★167
The next day, I dressed in silence and left the palace, heading back to yesterday's scorched training ground. The earth was still blackened, a reminder of who I am.
"You're late."
Ton's voice came from behind me.
"You didn't specify a time."
I replied, turning.
"So I think you're the one at fault."
He stood a few paces away, staring at me with that same deadpan expression, unreadable as ever.
"Hmm."
He exhaled.
"I'll choose not to drag this out. Are you ready for your first Mega Art training?"
"Ye—"
The word barely left my mouth before space folded.
In an instant, the ground vanished. We stood in open space, stars scattered in every direction.
But I was already on guard. My body didn't drop. Gravity had nothing to claim. I held my position instinctively, suspended in the vacuum as if it were no different from standing on solid ground.
Ton hovered a short distance away, watching me.
"Always on guard, that's good."
"What will I be learning today?"
"What I just did."
"Don't tell me... teleportation?"
"Yes."
"Hmm, a Space Time Art, huh?"
Ela's voice resounding throughout the space, he4 presence still concealed.
"I know what you're doing, Ton. And trust me, Anta chan will clear it with ease."
"How about we see it for ourselves?"
"We will."
The two had a short conversation while I stood in the background, waiting for them to finish.
"What was that?"
"Teleportation is the fastest form of instantaneous movement. But one can't just appear in any location without a connection. For starters, let's start with this."
Two small portals appeared in front of him, hovering side by side. He spread his palm, and a red orb formed above it.
"Meet our friend from yesterday."
He said.
"What are portals used for?"
"Just like teleportation, it's instantaneous. It is used to get someone or something to another fixed location."
"Correct. So..."
He paused deliberately, just enough for 'In' and 'out' to be labelled on the portals.
"If I throw this in here, it'll come out there?"
"Naturally."
Before I could answer, my eyes reacted. Etherium flickered on in that split second. He tossed the orb into the 'in' gate, ashes spilled out of the other.
"Where did I go wrong? Coordinates?"
He asked.
"No. It came out of the correct gate."
"Perhaps it's delay?"
"No. The movement was instantaneous."
"Then what was that?"
He finally threw me the ball to answer. And based on what I saw in Etherium, the reason has to be...
"Instability."
He glanced at me.
"Smart, activating Etherium."
I didn't bother asking how he knew. If he could see that much, then the only option was to keep up.
"I needed clarity, and using Etherium isn't prohibited."
"I know. I don't need rules when training. You were right. I created the disturbance, and as expected, you used Etherium."
"Ok."
"For a portal to be stable, it just needs two things, CC."
He raised two fingers.
"Corridor and coordinate. Anything else is secondary. Coordinates are a point in space, dimensions, or an artificial one that can be created."
"Artificial coordinates are best used in worlds that transcends space or dimension."
"You'll never cease to amaze me, Antares."
He watched me for a moment. Then he smiled, the faintest one.
"Call me Anta chan. No, remove the chan. Ela is the only one who calls me that."
I waved, I don't want anyone to call me 'chan' but Ela.
"Noted, Anta. Shall we proceed?"
"Yes, please."
"A corridor is the environment that links the two portals. You can't see it until you enter the portal. To stabilize any portal you create, you have to build the corridor, using your aura."
He touched the rim of one portal for a couple of seconds, then stepped back.
"Shall we try again?"
He asked.
I summoned my old friend, the blue orb, and tossed it into the entrance gate. It shot out from the other side cleanly, intact.
"Nice. Now, create your own portal."
He requested it again. It was my first time, but imagination was my only limit.
I wanted to do it differently. Dark flames lit along my fingers, and I traced two burning circles in the air. I tossed the blue orb through. It came out the other side charred, and the moment I touched it, it crumbled into dust.
"You want to be unique? Master the universal method first. Create a proper portal again."
He said evenly.
It was nothing more than a teacher correcting a student, yet something in me bristled at the words.
'What's this?'
I paused, this sense of self is abnormal.
'Pride.'
