Nick kept walking down the streets with heavy and powerful steps as he kept looking around with care.
The last time someone had been reported missing had been around a month ago, and as far as everyone knew, the Fog took about a month to consume a human.
People were not completely certain what the Fog did.
They only knew that it took someone and came back a month later to get someone else.
The specific way the Fog killed its victims was unknown.
They just walked into the Fog and vanished.
Naturally, Nick felt a certain amount of apprehension since the unknown was quite scary, but he was willing to take the risk.
His future was worth it.
Nick walked from one alleyway to the other.
He was taking the same route he had been taking for days.
Nothing special was happening.
However, he was quite sure that he would meet the Fog soon.
Three days ago, one of Nick's old friends had visited him.
Julian.
The Expert Zephyx Extractor who had talked with Nick a day before he met Reynold.
Julian had talked with Nick about his problems for some time, and while he was doing so, he had asked Nick what he had planned.
Nick told him about the Fog.
There was no need to keep it a secret since everyone basically knew about the Fog, and nobody was willing to spend the credits to capture it.
When Julian heard that, he smiled slyly and told Nick which route he should take.
He said that he had seen the Fog a couple of times before and that he had been one of the Extractors that created the profile of it.
As always, Julian knew what he was talking about, and he was a pleasure to be around.
Everyone liked Julian.
Ever since then, Nick had been following this route.
Nick trusted Julian.
And Julian wouldn't betray Nick's trust.
During the evening, Nick noticed that it became more difficult to find his way forward.
It was like his sight was being obscured by a veil.
Usually, Nick would just think that it was normal fog, but since he was specifically searching for the Fog, he knew that chances were high that this was actually the Specter.
Nick's heart rate increased, and his breathing quickened, but he did his best to appear calm.
Nick wanted to be enveloped by the Fog.
It was possible that the Fog would flee if Nick decided to attack.
So, Nick just kept walking forward.
Eventually, he couldn't see anything anymore.
The grey fog was so thick that Nick couldn't even see his own hands anymore.
Nick could feel how his hand touched his face, but he couldn't see it.
Even when Nick lightly touched his eyeball.
It was almost like Nick didn't have a body.
It was like he was only a consciousness drifting through an empty void.
Yet, Nick could still feel his body.
When he punched his left arm with his right, he still felt the impact and the pain.
Additionally, Nick could feel himself walking forward.
However, the floor had changed.
The floor had stopped making any sounds, and Nick couldn't even hear his own steps.
Additionally, it felt very even and even a bit soft.
It was like Nick was walking on a featureless carpet.
Even more, there were no walls whatsoever.
Earlier, Nick had been walking through the abandoned Dregs, and there had been houses everywhere.
But now, no matter in which direction Nick walked, he wouldn't touch anything.
It was like Nick's body had left the world.
'So, this is what it does,' Nick thought with narrowed eyes.
Since he was now well and truly captured, Nick decided to fight back and started to run.
Nick sprinted with all of his strength and jumped from side to side.
Nick was running at incredible speeds, but he still couldn't touch anything.
After that, Nick threw one of his spears into the distance.
The Ghost Wire quickly tensed, and he let the spear fall to the ground in the distance.
The spear hadn't hit anything.
Nick walked over to where the spear was lying on the ground and put it back onto his back.
'It's like this world is limitless,' Nick thought. 'I have no idea where I am, and I can't even come into contact with the outside world by throwing a spear.'
'I am no longer in Crimson Fungus City.'
'At least, that's what I would think if I didn't know anything about Specters.'
'This is only an Adolescent, and I'm certain that it doesn't have the power to transport me out of the city just like that.'
'It would have to be an Elder at the very least, and even then, it would be unlikely.'
'This means that I must still be inside Crimson Fungus City.'
'At most, it created a temporary domain that imitates an alien world.'
'Keeping this domain active is probably consuming Zephyx, but it is also most likely producing more Zephyx than it is using.'
'I can run and jump around as much as I want, and I won't be able to get out of here.'
'The only way I can get out is to make it consume more Zephyx than it is producing.'
'That means I need to tear the world around me apart and destabilize the domain.'
'The best way is to just use a lot of power.'
A moment later, Nick lifted his arm and pulled out his fist weapons.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Immediately, Nick started to rampage through his surroundings, kicking and punching everything around him.
While he was doing so, he kept looking at his surroundings.
That was when he noticed something.
After a particularly fast kick, Nick noticed that the guard on his shin?had pulled the fog to the side a bit, revealing a small afterimage of a darker area.
However, it was immediately closed again.
'Wyntor told me that my weapons can also interact with Force Specters, which is why they were so insanely expensive.'
'And sure enough, he was right. Without my weapons, I probably wouldn't be able to break through the fog.'
'However, I am certain that this is not enough power to break through.'
Nick narrowed his eyes.
'And my ability isn't active.'
The Fog could perceive Nick, which meant that he was only as strong as a Peak Newbie.
Although, with his body, he probably had the power of an average Initial John.
'If I want to break out of here, I have to get my ability to activate.'
'Let's hope the Fog's ability is good enough.'