Bent World: Chapter 39 The Search

Chapter 39

The Search

Purple lightning.

My hand coated in crackling wisps of energy glows for a moment, that’s as long as it takes now. Just focus, reach out grab and pull.

There is obviously more to it, there is still a faint shock of confusion when my fingers reach out and find invisible purchase. A thick layer of tapestry that I need to grab hold of and crumble my fingers through. At first, the process felt like I was ripping and tearing into a mountain, as if trying to climb up a mountain by simply ripping my way through the giant structure. Now though, now it is similar to digging in freshly soaked beach sand. Sand that clumps and crumbles apart at the simplest of forces and can be used to build structures.

What structures would I build? Well simply put, I will build passageways and cut throughs. It doesn’t hurt that I now force my way through the weaker points, this too was a lesson that took time. Rather than trying to forge my way anywhere, I now look for the easy paths, the spaces where reality is already thinned out for whatever reason.

Surprisingly enough, the harder places to move through are areas where rifts have long since been healed. Almost, as if the thin film between realms can build up scar tissue, the stronger and larger the former rift area, the denser the ethereal scar tissue that develops.

By contrast the rifts I create for myself are gentle, being healed up within an hour if I leave alone, or instantaneously if I instantly reseal the breach. Then anywhere from a month to a day later and there will be no signs that I even traveled through a particular area. A day for when I close the rift properly, and a month when the rift closes on its own. In both cases, the area between the realms remains the same.

I think this is what is meant to be a Pathfinder, the ability to travel freely between realms, gathering and balancing resources as needed. Though at this point, I am beginning to have my doubts as to whether this system is actually meant to be a Pathfinder system. While the ‘P’ and the ‘w’ hand markings do make sense, there is still a lot of questions that come up about this alleged system.

Most prominent is the way the lands seem to react to my presence, almost as if daring me to stay for long and take root in a place.

Yet, each world I go to, I can’t stay. One had too much water, making me have to fight sea creatures constantly to survive. Amphibious creatures were the ultimate powerhouses, with land creatures like myself being smaller and more compact due to the lack of natural resources we could gain without going into the water.

Other planets were too dry, which oddly seemed to make them colder. That or maybe the coldness was the reason why there was less water? It somehow all froze and hid in clumps. There were some that seemed perfect, but were saturated with volcanic ash, which granted was a product of where I was at the time, but it did make finding vegetables and noncarnivores monsters harder.

Ultimately each planet I’ve been to before now had one issue or another. Each planet surprisingly had their own monoliths, which I kind of refer to as waystones, for even now, I can feel the tether and path I took getting from and to each waystone in each planet I went to. Which is sort of what one would expect when it comes to the Pathfinder system, but I still have my doubts.

That said, each new world I go to, I have two rules.

Find at least one, preferably two Waystones on each new world.

When you arrive, leave no sign of your arrival or departure.

Collecting Waystones is sort of addicting. In addition to being able to trace my route back to prior planets or realms, I feel that I somehow get more powerful with each new Waystone found. It was after my tenth Waystone that I began feeling the changes happening within my body that turned my dark ‘P’ to a bronze one.

Again, I almost had to accept that there was some sort of leveling system that the women of my world were able to see and experience. If only due to how persistent they were at tracking and noting their changes. Which is why I think my mind was more accepting of the fact that not only did my random crest on the back of my left hand change colors, but after that my body also changed.

With that change, I felt my body tighten up and almost create a gravitational well, where my bones and muscles all seemed to compact and constrict inwardly. Before my bones could have been described as hollow, particularly with how dense they now feel. Another feat of that change that I saw was that my cuts and scars that I had built up to that point suddenly vanished, leaving me with a new pristine body.

Since that point, I’ve had a few reckless encounters, one time I fell from a mountain and could swear that I broke my leg. Grunting in pain, I managed to get to a place of safety where I could at least take a nap and recover. But when I awoke, it was little more than a deep and painful bruise. By the next day, it was as if nothing had ever happened.

I did notice that one of my floating balls of green energy did dim ever so slightly on my hand, a sign that some of my body’s energy was apparently converted in the process. From my prior experiences I knew that this was possible, but not to such an amazing extent. This is yet another reason why I try to touch at least one Monolith, or Waystone, in each new realm.

