NOVEL NEXT Chapter 200: Episode 200
A couple of days later, the three of them rested, meditated, and slept. There was a deafening silence where they were. Nothing out of the ordinary was happening, and nothing ordinary was happening either; they were in a state of equilibrium.
After the three woke up in their cave, Lunaris and Auri were using Nova's body as a pillow. Nova's eyes stirred open, slowly and gently, as a ray of light shimmered on his face.
Without disturbing the other two, he slowly sat up, carefully adjusting himself. Then, as he sat up, he looked towards the entrance of the cave; beyond the mouth of the cave were mountains that stretched endlessly.
Well, the Expanse Layer in itself was infinite, maybe much bigger than that, and to ascend to the other two layers, one had to become the boss of the previous layer successfully. Since the "boss" of the Expanse Layer was the Absyalling, Nova had to defeat it even to have a chance to ascend higher and meet the person he wanted to meet.
"This is going to take a long time," Nova whispered to himself. "Well, I might as well get comfortable till then." He laughed.
If he wanted to teleport himself back to the mortal realm, to Earth, where all his friends resided, then he had to defeat the Absyalling. Through the carcass of the Absyalling, he would be able to generate enough entropy to create a rift in spacetime and traverse through the Dimensional Gate and finally go back to Earth.
Nova fully got up, as Lunaris and the Auri rested for a while longer. He looked up at the sky, which was a never-ending chaos of color and destruction. Anyone normal would puke if they said it, but since Nova wasn't exactly normal, by any regard, he was able to stare at it, while still being light-minded.
He took a step outside the cave mouth, which was situated on a mountain that made Mt. Everest look like an ant. Compared to the other mountains, the mountain he was on was like an atom. He still had to venture to the peaks of those tall mountains as a part of his training to get stronger, since even Marcus wouldn't have been able to.
Lunaris came to his side, meowing at him, then rubbing its soft fur against his left leg. Nova smiled at the Harlequin Cat, then looked at the taller mountains, which weren't even close to being compared to the tallest.
The Auri also woke up, coming towards him. Nova sighed as he told them to come with him. They ventured down the mountain, and since the mountain was still considerably tall, it took them a alive to get down.
They kicked rocks along the way, the Auri almost fell from the edge of the mountain a couple of times, but Nova saved it every single time. Every. Single. Time. Even Nova wouldn't believe how clumsy one being could be, but now he wasn't that surprised.
"Careful now," he told the Auri, who was clearly embarrassed.
They finally made it to the bottom of the mountain, after Nova had had enough, and felt that the journey down was taking much longer than expected. He felt as if days had passed, even though only a couple of hours had passed.
They searched for some food, as all their stomachs growled like a karen. After some searching, the Auri found some berries, while Nova and Lunaris found some meat that they had to kill an animal for.
After eating, they walked towards the bigger-looking mountains, hoping for another set of adventures. Nova was using this experience to get stronger, while not getting constantly bored, and always being on a high, even though the drugs produced in Beastaria, if used inappropriately, can easily kill someone before they even swallow.
As they continued walking, they encountered a large area of flowers, not poisonous, in fact, completely opposite; some of the flowers he spotted were extremely rare, able to revive a person if extracted correctly.
The three ventured through the flower field, the ground beneath them shimmering with a colorful symphony, as the flowers also lit up like a light bulb. It felt as if it were nature's little treat to the three. A natural flower festival.
"Look at the flowers, guys! Isn't it beautiful?" Nova said, smiling with his mouth wide open. The moment felt surreal.
They touched and explored the flower field more, not picking any flowers, as they wanted to respect the beauty emitting from the flower field, and also, since they didn't want to ruin the flower field.
Eventually, they reached a cliff that overlooked a valley so deep that light itself seemed to vanish into it, like a black hole. A strange mist formed from below, howling at them. It felt as if the wind was howling secrets, maybe curses, or maybe cursed secrets.
As they descended into the valley, time began to distort. The ground felt denser feeling as if three black holes had been condensed into the ground. The fading sun in the sky flickered between dawn and dust, colors bleeding into each other like spilled paint.
At the valley's center lay a crater filled with black liquid, its surface swirling like a mirror of nightmares. From its depths rose faint, shimmering motes, echoes of dense entropy itself. Nova crouched near the edge, extending his hand, feeling the raw power correspond through his skin, accepting him.
As the dense chunk of entropy entered his system, the mark left by the Absyalling lit up. Nova felt as if the dense entropy was the residue of the Absyalling.
Lunaris let out a low, uneasy purr. Even if it could dense the malignant intelligence lurking beneath the surface. Nova stood, brushing dust from his coat.
"We're not ready yet," he decided. "But soon. We'll train harder, we'll grow stronger, and when the time comes," His gaze hardened, fixed on the horizon where the mountains pierced the storming sky. "I'll tear open that rift in space myself."