Chapter 295
Primal (I)
Traveling via the spatial sphere was slightly different, Cain learned, than using other means through the Tower--there was no buffer. In fact, if he tried to travel with only the basic Chaos Resistance, he’d have died immediately upon being sucked into the tunnel.
He was worming directly through spacetime without any protection but one afforded to him by the ring. The world around him warped unto itself, lights flashing and bending in means and ways that seemed impossible, as though cradling the entire universe within a cylinder.
The journey was fairly lengthy, some four-five hours altogether, before Cain saw the exit, swiftly preparing for it. Despite being prepared, the sheer force of being spat out of the tunnel made him lose control over his body. The only reason he knew that he left the tunnel was the change in the atmosphere as the world around him lightened up.
He crash-landed without being able to recover, boring into the solid ground and rolling forward for what felt like a mile before stopping. Doused in dust and coughing, he forced himself to stand up and gather some Mana into his fingertips, in case something happened. After all, he’s never been here before and he didn’t know the exact rules of the place. For all he knew, others might seem him as easy pickings.
Finally getting a chance to look at the world, he frowned--it was dark. It was darker than the darkest night he had ever seen and, what was worse, there were neither the stars nor the moon above to shine some light upon the world. In fact, there was no light. He could only barely see some emboldened edges of the nearby terrain due to his slightly better sight.
Listening carefully, there were also no sounds that he could hear, not past the beating of his heart anyway. If his massive crash landing didn’t alert anyone... that meant he was quite some ways from the nearest civilization.
Trying to summon his status window yielded nothing, confirming he’d actually entered the Primal World, the realm of tales and bountiful promises. For the time being, what Cain felt however was loss--he had no map and had no orientation of any kind. Luckily, he wasn’t completely alone.
“Te’gha, get the fuck out,” Cain said and, a moment later, he felt something cradle his right arm.
“Great Te’gha is here!”
“Shit, why are you talking like a lame gacha summon? Whatever. I’ve no idea where I am. Do you have any way to navigate this place?”
“Of course, Great Te’gha has a way!” the cat replied. Luckily, Cain mused, he couldn’t see the feline’s expression as it might have spiked his blood pressure.
“...”
“...”
“Could you kindly share your vast library of knowledge with me, please?”
“Kekeke~~,” the cat laughed for a moment, enjoying Cain’s pain a bit before replying. “Great Te’gha thrives in Chaos! If you feed me, stupid human, I will finally undergo my Awakening! Then you will see just who is stupid, stupid human!”
“...”
“There is some light on your left, about ten miles ahead,” Te’gha said after calming down. “I don’t know what for, though.”
“That’s good enough,” Cain said, turning to his left and carefully walking forward. He didn’t elect to fly since Mana regeneration in this world was culled considerably--some 80% from what he heard--which was why Mana Potions were a must going into this place. Since Cain had no means of hoarding Mana Potions, however, he just chose to be slightly more careful. Besides, his base Mana Regeneration was quite rampart, so even at just 20% efficiency it was good enough to last for a while. “What did you mean by ‘thriving in Chaos’?”
“Kek, stupid human, did you forget?! This Great Te’gha is a Primordial! All Primordials are born of Chaos! That stupid world of yours and the stupid Tower have almost no Chaos, making me miserable! But here... kekeke~~I can already feel it! There’s plenty of Chaos!”
“Oh, good for you,” Cain said. “How’d you describe Chaos to a layman like me?” he pressed, quite curious.
“Humph, stupid human! You don’t know even that little?! Kekeke~~Chaos... is beautiful.”
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“... wow, that was lame.”
“T-there is more! More!”
“Pfft, okay, sure...”
“It’s what everything is made of! Yes, that! Chaos is one of the four Prime Elements!”
“Oh? What are those? Stuff like, Chaos, Creation, maybe Death or some variant of it, and maybe Life?”
“...”
“Wow, was I spot on?!”
“N-no, stupid human! ...okay, kind of. It’s not Death and Life! It’s Inception and Annihilation!”
“Potato, potato, tomato, tomato...”
“They’re not the same, stupid human!”
“Are you trying to turn that ‘stupid human’ thing into your catchphrase? It’s kind of lame, to be honest. Look at me. Do I ever call you ‘stupid cat’? No. Because someone truly strong and great doesn’t need to put others down. They’re just that--strong and great, naturally. In fact, rather than putting others down, they use their greatness to elevate them.”
“...”
“So, those Prime Elements--between the two of us, we’ve got two penned down. What’s the deal with Inception and Annihilation?”
