Rep strapped the Belt of Bolt to his waist, going slowly so Zalan could follow his lead. Zalan was surprised by how light the belt felt on him, despite it being full of so much power. He had seen it used once before by someone that stole his money. Zalan was very light with his movements, worried that he would accidentally activate the Artifact and be sent warping straight into the stone wall surrounding the town of Oriton. He tightened the apparel and looked up to his friend to judge. Rep looked at his placement of the belt and nodded, satisfied.

“Be very careful with this,” Rep said. “If you activate it, the Artifact warps. If you are not wearing it, the belt will warp without you and perhaps be lost.”

Zalan swallowed nervously and nodded his head.

“How do I… aim it?” Zalan asked, wondering if that was even the right word to use.

“It reads intentions based on what the wearer knows is in the area. For example, if you wished to travel thirty feet ahead of us, you need only see yourself there. According to my readings, you should be able to control it as you rush forward. If your destination is clear, that should be easy. But it can also get you past obstructions, if you use it properly,” Rep explained.

“So it can warp me through walls and trees and stuff?” Zalan asked.

“You should only do so if you are confident. But yes. Say you are inside Journey House and wish to make your way to Junill’s forge, it should be rather simple to visualize the warp,” Rep said.

“Okay, but like… how?” Zalan waved his arms lightly in the air in confusion.

“We can try to use our belts right now as practice. But not any more than one bout of practice, I would hope. We need to go a great distance with this and every warp counts. Most Belt of Bolts do not have more than thirty uses. And we can not know for certain whether these have ever been used before. Either by Gorb or by the one who sold these to him. We need to conserve as much as we can for the journey,” Rep explained.

“Okay… And how does it feel when I use it? Is it gonna be seamless like the Homeseeker? Or is it gonna hurt?” Zalan asked, nervously.

“I have no idea, I have never used one before,” Rep shrugged nonchalantly. “But I suppose we can learn together.”

“You’ve never used one?” Zalan said, slightly alarmed.

“I studied them before when I was enthused about learning about as many Artifacts as I could find,” Rep said encouragingly.

“But how do you know about any of this in practice?” Zalan asked.

Rep considered the question, a hand on his lower lip. Zalan was amazed by his confidence. Rep used to be the one nervous and second-guessing, but Zalan found himself uncertain of all his actions now. He didn’t know how much he could trust himself. It was a heavy burden on his heart, and he was reminded of it every time he got a glimpse of his scarred wrist. But Rep’s conviction made Zalan feel like things would end up fine.

“I will try it first!” Rep decided.

Zalan took a slight step back. Rep tapped the center of the belt with the palm of his hand, then twisted it slowly. He kept his eyes locked at a space a few feet in front of him. When his hand turned a full 90 degrees, he vanished, throwing up a plume of dust from the ground. He reappeared in an instant, a few feet ahead and stumbling over to the ground. Rep smiled as he caught his balance. Looking energized, he twisted back to Zalan.

“I see! It is not a warp at all! It is like moving quickly!” Rep said, a large grin on his face. “Try it, I assure you the experience is not painful.”

With how big Rep’s smile was, Zalan was certain Rep was being sincere. Trembling slightly, he placed his hand firmly on the belt. Gritting his teeth, he focused on a spot a few feet away from Rep. He twisted his arm. The belt trembled with power as it reached activation.

Zalan gasped as he felt as though he was pulled forward into the ether. The world went orange around him and blurred out of existence. He felt like he was barely in control of a rocket barrelling forward at hundreds of miles an hour. But he felt like there was a direction to his speed. He drove straight into the spot he was focused on, the land shifting like a page being turned in a book. In an inconceivable amount of time he was suddenly spit out of the orange void. Zalan yelped as the force of speed released its grasp on him and tossed him to the floor. He tripped and caught himself in a stumble. He looked up back to Rep just behind him and couldn’t help but laugh. It felt like he just finished a ride on a roller coaster.

He turned around. In a split second, he was about thirty feet further from Oriton.

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“How was it?” Rep asked, returning Zalan’s excited energy.

“Whoa! That was great! Let’s go, I’m ready for a longer jump!” Zalan said, beaming with enthusiasm.

“Excellent. Follow my lead. We can begin our journey immediately. I will go that way for a far greater distance this time. It is the direction of the volcano,” Rep explained.

Zalan nodded. Rep popped away in another puff of dust then reappeared hundreds of feet away. He stumbled much less this time, ready to catch himself. He turned around and waved with his arms over head to Zalan, encouraging him to join. Zalan nodded and activated his Artifact without hesitation.

