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Kaipo lay on the ground, his body motionless, but something dark and powerful stirred within him. Slowly, he began to rise, his limbs heavy with an unfamiliar weight. A thick black aura swirled around him, his eyes glowing an intense white with smoke streaming from them like a burning flame. The ground cracked under his feet as each step toward the guardian left an imprint on the ground.
Vayne, still shaken from the fight, watched in stunned silence. His internal thoughts echoed in his mind, racing as he tried to make sense of what he was witnessing.
What the hell is this? Vayne thought to himself. I’ve been with this kid since we started, and not once did I sense this kind of power. It’s like… like something else has taken over him completely.
Kaipo’s presence felt overwhelming now, almost suffocating. His steps grew heavier, each one reverberating with more intensity. In an instant, Kaipo vanished from where he stood and reappeared directly in front of the guardian. With a single devastating punch, the guardian was obliterated, crumbling to the ground as if it were nothing more than dust in the wind.
Kaipo stood over the fallen guardian, his chest heaving, eyes glowing brighter, as if fueled by some deep, untapped well of power. But then, Kaipo’s gaze shifted to Vayne. His white, smoke-filled eyes focused sharply on his companion, and for the first time since the aura had taken over, Kaipo took a step toward him.
Vayne’s heart raced as he backed away instinctively. His thoughts were erratic, panicked. Is he coming for me now? What is going on inside him? Vayne’s mind screamed. This isn’t the Kaipo I’ve been traveling with!
Kaipo’s aura crackled ominously as he moved closer, and Vayne could feel the sheer force of his power pressing down on him like a tidal wave. Just as Kaipo was about to reach him, his body wavered. The aura began to flicker, and in an instant, Kaipo collapsed to the ground. The black energy dissipated into the air, leaving the young warrior unconscious and still.
Vayne let out a long breath he didn’t realize he had been holding. His mind was still racing, trying to process everything. He knelt beside Kaipo, inspecting him closely.
Whatever just happened… Vayne thought, his mind still spinning, I don’t think even Kaipo is aware of it.
Kaipo woke with a start. He found himself lying beneath a blanket in the back of a moving cart. The soft jostling of the wheels on the dirt road made his body ache slightly, but it was the bright, unfamiliar sky that caught his attention. He sat up, looking around in confusion. Beside him sat Vayne, casually lounging and looking relaxed for the first time since they had met.
"You're finally awake," Vayne said without even turning to look at him.
Kaipo threw the blanket off and rubbed his head. "What happened? Where are we?"
Vayne glanced at him, a slight smirk on his face. "You don’t remember anything, do you?"
Kaipo frowned. "No… not a thing. What happened back there?"
"Well," Vayne stretched his arms lazily, "you kinda went berserk. Not sure what took over you, but we managed to beat the guardian, and now we’re on the next planet. Welcome to the goblin city."
Kaipo blinked, taking in the landscape. The city in the near distance was bustling with life, but instead of humans, it was filled with goblins—small, peculiar creatures of various shapes and sizes. Some were jovial, others mischievous, but none of them seemed hostile.
"Goblins?" Kaipo asked incredulously. "They seem pretty… friendly."
Vayne chuckled. "Yeah, believe it or not. I asked one of them to take us in the direction of the tube to the next planet, and here we are. So far, so good."
Kaipo gave Vayne a skeptical look. "You trusted a random goblin?"
Vayne laughed heartily, pointing toward the goblin who was pulling the cart. The small creature turned around and flashed a wide, toothy grin, waving enthusiastically at them.
"See? Friendly!" Vayne said with a grin of his own.
Kaipo stared at the goblin, then at Vayne, giving him a half-amused, half-concerned look. "I’m not so sure about this."
Vayne shrugged. "Eh, it’s fine. Besides, it’ll take us a few hours, maybe a day at most, to get to the next tube. But I’m in no rush. I’ve been stuck on that last planet for so long, I might as well enjoy this one."
Kaipo, though still uneasy, settled back into the cart. "I can't wait to get to the next planet. What about you?"
Vayne shook his head. "Nah, kid. I think I’ll stick around here for a bit. This place is peaceful, and after spending hundreds of years trapped on that first planet, I’d like to enjoy my freedom a little."
Kaipo frowned, thinking. "But… you’ve been here for centuries, right? Why wouldn’t you want to finish all 10 planets and go back home?"
Vayne chuckled again, but something in his tone was different—darker. "After a while, this place becomes home. The Time Gap Portal… it changes you."
Kaipo’s brow furrowed as he considered Vayne’s words. Something didn’t add up. "But… time moves differently here. The High Mage told me that years in here could pass, but back in the real world, it might only be seconds or minutes. If you’ve been here for hundreds of years, that couldn’t be more than a year in our time, so how come you don’t know about the Jack Kingdom or the other three Kingdoms?"
For a moment, there was silence. Then, Vayne smiled—a different kind of smile. His voice changed, deeper, more resonant. "Damn kid, you’re sharper than I thought."
Kaipo’s eyes widened as Vayne’s appearance began to shift. His youthful face aged rapidly, his features becoming more defined and severe. His once casual demeanor was replaced by an aura of immense power. The old man that now stood before Kaipo was not the Vayne he had met.
The man smiled with a look of ancient wisdom in his eyes. "Hello, Kaipo."
Kaipo tilted his head in confusion. "What the—?"
The old man straightened his back, his voice commanding attention. "Allow me to introduce myself properly. My name is Archanos ‘Kasumi’ Solara."
The chapter ended there, leaving Kaipo stunned, as the man before him shared his last name, and seemed to know far more than he revealed.
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