Chapter 58: Star Jump

They portal-jumped to the Laboratory Maze outskirts, eventually sneaking their way inside with the use of stealth magic Lady Bluesteed was able to cast.

Fortunately, the shadow cabal warriors were careless with their chatter, revealing location checkpoints that Kairo and his party could eavesdrop on. Eventually they entered a wing of the castle, which they confirmed was the start of the main laboratory maze.

"This is strange." Lady Bluesteed's ears twitched nervously, as her eyes scouted their surroundings, which appeared to be a regal corridor displaying royal banners and portraits.

"Why?" Kairo glanced around. He sniffed the air, detecting a fudge aroma. "Is it me, or do I smell fudge?"

"Fudge?" Henka-guard growled and asked for them to step back.

He grabbed his halberd from his back and swung it in an arc, whilst casting a clarity spell.

The corridor illusion was dispelled to reveal the truth of a long obsidian corridor where there were no fixtures, features and obvious end.

Kairo gathered them around his Navigator pocket watch, which had redrawing a map of the area as they traveled to keep their location updated in real-time. They stared at the north-east point, which marked Genie's location. Their location was in the south.

"Let's synchronize our navigators, then move out."

When they were ready, they raced through the corridor. Kairo became suspicious when they reached Genie's location with minimal trouble. There had been a few monsters they had to fight, but nothing that would impact their chances for reaching their destination.

"Kairo. I have a bad feeling about this," Lady Bluesteed said as she shared the same feelings.

"It's been too easy." Henka-guard frowned.

Regardless, they continued following the navigator's direction and eventually entered a lab cell where they saw Genie unconscious in the glass cell.

"Genie! Hang on, we'll get you out of there." Kairo pressed his hands to the glass.

Lady Bluesteed and Henka-guard moved their hands with a mad flourish to recall magical hexagon arrays midair. They examined the readings within the array.

Kairo saw a chest in the corner and Genie's storage pouch dangling out of it. He opened the chest and retrieved the man's items, storing them in his Spiritual Sea.

"His magic is through the roof?! Sick bastards! What have they been doing to him?" Henka-guard swiftly changed the text of the array screen to read more analysis, but a lot of the words were beyond his comprehension. Some of them were alien texts. "I can't understand this."

Lady Bluesteed stared at the text and shook her head. "Neither can I. It's in a language I don't recognize."

Kairo went to read the text: his eyes widened with shock when he was reading English. "It's a magical process for something called..." His breath got stuck in his throat as he read the term.

"Cosmic Seed," Alric said to finish the sentence. He entered the room with an army of soldiers at his back.

Alric moved instantly before Lady Bluesteed and Henka-guard. With one look, filled with cosmic power, they were knocked unconscious to the ground.

"Lady Bluesteed!" Kairo growled as he grabbed Zeus and went to make a move, but Alric used his cosmic magic to dislodge the scythe from his hand with a thought.

Kairo yelped and cried out when he felt his body being slammed into a wall and tossed into a glass booth next to Genie's.

"If you want your friends to live, you'll comply."

"Why are you doing this?" Kairo asked, keeping his composure.

Alric huffed. He doubted the kid would understand, but people needed to know what true vision was. Besides, he'd be dead soon anyway.

"To save my world. My shaman summoned you because you carried the cosmic seed for Earth. Fortunately, you landed on Lyon's lap and helped the Star Crystal grow into power faster." Alric stared at Genie.

"Save Lux. What's wrong with it?"

"What's wrong?" Alric laughed bitterly. "The fact that the planet is turning nature into monsters?"

Kairo's mind flashed back to his Spiritual Sea quests, all his fights with monsters and the picking of his Resonant Mage path. Then there was Scryer begging him to pick his path with his heart, or all rounds will die. Rounds? He meant planets! Lux was in a death cycle.

Alric smirked with bemusement when the boy's expression was calm and seemed to have processed some understanding.

"What do you hope to achieve by trapping me and Genie in this glass booth?"

"To use your powers. Genie holds the Star Crystal. You hold the Cosmic Seed. Together, you both can save our world." Alric sighed, he had said enough for the boy to die in peace.

"Activate the Star Jump," he said to his shaman.

Kairo felt around the glass to look for a way out, but it was laced with powerful magic above his level. His eyes widened with fear when he saw Lady Bluesteed pick herself off the ground and cast a horde of henchmen backs with a power blast.

Her hand fan weapon sung in the air as it swiftly cut through numbers.

Henka-guard encountered Alric's attacks, using treasure artifacts to try to make up for his shortfall.

Kairo gave him a hand signal to pick up Lady Bluesteed and escape down an unmanned tunnel he pointed toward.

Alric threw Lady Bluesteed against the wall with a thought. She collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Henka-guard created a smoke screen to block senses: picked up Lady Bluesteed and escaped down the tunnel.

"Should we go after them?" a shaman asked.

Alric shook his head. "Waste of time. Focus on the Star Jump activation."

Kairo closed his eyes and focused on entering his Spiritual Sea. He stood on clear gold waters with his star maps twinkling vibrantly in the sky.

The Genie Teleportation Array was shimmering with activity. A thought carrying certain instructions appeared before him. He absorbed their meaning and stepped up to the array, adding his cosmic energy to it.

With waves of his hands, powered with magic, he moved the map of Centaurus and Canis Minor together so they overlapped, then overlaid them with the Genie Teleportation Array.

"Star Jump, huh."

A sparkly gold orb materialized midair. He grabbed and tossed it at the Genie Teleportation Array. It landed squarely at the center point of the star maps to trigger a vortex opening.

Outside the Spiritual Sea, Genie's spirit heart glowed within the left side of his chest.

"The Star Crystal is activated, Sire!" A Shaman excitedly announced.

Inside Kairo's Spiritual Sea, the vortex was completely formed.

It released massive cosmic power that it burst through his sea to impact his external surroundings, and clash with whatever Alric and his shamans were activating.

The glass cells shattered, releasing Kairo and Genie.

A whirlwind of raw magic made everyone tumble about. Cracks in space were formed that sucked in some of the shaman.

Alric cursed as he realized his error. He struggled to reach Genie, but his power was made unstable by the cosmic energies the Star Jump was creating. All he could do was hang on to something.

Kairo cried out when everything around him felt like it was being blown away, and all he could hear was whooshing sounds. But he kept struggling to reach Genie and managed to grab a hold of him.

More spatial cracks opened and wider when the Star Jump's power swelled with a deeper intensity.

All the mages and henchmen were sucked into the spatial cracks until only Alric, Kairo and Genie remained.

Kairo held Genie's body tight to him, as he drew them into his Spiritual Sea.

The vortex within his sea almost covered the sky as the Star Jump was in the initial stages of an interdimensional jump to the Sol System.

It was missing a specific drop point. When he was prompted to give one, naturally his thoughts and desires chose his home. His grimoire swelled with light as the Cosmic Seed applied a focus to the vortex channel.

Interstellar Cosmic Seed focus: 42 Lancaster Lane, High Town, Sherwood, Earth.

Please stand by.

White light engulfed Kairo as he and Genie were moved through space and time.