"What in the name of the Void" Xixe let out a small whisper.
They watched as the tentacles grabbed the planet and watched it being crushed like a piece of broken glass, everything went to ruin.
Within moments a light was glowing between the tentacles, it retracted back ignoring the obvious two life forms on the boat.
The colossal tentacles retracted, pulling the shattered remains of the planet into a glowing singularity. The sight was mesmerizing and horrifying an entire world reduced to nothing in moments. The light between the tentacles pulsed and flickered, growing brighter, as if the juvenile hive queen, Ide of Consumption, was absorbing the very essence of the planet.
And then, it stopped.
The crushing silence returned as the queen's attention shifted elsewhere, its massive form drifting away from the scene of annihilation. Its twelve glowing eyes blinked one by one, their eerie luminescence dimming as the creature sank into the endless void. For a brief moment, the air was still, and the pressure surrounding Allen and Xixe seemed to ease.
"What in the name of the Void…" Xixe repeated, her voice trembling now. Her violet-glowing eyes were fixed on the empty space where the planet had once been. Her hands trembled as she clutched her staff—or what used to be her staff, now replaced by the Void's power coursing through her.
Allen let out a long breath, gripping the edges of the boat so tightly his knuckles turned white. "That thing just crushed a planet like it was a damn snowball," he muttered, his voice low and filled with disbelief. "And it didn't even look at us. What the hell was that about?"
Xixe slowly shook her head, her gaze distant. "It… didn't care about us. We were… beneath its notice."
"Yeah, real comforting," Allen replied dryly. He turned his attention to the glowing gem embedded in Xixe's forehead. "You seem to know more about this 'Void' stuff than I do. Care to explain how we're supposed to deal with something that can do that?"
"We don't, i only know things from the past of my planet, i have never left my world so i am new to this too…" The two went silent.
Allen then silently qsked the system instead.
[Information of the hive mind species is not accessible, Buy to the beastiary for 5 points]
So completely useless, he thought, he doesn't have that much points, he took his map and saw as it changed, where the image of the dead world stood was a cross shaped maw. "Well that's no good"
He muttered under his breath and placed the map back. "So, what do you want to do now"
Allen asked Xixe, she was suddenly thrown out of whatever thought she was thinking. "huh, oh i was going to just fly my way through the void…but i don't think that's an option anymore"
"Why not?" Allen asked, raising an eyebrow. His tone was casual, but his eyes betrayed a tinge of worry.
Xixe's glowing eyes flickered faintly as she rubbed the Void gem on her forehead. "Because whatever that thing was… it wasn't just consuming the planet. The Void itself feels… unstable now. Twisted." She hesitated, her gaze shifting toward the vast, starless expanse that surrounded them. "The Void Lens is resonating. It's warning me that if I try to open a portal right now, it could pull us straight into it—or worse, whatever it left behind."
Allen exhaled slowly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "So, flying through the Void is off the table. Great. welp i am not going to row for now, we will stay here for a few hours before"
Allen then turned his attention to his spoils.
[Inventory:Void cache, Tentacle Whip 0/3, Kinetic component]
Firstly, Allen didn't hesitate to fuse his Harpoon with the Kinetic component.
[Harpoon+Kinetic component= Kinetic Harpoon 3/10]
Then he took the harpoon and open the Void cache, also he was going to get a rate item from this one.
The Void Cache shimmered in Allen's hands, pulsating with an ominous energy. As he opened it, tendrils of dark light spilled forth, briefly illuminating the desolate boat. The system chimed in his mind, its monotone voice cutting through the silence.
[Void Cache Opened: Processing Contents…]
A flash of light erupted from the cache, and three items materialized in his inventory screen, each carrying a unique aura of power.
[You have obtained the following items:
1.Glowing Key: A key used to unlock a glowing chest(Value:1.2)
2.Vessel Upgrader:Size:an artifact capable of expanding and reinforcing any Void-compatible vessel, increasing its capacity and survivability.(Value:3.5):
3.Sustenance cube(Rare/Unsellable): A cube like Creature[Yes creature] that can exchange any type of energy into food or water.
"Nice" Allen said nodding his head, Xixe who was spectating had a strange look on her face, she was confused as to why he pulled out strange things from thin air.
"What's that?" She asked curiously.
Allen turned to look at the Baechi girl, he glanced at her large twitching bat ears and wondered if she could hear his movements. "It's an ability of mine, it basically allows me to plunder the void and survive in it"
"That's…useful, is that how you found echo drift?" She asked curiously.
"Yeah" The rowboat was actually rather small, so Xixe was sitting rather strangely.
Allen chuckled, her legs were clamped together and her bat ears twitching, her human looking ones were actually slightly longer than a human's though..
Allen paused for a moment, eyeing the Vessel Upgrader in his hand, its eerie glow still radiating faintly. The idea of using it on the rowboat felt… a little odd, but at the same time, it was exactly what he needed. With the Void growing more unstable and dangerous around them, upgrading their current vessel seemed like the only logical move.
