Itching And Scratching

Nathan pulled out his phone and sent a quick message to his mom, telling her that he would be gone for a couple of days. He made sure to tell her that he wasn't going to be fighting or doing anything dangerous. He was just trapped on the Triangle.

'Ah…'

Nathan realized that he maybe should have left out that last detail since he didn't want to worry Anita. But it wasn't a problem. She responded with a simple ok.

Nathan still got a chill down his spine, but he set that aside and focused on the Triangle again. Since it was a dragon-based alloy, it would be difficult to penetrate the structure. It would also be difficult to make a hole large enough for him to enter.

There was also the problem of what was inside. Nathan could be in a large pile of trouble if he actually managed to enter the Triangle. It had the potential to be even more dangerous than the bunker and the encounter with Rotgi.

But it could also be a lot safer and more profitable.

Something or someone that needed dragon alloy for protection wouldn't be powerful. If they were, they could have used a cheaper material and relied on their own strength.

However, that was only useful if the Triangle was meant for safekeeping or protection and not containment. Something powerful enough to need a prison of dragon alloy without any holes for food, water, or air could probably turn the current Nathan into strips of meat.

The only comfort was that the Triangle had collapsed in the past without any being like that appearing. Of course, it could just be that the Triangle survived the fall and the existence within couldn't escape.

Nathan frowned.

The Triangle itself could be the Vijang Syndicate's goal. But they shouldn't be in dire need of money since they could build the underground bunker. It could be that they wanted to use the Triangle's materials to reinforce the bunker.

The bunker could be to keep them safe from whatever was inside the Triangle.

What would the Vijang Syndicate gain from tearing the Triangle down from its place in the sky and then hiding in the bunker?

There were other much more effective ways to cause chaos, assuming their plan was to free a hypothetical threat to civilization hidden inside the Triangle.

'No…'

Eventually, Nathan decided that it was very unlikely that there was a biological threat inside the Triangle. It just didn't make sense, even considering how limited his information was.

'Fuck, I'm curious.'

Nathan's fingers itched with an eagerness to find out what the fuck it was inside the Triangle.

So, since he still couldn't discover anything even with Peerless Perception at its current maximum output, he focused. He drew out a thread of Sky Piercer Force from his heart and laced his finger with it.

Nathan's index finger shimmered slightly in the light of dawn, but the destructive power wrapping it was otherwise invisible.

Nathan pressed his fingertip against the Triangle and tried to pierce the dragon alloy. It was a very ambitious attempt. If the alloy had less than a splinter of a young dragon's scale, it might have worked.

But since it didn't, the material wasn't the absolute shittiest grade of dragon alloy.

Nathan increased the output of his Sky Piercer Force and tried scratching the surface. 

Surprisingly enough, when all of his Sky Piercer Force swam inside and around his finger, threatening to make it explode, Nathan managed to peel away a hair-fine strip of the dragon alloy.

'Maybe a half a scale, then?'

Nathan still wasn't sure about the power of his Sky Piercer Force, but he could still estimate how much dragon was inside the alloy. It was more than he ever thought would be in Avalio whether it be in this life or the past.

'That's doable.'

Since it was only half a scale, Nathan felt like he could break in sooner or later.

Nathan let out a deep breath as he slumped back and sat down before lying down and gazing up at the sky with one arm over his forehead.

It looked like it would be later rather than sooner.

The finger he had used was one step away from being completely useless. It was purple from all the broken blood vessels inside. His nail was worn down and cracked. The bones were cracked, and the skin was torn in several places.

Sky Piercer Force was powerful and destructive enough to conquer even something made from the materials of a dragon almost as soon as he started learning it. Unfortunately, it was a power that didn't distinguish between friend and foe. It was just as ruthless on Nathan as it was on the Triangle.

He hadn't even exhausted the Sky Piercer Force, but he already had to take a break since his finger was wrecked.

But after taking a short break, Nathan switched fingers and continued until even that finger was a broken mess.

It hurt like he was plunging his finger in boiling water.

Nathan could take it easy and stop before his fingers were in such bad states. He could also rest more and let his body recover from the use of the Sky Piercer Force. The Triangle wouldn't go anywhere. By the looks of it, he also wouldn't be leaving any time soon.

However, Nathan had set aside his resolve to take it easy. 

He wouldn't put himself through needless suffering for the sake of overwhelming strength like he had told his mother.

But the encounter with Rotgi had already shown him that he couldn't take it easy. If he did, he risked losing everything again.

Compared to the pain of losing his parents, one, two, or ten broken fingers were nothing. Besides, his fingers would recover. His parents couldn't come back from the dead. He would know.

With a steely expression, Nathan cycled through all of his ten fingers before taking a break to recover and chant the Sky Piercer Mantra. By sacrificing his body, he scratched away several thin strips of the Triangle's outer layer.

He was making progress.