Chapter 333: Who Needs Fingers?

There was something about relaxing on the beach in the early morning and enjoying the brisk breeze as you watched the dawn rise. It was already getting a little bit warmer nowadays, but it was still nippy as the sun rose over the horizon. Not that it mattered to Julius. He could probably be comfortable in subzero temperatures with his fire mana protecting him.

That was just one nice benefit of having magic.

He was alone. It was too early for the others to be up and about. He only got a couple of hours of sleep. He had been working on his Concept training late last night. That ephemeral feeling of a Concept had been gradually building over these past weeks. He had a feeling that he was getting close to something.

As for what that something was, he had no clue. But he hoped it would be good.

On the bright side, he had gotten another level in [Spatial Crack], which brought it up to level 6.

He still hadn’t managed to connect two points, but his ability to create them had improved immensely. He was beginning to feel comfortable enough that he could make a small one in about a couple of seconds.

He still hadn’t really found much of a use for it other than collapsing it onto itself. Until he could connect two points and test out his theory, he was kind of stuck with a useless skill.

It actually made him want to get the [Kinetic Restriction] skill he had been offered a while ago. He had been putting it off because he thought he didn’t need it, but with two open skill slots and a lack of kinetic-based skills, he was tempted more and more every day.

He already had a Concept that would go nicely with it. His Force Concept: Resonating Burst could potentially go well with it. The Concept might give it the extra oomph it needed to allow him to use it on more powerful people or as a regular tool.

At the moment, the skill was more suited to a surprise attack. It was really only effective when people’s guards were down and when they hadn’t prepared their willpower.

On the other hand, he could see his Concept of Will being a good fit as well. As a skill that he relied heavily on his willpower anyway, Inexorable Resolve could be a potent addition.

He put that on the back burner of his mind, though, and closed his eyes. He breathed in and out slowly as he steadily increased [Sage of Savagery]. He could feel each soft gust of the salty ocean air and hear the slight chirps from the birds off in the distance.

Once he felt ready, he activated [Spatial Crack]. A distortion in space opened up in front of him. There was no need to rush the skill; he wasn’t in a hurry and wanted to feel every ripple of space as he could with [Spatial Perception] as the skill activated.

He had also gotten comfortable enough with the skill that he wasn’t worried about creating one in front of himself anymore. Once it was open and the crack was fully formed, he manipulated the same aura he used to create the spatial distortion to hold it in place. The skill itself helped a lot with this process and managed to stabilize the effect without much direct input from him.

When everything was set up, he took another calming breath. This next step was where he wasn’t sure what would happen. It was also the reason why he had come all the way out here to do so. If something went wrong, he didn’t want to destroy another training room accidentally.

He didn’t actually believe that something terrible would happen, but it was better to play it safe for the time being. He also liked the atmosphere more. The beach was calming and relaxing. So if he were going to attempt this anywhere, right here would be the most pleasant spot.

Realizing that he was stalling, he chuckled to himself and cranked up [Sage of Savagery]. Then, before he could hesitate any longer, he gently pushed his pointer finger into the crack.

He knew it was dumb and dangerous, but he had been playing around with the skill for some time and realized that the only true danger was whatever entered the crack. It wasn’t going to pull him in by accident. He had already tested that with a stick.

But he firmly believed that if he was able to experience whatever was on the other side of the crack, he might be able to understand a little more about space and maybe even acquire a Space Concept.

Although if he was being honest, he was just really curious what it would feel like as well, or what lay beyond the distortion. After all, [Spatial Perception] was not able to sense anything on the other side.

When his finger entered the crack, there was nothing. It was completely fine, and he couldn’t feel anything rubbing against it. He pulled it out and examined it with a curious eye.

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Normally, when he put something in there, it was quickly ripped to shreds. This was what he expected would happen to his finger, which is why he only put his finger in there and not his face.

However, the fact that it was perfectly fine was quite interesting. What made his finger so different from the other materials he put in there? Was it the fact that his finger was alive? Or was it that his body was naturally stronger than a simple piece of cloth or a wooden stick?

He had many questions and knew exactly where to put his finger in order to find them. So without further ado, he shoved his finger back into the crack. This time, leaving it there for longer.