This time, it was obvious that the woman he had seen the other day wasn't here. The atmosphere was much more festive here. Lights cast a yellow glow, a sky covered by stone, houses made of stone and steel, the sounds of wagons. He was buried underground—that much was clear.
A crowd moved like ants around their hole. They were short, the men bearded and somewhat muscular—though not excessively—and the women ranged from slender to curvy. But their height was what connected them. They were all the same size.
What had seemed like a celebration turned out to be just an ordinary day of the year for them.
Focusing more closely on some of them, he spotted a boy with his sister and their parents. At that moment, he wondered how his own family was doing—if they were too worried. He had to find a way back as soon as possible. He missed his family. He thought for a moment, then wondered what would happen if he tried to link this place to where he was now. First, he attempted to alter a part of what he was seeing.
It took a good fifteen minutes before he managed to transform the flat roof of a house into a rounded one—not perfectly rounded, but he *could* modify what he saw. Distance didn't seem to matter. *Interesting.* Next, he closed his eyes and imagined reverting the same roof to its original shape. When he opened his eyes again, feeling his energy drain, the roof had returned to its initial form. So, he only needed to be aware of the object's existence to alter it. That reassured him a little, but it had taken an insane amount of energy. He couldn't do anything more now—otherwise, he'd pass out. And that was the last thing he wanted.
Several things were now confirmed: he needed to know of the object's existence to affect it and could modify it from practically anywhere.
What Aaron needed to verify next was whether he could create links between spaces. The possibility was obvious—but how to go about it? What to connect?
Fatigue caught up with him. He fell asleep within his own slumber...
Upon waking, he would finally attempt to link the entrance of the inn to the academy.