LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 64, Stuck
(Day x + 1) Month, Day, Year of ???
Adam looked around. There were dunes in all directions and next to them was the…
Warning: Quantum Temporal Rip imminent. You may not occupy two temporal locations within the same Universe. You must…. Error.
Adam’s vision cleared and he was once again looking at Xsitant. Tasha hadn’t moved yet. Xsitant looked at him with hope in his eyes.
“Do you still have access to your interface?” he asked.
“Yeah, why?”
“I haven’t been able to cast magic Since I arrived a couple of minutes ago. I can use a couple of abilities and have access to my interface but that’s about it.” Xsitant said.
“Hold on for a minute, let him think,” Adam said as Adam looked over at Tasha and Xsitant. Adam noticed moisture already appearing on their foreheads which caused Adam to look up. The sun that had been over Primore was slightly larger. Adam conjured some specialized sunglasses and looked at the star through various spectrums. It did seem hotter. Adam checked the nanites and sure enough, the temperature against his skin was 101 degrees Fahrenheit. So, a little warm. Adam tried to send the nanites he had control of out past his 500-foot radius and was surprised when they continued to expand past that range. So this place had no magic or so little that it didn’t really matter. Okay then. No magic worked in his favor right now but made it so only Adam could access magic. That could be a problem because Adam would need Xsitant’s help if they wanted to get out of this mess without killing him.
Adam had already figured out that he could recreate a body back in his Place of Power and then transfer his consciousness back through time but that would leave Tasha stranded with Xsitant on a dying planet. Adam couldn’t do that. Well, he could, but he wouldn’t. Also, Xsitant was a practitioner of time and chaos magic. Two things Adam needed. The knowledge might provide him with the clues Adam needed to destroy the Ancient Enemy. Time? Why hadn’t his ability “I have always been, I will always be” protected him? Adam reviewed the ability:
Congratulations you have been granted the Special Sphere of Time ability “I have always been, I will always be.” Your existence is now sacrosanct. You are no longer subject to the Grandfather Paradox, nor can you be affected by Time Magic that you do not wish to be affected by.
Adam was right, he shouldn’t have been affected by it. Adam dug into his prompts and zeroed in on the prompts he needed.
You have been caught in an area of effect Temporal Vortex. The ability “I have always been, I will always be” does not apply.
NOTE: The Ability “I have always been, I will always be” will not prevent passage through Temporal Portals, Temporal Vortex, or natural Space-Time portals. The immunity granted by this ability merely indicates that passage through time will not prove fatal.
Adam sighed as he thought about how it would have been nice to know in the original description of the ability, not that the knowledge helped him now. He’d think about that problem later, now he had to give them some shelter. Adam sent his nanites out to make more of themselves and to start making them a basic shelter with three bedrooms, bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and the most important thing, an air conditioner. Once that was started Adam viewed his internal links to Thor and noted that they were all active, but the information was being blocked to and from. Adam tried to send a mental link like He’d done a million times and it failed. Adam thought about it a moment then sent a message, text only
Adam: Thor are you there?
Thor: Yes
Adam: When are you?
Thor: Same day you left to get whenever you are.
Adam: Why did you block the links?
Thor: I believe our ability “I have always been, I will always be” had an unintended consequence.
Adam: Adam had the same idea. Did you feel the pain?
Thor: Yes, that is why I shut down the link and it will remain shut down until I physically see you again.
Adam: You think that I will receive a flood of information from your experiences throughout the time I’ve traveled into the future?
Thor: Yes, it might kill you.
Adam: I had the same thought.
Thor: I will set up a room at this quantum location
Adam: Yeah, someone called The Vizier who works for The Council was a little more ingenious than I gave him credit for. It seems that I was targeted by a spell from the sphere of time. Yeah, we don’t have resistances to that sphere, except our normal resistances and I think the higher-tier magics are less impressed with my attributes than the primal forces are. Gotta go. Will contact you when I can.
“Adamantadine, what’s happening,” Xsitant asked.
“I am making our shelter, food, and drinks really quick so we can get out of this sun. Once we’re inside we can talk. Just hold on.” Adam said as Adam walked over and conjured a glass of water for Tasha. Adam gently lifted her chin and said “Drink this.”
