They broke camp and moved through the cave. The spot occupied by the ginormous slime was now an empty depression. The lake water had bulged slightly to follow the contour.

"It seems the blast not only vaporized, it destroyed most of the water," Noah said. "The vapor had time to condense back but the volume of water available is but a fraction of what once was. And the water lost its brilliance. I also sense no life in the water. All the monster fish died."

"Did the asshole Eidolon that created this whole mess at least got anything from it?" Amanda asked.

Of them all, Amanda was the most affected by the bad news. Her mood was horrible and she was throwing free snark, sass, and outright verbal aggression at anyone who dared look at her the wrong way. It seemed she was enduring the journey back in the hopes of getting home and now those hopes were dashed.

"It is hard to say and anything that comes out of my mouth on the subject is speculation. But yes. I bet that Eidolon got even stronger. Because at that level, he didn't defeat a two or three-star fish. He defeated the whole realm."

Noah gesticulated at their surroundings. "Do you know all the Ether that is now missing from this Realm? It's in the Eidolon's metaphysical belly."

"Fuck!" Amanda shrieked. She paced ahead, flailing her arms. She kicked a rock and it exploded into dust. Then she cackled. "Got a new spell, by the way."

*

*

After another long hike, they were once more at the Puffbloom Islands. What once looked like a scenic countryside retreat now felt like a prison. Robert was fine since he could relax during his mandatory liminal void time, further enhanced by going to his mental palace. While he didn't go bodily to that mental landscape, the effect on his psyche was the same as if it were real. He added some luxurious accommodations in the central tower of iron will.

They decided to skip the slime hunting. With Amanda's mood dragging everybody down, It would be a catastrophe if they stayed for too long in those caverns. At least here, they hoped the sun would brighten up her mood.

"We are going straight to the Caustic Ocean passage," Noah said. "Then we'll see if we can use Robert's talent to skip that realm entirely. If not, we'll need to craft those enchanted items."

"Sure," Amanda said curtly. She then stared at Robert. "You can't cross water in the liminal void, right?"

"No, not normally," Robert replied. "But since the whole realm is full of water, it might work as air. If not, I've found the first realm where my talent is useless for movement."

They were screwed. Noah knew of a route that skipped the Caustic Ocean but that route added three more realms to the journey and some of them were really dangerous. The "Don't come here if you aren't three stars or forfeit your life" is kind of dangerous.

So they flew. Gliders and fairy wings, puffblooms strapped to their backs, Taulusian refugee hanging from Amanda's waist. Jumping islands, trying to keep a nice mood, failing at that. Until they reached the passage to the oceanic realm, ten days later. It was already a month since they re-entered the Gravity Slime Caves. Another month and they would be late for the second semester inauguration speech and the tournament qualifiers.

It was on a small island, inside a depression in the ground, where water pouring from the other side filled a small lake of highly acidic water. The stones were bleached white, and the grass didn't grow near it. The passage was quite deep, more than five hundred feet beneath the lake's surface. Despite the depth, the water was so clear and the stone so white they could see that deep. This was most likely so to equalize the pressure on both sides of the passage. It also raised the question of whether the ocean realm had a ceiling. It did, according to Noah. That also meant that the pressure at the passage level was sixteen times the standard atmospheric pressure. Enough to become deadly without specialized diving gear.

Amanda conjured a potato and tossed it into the lake. The potato hissed and dissolved, a plume of caustic smoke rising, until the vegetable vanished less than thirty seconds later.

"Fuck this shit!" She shouted. "FUCK YOU INTERSPACE!"

Next, she fell on her knees, sat down on her ankles, and wept, her hands covering her face.

Robert watched, unsure of what he could do. He couldn't promise her they would go back home safely. He couldn't even be sure they would survive the trip through the highly acidic water.

"We should've farmed the slimes," he mumbled.

"We can go back. It will use up more time, though," Noah said.

"Or we can get creative," Robert said. "There's one thing I noticed about this realm. I would like your opinion about it."

