Before his eyes were 3 rare resources, he found them after cleaning and sweeping the octopus nest.

In comparison to the time he used to clear other nests, he felt like he took an entire month to clear this one, while in fact, he was only a week into the 19th month.

From waking up without his supposed sense of self to cleaning the octopus nest, he only used 3 weeks.

During this time he became somewhat used to having his supposed sense of self deactivated, though he also formulated a plan to resolve the situation if he really had to.

Rune wanted to confront the scorpion monsters, and for this, he needed his awareness control back to be at his best.

His whole plan to resolve his case was just sending his original body back to the Universe dimension and only send his avatar on a suicide mission against the scorpion.

He didn’t really care about awakening his soul specialty or acquiring the masteries window, the most important point was what he’d lose once he got them.

They were only future weapons for him to increase his ability, but having an avatar, was maybe a one-time opportunity that he would never get again.

He was even ready to not complete the Deep Void initiation event objectives, all for proving that there were no obstacles he couldn’t surpass by giving his all.

Resolving his sense of self deactivation seemed to become much easier after those 3 weeks, he could now feel the dissipated awareness once he entered into his inner self.

‘I’ll absorb those then send my universe body back.’

With these 3 he just found, he was now at 8 out of 10 rare resources found for the event objective.

His reserve of EP was filling with time, Rune was really taking it slow, ignoring a lot of the monster cores he could have absorbed, but even then 10 per day accumulated to a lot in the end.

Avatar (Basic Rank) (Tier 1)

EP: 20 751 564

Stats Total: 5 000

Health: 500

Health Regeneration: 500

Strength: 500

Cohesion: 500

Energy: 500

Energy Regeneration: 500

Purity: 500

Affinity: 500

Momentum: 500

Perception: 500

His gains were consequent, but it was just a useless number for now.

‘Let’s do it.’

Separating his avatar from his original body, the loss of power felt as strange and powerful as the effects his absent sense of self gave him sometimes.

Now another factor was going to play, where would he end up in the Universe dimension, if he was lucky, in IGS space, if unlucky, then he just wouldn’t know.

But that wasn’t going to stop him, he would have to return one day anyway, so now or later it was going to happen.

Dimensions

Universe

Not able to bear ether life forms

Fully stable, dimensional anomaly impossible

No restriction on ether

The Universe Dimension is the first dimension birthed by a critically defective law, as such the ether density doesn’t allow an ether life form to survive.

This dimension is composed at more than 99% of emptiness, only the most fundamental part of the Ether Law has allowed this Dimension to birth sapient life and to exist in its current state.

Enter?

‘Yes.’

And immediately, the legendary dimensional sickness started to play with his body, the same one he felt during his first trip across dimension.

After the feeling of general brain chaos was over, stopping his brain from convulsing was easier than expected.

Already in his home universe, Rune analyzed his surroundings with his sphere of now 50 meters.

Like those who were ejected from the Primary Ether sub-dimension, he found himself in a foreign place, in the middle of nothing.

The answer proposed by the IGS to this problem was a special energy emitter, the miracle answer, and they already had a protocol in place, so first, Rune connected to the IGS rescue forum and said that he was going to broadcast his position in 5 minutes.

5 minutes later he made the complex emitter from all 3 energy manipulation masteries and started pumping all his energy into it.

He wasn’t an energy engineer, but that was some complex thing he just made, he knew he made an energy loop here, that the loop made something vibrate, that a special bubble made another thing vibrate, and that was it.

Like the majority of the to-be-rescued, the only thing he had to do now was waiting, so now was the second phase of his plan, his ether soul appearing again.

He had the perfect idea for how to do it, he would forcefully break the artificial thing he made, now he knew how he made it, he remembered, but he didn’t know how to erase it when it wasn’t accessible anymore.

If he made an artificial blackout on a minor sense in his ether soul, then he would be able to see it and naturally destroy it, but now he only had the final solution left, repeatedly switch till it broke.

So he switched.

His awareness passed through a place where there was nothing, then he switched again, the just-arrived awareness returned where it came from.

Then another switch, then another, after tens of switches, he could see his ether soul outline appear, so he continued.

Awareness came and went again and again, like waves on a beach.

‘It broke.’

Until his ether soul finally appeared like it had always been here.

A mass of air, emitting a light white color in his inner self, the key to an epic battle and an act of hot revenge.

