The boundaries of the portal were nebulous, as if it existed in a space between spaces, defying the laws of conventional reality.
And as Emir approached closer, he could feel the faint tugs of gravitational forces emanating from the portal.
A subtle reminder of the power that coursed through it.
Within the depths of the swirling vortexes, he glimpsed fleeting images of a distant landscape, a preview of what awaited on the other side.
'Alright....'
'Let's see what Silent has in store for .'
Readying himself, he stepped forward, and the portal swallowed him whole.
He traveled more than 1,000 light years in an instant as his feet reached the other side of the portal.
While Emir cast his gaze upon his new surroundings, he was captivated by the surreal sight that unfolded before him.
The entire landscape, from the billowing clouds that stretched across the sky to the very ground beneath his feet, was bathed in a hue of deep and vibrant purple.
The clouds, like wisps of athyst, danced across the heavens, their forms casting shifting shadows on the land below.
The sunlight that filtered through the lavender mist, created a soft glow.
In the distance, mountains rose from the violet horizon, their peaks piercing the heavens.
The mountains' rugged forms, tinged with hues of lilac and indigo, seed to guard the secrets of this realm.
Emir found himself imrsed in a landscape so extraordinary and alien that it defied the very notion of Earth.
He simply couldn't believe what he was seeing.
'This has to be outside the solar system, there's no way any of our planets look like this...'
Emir soon snapped himself out of that thought and walked on, his senses on high alert, while The navigated the area he found himself in.
But while walking, he felt different for so reason; his steps were subtly wonky, and
uneven.
It was almost unnoticeable to the average man, but that he was not....
And then Emir finally realized:
"Gravity.... I almost forgot about that."
He theorized it to be similar to that of Earth, as he easily adjusted to it, his strength output in the environnt neither increasing nor decreasing.
Shrugging his shoulders, he accepted that as fact and moved on, his gaze wondering.
There were no lush jungles or towering trees, no signs of the abundant life to which he was accustod.
Instead, as far as his eyes could see, there lay an expanse of rugged terrain, dominated by colossal rock formations that seed to stretch endlessly.
The jagged rocks, weathered by eons of ti, ford a labyrinth of natural sculptures.
They stood as ancient sentinels, guardians of this world.
"Augh!"
Emir's captivated gaze suddenly paused as his breath hitched and a coughing fit replaced his calm deanor.
It was apparent that the air he breathed was devoid of oxygen, a realization that would have posed a dire threat to ordinary beings.
"Hoooooh...."
But Emir, as a celestial with the sa degree of mutation as a Seraphim, had long transcended the need for such sustenance.
Through his early mutation, he attained an extraordinary adaptation that allowed him to exist independently of oxygen, defying the constraints of biological limitations.
After calm returned to his face, he stopped for a mont, wanting to make sure of a few things.
[Hey Lyra, can you hear ?]
He asked, wondering if the connection between them was still intact.
And like he expected, no reply ca, so he didn't bother with that any longer and looked up.
"Silent, what do you want to do here? This planet is just dead."
Emir knew that Marcus was watching him.
And a second later, a soft voice echoed in his mind:
[Check-check, you hear , sonny?]
"Yeah, so why did you send here?"
[Quite impatient, aren't you, young man? Listen up... This upcoming trial would test your adaptability, sothing quite important for a celestial.]
[Your wit and strength have already been proven, so now let's see if you have this as well.]
"No questions?" Emir asked.
Silent chuckled.
[Yes, you must go in this blind, knowing about the events that would unfold would ruin the trial after all...]
"I know that Lyra ntioned this already, but you must know that I really love people testing . I seriously like it a lot, so thank you for this."
A mont of silence occurred until it was broken by wild laughter from both parties.
Monts later, when they finally cald down, Silent spoke:
[Well, I like you boy, I'll give you a freebie after this.]
[Although I can't say what the information is exactly, I can tell you that it's regarding the one
who orchestrated this guillotine hovering over your head.]
[Hopefully, this would serve as enough motivation for you to try your best.]
