Kapitel 30: Layers of Tauratet
The captain smiled after the explosion and said, "You all feel it, don't you? That aura density, something is definitely in there. We might even make a fortune capturing it". Everyone felt the same way. It was rare to encounter beasts or creatures frozen in space. One would make a fortune by capturing cosmic creatures or beasts due to how difficult and dangerous they are to hunt.
Their hopes, however, were dashed when a figure about 2 meters tall and humanoid rose from the ground and walked towards the wall of the chamber. A red-haired man touched the transparent chamber and stared at the group before him with curious eyes. It was none other than Lin. The mist cleared enough for his upper body to show. His lean, chiselled physique was enough to make any woman droll.
"What happened, where am I, who are these people, and why am I in a container?" question after another ran wild through Lin's head. Slowly, everything that happened came back to him. "Right, I was escaping from the crucible of Akrakus, and something struck me. I don't remember anything else after that apart from that vision". Lin shook his head to clear his fuzzy brain. No one spoke. They all stared at Lin as if they had just encountered a ghost. Their hope of making easy money had ended. Anyone would react the same way they did.
"Hello", Lin waved to them, "You guys think you can let me out of here and perhaps get me some clothes?" he broke the long silence. Captain Xu cleared his throat but kept his distance. "You will get your clothes and freedom if you truthfully answer my questions", he said. He then released his aura to intimidate Lin.
Lin, however, smiled and replied, "Depends on what you want to know". "Is he trying to intimidate me with his aura? These guys all have very high aura densities. There's no way any of them are Quints. I would bet they are all hectors; moreover, per the way they are clothed, they are probably in the ranks of a territory's army", Lin deduced, keeping a straight face.
Captain Xu was shocked by Lin's calm demeanour. Those of lower ranks always cowered in their presence, but Lin was different. He was very composed and showed no sign of fear towards them. The others were quite surprised too.
He, however, did not reveal his surprise. "Who are you, and how did you get into Aquasphere?".
"Huh? Aquasphere?" Lin frowned upon hearing that. He had never heard of any such place. "System, what is that?"
<Notice>
<Aquasphere refers to one of the layers of Tauratet>
"Layer? Tauratet, is in layers? How did I not know of this?"
Lin was shocked. Never had he imagined the possibility of such a thing. "Tauratet is my home world, but isn't it filled with various territories? How is it having layers now?" Lin couldn't believe what he was hearing. He felt like he had been living in a lie all his life. "System, how many layers does Tauratet have, and what about the territories; how different are they from these layers you refer to?"
<Notice>
<Tauratet has two known layers, but, signs are pointing to the existence of more layers, and each layer has various territories within it>
"I see. So that's how it is. System, which layer am I from?"
<The second layer, known as Terasphere>
"Hmph" he pouted and went silent.
Lin was quiet for a while, then answered the captain, "You need information from me, and I need information from you too, so how about a trade? I ask a question in turn for every answer I give, fair?" he suggested with a smile. Everyone's eyes popped out, and their jaws dropped to the ground as they stared at Lin in disbelief.
They couldn't believe the guy imprisoned in the chamber was so bold to bargain with them. Lin sneered when he saw the look on their faces. "Those are my conditions; take it or leave it. After all, you need that information from me", Lin added.
Everyone turned to look at the captain, expecting him to blow his top, yet, no such thing happened. The captain laughed loudly and said, "Good, good; I like that you are not cowering before us. Good, I accept, but let me make one thing clear to you if the answer you give is not what I want, I will kill you". The captain's eyes were cold as ice.
Lin felt the back of his throat immediately become numb; he almost broke out in cold sweat. The others had yet another surprise of the day. They expected the captain to blow his top and kill the man, but that didn't happen. "Now answer my question. Who are you, and how did you get into Aquasphere?" the captain queried.
"I'm not a fugitive or anything. Giving my name shouldn't be a problem, right?" Lin pondered and answered, "That's two questions. Who am I? I am Lin. How did I get here? I have been wondering the same thing since I woke up. Now your turn. What month is this, and what did you mean by how did I get into Aquasphere?"
Xu answered Lin's question without any hesitation. "Today is the twelfth day of Libra…"
Lin's eyes opened wide in horror as he screamed, "Twelfth day of Libra? You are kidding, right?" he cut in before Xu could finish. Captain Xu looked weirdly at Lin. He thought his reaction to that information was a bit over the top. "Surely you don't think I would joke about something as trivial as a date, would you?". Looking at the captain's face, Lin realised he was not joking. His mind began racing back to the events that transpired in the crucible of Akrakus.
"This can't be. I exited the crucible of Akrakus just about a day ago. This… But that was the 31st day of Cancer, and today being the 12th day of Libra, doesn't that mean… no way. It's been two months already?" Lin tried his best to keep his calm and not give anything away. He listened to Xu, who continued answering his question.
"Second question, the aura surrounding you does not belong to one from this place. Unlike the calm nature of the aura those here have, the turbulent nature of your aura says it all. It is a common characteristic of those who come from 'there'. You are from 'there' aren't you?"
"What's this guy even talking about?" Lin questioned in silence. "What do you mean by 'there'?" Lin feigned ignorance and presented a curious-looking face. Captain Xu went on to explain, "You are from Terasphere. The layer right above us. We have had many of your kind come in here by several means, however, they were always bad news. A rule that prevented a crossover between the layers was passed to prevent any more from entering this place. So, to us, you too are…"
Lin quickly cut in and said, "Look, like I said, I don't know how I got here, okay? I have other important things to do than wandering in here. If you can show me the way out of here, I would be glad to say my goodbye".
Xu was not convinced by what Lin said, so he answered, "We are already home; you would have to wait until I determine you are not a threat. But if you try pulling off any stunts, you are going to try as a spy, and you have no idea what we do to spies here", Captain Xu said and turned away from him, "Someone, get him some clothes".
"Home?" Lin thought and looked past the captain's shoulder. In front of Zygoptera was a humongous ice-like tree whose branches surrounded what looked like a giant orb of water. It was truly magnificent.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein