Chapter 168 - Into The Abyss (Patreon)

Niya of Feylon

“Niiiiiiiyyyaaa!!” A feminine scream blasted between the thick trees near the center of the Timberlings valley. Niya immediately recognized Mayalyn’s voice and she leaped to her feet. The threads from her Mana Folding subskill were abandoned, left inside the anxious Timberling boy where they would dissipate harmlessly in short order.

Niya leaped above the trees, casting about in every direction to search for the blue-haired girl. A short distance away, a bolt of lightning pierced the air, stabbing into a cloud that drifted lazily overhead. Niya’s aura roared to life, gripping the air and pulling her forward with all the speed she could muster. A momentary thought of attempting Jiran’s suicidal method of flying popped into her mind but was discarded.

Jiran is Jiran, anyone who attempts to replicate him is an even bigger idiot than he is.

She found Mayalyn moments later, the beautiful girl was carrying a half-dead Timberling in her arms. She moved slowly, careful to not jostle the injured woman. Niya landed at her side and Mayalyn’s features filled with relief and gratitude. She barked and yipped in her native language but Niya barely registered the attempted communication, her mana already sinking into the Timberling.

She was missing an arm and was covered in small cuts and scrapes. The worst injury by far was the multiple cracks on her back that penetrated through her bark into several of her inner layers. “Life Touch!” Niya guided her technique with practiced ease. She had spent an entire season within Lenton’s tower dedicated solely to learning the art of healing. Many of those lessons had been made moot by Jiran’s knowledge from another world, but she didn’t mind. Any true healer was constantly learning, adapting, and discarding ineffective methods.

Niya ignored the arm for now and sealed all the cracks, scrapes, and cuts with regenerative mana. She didn’t bother trying to separate the specialized sap from each layer, instead pulling all the corrupted liquid out to splatter on the ground. Jiran had told her how the sap could be filtered, but it required a level of mana senses and manipulation that was beyond her. Instead, she merely used Forming to replicate the sap in each layer, which took more mana but worked just as well. Within seconds, the ashen skin of the Timberling returned to a pale silvery sheen and her ragged, imperceptible breaths became deep and even.

Mayalyn released a huge sigh when it became clear the Timberling would live. She set the woman on the ground and wrapped her arms around Niya, burying her face in her neck while mumbling, “Thank you,” over and over.

Niya stiffened, completely stunned by the show of affection from the normally aloof girl. She awkwardly returned Mayalyn’s hug, patting her back. They separated and Mayalyn’s eyes were puffy and bloodshot as she wiped away leaked tears. “My thought kill her. Try protect, thought kill her. More beasts, I go. You protect her now?”

“Yeah, I’ve got her. She’s safe now.” Niya nodded to Mayalyn who gave her one last grateful look before dashing back the way she had come.

That girl… is something else. I can’t believe how quickly she’s learned our language. I barely know two or three words in hers and she’s nearly speaking fluent imperial. She’s brilliant, kind, thoughtful, and strong. As hopeless as Jiran is, at least he’s got good taste.

With a fond smile, Niya spoke to the unconscious woman, “Let’s get you back to the others.”

***

The long line of Timberlings she had left were still there. They gave her confused looks when they noticed who she was carrying. At least, she assumed they were confused, their expressions were hard to read and often involved their leaves more than their faces. She wished she had Jiran’s ability to understand them. There was so much about these strange people that called to her and she desperately wanted to have a real conversation with Lulu. That girl was just too cute!

As if summoned by her thoughts, Lulu rushed to the injured Timberling’s side from wherever she had been. Niya set her on the ground and Lulu made soothing sounds while running her hands across the woman’s bark and skin. Niya rested her hand on Lulu’s shoulder, speaking softly, “She’s going to be fine. I healed her and Jiran can grow her a new arm when he gets back.” Niya knew she wouldn't be understood, but the tone of her voice and the comforting physical contact were enough to calm the girl’s frayed nerves. Lulu responded with something unintelligible while cupping her hands upward.

Niya’s smile was warm, the usual happy tingles she felt whenever she looked at the adorable Timberling fluttered in her chest. Lulu stared into her eyes with complete adoration and Niya felt her cheeks warming. They broke eye contact at the same time and Lulu said something else before dashing away.

After watching her vanish into the trees, Niya turned to face the boy she had left behind earlier. He wrung his hands, fidgeting awkwardly while staring at the injured woman behind her. Niya reached out and took his hands in hers. His skin was warm and the bark on the back of his fingers was somehow both coarse and soft.

Her Mana Folding slithered into him, unlike the last time they had done this, he didn’t flinch. When threads of her mana were pushed through all of his layers, she activated her technique, “Mana Siphon.” The energy within him yielded instantly to her higher attributes and understanding. She gently pulled, urging his mana to join hers. She had been doing this for nearly an hour before being pulled away by Mayalyn. During that time, she had learned to leave at least half of their mana or they would feel sick and weak. When his mana entered her manapool, she patted his hands and motioned him to move to the side.

She focused on the crystal in her pocket and sent the boy’s mana into it as she had done several hundred times already. She wasn’t sure how much the greedy little crystal could hold, but its capacity far outstripped hers. Suddenly, dark, inky smoke swam across her vision before shifting into words. With a strangled cry, she bolted upright.

[Sufficient Authority Acquired.]

[Activate Introductory Interface?] [Y/N]

Niya turned her head but the words moved with her. They were transparent enough that she could easily see through them; she waved her hand over them, seeing her skin through the impossible text.

What in the inferno? Did Jiran know this would happen? Is this why he wanted me to feed the crystal? Do I accept it?

Her cheeks heated when she remembered recklessly charging into Sanctuary without a care. Upon remembering Jiran of all people reprimanding her for being reckless, a low growl escaped her throat, causing the next Timberling in line to swallow nervously.

I should probably wait for him to come back. Ugh, these words blocking my vision are annoying. I’ll answer you later, so just go away for now!

Much to her surprise, the words instantly disappeared. In a panic, she willed them back and they sprang into sight. She sighed with relief and willed them to vanish again. She set her eyes on the next young Timberling who gave her a nervous chuckle that failed to mask his rapid breathing. Niya beckoned him forward with quick motions, knowing they didn’t have time for gawking.

There’s a catastrophe rushing straight toward the empire and I have to do my part. We’ve only been here for a couple days and Jiran’s managed to gather all these people. I don’t know exactly what he’s got planned, but with all the mana they can generate working together…

Niya huffed, clearing her thoughts away and refocusing on her task. She didn’t need to understand her cousin, and if she was being honest with herself, she doubted she could, even if he spelled it all out for her. She knew her strengths and weaknesses and right now, the most impactful thing she could do was to support him. Regardless of how skilled Jiran was, he couldn’t do everything alone.

***

It took Jiran another two hours to appear. Unlike his usual thunderous appearance while riding on a blue wave of destructive forces, he silently dropped down through the trees. He was accompanied by a huge shadow that had Niya craning her neck. Her eyes popped upon seeing a ridiculously large pile of cut trees bundled within his aura. He dropped them to the side, careful not to damage any of the transcended nearby. Just beside them, he dropped three disfigured corpses that looked awful but smelled amazing.

Niya released an appreciative whistle while eyeing his new armor up and down. If he hadn’t made her a suit already, she certainly would have been jealous. There were several obvious differences between them and she could only inwardly sigh, knowing that he had probably done something ridiculous again.

His eyes were trained on the injured Timberling peacefully sleeping at her side. He approached them, his helmet hiding his expression. She could easily imagine the hurt that was likely marring his features. They might have been separated for a year and only recently reunited, but her cousin had barely changed in that time. Despite his usually calm and disinterested demeanor, he was a huge softy, especially when pretty girls were involved. And with his penchant for placing way too much responsibility on his shoulders, there was no way he wasn’t feeling terrible upon seeing the woman.

“I healed the worst of her injuries, figured I would leave the arm for you rather than waste most of my manapool on it.”

“Thank you,” His voice was deeper than usual as it echoed out of his helmet. Goosebumps raced down her arms at the barely repressed violence she felt from his tone. Suddenly, Niya was all the more thankful she had managed to save the girl. Jiran stood over her, his suit crinkling with each deep, steady breath he took, “What happened?”

“Don’t know. Mayalyn said something about protecting her and there being more beasts in the valley.”

Jiran knelt and brushed a few strands of silvery hair from the Timberling’s delicate features. He then looked at his gloved hand like it had betrayed him somehow. With a huff, he pulled off the helmet and gloves before removing the rest of his suit. He placed his hand on her shoulder above the stub of her missing limb. A crackling filled the air as tough flesh rapidly grew into a pristine, new arm without a trace of bark on it.

Niya turned away, hiding her scowl of envy at how easily he had replaced the limb. She then busied herself with draining the next Timberling in line, “How did your errand go?”

“Good, I met some of the Forkara elders. They’re strong. At first I was just planning to deal with the antagonistic ones and leave the rest of them alone, but after seeing them fight… I want to at least try to get them to join us.”

“That sounds risky, but if it’s what you think we should do, then I’ll help however I can.” Jiran’s mouth fell open as he looked at her like she’d grown a third head, “Hey! Don’t look at me like that when I’m trying to be sincere! Ugh, I swear, you’re so annoying!” Jiran chuckled and she changed the topic before he could respond, “I got a strange notification in my status after charging the crystal around a hundred times. It said something about acquiring enough authority to activate an introductory interface, should I accept it?”

