Book 4, chapter 3 space walk

After some talking, they agreed to Rin's terms, striking a deal after Rin paid them twenty-five ether crystals each upfront. The massive sum of money was proof of just how desperate Rin was for more guards to go on this foray through the blockade.

Escorted by one of Rin's men, they took a canal boat through the city, climbing up a narrow stairwell to the top of a thickly reinforced squat building. A small vessel was hidden in a hanger perched atop the dark building, its lackluster appearance blending in with the rooftop.

"Is this really a spaceship? The boat doesn't look water-worthy, much less flight worthy." Zee asked, eying the dented and scratched metal hull of the boxy ship dubiously.

Bastion let out a nervous laugh, "Looks like a rust bucket to me. Nancy, are you sure this thing can fly through space," Bastion asked turning back towards the escort Rin sent with them.

The surly man scowled at Bastion," It's Nanut, not Nancy, and yes it can fly. You should be happy, this is one of our better ships," the man said, grumpily

"Is this really one of your better ones? I have seen carts that are more space-worthy," Bastion asked dryly.

"Just shut up and get on, we don't have all night," Nanut retorted, seeming fed up with Bastion's antics.

Yukna glanced from the ship to the rest of the group. "Are you guys sure you want to do this? This seems pretty sketchy, so you don't have to come if you don't want to," Yukna said, shifting anxiously.

Zee smiled at Yukna. "Don't say that. Of course I will come. Allie will have my hide if I let you go by yourself," Zee said.

Bastion smirked, "Well, we are getting paid a lot, so I shoulda known it wouldn't be smooth sailing," Bastion said.

Greg smacked Bastion on the shoulder. "You are supposed to say something supportive, like, we have your back Yukna," Greg said.

Bastion raised an eyebrow. "Then she would be suspicious. I think it's more honorable to let my intentions be known," Bastion said.

Nanut rolled his eyes. "How touching, too bad I don't care. Get on, or you will be left behind," Nanut said.

Bastion gave the man a rude gesture before we walked up the rickety plank leading to a door into the ship.

Zee followed close behind, entering the cramped confines of the interior. With no small amount of hesitation, Zee boarded the flying hunk of scrap that was pretending to be a spaceship.

With a hiss, two doors, one after the other sealed behind them. In the narrow walkway, they were met by a member of the crew who was an arachnid and directed towards a small room barren of furniture.

"Wait here and get comfortable, the captain will be by once we have taken off to brief you on the mission," The crewman said before skittering down the tunnel.

Zee took a seat on the scuffed metal, leaning against the wall, feeling the ship jostle as it hummed to life. She closed her eyes and focused on her spatial ripple skill expanding its radius to encompass the ship.

Her sensory skill spread out, bombarding her with a wave of information most of which she tuned out. With some focus, she could suddenly hear the captain like he was standing next to her, shouting orders at the crew who were expertly controlling the arrays that flew the ship.

It was an odd disconnect. With a bit of focus on her skill, it was like she was on the bridge, right next to the captain, able to see his every movement and hear his every word.

"Hurry your hairy asses up, I swear, my grandmother I will your asses if we aren't in the air within the next minute," the captain shouted.

Zee ignored the rest of the angry tirade, moving her attention through the ship. It wasn't anything important, just a whole lot of swearing at the crew. After a bit more searching, she found what she was looking for.

The cargo bay. Nine well-dressed people, mostly arachnid, with surprisingly powerful auras, were aboard. Unlike Zee and her team, their quarters were filled with plush chairs, couches, and soft beds, with racks of fine wine and trays of food that still twitched on their plates.

Odd eating habits aside, It looked like all of the nobles were having a party as if they weren't aboard a smugglers vessel.

Zee pulled back her focus, opening her eyes, her face scrunching up. "It appears Rin was telling the truth about our cargo at least. We will have to wait and see if he actually intends on freeing them or if this is all a ploy to hold them for ransom or something," Zee said, looking to the others.