Pausing, every once in a while, when I begin to doubt myself I turn back and my mind can almost track back the exact path I took to get here. There at the very end is my life. Or rather my starting point for this new life. I will go back, for whatever reason I feel that now that I’ve gained at least the bronze level of my Pathfinder marking, I can get some type of reward if I go back.

Yet, I keep wanting, no needing to go further still. Partly due to the fact that I know my reward will be larger if I can improve myself again. The obvious way to improve myself is to interact with more Waystones on different planets.

With my first change occurring at 10 Waystones met on two worlds, I figured 20 might be enough, then maybe 25, now I am up to 28 and still counting. This is fine though, as I have not met my ultimate goal, that of finding my real home world. The world we in our infinite wisdom dubbed Earth01. With Earth07 being the invading conquerors that destroyed our planet, took our resources and brought them back to their world, where they are even now quickly integrating the new lessons of science and technology into their everyday life.

The only problem, I’ve gone through at least eight different planets so far, connecting to Waystones at each planet, but I still have not found what I would consider my home planet.

Logically, it has only been eighteen years since I last saw that twice cursed planet. A planet cursed by the planet they tried to evacuate to, and cursed by the solar eclipse that was set to destroy all life on the planet a few years later.

By now, I am relatively certain that Earth01 should be free and clear of any residual world destroying solar bursts or eruptions. That or if danger was still present, I could either easily hop back through my own rift or create a new one relatively quickly. That was my mentality every time I opened a new path between the different realms.

How I knew they would be different realms? That’s a good question, I just sort of innately understood where the overlapping boundaries between two distinct realms lay and went further away, until the next border world began to appear to my senses. Generally, the overlap occurred closer to the Waystones, which made it a no brainer of reaching a new Waystone, establishing a connection and then finding the nearest weakspot and traveling through.

Personally, I hate these sort of vague answers, or answers that aren’t real answers. Like, I’ll know when I know. Or I just feel the difference, but so far that is the most I have to go on. My scientific mind rebels against these realizations, but that is all I have at the moment.

What is particularly odd is that at these so called in between areas, that is the area with the highest chance of an unnatural rift to appear. My current thoughts are that these so called open areas are places where connections to any realm can be made, but making one here takes so much energy that damages are prone to happen.

Similarly, the overlap that happens near the Monoliths are places where a very specific connection can occur, and seemingly no other rifts can be made in those areas. That or the amount of energy used to create a rift in that area to a third realm gets exponentially wasted causing only minor rifts to appear. I honestly don’t know.

Once I go back, or if I go back, to this body’s birth planet I will definitely try to check out the energy measurement devices being used. The ones that are capable of determining the size of a particular rift. But that is a distant task, for now, I have a plan.

Find this nearest monolith, establish a known path back, and determine which way I will go in the future.

Rustle.

As has become a constant, predators try to stalk me on every planet I go to. After nearly a decade of constant use, most of my blades have either snapped or been worn away until I had to discard them. Only my one long blade still remains, but it is mostly just for show at this point as I try not to hunt with it anymore. Instead, I now consider myself a Telekinetic or Psychokinetic specialist.

Why rely on one simple blade that can bend, chip, and shatter with a powerful enough strike, when I can use the world as my weapon. Animal trying to track me using shadow stalking skills, I’ll give a quick five hundred meters, long enough to leave any dwelling area. I don’t want to be the hunter who strikes down monsters that are just protecting their progeny. That said, if the monsters continue to follow, I must defend myself.

Also, going five hundred meters gives me more than enough time to find my weapons of choice. A long sharp rock on the ground. A branch that has a particularly sharp point at the end. Everything and anything will be grabbed and used.

Sometimes I wonder if some of the creatures are even aware of the items I am finding as I move forward through an area. Some remain in front of me, some on the sides, and finally some behind, all creating what I mentally refer to as a killing net.

Hustle.

I don’t make these five hundred meters easy either, as I make sure to use my speed to give these hunters even more of a chance to avoid entangling their fates with my own.

Full blown running.

Suddenly the forest erupts as the monster is no longer able to keep their form hidden in the cloak of shadows, not that they were truly hidden to me, as I could all but see their magical form. A form that even glows in the darkness for any creature trying to further enhance their combat abilities at night.

Prat-pa-prat.

Multiple sets of running feet let me realize that I am being stalked by a pack hunter. Shaking my head, I realize there is no point in running any further. While I’m not at my 500 meter range, there is one thing that all pack hunters have when they have all collectively chosen a singular prey. Namely, they have tenacity. Kill one, they continue. Kill all but the last one and they will run away, either to get more of their pack, or reproduce as the sole survivor and continue on.