"Shoot."

"Some islands in this place have streams that go off the edge. It creates this nice cascade into mist effect."

"Yes."

"But the water never reaches the island back as it falls down. It doesn't even rain."

"That's correct," Noah said, shifting his head so the painted blue eye on his mask pointed at the lake. "I don't think I'll like where you're going with this."

"The water seeps from the realm through the passage, right?" Robert said, walking to the edge of the lake.

"Yes. But you can't hope to drain an entire realm—"

Robert pointed at the bottom of the lake, right underneath the passage. "Zoltraak!" He shouted.

The thickest beam of Void energy he ever shot flew out, disintegrating the water and punching a hole fourteen feet in diameter at the bottom of the island, all the way through. The black beam flashed down once in the distance as it came down from above through the folded space of the realm but only faintly for the second time around as it went beyond the ten-mile range of the haze.

The lake water started to drain, raining down through the hole. It rapidly emptied the lake and then a deluge of water spewed out of the passage, splashing against the rock and sending caustic droplets everywhere.

Noah rushed forward and drew an ice rune. "Natural Disaster: Ice Age!"

The whole empty lake, the water violently pouring out of the passage, and a cone of the island beyond that became frozen down to temperatures cold enough to liquefy the air. Droplets of air sublimated with a hissing noise as the spell finished.

"Pick up Amanda and run, you fool!" Noah shouted.

They withdrew far away from the lake, to the other side of the island.

*

*

"What were you thinking when you did that?" Noah shouted, furious.

"Did you have a better idea?" Robert shouted back.

Amanda wept. Freddy whined. Cotton and Coal huddled in a corner of the hut.

"What if the acid rains down on us? What if it's just the water from this realm that doesn't come back down."

"I don't see how this makes our situation worse!"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Do you have any idea how long it will take to drain a WHOLE REALM? A WHOLE FUCKING OCEAN!?!"

"No."

"Why did you do that, then?"

"I felt like destroying something beautiful," Robert said, channeling his inner Tyler Durden.

Professor Actus lowered his head. Then he lightly punched Robert's shoulder. "Keep the tankers' valves closed. Don't smother those French beaches, Psycho-Boy. Don't shoot the celibate pandas either."

"Roger, Wilco," Robert replied.

"Too late now."

*

*

Three days passed. It didn't rain on the island. Wherever the water from the ocean was going, it wasn't on their heads. But the high-velocity water jet coming out of the passage was slowly eroding the island, carving a gash through the land and turning the island into the shape of a Japanese magatama.

At least Amanda had recovered from her mental breakdown somewhat.

"Damn, this is crazy," She said.

They stood at a distance, watching the water corrode and break down the ground. Though it didn't rain, rocks and other debris could be seen shooting down in the distance. As the water broke down the rocks, they gained lateral momentum, making it a done deal that they wouldn't just fall down on the same spot as the metal balls back at the workshop. Yet, the incessant rain of rocks they could see in the distance begged the question.

What the hell happened to the water?

Nobody could answer that.

They went back to the hut. Then they waited.

On the fourth day since Robert broke the lake, Noah did some math. "I tried to estimate how much water is pouring out of that hole, it's more than five times the volume of an Olympic swimming pool per second. Or six percent of the total volume of water the Amazon river pours into the ocean."

"It's not too much," Amanda shrugged.

"I was talking about the most voluminous river in the entire Planet Earth. The one that's more than two hundred miles wide at its mouth."

"Meh," she grumbled, nonplussed. "When are we getting home?"

A mighty roar broke the stalemate between utter boredom and despair against fact-spewing didactic. The island shook as the monstrous racket didn't stop.

Robert ran outside, his puffblooms resting on his shoulders.

A massive whale was half-stuck in the passage. It was bleeding and thrashing, its body obviously too big to fit. It was also plugging the water. The pressure it was emanating was threatening to crush Robert. The monster was covered in barnacles and had purple skin.