Entares's words echoed in my mind. It had to be pride. I had tried to be unique, yet I failed and was told to try again. That's unforgivable, no one dares speak to a king like that. Anger flared inside me, yet i was focused. It wasn't a stubborn anger, but an unyielding submissive one.
I frowned, wiping the two portals away, like an eraser removing pencil circles. My little fingers moved delicately, drawing two circles that wobbled before finally stabilising.
(Circles = portals)
I ran my index finger along the edge of one portal and tried again. It might be unorthodox, but reality had to bend to my methods. The orb passed through safely, landing on the other side intact.
"Good. What about…"
He paused again, deliberately.
Ahead of us, a paper-like world stretched endlessly, with a spherical one hovering beside it. I turned to the two structures, studying them carefully.
'Length and width, 2D. Plus, 1D of height = 3D.'
A portal opened on each world, and Ton's first two portals merged into a big one identical to the other two.
'How did he create a portal in an environment he hasn't set foot on? The first and natural answer is that it's his creation, and the coordinates are already in his mind. Normally, I can use an answer right now. But my pride won't allow that, not after what just happened. I know a way.'
I turned my focus on Ton as he explained what to do next.
"I want to send the Blue Star to the 2D world and Red Star to the 3D."
(Blue orb & red orb. Don't mind me.)
"It looks easy, right? All I have to do is send Blue, change the coordinate, and deliver Red, right? Well, that's not a Supreme Way of Thinking, and it's wrong.
The orb is spherical, which means it's 3D. It can't possibly fit in the 2D world, so even the normal process won't. For that to work, their dimensionality has to align."
With the orbs in each hand, he threw them simultaneously, and they appeared on the other side, with Blue no longer being spherical but flat.
"Dual anchoring."
I answered, unwavering.
"You gave them distinct frequencies. Blue reacts to 'flatness' while Red reacts to 'volume'. This was, they move towards the dimension in response to their frequencies."
"No Etherium?"
"No. This is just common sense, at least to me."
And I wasn't lying. I didn't need Etherium to tell me what right and wrong all the time. I had to rely on my mind.
"Weird kid."
"I want to try something in your world."
I said.
"What is it?"
"Fixing coordinates in a foreign world."
For that, I needed Etherium. For I was about to interact with the unseen palne.
I activated it and sought the concept of dimension. There it was, the endless lattice of axes, folding beyond comprehension, linking both 2D and 3D simultaneously, stretching into infinity in ways the mind could barely grasp.
'The archetype of dimension, how weird. I don't think my tangible aura can interact with an intangible force.'
'Then use the intangible part of you.'
Entares suggested.
'Entares is right, but what can that be?'
Right before I began to process it, an unyielding axiom settled in my mind.
'Wait, who said my aura isn't intangible?'
The axiom of will settled heavy within my mind space.
'I didn't.'
Entares replied. I didn't need to look, but I knew, both his hands were raised right now. Surrendering as if I was blaming him.
'Aura has a conceptual form. As an extension of me, I can use it to interact with other intangibles. Just like welding the imaginary arms.'
I took a deep breath. Still within Etherium, I looked up, expecting to see my aura, but there was nothing. There was no 'view' of it in Etherium.
'What?'
'Your aura is nothingness. Any attempt to use it to grab a anything abstract will lead to decay.'
'Nothingness is void. Why is my aura dark, then? Void shouldn't have a physical form. It shouldn't have a shade.'
'Void itself is a paradox. A non-existent force shouldn't be able to take form in existence, but it's just so stubborn to obey.'
'If that's the case, then how can I fix the coordinates?'
I asked, more to myself than Entares who's listening.
'The dimensional string. The thread that underpins the structure of all dimensional concepts. By grasping it, you can interact with the archetype of dimension, allowing you to have the coordinate of 0D to the highest dimensionality ever existing.'
He answered, picking up the method right from my Mind space.
'Stop reading my thoughts and naming my process.'
I said, annoyed by his current form. He's bored, that's why he's talking too much.
'But still, what is the highest dimensions ever known?'
'It depends on the Major Concept.'
