On the barren, rocky surface of an asteroid, Shazam braced himself against a jutting ridge of stone and took a short rest.
He finally managed to suppress the nausea churning in his chest, but his face remained deathly pale.
The Six Gods' Blessing granted him godlike strength, stamina, and resistance to magic, but it could not compensate for his complete lack of experience with long-distance travel through deep space.
The superluminal jumps subjected him to inhuman physical torment as they tore through spacetime. Shazam had no idea how Shane endured it so casually.
Shane stood nearby, tapping the Mother Box's projection with a fingertip.
He glanced at the exhausted Shazam and roughly gauged the limits of his endurance.
"We'll split the rest of the journey into three jumps."
Shane put away the Mother Box and surveyed the asteroid.
It was utterly desolate. Most places in the universe where they could set foot looked much the same.
"We'll land and rest after each jump. No need to force yourself."
Shazam let out a long sigh of relief.
"Thanks, buddy. Honestly, I doubt even Hercules could handle something like this." The rest of their journey proceeded at a slower pace.
Shane carefully controlled the distance of each jump, without even insisting on pushing their jump speed to its limit.
Each time they landed, he chose a stable asteroid or an asteroid belt as their rest stop.
The two breaks along the way steadily restored Shazam's condition, completely dispelling his initial dizziness and weakness.
He even found time during their rests to gaze curiously into the vast, dark reaches of space, strewn with brilliant galaxies.
This cautious approach cost them a little extra time, but kept both of them in adequate condition throughout.
By the time their final jump ended and they emerged