"Done. Finally..."


    Cain let loose a sigh of relief.


    Resting on the table before him was a b of metal. On this b of metal was a strange lookingpound magic circle.


    Thispound magic circle contained variousplex runes, all connected with various lines and geometrical shapes, symbols and sigils.


    This was the culmination of his hard work over the past month.


    "This is just the beginning..."


    He had made more than a few breakthroughs trying to encode this thing.


    ***


    {Congrattions to Host... Your spell, Spatial Jump, has evolved to the spell, {Spatial Gate}.


    ***


    It was an unexpected blessing. His deeper understanding of the spell had improved it greatly.


    "As for this beauty..." Cain remarked. Holding up the b of metal, he was able to see its characteristics.


    ***


    {Spatial Tether Stele}: (Tool)


    Description: A delicate, yet remarkably innovative creation by an amateur Runecraftsman. This creation has the ability to bend the rules that govern space and time, creating a special link between positions.


    {Spatial Tether Stele}:


    Durability: 10,000/10,000.


    Weight: 1,000Kg.


    Skills: Space Tethering, Spatial Marking, Spatial Rift.


    {Spatial Tethering}: Once this tether has been ced at a location, it cannot be removed.


    {Spatial Marking}: Releases a unique spatial signature that allows the caster to recognize and sense its position and direction.


    {Spatial Rift}: Opens a stable rift between two linked tethers.


    ***


    "Hehehe..." Cain snickered to himself.


    After a few minutes of self exaltations, he calm down.


    "There''s just a few things left to do."


    He spread his fingers. {Wilted Tears} appeared on his hand,


    "Spatial Gate." He cast his newly evolved spell.


    A warped, yet stable rift in space appeared from the void. Light folded in on itself, and reality was muddled. The concept of distance was being manipted before mortal eyes.


    "Incredible. By understanding the concept, the power of the skill or spell bes greater."


    Could this perhaps be the beginning of an incredible discovery, he had no idea. What he did know was that it payed out well for him.


    "And now..." Cain frowned. The hard part wasing.


    Creating the {Spatial Tether Stele} was hard, but it would all be for naught if he couldn''t ce them in key locations.


    Cain breathed in, and activated {Eye of irvoyance}...


    The maximum range of the {Eye of irvoyance} skill was a few kilometers or so. Stretching it beyond that would see his mana being consumed at an rming rate.


    However, this wasn''t always the case...


    A theory was once proposed;


    Things like time, distance, and other measurable phenomena or concepts, both in the macroscopic and microscopic world exist only when they are being measured or observed. The moment they aren''t being observed, they might be subject to change.


    Cain''s {Eye of irvoyance} skill was one that made use of mana flow patterns to discern the true nature of the material world. It was in and of itself, something that opposed what was deemed as scientific.


    To call it the peak of observation and measurement wasn''t an understatement. What Cain was going to try doing, was to use the {Eye of irvoyance} to reach into the {Spatial Gate}.


    Now, if it had been before, this would have been difficult, or maybe even impossible. After all, something like observation wasn''t a physically measurable quantity, something that could travel through space...


    However, it was, in a sense.


    All observations are made in the confines of space. What he was attempting to do, was transfer his senses to another location without moving his physical body.


    Sitting still, Cain tried emptying his mind. Spells and skills could be used for numerous other reasons besides fighting and ughter. That is what made the arcane arts so marvelous. A world of infinite possibilities...


    As he let his consciousness float around, the staff in his hand began to emit a strange glow that developed his body as well.


    Slowly, this glow traveled to the {Spatial Gate} before enveloping it as well.


    Cain''s observing the world from a bird''s point of view had his mind thrown directly into the portal.


    He had tried preparing himself mentally for what was about to happen. After all, he had never tried this before. However, he was still taken aback by the feeling.


    Letting his consciousness travel through the {Spatial Gate} was like enjoying a cinematic experience.


    The range of the {Eye of irvoyance} ballooned until he felt like he could see everything.


    The sudden influx of information immediately brought his a great deal of pain.


    ''Calm down... Narrow the search.''


    He quickly tried filtering all the information. His eyes could see well beyond the tar-colored waves up to a certain depth.


    He scanned the entire ocean as his consciousness traveled at great speeds. To him though, it was as though the world slowed to a crawl.


    If took several minutes but he was finally able to find his target.


    His eyes snapped open, and from one of them seeped a ghastly light. It was as though the secrets of the world itself was locked within his soul...


    His body was suddenly swallowed by the rift.


    ***


    Cain took a moment to grab his bearings. When he came to, he was lying on a patch of verdant grass.


    Nursing a bad headache, he cursed to himself.