Bastion grunted thoughtfully. "We will need to be on our toes. The pay is good, too good. Rin is definitely up to something. We need to make sure we don't get caught up in whatever mess he is involved in," Bastion said.

"Agreed. I don't know about you but becoming an undead, is not on my list of things to do this month," Zee said.

Bastion grinned, "I don't know, it can't be that bad, can it? Extended life in exchange for giving up your humanity," Bastion mused.

Zee raised an eyebrow, "You can't be serious? You would be willing to turn into a walking corpse that cultivates miasma in exchange for a few hundred years of life?" Zee asked.

"That's an extra few hundred years with you," He said with a cheeky smile.

"That's both sweet and creepy at the same time. I will have you know that if you turn into a walking corpse you are sleeping on the floor," Zee said.

"Noted. What about you Greg?" Bastion asked, turning to their burly archer.

"You can't sleep in my bed either," Greg replied dryly.

"That's not what I meant. What will you do if you become an undead?" Bastion asked rolling his eyes.

"Definitely going to bite you first. There is no way I am going to be an undead by myself," Greg said.

"What? I thought we were friends," Bastion asked with feigned hurt in his voice.

Greg smiled. "Exactly. Friends are meant to go through tribulations together. What kind of friend would I be if I let avoid joining me?" Greg asked.

Zee smiled, leaning her head back on the cold metal, toning out their friendly bickering. She figured since they had some time to kill, she might as well try alleviating the pressure in her mind.

The pressure stemming from her fragment was getting harder to ignore, like a loud bell, or an annoying insect that just wouldn't leave her alone. From past experience, she knew that ignoring the pressure was a mistake, but she didn't know what to do about it.

None of the others knew how to help either, which made her even more anxious. Idly, at the back of her mind, she could feel the ship moving and sense the crew walking about as she began drawing in energy.

The captain didn't appear to be coming anytime soon, so she figured she might as well try alleviating the pressure.

A torrent of energy rushed into her body, and her eyes widen. The energy was drenched in the spatial affinity, and her fragment positively drank it up.

Her fragment was like a parched desert, absorbing colossal amounts of energy. It wasn't pure spatial energy but it was far less corrupted than normal.

Zee had never felt so in tune with the world river before and was able to draw it in faster than ever.

Her fragment pulsed like a drum, and her speed of cultivation skyrocketed. Zee grinned as a veritable wave of energy bombarded the gate in her ankle, grinding away at it with unprecedented ferocity.

At this rate, her second gate would be open in a few days instead of weeks like she had first thought. As the hours passed her jubilation faded. The pressure plaguing her mind hadn't faded in the slightest, it was actually getting worse.

Zee paused her siege on her inner gate. That wasn't the goal today, she had another problem on her mind. With some reluctance, she tentatively focused on her splinter which housed her inner world. Though, calling it an inner world might have been a bit of an exaggeration.

It was more like a barren, rocky island floating amidst a pitch-black void, with an obsidian tower surrounded by a thin yellow haze of smoke.

Zee cocked her head to one side confused. Wait, why was the smoke hovering around the tower so thin? A week ago that smoke had been like a swirling thunderstorm and now it looked like a thin mist.

Zee focused harder, towards the peak of the tower, and the heart of the planar space which was atop it. Her attention lurched as she focused in, on the heart which was beating sporadically like it was gasping for air.

Zee's stomach lurched as she watched the heart pull in more smoke, struggling to beat. She got a sinking feeling as a familiar presence formed nearby prompting Zee to put up her mental guard.

She was going to flee the inner world until she saw Kur Zul. He looked so frail like a simple gust of wind might extinguish his life, his faint aura flickering sporadically.

"What do you want, ghost?" Zee asked, her mental tone venomous.

Kur Zul didn't respond immediately, his attention on the heart.

"We are dying you know," Kur Zul said, his mental voice raspy and weak.

Zee narrowed her eyes at him, not trusting the ghost in the slightest.

"Explain," Zee replied tersely.

