B2 Chapter 14: Tethered

[Year 23 Month 0: Continued]

There were only two notifications for me to read, one of which was the normal marked/blessed numbers, which didn’t show much growth, simply maintaining the status quo until I could find more survivors of the miasmic mists.

The second was something I believed would help quite a lot.

[ You have gained a title: Wanderer of Limbo ]

[ Title Wanderer of Limbo has activated. Zone of Influence range and Obelisk Network distance efficiency have increased. ]

One of the major limiters I had run into was the distance between pillars and obelisks. As is, obelisks worked as the major ‘arteries’ connecting to my main body, intended to be more permanent extensions, while the pillars worked like smaller capillaries, filling in the gaps and being more disposable.

While Obelisks could be placed rather far apart, the further they were, the more costly the mana upkeep, something I rarely noticed as I kept them close. In this case, though, it would expand my domain greatly.

‘Maybe enough to reach the ocean. It isn’t an impossibility.’

Simply having an easy connection would be invaluable; it meant that the wider world would no longer be off limits, and, just going off of Earth’s history, trade would be a tremendous boon for the city and its people.

I doubted I would be able to cross the ocean; I am a rock, and would probably just sink. Maybe I could just place obelisks along the ocean floor.

‘Considering the mythical creatures I saw within the ‘core’ of the Wildlands, I may not want to go there; who knows what creatures lurk in the deep?’

To do all of that, though, I would need to be producing more purification mana; there had been some thinning in local miasma, but if even a small amount touched organics, it would rapidly multiply. Hopefully, some people will gain similar skills to my own [Purification] now that we know how to make it.

The path to the mind-bending forest was still cleared, and while I wanted to bring actual people, I was not sure if that was the wisest plan at the moment, and opted to send a few more golems along; this time, they were better suited for the jungle-like environment of the first ring.

There was something also off about the Wildlands this time around; my network of obelisks wasn’t pulling on the ambient mana nearly as much, as the density had decreased dramatically.

My obelisks inside were gone, likely destroyed by the immense amount of mana they channeled, leaving me blind to the internal workings of the forest.

Appearance-wise, nothing had changed; the trees still towered above with the almost alien flora dominating the interior, mana was still flowing through the air like liquid, but maybe not as much as before? Diluted perhaps.

Unlike my first and only expedition into the forest, my obelisks were not experiencing nearly the same amount of pushback, perhaps only half or even less resistance.

‘Did harnessing the barrier drain the entire area? The mana has to come from somewhere; the hive’s mana core generator certainly produces a ton, but definitely not enough to fuel this type of environment. The beasts themselves require ambient mana to stay high… shit, are they still asleep?’

Those monsters that were slumbering in the huge clearing were powerful beasts of destruction. I could probably take out a few with a well-timed crystal bloom, and a completely repaired Goliath could probably take out most of them, but crystal blooms are highly situational, not to mention that if the target could fly, it was completely ineffective, and Goliath took every scrap of my mana to use.

So with an abundance of caution, the golems entered the clearing, and much to my relief, the plethora of beasts were still asleep, spores floating through the air in the same quantity as last time.

What really drew my eye once I knew none of the huge animals would wake was the barrier that caused my brief headache-inducing vacation. The solid mana shimmering with a vibrant color was faded, and the massive plants forming a towering wall appeared far sooner than before.

‘The illusion magic is barely intact, I realized. ‘The barrier is probably on its last legs.’

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It was both a relieving and concerning sight, as it confirmed that the magic could be breached, but the difference in the barrier’s strength was astonishing; it was a pale imitation of before.

Prodding with a little bit of my own mana, the once impenetrable barrier flexed- not a lot, but considering I was using minimal quantities of magic, even a little bit of movement was a lot.

Withdrawing once I made sure it was weakened, I assessed the barrier once more. My concern was its function. So far, it worked to keep stuff out and to hide the towering wall of vegetation, but there was also the chance of it being used to keep things in.

‘It’s impossible to know if that is the barrier’s function, though, as I cannot see the other side.’

Although the system didn’t directly say anything, the ‘weight’ behind my presence had grown dramatically as I had demonstrated with Vaelen. Even if I hadn’t been given a skill specifically for it, there was a qualitative difference.

If I pushed on the barrier, it would break. It would probably take most of my concentration, but completely possible.

‘If I bring a sledgehammer to it, I have no doubt it will fall apart, likely irreparably.’ Sitting back in my mind, I was once again reminded of the little hitchhiker who was still embedded. ‘That might work. I have to check something, though.’