The Third Portal: Chapter Twenty

As a reminder, starting next week, we return to five or six chapters a week: Three Mana Mirror, and two or three of Effaced Book Two

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It took us a long time to sort out a plot of land. 

I wasn’t especially picky about the location of my land, but it was going to be a point that I was coming and going from regularly, so I didn’t want to pick something out that looked awful. 

Heading out and looking over the plot took time, but we eventually settled on a small plot that was adjacent to a forest that would be intentionally left undeveloped, much like the Trollstone Forest near the capital. It was at an odd angle, which would make it a little bit hard to build on, but brought down the price by a few points. It was also covered in a thick brush of frost-tip holly. They didn’t have much use in alchemy for anything other than ungated potions to cool a fever, but they did look pretty, with green leaves lined with silver. 

Once the plot was settled, I was forced to wrestle with the power of bureaucracy. I was pretty sure that a bureaucrat could do more damage than an Arcanist, and it took hours to even complete all the paperwork. 

Even after nearly seven hours of nonstop paperwork, filing, and manifesting Hannah to help argue over things like title fees, appraisal fees, loan interest rates, safety taxes, recording fees, public access liability fees, closing costs, transfer taxes, health compliances for teleportation platforms, and the escrow fee. It was enough to make my head spin, as I hadn’t even realized that half of those fees existed, and while most of them were able to be tacked onto the loan itself, not all could.

The paperwork would need a bit more time to finish going through, but I was given the provisional go ahead to start setting up the teleportation platform, with the understanding that things could be revoked if the paperwork fell through. 

I spent some time teleporting back out to the plot of land and setting up a basic teleportation platform, then started forming more and fusing them into this one. It would take a long time to get to the level where Dusk was able to integrate into herself, and in the short term… I had some loot to identify.

Once I’d dumped all of my mana into the platform, I pulled out my cauldron, and then Dusk, Dawn, and I all flew back into the main city. As I flew, I spotted someone in the edges of my mana senses, and floated down, landing on a bench where Meadow was sitting.

“I’d wondered where you’d gone off to,” I said. “You were on the boat with us for the poker game, but then you weren’t there when we disembarked.” 

“Sorry about that, dear,” she said, putting her hand over my own. “I had to visit Darius for a time.” 

“Darius, that’s your old apprentice, right? The one that Ikki said some people called a hero?” 

“Oh, people call others all sorts of things, that’s the very nature of people. One person’s hero is another’s villain. He was my apprentice, though, I did my best to help him.” 

She let out a dry laugh that turned into a slight cough, and I tensed slightly, holding her shoulder. She smiled and waved me off. 

“It’s fine, I’m just getting old. But yes, it was some time before the unification of Kijani? He was a young man from one of the independent city-states, the ones rather like Delitone, and his legacy attracted the attention of an Occultist named Silver Tide. I helped him escape the research facility, and trained him. In a way, his story is somewhat of a darker version of yours. He’s a good lad, and he’s planning to break through soon. I would like you to attend his ascension.” 

“Sure, I’ve no problems watching someone else break through, but can I ask why?” I said curiously. 

“How much do you know about the ascension to Arcanist?” Meadow asked. I made a face, trying to remember what I could. 

“I think Orykson mentioned something about a limit? And maybe clarity?” 

“Yes, those are the three more esoteric requirements. The first requirement is the simple overflow of mana – since it doubles each gate, you’ll need enough mana to overflow your garden sixteen times over. Shouldn’t be a problem with life and death, but you’ll need some more plants you can drain, some mana sources to absorb, or some pills. Then you need to have a strong connection to your resonance, which you’re making good progress on.” 

“Is this what Orykson was teaching me? Using resonance to empower my mana senses and overwhelm someone else?” 

Meadow snorted and shook her head. 

“No, no. That’s an advanced application most don’t pick up on until they’re already Arcanists. The massive empowerment of resonance is one of the things that makes even a mediocre true Arcanist leagues ahead of a false Arcanist. He’s aiming for the moon, as usual, assuming that just because he was able to use his resonance in such a way that everyone should. But back on topic.”

Her hand rested on her staff and she sighed.

