Chapter 358
CHAPTER 358
TO TAME TIME
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There was neither a beginning nor an end to it, not even a complete edge to be found binding two objects together . All around s.p.a.ce wrung itself around a rotating axis in spinning half-circles, overlapping in a strange fas.h.i.+on; at points where it ought to cross and collide, it instead phased right through and went onward . Waves of thin threads spun around like spider webs, bounding around the squirming s.p.a.ce .
Within boundless cast of matter and energy, surrounded by writhing realities, Lino floated freely, stroking his chin . He"d arrived here just a moment ago, yet he had a hard time pinpointing exactly where he was . After all, just a few seconds ago he was still staying within the City of G.o.ds, reading through an a.s.sortment of books depicting their findings when he sensed a ma.s.sive spike in time dilation . Right after he ripped open s.p.a.ce in front of him and dove straight through into the heart of the anomaly -- winding up here .
As to where that "here" was, it was difficult to say; even Chaos Qi was unable to pierce through to the other side, while his Will was entirely restricted to merely his skin and not even an inch further . He easily spotted the anomaly, however; while everything around him seemed to be entirely chaotic and random, that was hardly the case . s.p.a.ce, and all it was made up, did indeed worm around in strange ways, but it always did so clockwise . Among the sea of exact behavioral replicas, however, was one that stood out -- a small ball, the size of his fingernail, distorting and ripping along its trajectory, all the while rotating counterclockwise .
This rotation caused a direct clash with its surroundings, creating a domino-like effect on the rest, creating a time dilation . Around the small ball, within a radius that was several meters large, time was twice as slow as where Lino stood . This effect rippled out for hundreds of miles as far as Lino could tell, though to a much lesser extent where barely anyone could spot it, and even then only if they were specifically looking for it .
Despite the rather large distortion at the center, there was no grand-scale effects on the world at large . Yet, nonetheless, this reality was worrying . This was merely one dilation that Lino happened to spot and quickly react to . How many more have pa.s.sed him by without him ever noticing? Hundreds? Thousands? He couldn"t even begin to count .
He whipped out a talisman from his bag and lit it up . A small parchment of paper burned out in crimson glory, its s.h.i.+mmering light vanis.h.i.+ng into thin bits of ash and smoke . Lino waited for a few minutes before he was joined by another figure . Amadeel appeared right by his side, quickly glancing around, frowning .
" . . . when did you discover it?" he asked .
"A few minutes ago," Lino replied . "Purely by accident . "
" . . . I"ve seen this one before . "
"You have?"
"Hm," Amadeel nodded . "About two hundred thousand years ago, if I recall correctly . Back then, however, dilation was merely a few seconds, and it only affect at most a meter around the ball . "
"External feeding or internal feedback loop?" Lino mumbled .
"Can"t tell," Amadeel sighed, floating over toward the ball yet daring not come too close, let alone touch it . "Can you inspect the ball?"
"No," Lino shook his head . "All I get are big-a.s.s question marks . I can"t even discern the material it was made out of . "
"It"s coated in the shedding remnants of time," Amadeel said . "Insides are probably made entirely out of iron as it"s the most stable . "
"Where are we?" Lino asked .
"Somewhere above the Cold Expanse," Amadeel replied . "Why?"
"Where was this dilation the last time you saw it?"
"Edge of the World . " Amadeel said . "We can"t trace its trajectory without the third point, and we can"t stay here much longer to follow it . "
" . . . I may have come up with a way to do something . . . though, just a fair warning, it"s a bit insane . "
"An Empyrean saying something is insane? Huh, I"m half-curious and half-terrified . What did you have in mind?" his silver eyes flashed briefly as he glanced at Lino .
"Two things -- I may be able to fas.h.i.+on an item that can withstand the erosion of time long enough for us to trace the ball"s trajectory," Lino said . "Or, create an item that would allow us to rip the ball out of the Timeline entirely . "
" . . . yeah, you said it was a bit insane . I should have trusted you . " Amadeel said, taking a deep breath . "You do know the risks of something like that, don"t you?"
"Yeah, if we f.u.c.k up, we die," Lino shrugged . "But, is it any different than my everyday life? Besides, I may not be confident in fighting with whoever is creating the dilation, but by G.o.d when it comes to crafting, no one can outwit me . "
" . . . this doesn"t seem to be a spur-of-the-moment idea . " Amadeel commented as he spotted confidence in Lino"s eyes . "What brought it on?"
