chuckle.
They crossed and climbed down, Noah carrying Freddy. The two puffblooms flew in after them, circling Robert. He looked at Cotton, the light-affinity puffbloom. Using a telepathic link, he explained the effect he wanted Cotton to create. The puffbloom started to shine brightly, a star born inside the gloomy cavern. Coal complained and moved to hide from the light but it was just him being annoyed.
Robert flew down with Cotton close by.
"The caverns haven't yet recovered their Ether levels," Noah said. The Netherecho is clean. We should move with haste. Robert, how much time do you have in the liminal void right now?"
Robert thought about taking his timepiece out of the storage ring but backpedaled. He had no idea if he could hold the contraption and had no wish to see it damaged. He came lower near the cavern floor and finally checked his clock.
"Two months," He reported.
It was less than ideal. If the path was without obstructions, they would take two weeks to travel the distance between passages on foot. But anyone's guess was as good as any. The Eidolon that blew this place might've collapsed some caverns. But the fact the river was flowing gave them some hope the way home would be free of obstructions.
Noah shook his head. "In a perfect world, we would stay in the liminal void only the required time to cross this realm. This is not it. Amanda, can you endure another two months?"
Amanda grimaced. The isolation was harder on the girl than the two older men. But she was not the same person who entered these caverns all these months ago. She was tougher, sturdier, and more resolute. Amanda believed this expedition was her rite of passage. But she couldn't wait to get out and visit a shopping mall and buy every single item one by one. Especially if she could drag Robert along. Not as her bodyguard, though.
"Yes. I can research more plant evolutions."
Noah took two cages out of his storage ring. "Robert, you should put your puffblooms in here and make them sleep. The trip will be the hardest on them."
"I still need to change back to my human form, though." Robert pointed out.
"Do it over there. Amanda, can you raise a privacy curtain?" Noah suggested.
"Sure," Amanda chimed. She raised a hand and brought forth four walls with a doorway facing away from them. "There you go."
Robert flew inside and changed. Several minutes later, he walked out in his Academy uniform. "Let's go, then."
They tied the silk ropes and Robert caged his mutated puffblooms. With a quick application of Mind Blackout, he put them to sleep. With any luck, they would remain asleep until they reached the passage back to Earth.
After double-checking they were all secure and the ropes were firmly tied, Robert used his talent. The four of them crossed over to the liminal void almost imperceptibly. The colors didn't drain from the surrounding environment because there were no colors to drain from. it just went from gloomy and dark to gloomier and darker.
They started their hike through the dark cave.
*
*
Only to be met with utter dismay. The lake cavern they were in when the Eidolon caused the explosion had been utterly upheaved and tossed around. The ground had been dug twenty feet or more but the rocks were still there. More concerning was the fact the water was in the ground and not floating in the middle. The lake was still there but it was a pale echo of what it once was. The volume was down to about one percent of the time when Amanda fought the shock octopus.
When that memory surfaced, Robert checked her neck. She still wore the pendant, though it was a mundane item now.
"Can we go around?" Amanda asked. "A secondary path?"
"I don't think so," Noah said. "All the tunnels on this side are blocked by rocks and water. I think they might even be flooded."
"And if the passage flooded, they might have blocked it on the other side," Robert conjectured.
"Are we trapped? Isn't there any other path out?" Amanda asked, a bit of panic seeping into her voice.
"Yes, but it will take quite some time. Some of these passages are privately owned. We would need to negotiate entry."
"I might have a solution," Robert said. "I can take us deeper into the void, and then travel to Earth from there."
"What's the risk?" Noah asked.
"That I cannot extend my protection to living things deeper in the void."
"Let's not do that? Look, If we find other humans, I can negotiate on behalf of Samson," Amanda suggested.
"We need to leave this place anyway," Noah said. "All these rocks and water here seem dangerous."
"I can go alone to the other side and ask for help," Robert offered.
"No, we stand together. All we need to do is to find a place with a strong Ether concentration and spawn a slime. we can capture it and you take it for a dive in the void to see if it can survive."
*
*
Noah was right to leave the place. The water amidst the rocks was actually churning, moving the rocks up and down as if... they were alive.
"Is that a giant slime pinned under the rocks?" Robert asked.
"Yes and we are going to stay very far away from it," Noah replied. "Because none of us has any chance of defeating that thing. Or all of us together, for that matter."
To defeat a slime, you had to vaporize all of its body or strike its core. Robert could see how the thousands of tons of rocks covering the giant slime would make finding its core difficult.
They withdrew to a side tunnel. The tension was high. Everyone was trying to think of a way out but it was Robert who came up with an idea.
"I just need to use my talent to move the big rocks to the liminal void," he said. "If I get the big loose rocks and shift them to the liminal void, it will open up space and create a way through the landslide."
"But the big slime might catch you," Amanda warned.
"I'll go in fairy form. With all my buffs, I can react fast enough to flee the slime if I need to."
"Keep away from the water. It's not water, just the slime's body. But your plan might work. The next path back to Earth takes us through three passage realms," Noah said.
"I'm going, then. Take care of the puffblooms. If they go wild, you know the reason," Robert said and shifted into the liminal void before anyone could change their minds. Or his.
*
*
Fairy-Robert flew back to the blocked tunnel and waited until he returned to the real world. Invisible, he examined the rocks and found gaps he could fit through. It was better to start from deeper inside and find the biggest rocks he could still move. If the rock was too big or was too attached to the ground, his talent wouldn't let him drag it with him in the same way it didn't take the dirt under his feet.
He entered the crack and found a really big rock. Robert touched it and used his talent. The rock went with him to the liminal void and everything seemed to be exactly where it should be. Though there should be a gap in reality where this rock was before, the rest of the debris didn't have time to fall down. He moved back to the cavern through the same gaps he used and flew away. This time, he only had to wait for about an hour before he returned. Immediately, he heard the rumbling of the landslide as it collapsed to fit the space left by that rock.
Robert waited close to the lake so he could put the most distance between the giant slime and him. Once the dust settled and the slime buried underneath the rocks by the tunnel mouth didn't react, he went into the cracks once again. The wait also helped to avoid talent fatigue, like when he dueled the security forces and got his insides pulped by Tyrone's punch.
It took hours. Rock by rock, Robert moved stuff to the liminal void until he could see a passage forming in the middle of the tunnel.
Then, a stream of water moved out of the lake as if it had its own will. It darted straight for the hole and splashed into the rocks inside.
More slimes formed inside the landslide.