    "Knew I should have tried narrowing it down a bit more..."


    Rising to his feet, he picked up {Wilted Tear} and looked around. He let out a sigh after a few seconds,


    "Yep, totally unrecognizable."


    The ce he was currently at, was the Northern Ind, or at least, what remained of it.


    From the look of things, the entire ce had beenpletely consumed by a mutated forest.


    There had been quite a bit of foliage before they had left, but now, it had grown quite a bit, eventually consuming the entire ind.


    This was also the ce where Steve and his squad were.


    Cain sat back to the ground and went over what just happened,


    "Because of the vast distance, a normal tether doesn''t work. This is the whole reason I decided to create the {Spatial Tether Stele} in the first ce. Gwendolyn is the Nexus, while the Stele is a point on the branch... a checkpoint."


    Cain closed his eyes...


    He could clearly feel it. Somewhere in the far horizon, Gwendolyn was sailing across the inky ck waves.


    The {Spatial Tether Stele} was divided into two parts. The Nexus, or the main part, and the auxiliary parts, or the tether''s themselves. The Nexus was in Gwendolyn, while the tethers could be ced anywhere else.


    With this, anyone can use a Gate that would be made on the ship to travel to any ce with a tether and vice versa.


    To make sure his analysis was urate, Cain quickly ced the tether. Summoning a strange looking orb of steel covered in runes, he ced it into the ground.


    The orb sunk into the ground, leaving behind a hole. A magic circle spread out with the hole as the center, forming the Nexus of the magic circle.


    Sucking in a deep breath of air, Cain summoning five grade 5 mana shards from his inventory. They positioned themselves around the magic circle. Without wasting any time, he stepped into the magic circle.


    The arcane symbols began to glow, and the mana shards broke apart, leaving nothing but pale dust behind.


    Cain''s figure shimmered away from existence as a temporary gate fizzled into reality.


    A secondter, he disappeared...


    And reappeared right back in the {Draconic st Furnace}.


    Cain grinned, "It worked!"


    He looked around, as though to truly confirm it.


    And indeed, he was back.


    He had managed to singlehandedly create a piece of magical engineering that would have shocked the denizens of the old world''s scientificmunity into an early grave.


    But it was too soon to jubte. This was just the beginning. Compared to whatever was in the wide universe, he and the rest of human kind that lived on this small insignificant pebble were just taking baby steps.


    Hell, a civilization had managed to create things like this ship that could only be described as an impossible feat, and he was just truly figuring out Spatial Teleportation. He was like a caveman just having discovered fire.


    Still, he couldn''t help but feel contended.


    "And now... To break the good news."


    Pulling more mana shards from his inventory, he prepared to make another trip back to the Northern Ind.


    ***


    On the Northern Ind...


    A small settlement of humans had carved out a certain portion of the forest that dominated the entire ind.


    In the past, this ce had been a hub of learning to breed the next generation. Now, it was inplete disrepair.


    Whatever still stood had already been devoured by the magical jungle.


    Within this jungle, apart from the humans were a few abominable entities that called it home. These creatures had survived a previous disaster, and as such, had be more resilient thanks to it.


    Staring at the grotesque corpses twitching on the floor, Steve had a look of displeasure on his face.


    Standing beside him was Manny, still covered in gooey slime and bloody residue from the most recent battle.


    "Damn. Is there no end to these guys? I have to go wash up again..." Heined.


    Sheathing his des, he turned to Vincent who was seated on a thick branch, high up on a tree.


    He gritted his teeth,


    "Vince, get down here!"


    "Never in a billion years." Vincent replied with a smile, waving his hand down to Manny.


    Manny jumped,pletely agitated, "Get down or I''ll cut the tree down."


    Vincent snorted, "What the hell did I do to you? me the {Steelhead Mayflies}."


    The {Steelhead Mayflies} were one of the more dominant species in the forest. Huge abominations that had obvioievolved from Mayflies, these devilish creatures spat out a very corrosive acid that could melt through enchanted metals with ease.


    They also had sharp forelimbs that could grab a target and snap it in two. Their rather thick metallic exoskeleton made piercing and slicing attacks rather inefficient as well.


    Fortunately, against projectiles and bludgeoning attacks, they were practically target practice.


    Hence, throughout the fight, Manny could do nothing but grab the attention of the disgusting looking creatures, while Steve and Manny took them down.


    Manny gritted his teeth, "You-!"


    Just as he was about to make good of his word, something made his stop.


    Sensing a strange presence approaching from behind, Steve frowned and turned around,


    "Who''s ther-"


    Before he could get his words out, he was also rendered speechless.


    And that was because Cain had just walked out of the forest, a sly grin on his face...