Pillars of Ita

Fang He walked for a distance in the darkness. The faint light of the crystal in his hand crept on the gray rock surface. The scenes reflected were all the same - the ground was wet and slippery, and the air was cold - a thin layer of mist quickly condensed in the cold air. The passages in the darkness were like spider webs, and sometimes he could only judge their directions by sending out clockwork fairies in advance. From time to time, monotonous mechanical sounds passed through the darkness - the delicate structure of the copper shell whizzed past and then went into another cave.

Sometimes you can see traces of people passing by, scratches left by boots on the moss, and extinguished torches thrown between the stalactite spires.

There were several broken crossbow arrows beside the sharp rock, and the arrowheads were completely damaged. Not far away was the body of a huge bat. Fang He pulled out the dagger on his boot and fiddled with it, and found that it was a Pteropus palustris. This fruit-eating and nectar-eating bat that only exists in Etalia is actually not aggressive, but the sailors probably didn't recognize this kind of bat. They disturbed this creature in the dark, and there were two of them. One flew away, and the other stayed here.

Fang He could probably imagine the unexpected disaster, which was true for the two bats and the sailors as well.

These people were transported to this strange place, surrounded by an unfamiliar environment, and their nerves were highly tense, and the slightest spark could cause a fire. He just didn't know whether Sergios was with the sailors, so he could only assume so for now.

However, the presence of the Pascal's flying fox meant that the exit should be not far ahead. Fang He sniffed and found a faint salty smell in the mist, like the ubiquitous breath in this empty sea - salt crystals precipitated from the lower layer of the elemental layer. He judged that somewhere nearby might be connected to the empty sea - the clockwork fairy that was released found the right path.

But as we continued forward, we soon saw a steep rock wall appear in the darkness, blocking the road.

Fang He had to stop and look up. The stone wall tilted upward at almost a right angle, and the narrowest part of the cave was only wide enough for one person to climb through.

The people who passed by here before nailed a row of stone nails on the stone wall, but took away the ropes from above. If it was Miss Nightingale, it would be okay, but with his ability, he couldn't climb up with the help of these.

Fang He raised the glove and squinted one eye - he took a glance, and with a thought, there was a "bang" sound, and the hook-claw glove flew out of his hand, dragging a long cable with it, and hit the protruding sharp stone pillar in the middle twice.

The third time, it successfully passed through the gap between the caves, dragging its tail and disappearing into the darkness behind. The next moment, Fang He felt the touch of the magic glove. He grasped it with his hand, and the metal fingertips dug into the rocks.

The magic circle on the knuckles lit up, as if carved into the stone, and with a faint light, the five fingers of the glove were attracted to the rock and firmly fixed in that place.

Fang He pulled hard, and when he saw the rope stretched straight into a line, he nodded with satisfaction. This hook glove is the third generation product. The first generation only had primitive gripping functions, equivalent to a C+ level warrior. The second generation of rocket fists enhanced the protective effect. The third generation used some new knowledge that he learned after his trip to the empire.

It can now carry three times the weight and is better suited for situations where it’s difficult to hold, like right now.

The new gloves have a set of pressure arrays and micro energy storage crystals, which is a complex technique that only high-level alchemists can master. In addition, the cable has also been strengthened and made of cold iron, plus a simple firing array, which is fused together using alchemical formulas.

The ability to use alchemy more flexibly is a basic requirement for the wearer of the Hailin Morning Star. Fang He had actually already surpassed this stage, but it was only when he arrived at the Giant Tree Hill that he had time to reproduce these new things one by one.

He pressed a button on the small device on his right hand, and the cable immediately straightened. The small mechanism made a buzzing sound and rolled up the recovery wire, pulling him, his backpack, and the magic furnace up together.

The rope dangled in the air, causing Fang He to scrape against the sharp rocks. He had to use his hands to support his body on the rock wall, but his arms hit the protruding stone pillars, causing him to groan.

He finally breathed a sigh of relief after crossing the narrowest area. At this time, the cable was gradually pulled to the top. Fang He quickly reached out and grabbed the protruding tip of the rock, then climbed up using his hands and feet.

This action was quite strenuous, and he took a deep breath. After the Dragon King's power had been dormant for the last time, it had revived and almost completely merged with him, fundamentally changing his physique, but this time it came more subtly and slowly.

He had not received the blessing of the Star Gate when he smuggled across the country. Although he later regained this blessing when he accepted the White Knight and the Law of Creation, it only made up for the lack of starlight.

This meant that his physical fitness was actually slightly worse than that of the average person, and now it was only slightly better than that of an average person, and still far inferior to those true combat-professional Chosen Saints.

Fang He retracted his claws, lifted up his sleeve and saw that there was indeed a bruise on his arm. He could not help but grit his teeth, thinking that it was really impossible for the alchemist to take such an adventure alone.

