Cass hurried to catch up with Pellen, hopping onto the back of a wagon with the little mage. It rolled along, shaking over the cobbled streets and over a stone bridge into the floating spires.

Cass looked over the edge and her stomach leapt into her throat.

There was nothing below the bridge.

As a slyphid, she was not afraid of heights. That was like a fish scared of drowning.

And yet, her stomach turned as she stared down into the emptiness that stretched below the bridge. Even Atmospheric Sense seemed to agree there was nothing down there. Barely even air. What air there was was sluggish and slimy.

Every cell in her body screamed she didn't want to touch it.

Salos followed her gaze, nodding knowingly to himself.

What? Cass asked.

The abyss is quite high here, he said.

Cass raised an eyebrow and repeated his statement. The abyss is quite high here?

Yes?

Salos, what does that mean?

Salos cocked his head to the side. It means what it sounds like. The abyss is high here. Nearly at Continent level.

Cass pinched the bridge of her nose. Clearly, this was a fundamental missing piece of information. She started with, But how can 'nothing' be at any height? And how is that different from the 'nothing' that is always under the floating continent?

Salos squinted at her. Nothing and abyss are not the same thing.

Cass sighed. Of course they weren't. What, exactly, is the abyss then? Because it sounds like an absence or a bottomless pit or a discrete place. I had assumed it was the gaping hole that was the space below the continent. Is that wrong?

Well, it is below the continent, for the most part. But abyss isn't a place. It is a substance, like aether. In fact, if you think of aether as light, abyss is like shadow. If aether is heat, abyss is cold.

So, it's the absence of aether? Cass summarized.

Salos shook his head. No, were you listening? Abyss is aether's opposite. It cancels and repels the other.

That's not how light and shadow or heat and cold work, Cass said.

Yes, yes, it is, Salos said.

No, it's not. At least, that's not how it worked on Earth. Are you telling me that is how it works here?

How else would it work? Salos asked.

One is the absence of the other.

That does not make sense, Salos said. If shadows were an absence of light, shadow manipulation abilities would actually be light manipulation abilities. He laughed and added, and that makes even less sense for fire or ice related skills.

Cass squinted into the darkness below the bridge. Which was more likely? That physics just worked stupid differently or that Salos—and by extension most of the world—was just wrong about how physics worked? She could see how they would think these were discrete forces. The thinkers of antiquity on Earth had certainly agreed, with even less reason. Add in skills that exclusively manipulated either heat or cold or such and it only made sense to assume that they were all separate.

If I drop an ice cube in water, are you telling me that the water cools because the ice distributes cold energy into the water? Cass asked.

Yes.

What happens to the heat in the water? Cass asked.

It is consumed by the cold, Salos explained.

And why does the ice melt? Cass pressed.

It expends all its cold energy. The same happens to charcoal as it heats fire.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Cass shook her head. That wasn't quite what was happening there either. But fine, she set this world physics model aside for now. They still hadn't gotten to her real question. But what is abyss?

Aether is one of the primary conductors of Mana. It favors vitalic energies. In other words, the energies of life, fire, light. The 'positive' energies, you could say. A small amount is around us at all times. It laces the air. It is what allows life to flourish, and its lack results in deserts or dead lands. Its complete absence suffocates the living. Aether prefers to form streams. It's on these aether streams that the floating, or aether, ships ride.

Abyss, on the other hand, is a conduit of 'negative' energies. Cold, shadow, pressure. It pulls things into itself. Most islands and spires have kernels of abyss at their centers, holding the landmass together.

Aether is spreading; abyss is condensing. It forms pools or oceans in the skies, usually at lower elevations. It is on abyss that the continent floats.

Why do ships float on aether but continents float on abyss? Cass asked.

Strictly speaking, they can float on either. However, aether is usually more useful for travel, as it moves. Abyss tends to pool and sink. Aether flows and rises. One of these is more useful for travel.

And that sinking nature is why it's odd that there is abyss up here? Cass asked.

Exactly, Salos said. The city must be built on a pool of it. Clever, honestly, for building a dock on. Their ships need to do much less work to remain in place if they're sitting in abyss.

