Book 4, chapter 33

A drumming heartbeat filled her mind, echoing through the dark expanse. Zee's mind drifted above a fractured island amidst a dark void.

A towering black spire sprouted up from the middle of the largest island, piercing the fog that swirled above it. 

Over the past months, that fog had changed from a sickly yellow to a vibrant blue, reminiscent of the color of her spirit echo skill. 

It wasn't as ominous as the yellow Smaug, but it still looked like a swirling thunderstorm with occasional flashes of violet and silver.

The deep rolling thunder of a beating heartbeat echoed atop the tower, where a funnel cloud was formed. The sound drew her attention to the heart of the planar space perched atop the tower.

She had mixed feelings about the pulsating natural treasure. Feeding the heart energy kept the inner world from crumbling in on itself, but it also fed a malicious spirit. 

Kur Zul might be lying low in his tower for now, but she had no doubt he would try something nasty in the future.

Zee knew she was vulnerable while she was passed out, but the cage securing her inner world was also reinforced. It wasn't just Zee keeping the ghost in check, but Dern also. 

Granted, her mind was inside the inner world at the moment, so those protections wouldn't help much. If Kur Zul made a move right now, it would be a struggle for her to escape. 

Allowing her mind to enter the cage containing the inner world was a risk, but it was a risk she was willing to take. Allowing her mind inside the inner world was the only way she could get some peace and quiet. Even after passing out, her mind was assaulted by the constant bombardment of information forced upon her by her spatial ripple skill. 

Plus, she found the beating of the heart, and the raging azure thunderstorm above the tower rather hypnotic. 

It was beautiful, a welcome distraction from the aches and pains assaulting her body. Drawing in energy from the world river was tricky while inside her inner world, but she had a lot of practice. 

Her efforts could be seen in the swirling storm above the tower. It was a storm that had taken over half a year to grow. 

Watching the storm made her excited, filling her with the desire to make it grow. She wasn't sure what would happen if she kept growing the storm, but it felt like was a good thing. Back in the planar space, the heart had a storm that spanned an entire planar space, making hers look tiny in comparison.

She was hoping something good would happen if she filled the inner world with a raging tempest. But that could wait, she wasn't going to rush something this big.

Her mind drifted above the storm, as she rested from the day's tribulations. She was no stranger to pushing herself, but she had gone overboard.

Pushing herself until she passed out, wasn't healthy, and now she had to pay the cost.

On the bright side, now she had some time to tap into the world river and work away at her fifth inner gate. 

Her progress had been stagnant recently, and that needed to change.

With a mental tug, she drew her mind from the inner world sealing the prison behind her.

As always, her mind was suddenly assaulted with a barrage of sensations from her spatial ripple. Ignoring everything in and around the cave she was in, her mental gaze fell to her left knee, where the fifth gate was set.

Drawing in hot energy from the world river, she sent it to her fragment to be purified. The fragment pulsed, releasing a wave of pure energy through her body. Reaching out with her well of mental energy, she exerted her will. With a mental tug, she gathered most of the pure energy into the gate in her knee. 

The energy built and condensed in front of the gate, making it tremble. Even with so much energy gathered in one point of her body, the gate still held.

She wanted to simply brute force the gate with overwhelming amounts of energy but was wary of doing so.

If she messed up while using this much energy, her leg would explode. 

Pushing that lovely thought from her mind, she considered her other options. 

Most people would channel a stream of energy at the gate, wearing it down over weeks or even months. 

That was fine for people who wanted to be in the E grade for decades. Supplementing that with pills was an option, but that carried the risk of infecting her body with crushing amounts of pill toxins. Heavy pill toxins would be a pain to remove and would make her transition to D grade all the harder.

The last method, putting heavy requirements of mental will, was the fastest.

The method revolved around using very precise applications of her insights and energy control to pry open her inner gates.

Zee was confident in using her insights in battle, but using them inside her body was another story.

She had never practiced that kind of precise control and was wary of causing internal damage. Missing the gates could accidentally sever a blood vessel, or a limb, maybe even puncture an organ.

Still, she was willing to give it a very tentative shot. To start, she focused all of her attention on the gathered ball of energy in her knee.

She reached out with her mind and grasped a wispy strand of pure energy. The energy responded quickly, and a small strand separated from the mass, forming a long thin needle. 

With a mental thought, the needle shot forward, hitting the center of the inner gate and splashing harmlessly against it. 

