A few monts ago,
Victor, who was climbing down on the edge of the Empire, felt his hands trembling as he tightly gripped the roots, his breath uneven.
"Fuck, this is really painful," Victor muttered, his face twisting in discomfort. He had been climbing down for what felt like an eternity, his arms already burning from the relentless strain, and yet he hadn't even reached the base of the Empire! His muscles ached, and his grip was weakening, but stopping wasn't an option.
A thin protective layer surrounded him, allowing him to breathe in the vast emptiness of space.
He knew ti was slipping away fast, but there was no way he could move any faster than this. The massive roots blocking his path made every step difficult, and the jagged rocks beneath his feet were anything but stable. One wrong move, and he'd plumt into the abyss—an endless fall into space, lost forever.
"They've already docked... But—" Victor's brow furrowed as an unsettling feeling crept into his chest. His plan had gone off without a hitch, but sothing still felt off. That nagging sense of unease was the only thing keeping him going right now. He needed to be ready—ready for anything.
Victor exhaled sharply, forcing himself to focus as he continued his descent, every movent precise and controlled. But then suddenly—
TTRRRRRRR!
A sharp noise ripped through the stillness of space.
Victor stiffened, his fingers instinctively tightening around the root. "What the hell was that?" he muttered, eyes narrowing as he scanned his surroundings. The silence of space was deafening, but the sound had been unmistakable—sothing was shifting... like stretching!
And then he felt it.
The root he was gripping suddenly tensed, coiling as if it were alive.
Victor's stomach dropped. "Shit... The Ebon Stone's stretching the roots even faster?"
BOOOMMMMMMMM!
A deafening explosion shook the entire Empire. The ground trembled violently before him, and before he could react, his grip on the root gave way.
"FUCK!" Victor roared, his body plumting. Instinct kicked in, and he unleashed a burst of flas from his palms, using the propulsion to propel himself toward another root. His fingers latched onto it just in ti, his entire body jerking from the force.
He hung there, panting, his heart pounding like a war drum. "Holy fuck..." He let out a shaky breath, glancing down just in ti to see massive chunks of the Empire's edge breaking away, collapsing into the abyss below. It wasn't just falling—it was moving, the force of the initial blast sending debris into an inertial drift.
"Tsk." Victor clicked his tongue. He didn't have ti to waste. He needed to get down—now.
If he could use his flas to move, then why was he still climbing?
The answer was obvious.
Of course, he could use them, but he couldn't afford to waste his energy. His plan required every ounce of power he had left, and if he spent too much now, he'd be screwed when it really mattered.
"Fuck... If this doesn't work the way I planned, I swear I'm done with this Empire," Victor growled under his breath, frustration lacing his words. He was surely doing sothing he had never done... He was supposed to take missions—not risk his life to protect an entire Empire.
But before he could curse his situation any further—
CRACK!
A deep, guttural rumble vibrated through the space around him.
Victor's head snapped up just as a massive portion of the Empire's edge buckled with force.... Beams, rods, and slabs of debris trembled, then shattered, cascading down like an avalanche.
"FUCK!" Victor's eyes darted around, searching desperately for sothing—anything—he could grab onto. His gaze locked onto a thick, sturdy root, and without hesitation, he launched himself toward it, grabbing hold just as the wall beneath him gave way.
For a brief mont, he thought he had made it.
But then—
The wall he had landed on shifted, tilting at an unnatural angle.
Victor gritted his teeth. "Oh, co the fuck on!"
The surface beneath his feet was sliding, pulling him with it. He clenched his fist, forcing himself to move. He couldn't stay here—if he hesitated, he'd go down with it.
With a sharp exhale, he twisted his body, slamming his fist into the crumbling wall to propel himself sideways. He hit the wall running, his legs carrying him downward as fast as he could go, moving with the montum of the slide.
"Faster... Faster...!" Victor muttered, his breathing ragged as he pushed himself harder. The land beneath him was slipping away, and if he didn't reach a stable root soon, he was fucked....
Step.
Step..
Step...
Victor moved at an insane speed, channelling every ounce of Arcane energy into his limbs.
"Shit, shit, shit..." he muttered under his breath, his eyes locking onto the base. It was so close, but beyond it—nothing.... Just an endless void of space.