Emir's eyes widened in surprise, but he shook his head right after.
"And here I thought that the experints only began after your death...."
"Well, that certainly gets going, I'll be sure not to disappoint you."
[You won't, and just know that you can only contact when I initiate the connection.]
Now that Silent was gone, Emir focused back on the environnt.
Nothing had changed much from the mont he ca here, so he began thinking of what the
trial may be.
'This planet, whatever it's called, is solely purple, which might an sothing....'
'He said, adaptability, so maybe an environntal hazard.'
'Poison maybe?'
'But I'm fine.'
'Breathing this planet's air gave no problems.'
'Or is it a thing that happens at specific tis of the day?'
'....That might be it.'
Emir then began planning on how to tackle this upcoming issue.
And his mind imdiately went to creating a shelter, or searching for and hiding in it until he
identified this planet's hazards.
'A cave it is.'
Landing on a decision, Emir's steps quickened as he ran towards the towering mountains in
the distance, moving at a blindingly fast speed.
He passed by many purple-colored rock formations, and he didn't fail to notice that so of them contained scars, indicating that a battle took place in the area.
'So monsters too....'
'Well, just hiding in a cave would've made this too easy.' He snickered.
While on the way towards the mountains, he spotted three massive figures a large distance
away, appearing to be chasing him.
He sighed as he murmured: "Haaaah... seriously? You won't even give a grace period?"
Emir's feet never stopped moving, and he didn't even appear exhausted at the speed he was
going at.
His mind, however, was overloaded.
Especially so compared to his relaxed countenance.
He thought of plans, taking into account all his possible future actions and unknown things
coming his way.
And as he neared the mountains, he stopped to catch his breath for a mont.
Emir wanted to kill those monsters as they were closing in on him despite the massive boost
to his speed.
This to him, combined with other conclusions he made, indicated their level to be around
Fiend rank.
A maximum of two cores, sothing that he could handle, leading to his decision to confront
them before going further.
Since his destination was littered with rocks at every turn.
Which would have made it impossible to know where the monsters were.
Emir propped up his Aetherstorm launcher and lay prone on the ground, the butt of the gun
sticking to his shoulder as he eyed the monsters through his scope.
He zood in on them, enabling him to identify his adversaries.
All three monsters looked to be of the sa kind, a Noxspire.
Massive serpent-like creatures with jet-black scales and glowing eyes. Their bodies were adorned with tattoo-like patterns and vibrant colors of purple.
And they possessed long, sinuous bodies, coiling and slithering with speed. 'Nothing too surprising, those species of monsters survive and thrive on poisonous planets.'
'Best way to kill these three is to make sure they're dead before they reach ,' he added as he
prepared the Aether in his body.
"Aether Blast."
His chant resulted in his weapon to whirr once more, and a massive beam of light traveled a
few kiloters in seconds until it reached the leftmost monster, hitting its eyes and exiting
its head a mont later.
The monster let out a cry of pain and slumped down.
But the ones beside it didn't flinch and kept rushing at Emir, knowing that giving him a
chance to strike again would end up in their deaths.
Having utilized only half of his Aether reserves in the preceding assault, he found himself
compelled to once more utter the incantation:
"Aether blast."
In an explosive display, the air quaked with a resounding boom as the second monstrosity
succumbed to its death.
Its colossal head was violently severed from its lifeless form, spiraling through the air in a grotesque arc, a bloody testant to his power.
Emir then directed his focus towards quickly replenishing his waning Aether reserves as he
was nearly depleted.
Employing his Aether core, he harnessed neutral Aether, adeptly converting it into his
Weaver's Veil aspect.
And as the tension mounted, Emir took a step forward, the sound of his unsheathed daggers
cutting through the air.
One blade held firmly in each hand, he assud a poised stance, his body subtly shifting into
perfect alignnt.
Emir held his breath as he activated the force shield embedded within his augnted suit,
isolating himself from the surrounding air and creating an invisible barrier separating him from the world.
Fully prepared, he fixed his gaze on the colossal monstrosity that lood before him, its presence casting a daunting shadow.
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