Sleeping Player (Project Chrysalis Book 3) by John Gold (novel24 TXT) 📕

He can be found in a special academy building people say he hasn’t left in ten years. After a quick conversation and an attempt on his part to get a feel for me with the help of some spirits, we get down to brass tacks.

“I’ve gotten to the seventh and ninth layers of the astral.” The mage’s eyes widen. “Every time I’m there, I feel like there’s some kind of powerful being watching me. In the ninth layer, I saw creatures that I haven’t found a description for in any book, story, or bestiary. But whatever was watching me was much more powerful and in deeper layers.”

Vazari nods as though I’m confirming his suspicions.

“The tenth layer of the astral is blocked. When you get your astral skill up to 900, nothing will happen, although you should unlock access to that tenth layer. The strongest battle mages can use the spirits from the second layer. Everyone living in the layers deeper down just kill anyone who summons them—they’re much stronger. The spirits there are between level 1000 and Level 2000. Fifteen hundred years ago, this world was being ravaged by the last war of the wanderers, and that was when the tenth layer was blocked. You can feel what’s living there because you’re a wanderer. That may even be the key to the riddle.”

“What do the old chronicles say?”

“They were scrubbed so clean the gods themselves wouldn’t be able to tell you. There isn’t even a hint left.”

We have to leave via a window, from which we leap to the quarter wall. From there, we make our way out of the city as a precaution. I’m done with Kkhor.

Femida laughs so hard she practically falls off the wall. Her modulating laughter even infects me—we’re alive, free, moving forward.

We get to the ocean and start walking along the bank. In just an hour, forty kilometers to the south of Kkhor, we find a magic-space eddy and get to the Sea of Madness on our first try. There’s an aura of death, and we have to kill twenty high-level bots as we head away from the bank and toward the source of the aura. Femida, packrat that she is, collects everything she can from them. I’m not worried—she’ll definitely share half the proceeds with me.

“Almark, are you sure this is a good place? I really don’t like this aura.”

“You’re just nervous about it because your resistance isn’t where it should be. The important part is that it’s constant! Once we get deeper down, we’ll have the continual physical damage, too. I’ll add electricity damage at some point.”

“You sure that’s not too much?”

“Keep talking, and I’ll paralyze you, too.”

“Okay, okay. You’re sure we’ll be okay though?”

“We’ll find out soon enough. Panacea! Maximum!”

This time, the island turns out much bigger, and Femida reacts faster. She leaps ten meters in the air using her amplification and lands on a firm bed of plants. The tumultuous growth continues for another ten minutes, and she has to keep jumping over and over again, doing her best not to get caught on any branches.

“What do you need a floating flowerbed for? The death aura will kill it.”

I look at the island, which is continuing to grow thanks to my aura of life. Thousands of plants thrash around in the water, there’s already a layer of fertile soil made entirely of leaves and roots, and my bare feet blend in with the root system.

“First, the aura isn’t really all that dangerous. When I was in Hell, the forest I grew reduced the damage and effects of the aura. You probably noticed that you felt a little less afraid of death. The island is self-sustaining, capable of healing the damage the aura does.”

Femida nods silently.

“Second, eat that blood tie potion, and you’ll find out why I grew this island.”

Pulling a red dumpling out of my pocket, I do the same.

“Cool! Our health is 200 million and climbing.”

“The island has one single root system that serves as the base. I don’t know what kind of plant that is, but it coexists symbiotically with the other plants on the island. It doesn’t have a crown, just a thick network of roots. Maybe, it isn’t even a plant at all. I guess it could just be what happens when hundreds or thousands of plants work together. But do you know what the most important part is?”

“What?”

“Technically, the whole island is the crown. Samarus the Bloody’s mark works under it, which is why I picked the sea instead of Hashan Desert. Think, Fem! Physical, mental, and electric damage all in one place. Once we get down to the bottom, we’ll even have cold damage.”

“You’re crazy!”

“And you’re the idiot who followed me!”

That was really a compliment for my savvy, and we both know it. Femida heads over to the edge of the island and starts collecting crabs. They’re the first sign of a complete biome, which means we’ll soon be getting seagulls and other little creatures.

We spend the rest of the day relaxing and cooking over an open fire. During that period, we have to move our camp four times, getting closer to the water. Every three or four hours, the grass, thick shrubbery, and young trees fills up where we’re sitting. I dump all my strength in the life aura. The island is drifting, and that’s no good—unless the roots reach the bottom, a wave could pull it away at any moment, leaving me to die from the enormous damage.

When we run out of little creatures, Femida logs out of the game, so I dive under the island. It definitely grew evenly. I have to turn off my aura and use my Life Magic contact spells to direct how I want the root system to grow. My creation reacts quickly to the disappearing aura and