Kur Zul gestured to himself then the heart beating weakly nearby.

"The heart needs energy to survive, and maintain this pocket of reality. Once the Smaug runs dry, this space will implode, and we will all die," Kur Zul said.

"Prey tell, how do I get more of this Smaug?" Zee asked icily.

"The energy source does not matter, you just need a lot of it. Actually, that's not true. If you can find high-quality energy, the heart might even be able to expand this place to a proper inner world," Kur Zul said, his wispy form fading in and out.

Zee ignored the ghost's promise of more power. She wanted to test and see if he was telling the truth first before anything. Focusing, she allowed a stream of pure spatial energy through a thin gap, letting it inside the inner world.

All the while, she kept most of her focus on Kur Zul, ready to slam the cage shut if he tried anything fishy. The ghost just floated there, its attention focusing on the heart.

Zee turned from the ghost and was surprised. She could actually see it, a thin ribbon of pitch-black energy that snaked down from the sky and into the heart. The effect was instant.

The heart frantically swallowed up the pure spatial energy, its pale skin brightening, as it desperately drank the energy in.

Like a starving animal, the heart absorbed every ounce of pure energy she gave, its beat gradually returning to its once vibrant state.

All the while, she paid close attention to Kur Zul, noting that his form was gradually becoming more solid, less fragile. The only reason she didn't cut off the stream immediately was because the pressure in her mind was fading bit by bit.

Zee let the heart absorb energy for a few more minutes. She glared at the ghost one final time before cutting off the stream of energy, leaving Kur Zul behind to sulk in his tower.

Returning back to her body, she let out a weary sigh, feeling incredibly drained. Her well of mental energy was nearly wrung dry, not to mention her low energy reserves.

The heart had drained her dry in mere minutes, and she hadn't even come close to satisfying its hunger. How in the hell was she supposed to feed that glutton? She would be useless in a fight if she donated all of her energy to the heart.

Not to mention the large problem of Kur Zul recovering as the heart absorbs more energy. She tapped her lips thoughtfully. Maybe she didn't need to give it so much energy?

What if she only gave the heart the bare minimum to keep it alive until she figured out how to properly deal with that scheming ghost? She couldn't allow Kur Zul to regain his strength at any cost. That would be like building her own coffin.

At least she had figured out how to relieve some of the pressure in her mind. Sure there were obvious downsides to the method, but at least she had discovered a path forward.

That in and of itself was a huge relief. She hadn't really solved any problems but she had at least found a method to buy herself some more time.

Time to search for a way to help Dern, and even properly contain the inner world and ghost in her mind.

Zee was jarred from her quiet introspection as the front door hissed open, and a stout, ten-legged arachnid skitter through the door.

The captain of the crew was chest waist height, brown in color, its stout legs covered in hundreds of small hairs over specked black skin that looked somewhat sickly.

Zee quickly stood, doing her best not to recoil at the startling appearance of the arachnid.

"I see you have all made yourselves at home, good. This room will be your home for the next month while we skirt the blockade. If all goes well, you four won't need to do anything," The captain said gruffly.

"And what if we are noticed?" Bastion asked.

The spider's front two legs rubbed together in agitation. "Then you will need to earn your pay and repel the attackers, obviously," The captain said.

Bastion folded his arms," How do you expect us to fight in the vacuum of space?"

Four items that looked like elaborate slave collars appeared, hovering in front of the captain.

"Keep these on you at all times. If we are attacked, you can flood energy into the arrays and they will provide oxygen, and some protection from the harsh vacuum." the captain said.

"Do they actually work, "Bastion asked dubiously.

The captain shifted, its legs clacking together uncertainly. "You should be fine as long as you keep it charged and the array is not damaged," The captain said.

They each took a collar, though none of them put it on, while Yukna studied hers closely.

After nearly a minute Yukna nodded. "He is right, though he forgot to mention the tracking feature embedded into the array," Yukna said.

