A few days after his little 'incident', Michael had wisely chosen to spend a couple of days learning how to safely harness Ether so that he wasn't throwing MOABs whenever he even thought about using it slightly. Of course, after he had found a small bag to replace his old one. He also scavenged a few places for ammunition for his gun.
Right now, he had to take a stop on his journey to rid his MP3 of its corruption that was worsening each day. After all, Michael could see the Ether Crystals slowly creeping into the device's internal system, which he was sure wasn't good for it in the slightest. He'd at least try to repair the thing rather than wait and risk it becoming fully irreparable in the future.
While he had wished to wait just a bit longer to come to grips with his new abilities, it seems the time has come for him to try his best to stop and hopefully reverse Ether Corruption by either expelling it or absorbing it into his body instead, whichever one works.
"Here goes nothing." Taking a deep breath, Michael held his hand out and began to see the Ether surrounding the device while at the same time, making sure to clear his mind of any other stimuli so nothing could distract him.
'Slow and steady.' Michael repeatedly chanted in his head. Like a dam, he carefully halted the flow of Ether that was slowly making its way inside. Immediately after his action, he could see that the formation of new Ether Crystals had halted completely.
'Yes!' Michael internally yelled out in joy. He wasn't done yet, however, as he moved to the next step. "Now then, for step two..." Michael then went on to isolate the Ether on the MP3 from the ones in the environment so he could begin absorption. He started off small, absorbing the Ether that was at the edge of its corners.
Gradually, the crystals began to recede, the Ether being absorbed into Michael's Ethereal body, which he could also feel giving him a small power boost. It was negligible at best, but it's something to keep in mind. Perhaps it might be useful.
He didn't celebrate yet as he continued to move to the much more complicated part of the device, the buttons and the screen, along with some of its internal components that had Ether corruption seeping in.
If the cleansing of the edge of its surface was hard, this one might as well be trying to do brain surgery while drunk with how precise he has to be. One slip-up, and the device, along with all his music, is probably a goner.
Not that it demotivated him whatsoever, he had come this far for failure to be an option, as he painstakingly and meticulously purified it from corruption. Little by little, the corruption decreased, and little by little, his MP3 was starting to look like the way it used to, albeit with some damage to its exterior where the Ether Crystal had grown.
"Now comes the hardest part," Michael whispered to himself as he went ahead and tried to remove the corruption deep inside the device. With laser precision and lots and lots of patience, the corruption was removed millimeter by millimeter.
Michael was glad that Ethereal couldn't sweat otherwise; he was pretty sure water damage would've gotten to the MP3 first before any Ether corruption could take hold.
It took a better part of an hour or two, but it was all worth it as, after sighing in relief, he examined the MP3 closely, finding no Ether corruption outside or inside of it, which meant he had finally done it.
Michael fell on his back, his mind filled with joy. "Finally! I can finally be at peace with this thing at least." He said to himself, relief in his tone. Sure, it was still out of charge, which meant he had no idea if it was damaged or not, but at least, for now, he didn't have to worry about it becoming scraps.
"With the most important checklist crossed out, I guess it's time to find out if I can get out of the Hollow in the first place." With his spirit renewed, Michael formed a plan in his head to hopefully find a Bangboo or a researcher in the Hollow.
.....
"EHN-NE?!"
"AIDIE, RUN!"
Michael quickly gave chase to the researcher and her Bangboo companion as they ran away after spotting him following them.
Michael hated doing this, but it was pretty much his only chance of finding an exit out of the Hollow without having to wander around aimlessly in the hope of finding one. He had half the mind to just ask the two for direction first before discarding that stupid idea.
Michael had found the duo in the middle of those crystals, probably investigating the area when he had made the decision to follow them wherever they went. After all, eventually, they had to leave the Hollow sooner rather than later.
Initially, it was going well, with the pair having no idea that he was ever there, silently following them, but as time went on, it seemed the two began to become more and more suspicious that someone was tailing them.
Af first, they merely turned around to check every once in a while, to which Michael would react fast by hiding and waiting until they resumed whatever they were doing, but slowly, their steps became ever so slightly quicker, and the frequency of their checking became much more common. Honestly, for Michael, it felt like he was playing one of those stealth games.
Still, not to be deterred, Michael persevered on, following the two now very paranoid individuals and hoping they would find an exit sooner rather than later.
That was when all their paranoia and wariness culminated in this moment when the two became too fast and unpredictable for Michael to react in time, causing them to see him in all his Ethereal glory, and of course, they immediately ran away.
