Rob took over this place, and the same message popped up.

[The User's tamed [Skeleton Gravelord] is attempting to take over this [Necropolis].]

[Sector Two of the [Endless Graveyard] has a new lord. This ripple is felt across the fracture.]

The fracture's exit appears where the chattering lord died. I quickly take time to collect any loot before we continue onward. Lots of low-ranking crystals, shitty mundane weaponry, and bones.

Strangely, the rusty iron weapons and armor are more practical for me since Prometheus can consume them or purify the metal. I spot Rob plucking out teeth from the skeleton he slayed.

After a brief survey that I'm not missing anything, we go through the portal. Although rampaging through this place, claiming lands and decapitating lords seem tempting, I don't want to stay here too long. I think the most effective use of my time is to speedrun getting out of this fracture. Since I'm going to be given a fracture as payment for my time here, I can just own the original [Endless Graveyard] entrance.

I don't understand what's going on. I need to know what is going on before I start grinding. I pray that I find myself back in the FIB's containment area, but like most of my prayers, I don't get what I wish for.

The sound of rain muffles my footsteps as I touch the ground in a forest filled with perpetual darkness. The distant howls of wolves cause my blood pressure to rise.

I have so many questions. What is going on is the main one. Isn't this the fourth fracture I've been in? The [Dark Forest]? What happened to the second and third ones?

Did I fall into this one as well? No. If I recall correctly, I came here for levels and wilderness experience. I breathe in the fresh, wet air and scream.

"AAA, FUCK!"

[Calm down. Worst case scenario, thisss one will have to convince you to use the exit crystal.]

"This place is breaking all the fundamental information I know about fractures... Let's find the boss of the forest and get out of here. It was a tree last time, right?"

[Correct.]

"Wait, no. It was a static exit. We just need to find the exit. That's simpler."

I look at the ring on my finger and ponder. I got this ring from this fracture... My first relic.

"You aren't going to need time to reminisce, are you?"

The ring doesn't respond, as it is a ring.

We found and executed the boss monster on the way to the exit. It was a wolf, it didn't give me experience, and it was easy.

I hop into the exit, and I'm met with a constant battlefield. Dust is everywhere as hyena people slaughter each other with weapons and feed on the corpses of their victims.

Master Wang's backyard Zerg fracture would be the perfect place to grind some levels. But this place sucks. I didn't come here and instead opted for a mysterious FIB fracture because of how this place sucks.

Flying is heavily restricted in this fracture. Having limits on two of my beasts - the two that do the most damage - isn't worth the availability.

A hyena warrior wielding a cobbled-together sword attacks me. Fresh blood drips from his furry maw. I block his blade with my forearm and kick him away from me.

I don't know how it got so close to me. Let's fix that.

Duchess lifts him up the five feet the fracture allows and flings him into a different fight. The other creatures fighting waste no time in beating a man while he's down.

Should I keep cycling through the various fractures? Or should I settle down in one? If I were to settle down, I'd prefer the graveyard since it seems to imply that the denizens are higher level the deeper you explore.

Additionally, I don't want to see that desert again. All that sand. All that molten glass. I'll need to kill one of those fucking worms if I want to leave... At least I can see Beryl.

No.

I need to find a way to bring my Beryl back with me first since I don't want to spoil any reunions. I wonder how my precious antlion queen is doing.

[Thisss one is interested in the insect.]

"You'll meet them one day."

A new question pops up as we head to the fracture's exit, high up on a cliff. Master Wang owns this fracture. Is this another entrance to his own fracture?

If two parties enter via these different methods, wouldn't they be able to meet up with each other?

Naturally generated fractures can have multiple exits, but I don't recall if that's the same with entrances. If these are the same fractures, then wouldn't I be trespassing?

Do people own the land inside the fractures or just the door? Does someone own a fracture because they own the only way to access it, or do they own the physical things inside them?

Paying an entrance fee into fracture allows people through the front door. But the owners usually have various conditions once inside. "you can only take this much." "We will tax you that much." "Magic items found inside are free game."

I try calling Free Chains using my [Court of Allegiance] ability, but the screen is fuzzy. I guess the connection isn't that good inside fractures... It should still be manageable, but I'd rather have a strong connection if Free Chains has to explain legal jargon to me.

Entering the mansion should fix that. I already tested that the connection inside works well. Entering my mansion from inside a fracture might cause some issues, but we can try that now.

Various hyena men try to attack us, but we fling them away instead of wasting time and fighting them. With Duchess in her other form and hanging from my shoulders, Flash Gordon and Prometheus in my pockets, and Rob on my back, I march straight up the cliff face until I see the fracture's exit.

