There may also be some inaccuracies, since English is not my native language.
Essentially, TBATE is first translated from English into my native language — and in that process, some details are already altered to make it more understandable for us. Now I'm taking that adapted (and somewhat distorted) version, revising it, rewriting it, and then translating it back into English.
I hope you'll point out any mistakes in the text that I might have missed.
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This is the first part, the second part will be out in a couple of hours.
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Third-person view
An hour later
Lucius looked at the seven bone pseudo-artifacts he had received from the leader. To be honest, he still didn't understand how they worked.
How was it that contact with the aether caused a certain effect, from healing to transforming a hand into a mace?
The seven bone pseudo-artifacts floated gently in his core. And although they were powerful for these monkeys, Lucius only valued one of them. Yes, they were all powerful, but they only worked well with those who were made entirely of bone.
The one that turned his bones into two huge maces certainly sounded dangerous, but it didn't suit his fighting style, and this move tore his muscles, tendons, and skin when activated. The one that healed bones would certainly be good, but Lucius and Arthur had aether...
All these pseudo-artifacts were tailored for creatures made entirely of bone. The same regeneration that could heal the bones of a normal person's arms or legs could restore the entire body of a bone monkey.
It didn't matter.
In the end, after going through everything, he chose only one pseudo-artifact: the bone bird.
From the name, it was clear that it was a pseudo-artifact that turned into a bird. Initially, all these pseudo-artifacts were only rank 5, but after he gave them to Arthur and Regis, they became rank 7.
Not finding the time to use these pseudo-artifacts, Lucius once again took out the dead 9th rank tracking relic.
"Phew," Lucius exhaled cool air and reached for the power in his soul.
Aroa's Requiem flared up in his soul.
Dust particles of aether swirled around Lucius' hands and immediately stretched toward the dead relic. Immediately, the dull, rough surface of the stone cracked as if struck by a hammer, revealing a shining diamond burning with white light.
"Mh," Caera rolled over onto her other side because of the bright light, but a second later, with a loud "Ah!", she jumped up and took a stance, summoning her bloody sword.
"What's going on?" Caera asked in a slightly sleepy tone, realizing that she was not being attacked. Her ruby eyes looked at Lucius, who was holding the relic, the light from which illuminated the entire cave.
"What the hell?" Regis blurted out, expressing Arthur's reaction as well.
"Lucius... is something wrong?" Caera asked, looking at the floating crystal.
However, Lucius's eyes were still fixed on the glowing crystal in his hand. Purple curls wrapped around his arm, and he felt pressure... an insistent force of attraction emanating from the relic.
"Just a second," he muttered distractedly as the feeling intensified.
There was a slight note of panic in Caera's voice as she said, "No, really, Lucius, I think..."
Reaching out with his own aether, he examined the Relic, countless tendrils of purple energy beginning to intertwine with his own. Everything blurred before his eyes except for the crystal.
At that moment, a single question, spoken in a strange, distant, and painfully familiar voice, surfaced in his consciousness.
"Who do you want to see the most?"
With a single thought carrying emotions and memories, his vision plunged into the multitude of smooth facets of the crystal. Everything began to blur rapidly, and in a moment, Lucius's aetheral body broke away from this world and rushed forward at tremendous speed.
Celestial bodies, planets, and stars flashed before his eyes. Lucius watched all this spellbound from such a close distance, but suddenly the speed at which he was rising higher and higher began to slow down.
It seemed as if he had fallen into a web. The higher he rose, the stronger the pressure became, like a huge press pressing down on his head, and his speed slowed and slowed.
Touch
His astral body came to a complete stop at the edge of the world, completely halting all movement.
The fingers of Lucius' astral body twitched, followed by his entire arm. Slowly, through force, his fingers touched something invisible.
Invisible golden threads that had been dormant for eons suddenly came to life, as if they had seen something that should not be there.
The golden threads suddenly contracted around his astral body in an attempt to completely destroy it. At that moment, the black and white fire that floated in Lucius' soul jerked sharply, taking more than 90 percent of the damage, but even so...
"What? Ak!!!" Just as he touched the strange invisible wall, an incredible pain pierced him. It wasn't a long pain; it appeared for a second and then disappeared as if nothing had happened.
How?
"How did it happen that I felt pain?" he thought, feverishly trying to understand what had happened. The pain was so strong and rapid that a moment after this thought arose in his mind, his astral body began to return to his physical body at tremendous speed.
No
"No! Damn it!" Lucius' astral body cursed through the pain.
But no matter how loudly he cursed, a familiar feeling made it clear that he had completely returned.
Blood, lots of blood, immediately rose to his throat. Without resisting, pushing away the dull pain, he opened his mouth and spat out an abnormal amount of blood.
Blergh
"Lucius!" Caera shouted, not knowing what to do in this strange situation.
Even though she was panicking, she remembered that conventional methods didn't work with him or Grey. And that scared her even more. What had just happened, and what could she do to help?
