On their way to the distant memory with only the tug of the System guiding them, Gene and Synexus stopped in every forest, long grass, or lake they saw. He wanted to see what Progress could do and log some of the animals and monsters found on his home planet.

  Locked memories were fine for fleshing out successful combinations of attacks or working on timing, but they all fought in a similar fashion which made Synexus easily be able to adapt in every fight. They also weren’t a true test for his new weapon and that was taking over his mind. A burning sensation of bubbling possibilities continued to grow until it felt like the only thought he could focus on. What could it do?

  No, what he needed to truly scratch this itch was an enemy with a tough hide or impenetrable scales and the System answered. Standing before him in dark woods was a lumbering insect type creature with six legs and a bulky build. Dappled sunlight reflected off a hard exoskeleton and Synexus knew this would be his chance.

  Of course, he needed to log the carapace for his katana to get the full benefit, so that was step one. Unfortunately, this enemy was not one to take lightly. When he ran towards it and jumped to get on its back, the beast jumped higher and phantom wings sprouted out of nowhere. A roar that almost sent him flying met Synexus, but that didn’t deter him from getting a needed fight in. He roared right back and threw a grass seed from his bag up. It was much too small for his foe to care about and that was its mistake. His mana took hold, and weighted grass took root on the carapace to send the monster straight back to the forest floor. Dust shot out in every direction covering the purple bark, and poison-green leaves. This was his chance.

  Without hesitation, he ran and jumped once more to land on the beast’s back. Before doing anything else he attempted to slice into the carapace with his katana. To his delight the blade barely made a scratch. With that out of the way, he pressed his sensors towards it to start logging the information.

  At this point the monster was infuriated and a surge of adrenaline sent it into a frenzy which left Synexus trying to hold on. There weren’t any handholds on the perfectly smooth carapace, but right where the back met the creature’s legs, a joint provided the perfect spot to grab onto. Data streamed in while the monster continued to try and shake him off with wild movement. Trees were destroyed and a clearing was made until finally the monster was able to force Synexus off.

  Luckily, his entry just hit 100% and he was now ready for the follow up test. To his surprise though, silver blood ran down from a cut in his head. This test was quickly turning into a real fight, but that was about to change. Drawing Progress back, he prepared his charge forward. He didn’t even bother using Body Transmutation because he wanted this to test his new weapon.

  The insectoid beast was still in a state of frenzy when it started to shoot magical stingers out in all directions. There was no thought in the aiming and damage ravaged the forest even more. Synexus was easily able to dodge and when his foe exposed its side, he made his move. A graceful swing with all the power he could muster struck the carapace. Before it had slid off with barely a scratch, so he thought there would be some resistance. Instead, Progress continued like nothing was there until it hit the internal organs of the insect.

  Ichor sprayed out and the beast roared in pain. Synexus followed up with several quicker cuts before backing off to assess the damage. Progress had done exactly what the description said, it devasted the carapace which is what he chose with the ability but then did minor damage to the internal workings of the monster. However, now that the armor was gone, he didn’t even need the ability to finish the job.

  A couple more swings in the same spot without focusing on the carapace killed the monster and an interesting skill echo formed from the remnant magic.

  Phantom Wings (rare): This is a skill echo taken from a slain Challous. Use mana to summon ethereal wings from your back. Can be used to fly short distances. Mana use will continue to rise the longer the user is in flight.

  Ever since he left the Branch Settlement, Synexus hadn’t found a skill echo that he wanted to use, but these wings would be helpful. Now Gene and himself could pick up the pace to their new destination by flying instead of constantly walking. They had to leave their vehicle behind when the wilderness got thicker, and their progress had slowed significantly. Synexus didn’t mind because he was getting more practice with his skills and gaining more entries. However, it would be nice to get a bird’s eye view while also making some ground.

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  Gene flew down from a distant tree where he watched the battle.

  “It seems the test was successful. The ability significantly improved the cutting power when targeting the carapace. Now, even when you’re with the party, this will be useful for getting through thick skin or hard armor. Of course, the obvious weakness is having to touch the material first, but you have such a versatile style that you’re able to get around that.”

