"What is it?" Dexter's eyes slowly opened when George's large silhouette refracted the sunlight entering the cave.

"Zombies!"

It took Dexter a second to accept what he had heard, the imagery of the creatures inextricably linked to an urban setting in his mind, didn't reflect his surroundings. There were no burning buildings around, no mass of civilians fleeing from their insatiable hunger. Where would they even come from?

Dexter dragged himself to his feet, walking towards the cave entrance, wondering how he was going to fend off a horde. But as he exited the cave, his worry proved fruitless. There was no horde of the ravaging decay, only a single figure. A russian police officer from the looks of it, wearing a tattered uniform smeared in blood.

Something was wrong with him, but it had nothing to do with his attire. Whatever injuries the clothing once showed had long disappeared, revealing waxy grey skin stretched out over bulking muscles. He looked like he had been injected with an expired hulk serum. The worst part however, was the aura it gave off. With a resemblance to the creatures in the void, it caused Dexter's blood to stir. He was looking at the new apex predators.

"Why the hell did you bring that thing here!" Dexter said, turning to George. Without bothering to hear his excuse, Dexter took off in the opposite direction. Whatever the creature was, it could no longer be considered human. It didn't appear to be the undead, but for certain it had awakened, and Dexter wasn't keen on testing its abilities.

"Wait for me!" George screamed, but his yell was drowned out by the feral human. The screeching roar billowed from below them, irritated that its second prey that appeared out of nowhere, was already fleeing as well.

For the first time since his arrival, Dexter spotted birds in the area. They were beautiful specimens, but they took flight immediately as the roar echoed.

"Lucky bastards," Dexter muttered, increasing his pace.

It was a pain running uphill, even with his increased stats. The terrain of the mountain wasn't exactly forgiving, but Dexter pushed on, eclipsing George in a matter of seconds. Somehow he was able to maintain a certain distance, but after the first set of hills he was nowhere to be seen.

Dexter stopped running when he bounded over a third set of hills, and looked for a different path to traverse. Running in a straight line would only help the feral human. But rather than continuing to run, he decided to climb.

The spearhead was secured to his belt as he scaled the mountain. Muscles he hadn't used in ages screamed, and the tenderness of his ribs and belly showed themselves. Each wound had been attended to by the health bars, but if he had known he'd be exerting himself so soon, he would have opted to put his 6 free points into Constitution as he had first thought.

Dexter dared to look down as he climbed, but George was still nowhere to be seen. The creature's presence had vanished as well, leading him to suspect it had followed George into one of the caves he had passed. If he knew where the tunnel system led, he would have entered one of the caves. But all he had to do was out run George. There was no need to flee into their dark expanse.

Dexter had climbed to what had to be thirty meters before he finally found a ledge he was willing to stop at. The air had grown frigid at his new height, and there were whistles as the wind kicked off stones. It made Dexter cling on for dear life until he was able to continue on to the cliff above. And as he reached the top, a notification appeared.

[ Location Discovered! - Garden of Tranquility ]

"Tranquility? This place is like a strip club filled with nuns," Dexter frowned, staring at a garden of stone pillars. They were beautifully carved with a wave pattern, but held an edge as sharp as razors. As he gazed at them, he wasn't sure his eyes wouldn't be cut out for blasphemy.

Unlike the planes below roamed by the weregoats, the terrain held a touch of violence, and was completely barren to where he had spawned. There was no green foliage as the notification had signified. All the meager amount of flora he had become accustomed to, made way for the odd stone pillars shaped like blades.

The stones positioning suggested they were man made, but their shapes proved to be carved from howling winds. Dexter placed one finger along the edge of the sculpted pillars, and he would swear blood ran down his finger before he even touched it.

A sense of foreboding overcame Dexter as he continued forward, keeping his hand on his spear. The atmosphere was laced with a never ending breeze circling over the stone pillars. Like small, almost delicate tornadoes, except they gleamed with deadly intent.

However, Dexter marveled at the pillars as he walked, feeling a sense of comradery, until he turned a corner and laid eyes on a stone carving that loomed over him. The figure's robe melted into the ground and rose to a height over five meters, where a face shaped like an elf bowed in prayer. The gesture had gone relatively unnoticed, however, as Dexter stood distracted by a set of horns mirroring the bladed pillars of the garden.

The gender of the statue was impossible to determine, but it was clear the model wasn't human. Whoever created the garden had a power over vital energy and a sophistication that caused Dexter to worry. If aliens were relocated on the new planet like humans, they had an edge that without modern technology, seemed undefeatable.

But it was a surprise that such a garden existed. Before the introduction in the Nullification Zone, he had thought all traces of humanity were wiped out. Disintegrated. The same should apply to other species if they experienced the same fate, but apparently such wonders were repurposed, and he was standing before an alien monument.

Eager to uncover its secrets, Dexter delved further into the garden. He passed by more statues on the way when he discovered a large circular array of stone pillars that were frighteningly tall, ascending upon one another. The first set loomed over Dexter, nearing ten meters, and the following sets were triple that, where the third broke into the sky and where he had begun to lose count.

As he made his way through the pillars, the wind quickened, and he found that he had to force his way through in order to continue.

The phenomena gave more credence that something strange was a foot, even before more signs of aliens made themselves known. On a path directly behind the intricate pillars, was an entrance into the mountain. Inside the entrance, blue fire light licked the ceiling, finally giving off a tranquility that the garden supposedly held.

The light illuminated a hall filled with hieroglyphs that danced as the fire swayed under a breeze. The more Dexter walked, staring at the paintings, he realized he had entered from the opposite direction. Circular walls led down various paths, leading him away from the stone garden. But as he investigated them, their only purpose seemed to function as air tunnels. Each path he entered led outside of the mountain where a thousand meter drop awaited.