His heart pounded. He had to make this jump.
Without wasting another second, Victor threw a rope toward a rock, his movents fluid and precise—like a cowboy lassoing a wild beast—while still running at full speed.
Thud!
The rope, thanks to his sheer luck, wrapped tightly around the rock, giving Victor the leverage he desperately needed. Without wasting a second, he swung forward.
"AAaaaahhhhhhh... aaahhhh!" Victor let out a wild, exhilarated cry, swinging like Tarzan as his sharp eyes locked onto a soft root ahead. That was his next target—he had to reach it no matter what. However—
Thud!
The rock anchoring his rope suddenly cracked, splintering into countless fragnts before breaking apart completely.
Victor felt his body free-fall, the sudden weightlessness throwing him off balance as he tumbled through space, dazed for a brief mont... But even in that chaotic, disorienting mont, he didn't panic.
Using the remaining montum from the inertial force, he released the rope at the perfect ti, twisting his body mid-air. His speed surged as he spun, calculating his next move with razor-sharp precision...
Snap!
Victor's fingers latched onto another root just in ti. His entire body jerked from the sudden stop, but he held on, his chest rising and falling as he took a sharp breath, his heart pounding erratically.
He blinked, his adrenaline-fueled brain registering what had just happened. A rush of exhilaration surged through his veins, 'T-This was... exciting...' A smirk crept onto his lips, an amused glint flashing in his sharp eyes. Rather than fear, the life-threatening situation only seed to fuel his excitent further.
He was slowly getting used to it! Continue reading at My Virtual Library Empire
"Anyway..." Victor exhaled deeply, shaking off the lingering thrill before turning his gaze downward. His eyes tracked the massive chunks of Empire's Edges breaking apart and scattering, floating aimlessly into space. So of the larger pieces drifted together, colliding before spinning off in random directions, while the smaller debris was already too far gone, swallowed by the infinite void.
"I just created a cot, didn't I?" Victor mused, the thought amusing him for a brief mont before snapping back to reality.
He had finally reached the base of the Empire. That ant he was now hanging directly underneath the colossal structure, gripping the thick roots while his legs dangled in the vast emptiness of space.
It was almost like doing pull-ups—except the consequences of failure were far worse than just falling.
Victor exhaled again, steadying his breathing, "I used too much energy..." he muttered under his breath, his muscles already feeling the strain. He quickly scanned the area, his sharp gaze locking onto a particular peak at the base. It stood out, positioned right at what seed to be the central point of the Empire.
"I think that's the place," he murmured to himself with certainty.
Since this was the base rather than a slope, he couldn't simply climb or walk. His only option was to move from root to root using his hands alone.
With sheer upper body strength, he began swinging from one root to another, keeping his movents sharp and controlled.
He moved swiftly—like Tarzan, who moves from branch to branch—his body flowing in perfect synchronization with the weightless environnt. He focused entirely on his next motion when suddenly—
[ 10 AP]
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....
....
Victor's movents ca to an abrupt halt as his sharp eyes caught sight of the floating notifications.
'What the hell is that all about?' He was taken aback, his brows knitting together in confusion. Affection points? Out of nowhere? That was sothing he hadn't expected.
Just then, a small shift on his shoulder caught his attention.
A tiny, six-legged chanical spider scuttled across his arm, its movents precise and eerily smooth. On its back, a miniature cara glead.
Victor narrowed his eyes slightly. 'They activated it before I even gave the signal....?'
That ant only one thing—Raven had altered the plan.
He wasn't entirely sure why, but he knew she wouldn't have done so without reason. He trusted her judgnt, even if he wasn't in on the full details yet.
Ever since he had reached Level 80, his mastery over Arcane energy had improved significantly. He could now fully control the energy leakage from his body, aning he no longer caused chanical devices or circuits to short-circuit/blow up just by touching them.
That was a major breakthrough!
That was why this chanical spider was functioning properly—it wasn't breaking down or blowing up and most importantly since there was no Arcane energy present here, it was using Aether, which was being channelled into its body to power it.
Victor's lips curled into a sharp, knowing smirk.
'If everyone's watching... then I might as well put on a show.'
With a sharp exhale, he pushed onward, his expression shifting into one of pure determination while in pain as he made his way toward the centre of the base.
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