Chapter 893: If only Bia were here...
A while ago, Kyle had watched Cassian leave the Hell’s Layer. Around him, there was nothing but endless darkness. They simply had to fly up and leave through the same wormhole they were tossed in.
But how could he just leave without exploring this strange place first?
So, Kyle stopped midway. He closed his eyes and activated his scent perception skill, carefully ensuring it didn’t extend beyond the bounds of the Hell’s Layer.
At first, he sensed nothing—the place seemed completely empty. But just as he was about to withdraw his skill, he felt it—the presence of countless spatial pockets hidden deep within the silent darkness. But unfortunately, his skill—or even his senses—were unable to enter those pockets. His eyes crinkled with mirth as he rubbed his hands together, betting on his luck stat.
"Alright, don’t fail me now."
If he was right, the spatial pockets had likely formed on their own because of the chaotic energy—since the other elemental forces in this place needed somewhere to gather and condense. Hopefully, he would find some good natural treasures inside.
And he had to admit, his (SSS+)-rank luck didn’t disappoint. The very first pocket he entered was overflowing with gray natural crystals—the currency used by Celestials.
"Good, good. I’m not poor anymore."
He chuckled, swiftly storing all the natural crystals inside his mind space. Though he didn’t find any other type of natural crystals—only those related to the space element—it didn’t dampen his excitement even a bit.
If anything, it made him dive into the next spatial pocket even faster, eyes gleaming with anticipation—since it was only natural to discover naturally formed treasures in a place that had formed on its own. But what he failed to consider was that these spatial pockets might not have formed naturally.
Someone—or something—powerful could have created them. That’s why he froze in surprise upon entering the second pocket.
Instead of a hollow, empty dark void, Kyle was met with glowing, ancient golden texts etched into the space in every direction.
"Huh?"
He blinked, looking around. He had seen multiple languages in his life—he was the best array master anyone could find. But these golden texts were entirely foreign, unlike anything he had ever encountered.
He landed at the center of the space, crouching down as his fingers reached toward the glowing text beneath him.
The moment he touched it, the symbols shimmered—then rippled like water. But before he could react, the text flared and began slithering up his hand. Kyle jerked back instantly, eyes wide with surprise.
"What the hell...?"
He began to float. Rather than take any risks, he decided to memorize the golden texts. It wasn’t easy—the texts looked like complete nonsense to him—but Kyle had always been a quick learner. After a few minutes, he had them all in his memory.
Then, he turned to leave, muttering.
"I will try to understand this strange language if I ever get the chance."
But just as he left, the spatial pocket self-destructed, sending him flying.
It collapsed in on itself, leaving behind nothing but fading golden sparks that slowly dissolved into the darkness.
Kyle steadied himself, eyes fixed on the fading remnants. Was memorizing those texts a good thing... or a terrible mistake?
Ultimately, he shrugged and moved on.
Whatever. He would find out eventually.
The next spatial pocket he entered was also filled with gray natural crystals. But the one after that made him freeze again.
This time, there were no glowing golden texts—only three faded images engraved into the space, arranged in a triangular formation, each one facing the others.
Kyle narrowed his eyes, trying to make sense of them. The images were quite blurry, but one thing was clear: they were depicting strange, unfamiliar shapes.
The moment this thought emerged, he made sense of one of the images.
One of them... it looked like an hourglass. Or something close to it. The other two, however, were far too ruined to decipher.
Kyle moved back with a sigh.
"I have only been in this realm for a few months, and I’m already uncovering stuff like this. Tsk, tsk... what have the Celestials been doing all this time—napping?"
Shaking his head, he left the pocket. He expected it to explode like the other one, but it didn’t—maybe it had lost its power.
Regardless, Kyle quickly moved on to the next spatial pocket. But this time, he didn’t just freeze—he broke into a cold sweat.
Before him rested a colossal, slumbering creature made entirely of darkness, giving off a Celestial aura so intense it made him instinctively want to flee its vicinity. He could instinctively tell—the creature was at least five, no, ten times stronger than him!
Holding his breath, Kyle began retreating the exact way he came, cursing inwardly.
’What happened to my (SSS+)-rank luck? Did it already expire?’
He would have left right then, since he wasn’t stupid enough to risk dying at the hands of some ugly creature—especially after barely escaping death not long ago.
But no—his eyes just had to lock onto the multicolored, shiny core floating between the creature’s shadowy shoulders. It was absorbing energy from the surroundings, silently growing stronger on its own.
His gaze zeroed in on it. That thing was overflowing with natural energy—so much that he was certain absorbing it would skyrocket his power to the next level.
Kyle smiled bitterly.
’I see. My luck’s still working—just in the most dangerous way possible.’
He wiped the sweat from his palms and stopped backing away. Instead of fleeing, he decided to take a gamble. The creature was in a deep sleep. If he could move fast enough—grab the core hovering within its non-solid body—and then immediately use his instant teleportation skill to disappear, maybe he could actually pull it off.
Kyle crept closer to the creature.
Suddenly, he missed his bonded beast.
’If only Bia were here... I could have made her do it. With her tiny form, she could’ve stolen the core without a problem.’
Still, thankfully, his teleportation skill had advanced along with his power—allowing him to teleport much farther than before.
And against all odds... he actually pulled it off. He snatched the core and vanished.
Of course, he didn’t stick around to see whether the creature woke up or not. He didn’t even realize that his actions had caused chaos outside the Hell’s Layer.