“What is it?” she mumbled.
“Water, don’t worry we’ll be inside in a minute.”
She drank the water and the glass disappeared. Adam looked at Xsitant, “Are you thirsty?” Adam asked.
“Will be able to drink inside?” he asked.
“Yes, and it shouldn’t be longer than another 5 minutes.”
“I can wait then,” he said as he stood and moved to stand beside Adam and Tasha. Adam helped Tasha to her feet, and they walked over to where the front door would be. They waited a couple more minutes and then Adam led them into a small one-story home. As they entered Adam had the nanites create an elevator shaft to a lower floor and started creating a base of operation. Thor hadn’t said it, but Adam was going to need to recreate his very first portal device with enough power to get back to his Place of Power and into the vault. However, Adam couldn’t just make a door and then enter the vault. If Adam went into the Tower, everything they were trying to do to circumvent creating a paradox would fail. Adam needed to portal directly into the Vault to the coordinates he’d been given. He reviewed his memory dump when Thor and Adam had been connected and looked at the energy requirements to open those portals. Okay then, this was going to take a few days, if not weeks.
Adam turned to Xsitant and Tasha, as Adam started the tour, “Over to our right is a small dining area. I don’t think we’ll need to worry about guests, though I will go check to make sure after I’m sure you two are settled. First things first. Xsitant, I know magic doesn’t work, do you have access to some of your abilities and your personal interface now or is everything still off?
“I have access to my personal interface and some abilities, must be my proximity to you,” he said.
“Good, can you Analyze people?” Adam asked.
“Yes, but for some reason, it doesn’t work on you?” he answered.
Adam lowered his resistance to Analyze and said, “Try now.” When Xsitant’s eyes bulged Adam reactivated his defenses and looked him square in the eyes, “Do we understand each other?”
“Yes, Adam, I think we understand each other. How can I help?” he asked.
“Okay, Tasha and Xsitant. This house is modeled after a home from my universe and is more technologically advanced than anything you’re probably used to. The good news is that we will have all the food and water we need while I work to get us to a location where we can probably fix this problem. Tasha, do you know what has happened?
Still looking bewildered she hesitantly said, “We’re in a desert somewhere?”
“True, but we’re in a desert right next to where the Obelisk for the Dungeon next to Venoran is.”
“There isn’t a desert there,” she said.
“There wasn’t a desert near Venoran when we met, there is now.”
“She thought for a moment, then asked, “Time Travel?”
“Yes!” both Xsitant and Adam said together.
Adam looked at him and then continued, “Xsitant here had an accident and you brought us to him.”
“How did I bring us to him, I’m not a caster?” she asked.
“I think it has something to do with the ring you’re wearing.”
“What ring?”
“The Ring on your right hand,” Adam said.
“I don’t have a ring on his right hand,” she said lifting her hand to show them which clearly had a ring on her right hand.
Adam looked at her and saw the sincerity in her eyes. “Okay, please trust me when I say I’m not going to hurt you,” as he gently reached up and removed the ring from her finger while she watched him. To her, it must have seemed like Adam was a crazy person until the ring was completely off and her eyes locked onto it.
“I was wearing that ring?” She asked as Xsitant moved closer to get a good look.
“Crux,” Xsitant said with a hint of disbelief in his eyes.
Adam looked at him questionly.
“Identify the ring, you’ll understand,” Xsitant said.
Adam looked at the ring and identified it.
Identify Success! Crux. This ring allows the wearer and everyone with 10 feet of them to travel to a target location or person. The target can be anywhere. Also, the ring can target persons even if they have traveled through time into the future. This ring bypasses all resistance and will deliver the wearer and everyone within 10 feet to the target location.
WARNING: This magical item is potent. Do not destroy this ring.
“Holy Shit!” Adam said.
“Yeah,” Xsitant replied.
“What?” Tasha asked.
The ring is an Artifact” Xsitant said.
“So now I know how we got here. What spell did the Vizier use on her to get her to use the ring?” Adam asked.
