Using his shoulders to muscle open the heavy steel, Noone managed to create a gap large enough for the drider.

As soon as Noone passed into the room - he felt a small tug on his flesh. A magic barrier had been set up by Alaviv to help contain the magic within the room. Noone took a sharp breath in and was forced to close his eyes as the protection of the barrier disappeared and he was left completely exposed to the chaos within the room.

There is an expression that speaks of being caught naked in a blizzard.

At this moment, Noone felt that this expression did not do him any justice.

Magic and bitter cold air immediately bit through his skin and sunk deeply into his bones. His muscles spasmed and shivered violently in an effort to stave off the unbelievable chill. Noone could only grit his teeth as the countless wounds on his body were subsequently frozen shut and crystallized. Every breath he took felt like the air itself was on a mission to rupture through his lungs.

Noone’s bloody clothes flapped wildly in the storm-level winds. The blood which had soaked through his pants and shirt immediately hardened. Noone was beginning to fear even his eyes may be frozen shut at this rate.

Nearby a small wizard stood on a pedestal. He flapped his skinny pale arms around wildly sending magic every which way, gritting his teeth violently.

He had noticed Noone enter almost immediately but he couldn’t spare his attention at this moment.

Alaviv grunted and pulled both of his hands up as though lifting a building from its foundations.

The wind in the room rushed towards the ceiling.

The gnome gripped his hands together tightly and the air swirled in place creating two tornadoes of magic and icy air.

As though fighting against the gods themselves – the gnome shouted out and forced his hands together – visibly shaking from the effort. His eyes were steady and sharp however, like an archer waiting for the perfect strike.

The two vortexes crashed together.

Noone’s ears threatened to explode from within as the pressure in the room shot up. A boom sounded out like the world was about to rend itself apart echoing repeatedly within the cavernous hall.

Compared to the interior, outside the steel doors the air was steady as a temperate night.

Finally, Alaviv's expression eased slightly and he managed to whip his hand in the direction of Noone.

Noone felt his body be lifted up from the ground and was tossed unceremoniously through the air. He landed on his side next to the gnome. He immediately took a deep breath. The air was still bitterly cold, however the space around the gnome had some defenses put up which made it at least tolerable for Noone.

Trying to speak, he instead coughed out a mouthful of blood which immediately froze as it exited his mouth.

“Sorry for the rude awakening Noone. Just put up with it for five more minutes.” Alaviv’s voice appeared within Noone’s groggy mind. Noone nodded without thinking – his eyes fluttering slightly as he forced them open.

Alaviv still stood facing the middle of the room, not having the time to spare Noone a glance. Noone forced his tired body up to sitting and coughed up another mouthful of frozen blood. His head swayed but he managed to focus his attention, watching the small gnomes back. The gnome’s robes fluttered violently as he continued throwing magic out wildly.

Noone tried to circulate whatever energy was left in his body, however right now his body had become like a dried up well. In between the physical injuries he suffered – and the overuse of his divine sense – Noone’s body was a used-up shell of energy. He wondered how long he would need to cultivate in order to make up for all the power he lost this time around.

Tobias’s axe was still tightly gripped within Noone’s hand, and the drider corpse Noone had dragged this whole way was crumpled on the ground behind him.

“Al… What is that?” Noone managed to think despite his increasingly hazy consciousness. His eyes had come to rest on the center of the room. In the middle of all the chaos, a large gash could be seen floating in the air.

It shook violently.

To Noone – it looked as though black and white lightning had been trapped mid-strike. Forced to stew in violent fury. It writhed back and forth, shattering light and sound wherever it moved.

“That’s a gash in the world.” Alaviv responded. “It’s unstable because this teleport location had been cut off from the magic-highway for too long. I am trying to reconnect it. Once it’s connected, more specialized wizards can come and maintain it.” There was a strained tone in Al’s voice. “Now if you have time to think. You have time to heal. Take Tobias’s axe and channel energy through it.” Al commanded, making it clear he had no time to continue humoring Noone.

Noone looked down at the axe in his hand. The soft white hue which permeated through it reminded him of everything that had led to this point since entering Stone-Eye.

It all occurred so quickly Noone knew had hadn’t been able to process it yet. Especially since almost handing himself over to his inner devil again…

Noone straightened his posture – groaning as the wounds in his body broke open and then refroze. He violently grit his teeth with enough force to cause them to creak.

It was difficult for Noone to calm his mind enough to cultivate the threads from the universe. Without being able to use his divine sense – he had no choice but to cultivate like he had in the beginning.

Slowly.

Patiently waiting for the energy to pass through him before trapping it within his core and making it his own. Noone laid the white axe gently in his lap.

Because of the amount of magic being thrown around in the room, threads of energy were being ripped from the space-between-spaces like fish caught in an exploding barrel.

A thin thread of chilly white energy passed into Noone’s core – immediately becoming vaporized by the multi-colored flame which burned ever present inside him. Like a plant in the desert – Noone’s meridians writhed slightly, wanting to gobble up the small amount of moisture that was the natural energy.

"Sorry," Noone thought. "I can't afford to feed you right now."

Noone was unsure when his thinking had changed. But at some point, in his cultivation he had come to acknowledge the still present will of the galaxy tree which had been left to him. Although not from charity - he couldn't deny that the galaxy tree had given him a sort of rebirth. In exchange for that, its desire to be reborn was left within Noone - for him to accomplish it. In essence, Noone really had become the seed. In exchange for his second life, the flame in his core would steal a part of his cultivated energy to fuel itself.

However, Noone forced the energy out through his palm and into the axe he had taken. The white sheen on the axe looked to become more solid and opaque as he did this. After a breath – the energy he had put into the axe was forced back out and returned to Noone’s body.

