106. Empty (Patreon)

Mana poured out of his hand. He sent a pulse of it into Rosamund’s head, testing it. It can turn lunam into that black gunk. So why shouldn’t it be able to turn mana into the storage gunk, too?

He lifted his hand away. A small deposit of grey gunk sat in the corner of the space.

Ike raised his brows. That looks like success to me.

He poured his mana into the head. His core drained. The grey goo piled up. The more mana he pushed out, the emptier he felt. It was somewhere between exhaustion and hunger. Both at once, really.

But how do I push out the lunam?

Pausing, he considered the strange layer for a moment. He tried to move it directly, but he could only slosh it around. The lunam itself refused to budge. Whatever he needed to know to move it, he lacked. It felt like he had another limb, but that limb simply gave him no response. He could think ‘move’ at it as hard as he wanted, but that wouldn’t move it. He had to instinctively move it. To put it shortly, he lacked the basic instincts to move lunam the way he had the basic instincts to move mana.

He stared at it, frustrated. If he had enough time, he was sure he could figure it out, but he didn’t have that time now. Wisp would get impatient, and like she’d said, the longer he had a mana signature, the longer the mages of Abyssal could track him. He couldn’t take hours, days, weeks, whatever it took to develop the ability to feel lunam.

Ike stirred his mana again and watched the lunam layer slosh around like oil on water. He frowned, then raised his brows. Using his mana, he encapsulated the lunam, then dragged it out with his mana. Bit by bit, piece by piece, he pulled the lunam out of his body. It collected in Rosamund’s head like the rest, a layer of black in the grey.

At last, Ike lifted his hand and stuffed the rock back in the doll’s neck. He pulled out a strap of fabric and tied Rosamund’s head to his body, so he could retrieve his mana if he absolutely needed it. That way, if I find a monster in the depths, I have something I can do to save myself.

Wisp handed him a ball of white thread. “Here you go. You ready?”

“I think so,” Ike said. He took a deep breath and stretched.

“Good, good. Okay, here we go.” She gestured. White thread wrapped around Ike’s body. Wisp wrapped the other end around a tree, and lifted a foot to push him down.

“Wait, wait, wait! Hold on!”

Wisp sighed. “What now?”

“What do I do once I’m down there? How do I feel aether?” Ike asked.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Just vibe. I was born feeling aether. Just seems to me that bathing you in aether and giving you no option is the best way to make you learn how to absorb it.”

“Oh.” Ike swallowed. Good to know we’re just winging it. “So uh, how do I signal to pull me up, if I fail?”

Wisp chuckled. She ran at him, jumping to kick.

Ike dodged to the side. Guess we’re winging that, too. “Alright! I got it! I’m going, I’m going.”

It wasn’t that he was afraid to fail. Or disagreed with Wisp’s plan. Even though he’d prefer something a little more cautious, everything she’d said seemed reasonable to him. Besides, he was pretty sure she’d pull him up if he was actually in danger.

He looked down one last time. A black hole stretched into infinity. The trees overhead blocked out most of the light, so that the sheer rock was only lit for the first ten or so meters. Beyond that, there was nothing. Pure pitch black. Icy cold wind. Sheer freezing cold. If I succeed, this is a massive advantage for the rest of my life.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Who else is going to bother learning aether-absorption? Can’t get cold feet now.

This is a great place to hide, too. No one from Abyssal is going to expect me to be in the death-hole. I need to lay low for a while, so might as well pick up a useful skill at the same time.

Another deep breath. He ran his hair back. Right. And I should stop trying to convince myself, and just do it.

“Here goes nothing.”

He jumped down. The white thread spooled after him. He plunged into the dark.

Down. Down. Down. Cold air wrapped around him, sinking into his body. Ice accumulated on his skin and his clothing. The thread jerked to a halt, and he bounced. His breath came out in a huff, a white cloud escaping into the atmosphere.

In the darkness of the cleft, he could see a little more. The rock walls were sheer, but not smooth. They were craggy, with sharp edges and narrow protuberances. Freezing cold air rushed out from the depths of the earth. He felt no mana. Not even a scrap of mana. The air was completely devoid of energy.

No. Completely devoid of energy I can use. There’s plenty of energy. I just need to find it.

Ike leaned back. Leaning into the thread, he closed his eyes and reached out. With all his might, he attempted to sense the primordial energy.

I won’t leave until I sense it. I need to be able to process aether, so I can never worry about energy types ever again. Lunam, solam, mana? Who cares. I’ll simply process aether directly.