Titan

An empty dimensions window was a normal dimensions window.

"Empty" was its normal state in the Endless, and that would only change when reaching a linking zone, something Rune hadn't tried to do yet though it had always been in consideration.

The reason he had never opened it straight like that and let it be displayed in the background was due to having long made a change as he had done with his masteries' leveling notifications.

If he ever discovered a dimension, a notification would echo and he would know. Opening the dimensions window was more symbolic than helpful, as if he just wanted to make sure this option that had collected the dust would still work after actualizing it.

'I should start to make tower scans regularly, more data is always better.'

Starting here and now, he created a sphere full of cosmic mist adjusted to make sure the tower would be able to scan without issue, then got one of his 2 ether towers out.

Five minutes later, he departed with the idea of doing scans each separated by 5 minutes of traveling. For that, he opened a stopwatch app on his connected screen and started it.

Then, he started jumping from roof to roof, initiating a cycle he hoped would stop sooner rather than later.

…

A slight heaviness in his perception.

A simple something that wasn't here a second before.

It only took this slight heaviness for Rune to immediately stop moving, as if he had just been targeted by something belonging to the top of the food chain.

This slight heaviness in his perception was a feeling he had thought he would not use for a long time, but here it was, coming from nowhere.

Last he had felt this heaviness was when he voluntarily did a minor manipulation, but last he had felt it without trying? It was when the group of 3 had discovered what they had unanimously decided to be a "bait".

And now, in the middle of a city that could be called a monster's nest core territory, Rune instinctively thought back to something he had written in his diary months and months ago.

For such a powerful perception, was his intent-infused cosmic mist even part of the equation?

When the swarming bone golems around him that should have been lively started to slow down and release energy and elements of all colors, he got his unfortunate answer.

Yet, more unfortunate than this obvious sign that something had gone wrong, it seemed that the one that had found him wasn't even in his perception, not even giving him a chance to neutralize the threat directly.

Then, it happened.

His awareness allocation allowed him to see and react to the slightest change faster than he should with only his perception stat of 10 000, and this exact all-in in his perception's sensitivity informed him that the ether was moving extremely erratically above.

But even with that much of an indication, when a light overcame the entirety of his perception instantly, reducing to fine dust all the buildings around him and impacting with it all the dozens and dozens of bone golems…

He realized.

He had entered the perception of one of the big bosses.

When the light, or whatever elemental strike stopped, Rune felt relief at having survived.

This feeling was soon overtaken by his fighting instinct and his common sense telling him that if he could be hit once, he could be hit again.

Unlocking his awareness, he condenses a pair of spiritual eyes and hastily created a layer of cosmic mist infused with an intent without its second stage to try and see.

The urgency of this situation pushed him to finish the process in under a second, but it seemed that "under a second" was too long for the big boss as his perception was once again covered in its entirety by whatever the big boss was launching at him.

*Ding* Energy Compression: Provided Energy Defense reached Tier 3 Level 92

*Ding* Energy Compression: Provided Energy Structure reached Tier 3 Level 92

*Ding* Energy Compression: Provided Energy Armor reached Tier 3 Level 92

*Ding* Energy Compression: Provided Quick Compression reached Tier 3 Level 85

His armor agreed with the fact that it was a big boss attacking it as it was literally melting under the light.

The light vanished as soon as it appeared, taking with it tens of thousands of armor.

Putting his priority right and trying to understand the situation first, Rune realized the light was playing tricks on him and it wasn't the whole 20 kilometers his perception was able to see that was impacted but only a few hundred tens of meters around him.

'The light has a blinding property?'

For his whole perception to go white when he was hit, he concluded in the easiest way before moving on.

Only a few bone golems had been hit by the light, none had died yet, and for the buildings, only the one below him and slightly around had turned to dust, as if disintegrated.

Then he looked above.

And another pillar of light hit him, covering not only his perception but also his sight in a blinding white that didn't hurt but completely stopped him from gathering more information about what was going on.

The light element-like strike evaporated in the same way the previous 2 had, allowing him to finally see the form of the thing that wanted him dead.

In his mind, the massive, nearly titanic ether figure he had kept seeing from too far away to make the details overlaid with the bone golem standing a few kilometers high currently rushing towards him at a visible speed he laid his eyes on.

Dozens and dozens of enormous supporting limbs were the motors allowing the gigantic segmented spine armed with yet more dozens and dozens of limbs.

The speed at which this excessively big bone golem went was exactly the speed you would expect from an entity with gigantic legs doing a sprint.

However, more important than its size, more attention-seeking than the danger it represented, more significant than thinking about running…

His sight allowed Rune to see the energy around it, and describing it as titanic would be an insult.

It was like a dome extending hundreds of kilometers around it, a flawlessly perfect dome that moved with it at the center.

In the second it took his mind to wake up from such a sight, the energy inside the dome moved, and the next thing he knew, he was immersed in light once more.

As it was his third time already the momentary blindness didn't stun him, better, it was the starting signal that made him start his strategic retreat.

Still unseen by the now comparatively much smaller bone golems around him that were acting like meek and shy insects under the glare of an apex predator, his path didn't take long to be established.

