445 Abyss 2

"The Crack between the Worlds you say?"

(Indeed.)

"So let me get this straight, this world is this butt cheek and that world is this butt cheek and then we have this crack between them."

(Please put your pants on.)

"The point is… the Cosmic Asshole is around, right?"

(... Actually, that would explain the smell in this place but no, there are no Cosmic Assholes.)

"What a shame! I used to call my boss a Cosmic Asshole in my past life."

(Very funny.)

As the two started exchanging insults and roasting one another, Jon kept scouting the place he is in.

The theme of the area is a Dark Fantasy-like castle that reminded him of his time in Castle Volkihar. Long silent hallways, unlit candlesticks, darkened painting frames, broken furniture and very gloomy corners.

"Hey, Shadow. What is this place exactly?" Jon asked.

(Now you are willing to listen?)

"Don't get salty on me now."

(Fine, the Cracks between the Worlds are areas that connect the Abyss of this World to the Abysses of the Other Worlds. Otherworldly beings can access them but can't use them to travel to other Worlds.)

"So to say it more correctly, it is the cafeteria were otherworlders meet up but can't follow one another to different worlds."

(Couldn't say it better myself.)

"You mean I may run into beings from other worlds here?"

(The possibility exists but the chance is unimaginably rare. Remember, this is as far as you can get from Mundus, you won't receive any blessing in this place.)

"Okay… this is that serious then."

Jon heightened his senses and spread his passive detection.

"Oh!" As he did so, he noticed something.

"The Space and Time around are stable."

(The Crack between the Worlds is a world of its own. It is more Stable than the Abyss so you can think of it as a world that is floating on the sea of chaos alone.)

"I see… wait! I have a very bad idea."

Jon said as he retrieved the Meteoric Glass Crystals that he collected along the way. He had a fair number of them as he harvested 7 Abyss Caves worth of Meteoric Glass.

He held a bright blue crystal that shone brightly under the effect of the Candlelight spell Jon uses and felt like a really expensive gemstone.

(What are you doing?)

"Watch this." Jon used the Crystal in one hand and started charging it with energy. This energy contained the Law of Space from the Crack between the Worlds in the specific coordinates Jon standing on.

Jon used the same technique he used while trapping the Starlight Energy in Azura's Star. Once he was done trapping the Law of Space in the Crystal, he walked twenty meters back where he came from and stopped.

"Now."

While simply supplying the Crystal with Magicka, Jon disappeared from his place and appeared in the place where he trapped the Law of Space twenty meters ahead.

As he did so, the Crystal turned to dust in his hand.

"... This is sick!"

(Nice idea.)

"Indeed. With this, I can enter the Abyss and directly come here. And… wait! There is more."

Jon had an even better idea.

"Azura told me that Time is my only Ally meaning I can harness the power of the Abyss the way I see fit using those Crystals. You said that Abyss is another synonym for Time when it comes to the Law of Shadow Magic which means…"

Jon headed all the way back to the Crack in space and returned to the Cave in the Abyss. He used another Crystal and started trapping the Time Energy from the Abyss itself.

(Oh! So you are trapping the unstable Time Energy from the Abyss because it is easier to digest.)

"Indeed."

Jon had a mad smile on his face while doing so.

He activated his Magicka and something miraculous happened.

His Astral Form separated from his Physical Form and he became a golden ghost. He saw the events from just now happen in front of his eyes but running backward. In his hand, the Crystal was there but it was also in an Astral Form.

Once the Time Energy in the Crystal ran out. Jon reverted back to his body but.

(Oh! So you are trapping the unstable Time Energy from the Abyss be…)

"Because it is easier to digest."

As he said so, the Crystal turned to dust in his hand.

(What…) Shadow halted.

"You were going to say that, right?" Jon said.

(You bastard! You managed to slide back in time under my nose?) Shadow's voice carried a hint of being impressed.

"Hahahaha! This is crazy!"

Jumping back in Time! Not even an Arch-Wizard can pull that one off without the help of a dozen artifacts and scrolls.

Now Jon could do it by using the Data he acquired from analyzing the Dawn Magic spell used by Darius in the final match of the Grand Champion.

This spell that can trap pure energies into Crystals is now called the [Meteoric Protocol], an Expert level spell inspired by the Dawn Magic that can trap Energy and Powers in Meteoric Glass.

Jon repeated the process with more Crystals and had different effects based on how he used them. If he threw them at the enemy, the Space Crystals would devour a part of it in a Void Orb that appears for a second while the Time Crystals cause the target to go in Stasis.

The potential was limitless but the crystals were not so Jon had to keep most of them and continue his course. Still, the trip became 100 times safer with the existence of a method to jump back in time. Of course, using this method in stable dimensions like Mundus as much harder than the Abyss or the Crack of Worlds.

Anyway, fun time was over. Jon returned to exploring the dark castle beyond the crack.

The corridor was pretty damn long and some places devoured the light of magic Jon used to see around. This eerie place would give anyone the creeps so Jon kept an extra careful awareness.

Finally an on the turn of a corner, he found himself in front of a single door.

