Second World
chapter-1846

Jack continued to stay in his incorporeal state and monitored the spaces. The interval never shortened. It was never more than a minute before the spaces changed places. He would need extreme speed to cover the distance in that short interval. A speed that he didn't possess even with his high dexterity stat.

Jack lost track of time as he monitored the spaces. He finally decided to return to his body after he felt his link with his physical self getting weakened. When he was about to enter his body, he experienced a strange sensation.

'Hm...?'

Since he entered the incorporeal state, he had sensed this place to be unusual. This place was unlike the outside world. He accommodated that sensation to this place's special structures of having the multiple compartment spaces that kept on moving around. Now that he had averted his attention from those compartment spaces, he noticed that strange sensation had nothing to do with them.

He stopped and honed his senses on this strange sensation. 'This... There is another layer of space... It was hidden!'

Jack couldn't spend much time examining this finding. His consciousness had to return to his body.

It would be some time before he could do the incorporeal state again. He focused his mana sense to detect the irregularity he had just found.

His mana sense might not be as enhanced as during his incorporeal state, but after being aware of the secret layer, he could subtly sense its existence. It was very faint, though. He was as if trying to grasp the air.

He didn't give up. He had no other clues, after all. He believed this extra layer of space to be significant. It could be the key to pass this trial.

He spent hours trying to lock onto this secret layer of space without much luck. When he felt he had rested enough, he reentered the incorporeal state. In that state, the secret layer felt much more tangible. He no longer spared his attention to track Elder Maniac's presence. Instead, he focused his attention on this extra layer of space.

Little by little, he familiarized himself with the secret space. He noticed then that although he could better sense this secret layer, he couldn't interact with it. He had to return to his body and use mana manipulation before he could. So, he alternated between the incorporeal state and physical body. Studying the secret space during the incorporeal state and interacting with the secret space when he was in his physical body.

When interacting with the secret space, he used the same technique as when he was interacting with the Chalice of Blood. He camouflaged his mana to blend with the mana from the secret space. As he did, he gained a better understanding of the secret space.

He didn't remember how many cycles it had been. He had slept two times due to getting tired. This should mean it had been at least three days by now. On this third day, he finally got a better picture of the secret space.

The secret space was a layer of space parallel to the normal space, but its shape was not constant. Using mana manipulation, he could somehow influence its shape. He could distort it to make it change size. Yet, its relationship to the normal space didn't change.

As he learned the characteristics of this secret space, he understood what it was. He had heard about this space from science fiction movies and games. It was hyperspace. A space that could be distorted to bring two faraway points in normal space close to each other, closer than they actually were.

What were Chris' thoughts when he added this science fiction trope inside a fantasy game was beyond him. But now that he knew the nature of the secret space, he knew how he could make use of it.

His mana manipulation delved deeper into the secret space. As it did, he knew he could influence it further. He could create a wormhole via this hyperspace. This would be the means to catch Elder Maniac whose position kept changing.

After knowing what he had to do, things became easier. He no longer went into his incorporeal state. He had enough study of the mana in the hyperspace. He stayed in his physical state and focused on interacting with this hyperspace. He inserted his mana and had them influence the mana in the hyperspace. He pulled the hyperspace using his mana and forced them to shrink. He then made an imaginary tunnel within that shrunk space.

The hyperspace was a parallel space to the normal one. Using mana manipulation to interact with it, he could step into this parallel space. He did so. The imaginary tunnel he had formed had its one end directly over him. When he stepped into the hyperspace, he entered this tunnel. With a second step, he came out on the other side of the tunnel.

He looked around. There was no landmark, so under normal circumstances, he shouldn't be able to tell if he had changed places. However, he had mana sense. He knew he had traveled a great deal of distance in just those two steps.

"Great!" Jack exclaimed.

Now, he just needed to familiarize himself to form the wormhole fast enough before Elder Maniac changed positions.

He no longer needed to enter the incorporeal state. When he interacted with the hyperspace, he could shrink the space enough so everything was within his mana sense's scope. Since the hyperspace was parallel to the real space, Elder Maniac's presence was now also within his mana sense's range.

He spent what he thought to be half a day to practice. After he had the required speed, he homed in his mana sense on

Elder Maniac's presence. He waited until the elder changed positions. He then went to work.

He formed the wormhole between his position and the Elder Maniac's. He then stepped into this wormhole.

He came back out into the normal space, and Elder Maniac was right next to him. The elder looked at him with a flat face, but Jack could see the glint of surprise in the elder's eyes.

"Well done," The elder said. "You learned much faster than I expected. Perhaps my hope wasn't wrongly placed."

"Hehe. So, do I pass?" Jack asked with a grin.

Elder Maniac answered by sitting cross-legged on the ground.

"Hit me," he said.