Noone breathed out a harsh breath. Instead of being absorbed into Noone’s meridians like normal – the energy coursed across his flesh, through his organs, and into his bones. He felt itchy all over but he grit his teeth through it. Noone knew this feeling.

The energy – once filtered through the axe – was able to heal him, though it was only an inconsequential amount. Noone cursed the fact he had used up all his energy. If he could focus more of it through the axe, there was no telling how quickly he would recover.

Five minutes passed by in what seemed like a blink. Noone was barely any better off than he had been five minutes before. But he was at least somewhat better.

The writhing tear in the world had calmed a lot and now rotated smoothly in the middle of the room. Part of Noone wished to view it with his divine sense. He couldn’t help but feel that the tear looked like one extremely large thread of universe energy... but something in his soul warned him against such a reckless move.

Alaviv let out an audible sigh. In this moment he sounded more tired than Noone had ever heard before.

“How’re you feeling Noone?” Alaviv sat back on the pedestal he had been standing on and gave Noone a sidelong glance. Despite the bitter cold and wild magic – the gnome didn’t seem any more ruffled than a man who had just went for a run around the neighborhood. Only his voice betrayed his true exhaustion.

The gnome pulled a sheet of parchment from his robe and began folding it. He moved smoothly, years of skill being put on display as the parchment took on the intricate shape of a bird small bird. A cardinal.

Alaviv had arrived in Stone-Eye almost a week before Noone and Co. Since then, he had worked tirelessly to reconnect the portal to the magic-highway.

Noone nodded to the gnome but continued to focus as much energy as he could through Tobias’s axe.

At the rate things were going – Noone assumed he would need at least a month to recover from his physical injuries if he spent every day and night doing nothing but healing.

Much to Noone’s surprise, a small chirp came from Alaviv’s hands. Once the bird was finished a small glow flashed through the paper and it sprung up onto its feet. Hopping from palm to palm in Alaviv’s hands.

The small gnome nodded in approval, plucked a stark-blue hair from his head, and gave it to the bird to eat up.

Like a scrumptious worm – the little folded bird easily ate the hair without complaint.

It jumped from Alaviv’s small hands and then in a flash it darted through the black and white tear in the world.

Noone was silent for a moment.

“So… What now?” Noone spoke through strained breath. Since Alaviv had stopped tossing magic around, the temperature and magic wind within the room had settled. Although it was still bitterly cold – it was no longer as unbearable as it had been moments before.

“Well.” The gnome scratched his chin. “We give it ten minutes to stabilize. Once it’s stabilized, I can easily toss you wherever you want in the world.” He shrugged casually.

Noone closed his eyes. He thought about where he would want to go… “Where can I get stronger? I need somewhere with large amounts of natural energy, or where the laws of the universe are less tightly woven. But… it can’t be too wild or at my level I won’t stand a chance against the natural inhabitants.” Noone’s thoughts moved quickly. Before this moment, he hadn’t actually considered where he wanted to go once he made it here. He kind of assumed Alaviv would just throw him wherever he was meant to be.

Noone frowned. Maybe it was because of the bitter cold in the room – or his extensive wounds – or his dried-up energy, but in this moment Noone’s mind was in a fog.

Suddenly, the face of a blue-scaled dragonborn appeared in his thoughts.

“Oh yeah… there was that dragonborn I met back in Ardglass… Patrin something. He mentioned he came from a town in the northern desert... Let’s go there.” Noone’s eyes flashed as he made his decision. Perhaps it was because of the biting cold – but right now Noone wanted nothing more than to be somewhere warm and dry.

He was about to tell Alaviv his decision to get his opinion when suddenly the sharp cry of an eagle pierced through the cavern. It had come from the tear in the world. Noone’s eyes shot open. Along with the cry, a violent suppression had descended over the room the likes of which he hadn't felt in a long time.

It reminded Noone of the power he had felt when facing the skeletal being in Tapestry. Complete domination.

Noone looked at Alaviv just in time to see the gnomes usual calm and collected demeanor shatter spectacularly. The gnome’s eyes went wide, and his mouth hung open in disbelief. What little colors remained in his face disappeared as the blood drained from his head. He began stuttering frantically.

“Damn!” The gnome bolted upright and immediately began waving his hands in the air, summoning magic runes the size of which Noone had never seen before. He moved with a frantic urgency that caused Noone to worriedly shoot to his feet. As he did, pain flooded through his stiff body and his joints creaked, but he ignored this.

“Al! What is it!? Is the portal closing!?” Noone asked quickly, trying to get a read on the situation.

“it’s worse! Change of plans Noone! We are going now!” the gnome screamed over the sound of wind and magic being stirred. The entire room shook from the power that Alaviv was beginning to conjure. Compared to before – it was like the difference between a light shower and a monsoon.

“What is it!?” Noon asked again. He quickly grabbed Tobias’s axe and the corpse of the drider. He didn’t know how useful it would be, but he trusted Alaviv.

Suddenly Noone felt his body lift into the air. Next to him was Alaviv and the drider who floated together.

Without any warning Noone felt his body shoot forward and pass into the portal.

The moment before Noone disappeared, the gnome wizard answered his questions with a panicked screech. “It’s my Ex-Wife!” The level 17 wizard said fearfully.

If it wasn’t for the intense pain of being teleported across the world causing Noone’s consciousness to become scrambled, he was pretty sure he would have fainted from the gnome’s final words.

The last thing Noone remembered before fainting was his body falling uselessly several meters deep into an endless field of blindingly white snow. The chill of the frozen tundra biting into his flesh.

In that moment… Noone had a sinking feeling that he wasn't going to be warm for a long time. “Well... Shit.” Noone groaned softly, moments before his consciousness faded from reality.