The climb was long, but not nearly as difficult as the abyss had been. With a satisfied stomach and a body willing to cooperate, the flight is so much more enjoyable.

Spatial distortions extend only a quarter up the voided column’s height; no wonder I never found the end last time I tried. My rise slowed tremendously once I'd escaped the natural distortions, unable to take advantage of the further reaching bends and holes that allow me to abuse the shift in gravity to gain speed as I rise higher. I had to rely on the same trick that allowed me to escape the abyss: pushing off myself while half protruding through a bend.

With my muscles not fighting my every attempt at movement, the climb has been pleasant. Enjoyable. The heat emanating through the spatial ripple from above only adds to that comfort. It has grown increasingly strong as I rise, my scales absorbing the heat with eagerness. The Magma Ocean gives much the same feeling, but this seems to be less intense and more soothing.

I'd been fearful that I was climbing back into the Other Side when I first felt how strong the ripple grew — especially because of the similarity between the Titan’s tear and this circular column — but no matter how high I climbed, the earth around remained solid. Not a single instance of stone grinding itself into gravel under the immense power of a Titan’s step.

It must simply be a coincidence that both the Other Side and whatever lies above have the same ripple bearing through the cavern.

… I hope.

Between the calming flow of my body through the air and the warmth of the strange ripple phenomenon, I find I’m enjoying this climb. I enjoy it, and the very fact that I do fills me with guilt. How can I find pleasure in such feeling when Scia is no longer by my side to enjoy it in my company? It is wrong. I shouldn’t be able to feel this way. Scia doesn’t get to feel this comfort floating endlessly in the deathly abyss.

I try to ignore it, but my body relishes in the heat. I try to pretend I don’t find enjoyment in the slithering motion, but the freedom to move is intoxicating.

Above, a ledge appears all along the column. I’m finally so close to my goal. So close to discovering what lies beyond the edges of my warped tunnels. This curiosity; how can I dive into the trap of such emotion after everything has happened? I need to know what is above, and while I know I shouldn’t allow myself to fall for such bait again, I cannot resist the temptation.

And, before I can prepare myself, I reach the lands beyond.

The vertical walls of the column snap outward at an angle. They climb slightly into an almost exact ring of hilly earth besides a few sections that seem to have crumbled and slid into the pit below, but beyond them, the land lowers and flattens for as far as I can see. Without the bends of my warped tunnels, that distance is cripplingly short, but it is enough for many strange sights to reach me.

The ripple pelts my scales with greater intensity than ever before, and like on the Other Side, it scatters off the land and all the strange formations at the bottom of the hill.

I stare, awed by the flourishing life in a cavern of comparable size as the Other Side. For this many creatures and plants to survive, there mustn’t be any Titans to devastate their ecosystems.

It is something I’d been worried about; what if my home had been the only place where life can grow? The creatures that foretold of the warped tunnels — both the Beyond and the Titan — were neither standard beings. Could they truly understand what it means for a smaller being to survive, in much the same way I struggled to understand what Scia needed to live?

I am relieved to find that not the case.

Strange formations combining wood and stone litter the ground at the base of the hills. They are far too identical and arranged too orderly to be natural. The fact that many creatures walk between their heights and move inside their forms only emphasises the strangeness.

Those creatures themselves aren’t familiar. In fact, the way they interact is nothing like what I know. Plenty of creatures form colonies. Some of those even form coexisting relationships with other species. But so many differing families interacting like this is odd.

Maybe it’s because this cavern is far larger than those of the warped tunnels, but the swarming type creatures here are much bigger than below... are there truly no Titans here?

Closer to me, on the hills with far younger flora than the taller trees further away, stands a bunch of the swarming species. They are not nearly as frequent, but there’s also none of those structures around for them to hide in.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

In a way, this place is the same as the warped tunnels. Life exists no differently, and yet the very sight in such a large expanse intrigues me greatly. These creatures don’t have to deal with the likes of Ōmukade or Nareau, otherwise they wouldn’t stay out in the open so obviously. How far does this cavern spread? Unlike on the Other Side, I can actually explore here.

I flow through a bend, altering my momentum to head out over the land. I’ve not yet placed land beneath me when something nicks my scales. A little metal pellet spins off into the sky above. Confused, I turn to its origin, only for a dozen other little balls to fly through the air around me. One hits me directly, bouncing harmlessly off my scales. It doesn’t hurt, but there’s quite a lot of momentum packed into such a small pellet.