"Oh. You were able to decipher that? Are you an array specialist?" The captain asked curiously, not seeming angry in the slightest at her discovery.

Yukna nodded. "That is excellent news, are you experienced with repairing ship arrays?" The captain asked.

"Not really. But I do have a lot of experience with offensive and defensive arrays," Yukna said, looking positively excited to work on a ship's complex arrays.

The captain chittered. "That is even better. What about the rest of you, any skills that can help aid us?" The captain asked.

Zee raised a hand cautiously. "I have a strong sensory skill, that could help," Zee replied vaguely.

"Does it work in the vacuum of space?" The captain asked dubiously.

Zee shrugged," I don't know, I haven't tried yet," Zee said unwilling to divulge anything specific.

"That's fine, you will get plenty of opportunities to test it out once she enters the asteroid belt in two weeks," The captain replied, turning to leave.

"What should we do in the meantime?" Zee asked.

"I don't care. The galley is down the hall. Stay out of the way of the crew, and don't break anything," the captain said grumpily before skittering away.

"Well, that was fun. I guess we have a lot of time to kill, want to play a card game?" Bastion asked, sitting down and pulling out some cards.

With two weeks of nothing to do, Zee had plenty of time to simply relax and cultivate. In between feeding the heart a steady trickle of energy Zee managed to burst open her second inner gate, which was the highlight of those two weeks.

She started on the third gate, but it was like a steel fortress in her left knee, and would probably take a while. That momentary excitement of bursting open an inner gate was quickly forgotten as the drudgery set back in.

Halfway through the third week both she and the others were dying of boredom. The ship was small and light, without any rooms large enough to spar in.

It was starting to feel like a jail cell, with only the crew and each other to chat with. At least the galley served good food, though the menu was limited.

Luckily, captain Skern was a cautious spider, stopping the ship for an entire day at the asteroid belt to check the ship's framework arrays. Yukna and another of the crew, who was the ship's engineer, checked over the defensive, offensive, and cloaking arrays.

It was a blessing in disguise. This gave Zee, Bastion, and Greg an entire day to explore the asteroid belt. Most might hesitate, but not Zee, she slapped on the collar Skern gave her and leaped out of the airlock.

To be honest, after two weeks cooped up in that metal tube she might have leaped out regardless of having an array to protect her from the harsh environment of space.

Who knew, she might be fine, given she was in early E grade, with multiple boons to enhance her body well beyond mortal limits.

She also had a very strong affinity to space. Now that she thought of it, wasn't she tailor-made to survive in a vacuum? She was half tempted to reach up and unclasp the collar, to test out that hypothesis.

Zee shook her head, pushing off a chunk of frozen rock to propel herself forward. She couldn't get full of herself, the vacuum of space was not something to take lightly.

Hovering amidst the void, she flew passed her next rock, drifting away from the ship looming nearby, backlit by faint starlight. Out here in the vast expanse, there wasn't much light, just the faint light of a star-speckled void, with one star a bit bigger than the others.

That was Tartana's home star, now looking faint, it's light dim. After a few weeks, they were past the outermost edge of the star system. They were only a few days away from an out-of-the-way emergence point of a wormhole of the colic wormhole network.

Hence why they stopped to double-check and make sure everything was working aboard the ship. Zee hummed softly, letting herself drift away from a particularly large cluster of rocks.

Even floating out into the endless void, she wasn't too worried. She was actually enjoying herself as she watched Bastion and Greg flail about, navigating between the drifting rocks like they were toddlers learning to walk.

She bit her lip thoughtfully. How were they supposed to fight in an environment like this? They would be sitting ducks for casters, or archers for that matter. Or just as likely, the weapons of an enemy ship.

Her eyes narrowed on Bastion as something strange happened. Even with no rocks around him, a large boulder suddenly changed paths moving right in front of him.

She narrowed her eyes as he used the rock to propel himself in another direction. He gradually picked up speed, leaping between the asteroids, which just magically moved right when he needed them to.