Cass looked away from the abyss below. The aether in the air was cleaner. Fuller. She inhaled it deeply, letting it push aside the discomfort just looking at the abyss left in her.

Do most people have this revulsion to the abyss? she asked.

No, Salos said. But most people aren't aether-aligned spirits of storms.

Right. She was a slyphid, in body, if not in spirit. For whatever that meant.

Will abyss hurt me? she asked.

Not immediately, Salos said. You'll be uncomfortable long before it can do any damage to you. Like aether, there is a little of it in the air at all times. But if you were to submerge yourself in it, it would probably start leaching your Health, eventually.

So it can kill me, Cass said.

Eventually.

At least these instincts were derived from real danger. It was only fair this body warn her. Better to know now than to fall into it unprepared.

She shook her head. She would not go jumping into that if she could avoid it.

The caravan continued up through the town. It was quiet, perhaps because evening was swiftly falling, perhaps because the residents all knew of the coming mist and were taking precautions. And yet that buzz in the air hadn't diminished. If anything, it was stronger.

She'd felt it before, she was sure. What was it?

It was as if there was a power in the air. A promise to her specifically. It wasn't until Cass saw the mist curling around the wagon wheels that it clicked.

"It's aether!" Cass said.

Pellen startled. "Yes?"

"The mist," Cass pointed.

"Oh, yes," Pellen agreed. "You have a skill to summon aether mists, don't you?"

Cass nodded. That was where she'd felt this before; it was a weaker version of the energy she felt when surrounded by Confounding Mists.

"Belden is well known for its aether mists, especially this time of year," Pellen said.

"That sounds inconvenient for normal people," Cass said. It was fine for her, of course, but everyone else who ended up in her Confounding Mists ended up disoriented and uncomfortable.

"Naturally forming aether isn't as intent on misleading," Pellen said with a chuckle. "Unless you find yourself stuck in it, it's just a little hard to breathe in it normally. Most people here get charms to ward the aether back if they have to go out in it regularly."

"Yeah?" Would that be enough to protect someone from Confounding Mists too? If it was, that could be indispensable for coordinating with her allies, though it would also be a huge weakness of the skill too.

Your skill is much denser than this, Salos said. And it holds an intent, which, as the mage mentioned, natural aether lacks. One would need a much more powerful charm to keep your Confounding Mists back than one would need for this inclement weather.

An intent? Cass echoed.

Like I said, aether is a conduit of energy. On its own, that energy just is. Under the hands of your skill, that energy takes on your intent to misdirect.

Then, could I put a different intent in my skill? Cass asked.

Generally? Maybe. With that skill specifically? Probably not.

Right. The skill was Confounding Mists, not Aether Manipulation. Though could she control aether with Elemental Manipulation? That was worth checking later.

"Wait, if the mist is normal, and it doesn't disorient anyone like my skill, why are people going missing in it?" Cass asked.

"What?" Pellen asked.

"The gate guard said…" Cass explained his warning.

Pellen shook her head. "If that's true, it's new. And not natural."

Cass pursed her lips.

You are worrying about nothing, Salos said softly. Like I said, no one can get the jump on you in aether mists. You will be fine.

And the others? Cass said.

He pulled away, discomfort spiking. We will not be here long. The wagon rolled down the street, the entire thing jerking and jolting over the uneven cobble. In the smallest voice, he added, But I'll keep an eye on them.

Thank you, Cass said, even though that hadn't exactly been her concern. She was more generally worried. Worried about the people here. Something was making them go missing on the streets. How many lives just vanished, their loved ones having no idea what happened to them?

What had Kaye and Robin thought when she'd vanished before them? What would they have thought if her screaming hadn't brought them running?

She shoved that thought across the Liminal's veil. It wasn't useful to her right now.

None of this was useful right now.

Salos was right. They would not be here long. Certainly not long enough to do anything about missing people, assuming there even was something level 28 Cass could do about it that the authorities weren't already doing.

She shoved that unease aside as well, adding it to the growing pile.

Later. She'd unpack that and everything else later. She'd only worry Salos and Pellen if she thought about any of it now.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.