A sputter of bangs reach my ears, and I focus on a trio of creatures holding what appears to be tree branches. Tree branches that are oddly identical.

I watch with a curious eye as I cruise through the air. Many of the hundreds of creatures below are looking up at me, but only those directly before me seem to put any haste into reacting. The trio with the branches raise them again, and suddenly a dozen iron pellets rip through the air towards me.

Oh. They’re attacking me.

In my smallest size, most shots come nowhere near me, and the few that do merely skid off my scales, arcing through the air before falling to the depths of the column.

For a moment, I simply watch the ineffective attack as it passes me by, followed by a series of audible cracks. The attempt surprises me. Ignoring the Titans, most beasts that attack only do so because I’ve approached too close. As far as I am, that can’t be the case. There are some predators that make the attempt on me when they hadn’t realised my true size, but a swarm? They are rarely the type to attack first; especially when they show tendencies to coexist with other species.

An irritation rises in my chest. I’ve gone through all that effort to reach this place, abandoned my home, my territory and lost the only one I care for, and this is how it welcomes me? I’ve still not sorted my mind on how I should treat creatures I’d once considered lesser, but those who attack without reason I have no qualms about slaughtering even without hunger.

I shift through a bend, carrying myself headfirst towards the trio, but they are already backing away. Barely audible screeches echo up to me as they flee after having started this fight. Well, I’m not about to let them. They were dead the moment they struck me out of the slight enjoyment I had at having finally achieved my long-term goal.

But before I can so much as half the distance, an explosion of fire and shrapnel slams into me from below. I stagger, not injured, but the blast having knocked me off-course. Below, a few of those creatures clamber over a large metal branch. I watch as they angle the branch towards me. With a flash and a kick-up of dust, another lump of metal flies towards me. If the little pellets were pebbles, then this one might as well be a boulder.

The iron explodes in my face, tossing my light-weight body back the way I came.

This is nothing like what I’ve faced before. Even the creatures with a binding towards some particular element don’t have abilities this strange. Still, it isn’t enough to stop me. It only adds to the deaths that will come.

I slide through a bend, reversing my direction and returning myself towards the swarm below. Another metal lump explodes before me, but I’m ready this time. A bend appears before my head, protecting me from both the force and the shrapnel. I remove the bend and flow through the smoke cloud with eyes on my prey.

Shouts resound with an urgency that wasn’t there before. More of the creatures rush around the hill, while the four on the large metal stick stop throwing those exploding metal rocks at me.

Half a dozen small squirrel-like creatures rocket into the air. Each have strangely clean leather from some other creature strapped to their arms like fake wings. Fake wings that allow them to arc through the air with incredible agility.

Below them, ten creatures are the only ones not to flee as I continue to close in on them. They spread out as they rush to intercept my flight. I guess these are to take me on in place of those that instigated this? If that’s what they want, I will accept their challenge. They aren’t Titans after all, and I really need to unleash some pent up energy.

Amongst them, the most common species is a creature that appears more like it should live in the Crippling Depths. Their bulbous torsos and tentacles are similar enough to squids, octopus, or jellyfish, with the only difference being that their bodies have a far more solid look to them, which is reflected by their ability to not instantly flop to the ground on dry land.

The other species amongst those ready to face me are the less populous I’ve seen down at the bottom of the hill; having only two of each amongst the ten. One of which is covered in antlers or bone-like growths. It looks like a ribcage having grown too large for the flesh held within. It has two arms and legs, each of which are simple extensions of their antlers. But strangely enough, not a single one of their kind has an identical formation of antlers; they grow out in unique ways for each.

The last are clearly mammals like the Apikull apes, yet they stand taller, straighter. Like the antler species, they stand on two legs with two arms dangling pointlessly by their sides.

Of those that rush me, some carry strange metal extensions from their arms, like straightened claws that appear unnatural to their bodies. Others emanate energy from odd lines that weave across their bodies.

As I peal through the sky, I watch them. Each and every one of them has a confidence in their eye as if they don’t believe it possible they could lose. Back before I met Scia, I would have assumed arrogance and taught them all a lesson… but I know better now. I will treat them cautiously and retreat if they are too much for me.

If they truly are arrogant… well, then they deserve what’s coming.