Before he knew it, he formed hundreds of awareness threads and his ether soul was cocooned in those threads.

He shifted all his awareness to his sphere sensitivity, a place he already knew, and without losing his 50 meters of range, he could suddenly feel the movement of dust particles all around him and the ripples they left in their wake.

‘I’m ready, let’s face my death in the way of Utopia.’

…

Rune’s avatar knew where he was going, he knew he entered the “territory” of the scorpion monsters.

He was ready to battle with death, or to death, he wanted to finish his adventure here, he fled from them before but he came back stronger, but he wasn’t delusional enough to think he could do 1 against 100.

He just knew that he would die in the following week, maybe days, because he wouldn’t retreat the moment he started, he would only go forward.

Rune wanted to make the moment a little more dramatic, to make up his mind, to not fear his approaching death, so he told what he planned to do on the Undecided private forum.

[Rune: I’m going to make my avatar fight to its death, it’s the only time I’ll ever die in my life, after that I’ll awaken my soul and if I ever die again, it would be for eternity, I think.

I don’t know how I will act when death will really touch me, but like when I hoped that I would not cower fighting ether monsters, I hope I’ll realize that my adventure was nothing but a baby step in my fight, now, it’s time.]

Rune was at his apex state, a 70% efficiency 500 energy armor customized for his fighting style, an arm and a leg uncovered, and nothing else, no energy weapons or sh*t like that, they would take up precious energy regeneration that he would need.

His awareness was in scorpion exterminator mode, 90% of it was concentrated in his sphere sensitivity, the rest for needed battle senses.

Recently there were rumors that the sphere could be condensed, maybe it would have helped him, but for Rune, it was impossible, bending it was already difficult, compressing it was just a pipe-dream.

And 5 minutes later, the first victim of his rampage appeared.

…

[Utopia: So he’s going to die soon? Badass]

[Astryde: He always has the best ideas, maybe he’s a genius for adventuring and not training]

[Utopia: I think it’s more symbolic, his first adventure, ending up dead, now the only way for it to be an advantage in the future would be to find so much insight that…]

[Arik: RIP Rune, when his spirit appears again and tries to talk to us you all know what to do right?]

[Gar: Yes brother]

…

A stinger pierced his chest, Rune knew how to react, crush it between his elbow and his knee, then rip it off, to not suffer more damage than he already suffered.

His armor was annihilated long ago, his energy clothes were ripped off everywhere, only rags remained.

His avatar had holes everywhere, the scorpions were ruthless, and he was surrounded by 7 of them.

He didn’t know how he even evaded more than half of their stinger strikes, but Rune only had one thought, which was to make them feel pain.

He wasn’t motivated by heroism, but pure bloodlust for battle, he was proudly waiting for his death after all.

After crushing yet another stinger, he ripped off what remained in his chest. If his biological heart still existed, it would have exploded or been ripped off from what Rune just did.

His injuries were so abhorrent that he wouldn’t be surprised if his health balance was 90% empty, but he didn’t care.

In the flowing purple ether of their nest, the scorpions were as berserk as Rune, the fighting only became fiercer and more reckless, no lull or any break appeared.

Every scrap of energy was used for platforms, platforms to propel himself proudly to his death, only a stinger strike could hit him, but they didn’t break him, they didn’t kill him.

Because the Ether Law stated that it was possible in one minute to go back to peak state, no matter how dying you were before.

The scorpions were fighting against an ever-improving monster, also called an average sapient entity, Rune had killed 24 scorpions since the start of his rampage.

Hundreds of others remained, and Rune forced his way to the nest directly, ignoring the ever-increasing number of pursuers.

“Try a little harder monsters, I can’t die so I’ll advance proudly towards my death! Who can stop me!” Rune screamed with intent energy-infused words, more to pump his own mind than to affect those of mindless monsters.

Again, he found the feeling that made him risk his life for an adventure, he felt like a contender, he was so immersed in this battle that he forgot he wouldn’t die once his avatar was killed.

His provocation motivated the monsters more than ever as 15 surrounded him and started tightening, they couldn’t surround him more even if they tried.

Rune didn’t need to think, only act, using the ground of the nest he attained, there was no more need for platforms, only momentum, and artificial gravity.

He could release and use all he learned, his sensitivity was so high that when the scorpion he rushed toward tried to launch its stinger, Rune bent over to the right and the stinger brushed against his left ear, one centimeter away from exploding Rune’s head.