Cough cough
blurgh
Coughing up blood, Lucius felt a warm hand begin to gently rub his back and head in calm circles. The soft, warm hands slightly calmed the panic in his heart.
Not quite understanding what had happened but understanding perfectly well where the damage had been done, Lucius opened the system.
[Soul damage - 4189.]
Yes, it was direct damage to his soul, damage so great that it would have split Regis's soul in two in that very second. All the soul power he had received from the two unads disappeared in that very second.
"It was... disappointing." His thoughts began to calm down under Caera's gentle hands, and he quickly analyzed what had happened.
What he didn't know was that if the black and white fire hadn't nullified most of the attack, his soul would have shattered into millions of pieces in that very second.
"What happened?" Arthur asked in a slightly concerned tone.
Lucius did not answer, only putting the cracked relic away in his inventory.
After a few seconds of silence, he finally answered, and his tone made all three of them flinch. Lucius's voice, usually incredibly calm and even, was now dry and full of despair. "Failure... too far... something is blocking it."
Caera frowned, not quite understanding what these words meant. But Arthur's gaze deepened as he looked into Lucius's now almost black eyes, and all the hairs on Arthur's body stood on end. Lucius's usually incredibly bright eyes had darkened to the black color of his hair because of the emotions he was now trying not to hide.
And although Lucius did not know for sure, having read so many novels, he had a rough idea of what was happening.
It was a wall, the end of this world. As he thought in this book, all worlds were like bubbles, hundreds, perhaps tens of thousands of worlds like bubbles floating in a sea of aether and connected by fate. In his opinion, he had simply run into the wall of this bubble.
And although he had assumed this, because he was from a higher world and could hardly return home in one step, it was still... discouraging.
At that moment, Lucius felt a strong sense of despair. Even if he couldn't go home now, he hoped to at least see or hear them for a second.
But all he got was severe emotional damage and the realization that until he could break through this bubble, he wouldn't be able to hear them.
What if...
An even more terrifying thought appeared in his mind.
What if, after breaking through this bubble, he found himself in another bubble, and then... how many times would he have to try to break through this bubble?
"Phew," he exhaled loudly, and all those turbulent emotions disappeared from his face, leaving only calmness. His eyes regained their usual color, although not as bright as usual.
"Are you okay?" Caera asked anxiously, still stroking his back and head.
"...Thank you," said Lucius, pulling away from Caera's soothing hands and stretching to his full height, turning and heading towards the cave exit. "I'll quickly check the zone... wait here."
Caera reached out her soft hand to grab him, but another hand squeezed her shoulder.
"Grey?" Caera's questioning gaze shifted to Arthur, who was holding her shoulder roughly.
But Arthur's gaze lingered on Lucius's receding figure.
"Let him get some fresh air..." he muttered calmly, turning around and returning to the familiar rock.
10 minutes later
"So," Lucius began as if nothing had happened, "I found the teleportation gate." After a couple of seconds of silence, he met Caera's slightly tense ruby eyes. "Do you need to sleep?"
She slowly shook her head and replied in a slightly tense tone, "I don't think I can sleep again. An hour of sleep is enough. I'll be alert for another 10 hours."
Nodding slightly to her, Lucius shifted his gaze to Arthur and Regis and moved toward the mountain.
"What's on the way?" Regis asked casually.
Lucius pointed to the largest mountain. "There's a boss there guarding the teleportation gate."
"What kind of boss? A giant bone monkey the size of a mountain?" Regis asked with a laugh, thoroughly tired of monkeys.
"No, a giant bone wyvern that sleeps on treasure and guards the gate at the same time," Lucius replied, adjusting his shirt.
Caera's eyes widened slightly, but she continued to walk calmly behind Lucius, occasionally glancing at him warily.
Regis's steps stopped for a second, his puppy-like, ahem, wolf-like figure slumped slightly as he replied, "Well, what did I expect being around you two? A peaceful life?"
Picking up their pace, they reached a huge mountain in a couple of hours. Once they got close enough, it became clear that this was the absolute boss of this zone. Usually, bone monkeys were everywhere, but not here. Within a ten-kilometer radius, it was incredibly quiet.
"This brings back unpleasant memories," Regis said in a rather quiet voice.
"..." Arthur silently agreed, simultaneously surveying the empty bone territory.
"Are those... monkeys?" Caera asked, more to herself than anyone else.
Unlike the bone forest or bone cave, this place was littered with a huge number of broken bones. The bones bore clear marks from enormous fangs.
"What a creepy place... I like it," Regis said with a wolfish grin. His purple mane danced, reflecting off the polished white bones.
"So what's the plan?" Caera asked without stopping.
Arthur and Lucius's eyes met for a second, no words were needed.
Taking a step forward, Lucius sped up slightly, white petals reappeared, and in a second, a serrated black dagger with white and purple veins appeared in his left hand.
He noticed that at this level, although the weapon could easily change, it worked best when it was close to its original form, and although it was not essential, Lucius decided to keep the dagger for the time being.
