Chapter 6:

Right then. The decision was made, and there was no need for a plan — some paranormal nastiness would derail it anyway. So he could boldly and recklessly charge headlong into his own beating. To be fair, it wasn't exactly a self-beating. Yuri simply knew that when he ate, there was an extremely high probability of getting caught in someone's crossfire.

Injuries and a bad mood were included. But should he look for a quieter spot this time? Obviously, yes. Yuri had no desire to get caught in someone's "Blooming Love."

But the question of where exactly and how to go was entirely open. How did his abilities work? Why did they work at all? These and other questions he ought to have asked had been pushed so far into the background that their very existence became questionable.

Yuri didn't even feel the urge to toy with his newly acquired power. Why? Well, using his abilities felt like moving muscles — and when Yuri "passed through" a path to reach his destination instantly, it felt not like magical teleportation, but like jogging. And what did he feel when there were many of him? Imagine doing a backbend without warming up — the sensation was fairly similar.

And although Yuri did exercise, his workouts were limited to boxing sessions and standard exercises to keep himself in shape. Though he was genuinely fond of yoga — which meant the number of clones he could create was sufficient. Where had the previous clone gone?

Well, they both decided that being a clone was sufficiently sorrowful and that their existence was causing certain existential crises — so they simply merged back into one. Surprisingly simple and without much fuss.

While the clone had existed, they had also managed to examine their newly acquired body. Besides the fact of their extremely striking appearance and remarkable charisma, they were able to note the following:

1. They could still see 360 degrees in all directions.

2. Their rabbit ears were not decorative: they genuinely functioned as ears, and quite effectively at that, judging by how many sounds they could distinguish. There were no human ears.

3. Yuri had a remarkably sharp sense of smell — almost like a dog's.

4. Yuri's teeth, though not sharp, were capable of gnawing through steel.

5. His strength clearly exceeded that of a human, but clearly fell short of any monster. However, his running speed was high, and the distances he could jump were colossal.

6. His body was light and agile.

But the question of finding a place was just as frustrating for its lack of answers. And the only thing Yuri's meagre imagination was trying to pass off as a solution was blind wandering and hoping for the best. Which, mildly put, would take a while — and to put it bluntly, was extremely stupid.

But as always, Yuri's life didn't spoil him with convenient alternatives. So all he could do was follow the dumb and straightforward path. How to get out of the office? There were actually plenty of ways, but in practice just one: bending space. If you know where you're going and what your destination is, you can skip the journey itself. However, if you're Yuri — whose geography grade was a negotiated pass while his actual knowledge corresponded to a fail — then you only have two options.

The first — going by smell. Although it sounds like Yuri is a wet dog, this was in fact his favourite and most convenient method.

The second — less rosy and more exhausting: walking until you find a way.

And he got lost...

Being in inter-space is a sufficiently exotic experience that hardly anyone else could ever undergo. But Yuri had made it onto the list of such lucky souls.

It wasn't exactly dark or light there — concepts that the brain perceives were simply absent. However, that didn't mean space ceased to exist. It was still there — and still caused migraines just as reliably.

But what was remarkable — smells existed within it, and it was precisely by them that Yuri was able to find the right path.

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Among boundless mountains that breathed cold, and untended fields, there once lived a village. It was neither happy nor sad, neither rich nor poor. It simply was — as were the people living in it. But one day, driven by boredom, a young man decided to try his hand at what was called sorcery. The nonsense the elders spoke only amused him — so he decided to attempt a "forbidden ritual," of which there were so many that every third person in this backwater village could have heard of them, and occasionally even known one.

He gathered the necessary herbs, burned them during a full moon — and remarkably, nothing happened. Absolutely nothing. He went on living in the same village, going to the fields the same as before, and occasionally travelling to the city. A year passed — and nothing happened. The young man had long since forgotten what he had been doing, until one night he had a dream.

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Have you ever walked into a wall? If not — you have never experienced that unpleasant feeling of colliding with something solid. However, as a civil servant, Yuri had walked into walls half-asleep fairly often. But what he had not expected was yet another wall heading straight for his face.

And the funniest part — even trying to *pass through* the wall, it refused to let him through. As if gloating over his predicament. Which could not help but irritate the already not-very-patient Yuri. But anger didn't change the situation, so he needed to calm down.

If he couldn't pass through — then surely, if there were many of him, wouldn't some part of him end up on the other side of that wall? Yuri naively supposed this was likely. But when his number of clones exceeded a hundred and the pain in his back was already becoming unbearable, he had to accept the harsh reality.

He was stuck...

And exhausted...

What was he supposed to do? That was a fairly difficult question, which he discussed with one of his clones with mixed results. Their discussion was not overly short, but calling it long was also difficult. Their deliberations amounted to yet another stupid and tiresome hope — and a dubious intuition.

When Yuri first caught the smell of the head and desperately wanted to reach it as quickly as possible — he realised he could skip distances. When Yuri was lonely and craved support — he realised he was capable of changing his number, getting many from few. And right now he needed to get somewhere he couldn't go — meaning he needed to be where he wasn't.

This was doable, but certain doubts gnawed at him. He hadn't felt it so clearly before, but the quantity of what he wished for and what he received apparently had certain limits. And if right now he decided to wish for something again, the volume available to him would be reduced. Moreover, this volume wasn't all that large to begin with — and if translated into numbers, after this *wish* he would have exactly one remaining. And no more.

But again — given all his circumstances, there was no real choice. So all he could do was spend his precious wishes on solving the immediate problem.

Which, in the long run, would come back to bite him badly. But there was no choice. He wished to be where he wasn't — and his previously visible figure began to dissolve into white fog.

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It was a restless dream from which the young man kept tossing and turning. He dreamt of a chase — he was pursuing something beautiful but unattainable, and whenever his hand was just about to grasp it, it always slipped away. It irritated the young man. He was not capable of containing his anger — and he cursed at the situation so fervently and endlessly that even his shadow seemed to sway.

But how could a shadow sway? That was probably just his own delusion. He should rest — and he would come back to himself.

However, a day passed, then a second, then a week. But the dreams kept penetrating his mind, awakening desires he had never suspected within himself.

And on one such day, forest rangers came to his village. Their clothes differed from the locals', and they were asking everyone all manner of questions about the local wildlife. However, one of them watched the young man far too intently — as if he wanted something but refused to say what. He even managed to bump into him. Which annoyed the young man.

Time passed, evening was drawing near, when the young man discovered that something was clearly off: there was a note in his pocket, and its contents were absurdly stupid:

Those who have come from another world can violate natural laws, yet are themselves bound by their own rules, which they cannot break. The stronger the creature — the more laws it has. But the weaker the creature — the more terrifying the fact of its survival: how could something worthless survive in a world of giants? Even if they are constrained by fewer rules — this does not mean their power is unbounded. Those who are weak yet still survive to this day are truly nightmares, whose words should not be trusted. However, even they are subject to rules. If you want to survive — learn the rules of others, or obtain the blessing of status.

(What nonsense.) — thought the young man, going to bed.