“There are three other requirements that are more esoteric. You have to form a Clarity of Purpose, an Intrinsic Limitation, and an Origin of Power. And while they can be touched on beforehand, they are not keys settling into spiritual locks. The ascension is more than just blasting a gate open, it’s transformation. The world tears down everything about you, and anyone who starts confident they would know theirs? They fail. That’s why I want you three to feel this.”

Dusk frowned and very quietly said she didn’t understand what we were supposed to see.

“To see the acceptance. Most Arcanists lose something, and never advance again. Of those that don’t, many seek to overcome the feeling by scrambling to lift themselves over others, like crabs in a bucket. I want you to see the aftermath of someone who doesn’t.”

I frowned and nodded slowly. 

“Now, to lighter topics! You’ve found an Elysian Trial Orb for the Spellbinder Division. That’s good – they’re enchanted to find their way to those who meet the requirements of entry.”

“What requirements?” I asked curiously, pulling the glass orb that I’d found in the desolant hoard. 

“Young spellbinders with the potential to advance to Arcanist, who haven’t used something like a palisade-acorn or ascendant-tattoos,” Meadow said. “The magic is complex, and I’m not sure anyone truly understands exactly how it works, given it was empowered with drops of deep mana.”

“So I have one of these and I can enter the Elysian Mastery Tournament?” I asked, gazing into the orb. Meadow shook her head and tapped the orb, sending a spark of ungated mana into it. It burned a light purple color and projected symbols for ‘not applicable’ in one of the languages of Daocheng, which quickly faded. 

“The orbs each contain a dreamrealm. They’re completely private, so you should go all out in them. The best two hundred and fifty six who complete them are given slots in the tournament, and the right to sign into any extraneous event they want, while the top sixteen of those are given a single bye that they can use in the first or second round. You’re graded on speed, completion, injury, and a few other factors.”

“I can get injured?” 

“You won’t retain any physical injuries on waking, but spiritual strain, mana expenditure, or mana-garden damage does transfer over, since your spirit is actually there. Physical injuries are just accounted for in the grading, though, so try to avoid it. If you die, you’ll have to start over. You can leave at any time, but it will cause you to start over. It’s only your most recent run that’s graded.

“I see,” I said, rolling it in between my hands. “Do I have a chance? In the orb, in the tournament, and in the other events?” 

“You’re going to struggle a lot in the auxiliary events, since those tend to be dominated by those who have sacrificed all their potential in order to make it. The central tournament doesn’t allow that, though, which is why you have a shot. Still, as you are now, I can’t see you passing the first or second round.

I raised my eyebrow and Meadow patted my shoulder. 

“Sorry dear, but you’re not even fully mid-third gate yet, one of your familiars is still second gate, and most of the competitors will be fourth gate. But! You have sixteen months to work on getting stronger. Sixteen months ago, you were only able to use a few ungated spells. I think you stand a good chance of getting to peak third gate or even early fourth by the tournament. If you manage that, then who knows?”

I grinned at her and Dusk whistled that she was up for the challenge. She could drag me there, if nothing else. I smiled and nodded, then tossed the orb back into Dusk’s vault. 

“Ah, and we got off topic. I should congratulate both of you for your break-through, and for your handling of the desolants.”

“Thank you!” I said, grinning. 

We made some small talk for a while before Meadow said she needed to head out and start making contact with Elio and Idyll. 

I had my own treasures to identify, so I made my way to an enchanter’s shop that specialized in beast items and beast magic enchantments. It wasn’t especially large, but given that it already had an established storefront, it seemed to be doing decent business. I guess that made sense – a lot of beast mages and beasts were out here. 

I wandered in, and at the counter was someone that seemed oddly familiar. Sweeping them with my mana senses revealed creation and abnegation mana, but also a familiar feeling source of power. On their left shoulder, there was a spiritual bond to a mass of hudau magic. It wasn’t strong, but it was unmistakably a Beastmark. 

They brightened when he saw me, and I tilted my head. 

“Are you Malachi Baker?” they asked. 

“Were you at the Beastgate Trial Trail?” I asked at the same time. 

I gestured for them to go first, and he nodded. 

