NOVEL NEXT Chapter 47: The second attempt
Zayn opened his eyes, surrounded by darkness. He saw five grey dots before him and then one at the bottom. <So, we're back at the start.>
Xane mentally nodded. [Yeah. So we still haven't explored the 5th and bottom dot.]
Zayn asked, <The other two were behind the third dot, right?>
[Yeah, I think for those two, we have to go back to the third ball and rotate.]
<We'll see, but first things first. Let's follow our plan. This time, you pick a random dot on the left, while I'll pick the fourth dot. Let's just hope we can sense the change in the attraction force.>
[Well, that's the key to our plan. If we can't even do that, then everything further is just a waste.]
Xane picked a random white dot to the left and said, [Ready… go.]
Just like the first time, he saw the white dot slowly start to get bigger and bigger. He noticed that four other white dots increased in size along with the one he selected.
Almost when they were about golf-ball size, Xane felt a tug at his back as the ball stopped growing.
He looked back and, sure enough, the link between him and Zayn had reached its limit.
He asked Zayn, [So you stopped?]
After a few seconds' delay, he heard the response. <Yeah. Come here.>
Xane wasted no time and thought of moving back to Zayn. This time, his movement was instant as he stopped inches before Zayn's ball.
Zayn asked, <Did you get here in an instant?>
[Yeah.]
Zayn nodded in understanding. <Well, one thing's clear: only the stretch of our link is slowing our movement.>
Xane mentally nodded and focused on the grey ball before them. He closed his eyes, trying to sense the attractive force.
It was interesting that even in this ball shape, he could somehow control his senses normally.
After a minute of silence, he looked back and counted the bigger dots. There were just six of them, all repelling him.
He said to Zayn with interest, [Hey, it's interesting. I can feel both the combined pull from the golf ball and the combined push from these bigger dots.]
Zayn nodded. <Yeah, I also noticed that. They just don't cancel each other out.>
Xane smiled. [Well, that's a positive development.]
<Yeah. Hey, let's go back and check the 1st and 2nd dots. I want to see how it compares to the single golf ball.>
[Let's go.]
Soon, both of them stood quietly before the two big golf balls.
Zayn asked in confusion, <Hey Xane, I do feel the difference, but I don't sense it's double the last one.>
[Yeah, it's around one and a half. But hey, any medium world should have a substantial difference.]
Zayn looked at his size and smiled. <Hey, look at the soul projection size. I can't even sense the decrease in size.>
[Haha, so I was right all along. Praise me, Zayn. Praise me like I'm your lord.]
<Yeah, yeah, you great lord, you are correct.>
[Haha. Let's check the unexplored grey dots.]
With that, both of them followed the method and started checking all the unexplored dots.
Everything was going much faster and in a positive direction. They even developed a method to rotate around the world without ever going closer to it.
Then the two soul balls stopped in the middle of darkness with no grey dot around them.
<Fck, don't tell me… There are no more chaos worlds here.>
[Hey, calm down. They must be hidden behind some others.]
This changed their course of action, and they once again randomly started moving closer to different colored worlds, rotating around them in hopes of finding any grey dots.
Minutes turned into an hour as the two grey dots continued to zip through the projection plane.
They moved for one last time as both dots shrank down to nothing, restoring the stillness in the projection plane.
…
Zayn regained consciousness, but he was so mentally and emotionally tired that he just lay there like a dead body.
Even Xane spoke in a defeated tone. [How many worlds have we checked?]
Zayn just lay there in silence.
Xane sighed. [Fck, I never expected we wouldn't be able to find any chaos worlds.]
At that moment, Zayn heard a couple of footsteps. He opened his eyes and saw Xenor and another guy walking toward him.
Zayn pushed himself to sit up.
Xenor asked with a smile, "So how did it go, my dear student?"
Zayn just shook his head, and only one word came out of his mouth. "Fail."
Xenor's smile faltered, but he recovered quickly as he said, "Oh, I told you earlier it would be difficult for you."
He turned to the side. "By the way, meet Soren."
Zayn turned to look at the blond guy standing next to Xenor. The guy looked a bit malnourished. It was clear he was a commoner.
Soren didn't meet his gaze and just bowed. "Good to meet you, Viyron."
Zayn wasn't in the mood for any introductions, so he just nodded, "Same," and started walking to the platform.
He heard Xenor consoling Soren. "Don't worry, Viyron is just a bit disheartened. Both of you have silver potential, so…"
Zayn didn't care much about others at the moment. He just lay down on the platform and stared at the circle blankly.
After explaining everything to Soren, Xenor walked back to the platform.
Both of them watched Soren rip the hex art. For the first time, Zayn saw from the outside how suddenly all the white lines started pulsating as if coming alive.
Then they started releasing large amounts of smoke into the circle.
Zayn found it interesting how the smoke remained within the circle, as if something invisible was trapping it there.
Not long after, Soren fell to the ground, passing out as the smoke filled the circle, blocking Zayn's vision.
Everything once again calmed down as Xenor turned to him. "So, do you want to try one more time today?"
Zayn just blankly nodded.
Xenor shook his head. "Don't be disheartened, and believe in yourself. Here."
With that, Xenor handed him the second hex art paper. "You can use it after Soren's turn."
Zayn nodded. "Thank you, sir."
With that, both of them quietly stared at the smoke pillar.
Zayn knew he had around three hours to rest, so he just closed his eyes, trying to recover as much as possible.
Around the one-hour mark, he heard a loud sound and jumped to his feet as he saw the smoke pillar start to freeze.
Zayn turned to Xenor in confusion.
Xenor said with a wide smile, "Ho, looks like someone already formed the link."
Zayn stared with wide eyes as the now snow-like pillar started to fall apart, revealing Soren floating inches above the ground with a blue film all around him.
As he saw that scene, only one word came out of his mouth. "Fck."
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