Thankfully, it seems in their panic, they didn't call for help or any of the sort, which made him relieved and somewhat disappointed at their carelessness. Surely, there was a patrol squad or two nearby, right?
"Aidie, find the nearest exit, quick!" Michael heard the researcher order the Bangboo, to which it responded with a quick, "Ehn-ne ne!"
'Bingo.' Michael was still hot on their tails as they navigated the Hollow while trying to shake him off from his pursuit.
'Not that it would do them any good.' Michael thought to himself. While the two were fairly quick on their feet, they were still slower than he was if he didn't have to slow himself down.
ROAR
A roar from Michael's left side made him realise that their little kerfuffle had unfortunately attracted some rather unsavory attention.
Namely, a few of the Ethereals nearby that were roaming around had followed him in his pursuit of the duo, which is definitely not good, as they, unlike him, are definitely hostile to them.
Not wanting to get the two killed for his actions, Michael determined to stop them. Of course, he had to subtly do it so as not to raise suspicion among them and make them target him instead.
Whenever Ethereals get too close to comfort, Michael would sweep their leg, making them trip and fall to the ground. If kicking wasn't an option, he would grab them by their shoulders and, if given the opportunity, shove them into other Ethereals.
It worked surprisingly well, as even after a handful of them faceplanted on the ground, they still haven't shifted their attention to Michael.
THUD!
'Oh fuck off!' Michael swore in his head when the rhythmic thumping of the ground caught his attention. If the Ethereals chasing with him weren't bad enough, a big armored Ethereal running on all four has chosen to join in on the fun.
Looking and analysing its arms that Michael was sure could effortlessly crush rock along with its heavily armored frame in both protection and weight, he concluded that this guy won't be easy to take out. In fact, he was pretty sure he was going to be folded like an omelet if he even tried to fight it head-on.
All Michael could do now was hope and pray that the two managed to the exit in time. At least the presence of the large Ethereal had discouraged the other Ethereals from continuing their chase as they wandered somewhere else.
"There!" The woman yelled out as she pointed at a fissure just down the street.
Michael would have sighed in relief, but fate must have been laughing at him because the big guy stopped for a moment, seemingly gathering Ether beneath its arms, before doing something he thought was impossible due to its large size, and jumped.
Not a small leap, but a massive one. By Michael's estimate, the hulking behemoth could easily clear a four-story building with ease.
Its landing spot was obvious to predict by the massive shadow it cast above, slowly moving closer to the unaware researcher and her Bangboo.
With all his might, Michael pushed his body to its max as he sprinted to the two who had just realised what was above them when they glanced back.
Frozen from shock, the researcher grabbed her Bangboo and held it close as both of them closed their eyes and seemingly waited for the inevitable.
'Not if I have anything to say about it.' Michael then, taking inspiration from the big guy's action earlier, hastily gathered Ether from the surroundings and shoved all of it into him.
Michael could feel the Ether coursing through, the intoxicating feeling from a few days ago returning in full. He didn't let the feeling distract him as he used all the newfound power and forced it to move through his body, especially his legs.
Before the big guy landed on them, Michael, now energised, arrived in the nick of time to grab the researcher by her collar and hurl her and the Bangboo into the fissure, barely managing to dodge the big guy in the process.
It happened so fast that the woman and her Bangboo hardly had time to open their eyes to look at what happened before they fully disappeared from view.
With the two safely outside the Hollow, Michael, having expelled the excess Ether in his body, turns his attention to the Ethereal, who looks rather hostile towards him after his little stun had caused its prey to escape.
Any and all doubts about the big guy's not attacking him went out of the window the moment it lifted one of its arms up and attempted to crush him to dust.
"Guh!" Michael narrowly dodged its attack as he quickly slid below its arm and behind to its back, making sure to stay as far back as possible to give himself some time to arm himself up.
Gently settling his bag onto the ground, Michael whipped out his gun and a magazine he had scavenged. With a bit of difficulty, since he was in a bit of a hurry, he shoved a magazine in.
Cocking the gun, Michael aimed at the approaching Ethereal and rapidly mag dumped his ammo at its Core.
DING
DING
DING
"Damn..." That was all Michael could mutter when he saw bullets simply bouncing off its armored exterior, and a few that did, doing little to no damage to the Ethereal's exterior or Core. He was pretty sure all he had done was enrage it further as it raised one of its arms in front of its Core and then began charging straight at him like a bull.