“...I-Inception is fairly common,” Te’gha mumbled, seeming humbled by Cain’s little speech. “Most people have it in small amounts, like Chaos and Creation. The three are like seeds of life. That’s what I was told.”
“And Annihilation?”
“It’s... it’s rumored to exist.”
“Huh?”
“We knows there are four Prime Elements, but... there are no records of the fourth. Annihilation. I don’t know.”
“Hoh,” Cain sighed. “Never knew that. I always thought that all Elements were born relatively equal as they are all necessary for the fabric of reality to exist.”
“Reality... is misleading,” Te’gha said, climbing onto Cain’s shoulder and lying there. “There are many realities--some have no fire, some have no water, some have no wind... that is why those four are called Prime Elements--they constitute that fabric, at minimum. Others are... like modifiers.”
“Man, the things I didn’t know,” Cain mumbled, cracking a self-mocking smile. “You know, before I stole the Cube and came back, I fancied myself quite knowledgeable. I mean, I knew there were things out there I wasn’t privy to, but I figured that outside that top-ladder, I knew the most. The more I learn this life, the more I realize none of us knew jack shit back then. At least I didn’t. It’s really unnerving, especially because those kids always seem to have questions. What if they ask something I don’t have an answer to? Sheesh.”
“... f-for a stup--for a human, you know... a lot. For a human, I mean.”
“Ooh, really? Thanks, o’ Great Kitten.”
“Great Te’gha isn’t a kitten, stupid human!”
“Halt!!” Cain’s smile vanished as he stopped walking, Te’gha quickly snapping into the inventory, one of the few systems from within the Tower that worked here. Looking around, he saw four figures emerge from behind the tall rocks--all four were men, and all four looked to have seen more fortunate days.
“Is this a robbery?” Cain asked casually. “’cause, I’ll have you know--as the prime, world-renowned robber from my world, you’ve made one cardinal mistake!”
“And what’s that?!”
“Wait, you took me seriously? Shit, I’m really not used to people taking my shit seriously. Wait a sec. Uhh... right, your one cardinal mistake was challenging me, The Thief Who Stole Gods and Then Made Them Crying Because His Singing Voice Was Pure Perfection!”
“...”
“...”
“...”
“To be honest,” Cain cracked an embarrassed smile at the stupefied silence. “That was one of the lamest things that ever left my lips. Anyway, I’d really rather not squander Mana fighting a bunch of brutes who’ve barely just Awakened. So, how about this--as you can clearly see, I’m fairly green. So, if you answer some of my questions, I’ll give you some food and water, enough to last you a few months. If you are really nice about those answers, I might even toss in some booze.”
“... we can just take that from yo--”
“No you can’t,” Cain quickly interrupted, summoning just a facet of Mana into his fingertips. What he was aiming for was quality--anyone who lived in this place had far keener senses, largely because they had to rely on those senses to scout out the danger rather than the Tower’s system. The moment the Mana touched his fingertips, the four men immediately backed up, their expressions containing traces of horror. “I mean you no harm, really. I just want to know about this place. More than the basics I know, anyway.”
“...”
“Will... will you really not just kill us after we tell you?” one of the men asked.
“... shit, why would I kill you? Do I look like a murderer to you guys? You know, I’m kinda hurt. So, that’s the precedent in this place, huh?” Cain sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “I saw light some few miles ahead in this direction. Was that you guys?”
“N-no,” the same man who asked before replied. “That’s a temporary settlement of Gunash Clan. They came here to hunt some Crawlers and chased the rest of us away. They’ve been here for a few months now.”
“Hoh? Do they have any thrice-Awakened?”
“T-thrice Awakened? You must jest, sir,” the same man laughed for a moment. “They don’t even have twice-Awakened. People like that don’t stay too long this far out.” Wait, won’t I get to become a fuckin’ King, then? Cain mused inwardly, stroking his chin. The reason he asked about the thrice-Awakened is that he was fairly confident in surviving, and possibly even defeating, ordinary twice-Awakened that might be lurking about at the edges. As for the thrice-Awakened, he wanted to avoid them like a plague.
“What’s the nearest permanent settlement that doesn’t have shitty clans posturing?”
“Uh, that’s probably Attasha,” the man said. “It’s about two hundred miles east of here. We are originally from there, but got trapped here in part because of the Gunash Clan and in part because of the increase in the numbers of Crawlers.”
“So you can take me there?”
“S-sir?”
“Well, after I kindly ask the gunghos to let us pass,” Cain said. “You can take me to that settlement?”
“K-kindly ask? They... they won’t let you...”
“I’ll just burn them, then,” Cain said. “I’ve little time to waste on pointless dick-measuring. Let’s go. Time to have a chat with our friends.”