“Hey, Higure, mind filling me in about Dimensional Bridges from your own experience?” Rakna asked as he walked around the dimensional anomaly.

 

“Hm? Oh, right, your Cross Sight did ascend stage earlier,” the lioness exclaimed. “I guess you can see them even better now thanks to those new eyes. What does it look like to you? It should be a squirming mass of dimensional strands, right? Like strings.”

 

“Yes, it looks a bit like a messy cat’s cradle.”

 

“Cat’s cradle?” Higure tilted her head in confusion. “What’s that?”

 

“A puzzle game essentially. You wrap strings around your fingers and pull them apart to form a shape. It can go from simple things like a star to very complicated combinations of figures.”

 

“Uh, I see… It’s not too bad of a comparison, actually. What you see is called an Anchor Point. They are special anchors where dimensions get ‘stuck’ for the lack of a better word. Their locations are rather random and while sometimes, you can find several next to each other, at other times, you could search for hours and not find any. As for their use; by using your mana to untie the knots, the dimensions will slot themselves into a tunnel and open a Dimensional Bridge that is connected to a random, compatible Anchor Point. Depending on the size of the Anchor Point, the distance between the two exits of the bridge will be greater or lesser.”

 

“So, it’s like a portal basically,” Rakna summarized and reached for the Anchor Point. He counted each string with terrifying accuracy and hummed. “There are 86 strings here. How far would that go if I opened it?”

 

“86?!” Higure almost choked on air. “With that amount, it wouldn’t be surprising if it connected to a location that is light years away! I can’t believe that there’s one here… Is this your luck too? The largest Anchor Point I’ve ever opened in my life consisted of 28 strings…”

 

“Light years away, huh?” Rakna scowled. “Is the System that vast? Won’t I come out of this Plateau at some point?”

 

The lioness sighed at his indifference to the discovery. “No, you won’t… Take it this way; no Host or Local has ever seen the end of a Plateau for the entirety of the System’s existence. And not for the fault of trying. It’s as if it’s infinite.”

 

“Is that so…” He hummed and began to channel his mana into the Anchor Point. Immediately, the strings began to glow and squirm chaotically. “I see. The more there are, the harder it is to open a bridge. Large Anchor Points probably can’t be used for urgent escapes…”

 

“Correct. An Anchor Point of this size… it would honestly take me hours. Though…” Higure snorted in amusement. “It’s another story for you, isn’t it?”

 

Rakna smiled lightly. “You could say so,” he said and followed the instructions of Eye of Symphony that was basing its calculations on the immensely precise feedback of Crystal Sight. It only took him five minutes to completely solve the Anchor Point.

 

Right after, the strings scattered then reassembled to form an ellipse-shaped void. It began to blink in a steady rhythm and Rakna put his hand inside before waving downward as if he was trying to tear a veil apart. The ellipse widened in one go and revealed an unmoving gray vortex. It looked like a giant and uncanny eye.

 

“That’s what us Dusk Lions call a Gula. It means ‘throat’,” Higure explained. “It’s the entrance of the bridge. Whenever an Anchor Point is solved, it will turn into a Gula for about five to ten minutes before returning to its initial state. The duration can be lengthened by feeding it energy.”

 

“Can it carry people without dimensional resistance?” Rakna asked.

 

The lioness nodded. “Yep. A Gula is very stable. You can send as many objects or people through it for as long as it stays open. You can also make it bigger with a bit of effort.”

 

“Well, let me see what’s on the other side before it closes.” He put his hand through the Gula and instantly felt an atmospheric change. “So, it’s direct transposition, huh? As expected, it’s closer to a wormhole,” he commented and stepped back to inspect his hand. Once he was sure that there was nothing wrong with it, he deployed his wings. 

 

“Stay here, Higure,” he said and jumped right through.

 

The change was dizzyingly instantaneous and in the blink of an eye, he was freefalling above the layer of black clouds of the Swamp Plateau; within the stratosphere. Rakna had already predicted that outcome from the cold winds he had felt and calmly stabilized himself with a flap of his wings.

 

Crystal Sight promptly scanned his surroundings and in the next second, he extended his hand to the left and grabbed the head of a pterodactyl-like creature that was about to hit him. And without looking, he crushed it, already focused on a dozen more circling him like a band of vultures.

 

He conjured a plain sword with frost energy and exhaled. He recalled the sensation from earlier and a mantle of ethereal force swallowed the weapon. The aerial monsters screeched and veered in his direction as he infused his Drive into the Intent.

 

This time, he didn’t go for ‘Cut’ but a far simpler one. His cross pupils widened and he swung the sword only once. “Crush,” he uttered and all of them instantly had their heads bend, crushed from a frontal shock.

