A step at a time the distance from the settlement kept shrinking but with it, his anxiety kept increasing. It was easier to fight to the death than spend even a week in there.

‘Should I slip off?’

It would be easy to slip away without them noticing and then he could just run off. He would be saved from experiencing the madness-inducing whispers. He still had not recovered from the past few months he had spent locked in there. He wanted to spend as little time in there as possible.

'I don't even have any armor and supplies…'

The armor he was using was in the testing phase, maybe it would work in the Mid Barrier but not further out.

'Still I can try–'

No. He would not be doing anything like that. Taking a mission was the same as taking a pledge. He would do his best to complete the mission objectives. He would not run off. He had done his best until now and he would continue doing so, irrespective of how he felt.

He would endure the maddening whispers. Even though he still had not recovered from their effects, this month and a half had allowed him to rest, to center himself. He would be leaving soon afterward anyway. He was excited about the capital. With how many cycles he spent in this area, he had become increasingly familiar with its geography, monster habitats, and everything else. It would be difficult to die in this place but the forbidden zone was different.

Despite being away from any human contact for most of his life, even he had heard of the Frozen Sea. Harvester, both renowned and unknown, had died in that place. It would be different from his place. It had to be.

[Attention-Spotted-Left]

[Prospects! Defensive Formation!!]

Threads uncoiled, spreading towards the monsters, a few moving through the prospects. During this time they learned how to walk. Very rarely had they fallen until now and though slowly they were able to create the defensive formation.

Once the monsters were in range his threads latched onto them.

Fire. Fire. Fire…

Just enough damage to make a mess of their movement.

[Prospects! Ready yourselves!]

Limping and injured but it made the monsters only more furious. The defensive formation immediately collapsed but with the instructors and harvesters jointly observing the situation the monsters could not cause any lasting damage.

Reload.

Fire. Fire. Fire…

Low-intensity shots kept interrupting the monsters. Just enough to level the playing field.

[Disappointments!]

[If you don't dispose of at least five! Be prepared!]

[Maintain formation!]

[Prepare for impact!]

[Push back!]

[Retreat!]

A month and a half were too short. Despite controlling the monsters, the recruits were too inexperienced and too weak. He did not think they could kill even one, much less five.

More threads burst forth from his body, lengthening as much as he could endure. Spin. A headache assaulted him as a sea of information rushed into his head.

The surroundings were clear but for how long. If they kept making this much noise more and more monsters would keep coming.

[End?]

[End.]

[End.]

One rushed into melee while Inero-ie along with the remaining harvester fired to kill.

It was swift.

Threads freed and joined others creating a parameter of constant surveillance. It was still mostly hollow but during this time he had recovered a bit allowing the number of threads he could maintain to be around forty.

Stranglers kept coming and were swiftly dealt with but with the slow speed at which the group moved there was no way to avoid them.

Slowly the headache built up as he kept maintaining the surveillance formation.

His condition was surprisingly better. If he kept recovering at this pace he would recover in less than a cycle rather than a cycle and a half. But he had not recovered yet. He had no choice but to cease the formation.

Aim. Fire. Repeat.

It was like an immense load was lifted from his body. It became easier to move, each action flowing smoothly. The effect of training in the mine became apparent. Though it was incomparable to his original level, he had trained just a bit to muscle memory back into his body. Hopefully, he would be back to his original level by the time he recovered.

***

Why…why..why.why.whywhywhy…Why!!!did you not die!!!!...

Go back! You think you deserve to live!!...

Not a single step! inside!!...

All it took was a step and they rushed back but he had already created a void. Step by step he went in and the voices got louder and louder. The outermost gate closed behind him.

The whispers became screams but they slid off his mind. He could endure them for a few days without serious exhaustion. One gate after another, with each gate the temperature increased and shouts of relief and happiness, spread amongst the recruits but he was in no condition to focus on them.

Suddenly a wave of exhaustion overcame him.

He should have run away.

[Senior? What’s the matter? Come on, the gate will shut down if you don’t in.]

No, he would endure it because even if he ran away, what good would come out of it? He had been repeating the same thing for many cycles, always expecting different results. Instead of dying, he had constantly improved, getting stronger each time.

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

He would not let go of this opportunity.

“Senior?”

“Senior, I would like to ask something.”

“Senior, you listening?”

Inero-ie did not have what it took to satisfy this body so he just kept going silently. Threads guided him to his destination where he took off the armor suit. It was time for medical tests.

***

“Inero-ie how are you, little brat?”

New always reached her quickly. It had not been long since they returned and got done with the medical tests.

“O…k”

“Tests were okay?”

A nod.

“Good. We need to be quick to pack. It will be time to leave soon.”

Nod.

“Doc wanted to see you so go meet her. Who knows when we will return.”

Nod.

***

“Better than expected but you need to take care of yourself better Inero-ie. If you keep it up like that you will die. It was a miracle that you didn’t die this time.”

Nod.

“I am serious. Honestly, I don’t know why you even survived. With the state it was in, your core should have exploded long before they brought you back. You should have died. Do you understand?”

Again the only response the doctor received was a nod.