Xsitant thought for a moment, “Most likely Geas and then some form of memory eraser. She didn’t even know she was going with you did she?”
“Probably not, you’ve seen her level. She was a messenger, and her alignment even shows as Neutral Good, which would have caused me to drop his guard. The Vizier is a slimy, sneaky son of a bitch!” Adam said with a little bit of respect. He’d tricked and trapped him after all.
“So now what?” Xsitant asked.
“Now I continue my tour,” Adam said as did just that. “Off to our right is a kitchen. To our left is a sitting room with chairs couches and a television. Don’t worry we’ll go over what a television is after we eat. Behind these two doors is an elevator shaft that will lead down to our underground base once it’s finished and until the rooms are finished below. There are three small rooms along the back wall, each with their own beds and bathrooms.” Adam said as he showed them how to use the bathrooms, turn on the showers set the temperature to what they wanted it at, and how to lock their room doors. He’d had the nanites in the house reduce the temperature to a comfortable 75 degrees Fahrenheit while they were walking around and had the nanites prepare dinner. Nothing fancy just cooked hens with some veggies, bread, and mugs of ale.
“Is that food I smell?” Tasha asked.
“Yes, why don’t we sit down and eat,” Adam said.
As they made their way to the table Xsitant asked, “You have been most generous since you arrived, even though I destroyed your tower. Might I ask why?”
Adam motioned for everyone to sit, “Please sit and dig in. I give both of you my word that the food is harmless. While we’re eating I’ll explain further.” Adam said as he sat down and began eating. He took his food from the center of the table, filled his plate, and then took a bite from each item and swallowed so they could see that the food was not harmful. Adam continued to eat while they made their own plates and sat down. He waited until they were comfortable before he continued.
“First things first, Tasha, we are still on Primore, but we are millions, if not billions, of years in the future. I won’t know exactly how far into the future until we get back to my Place of Power,” which caused a look of confusion to cross Xsitant’s face. Adam turned to him and continued, “Xsitant, your spell did not destroy the tower. It would seem that when your spell went off something chaotic happened, which we will definitely talk about later. As for the loss of magic. I am directly tied to my Place of Power, so I am able to utilize magic wherever I go. Everything you’ve seen me do so far was not created with magic though. I may explain exactly how I’m doing everything I am doing over the next couple of days, weeks, and months we are here but suffice it to say as long as I have access to matter of any kind we will be fine.” Adam paused to take a bite of his meal and drink some ale, then turned on the album Optical Race by Tangerine Dream. Adam let that play in the background while they ate in silence for a little bit.
After they’d all but finished their meals Adam lowered the volume of the music with a thought and said, “Tasha, you are an innocent bystander in this. I will try to find a way to get you home which is why my fellow Mage here is still alive.”
Xsitant looked up at that and asked, “You need a teacher?”
“Yes,” Adam said.
“But your levels…”
“Did you know Apolyn, I have a feeling that you did?” Adam asked.
“Why yes Adam did, The Tower you claimed as a Place of Power was once mine. I gifted it to him some years ago.”
“Did you know what he was working on until about 13 years ago?” Adam asked.
“He had this idea that he could steal experience from The Labyrinth. I thought the idea intriguing but warned him that he should do more research first,” he said.
“Well, he succeeded, then he died,” Adam said.
“So, you’re stealing experience from The Labyrinth?” he asked.
“Simple answer, yes. Long answer, is it really stealing if an Adjudicator makes the link permanent?”
Xsitant had been taking a drink of ale which he coughed up, then coughed harder to clear his throat as he croaked, “An Adjudicator did what?”
“Yeah, long story. Anyway, we’re here now and I need to learn as much as I can about the sphere of time. I know that you can at least cast Time Shield and since I have so many choices for teachers guess what? You’re it.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Because if you help teach me, I will get the three of us back to the time we came from,” Adam said.
“Yeah, that’s probably not going to happen,” Xsitant said.
“Because there is a Temporal Crux between then and now?” Adam asked.
“Yes.”
“I’m not going to use magic to make this happen, I’m going to use technology. Currently, I’m in contact with, let’s just call it, part of my soul back in that time. I believe that if I can figure out the equations I can create a portal for us using technology.”
