"Okay, we should move now. Prepare your investigative-type skills. Our target is the Core." Giving his order, Brakhtar’s body began to float as if it had suddenly lost all weight. The other members followed, and together they rose at once and glided over the bottomless void toward the next island.

Seeing that, Thalira Luna also gave her order to her team. "We should move as well; we can’t let them find the Core before us."

The Lunari team moved differently from the Gorathim. Several members immediately summoned mount-type Sparks.

Ten appeared at once, all identical, with wide wings and bodies as pure white as snow—giant swan-like mounts. Every Lunari climbed aboard; at the front, Thalira lifted off first, and the rest followed in formation, wingbeats steady as they flew toward a different floating islet under her lead.

Watching the top 2 races already on the move toward their target pushed the lower and mid races to act as well. They, too, began departing for various islets, until only Adyr remained at the center, surrounded by a mixed group from different races who had gathered around him, waiting to cooperate and looking to him for direction.

"Brother, what is your plan?" Maruun asked, as every expectant gaze turned toward Adyr, waiting for the next instructions.

They want me to take the lead, huh? Adyr studied the faces turned up to him, weighing their expectations in silence.

"Sorry, but my plan is not the Core. First, I will explore the surroundings a bit and roam to find resources." He spoke with an easy smile. The answer drew a faint ripple of disappointment across those waiting for his decision.

Resources and treasures were good, but the ultimate goal for almost everyone was to locate the Core and claim the promised Rank 4 Spark. Adyr’s decision did not suit that aim.

"I see." Maruun let his gaze drop for a moment, thinking. "Then this is where our paths part. If you need us at any time, know that we are always ready to assist." He extended a hand, and Adyr took it in a firm shake.

Maruun turned to the others. "Those aiming for the Core are free to join us. The more we are, the stronger we will be against those two groups."

Seeing Adyr abstain gave them pause, yet the offer was reasonable, and maintaining good terms with the Velari mattered. One by one, the other groups accepted Maruun’s proposal and decided to follow him.

Adyr watched with interest as each race departed in its own unique way.

For the Aqualeth, Maruun, and two others unfurled appendages like great fin-wings and simply took to the air themselves, while the rest summoned several winged fish and hopped onto their backs.

The Houndkin did the same in their fashion; among them, several summoned large mounts that Adyr privately likened to Shiba Inu—shaggy, powerful dogs that, incongruously, bore white, pegasus-like wings.

The riders swung into place and followed after the Aqualeth.

The other races were no different in principle; some possessed wings of their own, most called down flying mounts, and many carried teammates aloft.

The most interesting method belonged to the Obsidren.

Lacking wings to lift their heavy stone bodies and summoning no mounts at all, they began to run. When they reached the far edge of the islet, just as everyone assumed they would pitch into the endless void below, something astonishing happened.

With each stride, solid rock steps manifested in the air before their feet; they stamped onto those steps and kept sprinting. Each step crumbled under gravity the instant it served its purpose, falling away in shards, yet it held long enough for the Obsidren to launch their mass forward.

Another step appeared ahead, then another, so that they seemed to be running on the air itself, an unbroken rhythm of stone and momentum.

"There are too many interesting skills," Adyr murmured, intrigued. He had not spread his own wings yet. He had something else to attempt before he moved on.

"Now that everyone has gone, let’s try my combination of Gaze and Presence again and see if it works."

The last time he attempted this, his stats had been insufficient; he could sustain it only for the briefest instant. Even so, in that tiny window, he had seen a three-dimensional image of a vast area impressed into his mind, more than enough for an investigative-type ability.

His Gaze was already active. He ignited his Presence and pushed it outward in a passive field, sending it as far as it would reach and washing the surroundings in it for kilometers.

Then he sharpened his focus, tuned his Gaze to show the scene 10 seconds into the future before his eyes, and blended that vision with his spreading Presence .

"Fuck." A sudden sting lanced through his brain and eyes. He snapped his lids shut and gripped his head with both hands. It felt as if thousands of needles had exploded outward inside his skull, drilling through every direction at once.

Yet beneath the pained frown on his face, a small smile formed.

He crushed the ache quickly and examined the fleeting imprint as one might study a photograph, committing it to memory.

In his mind’s eye, hundreds of islets floated in the endless void, each rendered in layered depth: some carpeted in rich green grass, some utterly barren, some sheathed in ice, and some burning like seas of flame. The map etched itself into him.

"With this, my path will be smoother."

He could clearly pick out the larger islets—the ones with crumbled structures scattered over them—and those harboring living creatures, some menacing, some existing in a kind of peace with small, self-contained ecosystems.

One of the larger islets, not too far from where he stood, drew him most. A strange structure crowned it. Rare, perhaps. Worth checking.

"Okay, I should move now. I’ve already attracted enough attention with my Presence." Adyr activated Grace , a divine light covering his body as the throbbing in his head and eyes ebbed away. He spread his wings, gathered himself, and set off toward the first target islet.

—

"What was that?" Thalira Luna, astride her giant swan Spark, suddenly twisted with a frown to look back toward the islet they had recently left. A strange sensation had brushed against her.

"It felt like the presence of a Spark," one of her aides ventured, face tight. The impression had touched them as well.

Not long ago, the unfiltered presence of a Rank 5 Spark had seared itself into all their memories. Now something akin to it, though not nearly as powerful, slid across their senses. Tension tightened every shoulder.

The idea of an unseen enemy lurking close by took hold—worse, the sensation seemed to have come from the very ground they had been standing on moments earlier.

Adyr had not laced his Presence with killing intent or bloodlust, yet it was strong enough to push their already wary minds toward the possibility of an enemy.

"Be extra careful; there has to be more danger here than we already see." Thalira chose not to turn back to check what it was. They had already covered a considerable distance toward their destination. She gave her flying mount a crisp command, and the Lunari formation pressed on.