Izo doesn’t know who they defending against for such a show of force to be necessary but consider him deterred. Enough so that he immediately dipped his head like a rat and squirreled away from the gates.

There was no telling on how good their eyesight was or whatever they do to replace that function so it was better to be more cautious. Instead, he climbed one of the higher buildings and tried to see if there was an end to mana barrier.

He only found more black shadow knights manning the intact but falling apart walls. He considered if an artillery shot would be able to break it but with its 10-meter thickness, Izo reckoned that it would take lots of it.

Up close the wall was much higher than expected and Izo was even more unsure if 15 meters of height was reachable with the Ural’s thrusters.

‘I should really confirm if I can pass through the barrier.’

Like osmosis, it may only be blocking certain things. Since this barrier was for defense, any person going outside may not be blocked.

‘I don’t want to battle that ostrich thing with the support of the black shadow knights.’

If he wasn’t going to be able to escape for now with these new obstacles, what should Izo do?

The spirit may be willing but the flesh is weak. No matter if it was his traumatic imprisonment in that primordial place or being in constant wariness since arriving here, Izo wasn’t feeling spry anymore. He’d have to find a safe house of sorts that he can store his equipment and sleep in.

Unfortunately, most of the buildings here were near crumbling, crumbling or crumbles itself so there were not many options to sleep in if he didn’t want to be crushed by rocks.

‘A few of the shops seemed sturdy enough. One or two unidentified buildings too. The temple? No, anything but that place.’

Whenever he watched people sleeping inside haunted places on television, Izo would be fucking screaming for how stupid they are. Nothing happened to them but still it was unnecessary danger.

Now that he knows that fantastical things were very real, this place has skeletons and he became a soul for a while even, Izo wouldn’t be stupid enough to sleep in the temple.

Deciding on one of the stores hidden behind an alley that he saw before; he began going down the city again. In the name of scouting however, Izo made sure to take another path.

In contrast to the quiet and skeleton patrols he experienced before, Izo was passing over a manhole when it suddenly popped open. The escaping of gases threw the cover decently high that it would make sound. He tried to catch it with his right when his hand eye coordination failed him. He had to do an ugly split to catch it again.

It was then that from the opening on the ground, a head popped. Bald with its eyes looking at different directions, it was a disfigured human. Not only did it have an abnormally large distance between its eyes, its nose was like a small raisin near its lips and its teeth was larger. This made the missing spaces from their absence more conspicuous.

Their eyes made contact, both fraught with fear. It was the thing that broke its stupor and dropped down the sewer. Izo reacted late and had to gently lay down the manhole cover before cautiously looking inside the hole.

[ Caution! Detecting large amounts of radiation and toxic gases inside. User is advised not to leave the suit! ]

The warning matched the description beneath as sludge and decaying pieces of mystery whatever was what Izo saw.

The creature before seemed to have used the metal ladder to peek the streets then dropped down. Large footprints were left on the slime directly below the hole. Humanlike again except for the obvious larger size and spread-out feet.

‘I can’t fit through this hole without removing the Ural.’

Added with the fact that seconds of contact with the stinky air below would probably kill Izo, this weird encounter would just have to be shelved for now.

Izo ordered the Ural to mark this place in the map then continued forth. After continuing a bit more, the black shadow knights were replaced by the skeleton warriors. This meant that he was close to the safe house location that he saw before.

He turned the corner and found this weirdly placed location. It looked like the base of the less savory and shadowy inhabitants of this city. There was a half-brick then spiked fence wall that hid a garden filled with overgrown weed. With the whole place taking 20 meters of space in the city, it was definitely owned by a rich person.

‘Now that I see it again. This place is very spooky as well.’

Furthering this thought, every location in the city would be a good set for a horror movie. He’ll just have to bear with this place it seems.

Izo hopped over the gate then crossed the garden. There was a dried-up fountain in the center and when he passed that was the shop.