Just as it was about to smash him, Michael dived to the side, the Ethereal narrowly missing him and instead, hitting a nearby apartment complex. Like sand, the walls of the already dilapidated building crumbled from the sheer force the Ethereal hit it with, even taking out one of its reinforced supports.
CREAK
Michael could hear the three-story apartment groaning at having a chunk of its support torn down, even sagging slightly to one side, which gave him an idea of how to take down the big guy.
"Time to see how good I am at matador." While fighting the big guy head-on is impossible for him right now, surely a building can win, right?
While the Ethereal was busy recovering, Michael quickly went over to his bag and reloaded his gun. He then faced the dazed Ethereal and began shouting, "Hey! Over here, you stupid dum-dum!" Michael taunted the Ethereal, waving his armed hand in the process. The Ethereal heard him and, within seconds, was already gunning for him.
Quick on his feet, Michael still had to be careful as he led the angry Ethereal around, making sure to watch his steps closely as even a single misstep could prove potentially fatal.
Circling around, when the Ethereal was facing the partially destroyed building again, Michael unloaded every round in his gun, not caring if they hit or not, since even if they did, it probably wouldn't do much.
ROAR!
"Predictable." That does the trick as it once again raised its right arm and charged at Michael, who, just like last time, dived at the last possible second so as not to give the Ethereal any time to adjust its course.
CRASH
CREAK
If the building was barely standing just moments ago, it was definitely going to give out as another one of its supports was taken out. Massive cracks were stretching across its walls as they were no longer able to support its own weight, let alone if there was anything inside.
ROAR!
The Ethereal, which was now damaged from its impact, was oblivious to what was happening as it emerged from the huge, torn wall it had made. Slowly, it made its way to Michael, who gave it no mind as he retrieved his bag to store his gun.
Slinging it over his shoulders, Michael faced the Ethereal and gave it one last salute before turning around and heading for the fissure that he had thrown the researcher to.
As Michael neared it, he focused on the Ether energy on the other side of the portal, or rather, the scarcity of it. It all but confirmed that this was indeed the exit out of the Hollow.
Steeling himself, Michael looked back at the Ethereal, finding it charging up its jump attack even as the building was collapsing behind it. Saluting it as one last gesture of disrespect, Michael entered the fissure.
.....
Exiting out of the Hollow, the first thing Michael noticed was a line of Shiyu Pillar extending out of the Hollow and into the distance, where he could barely make out Scott Outpost. Above him, moving to and fro, was a fleet of aircraft making rounds. Some were carrying troops while others hauled massive crates of supplies, presumably for the soldiers inside.
The second and most important thing that Michael was keenly aware of was the fact that his body was seemingly evaporating to oblivion by the second. Looks like Ethereals really can't survive outside the Hollows, or at least they require places with dense Ether particles or some other method to keep their form.
Just as Michael was about to turn around to reenter the Hollow, his legs gave out beneath him. Falling to the ground, he tried his hardest to crawl his way back, even as he could feel his body disintegrating to nothingness.
Even as the reality that he was going to die soon set in, Michael tried to remain as calm as possible as he thought of some sort of solution to his predicament.
"Surely... Not like I have any other choice..." Closing his eyes, Michael concentrated hard on his surroundings' Ether. While it was nowhere as thick as it was inside the Hollow, there were still some there. Which means he could potentially use them.
With all his might, Michael forcefully dragged the Ether from the environment and into his own rapidly deteriorating body.
Michael felt his strength returning after a little bit, and, more importantly, his body no longer disappearing. With his hand, he crawled closer and closer to the Hollow, and after getting close enough, leaped forward with his legs, propelling himself right into it.
.....
THUD
Plopping back to the same location he had exited the Hollow out of, Michael looked around while on the ground, his eyes scanning for any sign of the Ethereal.
It was a bit difficult since there was now a lot of dust in the area. Michael's eyes went toward where the apartment was, finding it and the Ethereal no longer there, which meant that it had done its job of crushing the guy to death.
With no hostile detected, Michael sighed as he laid his Core onto the hard ground, eyes to the skies as his mind began thinking back to his near-death experience in detail.
From the moment he exited the Hollow to the moment he entered it back in, Michael made sure to analyse every second of it.
"Heh." Michael chuckled when one detail stuck out from it. For one, not only can he manipulate Ether outside of Hollow if a bit dampened due to the lack of Ether outside, but also because he had also managed to stabilise his form with it, which meant, "I can exist outside the Hollow."