Noah came out of the door. "Bloody hell. That's a four-star monster!"

The whale was breaking the nearby rock that was spared from the jet of water. Each time it slammed its humongous head against the rock, the whole island shook.

While the humans stared slack-jawed at the impossible sight, an entire side of the island broke down and fell. Whatever force kept the islands in place didn't protect pieces of it, even if they were four hundred feet long by more than a hundred wide. The whistling sound of the falling piece was deafening even over the roars of the whale.

"Bloody hell," Noah repeated himself. "We need to find shelter! Inside, everyone. Amanda!"

"Yeah?" She asked, apathetic. Not even the whale show and pressure fazed her.

"Dig a shelter underneath the cabin. Do it now!"

"Suuure."

Robert approached and held her by the shoulders. "Amanda, shake it off."

"Nah. I'd lose."

"Robert, do something! I don't care if you dominate her mind or something, Just make her dig that damn shelter!" Noah shouted. "We have less than a minute before that chunk of island comes crashing down!"

"Sorry about that, then," He said. Then he kissed her lips as he cast a spell. Euphoria.

The results were as if the octopus pendant had an extra hidden charge. Amanda jolted up, drawing a huge gasp. She stared at Robert with wide eyes. Her face was flushed and she clamped her legs shut. She wavered and grabbed his arm to steady herself. Amanda's eyes were unfocused as she tried to stare at him.

Her grip on his arm strengthened until it was hurting. She was shaking.

"Is it done?" Noah asked, shouting over the whale's moans.

"No!" Robert said.

They needed Amanda to dig that hole or at least separate a chunk of ground from the rest so Robert could move that rock to the liminal void and be done with it. He could probably dig a hole they all fit in with Void Punch but not in less than a minute. So he shook the girl. He could feel her pulse firing like a Gatling gun.

"Amanda! I need you to split a room-sized rock from the rest of the ground underneath us."

She focused her eyes and bit her lower lip. Then she opened her mouth and closed it, reminding Robert of a fish trying to breathe air.

"Shape Earth, Amanda. Now!" Robert shook her.

Finally awake, Amanda glared at him. "We are having a chat later, mister!" She crouched and punched through the floorboards. "Shape Fucking Earth!"

The shout was completely unnecessary.

Robert touched the chunk of rock she shaped to detach and used his talent. Amanda came along. He grabbed her hand and held her tight. Robert waited in silence. They had all the time in the void. It was the real world that mattered. Half an hour passed in that stalemate.

"Why did you do that?" She asked, flustered.

"You were unresponsive. Amanda, there's a four-star monster out there. It's wrecking the island. It was either this or using mind blackout on you. I'd rather not have free reign of your brains."

"Do you have any idea what that little stunt did to me?"

"No. I'd rather not know."

"Smart guy," she kept glaring like a jaguar ready to rip his throat. "How long will we need to stay here?"

With his free hand, Robert grabbed his two puffblooms by the hairs. He put them inside his jacket. Then he brought forth his artifice timepiece. "One month." The last time he'd used his talent to visit the liminal void was more than seven hours ago.

Amanda sighed. She bit her lips, shook her head, sighed, drew a deep breath, then looked deep into his eyes. "Do you know I like you?"

"I'm aware, yes. That time you kissed me in the tent was very revealing."

Tears rolled down her face. "Then why?"

Robert was having trouble processing what she meant. "Why what?"

"Why didn't you make a move?" She asked.

Robert scowled. "Do you remember when I first met your grandmother, and she asked me how many times I masturbated thinking of you?"

"Vaguely," she replied as she averted his gaze.

"What did I answer?"

"Zero times," Amanda mumbled.

"It's still zero. Because I'm sure she'll check. Or worse. Amanda, I'm your bodyguard."

"I know that!" Amanda protested with a shout.

If you weren't your great-grandmother great-granddaughter, if you weren't the heir to a multi-billion company and an Archhuman faction, if I wasn't employed by Samson, then... maybe. I'd maybe answer to your advances."

