Rather than drift in Guide’s idea of a void, Luke found himself back in the building where Alan had trapped him, the bizarro version of Integrated Solutions Group's headquarters in New York. The light held the same haze as before, and the complete and utter silence was just as difficult to cope with. No, this time, it was worse. Without Smudge in the Stable, there was no one. Even the Stable itself was gone, the tab in his interface missing, like it had never been there.

  "I hope you're okay out there, little guy," Luke mumbled as he got up and out of the cross-legged position he'd been sitting in. Wanting to stretch his legs and consider his next steps, he trudged over to a window overlooking the street below and the ruined shell of a building next door. Looking out without really seeing, he pondered Guide's answers. For such an enigmatic and private being, he sure hadn't been stingy with information.

  The void wanted to break into The Great System and all its sub-systems. That much wasn't too difficult to imagine. His almost allowing that to happen, though, that was bone-chilling stuff. Well, would that have doomed the particular system he was in now, the dead one, or Luke's Earth, the real one? If it was the latter, that meant there was some connection between Luke and his home system, didn't it? And why would Guide have cared for this place? There was something to that line of thinking, but the answer, if there was one, fell just out of reach. The story of his life.

  His mind kept going to Smudge and the loss of the little critter. Such a shame. Luke was beginning to take a real liking to the blob of darkness. A cold shiver went through him when thinking of how the companion had held Luke back from certain doom. Such a fool Luke had been. That was one mistake he wouldn't make again. When the weave that made up The Greater System appeared next time, he'd just ignore the being looming right outside. That thing would not reach Earth due to some fault of Luke's, that much was certain. He would not allow it.

  But what about the others? Guide said there were others who could reach beyond the constraints of the system, but that it was not a matter of your class. What then? And why was Luke able? Perhaps time would tell. Hopefully, Guide would intervene again if someone else got the great idea of reaching out to the void.

  Then there was Relian. Dead for a good while now, that man still kept popping up. Or, well, the consequences of his actions, at least. Pink portals were called Axis Gateways, and they were important. He would need to do some research if he ever got back, to figure out if there had been any more of them opening up. Were they perhaps connected to the individuals who, like Luke, could mess everything up? An interesting thought, and a question he cursed himself for not asking Guide. Well, no use crying over missed opportunities when one was slipping through his fingers while he stood gazing out a cracked window: the opportunity to rescue his friends.

  There was a way back. Guide had said as much, and Luke didn't know the enigmatic figure to be a liar. So, the tools then. Luke opened his interface and looked over the list again, as if he were putting the tools of his trade on a workbench.

  Threads of Mana (Rank 4) [Passive]: Mana is the weaver's primary tool. Your threads are the weave.

  Weaver's Grasp [Passive]: The Weaver's control extends beyond their touch.

  Weavestep (Rank 2) [Active - Mana Cost: Moderate]: The weave is yours to traverse.

  Weaver's Perception (Rank 2) [Passive]: Many are the senses, but all you need is one. Best you use it.

  Manipulate Thread [Passive]: Reach out a trembling finger and touch the thread.

  To travel in space with Weavestep, Luke needed a Thread of Mana to show where he wanted to go. A simple enough concept once he got the hang of it. Without Weaver's Grasp, that was impossible, but other than having the skill, it would serve no extra use in this case, he didn't think. Weaver's Perception was sort of the same. It was a prerequisite even to see the threads he wanted to touch, and that was what would be required of him at this point. Manipulate Thread was his way back. Luke just knew it, like some absolute truth refusing to budge.

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  First, he needed to find a thread and then reach out to it with Threads of Mana, before using Manipulate Thread and Weavestep in tandem. In theory, that should let him return to his own system. A lot of ifs and buts in that line of thinking, but it was the best Luke could come up with. Not just the best, but the only solution. Unless...

  He rooted through the Integrated Shop, searching for some sort of teleportation item that could take him back home, but no such luck. Dammit. Well, that left his original plan.

  Problem was, it wasn't just like he could reach out to a random thread. That wouldn't do a damn thing. Or maybe it would, but it wouldn't take him where he needed to go.

  Back on the floor, Luke let his worries flow away and relaxed his muscles, spending precious long minutes to center himself and find balance. The threads were there. He knew that much. Draining himself of mana to see them should not be a necessity. That didn't make sense. Arming himself with willpower and focus, and perhaps even a little wisdom, Luke settled in for the long haul, straining to find a thread without breaking concentration. Three hours and several botched attempts later, a glimmer of results showed it wasn't all in vain. Faint, and as if far in the distance, the subtlest hints of a horizontal line appeared. Another hour of unbroken concentration and several more had appeared, despite Luke's mana sitting at a hundred percent full. He was doing it, he was really doing it. That glimmer of joy snapped through his focus like the slash of a sword, breaking everything.

  "Dammit," Luke said, his voice hoarse from disuse. Some cold water from the Integrated Shop, along with a stew full of unknown meats and vegetables, soothed the worst of his hunger and allowed for a quick breather before he settled in again with renewed determination. Four hours of focused meditation passed before he sat before a faint representation of the weave itself. Four hours, but at least it was time well-spent. Here it was, the threads he'd been looking for.

  No, wait. That wasn't quite it. This was something else. Their faded appearance made him conclude they were the same threads, creating the intricate weave that was the system, just that he couldn't bring them about with as much clarity as when he was on the brink of losing consciousness, but that wasn't it.

  "They're this system's threads," Luke said out loud, threatening to unravel his concentration yet again. By sheer force of will, he held on. Enough time had been wasted, and he didn't have more hours to spend just to return to this point. Instead, he settled in to take the next step on this wavering thread that was his plan. Luke reached out with Threads of Mana.

  The weave wasn't far away, nor was it close. Distance meant nothing in this pursuit, meaning Luke's thread reached just far enough to hover near the system thread. This thread could go anywhere, lead to any place, for all he knew, but like with the threads themselves, place did not matter. Proving his theory correct was the stepping stone he needed to climb to continue on the path to going home. To that end, he activated Manipulate Thread, his fingers trembling just like the picture painted by the skill's description.

  Pain exploded in Luke's chest, and it felt like his meta-heart was being pulled out through the physical body. Vision blurring, he first thought he was losing consciousness again, but after wiping at them, he realized the robe he still wore had become stained with blood. Luke was bleeding out of his eyes, but that wasn't all. Blood poured from his nose and ears as well, and when he coughed, terror rising, it ended in him puking up even more blood. Rather than fade, the pain mounted, fraying the mana channels as if they were nerves. A cold certainty spread through Luke, the knowledge that holding on like this much longer would kill him, no matter how much healing mana he'd stored in his meta-heart. Not that the healing mana responded to what was happening. It just sat there, dormant, as if Luke had never been healthier.

  Rather than sweat, more blood oozed through the skin itself, as if it struggled to leave his body by any means necessary. Now, his mind was fading. Even through the immense pain and pressure building within his body, Luke still retained enough of himself, of his will and focus, to note that he didn't have long left. Refusing to give up just yet, he held on. This was his one chance to prove the theory, and prove it he would. Luke used the last piece of the puzzle, only to realize how fitting the description was now that the skill had reached rank two.

  Weavestep (Rank 2) [Active - Mana Cost: Moderate]: The weave is yours to traverse.