"Nefertiti, is the Soul Scent of Azura still coming from there?" Jon asked.

"Yes."

"Okay… just when we find ourselves reincarnating in Dark Souls this time, don't play me."

Pushing the door, Jon found one single room.

"Seriously now?"

He was annoyed as he had to look somewhere else but still Nefertiti walked in.

At the center of the room, there was a table. On the table, there was a strange-looking box.

"And?"

"... Inside the box?" She pointed.

"Should I open it?" He asked.

"You can't. This box is bigger than this place." She said.

"Huh?"

Jon looked at the box and could hardly understand her until he started scanning the space around and the box.

"Holy shit!"

Couldn't help but swear, Jon noticed how large the box was. It was as large as a castle from the inside but from the outside, it was compressed to the size of a box with complicated mechanisms to keep it locked and to keep anyone from seeing what's inside.

"Nice try!" Jon smirked and cast [Eye of Magicka].

The spell that can expose the flow of Magicka around the space was one of Jon's secret spells. Still, it didn't work as he thought it would work.

Instead, he saw a fingerprint on a certain part of the box as if it was highlighted by ultraviolet light.

"Wow!"

Gasping from surprise, Jon couldn't help but touch the fingerprint spot with his thumb.

*Crack* *click click click click click*

Suddenly and without warning, the box started moving on its own. It rotated around itself and made mechanical sounds then its a lock appeared on the outside of the box with many lines of brass metal and nails separating some parts and connecting others.

"What is that thing? Is that Dwemer?" Jon freaked out unintentionally.

(No, it is a tool from another world.) Shadow replied.

"Another world? Why would something like that come here and imprison Azura's Divine Extension?"

(Someone must have found it and put it to use. Many things from different worlds drift through space and time. This tool is similar to the [Cube] of yours.)

"Where did it originate from?"

(A world called Arag, created by the magic of the Horned Dwarves. Arag is a fun place but gradually losing its peace due to the discovery of gunpowder, you can imagine the rest.)

"An advanced world, with magic, eh? Sounds fun indeed." Jon replied, "Still, this machine is very curious. Sadly I can't take it back to Nirn."

Jon didn't bother and pulled out the [Skeleton Key] to unlock the lock on the chest. Once that was done, the box opened more and showed a secret mechanism, one of those that are used with modern safes.

The Catatoskr inside Jon was fully curious and swore to open this box no matter what. From a safe mechanism to secret maps mechanism, musical notes mechanism to star-formation mechanism, Jon kept solving every riddle as the box grew bigger and became more complex with every turn.

After some time, Jon arrived at the innermost deep part in the box. Once he solved the puzzle, a red gem appeared for him and stood across a stand. On that gem, there was a Magical seal and it was a typical to the one used in Mundus. This is where things got interesting as this seal can't be left unless by someone from Mundus meaning that someone has solved it before Jon.

The answer to that came earlier than he expected. There was a note signed by an M letter.

××××××××××××××××××××

It was a pleasant encounter running into an otherworldly artifact during my trial in the Abyss. Master Iachesis insisted to focus on my trail, collect a fair number of Meteoric Glass and pass but how can I resist such a curiosity?

That idiot Vanus is also keeping an eye on me. I think Master is the one who told him to do so. The fool wouldn't let me do my work in peace.

Thankfully, I found this otherworldly artifact that I can't tell its name but I'll call it the Puzzle Box from now on. For an item like that to drift between worlds, it is my fortunate indeed. This box can twist itself into various puzzles as if something created by Sotha Sil or a Dwemer Tonal Architect. It can contain Space and even trap parts of the Rifts between Worlds. The rest of this Maze will be trapped by me so Vanus or any other Psijic can just run around like headless hens.

I also kept the space of the original owner intact so I can experience how the other worlds felt. Such a curious style indeed. No man or Mer can create such elegance.

××××××××××××××××××××

This was obviously a note left by the young Mannimarco who was annoyed by Vanus Galerion and their Masters, Ritemaster Iachesis.

To think that Mannimarco was the kind to enjoy puzzles.

"Well, let's just free the Space." Jon said as he started decrypting the seal.

After ten minutes, the red gem started glowing and a ray of red light was shot from it. That light hit a wall in the room and created a door from that light. Second by second, the door became more real and the red gem finally broke to dust.

"Here we go."

Taking the first step through the fancy wooden door, Jon's halted his steps and opened his eyes wide.

"Wow."

Followed by Nefertiti and Jax who have no civil sense whatsoever, Jon had to ask them not to touch anything.

The room looked quite the old fashioned by Earth standards.

A large wooden desk, a leather chair, a typewriter, a collection of books written in a foreign language and many other things that gave the vibe of the 19th century.

This is surely the space of the original owner Mannimarco kept intact.

Jon looked around for a way to open the door to the next room but he soon realized that the room is also another puzzle.

Moreover, there were many engineering schematics lying around that Jon couldn't help but make copies from them.

Now to finish up things, Jon took out the Skeleton Key and became hell-bent on going forward.

~~~~~~~~~~

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