Chương 132: 199 - Insulate

Not much of note happened in the mithril-rank qualifiers, beyond that Saffra unfortunately couldn't keep up—and nobody had expected her to. It had taken a fair amount of luck in her matchups for a low gold to reach the bracket to start with. Going further would've been ridiculous. Extra-powerful armor and a novel spell only went so far. The inevitable result didn't appear to put Saffra in too bad of a mood, though she certainly sulked around for a while afterward despite Vivi's attempts to cheer her up.

Even Suyin got what seemed like a real fight: a shapeshifting druid who was either Titled or closing in on that rank. It'd been a fun match to watch, and not just because Vivi had gotten to see Suyin stretch her muscles. Druidism was one of those specialty magics that didn't work like the more traditional branches—though it wasn't nearly as unique as divine magic. It required claiming and mixing in vital energies from the world around the caster.

Doable, but not as intuitive to Vivi as standard mana-based approaches. When the day's events had wrapped up and Vivi brought Saffra back to the Vexaria manor, there was a moment of awkward pause, the two of them facing each other as Vivi searched for the right words.

"So…" Saffra said first.

"You're gonna go and do that thing now, right?"

'That thing' being, of course, the exploratory trip through the dimensional portal hanging above Prismarche. She had been planning on pursuing the lead for a while now.

"It does need to be checked on," Vivi said.

"I have to see if anything strange is happening in there." The only reason she hadn't already was because she had wanted to speak with Cinereus first. Learn more about the Selrath-Kyn, and preferably crack void energy. Both of those criteria had been met. Combined with how there would be a short break before the final stages of the qualifiers, she really ought to act now rather than later. As uncomfortable as leaving the world undefended for the briefest amount of time was, she couldn't ignore the void.

She'd talked it out with Rafael; he had agreed.

"Right." Saffra chewed on her lip, not meeting Vivi's eyes.

"And it's… going to be safe?" Vivi paused. Even she could pick up on the girl's unease. Vivi's last trip into the void had been hard on her apprentice, and while this one should be much less dangerous—and Isabella wouldn't be at risk either—it would be odd if Saffra didn't find the prospect distressing. Her teacher would be vanishing into some foreign realm filled with unknown powers and monsters.

"I can't say for certain what's going to happen in there, but I'm definitely not as worried as the first time," Vivi assured her. She realized a second later that the words might not be as confident as a thirteen-year-old girl wanted to hear.

"I'm not afraid at all in the way you might be thinking," she said more firmly.

"I think you're getting the wrong idea since I'm making a big deal of warning you. What I'm concerned about is the time distortion. And maybe that the trip takes longer than we would think. I'm not concerned that I'll"—she tactfully swerved away from the word 'die'—"get hurt in there."

"Oh." Apparently Saffra had been interpreting Vivi in that way, because she relaxed.

"Well… make sure you're careful. Keep your guard up." A hint of a smile twitched onto Vivi's lips.

"I plan to. I might be back within the hour, by the way, I just don't want to get your hopes up. The time warping is a big unknown." It also seemed like a guarantee that venturing into the void would come with a diversion of some sort. If so, hopefully not one that lasted too long, but she knew better than to be an optimist. No matter what, she didn't plan on launching a full investigation; she wanted to take a look around and make sure nothing too obviously insane was happening on the other side of the boundary.

The Fell Apostate would be as slippery as always, so nothing had changed in regard to the feasibility of tracking him down. She was predominantly doing this as a 'sanity check,' in case there was an army of voidgods staging an assault right outside. Saffra nodded, and although her tail still swished around in mild agitation, she was meeting Vivi's eyes again.

"Okay. Good luck, then, Lady Vivi."

"I'll be back as soon as I can." Seeing the girl stand there, anxious but trying not to look like it, Vivi was once again hit by the impulse to reach out and rub between two cat ears. Hadn't Vivi done exactly that, the first time she'd quested into the void? Those had been different circumstances, though. She'd had no clue what she was getting into back then. The stakes weren't nearly as high this time around. Should I do it anyway? I might be gone for a bit. Vivi knew she was overthinking the situation.

She mentally sighed. I really am hopeless when it comes to this sort of thing. Since it would be extra awkward to reach out after several seconds of obvious hesitation, Vivi cast [Blink] and headed for Vanguard. Materializing inside the common room, she scanned for the person who should be waiting for her. Ember might have some eccentricities, but she was certainly responsible—the draconic princess rose and strode over as soon as Vivi arrived.

"It's time?" If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"It is. Sorry for bothering you with this, especially since I can't say for sure how long it'll take." Embralyne leaned back with a look of genuine affront, which maybe Vivi should've expected.

"I can't imagine what you're apologizing for, Sorceress. As intriguing as a mortal tournament might be, I was sent to repay the debt my family owes you. It is both my privilege and duty to assist here." She flipped her hair over her shoulder, seeming aggrieved at having to spell that out.

"Even still, thank you," Vivi said, amused like usual. She stuck an open palm out, and after Ember accepted, she dragged the two of them across the continent to Prismarche.

"Here," Vivi said, pulling a heap of scrolls out of her inventory and handing them to Ember one by one.