It was a straight line.

His strategic retreat only had two constraints: Exiting the perception locking in on him, and stopping getting hit by the light.

The first constraint couldn't be remedied by doing fast and smart dodging moves or finding places that could help him block a strike, but it was inevitable that he quickly tried exactly those as he realized he couldn't ignore the second constraint.

Each light strike was separated from the next by only a few seconds, that's what he learned in the first 10 strikes.

Each strike took more than 40 000 armor, with some doing more but never less.

Summarized: After running in the most optimized way to escape for 30 seconds, his energy pool was coming very close to being empty.

And considering the shape of what was hitting him, he couldn't put his hope on sacrificing half of his body or a simple arm or leg to neutralize a full strike.

That's why he started to try and take cover behind buildings that seemed able to resist a strike while considering if the single instance of momentum boost minor manipulation he was able to do would earn him something worth it or not.

There was still a slight problem that appeared when he tried to do the former though.

'How do I recognize which building will be able to resist a light strike?!'

Rune had never even read a single article that came close to explaining anything in detail about how to recognize grown materials, meaning he could only try each building that seemed different from the last when it didn't work.

'I'm sure learning that isn't even on my to-do list! It's just such an obscure subject!'

As he was complaining internally and trying to justify something that couldn't be justified rationally, he made a sudden turn from the straight street after realizing a few seconds had already passed, allowing him to hide behind a row of tens of buildings.

His perception went white, but for the first time his armor didn't melt with it, it regenerated.

7 buildings vanished into nothingness, but one stood strong and stopped the strike after losing more than 80% of its integrity.

'Well, looks like I'm too young to die just like that.'

Earning himself a few seconds without getting light-struck for the first time only told him it wasn't hopeless. Not that he would have gone crazy if it was a flat plain without anything to take cover with. It was just that digging tier 4 ground was a bit hard.

Not scaling down the pace, he returned to the wide-open street and started running again without looking back for a few seconds before once again taking cover behind a building made of yet untested materials.

His perception went white again, and with a good chunk of his armor vanished.

'Freak.'

Tens of buildings had been reduced to dust in an instant, not even letting him hope that finding appropriate buildings was really as easy as that.

The moment he felt his armor being hit, Rune started running again.

But eventually, his fighting instinct told him what he was doing was only postponing the inevitable.

He just needed to think about the size of the energy "dome" surrounding the thing chasing him to know those light strikes wouldn't stop anytime soon, and could probably become much deadlier.

However, there was just no perfect answer. Only the wildest solution of relying on his luck at finding the right buildings, his one-time momentum boost, and his dozens of seconds of minor-boosted energy and health regeneration were acceptable.

Hiding once more behind a row of buildings with a few made of materials he hadn't seen before, he was once again disappointed as his armor was impacted by something, prompting him to run again.

'The right solution is obviously finding the right buildings.'

He hid again, his perception went white, his armor was struck, he ran.

'But would the guide even-'

He was hit again, this time before he even tried to hide behind something.

This succession of successful strikes had pushed him to the border of the abyss. His energy pool had been empty for the last 3 strikes, and now his armor dipped below a quarter of its 208 000 total.

He had 1 light strike left to live.

Regenerating 3 466 armor per second wasn't even coming close to filling the gap, the chasm, created from being under the focused fire of the titan chasing him, so Rune ultimately made his decision.

He activated his energy and health regeneration minor boost.

He opened the IGS guide, typed "energy-resistant material gardener path", and picked the first result.

It was certain there were better ways and keywords to find what he wanted, but he had never learned about them.

'I need to know which type of material is more likely to be able to resist an energy strike or I'm dead, it's that simple.'

And so he read the introduction sentence.

[In contrast to metal that is more appropriate to resist physical forces and wood that is more suitable to resist spiritual forces, the proper type of base material structure and nature used to resist energy forces is the crystal type…]

He didn't need more than the words "crystal type" for his perception to start seeking buildings made of materials he would link to what he physically thought to be "crystal".

Then his perception went white again as his armor that started to regenerate at double its natural speed went below 10% of its total.

When he could see again, he started to prepare his momentum to earn a few seconds that would allow him to survive an additional strike compared to his current 0.

Measuring a few seconds, Rune pushed his momentum in a weird way that put an extraordinary strain on his mind before he suddenly found himself having switched to a parallel street in an instant.

For the few dozens of seconds his momentum boost would continue, his momentum speed went above his strength-based one. As it was a speed that wasn't impacted by silly principles like gravity or kinetic force, he was completely free to go back or turn at will.

Repeating this street switching until he felt he couldn't anymore and his ability to create momentum practically ceased to exist, relief overcame his mind as he didn't feel his perception going white or his armor being reduced at any moment.

He had earned himself 25 seconds of uninterrupted regeneration, with half of it being the remaining time of his boosted regeneration, followed by a regeneration locked at 10% of his natural one.

His armor was back above half its full amount of 208 000, so he could take on 2 light strikes before going under.

'Now I need to make this number grow. And the only way to do it is by not making any mistakes. I have no momentum or armor regeneration anymore, 10 seconds for 3 500 armor? Irrelevant.'