“What?! Are you sure? That’s amazing! Yes, definitely accept it!” He waved his hands animatedly, the motions creating enough wind that her hair rustled and leaves fluttered through the air.

Did he get that much stronger in just a couple hours? I suppose at this point, I should be more surprised if an entire day goes by and he doesn’t double his strength!

Niya finished draining the Timberling and turned back at him with narrowed eyes while crossing her arms under her chest, “Tell me what it means first. Your idea of amazing and mine are two very different things.”

His face skewed in thought—his lips pursed to one side as he rubbed his jaw, “It’s kind of like a second system with completely different information. I use mine to interact with my Identify skill and see how much damage my attacks deal to beasts. It also lets me invite people to groups so they can interact with the teleportation platforms and it helps me connect with Sanctuaries functions. Oh, there’s a map too. It’s definitely saved my life a few times. You probably won’t be able to do much with it at first, but I promise it’ll be useful.”

Niya was convinced the second he mentioned interacting with the teleportation platforms. She barely even heard the rest of what he said as she called up the strange text and accepted the activation of the interface.

[Introductory Interface Activated.]

She waited impatiently for something else to happen, but even after several seconds, there was nothing. Jiran poked her shoulder impatiently, “Did you do it?” She nodded and half a second later, a new message appeared in her vision.

[Party Leader: (Jiran of Madra) Has invited you to join his party. Accept invitation?] [Y/N]

Niya accepted and several transparent blocks of information appeared at the top of her vision, “Your name changed? When did that happen?”

“When I became a Remalon,” He shrugged. “Do you see anything new after joining?”

“Yeah, there’s some strange boxes with colored bars.”

“Awesome! I’m going to kick you from the party, try to invite me.” Niya nodded and tried, but she couldn’t figure out how to do it even after he told her she just needed to think about it. “That’s not too surprising, the Party System is one of my acclamations so it would be weird if you suddenly had full access to it. Let’s go see if you can activate the teleportation platform.” As usual, he didn’t wait for her reply before excitedly flying off. She rolled her eyes at his childlike impatience and followed behind, finding it more difficult than before to keep up with him.

He really did get a lot stronger in just a few hours. What a cheater.

When they arrived, Niya dove ahead of him to put her hand on the crystal first, eagerly feeding it her mana while silently praying it would work. Sure enough, the gem absorbed her energy and several messages appeared in her vision. She pumped a fist in the air with an excited, “Whoop.”

[Sufficient Authority Detected.]

[Destinations available: (Finlest Empire) (Sanctuary - Access Restricted)]

“Looks like I don’t have access to Sanctuary but I can open a portal to the empire,” She beamed with an ecstatic grin that matched his.

“Interesting. Since you don’t see the Jeweled Isles, then you must only be able to connect with the ones you’ve been to before. Still, this is amazing. Do you realize how much this is going to revolutionize the empire? Can you imagine how crazy it’s going to be once we discover more nodes? I’ve only opened a few and already we have four races that can trade with and support one another. How many more do you think are out there? I mean, Madra’s a big world. There could be hundreds of races, thousands!”

“Yeah, yeah, slow down,” Niya patted the air, “Aren’t you the one who said we don’t know what’s waiting for us beyond the portals? We should be cautious and definitely keep the secret of the crystals and interface to people we can trust.”

“I know that! I’m not an idiot,” Jiran grumbled while looking to the side guiltily.

Niya immediately burst into laughter, “Please, I bet you already came up with a list of at least twenty people you wanted to tell!”

“Wha-I mean-you can’t prove that! Whatever! Stay here for a second,” Niya snorted a laugh after noticing Jiran’s neck was crimson with embarrassment. He placed his hand on the gem and opened a portal. He walked inside and reappeared a few seconds later handing her another crystal, “Give me the one you’ve been putting mana into. I have a few things to check on then I’ll meet back up with you.”

“Sure,” She complied, “Try not to blow anything up,” She joked, pleased when she got an eye roll out of him before he vanished back through the portal.

The least I can do to repay him for everything he’s done is to give him a few moments of normality amidst all this insanity.

As Niya flew back to the line of Timberlings eager to donate their mana, she reflected on how much better her life had become in the last few weeks, and it was all thanks to meeting her cousin again. He had no idea how much of an impact he had on the people and world around him. And knowing how quickly his head would swell up, she had no intention of telling him!

She couldn’t help but grin as she pictured Olive and Cameron’s reactions when they learned about the interface. Thinking of them, her heart filled with warmth as she marveled at the fact that she had a real party. And not just any party, but one full of absolute monsters that put her time with Silence to shame. It was a good thing too, because if they weren’t powerful, how in the inferno would they keep Jiran from dragging the entire world into the abyss?