Chapter 11 - Reality Crack

Eventually, Jellal and Meredy woke up and joined Jin and Ultear for breakfast. For the most part, everyone quietly ate since they were still waking up. A half hour or so later, they packed up the tent and extinguished the campfire.

According to the directions indicated on their chat group applications, Jin and Jellal led the way through the forest toward where the mission details pointed. They only traversed the distance of a few football fields before an eerie atmosphere tickled their skin. In the distance, they heard the rumble of quaking earth and the cracks of trees snapping. The four members of the party all looked at each other and adopted serious expressions before continuing onward. A little further into the dense woods, they encountered a crater wider in diameter than most sports arenas.

"This isn't quite what I expected," Jellal murmured, his brows furrowed.

"Same here," Jin agreed with a subtle nod.

Behind them, both Meredy and Ultear observed the scenery with wide eyes.

Above the center of the ruined earth, pulsating lines similar to a cracked mirror floated in the air. An eerie glow emanated from the ethereal cracks, yet none of the four people staring at it could discern its color as though it was unperceivable to the human eye. The ground shifted and fractured unevenly around the cracks. Shards of wood and earth floated above the crater as though in a vacuum.

Steadily, inch by inch, the damage spread further into the forest. Not far from Jin and the others, the bark on the tree closest to the edge of the crater shattered as though crushed by an overwhelming force and slowly splintered the trunk into thousands of misshapen woodchips. Similarly, the dirt and rock at the crater's rim shattered like a thin layer of ice beneath the weight of an elephant. All of the grass, shrubs, and flowers growing there disintegrated into tiny particles like a sped up time lapse of decomposing plant matter.

'That must be the reality crack,' Jin solemnly noted.

"Looking at that crack in the air is giving me goosebumps," Meredy complained while rubbing her arms.

"Me too," Ultear agreed. "This feels nothing like other magic phenomena I've encountered. It feels so… alien."

Jellal nodded at her description.

Contrary to the others, Jin squinted at the dark lines spreading through the cracks with a confused expression. They gave him a familiar yet foreign feeling. His heart felt like it was pulsing in tandem along with them. He looked down at his hands and clenched them a few times.

'Are my Power Veins reacting to it? I feel like I can actually sense them inside my body now. However,' Jin thought, his lips curling downward, 'the pressure from that crack almost feels like it's trying to overpower me or something. I don't like it.'

Closing his eyes, he focused his attention inward to see if he could figure out a way to overcome the intangible pressure exerted upon him. He ignored Jellal asking if he was alright and hurriedly sped through his memories of fictional powers, abilities, sciences, or whatever else he could imagine might help him.

'These used to all be fiction to me, but now it's all real, so I'm sure I can do it if I try.'

With that in mind, he attempted to move any magic or other power that might already dwell in his Power Veins. Something squirmed and lurched inside of him. Excess energy started to rage within his core and surged into his arm. Needing an outlet, he punched the air in front of him. A small shockwave burst from his body, causing the clothes around his body and the grass around his feet to flutter. A deep and heavy puff of air hissed from between his lips. In the grand scheme of things, it might not have been a powerful display or anything, but the pressure exerted upon him by the eerie atmosphere instantly eased. Although the pressure still tickled his skin, he no longer felt the chilling momentum it exerted over him at first.

"Whew. Much better," Jin said in a relaxed tone despite the situation in front of them.

"What did you just do?" Jellal asked.

"Not much. Just felt uncomfortable and released some steam."

"Fair enough. It's definitely an oppressive atmosphere."

*KRRRKRAACK*

An unexpected pulse emanated from the cracks in the sky. Instantly, the crater expanded several meters, shredding and mangling the forest floor in its path. Trees within that ring twisted and burst in a deafening cacophony of destruction. All the debris in the vicinity shot outward, much of it flying outside the influence of the reality crack and littering the ground. The group of four all raised their cloaks to protect their faces from the debris.

When they looked at the reality crack again, they all froze. The cracks spread like rushing water in a flood, revealing a callous, malevolent, and condescending yellow bloodshot eye of massive proportions glaring back at them. After reaching high and wide enough to eclipse a two-story building, the cracks stopped spreading, yet they still did not reveal the full extent of the giant iris and six-pronged pupil. Without exception, shivers shot down their spines.

"...Do we need to fight that?" Ultear anxiously asked.

"I really hope not," Jellal replied with furrowed brows.

"That seems a bit much for a tutorial mission," Jin grumbled. He also vaguely noticed Meredy standing much closer to him than before. Whether that was for comfort or to protect him, he didn't know, but he suspected the latter.

While the group pondered what to do, the eye moved away, only to be replaced by a shadowy mass that their eyes could not fully register the surface of. A small bubble expanded on it and burst after a few seconds. A balled lump launched out from the crack and plopped on the uneven ground near the middle of the crater with a sickening splat. Gray and silver mucous dribbled off its surface and singed and melted the earth below it on contact.

After sitting still for a few moments, the clump, which stood taller than a full-grown man, lurched and unrolled. An inhuman abomination unfurled itself before their eyes. It slowly rose up on spindly hind legs until it stood three times taller than its previous height. Oozing tendrils formed its torso and multiple appendages.

'I'm going to assume that's the void beast," Jin thought with a grimace on his face. Then, he looked at his companions and advised, "Jellal, mind casting some magic before that thing starts moving any more?"

Shaking himself out of his surprised stare, Jellal firmed his gaze and replied, "Definitely." Stretching his right hand above his head and holding his left hand near his side, he stated in a heavy voice, "Pleiades."

At his command, six streaks of light swirled and screeched into the sky before plummeting downward in an explosive barrage atop the inhuman creature like small meteors. The resulting blast blew apart the dirt, rock, and stone around the point of impact and sent much of the remaining debris floating near the reality crack flying in every direction. The wind from it whipped at the clothes and hair of the party.

When the dust cleared after a few seconds, they saw multiple squirming tendrils reforming into the same grotesque form as before. It turned slightly, and every member of the group felt as though a maniac thirsty for blood had just landed its sights on them.

"Well, this might be a bit annoying," Jellal groaned, resulting in nods from Jin, Ultear, and Meredy.