Chapter 75

  Hiding In The Mists

  In the spirit realm, the rules were different.

  Acts as simple as breathing proved the odd nature of the world that Frank now found himself a part of. Each breath was filled with so much energy that it almost felt like his body would burst from inhaling the energy.

  Then just as quickly as he took in the energy upon inhaling, the energy he obtained quickly left his incorporeal body with each exhale.

  These were the effects of a mortal spirit suddenly residing within the spirit realm.

  Not having his true body with him was both a blessing and a curse.

  This moment was a blessing in that his body didn’t feel the need to endlessly absorb the ambient energy around him, which could quickly overflow his Qi channels, mixing highly incompatible energy types with one another.

  The curse was that he was limited in his scope of energy usage.

  One breath.

  That was all the power that Frank could wield and hold at any given time within the spirit realm. The moment that breath left him, he would be powerless until his next inhale.

  There was also the fact that Frank was not used to this realm, nor what its powers could do. Mentally he assumed they should be similar to what was possible within the mortal realm, but then quickly discarded that train of thinking figuring it would lead him limit his perspective.

  With power that was so rich and expansive, it was hard to believe that it couldn’t do more than what he was used to seeing within the mortal plane.

  All these thoughts flowed through Frank’s mind, as he paused to assess the situation.

  “Sssttoop right there humansss,” the echoingly haunting voice of a grand serpent echoed out in the vast nothingness of space.

  Inhale.

  Frank breathed in, as he did, he wished for his mind to speed up, to be able to access the world around him that much quicker.

  Slow.

  Just as he had that very thought, the world, or spirit realm around him slowed. Frank watched as dozens of spirits all looked on with interest. Many had their eyes squarely on the now much slower moving serpent. A serpent who held itself high, as if to strike, all while slithering forward.

  But something was off, the world was not quite stopped, but slow. Well slower.

  The only thing letting Frank know he wasn’t hallucinating right now was the fact that he could move. Raising his hand before his face he stopped and moved his hands about at regular speed. Then seeing that he could move freely, while the rest of the spirit realm seemed to be slowed down to a crawl, Frank calculated everything within his head, then moved two steps to the right.

  As he moved, Frank felt a tightness in his chest, as the energy infused air that he was now breathing felt like it was spinning about wildly within his mental construct of a body.

  In that moment the words of Prentip and Ravena came back to him.

  “In the astral realm, you will be in you mental construct of your own body. It will look and act as you wish, as it is your body. But also know that any damage your construct takes, will be reflected on your real body. Tread carefully.”

  These reminders went through Frank’s mind as he took two steps. He wanted to take more, but found that it was nearly impossible. He had spent too long thinking to himself and flailing his hands about wildly, before acting. That was why now he felt such a deep desperate need to breathe once more.

  Exhale.

  With that last movement, Frank felt his grip, his control over the astral realm loosens for just a moment.

  The giant serpent that had been slithering forward angrily suddenly stopped, as its eyes stared forward, looking for Frank. Only to find an empty spot where Frank had once stood.

  Inhale.

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  The moment Frank took half a breath, the serpent turned its gaze upon him.

  This time the world didn’t freeze with his breath, for all he wanted to do was to be able to breathe freely without any pains in his chest.

  Upon that thought, Frank’s chest loosened, and he felt like he had taken every breath right on time.

  Exhale.

  Hypnotic stare.

  The serpent looks momentarily confused, looking first at Frank, then at the spot where Frank was, then back to where he is currently.

  Tongue flicker.

  With the confusion, the serpent lets out its long black forked tongue to taste the air. Choosing first to taste the initial entry spot, and then the serpent turns its face towards Frank. As it does, Frank moves again.

  Inhale.

  Once again, Frank focuses on wanting the world to stop moving. While it doesn’t stop completely, Frank can see that it has once again slowed down. Though stopping entirely seems to be out of the question.

  Further, Frank realizes that so long as he stands still, or at least remains stationary, there is no strain upon his body.

  Then the moment he stakes a step forward to move, that is when there is strain on his body. Or on his astral form.

  Pushing himself he moves three steps to his left. Going through and past his initial staring location.

  Strain.

  Yet, as he takes the third and tries to begin his fourth step, that is when pain erupts within his body and he is forced to halt his advancement.

  “GAH!” Frank exhales, his body forcefully expelling the excessive and seemingly used energy from his astrally projected lungs and back into the ether around him.

  This time the serpent takes only a second to look from the spot where Frank was, to where he now stands. As his guttural cry of pain seems to echo out, pulling the gazes of every monster on him, not just the serpent.

  “Yoouuu, huumannnssss, ssssstop.” The serpent commands.

  Pulse.

  As the serpent speaks, Frank feels a wave of energy smash into his spectral body, all but forcing him to stand still.

  The moment the energy wave hits, Frank realizes that this is likely an adaptation of the power of the ether. Or a way Frank could eventually use the abundant power around him.

  “NO!” Frank hisses out through clenched teeth.

  Shatter.

  The moment he forces his own words of defiance out, the grip on his body dissipates and he once again feels that he is in control over his own body and movements.

