The Space moved fast beneath his view, once the tanks had been filled, Wu Hai was able to reach a much more critical speed. The surface of the realm below was finally coming to its edge. During the fall it was easy to change his orientation and look around, mapping the place as he went. The space they were calling Ultinia was grand, there were leaf shaped planes interconnected through a great spire of light. The light seemed to be supporting all of them in place but they were worlds apart from each other.
Misozi gave their position on the HUD and used what she could measure in the distance to extrapolate their descent path. They were nearing the surface, the edge of the plane was filled with different sorts of falls. Materials, some water, some metals, magma and the like, they all flowed from its lip. Wild spills and drips of many colors washed into the ether between, scattering and vanishing like they never were.
A soft plane of grass and a clearing were the closest place to land. Though he was separated from his people, the Emperor still had to stretch his legs. The Cabin inside was pressurized but it kept the gravity down, he needed to acclimate himself, the temporary pressure that he had felt outside before had left him feeling stronger in the morning. The land of the Gods was indeed a treasured place, there were all manner mysterious things.
Among the first strange beings that Zao was able to see was a rock that crawled along the ground like a crab. It moved to the side and stopped, hiding itself among the grasses. The grasses were a strange texture like corduroy, they carried a flowing aura that shimmered up the ladder of strands like electricity.
He picked some of each type and spent about an hour exercising after depositing one of the Steeles onto the ledge. With his legs hanging from the cliff at the end of the World, Wu Hai cleared his throat and spit off the Edge.
'Pheere' he whistled. "I wonder how much longer until I reach the lower levels and.. what then." Just when he was about to stand up, a creature flew past his feet, blowing him end over end back toward the ship.
'What the..' Getting to his feet, he stuck his landing and pushed forward into the ship.
"Misozi, get us out of here." Grabbing the stick, he swung it around and stepped on the accelerator plate.
The ship twisted wildly under his grasp and slipped from the World's edge, into the void below. Wu Hai regained his heading but looked out a rear window. Circling above was a Nine-headed Dragon, like a hydra, nine-headed dragons could regrow heads but they would not multiply in number. Shiyan was full of myths such as that but Wu Hai was aware of the truth only now. It spit violent torrents of acid in their direction and flew after the Ship.
"Zao, the creature is pursuing us. He cannot match our speed, however his projectiles might. Please take evasive action." Misozi kept giving updates and remained in her position, unchanged by the ongoing battle.
Several streaks rushed by the hull, they were of an unknown corrosive fluid, the strength of the acid was unknowable but rather than risking for no reason at all, Wu Hai steered clear of their trajectory and fell into the void progressively thrusting himself to the world below.
A few more days passed.
He had been in freefall, assisted by the speed he had accelerated to until the ship started to shake. The Ship was traveling at ballistic speeds, hurdling through the light filled void. Piloting as best he could, he stuck as close to the central pillar as possible, shortening his distance between the heavenly realms but it was a long journey, three more levels were visible below him and it seemed to continue further. There was no avoiding it, the distance was just too great..
֍ꟷꟷꟷꟷ֍
There was a Cart traveling across a stretch of the lowest realm among the Ultinian heavens, staring at the sky from the roadside, covered in mud, Vira, Kuzunoha and Mike were all complaining.
"Dammit! I just got clean!" Vira was furious, she flew to the Cart and knocked the driver from its steering.
"Ahh!" the man screamed while he tumbled through the mud, the cart was moving at a decent speed he was unable to catch or steady himself in the muck. "What the hell just happened!"
Vira stopped the Cart. The beasts that were pulling it were already slowing with their driver having been thrown. "Whoa, Whoa!" She could only treat it like the other mounts in the care of the Empire, to her, most forms of travel besides her own were too slow. The mud was still dripping from her hair as she stepped off the Cart.
Tearing several talismans, the group got themselves cleaned up and stood around the man who was still recovering from the fall. "Mercy, dear lords. I have gone to the lowest of levels, what else would you have of me.. please.. mercy!"
"Mercy? Why do you need Mercy?" Mike just wanted to know but apparently the question was double edged, the man began to snivel and cry. "Hey.. We just want to know some things, maybe get a ride."
"A..ride?" The man looked up, the three very strange beings were asking something of him. He tried to wipe the tears from his face but smeared mud in his eyes instead, it stung but he only winced.
Kuzunoha tried to soft approach and began asking questions, starting with where they were.
"You're in the Lowest realm of the Ultinia's Heavens. We descendants that are deemed unworthy must spend eternity here, cast below, we are too weak to remain above." He hung his head. "Mercy." He put his palms up and his head against the floor.
"Enough, get up." Kuzunoha picked the man up by the collar. "We aren't your enemy, we've only just arrived but some asshole with wings sent us here without asking, we've been separated from our Leader and could use some directions. You say you're unfit to go up? Does that mean that there are more realms above us?" It was bright outside, she couldn't see the suns but there was a light in the distance, it rose into the sky. Following it with her eyes, she strained them and saw the outline of a bump along the light and slightly to the east. 'So there really are multiple levels.. damn.'