Having spent all his options to earn himself some more time, the inevitable had come to happen and only the words "crystal type" started resonating in his mind.

'If only my past-self knew… Who could have guessed I would ever one day regret not taking the opportunity to learn more when I could?'

Not letting the rhythm down, he focused all his mind on finding buildings made of crystal materials, and with his less than neophyte level, he only used a single criterion to guide him: Appearance.

He had no choice, and soon enough, he found just the right material he would consider a "crystal type", it was just a layer inside the walls making up one building, but the timing was already coming very short, so he dove behind it with a quick and powerful impulse.

As he stopped moving, waiting thoughtlessly for what he hoped wouldn't come for any reason, he was proven that having hope was not the right thing to do as his perception went white.

Again.

This was one of the most extended single seconds of his life as he couldn't even see what was happening to the building that was saving his life, but ultimately his perception returned and he started running once more, his armor untouched, with a single thought.

'I'll make sure to read and learn more Ether, I'll also write about this enlightenment in my diary and share it with everyone I know if you let me live!'

…

'Perception range… Around 500 kilometers? Pierce through anti-perception measures. Uses a light-like element that blinds your perception and travels at extreme speed. Has an energy dome-like thing extending hundreds of kilometers around it, no idea what it is, extremely eye-catching though…'

On top of a building standing in the middle of ruins, Rune was externalizing all his thoughts into writings.

Small and cute bone golems were swarming around him, but they had never detected him, so he just got used to their presence and considered them as part of the scenery. A very unique scenery.

'I don't know if it's tier 5, but I would be more surprised about it being tier 4 than tier 5. I even dare say, it having reached beyond in something isn't out of the question, health, energy, perception, whatever…'

The chase lasted 20 minutes. That's what he learned from his movement detector that recorded the direction he was going at all times.

Those 20 minutes had been a strong experience and learning time for him, and in hindsight, he couldn't think of a way in which it could have gone better while he could think of hundreds of worse.

As he continued to write about things, he felt something change inside him, something he had waited for.

'Sigh… Finally.'

His weakened health and energy regeneration period was over, he was back to his natural state.

'So, what are the gains from this encounter with a titan?'

*Ding* Physical Fundamental: Fighting Instinct reached Tier 4 Level 67

*Ding* Physical Fundamental: Body Control reached Tier 4 Level 67

*Ding* Energy Fundamental: Energy Compression reached Tier 4 Level 67

*Ding* Spiritual Fundamental: Momentum Manipulation reached Tier 4 Level 24

*Ding* Energy: Specialized Cosmic Mist Element reached Tier 3 Level 97

*Ding* Cohesion: Specialized Cohesion Infusion reached Tier 4 Level 81

*Ding* Energy Compression: Provided Energy Defense reached Tier 3 Level 93

*Ding* Energy Compression: Provided Energy Structure reached Tier 3 Level 93

*Ding* Energy Compression: Provided Energy Armor reached Tier 3 Level 93

*Ding* Energy Compression: Provided Quick Compression reached Tier 3 Level 86

*Ding* Body Control: Provided Humanoid Body reached Tier 3 Level 87

*Ding* Awareness Division: Specialized Sense Invocation reached Tier 2 Level 15

'Well, life and death encounters are really the best way to level quickly after all… 2 levels in my 4 tier 3 energy compression masteries in under 2 hours, that's amazing.'

Not taking note of those levels as he had stopped doing it some time ago, he knew it was time to go back now that he was back in at his full power.

'I think I have more than enough records and things to tell for Arik and Astryde to do whatever they want. Time to go back.'

With a peaceful mind but exhausted spirit, a state he entered after he pushed himself to his limit to survive an encounter with something much more everything than he was, he only wanted to take a break somewhere that wasn't swarmed with small and cute bone golems.

He wanted to go somewhere flat and empty, preferably with a great view.

Jumping from the roof where he was, Rune began to follow his GPS.

'I don't think I need my all-in perception's sensitivity anymore, right?'

With his weakened state over and the knowledge that he had never been discovered by a bone golem, he felt safe enough to adapt himself and take a more "invisible spectator" approach.

The moment he decided that, eyes made of awareness condensed in his empty eye sockets, giving him his sense of sight back after he adapted his cosmic mist mantle.

And so began his journey back through the city of Tolevia.

Upright buildings and big bone golems alike gradually disappeared as they were replaced by more or less complete ruins and smaller and cuter bone golems.

Then those ruins in turn slowly gave way to massive rocky plains dotted with occasional traces of sapient activity and wandering very small, lone, and cute bone golems.

Until finally, the city of Tolevia and all its traces disappeared from his perception. Only by looking behind could he see a horizon full of building shadows, as well as an ether figure that reached sky-high that he knew to be the combined might of 8 titanic bone golems.

Fifteen minutes later, he reached the temporary camp he created not even a week ago, and that moment marked the end of one hell of a scouting trip that informed him very forcefully that his cosmic mist intent's 1st stage wasn't yet strong enough.

It also told him that learning the introductory and surface knowledge of various paths could help him in unexpected moments.