Although alchemy and construction have endowed them with flexible and adaptable abilities, there will always be situations where alchemy cannot be relied upon.

This is still a non-dangerous situation.

He couldn't help but begin to miss the time he was with Alisa and the days when he went on adventures with the other people on the ship, when he could rely on others for many things.

And he could focus more on his duties as an alchemist.

Fang He then looked forward. The road ahead had become flat, like a common cave system in the sky sea. It was made of gray quartzite and the ground was wet. It was probably because the tide was pouring in from somewhere, bringing in water vapor from the clouds above the elemental layer.

The passages led forward in a winding manner, and the rocks seemed to be eroded into steps. Fang He climbed up step by step. The fishy and salty smell in the air became heavier. A large amount of salt crystals precipitated from the elemental layer and covered the rocks like a layer of white frost.

Next, there was a steep turn in front of him. He walked around the turn and found the entrance to another cave on the right. The deep cave system flowed into this cave from different directions.

He just took a look at the dark cave entrance, and then continued to walk forward. The sound of waves was already faintly heard in front of him, and then a beam of light shot out from the front.

Fang He subconsciously raised his hand to block in front of himself, and his eyes narrowed as he adapted to the change in light.

The exit was right outside, but Fang He's first thought was:
"Is it daylight outside?"

He remembered that it was midnight before he entered this place, and including the time he spent groping underground, it was less than an hour, and it was definitely not early morning, unless the time turbulence moved again.

Fang He slowly opened his eyes and saw the gray sky. He could hear the whistling of the sea breeze outside. He looked down and saw jagged rocks below. A line of cloud waves was hitting the steep stone wall. The waves formed foam outside the cliff and poured into the cave. Only then did he understand where the water stains came from.

This should be right below the Sky Island. The inverted land-edge mountains are deeply embedded in the clouds, but it is not yet at the height of the elemental layer, because he can see the azure sea of ​​wind elements rippling with faint light among the clouds.

This was definitely not the Drakirim Islands, because he did not see the outer atoll peaks, nor did he see the scattered floating islands like the Giant's Toe, and the deep canyons between the islands.

Looking up - there seemed to be something hidden in the clouds. Fang He could not help but look over there and found a huge monster above that almost blocked out half of the light in the sky.

It was an island, his eyes narrowed - to be exact, it was the projection of an island in the clouds directly below, and it was almost a perfect hemisphere.

Only human beings could create such a masterpiece. It reminded him of the fortress in science fiction stories, a dying quasar hanging forever in the sky.

Fang He determined the identity of that thing almost instantly - the super weapon of the Numérin elves in the era of the Two Sacred Trees, the mobile port - Wo-Salastir.

It's here!
Although it was just a reflection in history, Fang He couldn't help but shout in his heart. He was even shocked for a moment - a huge monster was shrouded in the vast fog. It was quietly floating above the sky, emitting terrifying oppression all the time.

But behind that vague shadow, there seemed to be something else in the fog, as if something was flying far away from the island and then flying back to the island.

Fang He stopped involuntarily when he saw this scene, and carefully observed the black spots moving up and down. Although they looked small from this angle, that was because of the distance. He calculated the proportions in his mind and found that the objects were surprisingly large.

But the relevant documents do not mention that these things exist on Wo-Salastir.

He couldn't help but narrow his eyes, but at this moment a slightly calm voice came from behind him:
"It seems you recognize it."

Fang He suddenly looked behind him and found Sergios coming out of the cave. The great explorer had a serious look on his face, his hand on his unsheathed sword, and his eyes were looking out of the cave through his back. He looked calmly over Fang He's shoulder at the huge creature in the mist, and the shadows on the island behind the vast sea of ​​fog. There was no surprise in his gray eyes, as if he was used to all this.

He turned around, found a rock near the cave entrance and sat down, placed the sword in his hand flat on his knees, retracted his gaze, looked at Fang He and asked:

"If I'm not mistaken, your goal was not the Fountain of Youth from the beginning, but this, right?"

Fang He hesitated for a moment, but still nodded. The Wo-Salastir that appeared in this timeline was destined to be just an illusion. He could say that he had gained the most from this trip, so he did not intend to deny it.

But he shook his head again: "We didn't mean to lie to you, Mr. Sayle. Taking away the Fountain of Youth is indeed our goal. The dragon blood curse is spreading in the Gulf region, and someone needs its power to stop the curse."

"Is it that little girl?" Saier asked, "This sounds like the usual way of doing things. No one knows the secrets here better than them."

Fang He couldn't help but think of Olivia and the enemies who were ambushing outside. She wouldn't do anything without a purpose, and even those people behind her couldn't easily move her.

She had violated the orders of those people more than once when she was in Kapka, whether it was from the White Tree Society or another party. Olivia just thought he didn't know - but he had actually seen the stamp on the letter.

The sun thorn that sparkles with golden flames.