“Feel the weight of my incoming death!”

The normal punch was the perfect form, he didn’t know if he attained expert or master for of his pure strength transmitted yet, but he knew that his punch sent the scorpion flying.

He wasn’t here to kill, he was here to die, so he didn’t target one scorpion, in particular, he changed target and again sent another scorpion flying.

Another stinger made a hole in his chest, but Rune was a death warrior, all his strikes were so powerful that his body’s bones creaked after every punch.

...

The peak of intensity has been going on for hours, and neither scorpions nor the human stopped.

“You can’t even kill me after all that? What are you? Losers? Come on!” The human wasted energy by using intent-infused words to taunt the scorpions around him.

The ether soul of the human was radiating a burning white light, it had never been subjected to so much regeneration so intensely, so much never-ending cycle, and it was coming to an end.

In this fight, Rune was slowing down, ether stats were impartial, if he never stopped, he would never die, but he was a human, and humans weren’t machines.

Only his exhaustion training made his burning ether soul keep burning, he was fighting to the death for a reason, he wanted to know how he would act.

And surrounded by a hundred scorpions, his battle consumed so much of his spirit that death could be the result.

‘Yeah, try harder… It’s never enough…’ His sphere was sending him mixed messages, his battle instinct was weary, but as time went by, his ether soul kept pumping more, and more, and more energy and health.

Till it broke.

His health no longer regenerated, his energy no longer flowed, Rune didn’t understand, but now he only had his body to fight with.

‘Yeah, that’s the true challenge, no more regeneration, only me and my fists.’

…

He couldn’t allow himself to be touched anymore, he could only use all his remaining awareness to keep himself conscious.

‘Maybe I’m a hero… Never giving up…’

He knew he wanted to die, but his body just wouldn’t let him.

He was so confused, his need to go on an adventure with his life at stake, the thrill of battling and improving himself, the passion of trying new moves and gaining insights.

‘Maybe… Maybe... I’m nothing I thought myself to be…’

Like water, Rune evaded everything and refused to die, he delivered a punch, a kick, a knee strike, or an elbow strike every time he saw an opening, by instinct, not by choice.

After stopping regenerating, his ether soul seemed to enter slumber, no longer was it white, it was nothing, like true ether, but a core of white ether still existed and it was still moving. The true core of his identity as an entity maybe?

Flowing slowly like it was transforming Rune’s ether soul, a new stronger soul trying to break out of the mass of awareness.

...

‘Everything is slow.'

In Rune's vision, it was like time slowed down, to an incredible degree, it was a thousand times slower than a bullet-time. He could see with his sphere as one of his blood drops was slowly falling and as he took another step, similarly slow, it dropped on the ground.

‘Is it death?’ Rune was still in the middle of delivering another strike, but after dozens of minutes of his regeneration stopping, his health balance should have finally come to an end.

‘Why am I dying?’ But his state was like when he lost his sense of self, he wasn’t concerned by those mortal feelings, only logic, and he knew that this question wouldn’t help him resolve his situation.

In his sphere he could see more than a hundred scorpions, all wanting a piece of him, but his apathetic face said everything about what he felt about the situation.

‘How much time before I die, 5 minutes? That’s enough.’

Feeling like everything was fine, Rune could feel something new, not energy, but something similar, and he knew he could use it.

From his ether soul, a thread of white ether exited out, and when it got out, his whole mind felt refreshed. Like he just broke something, and the Ether Law just helped him break this something restraining him.

His fist was again covered in a layer of flowing white something, something that he shouldn’t have access to at this time, energy, his sphere could sense the surrounding tainted ether being rejected for meters around him.

5 minutes before his death, in a thousand times slowed down temporality, he started to kill every scorpion.

‘Even while dying, I need to kill them, that’s what I want to do.’

So he used his renewed energy to deliver a punch to every scorpion he came across.

But ultimately, his legs stopped working, he already knew his heart stopped beating long ago.

Then his body stopped responding.

He died.

‘I still needed to kill a lot more, that’s… Unfortunate…’

Before entering his eternal slumber, he didn’t know why but he felt that he missed something, but it didn’t matter, death was already here.

Rune could see his body, his avatar, disappear, disintegrating like all the scorpions he killed, becoming nothing, returning to the ether.

‘That’s a shitty place to die in… Also unfortunate…’

And then his consciousness cut because that was death.