He answered. Because this time, I needed him to. As someone who's existed long before my reincarnation, he should know this much.
'In some closed systems, the dimensionality may be finite, which represents the top ceiling of the finite ladder. Infinite-D if there's no final step, only an endless ascent. And lastly, beyond infinite, which is no longer a concept but a Meta Notion of Dimensions.'
'Who knew you talked this much.'
He opened his mouth to say anything but nothing words were able to form. Speechless, he sank into his throne, watching.
He's probably pissed and won't say a word for a while. That's good though. I get to train without internal disturbance.
'That's possible, but I don't think I can interact with a conceptual force. No, I just have to think I can do it. If I can separate my essence, I'll be able to do it.'
To do that, I search for atom and molecules. Two or more atoms make up a molecule.
Through Etherium, I can see the bonds holding them, and if I break those up, the molecule will split into atoms.
'Bindions isn't just doing the bonding. It's making bonding happen in the first place. If I can dissolve the bonds holding my essence, it'll split into something unknowable. And whatever it'll be, I can use my aura to link them back. Hopefully.'
It was a risky move but only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.
As I mulled over it, I began experimenting on my body. I focused on my pinky and let my nonexistent aura attempt to sever the bonds on its own.
In that instant, part of my finger was undergoing atomization, skin, flesh, bone, and essence, were broken down into subatomic particles.
Atoms are semi-intangible, so I don't need them for now. However, my essence is intangible, and I can use it to interact with intangible forces.
Normally, essence wouldn't break just because my physical body atomises. But using void, it isn't just cutting matter. It's cutting metaphysical connections, including the tether between body and essence.
This is a very risky move, the dissolution of my essence, not a soul, spirit, or selfhood, but the fundamental nature of 'Antares'. This act can lead to my permanent erasure, but I'm not ready to disappear, for my story has just begun.
'Everything is a dangerous drug except reality, which is unendurable.'
(The philosophies in this arc is wild.)
As 'Antares,' we knew what we wanted. Together as a hive mind, we moved to feel the dimensional string. It existed within the concept, linking each world with a single string.
The 2D world was given the properties of a 2D string while the 3D world got its own. I was after the coordinates but now that I'm here, I can take the coordinates of every possible dimension from this concept. But that'll be an overdose and I doubt I can handle it at this moment so I stick to my original mission.
'Atomic Separation and Essen.'
There he goes again, saying something I don't understand.
'What?'
'I'm just naming them, you good for nothing. The process can be called Atomic Separation, while your essence can be called Essen. It's your choice.'
'I haven't thought about naming them, so I didn't put any thought into it. You can tell me more about it later. For now, allow me to focus.'
I said, pushing him away politely.
After obtaining the coordinates of the 2D and 3D worlds from the concept of dimension itself, I created a portal in each world.
Ton glanced at me without a word. I closed the portal. I'd left a part of 'myself' in space. When I looked down, my pinky finger was already healed, yet part of my essence still occupied the space around us.
"I don't need to know how you did it, so keep it at that. Now that we can create portals and let objects pass through them, can we go there ourselves?"
"Yes. If the corridor is stable and there's a coordinate, it'll work."
"Let's see for ourselves."
I followed him into the portal, and there he was, standing in a grey-like tunnel.
"Regardless of the distance, the corridor is always short. This is practical."
"What's beyond this corridor?"
I asked, looking at the hollow behind the tunnel.
'Weird.'
"That's the Sub Space."
He said, tapping the air as if tracing invisible boundaries.
"Picture two watermelons in a basket. The gap between the melons? That's Hyper Space. The basket itself is the Sub Space."
He let the image settle before continuing.
"Travelling between worlds uses Hyper Space. It's narrow, limited, and predictable. But moving between higher cosmological structures above them requires Sub Space."
His voice lowered.
"And you have to be very careful in there. If you drift too close to an Event Horizon, it's over. Suicide might honestly be the kinder option."
He paused, exhaling slowly.
"And if you're immortal…"
He didn't finish. He didn't need to. The silence said everything.
"Let's go."
We took the other exit and left.
To be continued...