While Rain was enjoying her seemingly tasty meal, John stood up and summoned Larang. It weighed heavily in his arms, softly reflecting the light in its blade.

‘So… How do I use this black essence? It’s not in my core… Do I have to pull it from the necklace? Will I be able to make it myself eventually?’

The necklace rested quietly against his chest, but there was an obvious darkness around it that couldn’t be explained, like something was stopping the light from getting too close.

‘I’m a bit nervous about the Lord of Death being connected to this, though. What would it be capable of if this essence is some kind of death-essence? Is it even remotely safe to test it?’

Deciding to stay vigilant, he put Larang against the necklace and tried to move the black essence over to it. That way, he could avoid making it flow through his body.

Sensing the essence, he tried moving it to the blade without luck. It merely shifted in the right direction, nearly unaffected.

‘Oh, come on! Are you telling me I’m too weak? Too alive?’

His efforts redoubled, and he focused intently on making the small black sphere move. Finally, it touched the edge of the blade.

Right away, it started slowly spreading out across the blade, coating it in pitch black.

“Djan,” Rain said, trying to get his attention.

John was too occupied to reply, continuing to watch the darkness spreading across his blade. It covered the tip and started to flow down the hilt, intent on covering the entire blade in its blackness.

A violent shove caused John to lose his grip, pushing the air out of his lungs and sending him flying far away. Larang fell to the ground just before the black coating had completed, but it continued falling as if the dirt and grass were mere illusions.

The corrosive power of the black essence seemed capable of destroying anything in its wake, likely including the hand holding the blade.

Rain stood beside the hole, looking at John like he was mad. She shook her head violently as tears welled up in her eyes.

‘W– what? Rain pushed me that hard?! She has essence?!’

The black essence turned out to be much more dangerous than he had thought, but right now, he was most surprised by Rain’s ability to use essence. She had clearly done it to save him, so he couldn’t complain about the push. But the secrecy was different.

But just as he was about to get up and have a serious discussion, he felt a deep rumble below his feet. His weight started to decrease, and the wind increased in intensity.

‘... Oh, fuck!’

His gaze turned to their surroundings, letting him clearly see that the piece of land they were standing on was falling, just like the forest had done earlier.

‘Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!’

Larang returned to his core after falling out of range, while what remained of the black essence returned to the necklace. His breath was still messed up by Rain’s push, but he didn’t have time to consider it.

Looking at Rain, he hesitated for a second, wondering if he should bring her or if she was capable of leaving on her own. But seeing her worried expression, he stopped hesitating.

He coughed while stepping onto Larang, flying over to her in a hurry and bending down for her to get on. Her expression was clearly relieved after seeing him approach. She jumped on quickly, letting John take off at full speed.

The last time a piece of the planet fell, he spent a lot of time with his eyes closed, which made it way more challenging to get out. But this time, he carried more weight, slowing his speed.

‘I hope we’re closer to the edge this time! The acceleration is so much slower!’

The wind's downward pull started picking up, making it harder and harder for him to stay afloat. He considered using air bursts to increase his speed, but if Rain didn’t have essence ready, she might fall off due to the sudden force.

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‘Could I create a maintained air flow instead of a burst? That should make it less abrupt while still giving plenty of extra push…’

Releasing one hand from Rain’s thigh, he held his hand in the opposite direction of where they were flying and focused. Spells had always been his weakness, but even he should be able to do something as easy as this.

Gathering some gaseous essence in his hand, which was easier to use, he tried pushing it out slowly, unlike his normal usage. A slight force was acting on his hand, but it was far from enough to help.

‘Damn, I need more output! Do I try liquid essence? Or just increasing the force?’

First, he tried using more gaseous essence and felt himself gaining extra speed. But he wasn’t sure it would be enough at this rate. The edge of the falling platform was visible, but still quite far away.

After spending the essence remaining in his hand, he swapped it for liquid essence instead. He was nervous about the effect being too great but didn’t have the liberty to choose. The air was also getting thinner, which at least increased their speed, but it made breathing harder.

‘Come on. Carefully. Slowly.’

