Chapter 268: A Longing For
Kothar only took about a day to craft the additional trailer that would sit behind the Hoverbike, it was connected to the bike by both a tow hook, and a thick wire, which would conduct the electricity that would power the rotors on the trailer.
Having crafted most of the components before, it had been quite simple to craft the Hoverbike, additionally, Kothar didn't have to use Titanite in its construction, which made things even faster.
With the trailer now attached to the Hoverbike, Kothar started gathering the materials that Silane needed, he would need to gather enormous amounts of raw materials if they were to craft all of the different things that Silane wanted to create.
Kothar would only rest for a few hours, and then would immediately hop on to the Hoverbike, going out to the ore deposits he had visited earlier.
Since everything on Atla was on a far larger scale, once Kothar found a vein of ore, it became a practically inexhaustible supply for him. Even with all the ore that he had mined so far, it hadn't even put in a visible dent in aunty of the veins from afar, if one were to look at the even from a distance, it would appear virtually identical.
So Kothar's days blurred together, consisting almost entirely of mining ore, driving to and from the hideout, and occasionally carving out new rooms to store the ridiculous amount of material he was bringing back.
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It had only been a few days since Kothar had arrived on Atla, from time to time he wondered what had become of Eclat, his home, but he knew that worrying about it wouldn't change the outcome.
Some small part of him wanted to rush home, and find Tam, reassuring his father that, yes, he had survived the battle with the Aemos, and he was well.
But he still had no idea what he might return to, Eclat might be ruled by a different Ascendant, but deep down, he felt a strange sense of certainty that the enormous winged, dragon-like creature that had risen from the Fidour Mountains was far more powerful than the invader.
[I'm sure Tam is confident you're alive. He knows that you're able to travel between planes, and so I'm quite certain that he'll be able to make a pretty good guess about where you are right now.] Silane's voice cut into Kothar's melancholy thoughts, as she reassured Kothar.
[The man is quite the cunning and intelligent strategist, and he knew that you were looking to find the control center, it's only reasonable that you'd have bailed out of the ship to another plane.] Silane continued, as Kothar sat on the edge of the hideout's entrance, staring off into the distance.
[What about Eclat? Silane, I need to see if my home is safe. Creating new weapons and armor is all well and good, but what if there's no home left for me to protect.] Kothar's voice held a genuine hint of anguish, as his thoughts turned to his other home, and what had become of it.
[Well, there's no reason to stick out around here unnecessarily, Kothar. You have the Spatial Artifact, and the new Steelwing Armor, why not head back for a few days, you can find out if Tam and Eclat are safe, and then we can come to Atla. If Eclat seems dangerous, then you can always use the artifact to flee.] Silane said matter of factly, as always, she was as practical as possible.
[It all sounds so simple when you put it like that. You're right, let's go.] Kothar's voice was filled with resolve, and he immediately dropped the chunk of ore he was unloading from the trailer on the Hoverbike, and walked over to a large alcove on the other side of the cavern.
There, on a roughly shaped wooden dummy, was the Steelwing Armor, Kothar had taken the time to polish the surfaces, and it shone with a silvery gray luster.
Kothar wasted no time in quickly pulling armor on, a series of clicks sounding out as each piece locked into the other, seamlessly fitting together on to Kothar.
Once the helmet clicked into place over his head, Kothar fired up his Lightning Aura spell, flicking the switch, causing him to hover ever so slightly above the ground.
He then put one palm out in front of him, and channeled his Spatial Mana, searching for the 'thin' zone that would lead him to the plane filled with carnivorous plants.
As he had grown more and more familiar with the artifact, he had realized that the converged strands that led to different planes had a different feel to them, and no one plane was alike.
This made it far easier for him to retrace his steps when he was hopping from plane to plane.
A purple portal appeared in the air in front of Kothar, and he stepped through, far more confident now that he was wearing the Steelwing, and that he had already travelled both to Eclat from Atla and from Atla to Eclat.
As soon as he passed through the portal, Kothar flew upwards, anticipating an attack by one of the violent plants that populated the plane.
He sped through the forest the plants vainly snapping and twisting around behind him, and then opened another portal.
The journey back was far easier, since Kothar was no longer exhausted of Spatial Mana, like he had been post battle when he had fled the enormous ship.
It wasn't too long before Kothar had arrived on the underwater plane, and the Steelwing Armor was surprisingly useful, propelling him cleanly through the water.
Wasting no time, Kothar opened another portal, this one leading to Eclat, and went speeding through it, emerging into the open air of Eclat with a splash of water, and flying into the sky.
As always, Kothar felt the almost cozy, familiar feeling of the mana of Eclat, and then looked down, trying to get his bearings.