Chapter 32:

27 Days After Spring’s Beginning

289 Days After The Ra’tok Attack Amia Village

Rua Desert, Rhia Territory

Astral Conversion Center 035

My eyelids flutter, and the image of Kamar’s Simian face, cover in crag-like worry lines, comes into focus. I hadn’t noticed before, but there is now three long, deep scratches that go from his cheek to his chin, matted with blood and fur. There are deep purple bruises under his chin, and his posture is haggard.

His rumbling voice reaches my ears, “Kardin? Are you alright?”

It feels like it has been days since I last saw him, but in reality, it has only been a few minutes.

I sit up, Kamar taking a step back and laying a large hand on my shoulder, steadying me. Pain flares from my chest, and I look down at my blood and sand covered hand.

A large cloth, ripped from pieces of my shirt, covers the self inflicted gash above my heart. I can see that is has already been stained a dark crimson.

A tingling in the back of my neck, at the base of my skull starts up. I can feel my mind link with Mother pulling tight.

‘You need to staunch the blood flow before you pass out. The internal damage is critical.’

I blink, pushing off the strange sensation. I pluck the mental link, sending back, ‘What?’

I get a feeling of exasperation across the link, and Mother speaks again, ‘When you shoved the umber hulk’s core into yourself, you had to tear through muscles and tendons, and veins. This is on top of everything else you accrued from the battle. Your natural regeneration can’t heal it without your help. Here.’

The tingling intensifies slightly, and I can feel instructions forming in my mind. It is subtle, I wouldn’t have even noticed if I wasn’t looking.

Is this how she helped me create things?

Wincing at my screaming muscles, I shakily lift my crimson covered right hand up to my chest. Putting it over the bandage, I close my eyes.

Pulling from my soul space, I spiral a thread of pure Gray katra from the umbral beast’s core nestled in the moon. Guiding it through my broken channels, and then to the general area of where my self inflicted wound is, I start applying it to the torn tissue.

Instead of just slathering it over the area like I did before, I form tight cords of gray katra, attaching them to the muscles and tendons. I create a thin tube and repair several cut veins, and then move onto the flesh.

With a wave of my mental hand, I command the katra to move up and pull my skin closed. Soon, I’ve completely repaired all the torn muscles, and replaced what I couldn’t repair with finely crafted structures of Gray katra.

Then I move onto the rest of my body, and I get the first look at the havoc my new skill Siphon caused to it. I wince when I look at it.

Parts of my skeletal structure have eroded away, and several of my organs are missing chunks. To top it all off, I have a uncomfortably low amount of blood, probably both from the skill and all my bleeding.

I quickly start supplementing my blood with Gray katra, watching as it is slowly converted to normal blood. Moving on, I repair the rest of the internal damage.

From my experience with this strange healing ability, the Gray katra will eventually be assimilated into the flesh and healing the wound. Then the strange spirit crystals that cover my body in my mind’s eye will grow back.

I also get a look at what Versatile Adaptation did. The bones of my spine seemed to have thickened, and now it has lengthened, extra vertebrae added onto it. Gray katra has fully integrated itself into the bone, and small lines of it pulse up and down my spine through the marrow.

I wince as I test out my shoulder, a burning sensation filling it where the Gray katra onects and forms flesh. The pain is intense, but I push it to the back of my mind.

I’m going to have to use Siphon sparingly.

If it caused this amount of damage in the short minute I used it, it would probably be best to use it as a last ditch resort.

The intensity of the tingling decreases, and I open my eyes again. ‘That… was amazing!’

I get a feeling of subdued smugness over our mental link, and Mother speaks again, ‘You are welcome. It’s hard to keep this link working.’

Furrow my brow in confusion, staring off into space. Kamar is looking at me with worry, like I might try to hurt myself again. ‘It’s hard?’

The tingling starts to decrease rapidly, and I can feel my mental link with Mother starting to become hazy.

‘I can’t keep this up. The time differentiation and amount of energy is intense. We will speak later.’

‘Wait!’ But it’s too late, and I can feel the link go lax and the tingling ceases. I try to pluck at it, to bring it back up, but I don’t get a response, only a static silence.

I’m pulled back to reality when the golden light from the rune circle reaches a intensity that forces me to close my eyes and look away. There is a roaring in my ears, and wind whips at my clothes. I can hear Kamar yelling something, but can’t make out the words.

00:00

Backup system Online!

Activating...

Astral Conversion Center 035 Online!

Would you like to transport to ACC 035, [Moderator 303]?

Y/N

I look at the system message, unsure. This is the first time I have seen one outside of my Soul Space.

Hesitantly, I focus on the Y. Does that stand for yes?

I feel a surge of power crash into me and flow over my body, encapsulating it. Then there is a violent shove of motion, and I feel my insides twisting, bile rising in the back of my throat. It’s like simultaneously being punched in the diaphragm, being hurtled over a cliff at a thousand miles and drinking acid.

The roar intensifies to a near defining level, my skin tingling from the bright, golden light.

Then it is all over in an instant, all sound vanishing and the light snapping out, leaving behind a quiet darkness.