Luckily, Khan is still in my mansion, so I don't have to use a skill or lug his many-assed-self up.

Now... How do I get Prometheus in the mansion with me if he is the door... I can't leave him here.

[Thisss one can create light constructs, but thisss one doesn't think thisss one can maintain concentration on the spell once thisss one enters the pocket dimension.]

Hmm. Magic. I turn my head and look at the skeleton who hasn't left my back yet. I guess he's happy I can still hold him like this.

"Rob. Can you create a bone door? You don't need to supply mana once it's created, right?"

Rob nods and tilts his head to think. Rob is great at creating tools because that's a skill he has. Rob has to instead use his neglected [Bone Magic] to deal with my monumental task. He puts his pointer fingers against his temples and stares at the ground.

A small bone door pops out of the ground like a mushroom. Rob collapses from lack of mana. His glass-like jaw hits the top of my head and cracks.

"..."

The door could barely fit Rob when he was smaller, but yeah. It's a door.

I silently gift him some mana and extra stats so he can create a larger one. A minute later, a delicately carved framed bone-white door stands just feet from the fracture's exit.

Master Wang is going to have questions once he sees this thing.

I use my skill on the door and walk inside. Immediately there is something wrong. I use [Martyr] on my tamed beasts almost instinctually as my entire body gets wracked in pain.

It feels like parts of my body are getting stripped off me. It's not dissimilar to the pain I felt in the space between fractures when I foolishly followed a god into somewhere I shouldn't.

Unfortunately, this time there isn't a lingering trail to protect me.

Whispers get louder as my scream fails to escape my throat. Was it one second, or was it a tenth of a second? I couldn't tell. I couldn't open my eyes once the pain stopped.

My brain feels like it's floating in static. I can barely register the feeling of my hands and knees touching a solid surface. I can't control my breathing, and whatever Duchess is trying to say right now isn't registering. It only adds to the static.

Even though I can't see, the system's messages still appear in my vision.

-999

-1999

-1999

-1999

-1999

[Resistance: V@#% 1 > 6]

If my math is correct, I have 30 hp left. [Martyr] lets me take the damage in other's stead. In return, I suffer double the damage. I almost died because I didn't want my beasts to get hurt. I would've died if I wasn't wearing that belt.

I'm trying to heal myself, but it's hard. My mana drains, but I still don't feel any better. It's like I'm sending it into the void.

My entire body is in pain. I want to lie down and writhe around until I feel better. I grip the ground, and my fingers don't respond to my wishes. It feels like my tongue exploded in my mouth.

I still can't see, but at least I can hear Duchess' voice now.

[-right? Please respond.]

"Fuck. Are we in the mansion? This doesn't feel like my front lawn."

[Are you unable to see?]

"I'm scared to check if they popped in my skull. Are my eyes alright?"

I can feel Duchess move in front of my face. [They seem slightly melted. You've healed worse.]

"I'm pretty sure I was exposed to the void nine times over for over a second. Sticking my arm directly in the void for just a moment was damaging enough to where losing it wasn't such a bad trade."

[In fairness, that trade included the anomaly known as Khan. That creature shouldn't exist with how powerful it truly is.]

I can feel my health increase from my passive regeneration slower than it should. If I didn't spend my mana for Rob to build that door, I could fix one of my eyes... barely. Using [Broken Blood] in this condition would be literal suicide.

[We seem to be in a circular hub... designed like a sparsely decorated waiting area. Hundreds of doorways stacked atop each other line the walls, akin to colosseum windows. The walls curve into a dome... perhaps this entire structure is a sphere.]

"I think one of my organs just shut down... I can feel it. It was a kidney."

[...We fell out of one of the many doors. A distance away seems to be a raised structure similar in appearance to a fountain that lacks water. Orbs of light flickered on once we entered. Their activation is slow... like the lights had to fight off inactivity to fulfill their purpose.]

"I think I'm going to throw up my kidney."

I electively collapse into a puddle of blood and lay there until I feel better. I'm assuming the blood is mine that fell out when I wasn't looking. My health ticks up slowly, but eventually, I can activate [Broken Blood] and get some mana to heal myself.

Most of the healing went into one of my eyes so I could see my surroundings. Duchess' descriptions didn't do the place justice. Her words were correct in every department except that she didn't mention how beautiful this place is.

The floating lights give this place an ethereal feeling, and the designs on the masonry are intricate and complex. I can almost see a story or deeper meaning behind the designs. The window-like doorways are numerous and lead to nowhere. It gives this place the feeling of hollow vastness.

"Once I get my legs working, we can explore this place."

Duchess simply lifts me off the ground with her mind and floats me around the building.

"Oh, that works."