Chapter 538 - 538: in the Abyss

"You are really close to getting your first circle," Zion said while floating around Silva, who was staring at the floating globe.

"You spoke to Dawn about breaking bottlenecks, but you are yet to even get your breakthrough."

"I know. I felt the breakthrough coming when I fought the awakened Abyss monster and Ragna, and when I had also activated the trials," Silva said, and he stretched out his hand.

"I can gather EXP, and I can grow stronger, and hey, I still can't exactly break through," Silva complained.

"Yeah, but I do know how you can break through if you were willing to learn," Zion said.

Silva paused for a moment and looked at Zion.

"If there was a way, why the hell would you not tell me? When I awakened you, you said you'd help me," Silva said.

"Yeah, yeah, let me explain what is happening. You have reached the breakthrough, and with every level-up, you get closer to it, but no matter what you do, you'll not be able to get through until you understand your first law, the law and concept that you want to carry along," Zion explained.

"Every circle carries its law, remember? So what are you embedding in yours? Your desire and your power must meet at the center to create what you want, your first law," Zion explained.

"I see, so that's it."

"Yeah, the process is simple. Kill as many powerful monsters as you can in a short time, and when you have absorbed so much EXP in a short span, you'll then begin to channel your desire into an element, and if the merge works, you'll have broken through," Zion explained.

"Then there is only one place where I can find the kind of monsters that I need to fight…" Silva said. He pulled out the cube he had gotten from Ophelia.

"You'll leave now?" Zion asked.

"I would have left a clone, but I need all my energy for this. All the trials are now fully automated by the tower. It does not need me for a while, so I believe it will be fine."

"Alright then, let's head out," Zion said.

He flew out of the tower, right into the sky and past the sky as well, breaking into the darkness of space. He held the cube in his hands and looked forward into the darkness. 'Here goes nothing.' He hurled the cube, and in the next second, it opened a temporary rift for Silva. He flew towards the rift fast.

When he got to the rift, he turned back and looked back at Argon. He had to leave them for a little while. He needed to grow stronger himself, and the Abyss was the only place that had what he needed.

He wrapped his mind with divine energy and then flew in. The rift closed, and the cube fell into his hands. He was in the protected tunnel created by the cube, but if he wanted to fight the Abyss monsters, he needed to step out of it, so he did that. He walked out of the protective tunnel, and it vanished behind him.

Silva stepped out of the tunnel and into the Abyss.

He had expected it to be what they saw from outside: a dark, endless span of nothing, a void without edges. And at first glance, it was. The blackness stretched in every direction, deeper than any night he had ever seen.

But as his eyes adjusted, he realized it was not empty.

Colors were starting to bleed through the dark. They were not bright, and the Abyss was still infinitely dark, but faint specks of light drifted in the distance like dying stars. Dim shapes hung in the void. Chunks of land floated at odd angles, some as small as houses and some as large as mountains. Strange things moved between them, and he could not tell what they were.

'So this is the Abyss.'

He did not have time to take it in.

A streak of light flashed toward him from the dark. It came faster than he could react, and before he could even raise his hand, it slammed into his chest.

BAM!

He was thrown backward through the void, spinning end over end, and he crashed into a massive chunk of land with enough force to crack the surface. Dust rose around him. The rock beneath him started to slip away as he bounced off.

Silva reacted instantly. He pulled out his sword and drove it into the ground.

SCREEEE!

The blade dug in and scraped along the rock, and his body slid to a halt. He found his footing and pushed himself up. The chunk of land had its own pull, a gravity of its own, and he was able to stand on it.

He looked up.

Something landed on the landform a short distance away.

It was an insect-like monster, standing on two legs, its head crowned with three sharp points. Its arms were long blades, folded like a mantis's. It was about seven feet tall, and power oozed from its body in thick, heavy waves. It was a far stronger version of the one that had fought Dawn.

'Still not as strong as the woman I fought,' Silva thought. 'But strong enough.'

He tightened his grip on his sword.

And it was not alone.

Other shapes were drifting through the void around the landform. Some looked like giant centipedes, floating in the air. Others looked like huge insects, or animals, or fish, with long bodies that rolled through the dark. They circled the landform slowly, as if waiting.

The insect monster scraped its blade-like arms together.

SCRRRRRCH!

Sparks flew from the edges, bright in the gloom.

Then it blasted forward.

Silva moved. He swung his sword up, and the blade met the monster's claws in the middle.

CLANG!

The impact shook the ground under his feet. The monster pushed forward, its arms grinding against his sword. He pushed back with everything he had. For a moment, they were locked together, neither giving an inch, sparks spraying across both their faces.

Then the monster twisted and swung its other arm.

Silva ducked under it and cut up. The monster pulled back, and the blade passed through empty air. It leaped away, then came again, slashing with both arms, one after the other.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Each strike rang through the void. Silva parried the first, the second, and the third. He pushed one aside and slashed back, and the monster blocked with its forearm. They traded blows, back and forth, and nobody gained the upper hand. Every time he pushed it back, it came forward again. Every time it pressed, he held his ground.

There was no obvious winner.

They broke apart for a heartbeat, and Silva took one breath.

Then they rushed at each other again.

Sword and claws collided in the middle with a flash of light, and both of them were pushed back.