The being had no idea how long it had traveled around the world with the little orb, but it must have been many times more than the entire rest of its life.

  And that was including the time in the before. There was no other explanation for the sheer exhaustion it was feeling right now.

  It was supposed to be a short time before they found whatever the little light sought, or at least that was what the being had understood from the projection back then.

  The being had wanted to find a friend for so long that it had thought it would accept anything that wasn't overtly hostile.

  It wasn't so sure anymore.

  Most likely, if it could make the choice again, it would go its own, separate way.

  Unfortunately, it was in too deep now, had dedicated too much time. It should at least see this until the very end.

  If only it could have scraped some of the mucus back up in the bags after the fight with the owl, so long ago!

  The little light hated the thing.

  Just a little twist on the seal, a whiff released, and there would have been some quiet.

  Oh, how the being missed some quiet.

  Alas, the filth had all spread out and solidified too much to get anything back.

  On a good note, the desperate yearning for reprieve, induced by the monotony of the journey coupled with the relentless barrage of annoyances, had allowed to reach new depths of contemplation.

  The being had made a virtue out of necessity, and it could now shut off the outside world like never before.

  After confirming yet again that the moves were a dead end, and it wasn't sure it wanted to search for more paths in that direction, it had focused on the principle. Which had gone better, but also worse.

  Better, because it was on the right track: there were things it had... comprehended, in a way different, deeper, than simple rational understanding. At times, the principle had flowed into a whisper, according to the being's exact intentions - especially whenever their travels took them near the epicenter, and the currents flowed stronger and closer to the ground. When that happened, there was a kind of ineffable resonance, that must be the key to what the knight could do.

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  Worse, because that comprehension didn't give anything concrete. There were far too many things that still eluded the being. It couldn't even make sense of what shifted correctly in its mind during the resonance, after the blissful moment was over.

  And apparently a 'probably not' could weigh more than a straight impossibility.

  To be completely honest with itself, it might not be the principle that acted according to its wishes. But just that its wishes happened to coincide with the what the principle was going to do regardless.

  Because when it tried to command it against its natural flow even the tiniest bit, the only result it managed was to break the resonance.

  It felt as if the destination was right in front and the path was clear, but each time it took a step forward, the objective took two steps backwards.

  Always out of reach, no matter what. But always tempting.

  At this point - while it would never stop trying - it had started to believe that the answer was over the chasm. That thing felt so very fundamental, at the center of everything the being was and should be...

  Everything important must be there.

  Which was the greatest reason why it hadn't already ditched the vexing little orb.

  Since meeting it, the being felt as if it couldn't complete a line of thought without having it interrupted multiple times.

  Though probably absurd, it couldn't shake the feeling that if those annoyances hadn't broken it out of so many insights, maybe it could have understood the secret of the principle already.

  Which only further enhanced its determination to see this through. The little light would compensate it for those missed achievements, imaginary or not.

  This was more akin to a tunnel than the sort-of-castles the being had come to expect.

  But the sheer size and regularity of the space inside had that same quality those other places had.

  As if they hadn't just happened because of hummings or similar, but rather, as if something had purposefully excavated them this way. Like the guards had most likely built theirs.

  Only after visiting so many and finding them all empty, could the being approach one without feeling as if it were about to fight for its life.

  But there was difference with this one. Something else that made it more similar to the knight's base than to any of the countless places they'd visited with the little orb.

  Though there wasn't that feeling of sheer wrongness and disgust, this tunnel still felt vaguely... disquieting.

  The being had no idea why, but it would much rather skip this one and proceed onto the next destination the little light would undoubtedly lead it to.

  At least, the biggest struggle it would need to face there would be chasing away some weak leftover critters.

  Maybe it should use the spikes to make a barrier over the entrance and close it? Would the little orb understand the intent behind that? How unnerved the being was feeling?

  Of course, that was the moment the little light sped up and dove down into the obvious death trap.

  ...

  Maybe it was time to finally let go and cut its losses?

  The being followed along, experiencing a strange new feeling, that it had never felt before.

  It was deep resentment. But one which it didn't know if it was aimed more at the little light, for its absurdity, or at itself, for going along with it.

  Probably the latter.

  Experiencing new things was always exciting, but the novelty couldn't compete with the unease of this place. The being knew they were close to the surface, much more than many tunnels it had been in.

  But the surface felt distant, in a peculiar way. The essence was thinning at a much quicker pace than it should. And that wasn't good at all.

  The being was strong enough not to get squeezed dry, as would most every other creature in the world. But if things kept going like this, it would soon be as blind as back at the void surrounding the epicenter.

  And as they were making their way forward - the being's steps echoing in the stillness - it couldn't shake the feeling that there was something... crawling, just out of its sight. But every time it thought it heard a sound and turned to look... there was nothing there.

  The little light was going along as usual, spouting its annoyances like nothing was wrong.

  The being had long since stopped trying to get its attention. It wouldn't care. Likely the consequence of immunity to pretty much anything that-

  The being stumbled, as something happened to the essence. Something strange. But it wasn't gone, like it had feared.

  This was something new.

  The ever-changing, ever-flowing nature that always characterized it, was what had gone away. In an instant.

  Somehow, even though it had never experienced this before, the being knew what had happened.

  They were trapped inside.

  Do you think the first chapters (1-4, or 1-6) are not up to the rest of the story?