Inside the Fringe, tier five spells were not only easy to execute, but it was also possible to weave them with up to four elements with almost no burden for the mage whereas normally using two elements at the same time was the limit.
"This is both incredible and nonsensical." Quylla said. "With this much world energy, I would expect to find a lot of magical beasts and plant folk. I mean, I can feel it so well that it wouldn't surprise me if Friya or Morok Awakened."
"What about you?" Friya asked.
"Violet core, remember? In my case, we are not talking about Awakening, so much as of a close casket funeral." Quylla shuddered at the thought. Mages as powerful as her would explode like gruesome fireworks.
"I think that it's just a temporary effect." Morok smiled to reassure her, but his face was pale and he was holding his chest as if he was about to have a stroke.
"We come from outside, so the world energy overwhelms us, but for people born inside the Fringe this amount of elemental energy is considered normal. We should just sit back and wait to get used to it."
"Are you alright?" Quylla asked while casting a diagnostic spell that came out negative.
"I'm just a bit dizzy from taking so much world energy in and conversing with Mogar. There are so many voices in my head right now that it feels like being in the middle of a market." He replied.
"What do you mean, taking the world energy in?" Friya asked.
"Even though a Tyrant's powers are similar to a Balor's, they work on completely different principles. Balors use their eyes to drain their surroundings of the natural elemental energy whereas a Tyrant splits the world energy into its components.
"My eyes absorb the elements while I use the remaining energy for my spells, keeping the balance neutral. Then, I can use the stored elemental energy for attack or defense without the need to weave a spell." Morok said.
"Interesting. If not for the part where the world energy is split and stored inside your body instead of being refined by your mana core, I'd say you've just described an Awakened's breathing technique." Quylla said.
'By the Great Mother, she's right! That's why my body hurts so much.' Morok thought while barely holding his panic. 'On top of that, it explains what that asshole of my father meant when he said that I would Awaken only if I deserved it.
'My core can't process the energy coming from just four eyes, so it gets stored instead. It's the first time in my life that I'm happy to have yet to open my fifth eye, otherwise I wouldn't be able to stop the Awakening process.
'I already have no idea what I will do during the 300 years I'm supposed to live, let alone 3,000! Best case scenario, I'll live a sad and long life like Master Ajatar or Dad. Worst case scenario, I go crazy and get myself killed by the Council.'
"I think Morok is right." Friya said while opening several small dimensional passages as big as a keyhole to study their surroundings.
"I can't find any trace of creatures bigger than a regular animal nor the lush vegetation typical of the presence of plant folks. The evolution rate might be the same as outside the Fringe, if not even worse. Think about it.
"It's like being in the crystal mines. The pressure from the world energy around us exerts such a pressure that it probably makes it very hard to develop a mana flow to those who are born here whereas it invigorates foreigners like us. At least until we get used to it as well."
The sky inside the Fringe was clear blue and all the vegetation was bigger than one would expect from a plant of the same age, yet aside from the abundant world energy, everything else looked ordinary.
The three of them sat down cross legged on the ground. The girls tried to get in touch with Mogar to obtain some of the answers they were looking for whereas Morok did his best to cut the communication off.
As he slowly released the accumulated elemental energy, the Tyrant could feel the voices in his head disappearing one after the other, until only one remained. Unfortunately for Morok, it wasn't his own.
'Are we Awakening or not?' A voice that sounded awfully similar to Quylla's asked.
'Thanks, but no thanks. What about you tell me the secret of the Davross instead?' Morok's question made the final voice disappear, leaving his head as empty as usual.
After a few minutes of meditation, their bodies and cores got used to the new environment. Friya could no longer feel a slight burn in her guts so she had to give up on her hopes of Awakening on her own.
For the same reason, Quylla could finally sigh in relief at the idea that she wouldn't blow up while Morok learned how to use his eyes without drawing unwanted guests. All of them got worried when they noticed that even hours had passed, Nalrond had yet to get back.
"His rune is still online, but he isn't picking up his communication amulet." Friya was amazed noticing that despite the distance separating her from her family and friends, even the runes belonging to Lith's group were available thanks to the Fringe's power.
"I doubt that Dawn has left some of her spawns in here, but that doesn't mean this place is safe. Nalrond might have been captured or worse. Is any of you capable of following his tracks?" Quylla asked, relying on their expertise.
"It would be child's play if he walked, but he flew away and smells don't last long in the air." Morok shook his head.
"I can try something." Friya said. "I created this spell to find my guildmates in the case they went missing in action, but it turned out to be impractical due to the crystals empowering the amulets being too weak. Here, however, the Fringe supercharges them so my spell might work."
Friya cast a short spell and then she tried to call Nalrond again. This time, a thin golden tendril came out of his contact rune, pointing toward the direction he had disappeared and fading away after just a few meters.
"That's incredible! How did you do it?" Quylla asked.
"Amulets rely on dimensional magic to establish their connection. My spell simply amplifies the energy signature of the small Warp, making it visible. We can use it as a compass that always points at Nalrond's amulet." Friya puffed her chest out with pride.
The group took flight, following Friya's lead who cast the Compass spell from time to time and adjusted their course. It took them just a few minutes to find the village yet they didn't like what they saw.
"Those aren't Nalrond's people. He turns into a Rezar whereas both the children playing around and the adults working in the cultivated fields are Dewan (AN: rhinoceros Emperor Beasts). What if they are keeping him prisoner?" Friya couldn't find another explanation for Nalrond failing to answer their repeated calls.
"She has a point." Morok said. "If Nalrond flew here in human form, they might have shot him down."