He shook his head again. He didn't know Olivia's purpose, but their purpose was indeed to come to this mobile port, which was also Catherine's purpose.

Besides, he still had doubts.

"Mr. Sail, this is not the first time you have seen it, right?" Fang He turned around and looked at the shadow of the huge monster behind the clouds and asked.

This is also the reason why he returned to this time turbulence again.

The great explorer showed no surprise about the ancient seal, but if the true purpose of the Sons of Salt and Bone was to find a new route to Silverwind Harbor, this could not explain all their actions on the island.

Moreover, the last question that Sayre asked him was like a cloud of doubt that lingered in his mind.

Kesail did not answer directly, but asked:

"Young man, what year is it outside?"

The words were spoken softly and slowly, but every word was powerful, like a bullet shot from the muzzle of a gun hitting Plover directly, leaving him stunned on the spot.

At that moment, countless thoughts seemed to flash through his mind:
Wait, what does this mean? Why did he ask that? What is the outside? Fang He's mind buzzed. Could it be that Ser Gios is not dead? Has he been trapped in this turbulent space-time?

No, Fang He immediately denied this idea and forced himself to calm down. The birth and death ages of Sergios in history are unknown, but they were roughly between 767 and 832, and he died at the age of 51.

The other party had entered the Fault Sea four times, and he had seen Vor-Salastir twice, but the last time his testimony did not match that of his men. The great explorer eventually returned to Perlachven and was hanged by the Bronze Bell Council. Many people witnessed the execution.

His tomb still remains in Perlachven, and was later moved under the city monument, located on the most solemn square in Thousand Pillars Harbor, facing the ruins of the Bronze Bell House in the distance.

Fang He raised his head and looked at the other party. Many thoughts flashed through his mind, but he finally answered:
"1109."

Upon hearing this, Sayer sighed softly: "Another hundred years have passed." Fang He frowned - what on earth was going on?

Sayre did not look away, but his grey eyes, filled with a cautious look, lingered on his face for a moment:

"It seems like you have a lot of questions. You left for a while before, and I guess you returned to your timeline. After that, you came back here, and I guess there are some questions that are not answered-"

"Like - why do I know all this?"

Fang He opened his mouth - he looked at the other party in disbelief. The theory of the Sitarian School was the most mainstream explanation for the turbulence of time and space. Those astrologers believed that everything that happened in the turbulence was an illusion of the past.

When the space-time of the fault sea is broken, a certain fragment is permanently recorded.

The people and things here are just shadows of the past, repeating the joys and sorrows of a certain moment in the past over and over again, like an old movie that is being shown over and over again.

In this story, no matter how the process changes, the timeline will come to an abrupt end at a certain moment, and the story will never have an ending.

And when it restarts, everything in the entire Phantom Theater will be reset to its original state - as if the timeline has been migrated.

"But what's going on? Why does Sergios here seem to have an independent will? Why can he see through this illusion and even realize that he is in an independent time and space?"

Fang He felt like his brain was kind of messed up. He was not from the Sitarian School, nor was he even an astrologer, but that obviously could not explain what was happening right now.

He even thought of a word - 'breaking the fourth wall'. The characters in the phantom now developed independent wills, realized their own environment, and even questioned the world itself.

But this is too ridiculous. Fang He would rather believe in another possibility - in Roshar, there is another less widely circulated saying - there are thousands of Etalia in different timelines, and every turbulence zone in the fault is a complete fragment of one of the worlds.

But that's just a rumor.

If there is a timeline outside of this timeline, then they can enter, and the people inside can naturally get out, but in the history of Ataria, there has never been heard of two Ser Gios, or two Ladies of the Underworld.

What's more, exchanging information and materials between worlds requires a huge level of energy. Miss Tata told him that the information and materials that Stargate obtains from the earth are equal to the price it pays.

Rather than saying that there are multiple timelines of Etalia, Fang He would rather believe that he is hallucinating, otherwise the ether theory established by the alchemist based on the sea of ​​light will collapse.

Seeing his silence, Ser Gios shook his head and said, "You don't have to question yourself. This is indeed an illusion that only exists in the past. Everything here, even me, is just a part of this illusion." Fang He blurted out, "But why...?"

"You mean why do I know all this?" Saier shook his head and stretched out his hand - in his palm lay a small and delicate object. It was a star tracker, whose second and fourth tracks always maintained a cycle of rotation, and stopped after two and a half cycles, and then reset over and over again.

"I am an explorer after all, and I am quite sensitive to the changes in time. To sail on this sea, I have to avoid those unpredictable turbulence belts. Its time is always fixed at the two moments of sun rising and setting. The cycle in between lasts for six days and nights, which is roughly the entire length of this clip—"

Fang He silently looked at the exquisite object - were there star trackers in that era? And could this small star tracker really explain all this?
He still felt incredible, but everything that happened in this turbulence was beyond his understanding.

...(End of chapter)