A Man Like None Other (Jared Chance) novel Chapter 6743

The northern reaches of the Twentieth Firmament were a barren ice field.

The farther north they traveled, the lower the temperature fell. Fierce winds screamed past with shards of ice that cut the face like knives.

Thick snow and ice covered the ground. Here and there, black rocks jutted from the drifts like silent gravestones.

After flying for most of the day, Jared and his companions finally found a ruin at the location marked on the map.

It was a partially collapsed circular stone platform about 360 yards across, its surface buried beneath thick ice and snow.

Eight broken pillars stood around its edge. Each one was covered in sigils so badly weathered they were almost impossible to make out.

A deep fracture ran through the center of the platform, splitting the entire structure in two.

Master Veridian stepped forward and kicked one of the pillars. Snow slid from it in soft cascades, revealing dark gray stone and the trace of a sigil worn nearly smooth. "This is the Merak Array? It doesn't look as though it can do much of anything..."

Jared said nothing. He opened the diagram and moved around the platform one step at a time, comparing every detail against the sigils carved into the stone.

The diagram marked 365 sigil nodes, corresponding to the count for a single day. Each node had a fixed location and a specific place in the sequence.

When he compared the diagram with the actual platform, he found that most of the nodes were still present, though many had faded beneath centuries of wind and frost. Only a little over 30 had truly been destroyed.

"We need to repair more than 30 sigil nodes," Jared said.

"Repair them?"

Master Veridian scratched his head as he studied the nearly illegible markings. "How? I don't understand these ancient sigils..."

"These are familiar to me."

Jared crouched down, removed a slender carving knife from his Storage Ring, and began restoring the worn sigils on one of the pillars.

His fingers remained steady and precise, reproducing every stroke exactly as shown on the diagram.

Chaotic force flowed from his fingertips and seeped through the knife into the grooves in the stone. When each sigil was completed, it glowed faintly with gray light before sinking back into the pillar.

Gwendolyn stepped forward as well. Following Jared's example, she began carving sigils according to the diagram.

Her hand was not as practiced as his, but she was meticulous. Every time she finished one, she checked it against the diagram again and again before moving to the next.

Unable to help, Master Veridian could only squat nearby and watch them work.

The young acolyte hurried back and forth, passing them carving knives and clearing away the snow.

They worked from noon until dusk, and from dusk until the moon stood high overhead.

The instant the 365th sigil node was reactivated, a deep hum rolled through the entire platform.

The ancient sigils lit up one after another. Gray radiance streamed from the edge toward the center like countless veins awakening and spreading across the stone.

The deep fracture at the platform's center slowly closed beneath the light, leaving the surface smooth and whole.

The three heavenly crystals were embedded in the three most critical nodes.

Azure light surged from the platform, growing brighter and more intense until it became a blue-gray pillar that shot into the sky and illuminated the entire night.

A violent distortion rippled through the radiance until an opening formed at its center.

Its other side was filled with a hazy radiance that obscured the view, but an entirely different atmosphere poured through.

The spiritual energy was richer, heavier, and more ancient. Like wine that had rested for 10 million years, it carried a deep, lingering fragrance.

Their destination lay beyond: the Twenty-First Firmament.

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