“If the technological portal is bound by the same rules as magical portals are it won’t matter,” Xsitant said.
“Why?” Adam asked.
“The part of you in the past may very well be able to make a portal and open it to us here. They might even be able to step through to come to us. The problem you have is that anyone from this end attempting to go back through the portal will be ripped apart as they cross any time between now and then in their timeline that has a crux. The barrier that prevents me from just using a spell, even a wish, to return to my own time also prevents me from stepping through a portal into the past.” He explained.
While he was explaining, Tasha was partaking of the Ale very liberally and her gaze had started to fog over.
“I think we’re losing Tasha. Also, this is why I need a teacher. We will be traveling to my Place of Power as soon as I finish creating the items I need to be able to do so. If I get you back into a magical environment will you be able to teach me about the sphere of time?” Adam asked.
“Yes”
“Okay then, Xsitant please help Tasha to a room, my technology will lock the door behind her once you leave the room. Word of warning. Through my technology, I can see and perceive everything in this building. You are not to touch Tasha without her sober consent. If you do, I will leave you at this time, by yourself when we leave. I need you, but I don’t need you that much. I’d much rather have a teacher, but I do have an Orb of Knowledge. I can probably find the answers I need from it. Act Honorably and I will bring you back with me. Do something stupid and you can find your fate in this place, though I warn you, I do not know how much longer this planet will survive. This brings me back to his first request. Please escort Tasha to her room to get tucked in. I need to go take a trip around the planet to see what’s what and how far this wasteland has spread.”
Xsitant nodded, Adam stood and then walked outside. Adam activated his monk ability “Cloud Running” and then rose in altitude gaining speed until he broke the sound barrier at 730 mph. Adam trusted his Air Power ability “The Wind Flows By” to protect him from any wind resistance he might be creating. His nanites maintained his energy level and allowed him to breathe normally as Adam rose to almost 50 miles above the surface. Then Adam increased his speed. He’d never run at his maximum velocity before. It was both exhilarating and terrifying to run around the planet in just under fifteen minutes. Of course, the only reason Adam knew He’d gone around the planet once was that as he made it back to his starting point he saw a reflection below him. Adam might be 50 miles up but when the only thing visible from this high was sand, mirrors from the solar panels he’d created stuck out a bit.
His first pass had been to go west, now Adam went north over the pole, then down to the south pole, and back to his starting point. No water, just sand everywhere. Adam used his ability “Gravity Is that Way” and went straight away from the planet until he was in low orbit. As Adam rose he used the limited Air molecules he had access to conjure two satellites and then released them into orbit at different altitudes. One traveling along the equator and the other going North to South. Adam made sure they had quantum links to him then reversed how gravity was affecting him which allowed him to drop back into the atmosphere.
Adam returned to the House and then had the nanites enclose it in a bubble of transparent aluminum. Adam altered his instructions to the nanites. Made the shelter airtight then added CO’2 scrubbers and oxygen tanks to the structure to ensure there was enough breathable area. Adam had held off on infiltrating Tasha with nanites, but Adam had them do so now and set them up to check her medical condition and ensure she’d be able to breathe. Xsitant was fine. The nanites he’d flooded him with had automatically adjusted to the low-oxygen environment of the planet and helped him compensate. The mode the nanites defaulted to for humans was simply if no other instructions were given to keep them alive. Since we’d arrived Adam hadn’t given any instructions to the nanites in him. When the nanites infiltrated Tasha however, Adam was notified that her oxygen saturation was low and dropping. As he’d suspected she’d been having a harder and harder time breathing. Coupled with the alcohol she’d had at dinner; it could have proved fatal. Adam had the nanites in her correct the problem, gave instructions for the nanites to cleanse her system when she left her bed then left them at the default setting as Adam also made the changes to their shelter.
Adam didn’t have his normal amount of nanites and creating the mass Adam needed was taking time. Thankfully there was a lot of sand around and as the complex below him was constructed all the removed rock and sand would be converted to nanites as well. Adam was on a mostly dead planet, and he had a lot of work to do.