The Gamer's POV

Chapter 343: Without a Bridge

Once a person in the lower Grades got through the blue bridges to any of the Rings, even if they had really powerful spatial authorities and abilities, they wouldn’t be able to return to the Cradle until they used another blue bridge. And even then, they still needed the red bridge energy to cross the blue bridge which would bring them back.

"I think the mechanics which govern the bridges are part of what imposes those rules in the realms and on the barriers. While these mechanics creates these rules, causality enforces them. Even if I were to have feathers here in the Cradle and went to the Second Ring, I would not be able to swap back to the Cradle.

"However, the First Ring no longer has a blue bridge leading there. Without a red or blue bridge, shouldn’t those laws be gone?

"I have feathers in that universe. So, shouldn’t I be able to swap over there, and back without problems?"

He thought about it for a long while. As he had said earlier, this was going to be one of the greatest gambles he would ever take.

Dipping his quill in the dark ink, he wrote down a final heading.

"Density of the Veils."

He circled that phrase, then muttered to himself, "That’s all I need to watch out for. I don’t know how thick the barrier between this world and the First Ring will be. If it’s too thick, then I’ll die while trying to cross. If not..."

He exhaled.

Eventually, he shut his diary and shoved it into his inventory.

He stood and paced up and down the study for a bit.

Then, ignoring all etiquette, he sat right on the ground, crossed his legs, and closed his eyes. He tried to feel his connection to all of his feathers, both near and very far away.

It took him some time to connect with every single one of them, and then a slow smile crossed his lips.

He turned to look outside the large window behind his desk. By now, the sun had long since gone away, and the pale light of the moon spilled into the silent room.

He exhaled and reached out to his bond. ’Aika, where are you?’~

***

In the dim, lamp-lit parlor, the clink of gold coins clashed with the low, rumbling laughter of wealthy patrons, while the air grew thick with the heavy stench of pipe smoke and melting wax.

Men and women leaned over the velvet tables with tense, hungry expressions, while the stone-faced dealers dressed in stark black and white moved silently between the crowds, collecting lost fortunes and dealing out fresh hands of cards.

On one of the largest roulette tables, Aika sat with her legs casually crossed, dressed in an expensive, deep red velvet gown with black lace trim. Her eyes were lined with dark kohl, contrasting sharply with the deep red painted onto her lips. She had just finished fanning out her hand of cards, studying them with an amused smirk, when she suddenly heard Cedric’s voice echo in her mind.

’Aika, where are you?’~

She halted her movements and replied mentally, ’The Golden Grotto Club. Why? You alright?’~~

’Aye,’~ Cedric replied. He went quiet for a few seconds, before continuing. ’I’ll be heading off somewhere far for a bit. I need to go try and gain some more subjects of influence.’~

Aika, who was playfully biting her tongue as she prepared to throw down another winning card, arched a brow. ’Hope you don’t need me with you at the moment? Because I am currently drowning in gold coins and it would be a tragedy to walk away.’~~

Cedric chuckled lightly. ’No. I actually need you to remain here. No matter what happens, don’t come over to me. I’ll be back pretty soon.’~

Aika didn’t even hesitate. ’Roger.’~~

And...

She was gone.

...Back in the study, Cedric took a few breaths while shaking his hands. After a few long seconds, a small part of him felt that he was ready. He exhaled a thin wisp of green smoke, then muttered.

"Get ready to swap with me, Arlo."

Suddenly, his form began to break away into feathers that fell, disappearing as they drifted toward the floor, until a sleek black raven was perched in Cedric’s place.

Normally, whenever he used one with the ravens to teleport, he didn’t feel anything as he broke apart and reformed.

Now, however, it felt like something was stopping his body from merging back together.

He felt himself shatter, but rather than allow himself to disperse completely, he forced his consciousness to hold the fragments of his body together by sheer strength of will.

After a few arduous seconds, his form materialized out of a swirling vortex of feathers on a sunny beach.

The moment he arrived, he fell flat on his face against the ground. Groaning, he tried to rise.

He did rise, but then, he wobbled. He staggered forward, backward, and sideways. The world tilted, and before he could understand what was happening, he fell down flat on his back and passed out immediately.

***

What felt like an eternity later...

——

For a long moment, there was only silence. Cedric then felt something poking at his cheek. He wasn’t sure what it was, as he was still stuck somewhere between dreaming and waking.

However, in the few seconds that followed, his eyes snapped open. At first, he winced groggily as a dull ache pulsed behind his temples. He could feel the soft, pale light from above piercing through his blurry vision.

Then, all of a sudden, he panicked and immediately sat up straight, and looked around.

That was when he saw that what had been poking and trying to wake him was his raven, Muninn.

He immediately checked his surroundings, looking up at the moon high above. It was now night.

As he tried to figure out where he was, it hit him that at this very moment, he was on the White Shore of Ophidia.

He had succeeded... and had made it back to the First Ring!

Cedric let out a low, breathless chuckle.

"Ah... I did it."

Of course, he was not happy that he had come back to this godforsaken place, but rather, he was happy that he had survived coming back here.

He rubbed the sand off his face, but then he scrunched his nose because the smell of rotten corpses suddenly hit him hard.

All around the shore, the bodies of the Nagas, along with the rotten corpses of cadets, lay scattered across the sand as a grim reminder of the battle of the lords.

Cedric’s mood grew grim.

The good thing was that so far, those bodies had not attracted monsters from other parts of this realm to this place. If they had, he would have been done for.

Speaking of which, what exactly had happened?

Before he could process things, Aika’s voice echoed in his head. ’You are a real piece of work, you know that? I swear you are going to give me a heart attack one day.’~~

Cedric tilted his head with a lost expression.

She then sighed and added, ’I felt your entire mana deplete to absolute zero and your essence core almost give out. I wondered what the fuck you had gotten yourself into, but I couldn’t reach you because you had passed out. So I had to spend the night drawing in mana for you. Since you told me not to come to you no matter what, once you had enough to manifest a raven, I had Muninn manifest near you so that I could check your situation.

’Imagine my shock when I find out that you are not even in this world.’~~

She paused. Then, as if she still could not believe it, she blurted, ’Ced, what the fuck are you doing in the First Ring?!’~~