Garrett gasped an airless breath as he found himself in a white void with a desk and Otris. He looked down at his body, checking for any wounds or injuries, but none were found. Garrett did notice that he had on Otris' shield, sword, and armor rather than what he had found in the Darge.

"Well, you certainly lasted much longer that time around," Otris said with a chuckle. "Slowly, you're getting better."

"Uh, thanks," Garrett said, still coming down from the shock of having died again. "What's going on, Otris? Where and when did you send me?"

"Hmm?" Otris tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"It looked like the Darge in Asuria, but everything was different. I mean that Jerten was there, but Min-Tul and Cerezie weren't," Garrett explained. "And the Darge was a different layout from the last time. Plus, apparently, this King Ewing wasn't there, but this Argis the Great was? Did you send me to a different part of time, or what?"

"I told you before," Otris said, pulling out the universe containing Asuria. He gestured to the glitchy parts of the world that kept changing at random intervals. "This world is unstable. Each time you return, it is liable to be different from the last time. People might change, the places you go might be different, and even how events have played out in time."

Garrett sat back down in his seat, exasperated. He slowly rested his head on his hands. "But, if it changes, why did I see Jerten again? The other two were new, but Jerten appeared to have been the same."

"As large as these Worlds are, Garrett, they are not infinite," Otris said, gesturing to the limited space Asuria took up. "There is a capacity for what a World is capable of holding and creating. Perhaps, it may reuse some elements or events or people that you have already encountered and mix them with ones that you haven't."

"Do you know what that limit is?" Garrett asked the very strange being whose nature and abilities still weren't entirely clear.

"Well, it's about seventeen Flaxnots," Otris said. Garrett stared at Otris before remembering what he was talking to. "But, I have a suspicion that you'll see a couple more familiar faces in your future."

"Are you able to control or influence what I encounter in this Asuria?" Garrett asked, trying to probe more into the nature of Duken. "Or, who?"

"Yes and no," Otris said. "With enough Helioxene, I can use my power to put a chance of certain things occurring within Asuria, but as of right now, I don't believe that I'll be able to make anything a guarantee. Not even your rebirth, shall we call it?"

Garrett stared in shock and stress at Otris' words. "Wait, you can't guarantee my rebirth back into Asuria?"

Otris shook his head and shrugged. "My abilities are dependent on how much Helioxene I receive from you," Otris said, pointing to Garrett. "If you happen to die without getting any Helioxene, then I won't be able to return you back to Asuria. Your soul would either remain here with me or be turned to nothingness."

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"Well, then I guess it's a good thing that I got some more Helioxene." He nervously reached into his bag and pulled out the small pouch of glowing blue orbs.

Otris smiled and took them out, slowly counting them. "An impressive seven. How marvelous." He crushed them in his hand and glowed for a brief few moments. "Much better and much stronger."

"So, last time you gave me a backpack," Garrett said, "What are you able to give me this time?"

"With this recent haul, I can give you a small boost when it comes to your adventure," Otris said, waving his hand over Asuria. It glowed brightly before glitching into various colors. Garrett had to quickly cover his face to avoid being blinded until the glitching stopped. As his eyes adjusted, Asuria had seemed to return to normal; or at least as normal as its glitching self was.

"What did you do?" Garrett asked, looking over Asuria.

"Oh, you'll find out," Otris said, waving his hand and opening a portal behind Garrett. "Now then, you have a World to save and more Helioxene to collect."

"Wait a minute, I have more questions!" Garrett protested, but Otris flicked his finger, sending Garrett into the portal.

The world around Garrett turned black as he felt cold wood against his cheek. He groaned and pushed, opening the lid of the coffin and taking a fresh breath of cave air. The dampness of the cave washed over Garrett as he stepped out of the coffin. "He could be a little more gentle next time," Garrett grumbled to himself. "Still, he said that he gave me a small boost. Given that he used his powers on Asuria and not me, I guess that whatever he did affected the world instead of me." He took a deep sigh and gripped his sword. "Well, standing around here isn't going to help me at all." Slowly, he emerged from the room and listened down the hallway. To his surprise, the right path lead to a dead-end. "I guess there's only one direction to go."

As he took a few steps, he quickly turned around to confirm a suspicion that he had. To both his surprise and expectation, the entrance that he came out of was gone, as if it had never existed. He tapped on the wall where the entrance to the coffin room had been. "Yeah, it's solid. Is that part of Asuria's glitchy nature?" He sighed and turned back around, heading out of the dead-end hallway. "As much as saving Asuria is a priority for me, I have to make sure I kill some monsters to get Helioxene in case I do die again." He gripped his sword tightly as he kept walking, listening intently for any monsters that might ambush him.

As Garrett approached the end of the hallway, he reached another dead-end. "Wait," he said, turning around and staring at the path that lead to a dead end as well. "Am I trapped in here?" He turned back around and faced the dead end, giving it a solid tap with his sword hilt. To his surprise, it sounded hollow. He looked around for any sort of mechanism to open the door, but he didn't find any. However, the scratch marks on the ground gave him a clue. Summoning his strength, he pushed on one end of the wall, causing it to slowly grind open.

Looking into the next room, illuminated by crystals along the walls, there were old small bones scattered around and the air was stagnant. There were clear signs that a battle had taken place, with rusted weapons littered around and dried blood staining the walls and floor. In the center of the room was a large metal statue of something humanoid that looked rusted and worn. After looking around for any traps, Garrett slowly approached the statue.

There wasn't any sort of plaque or inscription anywhere around the statue, which was positioned in an unnatural way, as if it was in the middle of fighting. Cautiously, Garrett put his hand against the statue, feeling the cold metal. As he did, the sounds of gears whirring and electricity buzzing and beeping came from the statue. Garrett quickly recoiled back and entered a fighting stance. The statue buzzed to life, emanating a weak green glow from within. At the front of the head of the statue, a bright green light appeared and moved around before focusing on Garrett.

"WHO... ARE YOU?"