Normally, Michael would jump at the chance. However, he wasn’t sure if touching the Antique would create some sort of reaction that would be visible to everyone present here in this room.
He didn’t even know if this inheritance was going to be good or not. It could be a trap.
[Touch it,] Harbinger urged. There was excitement in his voice. [I feel something familiar in there.]
Something familiar? Like what?
[Just touch it. It’s not going to be dangerous. Well, at least for you. Our unique circumstance will allow us to safely traverse through the passage.]
Michael’s eyebrows raised. Passage?
Unable to sustain his curiosity any longer, he reached for the Antique.
His fingertips made contact with the rough surface of the bone, feeling the multiple cuts all around its surface. Each of them were sharp. He guessed that if he looked through them with a microscope, he would see a complete separation in the surface. No ordinary weapon could make such a perfect incision.
[Unsactioned blood retrieval detected,] ChatJK5 warned. [Would you like to temporarily disable the system’s security?]
[Yes!]
ChatJK5 remained silent, waiting for Michael’s words.
Do it, he said.
He immediately felt a prick on his index finger as the invisible prismatic shield surrounding his hands vanished, [Absolute Unity Defense] disabled, allowing a foreign power to injure him with a pin prick.
A drop of blood leaked onto the Antique’s surface, immediately sinking into the many cuts all around the bone.
And suddenly, his pupils dilated, almost becoming the same size as his irises.
His vision became blurry, before the world began to turn all around him. It was nauseating.
Harbinger! What’s happening?!
[Kukukuku! We’re going for a ride!]
As soon as Harbinger said that, an incredible suction force began pulling Michael towards the bone. He felt as if the Antique suddenly turned into a black hole, pulling him in at an intense force that light couldn’t even escape from.
The whole world blurred as he zoomed towards the bone until his entire vision was just black.
A second later, he stumbled forwards, finally feeling solid ground underneath his feet.
It took him a second before he could center himself. He still felt a little bit nauseous after that little ’ride’.
Haaa... where am I?
He began to look around, only to see floating ruins around him made out of some kind of reflective obsidian with gold lining.
Roof tiles floated aimlessly on pure black skies, a severed balcony hung upside down, and a wide winding staircase led up to nothing, with its remaining parts being shattered and floating across air.
The only thing that stood tall was an obelisk made out of the same obsidian-like material with streaks of gold. It exhibited no signs of wear and tear, standing proudly as if it had just been created recently.
"There’s no gravity here," he remarked. He felt weightless. He could move freely in all directions, without any restraints as if flying in outer space.
He would have thought he was in space, seeing as the skies were completely black and dark, except for the fact that there were no stars or heavenly bodies that should have littered the skies. It was bleak all around.
"Is this another case of someone plucking me out?"
This wasn’t the first time he experienced a forced teleportation. Kuno did it to him.
However, this felt like a different situation. He knew no place on Earth that had no gravity like this one.
Either way, he did the first thing he wanted to check was to see if he could get out of here.
He closed his eyes and used his Supreme Talent, sensing all the mana particles in the air to see if he could connect with the shadows he left behind in the Nation of Reborn.
Blips of mana appeared in his vision, all having the colors representing the different mana elements. It
At least the mana density here is normal.
And as far as he could tell, there was no magic—mana or Aubility Power—that was locking him into this place like Kuno’s underground castle. He could theoretically leave anytime he wanted.
Hopeful, he tried to conjure up a magic spell.
All those globules of mana began floating towards his body, getting absorbed into his skin in the most natural way. His body was now glowing with a white undertone.
And as the mana in his body reached saturation, he manifested a black magic circle underneath his feet.
It caused his own shadow to move and expand outwards, breaking the limits of two dimensions and encompassing his entire body in a cocoon.
As his mana reached a climax, he commanded his shadow to go beyond this dimension and travel him back to the Nation of Reborn.
More and more mana from the surroundings began shooting towards him with an intense attractive force.
The cocoon began to glow white, starting from the bottom and slowly reaching towards the top.
But just as the light reached halfway through, he suddenly found himself unable to supply it with mana any longer!
Michael opened his eyes, looking around and noticing that all the mana in this place was gone!
All of it had been used to have the shadow teleportation spell only 50% of the way through!
Michael couldn’t believe it. Where am I?!
The mana requirements for this spell was incredibly large! It was even way bigger than when he traveled to the Forbidden Island in the Elven Kingdom. And according to the maps he saw, that was already halfway across the entire world!
It didn’t even make sense. This teleportation required at least twice more than when he travelled to the Elven Kingdom.
This meant that this place should be at least twice as far as the Elven Kingdom and the Royal Continent.
But there was no place that should be farther than that.
The only conclusion he could reach was that this was a Pocket Dimension. Since the Antique was designed back in the Ancient Era, there was probably some kind of magic in it that caused it to be so far away from where he was.
"Harbinger, how do I get out of this place?"
He didn’t panic just yet. Since Harbinger urged him to touch the Antique, he assumed that his Diva knew what he was doing and that there was an exit plan somewhere in that robot’s mind.
[Kukuku, how would I know?]
Michael slapped his own forehead.
[Don’t worry. This place doesn’t look like it’s designed to be escaped. It looked like it’s designed to be conquered! Look at the obelisk.]
He did as Harbinger instructed and stared at the obelisk. This time, he brought out his Drone which was thankfully transported with him into this place.
And as he used his Drone Vision, he suddenly saw a startling discovery.
The obelisk was brimming with Aubility Power!
He had never seen any item that was filled with Aubility Power. It should only be found on Maugnetics or Beastfolk!
But the presence of Aubility Power wasn’t the only thing that was startling about the obelisk.
It’s the way that it was arranged.
His [Drone Vision] allowed him to see threads of Aubility Power arranged into familiar shapes.
At the center of the structure was a pair of handprints, with arrows pointing towards it from all sides.