  Seeing his act of defiance, the serpent raises its head higher, and Frank can almost see the giant breath of air that the monster is beginning to take.

  That’s when Frank begins to dart forward.

  Not inhaling, not trying to force the world to slow down again. Rather he forces his body to move closer to the serpent. As he runs, he does so on an exhale. The two easiest times to run are with a full breath, and just after you exhale. In both cases the body is at a natural state, not expanding, not contracting, but just being.

  Learning to breathe in while running is tough, exhaling is slightly easier, but still cumbersome due to the way the body shifts slightly. Add in the fact that each breath would require Frank to learn to not only take in, but control, and move about a foreign energy that is so powerful that he himself can’t understand its true capabilities.

  Pain.

  There is another problem too, his right leg. Well, his thigh, actually feels like it is torn. A side effect from his trying to step too far in his moment of control over the world.

  Just a strain, at least that is what his rational mind is telling him.

  Wince and focus on healing.

  Frank takes in a partial breath as he moves. As he does, he tries to cast healing energies on his body, only to realize that the power isn’t the same. The effects are slightly different.

  But he has seen and experienced these effects with mortal bodies enough to understand how healing should work, despite this being ethereal energy on an ethereal body.

  “Yooouu daresss…” The serpent begins, to say, but Frank has already done two things.

  First he exhaled the minor bit of energy he gained, and with it, managed to heal the damage to his body.

  Then Inhaling deeply, Frank kept his momentum.

  Frank could only take two to three steps, but did they have to be steps taken from a standing position? That was what Frank decided to test out.

  As Frank inhaled, he focused on causing the world around him to slow down.

  Then as before, the astral world around him slowed down, while he remained the same. Forcing his body to violently twist to the right, he pivoted. Taking first one step, then another. The pivot proved crucial, for it all but disrupted his body’s natural running cadence, forcing him to slow down, and finally come to a complete stop by the time he took his third step.

  Exhale.

  Once again, the world sped up and there was a monetary confusion as the Serpent seemed to lose Frank. The snake even tried to track his progress forward in a straight line, only to get confused.

  Seeing this confusion, Frank smiled as he thought he figured out this monster.

  Inhale.

  Unlike the last time, Frank took this breath and tried to cause the world to slow down around him once more.

  There was a struggle, as if his body was not used to forcing such a world altering measures to happen in back-to-back moments.

  Still Frank was determined.

  This time Frank only managed to take two steps before he had to stop.

  Exhale.

  Frank now found himself near the hind quarters of the serpent. Far away from its motion sensitive eyes.

  Inhale.

  Once again Frank pushed himself, causing the world to slow down around him, but now he felt that there was even more of a strain.

  This time Frank only managed one step forward, before feeling the weight of the world around him push him into place and all but force him to stand still.

  Silent panting.

  At this point, Frank felt his body’s need for air, or whatever type of sustenance that this place provided supersede his own need to remain hidden from everyone and everything. Despite the desperate need for air, Frank forced his body to take slow and shallow breaths that would not draw attention from the monsters around him.

  Fortunately, Frank was now far enough away, having taken multiple movements in a row that he was able to hide behind the massive scales of the giant serpent.

  If Frank so wanted, he was now close enough that he could strike out at the tail of the serpent and cause damage. That is, if Frank had a weapon.

  Focusing for a second, Frank tried to conjure any form of healing energy, dark energy, or even earth energy that he had been accustomed to using from before, only to find that nothing responded to him.

  Here in this realm, there was but one type of power.

  A power that Frank now used to revitalize his own essence and even heal the lingering pains within his right thigh. It wasn’t perfect, but it was something.

  Frank had heard tales about the power of the spirit. How with spirit and determination one could do anything, and that was how this realm seemed to be.

  For as long as Frank had the will to push on, he could see and deal with almost any foe.

  “Monssstter,” the giant serpent hissed as it twisted its head and scanned the area, looking for where it had gone.

  As soon as the giant serpent lost its composure and began to search the area wildly, its massive body began to twist and turn.

  Seeing the movement, Frank tried to keep up with the pulsing side-winding ripples that the giant serpent used to push and maneuver its body around.

  Thud.

  Of course, the giant serpent was far too large to avoid entirely, as Frank found himself being thrown by a massive whipping undulation of the serpent’s tail.

  The force was so powerful that Frank felt his body fly back a few feet before landing on the ground.

  Chime.

  As soon as Frank landed, a crisp clear ringing echoed throughout the astral plain causing everything and everyone to pause.

  Everyone but Frank, who used the moment to stagger his way up to his feet, as he realized this was just getting started.

  Looking at the giant serpent, Frank realized with slight horror that not only the serpent, but every other spirit animal in the area were all looking back behind them. To a massive silhouette that just seemed to appear from the darkness. A shadow of shadows.

  A monster so intense that even Frank’s consciousness dared not recognize the beast for what it truly was.

  Thump, ba-thump.

  With two massive steps, the giant and towering beast stepped forward, further distinguishing itself from the darkness.

  That was when, Frank knew he had messed up royally.