Seed Of Speed

It took a few days for the crystal to be harvested and blood collected for the formations, but it was actually an incredibly easy process due to the uniqueness of their environment. The Water crystals grew naturally in the waters below while the residents, due to their nature as beastmen, could donate a small amount of blood to make up the liters he would need. Any other sect or nation would have to think twice before using so many resources at once for temporary formations, but this place could without batting an eye if it meant helping their kind.

Diego spent his time with Zedava who was now pouting because he would be leaving again so quickly. In her mind, he had just left for a week while he re-cultivated, so leaving again after three days was not enough for her. Rozama was the only one who had been able to pacify her by telling her that he would be bringing her back new friends.

While he did not know what he had been expecting, Diego was a little disappointed when he saw the stairway down from Rozama's hollow. Celita and he made their way down the stairs, but after a while, he realized just how low they were going. They would be at the surface of the lake on the outside by the time he thought about it, and they did not stop until they were deep underground, below the massive lake.

The stairway emptied out into a large, mostly empty chamber. The natural silver glow of the Zivot Tree gave the room a mystical feeling. There were fifteen archways in front of fifteen off shoots off of the room. Strange runes were carved into the posts, but System's knowledge of languages easily translated the names of the different worlds.

::This is wonderful. Now, when you ascend and I can reconnect with my true self, I have enough information to track down where you will enter our world::

(What was the plan before?) Diego asked silently.

::Drifting in the vague direction of the soul-link we have through the usage of my System. You were bound to come across something, or some power, with the world's true name on it. With this, I have sixteen connected worlds::

(Good then, I guess.)

"This is the path to Qanegu," Celita said as she stopped at one of the gateways. "There is a chance that a sentry could be placed within the valley, so be ready for a sudden fight."

"Won't killing the sentry alert them to our arrival?" Diego asked.

"There are plenty of ways for sentries to die aside from us," she replied with a shrug.

"I'm not as good as my Senior Sisters, but I have studied Mind Magic and Katalina has given me a few techniques. I may not be able to dominate their minds, but frying them is better than killing them outright."

"Alright, we'll try to incapacitate them if possible, but we cannot allow them to contact their allies," Celita agreed.

She reached out and pulled a strange, red gemstone from the center of the archway and the space between the posts suddenly became filled with a swirling teal and silver energy. After all his exposure to it, Diego recognized the teal as 'Space' mana while he guessed that the silver was 'Time' mana as the two were often paired together by Katalina's explanation.

::You are right. The silver 'Time' mana is what stabilize both your bodies to adjust to the different world's time speed::

(Why is there no time difference between Void Passages and this method?) Diego asked silently.

::Void Passages are gateway to Pocket Worlds while this is true passage to another world. Pocket Worlds are defined a single attribute upon which the world centers around: Elemental Crystals, Rare Metals, Magical Herbs, even the Land of the Dead as your sect's Catacombs. They were artificially created by experts from my plane of existence for the exploitation of those resources the Pocket Worlds create. Qanegu is truly another world, so Time moves at a different rate as well as various Laws will be different there than here. In fact, it may be very beneficial for your Demi-Body Cultivation to advance there as it is a world of Fire and Shadow with how it has been described. Your Fire affinity might breakthrough to eight stars and I'm certain you would gain another star with Shadow::

(I'm not sure breakthrough would be the best usage of our time in the other world and it will definitely draw attention to us,) Diego replied with a shake of his head as he stepped towards the portal.

::Perhaps not this trip, but another. After all, I promised to teach Celita how to create formation. It won't be too hard for her to create a defensive barrier around your ascension trial in the future::

He did not reply and allowed his body to be pulled into the teal and silver energies. His mind felt separate from his body as he lost all sensation and sense of time. There were only the two swirling energies, even his thoughts giving way to the void. But the feeling was gone as suddenly as it had begun, it was over and Diego found himself in the closest representation of 'Hell' that he had ever imagined.

A giant tree of mirror-polished, black onyx was behind him and extended high into the clouds of black and dark yellow that blanketed the sky with the occasional streak of crimson lightning. The ground all around was a muted gray and completely flat except where it neared the black mountain range. These mountains were not inviting as they were shaped like blades pointing at the remains of the divine tree. Even the air burned his throat as he breathed, but Diego had not forgotten Celita's warning and was scanning the surroundings with his [Heaven's Celestial Eye], looking for high concentrations of Fire or Shadow mana.

