Implode ~ 19!

He was frozen in the moment, staring at the strange, creeping… the only word he could think of to describe what was happening to the essence of the world at this moment was ‘influence’. The energy that undergirded reality, that seemed to make up everything, was having something added to it. Anything that was free-floating seemed to be impacted by it, including the mana that he was regenerating, and what he was expelling by using the orb in his hand.

Joe wasn't entirely certain what it was, but he had to hand it to his Dwarven companion; she had understood simply by shifts in the terrain that the Elves were up to no good. His eyes traversed the area, and he saw a strange dead spot just-

*Slap*.

“Snap out of it!” Daniella demanded with concern in her voice. “You can't just zone out in the middle of a conversation like this. It isn't safe or healthy!”

“Cleave, you were right.” Those were the first words Joe was able to eke out as soon as he regained his bearings. Going from seeing the world as energy and… had those been equations? Was he seeing base level physics as they interacted with the world directly?

Essence Cycle has reached Apprentice III!

“Always good to hear.” Major Cleave didn't bother to look at him, too focused on the fact that something was amiss in the area. “Anything else to report?”

“They are changing the mana. It's becoming... different. How can I explain this?” Joe cast about for any sort of analogy that he could use. “It's like adding artificial sweeteners to a drink instead of sugar. Sure, it might make it better in one way, like not storing fat, but it's ten times worse for your kidneys because it's not natural and your body doesn't know how to process it.”

“Not quite what I was asking, but a good observation.” Cleave shivered slightly, and Joe was almost certain that it was not from the cold. “Because they own the area, they can spread the influence of their Pantheon across the entire Zone. Anyone who is a follower of those deities will experience a significant boost in how easily they will be able to cast spells. Anyone who is not... well, you already have the Excommunicated title. It's just more of that. Making things unstable. Now, answer the question. Did you see what is waiting for us out there?”

“Fifth snowdrift to the left-”

*Wham.*

The Dwarf blinked across the space and slammed her axe directly into the snowbank. The cloud of snow was sent flying away, followed quickly by a rain of blood and viscera. “Anything else?”

Daniella’s face went a little green. “How did you-”

“Sneak attack, critical, based on instant movements and a full power attack.” The Dwarf was getting truly short with them and ignored any further attempts at conversation as she hustled them along the path. “If the mana is already being corrupted, we have even less time than we originally thought. There is a chance that the fortifications of the city are already being worn down, since the enchantments are drawing in ambient mana in order to function. Soon enough, it will be the wrong type of mana. The enchantment will either fail completely… or possibly self-destruct.”

With that dire pronouncement, the team turned and ran along the true path. They were nearing the summit and knew that it was only a matter of time before they needed to get off the path. Exploding enchantments were one thing, but there was also the likelihood of getting trapped on the path, or getting blown off the path and sent to the base of the mountain. None of the options were good, except getting to their destination as quickly as possible.

Circling the mountain three or four more times brought them right up to the end of the path, and they could see the walls of the Hidden City as they broke through a frozen cloud layer. While the rest of the team exclaimed excitedly, Major Cleave reached up and pulled on her mustache in consternation. “The bridge is gone! How in the abyss are we supposed to cross?”

That brought quiet back to the group, as each of them examined the treacherous drop they had not even noticed. They were just barely above the clouds, and it still swirled around their feet as fog. Joe knew that he would have been the first among them to fall, as he had already begun walking toward the open gates. “There's supposed to be a bridge?”

“It is so heavily enchanted that it should never have fallen,” Major Cleave confirmed distractedly, “unless... since it was the most heavily magical space along this entire path, it could have fallen first, or the magic's failed and brought the whole thing down. I have no idea how we are going to get across now, as trying to climb across will count as us going off of the path and send us back to the base of the mountain.”

“I could set up bubble travel!” Joe whipped out a ritual tile and started the process of setting it up, only to be stopped nearly right away by their traveling companion and guide.

