Soren's senses were stretched to their absolute limit, intertwined with the currents of the earth's magnetic field, bending them to his will.
Deep beneath the surface, where sunlight could never reach, the parts that connected the island to the surrounding seabed began to fracture.
Though the violent breaking of stone could not be heard through the thick seawater, the ocean itself betrayed what was happening. The surface grew restless.
Waves swelled unnaturally, rolling in unpredictable patterns as if some colossal beast was stirring in the depths.
Under Soren's control, the island slowly broke free from its earthly bonds.
The jagged fractures severed the last rocky connections, and for the first time in history, Macaluso Island became a truly independent mass.
The colossal forces of the earth's magnetic field, redirected and amplified by Soren's ability, began to lift the island steadily.
As it rose, seawater poured down in torrents, rushing back to fill the void it left behind. The disturbance sent massive waves rippling outward, crashing against distant reefs.
Boom.
The sound of splitting stone mixed with the rising howl of the wind. The island, now aloft, continued its steady ascent, deviating from its original position and slowly lifting higher into the open sky.
The rising motion created a vortex of wind, while the shifting magnetic field distorted the natural forces around it.
As the island passed through the lower atmosphere, the sounds of the sea grew distant and blurred.
The air cooled, turning crisp and thin, and soon the clouds were so close Soren could almost reach out and touch them.
The higher he went, the more dreamlike the world became.
Mist and sunlight danced together, painting the floating island in pale hues of gold and silver.
The scenery became surreal, the jagged cliffs cloaked in drifting fog, the lush trees swaying softly under an invisible current, and the palace rising like a structure carved from a myth.
In that moment, Macaluso Island truly resembled a hidden fairyland adrift between the earth and sky.
But it wasn't enough to merely lift the island. Soren knew that stabilizing such a colossal mass in midair required delicate power, not only to keep the island intact, but to ensure it moved subtly with the planet's magnetic field, adjusting to seasonal shifts, pressure changes, and gravitational pulls.
It was not unlike magnetic levitation, but on a scale infinitely more complex.
Soren expended immense focus and energy, weaving layer upon layer of magnetic fields around the island.
These invisible threads held the island together, anchoring it in the sky while allowing it to float in harmony with the planet's natural forces.
He carefully withdrew his power, testing the stability, feeling the energy flows align properly.
The island hovered naturally now, weightless yet firm, the invisible fields carrying its mass like an ancient miracle reborn in the modern world.
Clouds drifted lazily past him as Soren lowered himself back to solid ground.
He smiled, satisfied.
Heading nearby, Soren called out.
"Zilant."
A ripple passed through the trees, and with a soft, rumbling cry, the massive, serpent-like creature emerged.
Soren approached and placed a hand on Zilant's side.
"You'll be the guardian here, When I'm away, this is your territory. Keep my home safe, no one comes in uninvited."
"And… try not to overeat."
Zilant let out a low, contented hum, bowing its massive head. The creature's hunger had changed since its transformation.
It no longer needed to hunt constantly. Its evolved form could absorb the ambient energy in the air, sustenance provided by the natural currents of the world.
Now, eating was a matter of indulgence, not survival.
With a final nod, the beast slithered off toward the cliffs, coils of its powerful body vanishing into the mist.
With the island secured and Zilant in place, Soren finally opened his system interface. He scrolled through his inventory and selected a special item, the Herbal Garden Base.
"Deploy."
A beam of light descended from the sky, striking the earth around the palace. The light expanded outward, a soft, emerald glow covering a wide area in a perfect circle.
As the soft glow from the Herbal Garden Base finally dimmed, the transformation it brought to Macaluso Island was nothing short of breathtaking.
Soren's eyes lit up, his excitement unrestrained as he surveyed the lush, exotic greenery now blanketing the island.
"Is that a Celestial Flower…? And Dracaena?"
His voice trembled with awe as he recognized plants long thought extinct on Earth.
Yet, on this newly ascended island, these miraculous medicinal species flourished freely. What once existed only in ancient texts and half-forgotten legends now bloomed in abundance, thriving in the purified, energy-rich soil created by the Herbal Garden Base.
Even more astonishing were the countless unfamiliar plants whose names even Soren, a master alchemist and geneticist, could not place.
These rare medicinal herbs absorbed the energy naturally exuding from the island's core, purifying and exhaling it as a fine, luminous mist, a shimmering, silvery veil that lingered in the air, infusing the entire island with a mystical atmosphere.
"…"
"Incredible."
"It seems the drug lab won't be lacking in resources anymore."
He made his way to the drug laboratory, now upgraded and expanded thanks to his recent system task completions.
Both the pharmaceutical lab and the genetic lab had unlocked new functionalities, powerful tools and techniques that could revolutionize his research.
Yet until now, his progress had been hindered by the scarcity of essential, high-grade raw materials.
That limitation was over.
Soren carefully gathered a bundle of vibrant herbs, some glowing faintly, others pulsing gently in his palm.
A faint tremor ran through the ground or rather, the sky. The island was drifting ever so subtly, carried on the shifting tides of the planet's magnetic field.
A smile crept across Soren's face. "Perfect."
With the island cloaked in a custom magnetic field, its position would constantly shift with the Earth's natural forces.
Not only would it be nearly impossible to track by satellites, but even Soren himself would struggle to locate it without his own prepared safeguards.
Which was why he reached into his inventory, withdrawing a portable portal crystal. He placed it within the palace chamber, the core of the island's sanctuary.
"Now."
"No matter where this island drifts, I can return at any time. A hidden home in the sky."
Satisfied, Soren took one last stroll through the misty herbal fields before opening a portal back to the medical hall on Earth.
The island was complete.
But far beyond the skies of Earth, unrest brewed.
Asgard
In the shimmering halls of Asgard, tensions ran high.
The grand temple, carved from starlight and stone, was filled with the murmuring of courtiers, warriors, and nobles.
At the center of the gathering stood Loki, hands and feet bound in enchanted chains, his posture relaxed, face marked by an unsettling chillness.
He was flanked by a squadron of Asgardian soldiers, each adorned in gleaming armor, yet none daring to meet the trickster god's gaze.
Upon the high dais stood Odin, the All-Father, his expression a mask of thunderous fury.
Beside him, Frigga, Queen of Asgard, and Loki's adoptive mother, wore an expression of deep, sorrowful conflict.
Loki's betrayal had rocked the Nine Realms.
He had tried to usurp the throne, to subjugate worlds and shatter ancient treaties.
Though brought back in chains by Thor, his crimes remained fresh wounds to Asgard's honor.
Frigga stepped forward, her voice soft but steady. "Odin, let me speak with him~"
But Odin raised a hand, silencing her.
"Frigga, you may leave." His voice was heavy with anger. "The trial begins now."
A long, fraught pause lingered between them. Frigga gave one last, heart-wrenching glance toward Loki.
Her lips parted, words unspoken, before she finally turned and left the chamber, her footsteps fading into the distant hallways.
In the silence that followed, Loki's expression twisted into a mocking grin.
"How touching."
"The Queen herself departs, leaving the God-King alone with his disappointment."
Odin's eyes blazed.
"Loki." The All-Father's voice boomed, filled with divine authority.
"Do you admit your crimes?"
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
Fellow Phantoms and aspiring Phantoms to be, if you seek to access advanced parts of this story procced to my shadowy realm of p@treon.
PhantomDream