abnabooks Chapter 167: Spatial Pike
Chapter 167: Spatial Pike
[Earth Movement]
Zyrus burrowed into the dune at the same instant he teleported back. Catching anyone’s attention was the last thing he needed since he was unsure of what had occurred during this time.
Zyrus went deeper and deeper until he reached the boundary of the dungeon. The best way to clear this mission was by destroying all of the dungeon’s plains at the same time.
But it was easier said than done. Before anything, he lacked a means of surveillance to cover the entire plains of Ilios at the same time.
‘I’ll use my summons as eyes and ears, while the ghouls will be the main attacking force,’
The abyssal warriors and drakes were too eye-catching. For this task needed the ophidian warriors who had more lizard-like characteristics.
This also aligned with his other goal - connecting Earth with this dimension. He pulled out a pike shining with starlight from his parchment. It was thin like a bamboo and as tall as him. At the same time, instructions on how to use the spatial pike also appeared in his mind.
‘I can’t understand its principles with my current knowledge, but I have an inkling as to how it’d work.’
[Summon]
40 ophidian warriors appeared around him and were almost suffocated to death. He protected them with his mana and summoned 40 ghouls from the parchment.
He created a dome of 100 meters radius with his mana and inserted the spatial pike in the middle of it. His mana was nowhere near enough to sustain this for long, so he had to succeed on the first try.
There were two requirements to activate the spatial pike. First, objects or living beings of two dimensions were needed to establish a connection. Second, an energy source and a medium that connected these two.
The activation of the pike itself was simple. Just stabbing the pike into the energy source would connect the two dimensions.
Both the ghouls and the ophidian warriors were without much intelligence. They were unlike the abyssal warriors or the first ghoul he created. But this was what made them special.
‘They’re like a blank canvas of life…’
Zyrus had learned more about his summons after his last encounter with Oroszlan. The reason why the summons were undying was closely tied to their undeveloped sentience. Elemental spirits born in nature, undead, puppets, golems…all of these had varying degrees of will. A summoner called upon their will while projecting their physical form.
Unless they were attacked with something that destroyed their will, the summons would remain pseudo-immortals. But this was also what limited their development.
Oroszlan had taught him how to nurture his summons' wills so that they could advance even without his class’s skills.
“Sit in a circular formation,” Zyrus assembled the ophidian warriors and ghouls in a wheel-like formation. He stood at the center and used the pike as an axle. The only thing he lacked right now was an energy source.
‘But before that, something that’d help them survive is needed.’
[Summon]
He once again summoned 100 drakes and 200 Abyssal warriors. This was the most he could do at the moment.
“Form a guard around them and blast the dome from all sides. Remember to not leave behind any empty spot.”
*Grrrroooar*
The drakes didn’t know why he was telling them to attack the dome while he was protecting the ones within. Nonetheless, they obeyed his order and attacked the dome with their full-powered breath attacks.
*Crrrrack*
*Kkrackele*
Two scraping sounds reverberated one after another. The first was from the barrier breaking apart, and the second came from the crystallized sand.
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The dome made from mana was replaced by one made from glass. Zyrus had used his mana right on time to shield the ghouls and ophidian warriors; otherwise, they would’ve melted under the high temperature as well.
“Spread your mana into the surroundings.”
The 200 ophidian warriors spread out to the edges and placed their palms on the ground. Inky black mana flowed through their bodies and seeped into the nearby sand.
Zyrus didn’t have an energy source in hand, so he had to do the job himself. He stood beside the spatial pike and channeled the nearby abyssal mana into it.
*Wizzzzzzzz*
Starry radiance embraced the ghouls, ophidian warriors, and Zyrus. It was a miraculous state where they saw the two dimensions making contact through the pike.
Of course, no one except Zyrus understood what was happening. This was an unexpected surprise even for him. With the combination of heavenly eyes and his eyes of annihilation, he saw more than just two dimensions.
‘With this, I’ll be able to finish the fourth curse of void.’