He smiled wildly as he blasted through the world at incredible speed. In his eagerness to activate the belt, he didn’t try and focus on a specific spot this time. He felt himself lose control, the blast of speed not targeting a single point like before. Zalan tried to pull it back to a spot next to Rep, but it felt like he was trying to stop a runaway car with his feet alone. With less than a second to register this fact, Zalan deactivated the Artifact just as he ran head on into Rep.

Rep had a fraction of an instant to recognize that Zalan appeared an inch ahead of him. Not even a gasp reached his lips before Zalan cracked into him. The impact was hard, and threw all the air out of Zalan’s chest. They both fell over in pain. Zalan reeled in shock and embarrassment. He could have avoided the pain if he took a moment to think. It took a few seconds for them to regain their senses. Rep rolled up to a kneel.

“What was that? Did the Artifact malfunction?” Rep asked, groaning.

“No, that was my bad,” Zalan said, rubbing on a red mark that would certainly be a bruise forming on his arm. “I didn’t focus.”

“Please focus. I would prefer not to have to look out for both monsters and allies as we travel quickly through the land,” Rep said, standing up and reaching down to him.

“Yeah, yeah, I got it,” Zalan said, taking Rep’s arm and pulling himself upright.

Rep and Zalan looked out toward the open, arid land beyond Oriton. They turned back, already impressed by the time they had saved in their simple jumps. With a hint of excitement, they gazed at the open horizon in the direction of the volcano. Barren land shifting to green forest standing in the world beyond. They assessed the space for a few seconds, anticipation building within their chests.

“Are you feeling confident enough that you could jump all the way to the horizon?” Rep asked.

“I was gonna ask you the same thing!” Zalan said, excited.

“I am not the one who lost focus,” Rep reminded.

“It was a fluke. Just watch this.”

Zalan activated his Belt of Bolt first, zipping away in a puff of air. Rep raised an eyebrow at his audacity. A moment later, Rep was warping after him. Stumbling as he caught himself, Zalan reappeared and looked around him in awe. Thousands of feet traversed in less than a second. He turned back to their starting point. Oriton was now only a small blur on the horizon.

“This may be the best Artifact we’ve ever had,” Zalan said, smiling wide. “It’s so fast!”

“I would argue that the Homeseeker has saved our lives much more than this has convenienced us,” Rep said. “Not to mention the Reversal Stone. I doubt we would have all our toes were it not for that.”

“Okay, well this is still one of the coolest ones,” Zalan said, looking over his new accessory with some excitement. “How long do you think we’ll take to make it to the volcano with this?”

“Not long at all,” Rep shrugged. “I suspect we will arrive before sundown.”

Zalan grinned and warped toward the horizon once more, Rep following close behind. Zalan turned back to see their city, marveling at the fact that Oriton was gone from the horizon entirely. They’d traveled miles in seconds. Rep appeared a moment later. Neither of them stumbled on reentry at this point, having got a feel for entering and exiting the incredibly fast, orange state of the world.

“I’m gonna try two, one with another right after,” Zalan said energetically.

“Very well, we will see who arrives first,” Rep smirked.

The adrenaline had clearly emboldened both of them. Like two duelists moving for their pistols, Zalan and Rep both smacked their hips. Leaving nothing but a puff of air, they warped away. Zalan could feel the world folding around him like putty in a compressor. He kept his eye on the point of the horizon, only allowing a fraction of his attention on the orange-tinged reality he sped through. As soon as he popped out of the warping state, he slapped his belt once more to go right back into it. He didn’t even check his trajectory on the horizon. His heart pounded in excitement as the world became a blur of motion.

When he finally came to a stop, Zalan found himself colliding with something hard. He called out in pain and fell backward, covering his bleeding face. Rep appeared a second later, first looking confused, then concerned, then fearful.

He saw his friend on the floor, at the feet of a monster.

Zalan uncovered his eyes and looked up at the creature looming over him angrily. It looked like a rhino, but made of sharp thorns. As though giant roses had given birth to a multiple ton animal. It had a series of horns sticking out of its forehead in various sizes. It looked down its narrow, green snout, drops of Zalan’s blood dripping from its nose. It exhaled sharply, its eyes narrowing on Zalan.

“Zalan, get back! That is a Thorncharger!” Rep said.

“Am I Leveled high enough for it?” Zalan asked, staring at the closest horn with wide eyes.

“It does not matter when you are that close!” Rep snapped.

The Thorncharger scraped the earth, ready to sprint forward and bash Zalan. It left deep gashes in the floor, as though tearing it out with a rusty rake. Zalan stared with wide eyes, frozen as the monster huffed in his face with hot breath.

“Zalan! Move!” Rep screamed.

Zalan trembled with uncertainty. The Thorncharger ran forward.