章 13: Chapter 13: World searching

In this world and the next, there is a simple ranking system that has existed since billions of years ago. This ranking system could correlate to either strength or level of existance. Either way, each living being has a certain ranking order. Dungeons, worlds and even mortals. Their bodies have a systematic strength growth beyond they usual aging growth.

This systematic growth is divided into 9 stages called ranks. Most beings upon birth are considered to be at the first rank.

The child too was considered to be of the first rank. Not just him though, but all the goblins and hob-goblins that called him home. That means that if the child wishes go connect to a world safely and collect third order energy without worrying about his core getting smashed by an ignorant mortal, he would have to find worlds with mortals the same level as his goblins.

Good thing is, rank 1 world's usually only contain rank 1 mortals. That means that if he was to find a world of the same rank, he would be more or less safe.

But the problem is, how was he going to find the right world? At that moment, the child was at a calm space. Meaning there was not a single world on sight. So exactly where was he supposed to go if he wanted to find the closest world? Choose randomly?

Could work, but the problems is, what was he going to do when he travels randomly but finds no world in his path? At that moment, his energy would be used up and he would successfully get stranded. Or better yet, he does find a world, but it's rank 9 world, Where deities basically roams the world and can be found everywhere. What use would his goblins do then?

So the path he chooses now is very important. But since the child didn't want to throw his chances up to luck, what was he to do?

"I'll use time magic then."

Time.

One of the eight forms of ether. In many novels and stories before, such a term has long been used. As far as the child could remember, time magic was a type of magic that could either alter or control time. In fantasy novels, you could see mages wielding their staff and making time itself turn back. Or maybe it would not be magic, but instead a machinery used to travel either foward or back in time. These are the common thoughts and ideas of people when time is mentioned.

Even the child himself had thought so. But it a few weeks ago when he was trying to develop his own magic attack methods that he truly understood how time magic worked. Well, at least time magic in this universe.

Instead of being the flashy reversal, acceleration and freezing forms of time magic, time magic in this universe worked differently. In fact in the child's opinion, rather than time, it should be called prediction magic or foresight magic.

"Well, that would have been a bad name though."

This is because time magic in this universe can predict or see rather than control. With time magic people can see either the future or the past as they wished. Of course, past and future sight isn't all that this form of Ether can do, but that is all that he child needs it to do.

So without further waiting, the child changed a few bit of neutral ether in his core into time ether. Unlike the other times he has changed Ether before, time ether took a lot longer to generate. But ultimately, the child had as much as he needed.

As such, frosty blue ether condensed within the child's core. Like most ether forms, the time ether was not stationary. Once converged together, it moved and shaped itself. But unlike fire type that seems to just expand violently or water type that seems to flow, time did not expand and spread out. it indeed acted simillar to earth type ether, it further converged. Seemingly trying to form and solid shape, but the next moment it expanded. But its expansion was not random, when expanding, it moved in a triangular form. Making multiple triangles that forms something simillar to a snow flake. Always different, but perfectly patterned.

It would then converge again. Like beating heart, it did so over and over again. With each pattern different from the last.

A beautiful sight it was, but the child did not seek it for its beauty but it's use. So he emposed his will apon it, and made it act as he wished. The cycle was thus broken and a new form was thus take. Like before it was construct made of triangles. The difference was that it was now not changing as chaotically as before, but instead shifted in a more orderly form.

Within the ever shifting triangular prisms, an image was formed. That image was of a very ball of light, barely taking a 1/10 of the screen.

"How about we zoom out a little bit."

In an instant, the small ball of light shrunk to one hundredth of its size. immediately, the child was able to notice another ball of light much larger than the speck like small ball of light 'near.' Only, this wasn't the only ball of light that appeared. Rather more than a hundred balls of light appeared and covered the space. Each ball of light was somewhat static, making it disappear and reappear from time to time

"What the..."

The child was surprised. Because this means that unbeknownst to him, he so called 'calm space' was not as calm as he had thought.

"No wait, it could be miscalculation. After all, even now is still cannot get a complete read on their existance."

This was one of the weakness of time magic. Although one can see the future or other possible outcomes, it is not very good and divining things the user had no knowledge of. That means that although a time mage may be able to divine a coming disaster that may very well obliterate the world, he would have a hard time knowing what a random kid in the same city as him is going to eat tomorrow.

But that is only hard and not impossible. This was even more so for the child as he had a good way of making sure that his predictions are correct.

Using third order energy.

As said before, second order energy has a rule over first order energy. And third order energy has rule over second order energy. But that does not mean they cancel each other out, but they could instead amplifie each other.

So the child added a little bit of third order energy to the time matrix. Once they came in contact with each other, the triangular structure nearly collapsed, but the child was able to hold it up.

In the end, the matrix got brighter than before and it's constant changes got more and more frequent. Inside the structure the balls of lights no longer shifted in and out of existence. The image was now clear.

"The amount of energy i have only allows me to travel to three worlds. these worlds are the closest to me. all the others are too far, trying to reach them would just end in me getting stranded on my way there."

So no he longer cared for other world's other than the three shown below. But although these worlds were close, they were not necessarily fit for the child's requirements. So he willed the matrix to change its core function.

"What rank are these worlds?"

And answer soon came.

Rank 2

Rank 1

Rank 4

So with such a clear answer, a clear destination was soon set.

"Next stop, a new world..."

...