"I plan on sealing the breach behind me, but in the event it fails, these are your backups." The [Void Barriers] inscribed onto a few of the parchments weren't nearly as strong as the ones she could produce herself, since not even a maxed-out enchanting rank allowed a mage to create scrolls that were equal to their own strength. But a weaker version would more than suffice.

The breach above Prismarche represented a major headache simply because it was a permanent pathway between the real world and the void, but the entry point was too small to allow [Greater Voidbeasts] to squeeze through. Ember had already defended the city against the rift's unimpeded flow once, and that'd been while she was injured from her clash with the Fell Apostate. Truthfully, almost anyone could have carried out this mission, even the Guard Captain.

If Vivi's barrier fell, someone needed to be ready to throw up another shield using her scrolls—if it came to a real fight, something had gone horribly wrong. A draconic princess shouldn't need to be the one standing watch. Even so, Vivi didn't feel comfortable leaving Prismarche without a powerful defender. Maybe it was paranoia, or maybe it was an appropriate amount of caution given all the misfortune that had befallen the remote northern city.

"And some potions too, just in case," Vivi said, handing a few vials and flasks over.

"And… here, take this artifact as well." Okay, yes, it's paranoia at this point. Ember accepted the items with a serious expression, inspecting each briefly before tucking them away.

"I think I'm going to feel silly if I'm gone for all of five minutes now," Vivi said.

"Do you think that's likely?"

"It really might be that easy, yes. The flow of time didn't line up during my last trip, but it could be that one hour is three only while inside that realm. Or perhaps it's the passage through that warps things." She'd lost her senses the first time she'd dived in, so she had no idea.

"Or maybe time fluctuates in both ways; maybe I'll be in there for hours and come back minutes later." Ember tilted her head.

"Time dilation would be an advantageous resource."

"If it's predictable or otherwise exploitable." She didn't have the highest hopes for that, and it wasn't her number-one priority for research at the moment.

"Okay, I'm going to go now."

"Best of luck, Sorceress." Apprehensive, Vivi flew up and laid eyes on the portal into the other world—or more accurately, that half-world, or crossroads, or liminal space. Whatever it was. She'd made a lot of progress in learning how to manipulate void energy, but when it came to the void itself, she hadn't gained any new information. She began casting. One of the bigger tests for today would be seeing whether her new spells could make the crossing tolerable.

Ideally, she'd like to hop in and out of the void as she pleased, but that would only be possible if the passage didn't send her senses into disarray. Closing her eyes and blocking her perception helped, but not nearly to the standard she would prefer. Especially since rapid travel probably compounded the disorientation like casting [Blink] back-to-back did. She wanted to be able to bring along others too—Lysander primarily, to help his research.

That would be her next task, assuming she could confirm that her recent developments made the journey safe, and that nothing untoward was happening on the other side. The barrier she'd developed integrated void energies into its defenses, which was the most promising addition for her current goal. What else would better insulate a trip through the dimensional boundary than energy taken from monsters who were born to make such voyages? Untested magic is untested magic, though.

Keep your eyes closed for this first one, Vivi. Though she wasn't scared of diving into the portal, she lingered for a moment at the entrance, despite having layered the necessary spells on herself. No more preparations to make. Here we go. Vivi dropped the [Void Barrier], slipped into the narrow threshold, and cast another to block her in. Nose almost touching the grotesque, otherworldly incision, she stared into those disquieting multi-colored depths for one final second.

Then she took a breath, closed her eyes, and floated forward. For the third instance in her life… or maybe fourth, since she still didn't know how she'd left behind Earth to start with… Vivi fell between worlds. The first time, she'd been dumb and curious and had watched with eyes wide open as the cosmos smeared around her. The experience had left her insensate, which she was more than ashamed of, given that she could've predicted the danger and had been heading into the unknown to save Isabella.

The second time, she'd been wise enough to cut herself off, since she'd been traveling to Prismarche and had known she needed to defend it. This time, she didn't have any strict and urgent responsibilities. There was nobody to save; only she herself was at risk, and it wouldn't kill her, just leave her dizzy. Plus, she'd put on a handful of levels and had a better mental framework to understand these new concepts by. It might not be as jarring as before. Maybe just a peek? The insulation is working well.

It's not a tenth as bad. Weird, but tolerable. That totally means I can open my eyes, right? It's a real argument. One thing held her back, truthfully. While she might not be a tactical or strategic genius, she wasn't an idiot either. The Fell Apostate had ripped open this portal, and it linked to a static point in space on the other side.

Vivi had underestimated that man once and had decided not to again—studying the ritual inscribed into the bone shards of the Colossus had only doubled and then tripled that resolve. The ancient member of the Selrath-Kyn might not hold the personal, instantly claimable power that the Dragon King or she possessed, but Cinereus himself had said that the organization was responsible for most of the Cataclysms' creations. It would be outright hubris not to face them with some caution.

So she kept her eyes squeezed tight the whole way through, making sure she arrived in the best condition possible. Her wisdom paid off at once. As she slammed into existence over the washed-out gray of the void-realm's version of Prismarche, she discovered that—exactly as expected—the Fell Apostate had left her a welcoming gift. Yes, the exit point had been trapped.