Happy to see her test was successful, she moved on to the next phase. Zee drew another strand of energy from the gathered ball and formed another needle. This time, she very gently compressed the needle, and it slowly shrank. 

A cold sweat rolled down her back, but she maintained focus, compressing the needle until it was a very dense, and sharp strand of energy. 

The needle slowly started to tremble under her mental compression, vibrating unsteadily. Her control was slipping, and it would break apart any moment now.

With a mental flick of her wrist, the compressed needle shot forward, slamming into the inner gate. There was a sharp jolt of pain in her left knee, but it wasn't enough to color her mental smile.

The needle had punched right through the gate, and now, the ball of energy it was attached to had a route to pass through.

Like a flash flood, the energy forced its way through the hair-thin crack, widening it rapidly. 

In only a few minutes, the gate was opened. The flood of energy suffused the new channel only stopping once it reached the next gate further up her left thigh. It was a heady rush, her body tingling with a burst of power.

Excited at her success, she regathered another ball of energy and readied herself for the sixth gate. She formed her needle, and compressed it, taking her time. 

Once the needle was compressed to her limit she flicked it forward. 

The sharp stab of pain in her thigh filled her with excitement. Just like the fifth, the sixth gate was torn open after her compressed needle punched a small hole in it. The rush was intoxicating, urging her for more.

The seventh gate burst open next, and she quickly moved on to the eighth and then the ninth. 

Exhilarated, she pushed forward, uncaring of the growing pain as she pushed through one gate after another. In a haze of euphoria, she reached and opened the fourteenth gate. 

By now, it took over a dozen needles to open each gate, but she was too excited to care about the eye-watering pain. Gathering a half dozen needles at once, she infused them all with a spark of compression.

It was a huge drain on her mostly depleted well of mental energy, but she didn't want to stop while she had momentum. 

Having opened ten gates in succession, her body was positively vibrating with energy. 

"Zee that's enough," Dern shouted, in her mind.

"Just one more," Zee said excitedly. 

"Zee, get a hold of yourself, you're not thinking clearly," Dern said.

"It's fine Dern, just one more gate," Zee said.

"No Zee, you are going to hurt yourself," Dern shouted.

She ignored him. Everything was fine, just one more gate and she would stop. Dern swore in her mind, but she ignored it. 

Readying her gathered needles, Zee flicked them forward. 

Pain blossomed in her lower back as all six compressed needles slammed into the fifteenth gate at once. The gate trembled, but held, faint cracks forming on its surface.

Eager for the rush of opening another gate, she ignored the numbing pain in her lower spine. 

She reached towards her energy reserves to form more needles, but nothing came. A blinding pain that she could not ignore came crashing in, as a splitting headache assaulted her mind. 

She had run her Well of mental energy was completely dry. She had only a few seconds for the ramifications of that to sink in before she passed out again.

Zee awoke to the most vicious headache she had ever had. It felt as though an Aintar was using her head like a drum, hitting it repeatedly with a sledgehammer. 

She inhaled sharply, reaching up to massage her temples. 

"Oh, you are finally awake," Said a male voice from only a few feet away.

"Oouch, my head feels like it's going to explode," Zee said, blinking rapidly, her eyes refusing to focus. 

Her vision was bleary as she looked up to where Bastion was standing over her, his expression concerned.

"Are you alright," Bastion asked.

"Ouch, I went a little overboard," Zee said, with a pained exhale.

"A little? You were opening inner gates one after another. Zee, that is extremely dangerous," Bastion said, his tone lacking any of its usual amusement. 

Fighting back the urge to vomit, she pushed herself to a seated position. Her head throbbed, feeling like her brain might explode.

"No need to chastise me, I'm regretting my choices already," Zee said, squeezing her eyes shut and massaging her temples. 

She blinked several times, and Bastion leaned closer, staring into her eyes.

She flinched, as he reached up and touched her swollen cheek.

She flinched back the pain, only then noticing he was holding a washcloth covered in gel.

His fingers were warm and gentle, as he gingerly applied the ointment around her swollen right eye.

Bastion worked in silence, his disapproving gaze speaking louder than words. It was unlike him. She realized how he must be feeling after she passed out, not once, but twice.

The guilt tugging at her grew, as he tended to her injuries in silence. Finally, after a few minutes, she couldn't take it anymore.

"Sorry for worrying you," Zee said softly. 

Bastion didn't reply right away, reapplying ointment and fresh bandages to her tender ribs.