"I"m currently visiting G.o.ds," Lino replied . "And they"ve really managed to open my eyes . "
" . . . you"ve learned of Earth?"
"You know about it?" Lino glanced at him, exclaiming softly .
" . . . I may be an old, unsuspecting man that you"re taking for granted, but I am the Chronomancer, Lino . Save for perhaps the Founding Members of the Descent, Gaia and Ataxia, I may be the most knowledgeable soul in the world . "
" . . . huh, is that so?" Lino chuckled faintly, suddenly taking out a chunk of a strange, metal-like material flattened into a plane, dyed in odd black . "You know what this is?"
" . . . . . "
"G.o.d, I love these moments, ha ha ha ha . . . "
" . . . w-what is it?" Amadeel asked awkwardly, scratching his nose .
"It"s a prototype material," Lino said . "I"ve read about it one of the books . It was the most resilient material know to humans on Earth -- graphene . The original design, however, wouldn"t have been able to endure time-erosion for a prolonged period, but after tinkering with it for a bit, I may have just made it possible . I"ve embedded a tracking-talisman into the core," Lino said, letting go of the small plane as it began floating along the current of time . "It"s a temporary solution as the talisman only has enough energy to transmit its location for about six months, but if the material remains largely intact after six months . . . it should prove capable of doing either of my ideas . "
" . . . for an Empyrean, you certainly like reading a lot . " Amadeel said, his gaze following the floating object that began disappearing . "Though I perhaps know more, you seem to know what is needed in an exact moment . I wasn"t wrong to seek your help . "
"How are things in the fortress?" Lino asked .
"Relatively calm," Amadeel replied . "Now that you"ve picked up all the overshadowing talents, we"ve got a lot of hard-workers trying to prove themselves . "
"We? Oh my," Lino grinned . "Looks like I managed to steal you after all . "
"Or I might be playing you . Who knows?"
"Does the fortress lack anything?"
"Not yet," Amadeel said . "But, despite his lack of complaints, Master Eggor is overworked . And we lack any form of actual defenses past the Sword Maiden . "
" . . . Eggor will stop when he needs to stop, don"t worry about him . " Lino said . "As far as the defenses go . . . quite frankly, I don"t think we need anything more than Ella . But, we"ve held back on showing her off so far, so we may as well continue . I"ll figure something out . Would a Prime do?"
"Ha ha ha, well certainly . A Prime is a great deterrent, but where can you possibly find one?" Amadeel asked .
"I"ve one in my pocket . " Lino replied .
"Of course you do . "
"I"ll see if I can make a quick trip to the fortress once I return to the smithy," Lino said . "Right, can you tell me anything about the Void Cult?"
"Secretive, cunning, low-brow . . . my conjecture is that they"re trying to set themselves up as a contender to the Descent . " Amadeel said .
"Are they?"
"Good G.o.d no," he chuckled, glancing at Lino . "Most of the current generations don"t even have a whiff of a clue as to just how strong the Descent is . Their fears come from stories and tales, with newer generations believing fewer and fewer of them . It should tell you something, however, that the last time Descent showed a sliver of its actual strength was over a billion years ago . . . yet that dread still lives on . "
"Are they a threat?" Lino asked . "Void Cult, I mean . Apparently they were behind that fire in Celeste . "
" . . . a threat? Hardly . Mostly a nuisance . If you"d like, I could bring you some of their members that I"m familiar with . "
"No, no need," Lino shook his head, sighing . "You just focus on locating anomalies and trying to trace them . By my estimates, if I could know the position of at least twenty-two of them, I should be able to locate crossing points they all share . It won"t give us a location of source or anything, but it will narrow it down . "
" . . . it seems we have at least one thing in common . " Amadeel said, turning around and slowly vanis.h.i.+ng .
"Yeah? What"s that . "
"We both act the role of clowns in the world of the sages . " Amadeel smiled as Lino grinned back at him, shaking his head helplessly . I used to b.i.t.c.h and moan whenever those old b.a.s.t.a.r.ds gave me cryptic answers, he mused inwardly, glancing at the vanis.h.i.+ng ball and the object he threw out one last time before disappearing . Yet, now I"m the same . Ah, the cycle continues . . .