The walk gradually got better and easier as I got used to my body and my paces, especially as I got to the bottom of the hill and started moving right to the snow-like field. A grin spread on my face as I started enjoying the beauty of the creation around me and explorating a land never explored before. As the uncomfortable feeling of the needles starts to fade I start thinking back to what has happened so far as I haven’t had a chance to yet, when the thought of the entity appropriately named “Voice” comes back. I wonder who that was, or even what it was?

...Was that a god?

The thought stops my walk mid step as the things they said and what they wanted start coming back, do I even want to be like them, a god?

At least that's what I think when I think back to them, and by doing so what they wanted from me. An indescribable feeling of pride comes to mind when I think of being in their presence, the feeling of being wanted by your mother or father but on a much larger scale.

I will make them proud, wherever or whatever they are.

Taking in the surroundings again I start looking at the floor which comes up in my mind as a weird mix of volcanic rock, obsidian and something called tungsten. It looks smooth to the touch but strong, stupid strong. The thought is slightly comforting though as I at least know the floor won't come out from under me which gives me slightly more confidence.

Bending down to look at the floor closer I realise that the grey-black ground is covered with black flakes which would be like dust if it wasn’t 3 times bigger and stuck to the ground. I reach out with my hand to touch the ground but quickly realise that for some reason the flakes rush away from my hand like it dare not touch my bare skin. My eyes wander from the ground near my outstretched hand and to my… shoes? My grey-black shoes match the ground in colour but a good shade or two darker and more pronounced being both simple in design but surprisingly sturdy.

I take my right foot out of the shoe and do the same thing as with my untouched hand, noticing that again the flakes again rush away from my skin but rush back as soon as it goes a few centimeters away. Doing the same process a few more times I decide to get back on track and put my unblemished foot back in the shoe.

Taking a few steps I realise that the flakes don’t move away anymore and instead get trampled on making crunching sounds with every step.

The sound of crunching on the floor is soon grouped with another sound coming from the direction of the snow field. It is a bubbling like sound combined with a liquidy sound, the more concerning part is that I can’t see where it is coming from other than somewhere near the snow field. My walk over to the snow field is soon mixed with faint smoke and an orange-red glow coming from a crevice in the floor abruptly stopping my walk as I step onto a ledge looking over a slightly troubling view.

About 40 meters down is a river of what my mind is telling me is either lava or magma, one of the two, and is radiating what I now know as stupid amounts of heat. While I don't know why my mind is telling me it is a lot of heat and that I should be roasting, I am not affected as much as I apparently should be but the main issue is that it is not water and I should definitely not go into it. The second issue is that the crevice leads into the distance to floating diamond to my left and cuts into the hill to my right which is also longer than I thought, being focused on width and length more than height which stops abruptly when it reaches the crevice making the other side more flat covered in the snow like substance.

I sit down on the ledge starting to think of possible solutions to my new found problem, I first wonder if I can just jump the 10 meter gap but while I come to the conclusion that I would never make it, my body and instincts tell me it should be easy but not wanting to put faith into a feeling I start looking over my surroundings to see if anything here will help in my endeavour to reach the snow field which comes to rest on something interesting, "That could work" I think out loud. Staring at the floating diamonds in the distance I wonder that if the stupid rocks can float why can't I? Satisfied with my observation my lips curl into a grin before I get hit with the thought that it shouldn't be that easy, well I don't care, I refuse to lose to a floating rock.

My grin fades away as I start to think through how that rock is floating, with 2 main things coming to mind being mana and magic. Unable to decide which thought to follow first I decide to just do what my instinct tells me and close my eyes to focus on my body, when I start seeing something within myself. Mana is the first thing that jumps to mind but I am left confused as it is nothing else but the painful and horrible needle things going through my body, while I look closely at the needles going through my body I realise that it doesn't hurt or feel uncomfortable anymore, instead it feels warm, fuzzy and friendly, like what I thought when I was in the White Realm talking to the voice. Familiarity and nostalgia hit when I instantly feel a connection to the weird needles flowing through me and I open my eyes in shock, quickly closing my eyes again I focus back on the needles which are a lot smaller than I originally thought when I was in agony and are more like an energy than needles and appear to flow in a loop throughout my body and soul.

It is much more organised than before when I first came to this realm which explains the worm like digging it did at the start, but now I start thinking about why and what my instincts want me to do with this energy. I definitely don't want to touch the energy, not after the agony I went through.

Instead of touching it, I think about the link I created to it when I thought of the voice and the mana itself. I know the energy is waiting for me to do something as it is just flowing with nothing else really happening, my thoughts wander as I think back to the feeling of the light air I feel around me and notice that it is filled with this energy as well but... Less?

This sucks, but I am learning about this world so I am still happy though I still don't want to touch the mana either in or around me so I will come back to it later, back to the jump over it idea. I open my eyes and stare at the other side of the ravine and look for something I jump to but it is too far across but when I look further down there are indeed some ledges that I could probably reach if I got a running start and from there I can climb up and out.

Again, being satisfied I grin before looking towards the floating diamond in the distance. My grin turns into a frown as I make a promise, "You win this round stupid rock, but I will beat you sooner or later".

So with determination in my eyes, a grin on my face and a spring in my step I walk a distance away before I turn back and face the ledge where I will either fall into lava like an idiot or show the rock who's boss.

I start running towards the ledge, "here I come" I say with a grin.