What a cheater. He was using his momentum-based skills to move the rocks to provide more steps to help him change direction. It actually looked like a lot of fun. Well, two could play that game.

In a puff of blue mist, she appeared right in front of a ball of ice pressing off it and launching towards him. She grinned as he looked up, his eyes widening as he noted her approach.

Just before she was about to collide with him, he suddenly lurched to one side, sticking out his tongue at her.

Zee sailed right passed him, flying towards a cart-sized rock at breakneck speed. She tucked and rolled kicking off the rock propelling herself back at Bastion.

Bastion was already leaping from rock to rock, using the asteroids like stepping stones, using his skills to evade her pursuit.

She wasn't deterred in the slightest. Spotting an easier target, she suddenly changes directions, using the cart-sized rock as a platform to launch herself upward. Greg was using a large boulder as a perch, and was too slow to dodge as she whisked passed him tapping him on the shoulder.

This started a game of tag. The game which started innocently enough, rapidly grew more hectic as they got more accustomed to moving around in the odd environment.

Moving around in space was bizarre, and hazardous. In order to move, she had to push off an object, and in turn, that object would be pushed in the opposite direction. A lot of the time, pushing off an object made the spin sporadically, which made for uneasy footing.

Rocks collided, bouncing in every direction, making for a chaotic field to hide and leap between.

What made it the most challenging was that once she was Mid Air for lack of a better term she was stuck on course until she reached the next rock or clump of ice in her path.

During one such leap, Bastion pulled himself from his hiding spot. Seized the opportunity, he pushed off a rock, on a collision course with her.

The surprise on his face, when he passed right through her, was worth it. She had already known he was hiding there, able to sense him with her spatial ripple skill.

Zee reappeared and used him like a rock, pushing him off.

Bastion flailed as he spun end over end, drifting towards a clump of ice, probably swearing like a sailor.

That was another odd thing about space. It was utterly silent, the only sounds being her rapid breathing and racing heart.

The only reason that she could even hear those was because the collar created a thin bubble around her fitting right against her skin.

It sounded like a miracle, though that was far from the truth. The collar required a constant trickle of energy to sustain it, and in return, it kept out the cold, heat and provided fresh oxygen.

The collar was made from E-grade materials, and given its intricate and compact size had two fatal flaws.

The thin alloy of the collar would only take one good hit from an E-grade warrior to break.

It was a fatal weakness that any enemy wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of if they had the opportunity.

Having the collar destroyed wasn't the only fear either. If any of them suddenly ran out of energy from a prolonged battle, the collar would stop working.

After studying the collars for a few weeks Yukna built an emergency energy supply attached to the collar just in case.

It would only last twenty minutes at most, but that could be enough time for help to arrive. A faint red light flashed several times, lighting the asteroid field in an eerie glow.

What? Couldn't be time to go already, could it? Nearby, an arrow was embedded into a chunk of ice, with a rope attached.

Greg tugged on the rope, drifting across the distance and leaping off the rock.

It wasn't the most graceful method, but who was she to judge? With a grumble, she made her way back to the ship, leaping from the bottom, sides, and tops of rocks until she reached the airlock.

The airlock was sealed once they were all inside, followed by a loud hissing. Zee released the stream of energy into her collar, startled by the sudden hum of the ship.

She hadn't realized just how quiet it had been out there. Everything seemed so loud now, from the ships humming to Bastion, talking in a hushed whisper to Greg.

They walked from the airlock into the narrow hallway and were met by Captain Skern.

"Well, how was it?" The spider asked, gruff as always.

"It went well, but I would like more time to practice if we are to fight in that environment. When can we go out again?" Zee asked.

"Sadly, not anytime soon. The ship's framework arrays appear in working order, so we will be going straight to the emergence point of the wormhole," The captain said.

Zee glanced at the others. "How long until we arrive?" Zee asked.

"You have two days to prepare. This is an out-of-the-way emergence point, but who knows, the undead might be lying in wait," Captain Skern said.