Ascension: Online

To avoid getting lost, I did my best to keep my path as straight as possible, only making slight workarounds and turns when absolutely needed - for example, if a tree was in my way.

Beyond Lydia Forest was a large river - the one I was looking at right now. In order to continue northwest, I would have to cross this. There was no bridge for me, but with Blink plus Vanishing Clouds, I passed the river with ease.

Besides, even if I didn't have those skills, getting across would've been as easy as simply walking straight through. The river was not moving whatsoever - time was stopped. Still, I didn't want to end up wet all of a sudden once time started flowing again, so I chose the 'cooler' method and just dashed and teleported across.

"Okay… this should be the right direction…" I murmured as I continued heading northwest. There was yet another forest here, although I had no idea how big it was since I couldn't check my System.

There was no other choice but to just keep heading in the direction, and hope that I would end up finding it.

As I walked, I passed by various Magic Beasts and Monsters that startled me at first, but I then realized they, along with the rest of the place, were all frozen in time as well. I was completely safe.

Then, suddenly, I spotted something in the distance, beyond some more trees. Given how thick this forest, I could just barely see it, but the glowing green was unmistakable. I quickly changed my course to head directly for the light - I had apparently swerved too much to the left before from the original northwestern route.

When I arrived, there was a tetrahedron hovering in the air, slowly rotating. It was black and glowing a pale green color, just like the core.

Narrowing my eyes, I opened my palm and directed an attack towards the object.

"Basic Pyromancy Art - Pyrosphere."

However, unlike with the core, the attack did not get deflected. Instead, it got absorbed by the mysterious tetrahedron.

"The hell…?"

I pulled out Dokujin and sliced downwards, towards the object, but it bounced off harmlessly.

"… Okay. I'm out of options…" I sighed, physically stuffing Dokujin back into my boots because technically time was frozen for the weapon, so just dropping it down wouldn't work.

I inspected the rotating object, then down at my own hands.

"Hm… okay, I do have one more option, but… it's risky."

I took a deep breath, then slowly reached for the object. I didn't feel any pressure emitting from it, unlike the core, so I could get as close as I liked.

Then, when it was finally within reach, I immediately closed my hand around it.

"Ngh-!" a blazing pain immediately shot up my right hand and arm. To my horror, beneath my skin, a dark black energy emitted by the tetrahedron began flowing up my veins somehow, entering deeper and deeper into my body.

"Gah!" I cried out in agony, but I was unable to let go of the object. My hand would not listen to me, as the dark power took control over my body.

"AHHH!"

…

It was over. Finally, it was over. The tetrahedron disappeared in my hands, and the pain along with it. However, for some unexplainable reason, I felt… stronger. I was exhausted and completely worn out from the agony, my body drenched in sweat, but I could feel it - there was a stronger energy surging through my veins. I knew it in my heart - I was much stronger, faster, and accurate than before.

However… at the same time, I felt as if I had lost something from my body as well. Not physically, but more mentally. My heart… it felt weird, somehow. It didn't hurt, but there was a strange hollow feeling inside it. Not completely - only a slight bit.

Still, this was no time to be worrying about that.

I stood up from the ground and began heading back the way I came from. Luckily, I could tell which way to go using the frozen Magic Beasts and Monsters I had seen on the way here as a guide.

Around 45 minutes later, I arrived back at the core of the reality rift. The green aura around it seemed to be evidently weaker. Hina-nee and Furuwa had also returned, both of which had a worried expression on their faces.

"Kaze-kun… you're back."

I nodded. "What happened?"

"Well, we found these weird polyhedrons that look similar to the core here in appearance, just smaller," Furuwa explained. "I tried every method possible to get it to move, but it wouldn't. Until I used my bare hands, anyway."

My eyes widened. "You… touched it with your bare hands too?"

"Too? Did you do it as well?" Furuwa asked back.

I nodded. "What about you, Hina-nee?"

She nodded in response. "Yeah, I also did it. There was no other way to retrieve them."

I fell into thought. "So that means… the both of you here also went through an agonizing process after contacting it, right?"

The two nodded.

"But it was worth it, in my opinion. I feel like I'm a lot stronger now, for whatever reason," Furuwa replied.

"Same here," Hina-nee added.

"Hm… me too, but… do you guys feel anything… off?" I questioned hesitantly. "As in… about your heart."

The two of them exchanged glances, then shook their heads, looking at me in confusion.

"No? What are you talking about?"

"No hollow feeling? No discomfort in any way?"

"Nope. Kaze-kun, did you get those symptoms?"

I nodded. "For some reason, my heart… it feels faintly empty. Not completely, just a slight bit."

"Well, we all touched the tetrahedrons," Furuwa noted. "So… what could've made you suffer more of a backlash than the two of us?"

I sank into thought. "Perhaps… it has something to do with Aisa messing with my emotions from a while ago…?"

"Well, we can ask Aisa about this when we bring her back online," Hina-nee said confidently. "For now, let's go get the fourth tetrahedron - northeast."

We nodded and set out, this time as a group.

*****

It took us nearly an hour to get to the final tetrahedron's location, but we managed to find it in the end.

"So? Who's taking it?" Furuwa asked, glancing at the two of us.

"Kaze-kun already suffered more than us when he took his tetrahedron, so it should be one of us two," Hina-nee suggested. "I can do it."

However, I stopped her. "Hina-nee… I have something I want to test out. Let me take the tetrahedron."

Her eyes widened. "But…"

"It'll be fine. Trust me - I know my limits."

"I… okay then. Be careful."

I nodded and stepped forward. Determination in my eyes, I instantly grabbed for the tetrahedron and closed my hand around it. I gritted my teeth as the same agony from before shot up my arm, as I began to shake violently.

"Kaze-kun!" Hina-nee cried.

"Stay back!" I yelled in return, trying desperately to control and harness the power.

I didn't know what would happen if someone else tried interfering with this interaction, so to be safe, I had Hina-nee stay back.

As for the reason why I was testing this out and risking this pain, it was partly because I didn't want Hina-nee to do it, but mostly because I remembered what the Creator's AI replica had said.

'Within this place holds the power to both save the world, and to end it.'

If this mysterious black energy was the power he had been talking about, then I had to claim this for myself. If I am able to subdue this strange power… it would power me up by quite a lot, allowing me to slay more powerful enemies and gain more XP, thus eventually allowing Hina-nee and I to return to Earth sooner.

So, with this in mind, I wanted to do my best to control this chaotic and resistant power, even if I was taking a risk for it.

"Argh…" I gritted my teeth even harder than before, using my free hand to stabilize the wrist of my other hand, holding the tetrahedron.

"AHHH!" I yelled in agony, one final time.

The process was complete. The tetrahedron disappeared. I fell to the dirty forest ground, panting heavily.

"Kaze-kun!" Hina-nee hurried over and supported me. "Are you okay?"

Slowly, I nodded. "Y-Yeah… just… ngh…"

I clutched my left chest, where my heart was. The feeling worsened - it was getting more and more hollow. I felt my humanity disappearing little by little, slowly edging away from me.

"How much time do we have left?" Hina-nee asked, turning to Furuwa.

"Er… roughly 20," she replied, trying to think of it in her head.

"I see… we can afford to take a little rest then," Hina-nee sighed in relief, kneeling down and letting me lay on her thighs. They were warm.

"Just rest for a bit, Kaze-kun. We still have plenty of time, don't worry."

I nodded weakly, then closed my eyes.

As I pretended to drift off to sleep, neither of the two girls saw through my fake act…

… My act of how this time, the tetrahedron process wasn't actually painful at all.