“I was,” they said, his hands idly fidgeting with a necklace that was covered in all sorts of spinning beads. It honestly looked useful for keeping hands busy, and I wondered if I ought to get one for myself. “I didn’t do very well, but I used some defensive enchantments to secure my camp and move slowly. But that wasn’t our first meeting – you also helped an orphanage and support center that I visited?” 

They pitched it almost like a question.

“Oh, the asomatous?” I asked, then tilted my head. “Why didn’t you say anything at the Beastgate?” 

“I… wasn’t sure it was you,” they said. “Your eyes were different. And now you have a tail, but… I had asked about you, after you beat the asomatous? Then yesterday members of the Phantom Hand guild came in to get stuff identified and said they were working with a Phantom Fox, but I thought it might be you because I heard you were a beast mage from Edgar and…” 

They frowned and blushed, then looked at the ground. 

“I’m sorry, I’m rambling. You’re here for enchantment work?” 

I blinked and refocused. I knew that I’d helped people, but it was odd to think that I’d made an impact on someone’s life to this degree without realizing. I decided that I could at least continue to help out their work as an enchanter while I was in Crysite.

Dusk, however, was not caught up in thoughts. She pulled out the jade slab, purple sands, shifting bronze orb, and flickering spike that we’d looted from the treasury and been awarded by the myrmekes queen, then asked for them to be identified. 

The enchanter reached a hand out and tapped them one at a time, closing their eyes. I felt something pass out of them, but it must have been a legacy related to natural treasures and enchantment. 

First they tapped the shifting mass of bronze. 

“Morphic bronze. It’s useful for creating self-repairing weapons and armor, as it can be made into a specific shape and then will snap back to that shape. It also has a high mana throughput tolerance, making it great to enchant with.” 

Next they gestured to the basket of shifting sands. 

“I don’t know the name of it, but if you integrate it with a sand or desert spell, it will give you better control over aiming and directing its path, even while in combat.” 

I nodded to Dusk, who tapped it and absorbed it into her sandstorm lance spell. Having an increased ability to shift its path in a fight might not be a game changer, but it would be useful.

They pushed the jade slab forward. 

“This is a natural treasure called a facetjade. If you can provide the gold, it’s easy to upgrade it, like the beastmarks were upgraded inkstones. The upgraded Facetor's Jade Tablet sits in a compatible mana garden, usually telluric, creation, or cavern dragon, passively consuming mana to enhance stone related mana senses ability to examine physical structure. When actively powered, it serves as a meta spell for stone conjuring or shaping abilities by improving the repeating patterns in the stone.” 

“How much gold?” I asked. This would make a great gift for Ed. His legacy allowed him to shape weapons with ungated mana, and he had several spells that conjured stone, like Stoneshield. 

“About an ounce? It depends on the purity,” they said.

I pulled out a couple of nuggets, and the enchanter’s eyes went wide. They nodded and ran it through a few machines, before handing some back to me. 

“If you want, we can cover the modification in exchange for the morphic bronze?” 

“Deal,” I agreed, then tapped the flickering spike. “What about this?” 

“Illusion-spike,” they said. “It’s a useful treasure for improving illusionary anchors, or to empower a spell that attacks through illusions.” 

I frowned, then took it. I didn’t have a spell like that right now, but I did use Lesser Image Recall in combat. There was a chance I’d get something like that. 

“You should be able to pick up the Facetor's Jade Tablet in two or three days,” they said, pulling goggles out and starting to put them on. I thanked them and then wandered outside, laughing as I realized I’d never gotten their name. I’d have to ask when I picked it up. 

For now, though… I had options of what to do next. 

I could spend time practicing in the orb to see how I stacked up against it, since I’d need to be in the top two hundred fifty-six to enter the Elysian Mastery Tournament. 

I could go looking for another mission, since I needed points to pay off my debt and to purchase things like the Nascent Truth of the Druid.

I could stay around the plot of land I’d made, working to set up the teleportation platform that would connect to Mossford and Delitone so that I could bring some of Liz’s guild members here.

Or I could see about grabbing some of my friends and chasing down the remnants of the soul reinforcement array that was out in the wilds, hunting slaughter spirits on the way.