His eyes gleamed in excitement as he oversaw the changes taking place on the pike. The laws and concepts were no longer as intangible in his eyes. In a way, this moment was akin to witnessing the world unravel itself. It was a great opportunity for him who was on the cusp of creating his own physical cultivation technique.
Zyrus knew that this would be a long and arduous journey. The plains of Ilios were separated into more than a dozen deserts, and this wasn’t a mere difference of distance. The ghouls couldn’t move around the dungeon like him, and it was impossible to collect them into a parchment as well unless he was returning to the Streit bastion. Thus, how would they conquer and destroy the entire dungeon?
The only thing Zyrus could rely on was the altar of order. Killing the scorpions and sandworms, using them with ghoul reanimation, finding out the unknown entity within the desert… he had to do all this while not causing too much of a commotion. Afterall, he couldn’t rule out the possibility of enemies existing outside the dungeon as well.
‘Well, I have all the time I need…’
Zyrus closed his eyes and focused on the sensation of his soul. It was a technique that would progress based on observed things, and coincidentally, that was what he needed to do the most.
…
3 Years later, at the same location.
Everything looked the same except for the spatial pike which had become a tiny fissure in space. In the past thousand-plus days Zyrus had observed the changes that led to this outcome, and thanks to that he had created the system which now combined the martial arts and mana spells. And this was just the basic manifestation of his total gains. The number of theories he had created were too many to count.
This was a tremendous task he had completed without even causing the dungeon break. Every minute change in the space was detected by his perception. Space, Void, Dimensions…despite being different they had many common points.
But unlike the three curses he had created before which were the final version, this one was just the first step. There was a long road ahead to reach the pinnacle of body refinement.
‘Not to mention I’m close to fundamentally changing my magic as well.’
These thoughts weren’t to be taken lightly, not when they were coming from the man who once stood at the peak of arcana.
“My liege, all squadrons are in place,” Elsid spoke in a solemn voice.
“Great. Just wait a while longer,” Zyrus stretched his sore muscles and exited the dome of glass, for the first time in three years. His skills weren’t the only thing he had worked on during this time.
Sending ophidian warriors to scout different deserts of the dungeon, killing the monsters to raise more ghouls, and creating temporary hideouts in all core locations. All of this had been done under the leadership of Elsid and Zirnitra. The first ghoul he had created was also learning from its seniors and was now close to attaining sentience.
Zyrus took a deep breath and opened the map. 500 green dots were scattered around the dungeons, and each dot represented a squad of 100 ghouls.
Raising that many ghouls was the most difficult task. The sandworms and scorpions had a high reproductive rate due to them living off of mana, and their constant fights also left behind many corpses. It wasn’t difficult to use ghoul reanimation on them, but the issue was that Zyrus couldn’t move from this place. Still, all had worked out in the end with the supplies from Streit bastion.
“How much pure mana is left in the dungeon?”
“Less than 40%.” Elsid gave a concise answer. After the genocidal activities of the group it was a miracle that the dungeon still had almost half of its mana reserves.
“I see…I’ll handle the rest. Keep these, and collect the corpses before going back to earth,” Zyrus gave Elsid the storage bags and made his way to the surface. The entire dungeon was on the verge of becoming dark brown due to the abyss’s influence.
The sand had become dark brown while crooked vegetation had grown all over the place. Rather than vitality, what they emitted was dark purple miasma unique to abyssal realm. At every second the entire dungeon was being corroded from within.
Zyrus spread his soul threads over the area and connected with the abyssal mana. The final key to causing a dungeon break was the unknown monster that lurked in the deserts. Despite all this time no-one had managed to catch a sight of him. All they could do was feel its presence, and that was all the clue Zyrus needed.
All plans were set. The ghouls would kill the remaining lifeforms, Elsid would lead the abyssal legion and ophidian warriors to collect their corpses, and Zirnitra would deal with the unknown monster; who was also the sole resource of this area. Indeed, Zyrus was 99% certain that the monster was in fact closer to a sentient spirit.
He was curious to know how such a being had come into existence, but his task lay elsewhere. He would be teleported back once the dungeon was broken; thus, this was the perfect opportunity to go wild and test his theories.