Extraction

Zoran's fist with Miasma roots glowed threateningly white in contrast to the unending darkness of the Miasma. Opposite him was the Evolved Panther with its reddish purple edges and wary eyes staring right back at him.

It didn't know what Zoran was going to do, but it knew that it had to prepare itself. Its mind raced with the possibilities of attack that Zoran possessed now that he established his ability with the 4th dimensional leap.

Whatever he was going to do, the Panther was going to do it faster. It had complete mastery of the 4th dimensional leap and could move faster and much more accurately than him.

If Zoran was going to leap behind, then the Evovled Panther would just disappear before he even appeared back. It could do this because it knew about the intricacies of the 4th dimensional leap from experience, especially the ripples in the 3rd dimension.

It saw Zoran's fist start to disappear into an invisible window to the 4th dimension. The Panther's body pulsed with energy as it readied itself to dodge out of the way at the moment Zoran disappeared completely.

But it didn't expect this. Zoran's Tyrannical Miasma Strike disappeared into the 4th dimension—that and only that.

His whole body didn't join the travel to the 4th dimension and it just stayed right where he was, floating in the realm of Miasma with a smile that only brought fear to the Evolved Panther.

Then, the most threatening part of Zoran suddenly appeared just a few meters away from him as it punched through the 4th dimension and brought itself back to the 3rd dimension and surprised the Panther.

A partial 4th dimensional leap? It couldn't believe Zoran was able to achieve the impossible once again. It knew just how hard it was to separate only a part of oneself to the 4th dimension.

The 4th dimension was a hostile environment for 3rd dimensional beings. Any object, person, or living thing in the 4th dimension would experience tremendous amounts of pressure and existential force that would alter their very atoms into a mess of primordial matter.

That was why it was a 'leap'. The Evolved Panther could tolerate the 4th dimension because of how short of a time it had to spend inside it. A 'leap' made it possible for the Panther to have a brief contact and use it to teleport in the 3rd dimension.

The Panther tried to do what Zoran did back when it was testing the limits of the technique. It vowed never to do it again. The result almost ended up killing it, with its lower half separated from the upper half. If it was not at the comfort of their spherical den, then it would have succumbed to death.

Zoran was not leaping into the 4th dimension. He was staying in it, facing all its threats as it concentrated all that danger into one place. The Panther could only think about how much pressure and strain Zoran's arm was experiencing right now. It should have already ripped his whole arm apart, yet it did not happen.

To put it in a normal human's perspective, a 4th dimensional leap was like a push-up for the Evolved Panther. Most normal people could perform a few repetitions even if they hadn't exercised, and they could do much more if they regularly worked out.

Now, ask them to do a push-up with one hand. The workout then becomes extremely hard, and even extremely built and strong people could only do a few reps of one-handed push up.

What Zoran was doing was akin to doing a one finger push-up with an industrial-sized scissors trying to cut through that one finger. It was simply impossible.

The Panther didn't want to believe that Zoran had mastered traversal to the 4th dimension to an extent that even it could not understand.

It had the urge to just stay immobilized and try to rationalize how Zoran was able to achieve this, but it didn't want to be hit by Zoran's tyrannical fist again.

The Panther wanted to dodge and avoid the incoming danger, but there was no danger.

It realized that Zoran's fist was still a few meters away from its body. No matter how hard Zoran tried to extend his arm, he could not cover that distance. Was this a mistake from Zoran, the Panther wondered.

It could be that Zoran miscalculated the distance. After all, he had just learned the 4th dimensional leap. He could have aimed for the Panther, but his inexperience forced an error.

The Panther also teleported chaotically when it started to get used to the 4th dimensional leap. Zoran should experience technical errors, especially since he was experimenting with a new technique.

This was evidenced by Zoran's fist not oriented correctly. His knuckles weren't even pointing at the Evolved Panther.

This was a chance, the Panther thought. This error would be Zoran's fatal mistake. Its Miasma body pulsed with energy, ready to pounce at Zoran.

The Panther's body moved. Unwillingly.

The Panther hadn't even commanded its body to take action, but it suddenly moved forward without any indication from the owner. It couldn't understand what was happening.

This was the first time that the Evolved Panther felt its body being pulled by some invisible force.

The situation became even more bizarre when a window to the 4th dimension opened up right in front of the Evolved Panther. This scene turned the Panther's curiosity to a threat—especially when it didn't know what was happening.

First its body moved on its own, then it created a 4th dimensional window to perform a leap. There was something strange going on, but no matter how hard it tried to move away, an invisible force pulled it closer to the 4th dimension.

The Panther traveled to the 4th dimension and suddenly appeared into an unknown location. It didn't know where it was because a blinding white light welcomed its traversal from the 4th dimension.