Celita appeared a moment later and gave the area a quick glance around before saying, "Valley seems clear, but check the cliffs and the passes. I'll head north then circle east, you should head south then go around the west. Once we reach the other's starting point, we'll return here."

"Got it," Diego said, activating his [Six Silver Wings].

Celita gave him a nod then they both kicked off and headed in their designated directions. At his current speed, Diego crossed the twenty kilometers to the cliffs in a little over ten minutes, all while scanning the area with the alternate vision his Magic Crest granted him. It was similar to {Mana Sight}, but it was like comparing a puddle of water to the ocean when it came to the amount of detail and information he could see with the {Heaven's Celestial Eye}.

The very flow of all mana became visible which was overwhelming back in the Obor Jungle because of the present of the Zivot Tree, but here, its true function came into work. Diego could literally peer through the rock, searching for any source of mana he wanted. The demonic race were elemental lifeforms corrupted by Daemora influences, but because of that, his ability would be able to see them as little beacons of red and black.

Much to his surprise, he saw many twinkling stars in the mountain cliffs above him, but none were what he was looking for, by Katalina's ȧssurance. Sure enough though, as he approached the first mountain pass, there was a bright star of red with an occasional band of black wriggling through it, and she confirmed it was a demon.

His eyes transitioned back to normal and he jumped up into the air, flying up into the mountain. He wanted to approach the creature from behind if possible and approaching from the mountain was his best guess. Switching back and forth between the two different visions, Diego landed on an outcrop of rocks, overlooking a metal lookout platform carved into the face of the cliff.

Below, a creature similar to the Earth Gremlin in appearance rested without a care in the world, it seemed. Unlike the gremlin, its skin was charcoal black and had a pair of leathery bat wings on its back. It also wearing something that might pass as a uniform, a red jerkin with a two-headed serpent on the front.

(Should you do this?) Diego asked silently.

::A Fire Imp's mind is not that strong. If you fail, you deserve to be caught::

(Thanks...) Diego replied with a deadpan expression.

Unlike Elemental magic, where he crafts the spells then executes it, Mind magic required a constant link between the minds involved which is where the danger comes in. Too strong a mind and everything could backfire, consuming the caster instead. While the upper forms of the demonic species could be very dangerous with Mind magics, the imp was at the lowest rung of their society for a reason.

Diego reached out and touched the creature's mind cautiously. His practices with his Senior Sisters had left a lasting impression on him, so he always took the subtle approach when possible, and the situation was perfect for it.

He slipped into the imp's dreams which were more sensations that images. He could taste something salty and savory and could even feel the sensation of chewing which started to disturb Diego after a moment as he could feel himself getting hungry. He pushed past the surface thoughts and reached the barrier between his conscious and unconscious mind.

This was where he had to craft his spell, but thankfully for him, it was the easy part with the System behind him. The System would control the crafting of the spell while he simply handled the power needed to penetrate the barrier. After a few moments of weaving the spell, he understood why Katalina had not been worried.

Even a person with no training would have more mental barriers than the imp as humans had a complex social structure and would often hide parts of themselves. The difficulty with Mind magic lied in weaving through the 'layers' of a person, the more complex the spell, the more 'layers' that need to be joined and in the proper way to not cause problems between personalities. Needless to explain more, it is a very complicated practice to work on another's mind and not something Diego had a lot of talent for.

Diego opened his eyes once his spell was complete and let out a deep breath. "Hope this worked. Wake up!"

The Fire Imp suddenly sat up straight and its feet hit the metal platform then froze in place.

He chuckled and said, "Spin around."

The little imp stood up and spun around in place, as it was ordered.

"Alright. Head to the black tree and lay down on the ground, face down, until I return," Diego ordered.

The imp flapped its bat wings and flapped off towards the tree. Diego chuckled again before continuing his patrol. He came across another imp with a two-headed serpent on its jerkin and dominated its mind like the other before sending it to the tree. He turned back when he reached where Celita started and headed for the tree.

Celita was there already with three statuesque imps, no doubt paralyzed by one of her toxins. "That your work?" she asked, pointing to the imps face down in the dirt.

"Yeah, their minds aren't too difficult to control, but the spell will break if I am too far away from them," Diego replied.

"Good, then you can make them forget seeing us when we are ready to leave."

"Yeah, I'll handle the three then I'll start laying the formations."

"I'll reach out to Horsin while you work," Celita agreed with a nod.