It was pitch black.
The moment half of Varian's body crossed the white barrier and entered the dark space, his body froze.
Only the part that didn't cross the white barrier could move.
The next moment, small whirls of blackness crossed his body and Varian was blasted back into the dungeon.
Crash!
"Argh" Varian fell straight on his injured back and winced in pain.
Before he could even think, he felt the space power in his body riot.
The space around his body constricted and relaxed.
Varian felt like he was squeezed.
His existing injuries only meant things turned for the worse.
Not only that, but the pressure was increasing every moment.
The black swirls circulated in his body and kept provoking the space power.
If he didn't stop it, then his heart would be squeezed into pieces in a few minutes.
Varian didn't even bother to check the surroundings and sat on the hard pebbles.
He closed his eyes and focused on his space power. It looked white gas.
Along with his red colored chi, it was present everywhere in his body.
Varian focused and tried to control it.
However, it did not respond.
'What's happening?
He endured the pain from his wounds and continued to force the space power. It was like an untamed beast, rolling everywhere and wrecking havoc.
The pressure around his body slowly increased, and Varian was beginning to feel suffocated.
'I can do something. Yes.'
He observed the black swirls. They were in direct contact with his space power and they felt like… part of the same group. They were together.
'First, control it.' Varian focused on his chi and fortunately, it was still under his control.
He controlled the chi and wrapped it around the space power.
The white gas wriggled and tried to shake off chi.
The pressure on him began to multiply.
Varian felt like someone was clutching his neck and suffocating him.
However, he persisted, and the pressure slowly subsided in a few seconds.
'This is not a solution.' Varian kept his calm and tried to think of a solution. The aching pain of his injuries only made it harder.
'My space power is not under my control. But a high level space awakener wouldn't have this problem.'
Why?
'Because their space sense is integrated with their space power. Unlike me, I can only order it to move. They move it like it's their hand. I move it like it's my remote controlled car.'
"Aha!" Varian found the solution.
'Status'
[Body Path level 2: 200/200
Space Path Level 1: 100/100]
'My only choice is to advance. To enter level 2, space sense must be integrated with space power.' Varian felt the space around him began to solidify once again.
He could try to keep the space power down forever. But that would mean focusing on it every minute and not using chi at all.
Doing that here was suicide.
The only solution was to advance.
He used his chi to hold the space power in place. At the same time, he spread his space sense around his space power and tried to penetrate it.
The space sense wasn't tangible, but he could feel it trying to enter the space power.
However, the entry was denied again and again.
'It is not working.'
Varian kept trying, and a few minutes passed.
To integrate space sense, he needed way more time. But he didn't have any.
Even now, he was risking his life sitting in the open.
"Come on!" He tried to push through the blockage and enter the space power.
"Argh" The space power back lashed and the space around him was blocked.
His body was completely squeezed from all sides, and Varian felt like he would be crushed to paste.
He stopped his attempt. The pressure decreased to the beginning levels.
"Damn it!" He punched the ground and clenched his fist.
A pebble prickle his skin. Varian was irritated and was about to throw it away when, all of a sudden, the space power in his body calmed down.
"Huh?" He checked his palm and saw a few pebbles.
All of them were normal gravel except one tiny black one.
He probed it with his space sense and felt it!
It was somewhat similar to spacort but different. It was more pure.
'Is this a space stone?' His breath stagnated and without hesitation, he forced his chi.
The chi wrapped a small portion of the space power and channeled it into the space stone.
Then, pure space power flowed back into Varian.
Varian used his space sense to join with this pure space power, and it integrated with ease.
"Wow!"
It was like opening a new door.
That segment of space power joined the existing space power in his body and his space sense also followed.
Varian had a surreal feeling. The space power was now integrated with his space sense and it was akin to his third arm.
He could control it with ease, and no force could take the control from him.
"Out of my body!" Varian willed and the next moment, the black swirls were pushed out of his space power and left his body.
"Ha!" Varian sighed in deep relief.
The chi in his body suddenly boiled, and its connection to the body made a leap.
[Advancing to Level 2 Space Path]
[Advancing to Level 3 Body Path]
"What?!" Varian was pleasantly surprised by his body path advancement.
A large chunk of aura crystals in his space ring disappeared. The next moment, Varian felt a surge of strength.
Despite his injuries, Varian was at his strongest.
The chi in his body increased by a great amount, and all his physical stats rose by a large margin.
At the same time, the space power in his body also took a leap.
[Congratulations, Host. It was tough, but you used everything you had and survived.] The System greeted.
Varian didn't reply. He was almost dead if he hadn't fought that space stone.
So was finding that space stone a 'compensation' or 'balance' to the danger he faced?
Regardless, Varian was more curious about his current status.
'Status'
[Body Path level 3: 0/400
Greater Human: 70%
Space Path Level 2: 0/200]
"Yes." Varian pumped his fist.
At the peak of Level 2, his stats were only 40% Greater Human. Now, he was 75% stronger than his former self.
A massive leap.
With his Level 2 Space, he would be able to teleport way more times and, more importantly, freeze space without contact.
With these path powers combined, Varian had the capital to take on not only early level 3s but also the Level 3s that were significantly ahead of him.
'That mother rat… I'll reciprocate your hunting lessons.' He vowed.
As the high of surviving and advancing cooled down, Varian had to face something he was running away from.
The location.
During his escape, he realized that he was in the Outer zone since the beginning.
That meant Level 3s appeared in the outer zone. Magic Beasts were very strict about their hierarchy and wouldn't leave their zone.
So, that meant the outer zone had level 3 beasts.
This did not fit any dungeon dimension.
Varian looked at the white barrier and recalled the hostile dark space.
Then he looked at the space stone in his hand. It should never appear in any dungeon. It was too precious.
All these signs forced him to recognize the reality.
His smile was wiped off and his body trembled.
He couldn't deny the truth anymore.
He would never be able to return to earth.
He muttered in despair.
"Lost Dungeon."