Finally, he let out a sigh. "Just be more careful in the future. If you keep this up, I'm going to die of worry," Bastion said looking away. 

The guilt tugged at her harder as she saw the genuine concern in his eyes. Zee knew she was being reckless by opening so many inner gates, but never once had she considered how her actions might affect Bastion.

Watching her pass out from energy starvation couldn't be helping either. He had always been so supportive, and she hadn't even considered his feelings on the matter. 

"I'm a terrible girlfriend aren't I," Zee asked, looking down at her hands. 

Bastion crouched in front of her and shook his head.

"I knew what I was signing up for when we started dating. I like the excitement, but I wish you would stop putting yourself in mortal danger so often," Bastion replied. 

Zee shook her head at his noncommittal reply. 

"I can't make any promises. With how messed up our lives are, I will probably cause you more stress like this within the week," Zee said.

Bastion smiled. "I always wanted an exciting life, but dating you is sometimes a little too exciting," Bastion said.

"Having second thoughts," Zee asked.

Bastion leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips.

Much to her disappointment, he pulled away after only a second and shook his head.

"No, dating you might cause me sleepless nights, but I wouldn't give you up for the world," Bastion said.

Zee cracked a smile at him. "I love you too," Zee said, glancing passed him, her eyes searching the mostly empty cave. "So, where is everyone else," Zee asked. 

Bastion put away his medical supplies and stood. "They went to scout the army a few hours ago," Bastion said. 

"What? They went without me," Zee asked, pushing unsteadily to her feet.

Bastion rolled his eyes.

"You have been out of it for at least twenty-four hours. We couldn't just sit by while the Aintar do something nasty," Bastion said. 

"How long until they return?" She asked, much of her headache fading by the moment as she moved around. 

Bastion shrugged.

"They should be back in a couple of hours. In the meantime, let's get some food in you, you look terrible," Bastion said.

"That's a great idea, what do you have to eat," Zee asked, her stomach growling at the idea of food.

"I have some dried lizard jerky," Bastion pulled a pouch of salted meat from his spatial storage. 

Zee blanched, her expression contorting in disgust.

"It's not that bad," Bastion said with a laugh. 

Walking passed him, she pulled a pack from her spatial storage and set it on the cave floor.

"You can eat that tasteless sawdust if you want, but I am going to make something edible," Zee said.

Bastion crouched down beside her, tossing the pouch of jerky haphazardly on the cave floor. 

"I guess we have a few hours. What do you want to make," Bastion asked. 

"I am dying for some noodle soup and fresh bread," Zee said.

"I will make the soup, if you set up the oven to bake the bread," Bastion said. 

With a flick of his wrist, Bastion pulled a pile of stuff from his spatial storage. 

There was a pile of red bricks, a cloth-wrapped bundle of dough and a clean cutting board. 

Without a preamble, he began rolling and folding the dough, adding flour from a small pouch. It took him under a minute to roll and fold a half dozen loaves, setting each in small round bread tins. 

Stepping passed him, she started piling bricks that Bastion just so happened to have in storage. 

 Forming a three-quarter circle with the bricks, she formed the foundation of the oven. Allowing the smoke to drift out of the cave would be a problem, so she set up a small array to catch it instead of a chimney.

While she set up the oven he made the pasta, cutting up chunks of meat into a pan.

After it was all set up, smoke was trickling out from the oven, disappearing into the array on the roof of the cave. 

A small fire burned inside, keeping the noodles and roasted meat warm on the top of the hot brick. Extra bread baked in their small tins, turning a golden brown.

Bastion let out a contented sigh, leaning back next to her against the cave wall.

"That hits the spot," Bastion said.

"Ya, that was much better than jerky," She said, leaning her head on his shoulder. 

He smiled, draping an arm over her shoulders. While they relaxed, Zee couldn't help but check her status.

(Zee Viotti

Race, human, common.

Fragment, Formation stage.

Class, Spirit sorceress, Early E rank, twenty-five percent bonus to your foundation. This class's rarity is dependent on your spirit companion.

Spirit companion, Early E rank, Rarity, Transcendent.

Fragment, plus sixty-five percent potency.

Body, plus seventy-five percent potency.

Spirt, E grade, ten percent efficiency, plus sixty-five percent potency.

Mind, plus seventy percent potency.

Soul, plus sixty-five percent potency.

Skills, plus fifty-five percent potency.

(Proficiency increased, Spirit Echo, early E grade, has reached ninety-five percent mastery.