The essence reacted, sending out a sudden strong gust of wind from his hand, propelling them forward at nearly double the previous speed. The landscape below became a blur of muted purples and greens, stretching out like a vast, undulating sea. The wind whistled past their ears, carrying the faint scent of ozone and unfamiliar flora.

“Aaaahh!” Rain screamed, slowly losing her grip on John’s neck. With only one leg held firmly in place, it was much harder for her to hold on.

John had to stop the spell to give her a chance to grab hold again, holding her up with both arms. “Sorry, Rain! I’ve got you!”

Instead of doing the same again, he leaned forward, making it easier for her to hold on by supporting her weight on his back. Then, he stuck his hand between his legs and started the spell again, knowing they needed it.

He hadn’t been able to control the output of the liquid essence yet, but it went better this time. Their speed increased, filling him with a sense of relief. Only a few kilometers remained between them and the edge, so he was confident in making it.

‘Thank god! But what the hell is making these pieces fall apart like this? I don’t see any other parts of the planet suddenly disappear.’

The air was getting thinner as the wind pushed them down, forcing him to hold his breath again. This time, he knew to slow down before reaching the edge since the air over the remaining ground was somehow unaffected by the fall.

The boundary between falling land and stable ground was marked by a shimmering distortion in the air, like a heat haze on a scorching day.

He gently clapped Rain’s thigh, trying to let her know they would be fine, before starting to slow down. And twenty seconds later, they were back in the normal atmosphere again.

The sudden rush of dense air felt like plunging into water, with the world around them snapping back into vivid focus as they crossed the invisible threshold.

John breathed out calmly, hearing Rain do the same, and enjoyed the fresh air in his lungs. He turned to look at the piece of ground still falling into space, wondering where it would end up. It was a surreal sight, but nothing exceeding his past experiences.

After scouting the nearby area, they landed on solid ground again, enjoying the sensation. John let Rain fall from his back and took a deep breath before turning to look at her. She seemed nervous as she looked back at him, so his expression might have been rather stern.

“Rain. Why can you use essence?” he asked, well aware that she wouldn’t understand him.

“... Djan?” she replied, looking unsure about how to respond. She pointed at his necklace before looking back at him and shaking her head. “No. No, Djan.”

He looked at her briefly before nodding, understanding that the black essence was dangerous. But that wasn’t what he was wondering about.

He held his hand out and made a small flame. “Essence.” Then he changed it into a wind burst, sending it into the sky, before repeating, “Essence.”

Rain still didn’t seem to understand his meaning, so he jumped high into the air, called his shield out, flung it to the side, summoned it back to his core, and landed in front of her again, repeating the word, “Essence.”

That seemed to have gotten through to her as she nodded slightly, still looking at him nervously.

John pointed at her, calmly saying, “Rain, essence.”

Rain shook her head, slowly at first, but then with increasing intensity as he kept pointing at her. “Wain no essums! Wain–”

“Don’t lie to me! I know you used essence to push me!” John interrupted sternly, taking care not to shout at her. He was frustrated, but she had used it to save him, so he couldn’t be too mad. Especially with the language barrier making it harder for her to understand his anger, which could make it much worse.

“No, wain… essums…” She looked down, then pointed at the crater they just escaped from.

“... What? Yes, I know where you did it…” He sighed and put his hand on his forehead, wishing he had some kind of translator available. Or at least that Rain could talk in the same way Sage Full Blue had done.

‘But you probably need essence for that, right? Damn it… Still that was a close call with the black essence. I need to be more careful in the future…’

His hand fell as he looked at her, seeing her nervous eyes looking back at him. “Well, whatever… Let’s keep going. It’s a long way left before we cross these planes.”

John started walking away from the crater, but he didn’t hear any footsteps behind him, so he turned again. Rain looked at him nervously, seeming unsure if she could follow him.

After another sigh, John spoke to her, pointing at his side, “Rain, here.”

A hope seemed to ignite in her eyes as she took a few steps forward, but then she stopped again. John nodded and pointed again, which made her break out into a smile and start following him properly.

She hummed quietly behind him as he walked, which made John smile as well.

‘At least the journey won’t be lonely… But I’ll figure out your secrets before this is over!’