Dexter peered down from the mountain, accepting that it was impossible for him to climb down. He had a better chance at returning to the garden and making his way down from there. Continuing to hit dead ends, Dexter pulled out the compass he received from his loot box, when he noticed it was going haywire. The erratic needle danced in confusion, swiveled in circles, then rotated back in on itself.

Using the tried and true method that worked on his old Nintendo 64 games, Dexter blew on it then smacked it. For a fraction of a second the needle stopped, then continued on as if nothing had occurred. Each time he had used the compass it pointed in the direction of the Safe Zone, so he knew it didn't align itself with the magnetic pole. That could only mean there was a different kind of force applying pressure to the needle, and he had an inkling of what it might be.

Slowly infusing vital energy into the device, Dexter watched it stabilize as the needle came to a halt, pointing at himself. He continued from then on, yet he still chose to mark his location, carving arrows with his dagger every so often. The dagger was his secondary weapon he received from the loot box, and although it didn't have a rune ability, its edge never dulled, passively absorbing energy from Dexter to protect itself.

As Dexter walked further into the hall the compass needle twitched, attempting a return to its frantic state. Dexter had to fight it, anchoring the needle between himself and the foreign source of vital energy. As he did so a new path was revealed. It took him deep within the mountain where the pathways were carefully designed for minute adjustments to airflow.

However, at that moment the halls grew pitch black, and he had to rely on his senses to continue further, using the air as a guide. Yet every now and then the air gave rise to a vacuum, returning to push and pull him into various directions. Without hesitation, Dexter chose to ride the current that pulled him forwards.

The terrain changed as he located the correct pathways, slanting up like a meandering staircase. He had no clue where he was heading, and each step taken relied on faith. Dexter likened it to a pilgrimage. If he was a religious man, he'd have questioned fate, believing he was living through a predestined event, written in an old and dusted manuscript somewhere. But he wasn't entrusting of such forces and held both dagger and spear extended as he walked in the dark—with the unique affinity of his energy weighted like a loaded gun.

The interior of the mountain wasn't exactly hostile, but neither was it peaceful. Bladed pillars stood like sentries, and he more than once had the misfortune to bump against them, slicing divots into his reinforced armor. Because of that his pace slowed to avoid killing himself. But as a result, the darkness highlighted his new sense for vital energy.

The energy's inherent nature towards leveling was already understood, but its malleable properties was a topic Dexter had just begun to understand. And his first lesson occurred as he walked down a particularly long path, where the buffeting winds transformed into a whisper. Instinctively, he spread his awareness, searching for the attuned energy that would light the path. But it was incredibly faint, and finally, after hours walking in darkness, he felt blind for the first time.

As Dexter lingered in the dark, hampered by the unforeseen road block, the familiar sense of the Nullification Zone overcame him, and he finally comprehended how he achieved the Sage Title—now able to apply it on a fundamental level. But such a feat as transforming the energy around him was still impossible to replicate.

The energy inside of the mountain wasn't pure like the energy in the Nullification Zone, he couldn't saturate it with his own energy and reabsorb that mixture back into himself. But he could find a resonance with his surroundings and represent that within himself, allowing him to continue on into the mountain with a new eyesight. And he had just left the perfect place to practice.

Retracing his steps, Dexter ended up back at the entrance with the hieroglyphs. Moonlight greeted him as he exited, and the circular array of pillars he passed through, looked like old masters welcoming home a failed student. It seemed the towering structures were a hidden trial. In order to head further into the mountain, he would have to master the basics of energy sensation through manipulation.

Previously, when he altered his energy, he had used his guitar. But the instrument had been left inside a cave as he ran from the grey humanoid creature. There was simply no time to retrieve it. All he could do was hope that the creature didn't destroy the heirloom out of frustration. But this time, Dexter knew he wouldn't need it. The guitar was a useful tool to express his energy externally, and right now he required an internal method.

Stationed between the pillars, Dexter closed his eyes and sat down in a vortex of air currents, imprinting the sensation over his entire being. His curls danced in the currents, giving way to a chaotic pattern. But as hours passed, Dexter was able to sift through the pattern as if he had read the air currents before, assigning each sensation to a chord on his guitar.

Each inflection was labeled. Each push and pull of the wind was recorded, and his fingers idly twitched as he wrote a new yet strangely familiar song. One that brought visions where he floated amongst the clouds, surfing over mountains that dared to block his path. For a second it felt like he had an out of body experience, and the sensation disrupted his concentration.

Chalking the vision up to the high altitude of the mountain, or a glimpse into his future, Dexter refocused on the task at hand. Soon the recurring notes altered his energy, giving rise to a new aura that harmonized him with his surroundings.

It was now possible to draw in the ambient energy, and as he did so the sensation of air filled his entire being until his body felt light as a feather. He imagined clouds billowing across the sky, stretching into the endless horizon. The resonance was far different from what he had experienced in the Nullification Zone, but the feeling of accumulating power was still there, nestled in the center.

Dexter willed himself to not leave his perch for hours, days if need be. There were quests that he needed to finish, and the more levels he had would only make accomplishing them easier. But as time went on, the tranquil feeling grew uncomfortable. Like if he moved an inch he would fall out of the sky.

Refocusing on balance, Dexter expressed the ideals of stillness and relaxation in order to absorb the wind energy. But the two concepts conflicted as he kept fidgeting, trying to maintain his posture and counter the odd sensation. This lasted for two minutes where he struggled to get it right, searching for a center of balance that would allow him to fully immerse himself and draw in the energy.

But once his muscles started to scream, and sweat began to fall from his brow, he finally decided to take a break. He just couldn't shake the feeling that he was levitating.

Opening his eyes, Dexter bore witness to the fact.

"I'm fucking levitating!"