Chapter 261 - Tress[Asser Indeed

The black things were coming for me but I just blasted any that came near me. My radiation tank was still in the mid-eighties, so I had plenty of steam left. 

Though those things liked light- they weren't a fan of heat- it would seem. 

Actually, even without any air, or anything, I could make plasma out of nowhere. Something was seriously wrong with this world and it wasn't me.

I reached the outskirts of the moon and slowly got pulled in by gravity. This planet was small and it wasn't rotating. But its gravity was strong (maybe not as strong as earth's) and it pulled me fast.

There wasn't any atmosphere and I still wasn't breathing. The feeling really was eerie.

Anyway, the ground was coming up fast.

And all this floating around, the use of radiation, and all that had given me something. A feeling: a bit of confidence. 

"FLY!" I pulled up, I tried my best, slowed down the fall, and even barely flew until I didn't and crashed solidly on the pink soft ground.

"Argh!" I picked myself up and with a wobbly head, barely stood tall.

Okay, maybe that confidence was uncalled for. 

Surprisingly, I hadn't broken any bones. I couldn't feel my left arm though. Oh well.

There were faint sounds here and there. Compared to the ever-so silent space I'd just come from this was like a godsend. 

But, was it me, or was the ground too soft?

There were three pink rods sticking out- rather streamlined. 

'Trees?'

My feet were sinking slightly with the lightest of pressure. It wasn't a liquid surface but more like- 'Skin?'

Before I could even think too much, it started moving and I fell on my back. Obviously, I tried to get up right away, but the ground opened up and teeth, very sharp teeth at that, were visible. The rods started moving like tentacles and came at me at a rapid pace. 

"Oh boy."

I jumped before the tentacle-like things grabbed me. 

The gravity was lower than earth's and thanks to that I'd jumped pretty high. Wait, that wasn't quite it. Because I was more or less 30 meters up in the air.

I was still up in the air and I didn't fall. 'I'm flying?'

But more importantly, what the hell was that thing?

I looked around and the rest of the moon was kind of crimson in color. But there were countless other pink spots. And they even had tree-shaped things. They probably weren't trees though.

The thing that tried to grab me, become normal and blended in just moments later. 

"Aliens."

But that didn't matter. What mattered was Marg and- and she was about two hundred kilometers away. At least according to the locator. 

I breathed a sigh of relief and flew that way. There weren't any stars around here, so it was like a moonless night (and starless too, cause the twelve I could see didn't count). This planet's surface glowed ever so slightly, so my vision wasn't hampered. But- how could this place let out light without any source like a star? Obviously, there wasn't anyone here who I could ask. 

To my surprise, flying was rather easy and I wasn't really leaking much radiation either. I couldn't really understand how this was working but- as long as it worked, who cared?

Well, I certainly did cause I had to maneuver myself. My speed was proportionate to the amount of radiation I was leaking. In this case, I was just converting infrared to raw energy. I had no idea how that worked but it worked!

I kept my eye on the locator and what was in front.

There were a bunch of those shadowy thingies flying around. I didn't see many creatures down on the ground and the few that were visible weren't quite what I was used to either. Some were shaped like rabbits with multiple red eyes. Some were like ostriches but with a shorter neck and six legs. Others were like large elephants but without the trunk and tusks, instead, they had wings: wings, that didn't give them flight. 

This place was weird. And the flying shadowy ones kind of made me feel a bit bad for Marg. Marg was afraid of ghosts and these things were the very definition of ghosts. And this place was basically like hell. No sound, no smell: my senses were sitting idle. 

'Was she afraid of this place and hence the ghosts?'

Maybe- or maybe it was the opposite. 

But there was only one way to find out.

It was to find Marg herself. 

And for that- I flew. 

***

This planet didn't have much of an atmosphere and even now I didn't have to breathe. My body didn't really demand oxygen either. But I was already running with 60% juice remaining. Meaning, I didn't really have much time left. 

According to my reception-less Holo, it'd already been over 4 hours. It felt like an hour to me. 

But I guess that meant, time was running a lot faster. Meaning, Lt. Demeris would come sooner rather than later. 

'Better find her fast.'

I speed up and kept on searching. 

Bleep!

I was getting close.