"Really?" She looked back, a sparkle in her eyes.

"But reality is a bitch. It is what it is and you are all those things."

"At least I can fire you," she joked with a rueful laugh.

"What do I get as a severance package?" Robert joked back, further digging down their own graves. It was a downward spiral.

"A girlfriend who just renounced a multi-billion company and an Archhuman faction?" She tried.

"Please don't. We wouldn't survive the first date because your great-grandmother would send a hundred assassins our way."

Amanda sputtered and laughed. She wiped her eyes. "No, she would come herself to scramble your brains and make you believe you are a potted plant. Forever."

"She must have quite the garden."

"Ugh," Amanda grunted. "Don't remind me."

"Wait," Robert did a double-take. "Did she really make people believe they're potted plants before?"

"No comments," Amanda shook her head.

"Fair. I don't want to know, anyway. I shouldn't know."

"Fair. What happens now?"

"We tie a silk rope around our waists and wait for a whole month."

"Won't you pitch a tent for me?" She asked with a straight face, unaware and innocent.

Robert pursed his lips, then sputtered and broke down into a fit of laughter. He schooled his face and shook his head. "No."

Amanda wheezed when she realized the blunder. She lowered her head and whined. "Kill me now, please."

"No can do. I like my job."

"Really?"

"Yeah. The pay is good, though the work is hard, sometimes."

She smirked. "So, do you work hard?"

Robert raised an eyebrow, then deadpanned. "I do what the job demands. Innuendo is not among its requirements."

"Can we forget this conversation once we go back to reality?" She asked.

"Absolutely. So long it remains just a conversation."

"Spoilsport."

"I strive to please."

"Speaking of pleasing, what are you calling the spell you hit me with?"

"Euphoria, why?"

Both were pushed so much out of their usual game that they were slow to pick up their cues.

"You could make some good money using that spell recreatively. The name fits the effect quite well."

He also had a hard time reading her mood as she delivered the last couple of sentences with a business-like voice.

"Seriously?"

Amanda punched his shoulder and shouted. "No!" She sighed. "Damn, Robert. You have no clue about what the spell did, do you?"

"Somehow, I believe you won't tell me," He replied noncommittally. He knew but he'd be damned if he said it out loud.

"Damn right I won't," Amanda scoffed.

Robert took a length of silk rope. "Now, let's tie the knot."

Amanda shook her head and laughed. "You need to put a ring on it first!"

Robert pointed at her hand, "What is this, then? Whose Space essence created that marvel?"

"I don't see a hundred-carat rock on it, so it doesn't count," Amanda stated as she poked her tongue at him.

"Oh, well. Was worth a try."

"Not even close!" She teased.

"Defeat."

"Why are you giving up so soon?"

"Great-grandmother."

"Oh."

"And her butler, your father, do I need to go on?"

"Not really."

"Good."

"Bummer."

"Me?"

"No. The circumstances."

"It is what it is."

"Still shitty circumstances."

"Woman, how many figures does your net worth have?"

"I never stopped to count," she replied, trying to be mysterious. "All those zeroes, they blur after the twelfth."

And so they kept chatting and dropping innuendo, and nothing happened. Because Robert wasn't suicidal. A month of nothing happening passed. Robert felt a great disturbance in the Ether as if millions of shippers suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. As if this story would have a million readers. Syke!

The end.

*

*

They returned to reality and dropped down the hole where the rock they left in the liminal void used to be.

"Is the shelter done?" Noah asked from outside.

"All good!" Robert shouted from the hole.

"Freddy, go down," Noah shouted.

The Taulusian appeared next to Robert. Cotton and Coal escaped from Robert's jacket.

Outside, Noah drew an air rune. "Natural Disaster: Class Six Cyclone!" Then he jumped in the hole and Amanda shut it by shaping the rock around them. She left some air holes.

They weren't in Kansas to begin with.