"Three hours and thirty minutes. That's what you have." Edarward said.
Everyone was kitted out in some sort of combat uniform with weapons buckled on their waists. I had received a sheath; it was perfect for my sword.
"Where are you going?" I asked Bentend; he was excitedly treading forward before I placed my hand in front of him to stop him.
He placed his hands on his waist and raised his shoulder, "With you."
"You are not." I quoth, there was no way a weakling like him would stick to us. "Besides, you have other work than this."
His face suddenly swollen, he stubbornly demanded approval, or else he would enter by force.
"You will stay with that woman and get information." I pointed at the blonde-haired woman. When she heard what I said, her voice burst out from her like a strong gale.
"Unacceptable I'm not going to work with this worm face."
In response, Bentend said, "Nor will I with this rock-chest woman."
I give both of them a glare; my eyes gleam, and I feign an angry look. Their expression turned pale before sullenly the woman agreed with Bentend, but both of them had their own condition.
"Not to butt in my business." They said in unison.
"We are ready," Calten said. He had his staff, which was now of different material.
"Going to the other world to find an end to wrap. What exactly are you planning, boy? I'm not getting you at all." Said the dwarf.
There were two big predicaments that needed to be solved. The first was the human world itself, while the second was the warps.
The human world, although still safe from becoming chaotic, wasn't a concern for me. While the warps were the first thing that I wanted to deal with.
What exactly do I want? It had only one thing, and that was to create a powerful monster. A monster that I can control and that would destroy all those Black Knights.
And to create a monster, I need to feed him power.
I glanced at Goun, my subject. Even though I myself can absorb energy to become the powerful, it wouldn't remain with me most of the time. It was temporary. and I have nothing much to offer except my sword. There were, in fact, several more issues with my abilities.
Goun's body was able to take up half of it; not only that, I have come to understand. I can control more of his overall aspects of power and increase his strength, speed, and even ability with my will.
Now the weakest solo leveller will be a monster that I will create.
"We should get going; three hours are significant for an entire tour of the place." I said.
We had to collect not only information about the wrap's condition on the other side but also have to obtain the cause of it with material from the other for examination.
Most of the job will be on Calten, whilst Goun and I will deal with whatever resides on the other side.
"Take this." Edarward handed us watches. "You need to keep a track of time there; it not only shows the time of the closing of wrap but also from the view of the other world."
Unlike Earth, the other side of the world might have a different flow of time and motion. It might be that the three hours here are only an hour there or even a few seconds.
"I made these watches for other purposes, but I guess they came in handy in such situations." Edarward was relieved. "I guess everything has its own purpose. All we have to do is figure it out."
The dwarf's fist gently hit me on the thigh as he looked up at me. He said, "Better bring me something useful from the other side and also be safe out there; I don't want to hear about worries."
I gave him a curt nod and entered the wrap; inside it was a passage found usually in caves. As he traversed forth, the other side warp came into our view.
"I will go first." I said.
As I entered the other side, I was greeted with a ruined city that had become a home to a plant and animals. The leaves of every tree were big. Like slithering snakes, they think stems of certain plants were moving and occupying other plants' space.
The dried leaves rustled by the breeze, and the sky was bluish and vague grey clouds drifted to the northwest. No, now that I look at the far end of the sky. In the sky dotted with purplish things, there were several of them.
"Be cautious; we don't know what will come for us." I told them and crept inside the forest.
Most parts of the forest, as we walked ahead, were filled with plants and no animals or queer creatures to be seen.
"This silence, it's like the calm before the storm." Said Calten, looking about him. He was completely calm.
No presence; any of us could detect.
"Oh, Edarward didn't tell us about the watches having a map! We can see how distanced we are from the wrap we entered from." Said Goun, he was astounded at the discovery.
"He's a really smart man; he knows the needs of others; it's just he never directly shows everything." Observed Calten.
I leapt onto a tree and scrambled to the top; the other two watched from below. I saw the wraps far away; if we had Dorga, it wouldn't take us long.
I clicked my tongue and came down.
Like how I detected the power of the Solo Leveller (intiverse) that I fought before, I could now determine their abilities and their level.
Calten was vaguely higher than an average human in speed, contrary to Goun, to whom I can transfer energy and boost his speed.
The only issue was I needed emotions, and currently, neither of these two had any higher amount of emotions that could be much of help. Intentionally elevating while they are aware isn't going to work.
I had to solve this problem.
"Whatever I'm about to do, keep yourself quiet." I said, my finger curled, forming a fist, and I smashed into the gust of both of them. They were unprepared for this.
They groaned and fell to the ground.
I hurriedly absorbed their emotions of pain. They were still groaning. The amount was surplus; with this half of it I absorbed myself and the other part transferred to Goun.
I increased his endurance mildly and mostly added to his speed and agility. Calten used his staff power on himself and lurched to his feet, gasping.
Even Goun's grimaced face turned back to normal. He shouted at me, "What was that for?"
"Goun, carry Calten on your back." I said.
This bewildered the duo, mostly. They first wanted to know why I punched them.
"The wraps are far from us, and we needed to be quick; for that, I extracted your emotions."
"Could have punched yourself; dammit, my gut hurts." Goun said, holding the place where I had struck him.
That wasn't a bad idea either; I could have hurt myself and extracted my own emotions. That was the loophole in my ability. Albeit, the amount of emotion I could juice out of myself wouldn't be as good as that of others.
"Hurry, we have too much to see, and time is not enough if we are this slow." I told them and rushed away.
My speed had increased; I was quick, too quick, to leave them with an awed expression.
It took them no sooner than to catch up to me; Jamus was gingerly dashing behind. Goun was a little embarrassed, carrying a person older than him.
An injury would have been a different case, but such purpose when he had no injury, only the pace issue can be… I have to change several things within him.
As we were on our way, the density of the forest was reducing, and the sky above us was becoming easy to take a peek at.
Just then, there were sounds of heavy steps approaching us. Several creatures were following us; they had gotten our scent.
As I looked at the shadows moving behind, I could sense hunger in them, hunger of curiosity and bloodlust.
They were as fast as we were, a little slow, but still that kind of speed was remarkable.
"We are being followed." I told them, "Keep your weapons in hand and ready to attack as soon as they come for us."
Both of them nodded. Goun took out his dagger while Calten had his staff glowing with his enchantment.
At first, I would see if they will chuck on following us. If that's not the case, then better I hack their heads with my sword.
"Stop!" I told them to halt forcefully.
In front of us were monsters that once dwelt on earth. They had large, thick and scaly legs and long maws that had sharp thicks like saws and long jagged claws.
"Dinosaurs?" Goun said.
Kind of, but these were different. They had wings and were wrapped in gleaming blue strips. From behind, and from the sides, more of them emerge.
They were no problem for me, but for Goun. He was still not as powerful as I was, nor as Calten.
"Goun." I said, "You will be the one dealing with all of these creatures."