Phantoms and Otherworldly Beings
Chapter 4
PHASING
“Alright, that’s all,” Henrietta declared as she stored the last of her supplies away in Higher Space, “Time to depart!”
Today, Henrietta is going off to her personal training ground to try some new Higher Space techniques she thought up during yesterday’s training.
“Here we go…! Let’s phase there, for starters.”
As part of her training, Henrietta would always phase to her training ground instead of just walking there. To do so, she would work her brain, spread her Higher Space body throughout the world, and locate the spot she wanted to phase to.
Then, all she needs to do is move…
“Holy shit!” a nearby adventurer screamed when Henrietta suddenly stepped in from thin air, next to a worn-out training dummy.
“Hmm? who’s there?” Henrietta asked, before taking notice of the nearby girl, “Whoa, didn’t expect someone else to find my personal training ground.”
The adventurer girl just stared absentmindedly at her.
“...Hello?”
“...Was...was that...Higher Space you just used!?” the girl suddenly blurted out, quickly crawling over to Henrietta and clutching her leg “Oh my gosh! I’m saved! Please, take me down from here!”
“What?...Oh yeah, this is a pretty high up place,” Henrietta remembered, “How did you climb up here in the first place and why?”
“Ha! Never underestimate my stamina!” the girl boasted, “Anyway, I climbed up here looking for treasure, but all I found was that shabby looking dummy, but when I tried to get down, I realized I was really high up and I’M TERRIFIED OF HEIGHTS!”
“Ah, I see.” Deep down, Henrietta was feeling mildly insulted that this girl would dare call her beloved training dummy ‘shabby’.
“Anyway! You can phase, right!?” the girl continued, looking up with a helpless, weary expression, “Please take me down. I’ll give you some of the treasure I collected before I climbed up here!”
“Okay, okay, I’ll help,” Henrietta assured, prying the desperate adventurer off her legs, “But brace yourself, okay? Higher Space isn’t a place a mere human can handle without complications.”
“That’s fine! Anything to get down, it’s been a whole week...my rations already ran out.”
“Wow, that sounds bad. Anyway, Don’t let go of my hand,” Henrietta instructed, keeping a firm grip on the adventure's hand, “Close your eyes, keep your mouth shut, and stay focused.”
“Eh?...Okay.”
After the adventurer covered her face with her free hand and did as she was told, Henrietta began spreading her Higher Space body downwards. She pinpointed a location for them to phase, making sure there was no danger nearby.
Then, pulling the adventurer close to her, she moved forward…
The distance moved felt much farther than it really is.
“Urp…!”
“Good thing you haven’t eaten in the last few hours...” Henrietta commented as her makeshift client was busy letting out the sudden nausea and dizziness she felt after phasing down from the personal training ground.
“I didn’t...think it’s be...so...” The adventurer couldn’t say more before she felt another wave rising up.
“Don’t talk yet, just recover,” Henrietta advised, patting the girl’s back to comfort her, “Take this water after you’re feeling better.”
The adventurer nodded in acknowledgment, and continued vomiting out the rest of her nausea. Eventually, she took several deep breaths, and was composed enough to accept the cup of water from her benefactor’s hands.
“Thanks...” she weakly expressed, then drank the water one sip at a time. “That felt...horrible. It’s like...a lot of...sensory...madness...all at once.”
“It really isn’t something a human brain is meant to comprehend,” Henrietta explained, “Since you only entered Higher Space for a mere instant, there shouldn’t be any lasting damage to your psyche.”
“I see...I didn’t realize...it was that...dangerous,” the adventurer commented in between breaths of air.
She took a moment of silence to take some deep breaths, and Henrietta just watched and allowed her to catch her breath.
“Okay...I’m better now,” the girl started again, holding out her hand, “Thanks for taking me down here. I’m Nadine, an aspiring treasure hunter. What’s your name?”
“Henrietta. Nice to meet you. You can find me hanging around here sometimes.”
The two shook hands.
“Anyway, as promised, I’ll give you a share of the treasure I collected yesterday...” Nadine declared, as she reached for her...”Oh shit, I left my backpack up there!”
“Ah, no problem.”
With those confident words, Henrietta phased an arm back up, and pulled the backpack down.
“Whoa, amazing! So this is how a Higher Space User works!” Nadine complimented, in awe of the casual phasing she just saw, “How do you make that look so easy?”
“Well, it’s really just moving between the observable universe and the spaces beyond...Once you understand that, it becomes a lot easier to use Higher Space in that way.”
“Really? Then...why are there so few who can use it?” Nadine wondered. “If it weren’t for people like you, we’d think that Higher Space is something only monsters can perceive.”
“It’s all in your head,” Henrietta explained, “The human brain is only built to perceive three spatial dimensions. To comprehend the spaces beyond (which we refer to as Higher Space), it’ll have to reconstruct itself to accept an all new dimension of information. Most people lose their minds long before that...”
“I see...So no matter how much you learn about it, it won’t matter if your brain can’t understand it...”
“That’s right. Only a few have successfully adapted their brains to Higher Space.”
“Higher Space is serious business,” Nadine remarked, while she rummaged through her backpack for the treasure she collected, “Anyway, here are the treasures I got. I’ll let you take 3 articles, so feel free to pick them!”
“Alrighty! Gimme time to choose...”
After choosing three articles of treasure from Nadine’s backpack, they waved each other goodbye, and went their separate ways. Henrietta also gave Nadine some food so the treasure hunter won’t starve before she makes it back.
By the time the sun fell, Henrietta recalled too late that she was going to try some Higher Space techniques. Ah well, that can be done tomorrow.