I fall to the floor on my hands and knees, gasping for air.

Gulping in large lungfuls of stale air, the acidic bile rises up from my throat and I bend down, dry heaving.

My sight is blurry, and once I get my body under control, I sit up.

Looking around and wiping at my mouth, I find Kamar sprawled out on the floor next to me. His expression is one of shock and confusion.

Looking around, I am assaulted by the complete alienness of our surroundings.

We are in a short hallway, with angular walls and edges, all colored in a milky white. Above us, installed in the ceiling, are what appear to be glowing globes of light.

A door is behind us, or what remains of one. There are scorch marks all around it and outside is a deep darkness.

Turning back, I look at Kamar, who is slowly standing up and looking confused.

“What happened?” He rumbles, looking as bewildered as I feel.

I wince at the sharp pain in my chest and back, and shake my head, “I don’t know. There was a countdown, and then it… moved us.”

I cautiously walk up to the broken doors and peer out. It’s pitch black, but I can see something slimy moving in the far darkness. Taking a few steps back, I glance at Kamar.

His simian face is concerned and a bit annoyed, He points at me, “You’ve a lot of explaining to do when we get out of here.”

I nod, unsure how I’m ever going to be able to explain to him what has happened. About the world inside me and everything else.

I suppress a sigh at the thought of its entirety.

Looking down the other length of the hallway, I can see that it expands outwards into some kind of chamber.

Well, if there’s nowhere else to go.

I start my slow, limping way down the hallway, Kamar following behind me.

Maybe I can get some answers to what the hells is going on.

As we approach the end, I get a better look at the well lit chamber. It’s in the same angular, geometric style as the hallway. Three other paths branch off from it, and in the center rests a cracked basin.

There is a long, jagged crack along its side, a faint white glowing liquid pooled on the floor around it.

As I look at the strange basin, a System message scrolls over my eyes.

ACC 035

Astral Conversion Pool Status - Damaged, Missing Vital Component!

Would you like a more indepth report, [Mod 303]?

Y/N

I read over the message carefully, and think back to just a few minutes ago. I hesitantly focus on the Yes.

ACC 035

Damage Report:

Main Power Offline, Running on backup

Time remaining to full failure due to lack of power: 1:24:03

Astral Conversion Pool: heavily damaged, Conversion Orb Missing.

Defenses: Offline, Damaged

Containment Units:

CU 478A: Contained.

CU 479A: Breach! Subject no longer contained.

CU 480A: Breach! Subject no longer contained.

CU 481A: Contained.

CU 482A: Contained

CU 483A: Breach! Subject no longer contained.

Breaches detected in outer hull.

Space and interdimensional travel unachievable.

Teleportation: Online

Current closest nodes available for teleportation:

[Parasan]

[Vertax - City Destroyed]

Damage Report Complete.

I have to blink, rubbing my eyes. Most of it I didn’t understand. Space and interdimensional travel? Astral Conversion Pool? Teleportation I have general idea of.

My eyes move to the ‘Containment Units’ part of the System message. I don’t know what this place is supposed to be containing, but the idea of something or somethings having broken out is not comforting.

“What is this place?” Kamar mumbles, looking down at the cracked basin. His voice pulls me from my thoughts, and I swipe the system message to the side.

Moving up beside his large frame, I glance down into the basin. There is a small pedestal in it’s slightly recessed bottom. It looks like it was once meant to hold a sphere of some kind. A small pool of the glowing white liquid surrounds it.

I glance at Kamar, trying to gauge his face. The gash in his chin has stopped bleeding, but I can see that he is exhausted.

“I think it was some kind of facility to… to I’m not sure. For tests, maybe? Like the artifacts?” I hold up my right hand, the black wrappings covering it.

Kamar nods slowly, crouching down to look at the basin. He mumbles, “There’s runes covering the whole thing.”

I crouch down next to the asper, looking at the interior of the basin. There are incredibly complex and long lines of runic scripts, layered ontop of eachother and glowing a dim white, barely noticeable.

The black wrappings on my arm start to shift in unrest. I glance at my right hand, watching as the black cloth unlatches two tendrils of its own volition. I try to take control of it, but it doesn’t respond.

Before I can do anything, they lash out, wrapping around the base of the small pedestal. The silvery runes covering the wrappings flare to life with Gray light.

Kamar reaches out a hand toward m shoulder, his mouth opening to say something. Time seems to slow, and I watch as Kamar stops talking and moving.

I blink, as I feel something thrum from the bandages and up my arm, swirling through my broken channels and into my core. Then it moves out and back down my arm, and into the pedestal.

A light flares atop the pedestal, in the little nook made for the sphere.

The light subsides, and a sphere of pure Gray katra sits nestled atop the pedestal. It glows with the same eerie light as my eyes, mist flowing off it.

Another pulse and I can feel more energy traveling up my arm into my core, flowing back to the pedestal, a sharp spike of pain embedding itself in my brain.

I gasp as the pain blooms, blanketing my mind a haze of confusion and the world blackens, my consciousness pulled along with the energy.