Pushing all these thoughts aside, Lucius met Caera's gaze. His tone was as light and calm as ever when he answered her question with a faint smile. "Improvisation."
× × × × ×
Just like in fairy tales
That was exactly what Lucius was thinking at that moment. A huge bone wyvern lay on a huge pile of bones and jewels, just like a dragon from a fairy tale.
"Can you step aside?" Lucius whispered, looking at the huge bone wyvern.
"?" Caera raised her eyebrow in confusion but nodded anyway and began to move away from Arthur.
"As planned?" Lucius said in a relaxed tone.
"... Haaaah," Arthur sighed wearily and, nodding slightly under Caera's questioning gaze, moved toward the darkness.
"I really don't like your plans," Regis grumbled in Lucius's mind.
"You have no idea how much I dislike these plans, but they are quite quick and effective," Lucius replied, raising both hands above his head and breaking the mental connection with Arthur and Regis so as not to be distracted.
"Ha!" With his last breath, he clapped his hands loudly, and a loud, hollow sound echoed in the closed cave.
"What the...?" Caera managed to squeak, her eyes wide open and her hand covering her mouth, when the previously immobile giant bone wyvern moved.
It was a slow, measured movement; the wyvern did not expect anyone to approach it, as this had never happened in its entire life. The huge white bone wyvern turned its head toward the loud sound, toward Lucius, and froze.
"Hello," Lucius said softly, waving his hand in a friendly manner and stepping back toward the entrance. His black dagger had already disappeared when he was discussing the plan with Arthur, and now he was unarmed.
...
"What is this idiot doing?" Caera hissed in her thoughts, sweat beginning to trickle down her forehead from the tension in the air.
For a few moments, there was complete silence. The wyvern looked at Lucius as if it couldn't quite believe that someone could be so brazen as to be in its home.
"Hello," Lucius said again, waving his hand in a friendly manner, and this time he received a constructive response.
"Roar!!"
The giant bone wyvern roared so loudly that it made Lucius' eardrums protest, and immediately, at tremendous speed, the wyvern lunged at Lucius, who turned and ran toward the entrance. A pseudo-flight artifact slowly glowed in his core, ready to be activated as soon as he ran out of the cave.
On the other hand
"What should we do?" Caera asked in a strange tone, looking at the torn entrance from which the enraged bone wyvern had just rushed out after Lucius.
"We take the riches and wait for Lucius at the portal," replied Regis, whose small body was already rummaging through all the enormous riches. "Wow, there's even a golden cup here!"
"Wait? Aren't we going to help him?" Caera asked, looking toward the entrance. In her right hand, she clutched a huge blood-red sword, ready for action.
"No need. We discussed everything in advance. we just need to collect all the treasures," replied Arthur, who activated the spatial rune and immediately sucked up almost all the treasures, filling the storage rune to capacity, leaving only a little and, just as selectively, not taking the best, the spatial ring. "He'll be back soon, make a small circle, and we just need to be ready to leave quickly."
"..." Caera silently looked at Arthur and then at Regis, sighed quietly, quickly picked up the slightly damaged but functional spatial ring, turned on her heel, and moved toward the entrance, wanting to watch and help Lucius if necessary.
She couldn't see everything he could, so she couldn't fully understand why Grey and Regis were so relaxed.
On the other side
"Hehehe, that bone bird pseudo-artifact came in handy," Lucius said with a laugh, once again making a dangerous move that barely separated him from the wyvern's claws.
"Almost, try harder," said Lucius with a faint smile.
Roar
A loud roar was not the only response; the wyvern's overall speed and ferocity increased even more.
Slash
The wyvern's bone claws struck Lucius's right shoulder, cutting through his rank 6 clothing and slightly scratching his skin.
"Oh, so you can get faster," Lucius muttered, raising his hand to his right shoulder where the wyvern's claws had struck.
"Don't tease bone wyverns, got it," he thought to himself as he began to descend into the trees and rocks. "Try to catch me here."
Forty seconds later
"This... depleting my aether reserves faster than I'd like," thought Lucius, dodging the increasingly enraged wyvern while checking his aether reserves.
Glancing at the wyvern behind him, Lucius tensed slightly. "Time to speed up. The first layer gives too little aether for free use."
With that, he directed more aether, activating the pseudo-artifact at full power and accelerating sharply. A couple of seconds later, the wyvern was more than four hundred meters behind, enough to catch his breath a little.
A strong wind hit Lucius in the face, forcing him to shift his gaze to the horizon of bone-white mountains and milky rivers.
"So this is what it's like... to fly," Lucius thought absently as he exhaled.
His gaze wandered slightly as he looked at the monotonous, gentle landscape. A hundred memories began to flood his mind.
Memories of the previous zone did not torment him; he had long since decided that he would try to maintain the plot at the beginning in order to gain an advantage.
And the death of these children... although painful to his eyes, ears, and soul, was necessary for him to control the situation. And even if he went back 100 times, he would repeat what he did 100 times...
But... their screams and Ada's crying made him remember his own past more vividly.