He dragged the image of the small rowboat into the fusion slot on his system menu, followed by the Vessel Upgrader. The system's interface hummed as it processed the request, and a shimmering outline of the boat appeared, beginning to morph in response.
Fusion in Progress…
A crackling sound echoed around them, and Xixe's glowing eyes widened slightly, her gaze fixed on the transformation. The boat was expanding, its hull stretching and reshaping, reinforced by the Void energy that pulsed through it. The small wooden vessel now sported sleek, dark metallic panels, and the once fragile sides became thick and resilient. Even the floor seemed to ripple as if the material itself had gained a new level of flexibility and durability.
The boat's upgrades were impressive, but what caught Allen's attention the most was the subtle, shifting energy surrounding the vessel a low hum that seemed to resonate with the Void itself. It felt… alive in a way.
Vessel Upgraded!
Rowboat → Void-Crafted Vessel
Increased Capacity, Durability, and Void Adaptation: 50% Efficiency.
The system's notification faded, leaving only the glow of the upgraded craft. It was no longer just a rowboat—it was a craft suited for the Void, a true vessel in this dangerous expanse.
Allen let out a low whistle as he stepped back, admiring the new shape of their transport. "Well, that should hold up a lot better against whatever we might run into next."
Then he turned towards the glowing chest, he then took it qnd used the glowing key on it, the moment he inserted the key, the chest opened.
[You have received 3.5 Points,Coordinates to a living planet and Replenishing pillow]
Allen raised an eyebrow at the last item. "A pillow? Really? Guess it's better than nothing," he muttered, tossing it into his inventory. The coordinates, however, intrigued him. He pulled up his map, which updated instantly to display a faint green marker in the distance. A living planet…
"Looks like we've got a destination," Allen said, glancing at Xixe.
Xixe perked up, her bat-like ears twitching. "A living planet? That's a miracle in itself. The Void doesn't let many of those survive. Are you sure it's safe?"
Allen shrugged. "Safe? No idea. But it's better than sitting here waiting for whatever killed that planet to come back."
He studied the upgraded boat for a moment, noting the smooth, Void-infused panels that seemed to pulse faintly with energy. It could probably handle the journey to the coordinates, but there was no guarantee what they'd find once they got there.
"Can your Void Lens confirm the planet's… authenticity?" Allen asked, turning to Xixe.
She furrowed her brow, the gem embedded in her forehead pulsing faintly. "I can try," she said cautiously, closing her eyes and placing a hand on the glowing gem. For a moment, she remained still, her face tense with concentration. Then her eyes snapped open.
"There's something there," she said slowly, "but it's… faint. The Void is closing in around it, like it's trying to snuff it out. If we're going, we'll need to move fast."
Allen nodded. "Figures. Let's get moving, then."
He took out the Compass. "Hey how long is it going to take us to reach there"
Suddenly the hands on the compass mobed crazily and pointed west.
[Accurate coordinates have been given to the compass, it will take approximately 7 days to reach the living world, your Rowboat is currently 1/10 with a fused vessel upgrade, each increase in upgrades will be followed by an addition of 0.5 point's due to to the advancement of the Rowboat]
"Well is back to being poor for me, use all the points to upgrade the boat
[0.5 points have been used]
[1 points have been used]
[1.5 points have been used]
[Rowboat 4/10]
[Durability has increased by 40%]
[Speed has increased by 40%]
[Regenration has increased by 40%]
[Size has increased by 40%]
The upgrade happened while they were in the boat…again, it was now large enough for the both of them to walk easily.
But there was one crucial thing, this is a rowboat soo.
"Welp time to start rowing"
Allen was talking to himself and he knew it, oh well atleast it would now take them 4.2 days to get to the living world, Allen would also have to upgrade his revolver, the map, the compass, the whip, the harpoon and also would have to organize the mess he is making in his inventory.
Though it was still the first day of his arrival at the void, atleast he won't ho insane with the presence of an alien he randomly freed from a planet crushed by an Outer Hivemind.
Now that he thinks about it, his first day in the void was terrifying, but hey atleast he survived.
"Oh can i help" Xixe asked curiously looking at Allen.
"In the next four hours, sure you can take the shift" Allen said blankly, he wasn't really sure she could even row…her limbs were so…weak it would feel like they would break the moment she exerted even the slightest of pressure.
Xixe seem to feel that he was thinking something bad about her, she blinked and then looked at him, then she stared at her arms for a moment with a single thought in her mind.
Is he fascinated by my body, maybe it's because he has never seen someone like me?. But allen didn't care about that, you have strange skin so what?, you have strange eyes so what?, you're not human so what?.
To him at the moment is to find a way back home, even if he doesn't show it, he doesn't want to be stuck in a void, he wants to back to earth and see what exactly happened to it, if it was safe he would go home and take a long nap and bathe.
And if not.
If something terrible happened to it.
Well…he would just have to wonder the void and see how long he can last until he eventually dies or just loses himself to insanity….