  “I agree. Progress performed much better than I had hoped. I didn’t feel any resistance from the carapace after I activated the ability. This will be a great boon for my combat abilities. Also, check this out!”

  Wings sprouted from his back and Gene looked amused as much as an owl could look amused.

  “Ah, a useful skill echo. Now we can pick up the pace and find more challenges along the way. Flying will take some getting used to though.”

  The owl flapped their wings and took to the sky. Synexus unsteadily followed keeping an eye on his mana pool.

  ***

  Hours later, the close calls stopped, and he was able to fly somewhat smoothly. Gene stopped their mocking, but the look the owl was giving said it all.

  “Finally, now let’s get moving a bit faster. This memory must be another day away or so. I’m not sure what you’re going to see. Where we are going was even out of my view. That is surprising to say the least.”

  After six hours they had stopped due to the mana drain becoming scarily high and Synexus not wanting to fall. As they waited for it to reset, Gene pointed out some helpful plants and materials to log in the new environment which was an interesting place indeed.

  Nothing seemed to move, not even the breeze. Flowers, leaves, blades of grass all stood perfectly still and stiff. All sound had stopped except for the two new adventures moving through on their way to the memory. It was eerie, like the world had completely stopped.

  “They called these the Timeless Flats. In all the years that his great planet was floating through space, this area never changed. Plants don’t grow here, the air is stale, and there is never any movement except for the occasional monster that finds its way wandering in here. Zaxillians studied the phenomenon for centuries, but no one ever came up with an answer to why it was like this. A scar around the whole planet that defied all laws of physics, life, growth, and nature. Truly a mystery.”

  “Wow, that is fascinating. I can see why they felt the urge to study it. Is there something causing this stasis, or is it simply part of the planet and how it operates? Is there a way to recreate this effect to benefit the world? If you stayed here long enough, would you stop aging?”

  “Exactly. The only one answered was that last one. There was a story of a community that set up in the Timeless Flats, and they did in fact stop aging after a decade or so of being exposed to the environment, though it was never confirmed. I couldn’t even set up a tree here because my seeds wouldn’t grow. But the story goes that after they stopped aging, they felt lethargy and eventually couldn’t move their bodies at all like the will of the planet prevented them. Soon enough after that their internal organs stopped moving and they perished. I’m not even sure how the story was spread if the community died like that.”

  “Interesting. Scary, but interesting. None of these plants are special in any way. The air is still that of Zax’xian according to my skill. Perhaps it’s a gravitational effect of having the dual stars? One is significantly smaller than the other, so there must be some weird gravitational forces going on, right?”

  “Perhaps. Like I said, no one ever figured it out. My creator even spent some time here when he was younger to figure out the mystery. He never talked about his time here much but never was keen on returning. It is a quite unsettling place. I couldn’t imagine being here alone. It would seem like the whole world froze around you.”

  “Isolation. A feeling you’ve been abandoned by everything, even the world itself would eventually sink in. Okay, let’s get out of here.”

  Right when he finished his sentence, he felt intense heat from his left before noticing a bright ball of fire hurdling towards them. The warning was almost too late as they barely dodged the attack. Synexus had a bad burn across his left arm and Gene’s feathers were slightly singed.

  Looking at where the attack came from, he noticed a burning slug. What was weird was that it was as big as a tower and on fire, so how had neither of them noticed it? He then noticed something else strange. Both the fire around the slug and the plants that were caught in the blast were burning, but the fire was completely still. Fire froze in time.

  Another fireball came without warning as if it appeared out of thin air. Synexus didn’t even see the slug move in any sort of way. They dodged much better this time, and he told Gene to fly away. He then activated Body Transmutation to turn his arms into a fireproof stone and gripped Progress before running forward at the slug.

  His enemy wasn’t moving in any sort of way, which made him feel confident when Progress went down in a swing that would surely do some damage. Instead, both his blade and his body met nothing, and he stumbled forward on the ground. As he righted himself, he had to dodge another fireball which came from his left. That’s also when he realized the slug was a distance away from where he had thought it was. Something odd was happening there and he needed to be careful.