Chapter 176: Layers

In the morning, I get up out of bed and sleepily navigate through my room. Hundreds of experimental samples, in the shape of little square plates, are piled into neat towers, making my room look like the den of a highly organized collection hoarder.

It’s been a couple of weeks now, and I’ve found the best mana gathering inscriptions I have for both Solid and super-solid mana. The reason it took so long is that I had to make sure the erosion of the mana isn’t so slow as to be imperceptible to me.

Unfortunately, I have put off the flagship upgrade until I have sufficient knowledge of space, as that is the best course of action right now; I don’t want to upgrade it in the middle of finishing its construction.

I step over and weave through the towers of samples and walk to the kitchen where Mom is starting breakfast. I haven't done a lot of cooking, but I’ll soon be living by myself, so I am doing this to better my cooking skills and knowledge.

“Please get me the butter,” Mom asks, pouring the liquid over cooked Domr meat after I hand it to her.

The Nexus is too hot for butter to stay solid, so it’s always liquid. I help Mom with breakfast and then go to the beach with a few samples for my experiments since my room is no longer suitable for experimentation.

As I approach the beach, a baby Domr skitters away from me, running into the sea. I bring with me a foldable stool that I made and sit down, feeling the warm sand beneath my toes and the soft wind blowing through my hair.

In order to make a practical a matryoshka box that can fuel itself, I need an inscription that can turn elemental mana into reserved mana, but I have yet to find one. I instead have to resort to using a large mana battery that I can draw upon to make the matryoshka box so that I can try to get another breakthrough for [Sense Space].

While I now have the mana gathering inscriptions that work for solid and super-solid mana objects, that is only half of the problem. Enchantments need to turn the mana into a type of spell mana to power the enchantment effect, but it can’t transform elemental or essence mana; the enchantment isn’t strong enough to do that besides the random chance, so I need an inscription that can do that which only adds to why my room is so full of samples.

However, I can’t wait for months until I figure it out, so I am resorting to this method. I make the first two layers of the matryoshka box and start working on the third. By now, the third box is around three cubic meters in size inside the thirty-centimeter box in my hands. Space inside the box expands so much now there’s almost a vacuum inside it, despite the fact it had atmospheric pressure for the first, outermost layer of the box.

Making the fourth layer proves difficult because now the space inside it is so large it’s taking so much mana to make the fourth layer, but I had planned for this. Making and Enchanting the fourth layer takes almost fifteen minutes, in which the space inside continues to expand, stretching thinner and thinner until I finally hear the chime of several notifications.

Ting! Sense Space has met requirements for a breakthrough and will continue leveling past level 60!6th Breakthrough: You have seen strong spatial warping; this will help you study spatial distortions

I breathe a sigh of relief that I made my goal, but a significant part of me still wants to go down this rabbit hole. What will happen If I keep expanding the space inside the matryoshka box? Will I tear a hole in the fabric of space? I want to know, but, unfortunately, I can’t. Each layer further will take more time and mana to make, and without it being able to sustain itself, it will be dangerous to continue further.

I spend the next few hours studying the expanded space and how objects interact with it, and over the course of the next few days, I study how different geometries of expanded space work. I study how the uniform expansion works to gradual and sudden expansion works as well as the space contraction counterparts of those studies works.

Once I have sufficiently studied space distortions and spatial bubbles, I go into the dungeon for the first time in years. Not just with a clone but with my real body. My [Sense Space] can’t see far enough for what I need. I fly to the Rovlat den to rechallenge the Phase Rovlat and study what it’s really doing.

I stay at the entrance of the den and send my clones further in, following them with my perceptions, and quickly make my way to my target. I provoke the Rovlat, who shifts from my view, becoming transparent. It snarls and growls and attacks my clones, but I don’t retaliate; instead, I curiously study the phenomenon protecting it from harm.

I assume it has something to do with spatial layers, but what are spatial layers, and why can I see the Rovlat but not touch it? Hold on, I can see it with my perception skills, but I don’t think I ever confirmed whether or not it can be seen by normal mundane sight. It might be worth exploring in the future, but for now, I need to figure this guy out.

As I continue to ponder the mystery in front of my clone, it continues to viciously attack; my clone reforms from each bite and rake of its claws.