But there was nothing on the ground.

Closer!

There!

I was just over the dot on the locator but there was nothing on the ground.

'Underground?'

What if something ate her and-

I breathed hard, gritted my teeth, and descended. 

'Wait, how the hell do I stop?'

Crash!

My landing was anything but pretty. I probably shouldn't have descended so fast. For a second there I'd actually forgotten this was my first time flying. And I basically knew nothing about flying or what was even happening. 

So, yeah….

Anyway, with a groan, I held my head in hand and tried to survey my surroundings. 

So far, nothing of note. The ground was hard and there weren't any pink monsters around.

I tried to punch the ground just to check it, but it was pretty sturdy. I didn't put too much strength. After all, if it was a cave-in, Marg would be in trouble.

So- I kept on looking around for an entrance. 

And I found something- a rock in the distance. And a distinct black mark just beneath its base. 

***

"Isn't this a bit too small?"

Just below the rock, there was a hole. I could barely fit in. Though I kind of doubted I'd be able to come back up, I still went in anyway.

I did place my last marker here though. Hopefully the lieutenant would be able to find me. 

Anyway. "WOHHOOOOOO!"

This was a slide: not a literal fall. The ground concaved down and it sure wanted me down, that was for sure: A very rough slide that tore through my skin like it was nothing. With Enira sleeping, my healing wasn't the best. it was better than nothing but still, it wasn't something I could count on. And therefore- OUCH!

Just how deep did this thing go?

I was sliding for over a minute now and it just kept going and going and- crash!

Slam!

I slammed into a wall. This frigging slide just had to suddenly level up! 

Sigh. Groan!

So far- all I'd been doing today was crashing. 

All the pain sensors of my body were tingling: very painful. But I had to go on. 

Argh! I held my head and again looked around- darkness everywhere. I formed a small plasma ball to illuminate my surroundings and well, there were caves and openings and all that everywhere… I took the path that seemed to be facing the same way as Marg on the locator. 

A gamble. 

It took me a minute but I got adjusted to this tight place and the lighting, fast. 

There wasn't anything here- no life forms at least.

I had cuts and bruises all over my body. I sure hoped the microorganisms of this place weren't going to destroy my body.

'Are these ruins?'

The walls had writings, drawings, this and that. But I couldn't quite make up anything.

The writing was very foreign and the illustrations were mostly just scribbles and faded. 

I kept going and going. Halfway through, I'd run into a bit of rubble. When I say a bit- the whole path was pretty much blocked. 

A dead end.

I could have tried to blast through the rubble but then there was the possibility of a cave-in.

Sigh.

I turned back and kept walking. I logged this on my Holo, in the hopes of making a map.

***

I was back where I started. 

'SO just taking a path that seems most likely won't work?'

Didn't matter. I might or might not have had much time left but that didn't mean I was going to give up.

The next one!

Dead end!

The next one!

Also, dead one!

Another one!

Dead-

Ano-

Dead.

Dead.

Dead end!

Pant!

I wasn't breathing but I still ended up being way too tired. And my body wasn't recovering any stamina. The map on my Holo had basically nothing but dead ends and the paths weren't even connected. 

'This isn't looking good.'

There were about a dozen paths still remaining but I took another gamble and picked the last path.

***

This path was slightly different.

For starters, there were more scribbling on the walls and the walls seemed a tad sturdier. 

I didn't know why but I had a feeling this one was going to lead me at least somewhere. 

A gut feeling. Or to be more precise, a feeling just to make myself believe that I wasn't lost. 

It took ten minutes of walking but I finally came to open space. 

Marg was still about a kilometer away but at least this wasn't a dead-end!

'But why do I feel like a boss monster is Waiting to come out?'

I might or might not have played way too many games in my youth.

Though as stupid as that was, I still kept my guard up. There was no saying what could have happened in a place like this.

"Tress[asser," A very weird voice rang out. It was somewhere between a man's and a woman's. I couldn't quite put a lid on the feeling. "What are you doing here, state your [urpose."

Tress Asser? Asser!? 

My Urpose? 

What?

I cleared my throat. "Show yourself."

I actually got a bit flustered to hear actual words in a place like this.. So, I might or might not have come out a little cringe.