 

❮◈❯ Spiritual Intent Control has leveled up! ❮◈❯

 

“Well, that particular Drive seems to take less energy but it’s a bit too crude and inefficient,” Rakna remarked as the corpses fell through the clouds below. He then took note of a peculiar detail in the magic circuits in the area. “They’re converging…?” He muttered and looked in said direction. 

 

He stopped holding back the range of his sight and his view expanded to zoom in for thousands of kilometers. He quickly caught a glimpse of a large shadow and frowned when he made out what it was, “A… floating island?”

 

Ding!

 

❮ ◈ ❯

You have located a Hidden Dungeon! 

A Hidden Quest has been issued to you!

---

Title: Chintamani Lord

Description: Explore the island and uncover its secrets.

Objective: Defeat the World Raid Boss located at the heart of the Dungeon.

Rewards: Unknown

---

Assessing difficulty according to the Host's strength…

❮ ◈ ❯

 

Rakna blinked in surprise at the new type of notification. He tried to inspect the island from a distance but there seemed to be a magic array that impeded observation, even from him. He put more of his ki and mana into his eyes to peer through it but as if a warning, the air vibrated and a wave of aura erupted from the island. It swept past him in a matter of seconds despite the distance.

 

He paled considerably and ran out of breath. He, who should be able to find air to breathe even in the emptiest of voids, was feeling like he was being suffocated. Something was staring back at him; something far more powerful than anything he had ever encountered in his life. 

 

❮ ◈ ❯

Fear Resistance has broken through Exceled!

Fear Resistance has leveled up!

You are being subjected to intimidation! 

You have partially resisted as a Legendary Wolf Emperor!

Fear Resistance has leveled up!

❮ ◈ ❯

 

It felt significantly more terrifying than the time he encountered Aster in the labyrinth Ordeal. As Rakna was trying to regain control of his body, the System finished its evaluation and the result didn’t manage to make him feel one bit better.

 

❮ ◈ ❯

Quest Difficulty Rating: SS

Note: RUN, BIG BROTHER!

❮ ◈ ❯

 

As if on cue to the message, a roar resounded and Rakna lowered his head without even thinking about it. His instincts, for the first time in his life, were being hijacked by fear. The distant cries of the fear-stricken aerial monsters pierced his ears just as loudly.

 

Then, a second roar echoed and his mind suddenly blanked. Crystal Sight was disengaged and the last thing he saw before that happened was a flash of green light appearing above the island.

 

Then, he began to feel sluggish and he managed to recover his wits long enough to look at his own chest and see a gaping hole in the shape of a horned jewel where his heart should have been. 

 

His regeneration factor should have healed that injury in a matter of seconds but his body seemed to be under the influence of an inescapable restraint. His mind was gradually darkening; until a yell penetrated his mind.

 

[RUN!]

 

Ceresta’s voice woke him up and in the split of a second, his unconscious mind made a decision that could save him. His mechanical eye activated itself and rooted itself further into his brain.

 

[| Monger-Protocol. Temporarily Shutting Off Brain’s Amygdala. Detecting Conceptual Aura with Fear-Inducing Properties. Further Adjustments; Temporarily Destroying Part of the Brain. Halting Organic Regeneration for Five Seconds. 5, 4, 3… |]

 

The effects were immediate and emotions became an inexistent idea for Rakna. His consciousness returned to him and his expression became empty beyond understanding. Only one instruction was stuck in his head. Run. Within a second, he transformed into a werewolf, mobilized all of his mana to reinforce himself, and powered up his wings.

 

A sonic boom shook the air as he flew back into the Gula. He came out on the other side and used Artzpul to forcefully negate his momentum, causing a large indent in the wall and floor because of the shockwave.

 

“Rakna?!” Higure shouted in shock as she saw the hole in his chest and the pinkish blood staining his fur. He didn’t respond to her and emotionlessly turned toward the dimensional portal. His aura manifested with a tremendous drop in temperature and he triggered Rift Shuttle before making the Gula explode with an explosion of frost energy mixed with dimensional energy.

 

The portal promptly closed afterward and returned to its initial state of Anchor Point. Then, Rakna collapsed on the ground, reverting to a therian at the same time. He coughed out some blood, and his heart was rapidly patched up by the nanomachines.

 

[| Monger-Protocol Ending. Rebuilding Nerve Cells… |]

 

Rakna recovered his emotions along with his healing brain and rolled over to lie down on his back with a groan. It felt like he had just woken up from a year-long coma. He breathed in and out a few times before finally calming down. Then, a chime sounded.

 

❮ ◈ ❯

The difficulty of this quest far surpasses your power level. Recommended to forward it to be issued as a Guild Quest.

Note: Phew, I really thought you were a goner there, Big Brother. You’re seriously an idiot.

❮ ◈ ❯

 

“Fuck you too…” Rakna deadpanned at the system window and jadedly slammed the back of his head on the floor.