Cleave pointed at the entrance to Dehur Bethi. “Just like every major settlement, an anti-magic enchantment protects the threshold to the city. Unless we were starting on that side, there would be no way to get into the city. We would fall prey to the defenses, and the bubble would pop as we tried to get close. Only something coming from the city will allow us to cross over safely.”

That stumped all of them for a long moment, and each of them tried to calculate a way across. Joe knew what he wanted to do: he wanted to test out Omnivault. He had no idea if it would count as a failure, or even how he was supposed to know where the safe path across would be. “Cleave, do you think that I could jump it? I think that I could make it, but how am I supposed to know if I am getting too close to leaving the path?”

“That would never… no, it might work.” The Dwarf gave him a considering look and slowly nodded. “That might work, indeed. The only issue is that a corridor of power connects the gates to the path. With the bridge gone, all that is left is the residual mana, and I have no idea how to describe what it looks like. I suppose I could try to sketch it out, but you are going to be flying blind.”

That sparked an idea in the Ritualist’s head, and he fished out one of his orbs. “Knock this out of my hand in a moment, would one of you?”

This time, he waited for confirmation before grabbing the orb, and with a touch, the world shifted into a kaleidoscope of colors, mathematical formations, and interesting implications that were just out of his mind's reach. Most notably, he could see waving tendrils of energy in the air, clearly demarcating where the enchantment had been affecting the space. It appeared to have been torn asunder and was slowly dissolving as the attunement of mana broke it down. The vision abruptly ended as his hand was slapped. “I saw it! I think that I can get through there, so I'm going to go for it.”

“Joe, broken enchantments always leave distortions; were you able to see them?” Cleave let out a sigh of relief as he nodded, then shook her head at the thought of him jumping through that. “If you touch one of those, one of three things is going to happen. It will short-circuit what remains of the enchantment—dumping all remaining energy directly into your body—or it will boot you off the path.”

Joe counted the listed possibilities on his fingers, raising an eyebrow at her. “That's two; what is the third?”

“That would be both options happening simultaneously.” Her mouth tightened grimly. “By the time we could get back down there, to the start of all of this, we would find your charred corpse while you waited in respawn.”

“If I can't touch them, I'll just have to be able to know where they are the entire time.” Joe reached for his orb once again. “All I need to do is make sure that I am not completely entranced and force myself to see the world, and the energy, all at the same time.”

“Right. You've never done that before, have you?” Jaxon inquired as he bobbed an eyebrow at his friend. “You let me take a peek at that, and even I couldn't escape! Let's be real here, my willpower is so much higher than yours that there is practically no comparison.”

Everyone on the team stared at the Chiropractor strangely, and the only reason an orchestra of crickets didn’t start up was that any that could have been near enough were frozen solid. Joe painted a smile on his face and patted his friend on the arm woodenly. “Of course yours is. Still, I need to try!”

He checked to verify the consensus with the group, but the fact of the matter was that no one else had an actionable plan, let alone a better idea. Steeling himself against the numerous possibilities for the attempt to go awry, he walked to the end of the path and stared straight ahead. “Okay, here's what I need to do. Orb goes on my palm with my hand facing down. That way, as I jump, I will lose sight of the energy and be able to focus.”

“Nope!” Major Cleave called at him. “The energy is going to be shifting and flowing the entire time. You need to be able to avoid it directly! You need to see it the entire way.”

“That makes things harder,” Joe continued in the monotone he hadn't thought his team would be able to hear. “Still, I believe in myself. Only one shot, or I am likely on my way to respawn.”

Trying to psych himself up without psyching himself out was difficult, but he felt that he was more than up to the task. He canceled all of his normal passive spells, such as Retaliation of Shadows, Exquisite Shell, and Neutrality Aura. Joe wanted as much of his mana available as possible, just in case he found the opportunity to activate his Omnivault a few times in a row.

Gearing himself up, he took a deep breath, got into the best position possible, and Omnivaulted forward just before grasping his Ritual Orb, which remained in his bandolier to ensure he did not drop it. Essence Cycle overwhelmed his senses, and Joe watched in awe as the air-attuned mana rushed past his flesh-imbued face.

Seeing the Essence of things could make for a pretty wild experience.