Reborn as an Extra Chapter 553: There are infinite possibilities! Part-3.

The spirit realm held everything so strange and warped that it lay far beyond the grasp of any ordinary person's understanding.

Spatial ripples, time variances, elemental concentrations, miasma currents, cosmic rays, and more swirled in utter disarray, spawning all sorts of odd occurrences that formed and vanished within mere seconds.

This realm proved so peculiar that Rio needed to steer clear of numerous unstable spots, since chaos overwhelmed them and they easily tipped the 'laws' of the 'world' into disorder.

Each step ahead demanded effort; one had to weigh every action using scattered hints and ponder it repeatedly in advance.

Without his immunity to miasma, command over it, and potent sword intent available, Rio himself could have perished already from the array of weird events unfolding in this domain.

Instability in the space-time weave nearby could rupture at any instant and end you; a sudden fierce spatial surge might strike without warning and rip you to shreds from within.

Rio had witnessed a whole band of S-rank evil spirits torn into tiny fragments in just milliseconds, all because a random spatial ripple had jostled the space-time structure there alongside a spike in miasmic thickness!

'This spot is so unforgiving that even peak SS-rankers can only endure without injury if they stay ever-vigilant and shield themselves nonstop from miasmic taint...'

'It's no surprise that countless fugitives fleeing into the spirit realm fail to return to the material plane...'

'The danger here threatens SS-rankers, much less anyone weaker...'

As these thoughts crossed his mind, Rio's gaze sharpened.

'If the spirit realm already deals such lethal blows... then I can only imagine the nightmare lurking inside the 'sea of endless miasma'...'

Unlike the spirit realm, which at least offered firm terrain and miasma as thick mist, the sea of miasma consisted entirely of fluid, packed miasma all around!

It formed a true 'sea' of heavy miasmic fluid, stretching across almost a tenth of the whole universe!

Its scale dwarfed galaxies, rendering them mere specks like atoms!

'It crushes galaxies on a whim; untold trillions of demons and horrors could dwell within, packed with a staggering count of SS-rankers...'

'Truly a nightmarish domain...'

Gazing upward, Rio saw the miasmic downpour ease to a gentler, thinner drizzle as he pressed on.

He traversed multiple hills and desolate badlands tainted by miasmic decay and teeming with odd beasts until he drew close to the next option revealed by the cube of possibilities.

'This cube works so poorly... sigh... Probably glitching like this because I'm the one wielding it...'

As an outlier, Rio defied easy prediction.

Forecasting his path ahead bordered on impossible, and mapping his potential paths proved equally futile.

In truth, unless Rio deliberately switched off his full immunity now and then, the cube couldn't function on him at all.

And even when it did operate, it performed in a sluggish, diminished manner.

It managed only to plot nearby possibilities tied to Rio that didn't stretch too far into the future or the past.

The cube guided Rio toward Liam for sure, yet it advanced in tiny, disjointed increments, one by one, as though it lacked the power for broader projections.

'I suppose... I'm no stranger to the weirdness of this weird land... a strange shadowy wanderer amid a strange shadowy expanse of doom and dread... an ideal match...'

Rio shook his head and bridged the gap to the fresh possibility he'd spotted.

After some more trekking, Rio halted before a vast river!

Yet this differed from typical rivers, being formed of thick miasmic fluid that crept along at a sluggish speed.

The miasma within flowed so heavily that it resembled pitch-dark, viscous jelly gliding along a factory's slow-moving belt.

The surrounding land had corrupted so deeply that the soil crystallized into solid miasmic formations!

But none of that caught Rio's attention; instead, his focus locked onto an evil spirit perched by the river of miasmic blight.

This evil spirit appeared as a shadowy wraith, resembling a swollen orc or similar figure.

It kept ladling the black miasmic sludge from the river and attempting to cram it into its maw, yet the spirit lacked a throat, so the goo always poured out without ever reaching its gut.

As though unaware of its missing neck for gulping the miasma into its belly, the evil spirit persisted in shoving the miasmic filth into its mouth again and again.

And amid this frenzy, it cackled like a madman and bellowed,

"ah!!! Meat! Meat! Human meat!!! Ah! Ah! Meat! So good! So good!! Ahh!!"

Rio puzzled over how the thing managed vocal cries without a neck to begin with, but each outburst generated strong spatial ripples and stirred up major turmoil in the vicinity.

Even the miasma's movement grew erratic near that freakish evil spirit.

'Do all beings in the spirit realm unleash mental and spiritual assaults just by existing?...'

Like before, Rio had dropped his invisibility, yet the entity showed no sign of detecting him.

'Yet another echo from the past?... Evil spirits materializing counts as rare in the material world, but here... it's so routine I've encountered two already today...'

Nearly a full day had passed since Rio's entry into the spirit realm, yet the flood of strange sights had him adapting to this chaos already.

'If pigs took to the skies here out of nowhere, I wouldn't bat an eye...'

Shaking his head, Rio crouched and scooped up a fistful of miasmic crystals from the soil.

'These prove fascinating... The miasma packed into these crystals exceeds the density I muster for my own miasmic strikes...'

'I could analyze them and mimic this crystal's makeup to boost my miasma barriers and various offensive abilities...'

To most, the spirit realm might represent a pit of horrors swarming with abominations, but to Rio, it sparkled as a treasure trove brimming with chances to grow and refine his skills.

The key drive behind Rio's acceptance of this mission stemmed from his craving for a tough trial and fresh momentum to advance.

'The mid S-rank level draws nearer for me...'

Rio had absorbed countless oddities here, sparking wild ideas for novel abilities and strengths, while his mastery over miasma and soul arts had surged in this lone day!

'Time presses on me, or I'd linger here a year or two minimum... These miasmic crystals would fuel all sorts of fresh trials...'

Rio had dwelled in S-rank for roughly half a year, pushing his training without cease to evolve.

Given his rapid progress already, the mid S-rank threshold loomed close indeed.

"Err... Mr. River eater? Can you hear me? Do you know anything about the shadow dragons perhaps?"

"By the way I am your neighborhood friendly bard... just passing by..."

Noting the lack of any response from the other side, Rio let out a heavy breath and massaged his temples against the brewing ache.

This foe displayed even greater madness than the last evil spirit.

It probably lacked the mental clarity for even basic talk, stuck in a loop of the same phrases without end.

'This setup calls to mind a torture method where you force someone into endless repetition of a single act until their psyche cracks...'

'They end up unable to conceive thoughts beyond that duty, so bound to it that they crave no escape...'

Rio creased his brow slightly and speculated,

'Does this stem from mental domination or soul binding?...'

Rio drew in a steady breath and drew forth his flute, adopting a pose akin to Lia's for her swift piercing strikes aimed at vital flaws.

'Extracting intel the straightforward way seems off the table, since he's too shattered for real dialogue...'

'Time to get clever this round...'