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It wasn’t even that far away, either. They’d walked all the way around the perimeter, searching for any gaps and finding none whatsoever. They’d climbed all the way up most of the buildings as well, looking down on the city from the rooftops for better vantage points.

They’d even tried flying up into the sky, but there was a barrier up there, too. It seemed to be a translucent dome over Ridgemark’s entire downtown area.

Naturally, Zeff had also tried attacking the buildings, too. With his materialization, knocking them down should have been a simple feat, and yet they were entirely unmoved by anything he did, just as the barrier itself was.

Stranger still, they didn’t even get wet. Any lingering water just disappeared on its own, without him needing to dematerialize it.

Quite the concerning little detail, he felt, even if it made no practical difference as of yet. It suggested that his powers were not working entirely as normal in this place.

And so they began yet another search, taking a rather leisurely pace this time, since they had no idea what to be looking for--or if there even was anything to be found.

Remaining attentive was a chore. With no clues or clear plan, Zeff’s mind wanted to wander. To return to his many worldly concerns.

But he could do that during meditations. Sort of. That was muddy, too, honestly, but he wanted to stay present. For now, at least.

And at length, to his and Axiolis’ shared shock, they finally spotted something.

A great beam of white light appeared in the sky, rising up from the ground. It looked like all the other phantom lights, only much larger and brighter. A faint trembling arrived with it, enough for Zeff to feel it in his feet, which was still more than could be said for any of the heavy impact assaults that he had himself conducted on various buildings during their time here.

The giant light did not linger, however. After only a matter of seconds, it was gone, leaving a reddish afterimage in his retinas behind.

No questioning was necessary. They rushed toward its point of origin, which seemed to be a few streets over.

‘Hmm,’ hummed Ax as they moved. ‘That’s unsettling’

‘What do you mean? It’s the first sign of anything being there other than us.’

‘Yes, but I can’t sense it. I can see it but not sense it. And in all my experience, that is not typically a good omen.’