He too was surprised. Even now the core was in the worst state it had ever been, full of cracks. This was why he had been working slowly. He did not want to put any load on it. If something happened he could end up disabled. It would be better to commit suicide than to live like that.

“Anyway, I have contacted my friend in the capital. She will be taking special care of you. Be warned she is more strict.”

Nod.

"Th…a.nk y.ou ev.e..ryt.hi.ng."

“Take care of yourself if you truly mean it.”

***

[Armor? Stuff?]

“Don’t worry about your stuff. It is already on its way.”

A nod.

“Until when will you keep your eyes shut? You have to see this. The teleportation station is an amazing sight to see.”

He did not open them. If possible, he wanted to keep them closed forever because the world was filled with wonder at every step. Watching those wonders, that beauty eroded his will. Still, he could see the world, Qi sense allowed him to observe everything though it was bland unlike seeing the world with eyes. He liked that.

It made it easier to focus on his goals.

***

Dense Qi. Such a density that air felt thicker like he was moving through water. This massive space was filled with qi.

‘Why did I never sense this place before?’

It should have been like a light in the darkness, he should have been able to sense such abnormal clustering of Qi from the furthest corner of the settlement. But he had never sensed anything like it.

“Impressed?”

Nod.

Inero-ie followed closely. This place severely restricted his senses, like a flash spell blinded the eyes. Other than his immediate vicinity he could not sense anything. Even the threads were unreliable more than a few meters and excessive noise would pollute the sensory data.

“You should be. From this station to the connected town, from there to the city, and from there to the capital. Hundreds of thousands of kilometers will be traveled in a blink.”

“Why don’t you open your eyes?”

Silence.

"!"

A ripple. A wave. Chaos spread through this sea of qi. He diverted a part of his attention to this phenomenon. It stopped just as spontaneously as it started. Once again the Qi had calmed down.

“Did you sense this? How the Qi went rampant? Teleportations just took place.”

As he followed Fria-al, this phenomenon kept repeating and he kept observing. At a glance, everything seemed to be uniformly bright to his senses but as he got used to this density and experienced the after-effects of teleportation, some places stood out. Why? That he could not grasp but they stood out to his senses. He focused on them, even spreading the threads in vain attempts to find something.

Pain. Such pain that it felt like his head and heart would explode. Unable to suppress it, he staggered, falling, only to be caught.

“Inero-ie! you okay?”

Spasms spread through his body.

“Should we go back to the hospital?”

“N…n..o.”

Inhale

Exhale

He sat down right there, focusing within. The pain dimmed down, a bit a time with each circulation cycle. His core too calmed down. With his body taken care of, he focused on his mind. The void he had created to filter out the whispers had been disrupted and they came back with greater ferocity.

He tried to stand up by himself but Fria-al aided him.

“Sure you are okay?”

A Nod.

“Wh..a.t t.ha…t?”

"That is a substation, why?"

"Su.b..sta.t...ion?"

“That is where the teleportation occurs. There are a total of seven in this station, I think. There, there, …”

His senses followed her arm movement. She pointed at the spaces he had found strange.

Such a massive facility it was. He could not even think about how much energy was consumed to keep up his station but what baffled him, even more, was how he had been teleported back then. There was nothing like this massive apparatus, no Qi-dense environment like this, but one moment he had been deep inside the Under Dark, and the next moment he was back up. How was that possible?

‘Maybe that snake was like that place?’

How had this station been built? Or the Grand Formation? It confused him. The civilization was advanced enough to create such grand marvels but then was so backward that it was difficult for any but the most trained to survive outside the safety of the settlement.

'No need to think…'

He did not need to think of such things. What he had to do was clear, he just need to work on achieving that.

“We are here.”

This time he had receded his senses, only a single thread connected to Fria-al guiding him. He did not want to risk another backlash.

"Are you excited? Soon you will be able to see one of the centers of civilization."

Silence. He had been focusing to establish the void again.

He kept standing there, focusing to keep his mind a void. The whispers still existed but he simply focused on letting them flow, not allowing his mind to be disrupted by them. It reduced their impact. Even though he had rebuilt the void again, it was fragile. Usually, he would create one before entering the settlement.

He was tired of it all.

"Respected Seeker, please let me guide you. You will be teleported soon."

“Thank you.”

"Inero-ie?"

Shake

“Y.e.s?”

“Verification is complete, let's go.”

She turned again to see whether he was following or not but came to a halt. Closed eyes. Not a single strand of hair present on his body. He too stopped. Silent. Standing there unmoving, he appeared no different from a corpse. It filled her heart with anger, though his body had aged, he appeared no different from that scarred child she had found back then. Maybe she should have been harsh. Maybe she should not have allowed him to go out.

But she could not allow the emotions to surge out. He was quite sensitive to those things so she smiled instead and said,

“You still haven’t opened your eyes? Come on, you have to see these things if you want to enjoy life.”

Silence.

“Are you not curious? It’s your first time here.”

"Ho.w wor…k?"

“If you want to know how it actually works, you will have to ask someone from the Great Families though I don’t think they will you. What I do know is that these stations are equipped with a powerful Artificial Spirit that manages thousands of other lower-ranked spirits that somehow use this massive amount of Qi to allow teleportation to and from the connected stations.”

“Respected Seeker, please come this way.”