Not wishing to lose the resolve that he had found, Izo entered the shop’s interior. It was empty with a few illegible boards here and there, not enough to guess what was done here. There was a counter however to the right with a kitchen area beyond.

Wary of monsters or any other beast, Izo cleared the first floor then proceeded to the next up to the fourth. Other than multiple bedrooms and a library on the second floor, he found nothing special.

‘Seems like an inn?’

It’s tucked away location however made sure that he doubted that this place was simple. Adding to the pot was the four stories, meaning it warranted a certain number of customers, Izo felt something fishy.

For now, he chose the top floor with the best room. Not because of vanity but because if the building collapsed there would be less weight dropped on his face.

If Izo didn’t have the Ural, he would’ve had to clean dust off the whole room. The mattress and the sheets itself had that and some stains from the roof leaking it seems.

‘Should I move?’

Dirtying this new battle suit would be sacrilegious really so he took a bit of time and made the bed bare. He would rather sleep on a hard bed and this suit had padding anyway that made it feel very comfortable.

Izo removed the backpack as it spewed out hydraulic gases. Placing it within grabbing distance.

‘Uh, that closet.’

Out of paranoia, he also checked the inside of the closet and found unwearable clothes with a few gold and silver coins. He took them then moved the closet to the door as a barricade. Only then did Izo felt safe enough to sleep.

‘Now, I should rest my mind and let all the worries go.’

As he thought, he the building squeak as if an old woman moaning in pain.

*

‘This is horrible.’

Izo didn’t make it three hours before waking up each time. Every time, he would have the urge to check his surroundings but he was scared of opening his eyes and seeing something that he wouldn’t have otherwise.

Izo opened them of course and despite his fears there was no change in the room. He even checked out the window to see nothing.

This was when he noticed a peculiarity however. The moon hadn’t changed its position at all. Throughout the times he checked up to when he woke up well rested, it was stationary like a backdrop in a sky with sunrise nowhere in sight.

‘Moonlight is simply reflected sunlight. There should be a sun then. What’s with this place?’

Izo was currently eating the 3-week ration prepared in his suit’s backpack. The metal backpack lined with soft materials inside contained a multitude of things for explorer survival.

His thoughts were flying as he confirmed a saddening fact.

‘I don’t dream anymore.’

It didn’t matter if it was a nightmare, Izo enjoyed the freedom of his dreams. In there, life was different and exciting rather than his ordinary life. There weren’t any consequences and he could play god like a child with his imagination.

Now Izo was reminded of how he can’t use spirituality anymore. It also meant his road to power was gone. Well, not completely gone.

Izo had inserted a chip into the Ural earlier. Other than a physical copy in the bag, it contained what Jane and Sun Hee had written for him if he somehow wakes up okay. Even with the low chance of that happening, they worked hard to give him a chance to continue being an explorer.

[

Jane:

If you’re reading this Izo, that means you didn’t go insane, got possessed by a wandering demon or become stuck comatose. You have probably suffered the best consequence of demonic/psychic/dream type attacks. You lost your ability to mobilize your spirituality which means all modern spiritual arts would be unusable for you. Meaning, you'll die if you use them.

Now this would make your path as an explorer very difficult and uncharted territory. So, I would like to tell you that you can quit. If you still want to continue however then read on.

Not all creatures consciously use spirituality. Some species simply have organs for it.

I can only give you the tools but there will be no assured success with this untraveled path. Be strong, we’ll support you. ]

[ Gene Editor Platform Mk.1

Made as a last ditch weapon by the Samar Elves in the first Nexus war, it is a red spherical orb with concentric lines on its surface. It’s A.I. could analyze then modify the genes of all organisms replacing the need for a large facility.

This made it a feared weapon in the only time it was used, gaining the nickname “Bioweapon Nightmare”. Despite the Mark 1 in it name denoting possible future versions, only this prototype was ever found.

Rediscovered in 9802, it proved incredibly dangerous as it culled a planet’s population down to 20% before rescue arrived. It was lost once again. If found, call local authorities for ownership is punishable by law. ]