It’s not traversing along a fourth dimension; if that was the case, I would not be able to see it. The only thing I can think of is different spatial layers, not spatial dimensions. Each layer is superimposed onto each other, kind of like how souls are superimposed onto our bodies.

If that’s the case, then isn’t there a soul layer? I’ll have to investigate that with another mind. I wonder what else there is but what throws a wrench in this line of thinking is that no one can normally see souls. It can be that the soul layer is not considered a spatial layer? Are there other soul layers, or is it something else completely?

For now, I’ll assume that soul layers and spatial layers work differently; after all, what I assume is the soul layer – whenever I use [Astral Projection] – visible light and even distances and time seems to work differently there.

One thing that works against this theory is that there has so far been no other evidence for different spatial layers. If that was the case, shouldn’t there be entire civilizations that live on other layers? What about geological formations?

Maybe I am overthinking things; maybe it’s just using a strange skill to make matter phase through it? But if that’s the case, then certain spells should still be able to hit it. Whatever the case, I should investigate all possibilities.

I focus on the rabid monster doing its best to hurt me and try to peer into its true location. The more I look at it, the more I notice that its presence is… gone. Its gravitational pull that all bodies have is not present; it’s almost as if it’s just a shadow.

I try to push my perception through this layer of space, working under the assumption that there are more spatial layers as a way to test that hypothesis. I keep the pressure up, pushing as hard as I can against the fabric of space, straining my focus so much that my head throbs, and then… I break through it, welcoming the chime of a new breakthrough.

7th Breakthrough: You have seen into different spatial layers; this will help you understand the possibilities of space.

I understand now, I can still see the ‘shadow’ of the Rovlat, but that doesn’t explain why there is nothing on this layer of space. Not to mention the layer I am seeing isn’t the one the Rovlat is on, but I can still see its ‘shadow’ as well as the ‘shadow’ of everything on the normal layer.

So what can cause the disparity of matter on the normal layer versus all the other layers? Why do they not have any matter in them? There are several explanations, but they all ultimately boil down to those layers not being suitable for matter in the long term. Perhaps they had matter, but all the matter degraded or migrated to the normal layer long ago, or maybe it’s a case that matter can only form on this layer and can only migrate to others through a skill or spell.

In any case, I should try to find the layer the Rovlat is on; maybe I can try to follow its shadow? I can’t see any indicator of where exactly it is, though; however, it has to be shifting to the normal layer to attack; I wonder If I can follow it back to the Layer it’s on?

It isn’t as easy as that; however, the Rovlat is only shifting its teeth and claws to the normal layer, but after several minutes I finally notice something odd. A slight ripple through the layers as it passes through them, and I floor its trail, eventually ending up at the layer it’s hiding on.

Got you!

I smile with satisfaction as I can now study the effect matter has on a different layer. But why is the Rovlat on this specific layer? It is just a random coincidence, or maybe this layer is safer for matter to be in? Unfortunately, I can’t easily study that yet, but if I can poke the monster and make it move, I might gain some insight.

How do I cast a spell in another layer, though? The mana first has to travel to the layer to manifest the spell. Can I use my Bond to teleport into other layers? If I can, then I don’t need to bother the Rovlat as I can get better test results.

I decide to leave the monster alone, It has already taught me much, and maybe it has other secrets up its sleeve. I dismiss my clones and return to the Nexus, thinking of ways to explore spatial layers safely.

I go back to my spot on the beach and start testing out different spells, but no matter what I do, I can’t just ‘teleport’ the mana to other layers no matter what I try.

I must first open a bridge to that layer. I realize.

But how do I do that? First of all, I don’t really understand how most of this stuff works, and it might be dangerous; I should give my Bond skills a try since it works differently on a fundamental level. If spells can’t work, then perhaps Bonds can.

I concentrate on [Immaculate Appearance], but instead of teleporting a beach rock, I want it to shift the rock to another layer. I feel the skill takes hold, but nothing seems to happen; the skill is ‘locked on’ but unable to fire.

Does it need more power? I ask myself.

I give the skill a mental push feeling it wavers as if it almost went through. I take a deep breath in and muster up all the power I can muster with my Bond and shove the skill to give the boost it needs. Beauty mana bursts out from me in a wave, and the rock disappears. A large ripple runs across the fabric of this layer, but it has worked!

Ting! Your Bond skill, Immaculate Appearance, has evolved into Immaculate Translocation!