Choosing my spot, which is at the bottom of a hill just next to a flowing stream, I pause and realize this is as good a spot as any.

Crunch!

My feet slide to a stop on a field of small jagged rocks that have long since been worn away to have one smooth flat side.

Getting a chance to pause, I finally get a moment to take in the full sight of my pursuers. They are large wolf type creatures, with wide shoulders and heads that easily reach to the top of my chest. Four powerful legs, and two tails each. Having dissected many creatures, I know that the two tails often means that there are redundant sets of critical organs, two hearts, four lungs, but in these cases there is still one brain. Given the size of the creature, I could see such a large body being used to house multiple organs, meaning piercing one heart won’t be enough to take down these creatures, as I would either need to find and pierce both hearts, or take out the brain.

Honestly, I am very impressed by these redundant creatures, the way their body has adapted to be able to survive almost anything is impressive. Often times, even piecing a heart or two lungs will not be enough to kill the creature, so long as the pack can provide for them, they will often be able to rest up and heal over time. I also assume that with two hearts and four lungs, their ability to continue to chase down prey is exceptional. They are truly impressive creatures, and ones that I am glad I didn’t have to take down directly.

That said, I am done analyzing most sets of wild animals. My need to kill all but one and watch how long a survivor takes to fully recover is over.

Stalling.

Perhaps sensing my confidence. Or wondering why I suddenly stopped at a tiny stream of water, they pause. They still have the high ground, being as they are on a mountain, meaning gaining momentum should only take a matter of seconds, which is likely why they chose now to wait.

Even as they wait, the two on the edges begin flanking, while the two largest ones hold the front line, growling and snarling to keep my attention. Seeing them, I just shake my head. I don’t have times for these games.

That’s when I make my move.

Grinding.

While four sets of monstrous eyes are all focused on me, the monsters fail to notice the sudden trembling and coming to life of no less than ten branches and sharp sticks that rise up and begin piercing, jabbing, and stabbing into the thick fur coats of the monsters. From there, a dozen fist to boulder sized rocks slam up, slam sideways, or crash violently into the wolves. Of particular focus is that at least two different rocks aim for the faces. Then I repeated the process, twisting embedded stakes, using rocks to bash bones, break paws, and snap teeth.

Crunch, crackle, sploosh.

In a matter of seconds, what were four large proud hunters who had cornered their prey and kept the prey from acting on a sudden case of hydrophobia were suddenly pummeled to paste.

“Death whimper.”

My attack was so fierce and violent that they were already too wounded to retreat by the time the alpha hunter gave the cry to retreat. By then it was too late.

With that instance of sudden onset violence over, I realized that this place would be just as good as any to rest for the day. I had water, food, and potential new clothing or furs that could be used to rest upon, depending on how little damage I did to the beasts’ pelts.

Pausing to make sure I was still going in the right direction, I stopped for a moment, and then stared off into the distance. Yes, fortunately even my mad dash at the end was still in the general direction of the nearest Waystone. Furthermore, I was now close enough to see that it had a faint green hue to it, meaning it would be one that should help me heal easier. At that realization, I felt better, knowing that I would be able to meet my goals for this world and then be able to either move on, or try to find the next closest Waystone.  Knowing that I can see the coloring means that I am within a day’s travel, which makes my need to use this moment to eat, drink, and rest even more important.

That’s when I get to work, Finding a nice flat smooth stone, I sit down and then begin moving everything with my mind. Telekinetic hands reach out and grab the dead beasts, as blood stains the nearby rocks. I know this might be something that attracts more predators, but that is a fact I have to accept at this point. Eat in the wild, and you will experience all that nature has to offer. Sometimes I wonder if this is cheating, never having to move a muscle to do everything you want. But then I remember that old proverb, if you aren’t cheating, then you aren’t trying.

Staring off into the distance, I mentally wonder what tomorrow will offer. Looking down at my left hand, I realize that tomorrow’s Waystone will be number 29. Will that be enough? Or will it require more?

I am so close that I can feel the changes already occurring, even now my body is faster and lighter. I wasn’t even winded after trying to outrun the monsters that had dual circulatory systems.

That night, I fell asleep and for a fraction of a second, I swore I could see a blue interface appear before my eyes.

The Princ…

And then it flickered out of existence like a photon burst of light dispersing wild energy.