We’re trapped here, he realized.
He needed to charge his batteries to at least thirty percent if he wanted to perfectly execute the Quantum Step.
Any less than that and he’d have to worry about passing out after, which wasn’t good since he’d still have to navigate through the underground rock surrounding the castle with his Drone—and he couldn’t do that if he was unconscious.
Unfortunately, there was no easy source for energy anywhere around this place.
Fudge was still in the 1st stage of Body Formation, so anything he created would only result in 0.001% charge.
As for Kuno, he doubted if she could even throw a punch. Her head was so messed up from the amnesia that her body-eye coordination was completely off! She couldn’t even stand up without her body tilting one way or the other.
The only other source was the walls itself. However, he’d have to dig through the very stone itself to get to the main source of power that made it so durable and siphon off the Aubility Power inside it.
But if he was able to do that in the first place, then he wouldn’t have to worry about phasing through it at all.
One solution could be to power the batteries himself.
He’d drain his own GodForge piece, store it in his batteries, and wait for his Aubility Power to refresh.
However, that would take time. A lot of time.
Harbinger. How long do you think it would take?
[A week, minimum. The fact that we’re so secluded in this castle makes it that much harder to regain Aubility Power.]
Honestly, that time frame wasn’t bad. At least he knew that he could get out given enough time.
However, he was worried about the Dragonborns. He didn’t know where they ended up. They could have been thrown off somewhere in the tunnel and ended up halfway across the world for all he knew.
In order to save them, he needed to get out of here as fast as possible.
But where am I going to get the necessary charge?
...
...
...
Meanwhile, back in the Red Ravine...
Sheina and the rest of the Dragonborns felt themselves caught up in a tide of crossing spacetime continuums, getting tossed around and rummaged like they were dirty clothes in a beat up, old washing machine.
They couldn’t even make heads or tails about their own bodies. All they could see was darkness everywhere. They had no frame of reference, making it seem as if they were just standing still even though they could feel their blood pooling from their heads to their toes.
Sheina immediately tried to fight the force and steady her body. But unfortunately, the power acting everywhere around her had a tinge of Aubility Power, making her completely susceptible to its attacks.
Fighting the urge to vomit, she peered through the darkness to find her siblings.
She was starting to worry.
But thankfully, she could still hear them out in the distance.
"Hahahaha! I’m so dizzy!" Zion giggled.
"Urghhh... I wanna lay down...," Jaku said, retching.
">...<"
Sheina instinctively wanted to throw a shoe at Zion. Even though they were in such a precarious situation, the boy still had the gall to be so carefree. This was no time for jokes!
As for Umisu, Sheina knew that her little sister must be so anxious right now. If they couldn’t hear each other right now, she probably would have already crashed out.
And Jaku, who was supposed to be the eldest of them all, was of no use. He couldn’t be relied on unless he was laying down in a bed.
As usual, she had to be the one to step up. She was the only one who could!
"I have to save my siblings... I have to save Lord Michael!"
The very person that they relied on, the very pillar of their company, Michael, was suddenly yanked away from them by a strange force.
She tried to catch up to him, but he was long gone by the time she entered the transportation tunnel.
And because they were caught up in the wake of his abduction, they couldn’t even worry about where he went off.
With him gone, they had to get out of this mess by themselves.
And Sheina took it upon herself to be the one to step up.
She had to.
She took out her Mithril Artifact compound bow from her back and tucked it under her arm. And using her other hand, she conjured a magical arrow with a string tied to its bottom.
With this stringed arrow loaded in her bow, she notched the string backwards and pointed ahead.
"Make a sound!" she told them.
"What?" Jaku answered back, confused.
"BWEEE!" Zion said, making a face.
"...here...!" Umisu muttered loudly.
She used the echoes of their voices to triangulate their exact positions and aim for their clothes.
This would have been an easy feat in the real world, but unfortunately, not only was Sheina tumbling around like a car wheel, but she also couldn’t see anything past her own hands.
She had to consider her own trajectory, as well as their trajectory as they got tumbled along the space rift.
After taking a breath, she aimed upwards, 44.2 degrees northwest.
Even though she calculated her aim with exact precision, the pressure was still getting to her.
Her whole bow was trembling as she pulled the strings as tight as she could.
Finally, she released her string with a TWANG!
The arrow flew across the dark space, leaving behind nothing but a glowing string attached at its nock.
Zion was tumbling around, when all of a sudden, he heard a whistling sound from his right ear.
He turned around and saw the arrow coming straight for his head.
"Ei!"
He ducked, and the arrow shot through his collar and entangled it with the string.
The arrow continued onwards, curving and aiming towards Umisu. The green-scaled Dragonborn had her eyes covered with her hands, not even noticing that the arrow had shot through the lower hems of her shirt.
And finally, the arrow shot towards Jaku, aiming for his collar.
However, a sudden rift in space created an upward draft, with the arrow overshooting a meter above his head!
"Catch it!" said Sheina.
But Jaku seemed to be too lazy to jump up as he simply yawned and let the arrow pass through him.
Then, he took out his scabbard and hung it above the string tied to the arrow, creating a makeshift zipline.
" Yawn... I’m fine, I’m fine," he said.
Sheina shook her head as she saw the arrow loop back around her.
She quickly caught the arrow with her bare hands and tied the string around her waist.
And with a simple pull, she yanked her Dragonborn siblings closer to her, allowing them to finally see each other again.
"Sis!" Zion cheered. "You’re the best!"
But instead of celebrating, Sheina heaved a sigh of relief. They weren’t out of the woods just yet. "Don’t move. Just hang on tight," she commanded.
Then, she took the tied string again and aimed it forwards.
Using her full strength, she shot the arrow, letting its momentum pull them all away from the current of the rift.