There were a lot of discussions about what 'might' be on the other side of the rift. As a member of the Imperial Family, Kuzunoha and Vira had both been in the discussions where Wu Hai had asked Munju and Gefést several times as to the specifics of Ultinia but both said it was ever changing and somewhat impossible to predict.
"Yes, a great number of realms exist, some greater than the next. The heavens are vast, far wider and reaching beyond what I ever imagined back home." His face contorted, it was obvious that the memory pained him.
"Home? Aren't you originally from the Land of the Gods?"
"Land of the Gods.. No. I come from a small tribe on Hissenga, we worship our ancestors. Our tribes combined efforts were able to boost my own abilities but I died and woke up here. Every now and then I can still hear their prayers. Ahh, excuse me for not introducing myself. I am Sauit." Sauit introduced himself and put his face back into the mud to bow.
"Enough with the pageantry, can we get the hell out of the Mud already!?" Mike flew up and shook himself off, there was mud everywhere. He landed on the Cart. "Well?"
Sauit couldn't contemplate was happening, he stood there frozen until Vira snapped him out of it. "Cart man, lets go."
He struggled to get out of the mud, when offered a hand to help him up, the man refused on some religious grounds and made his way out of the much. Vira didn't want to get dirty again, she threw a talisman at the man and had him tear it. As his clothes fluttered and whipped about, he stared with a confused look. "Are you sure you're not the Gods?"
"Enough with the Godspeak, take us to the town." Mike kicked the ass of the creature that was pulling the cart previously. The Cart jerked and knocked him down into his seat, it made Kuzunoha laugh at him and they made their way to the man's village.
Vira was searching through her ring to see what she could discover from the Mucklin, he had nothing of considerable value but his weapon had easily broken Kuzunoha's shield. She pulled it out and studied it. The spear gave off a cringy vibe, one of the heads was rounded and smelled foul. When she realized that it was likely used as a torture device, she threw it out of the Cart and into a tree. The tree exploded as they passed.
"What was that?" Mike asked.
"Junk. Lets never speak of it." Vira waved her hand in disgust. She had done tortures that were similar but always disposed of the object afterward. 'Such a nasty thing.'
The tree sank into the mud and several bird like creatures flew out and into the air. Vector was hungry, it was going to be a long trip according to the Sauit. He leapt out of the cart, it swerved to correct itself and Mike flew speedily at the birds. They had dog faces and fangs. Mike still wanted to eat it, he formed an ice spike and placed a formation in its interior, helping it track its target. Sending it out, it sailed through the air and spun as it flew.
The Goddrib turned around in midair, the Ice spike flew past, missing the Goddrib entirely. Mike had already made preparations, with a flick of his wrist the formation turned and the spike was forced into a chain of spellwork, push, push, rotate and harden were cast in conjunction. The Ice Spike turned and tore through the Goddrib, its body shook and it let out a yelp, falling from the sky like a wet sack.
Vector's Ice spike was enough to freeze the wound, the Goddrib's body turned to a stone and fell into the muck. Mud sailed into the air but it's slurry was thick, a high walled crater appeared and it would take a few minutes for the mud to return. "What the fuck. I wanted food!" Vector was about to kick the rock corpse but there was an energy surrounding it. He picked it up and stored the rock, there was one thing on his mind and he didn't want to be distracted. He searched the sky for more Goddribs but couldn't even locate its mate. 'Maybe it went into hiding..'
He was hungry, there were thousands of prepared meals in his storage ring from Shiyan. His appetite for freshly caught food left his appreciation for the Royal Cooks in the dirt. To Mike, nothing was quite as nice as fresh meat.
The Girls didn't bother to slow the cart and Sauit wasn't about to do anything without being told first, he drove the cart as quickly as it would go toward town. After a few minutes, Vector had returned.
"Do, Dragon King.. did you catch anything?" Vira laughed, Vector looked very dissatisfied.
"I thought I did.. but when I went to get it, it had turned into a rock." Turning over his hand, the rock appeared. It gave off the scent of blood like it was a beating heart.
Sauit saw the stone and nearly threw up. "You carry corpses!" He leapt off the cart and ran into the forest, leaving everything behind.
"What the actual fuck just happened?" Mike grabbed the reins and had the beasts stop. "No, seriously.. what the hell just happened?"
"I don't know, he saw the rock and said 'you carry corpses,' then, afterward he just ran off. I think you scared the shit out of him. Maybe he thinks we'll kill him.." Kuzunoha's explanation made sense but still, everyone felt put out by what had just transpired.
"Whatever, its our cart now." Mike laughed and slapped the reins against the beast's ass once again. It roared and the cart steamrolled down the road.