Proficiency increased, Summoner, early E, has reached ninety-four percent mastery.

Proficiency increased, Wayward Walk, early E, has reached Eighty-nine percent mastery.

Proficiency increased, Spatial Ripple, early E, has reached one hundred percent mastery.

Proficiency increase, Reality Slash, Early E, has reached ninety-one percent mastery.

Spark of compression.

Spark of Ebb and Flow.

(Boons.

The bloody hunt. Born on the Zenith of the blood moon eclipse. Your heart burns with a thirst for battle and carnage.

Boon of the spirit. Form a temporary or permanent contract with a spirit companion.

Boon of the Blood Drunk Gorger. Kill over ten thousand beings in a single attack while in the F ranks. Beings of your rank and lower now have an instinctual distrust of you. You have received plus ten percent increase in energy to your splinter, body, mind, spirit, and soul.

Boon of despair. Reap the lives of over ten thousand sentient beings of the same species. For performing a special act, you receive an increase of ten percent in power to your splinter, body, mind, soul, and skills. The Allevark now has an instinctual distrust of you.]

The heart of flame. A hidden channel has been forced open in your heart. An unquenchable flame burns to the beating rhythm of your heart. 

Gant slayer. Kill an enemy a full rank above yourself. Splinter, Body, mind, spirit, soul, and skills, plus twenty percent potency.

Burning wrath.

Dimensional thief, Trap a world seed inside your body, creating a pocket of reality inside yourself.

Bloodline Talent, Heart of Fire, E grade.)

Zee read over her status, taking her time to examine it. As always, the status wasn't helpful with everything, but it gave a decent overview.

The status didn't reveal any information on her inner world, which would have been incredibly helpful. On the other hand, it displayed her progress towards her next rank up.

And judging by how close all of her skills were to one hundred percent, she was getting pretty close. She was excited at the prospect of choosing a new skill. 

More immediately exciting was the huge gain from opening so many inner gates. With each breath she could feel the effect she had on the world river, making it dance around her.

Opening ten inner gates all at once was no joke. Her energy pool had grown by leaps and bounds, much deeper and denser than before. With fourteen of her inner gates opened, her energy flowed through her body much more easily, guided through the new channels. 

She couldn't wait to see how it would affect her skills. Content to just relax for a while, she made idle small talk with Bastion until the team returned from scouting.

They returned a few hours later, their expressions troubled as they entered the boundary of the arrays. Malden, Yukna, Allison, and Greg each went directly to get some food from the pot atop the brick oven. 

"What's the news," Zee asked, once they all scooped a bowl of steaming noodles.

Allison dunked a round loaf of bread in her soup, and took a bite, chewing thoughtfully. 

"About half of the army is gone. They have already passed through the dimensional rift," Allison said, unhappily. 

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Zee said. 

Allison raised an eyebrow.

"Because it is a bad thing. From what we have learned, that army is most likely going to sack Tartana and other worlds in the Kelvish dominion," Allison said.

Zee pushed to her feet, stretching her back.

"What are we going to do to stop them," Zee asked.

"Stop them? Did you see that army, it was massive," Allison replied. 

"You want us to do nothing," Zee asked.

Allison shook her head.

"No, I didn't say that. I am merely suggesting we proceed with caution. Whatever we do, we can't afford to attract too much attention from the people in charge of that force," Allison said.

"Well, let's at least do some more scouting, we might get an opportunity to cause them problems," Zee said.

Allison gestured at Zee with her half-eaten loaf of bread, "We can do some more scouting from a healthy distance. But do not forget, it's just scouting. We are going to lie low, and not cause trouble until your grandpa arrives to pick us up. You have caused to much trouble here. We can't risk the purgatory church sending more people to get that keystone," Allison said.

Much of Zee's enthuisiasm fled. "But that sounds so boring. I just opened ten of my inner gates, I want to fight some people," Zee replied.

Allison shook her head, "No, we are playing it safe. You will not go running off and cause us more trouble," Allison said.

Zee glanced around at the others, who nodded in affirmation. It appeared she was outnumbered, and outvoted. 

"Alright, fine, I won't cause trouble," Zee grumbled. She pulled out the Keystone Allison mentioned earlier. "Hey, Yukna, want to help me figure out how this works," Zee asked.

Yukna, still looking worse for wear, perked up upon seeing the metallic cylinder covered in hundreds of small etchings.

Allison ran a hand down her face, muttering something profane under her breath.

Book 5, chapter 5, has full status.