Exploring the Gateway

John knew immediately where he needed to go. There was someone he had needed to talk to for some time, and he knew she could tell him what he needed to know. If she agreed to help, at least. Once he told the other members of the team, Bass followed him out of principle, she insisted on it, and Ember tagged along without asking.

It wasn’t long before they had reached Ingrid’s office, and with it the Council chamber. After knocking on the door, John heard Ingrid answer.

“Yes, you may come in, John. But you alone,” she said, as if expecting him. Her voice was authoritative but somehow warmer than before.

Ingrid still made him feel somewhat uneasy, so only with his determination did John open the door. Behind it was still the same office he had seen before. With the same strangely carved chairs and desks, his knowledge growing, he could recognize the symbol of the Council on both, but the rest was still foreign to him. The various bookshelves had become more disorganized since he was last there. As if somebody had been pouring over the variety of books repeatedly and thoroughly.

“Have a seat John,” Ingrid told him once he entered, and he followed her instruction, trying to get comfortable, “so, to what do I owe this visit?” she asked, her tone polite.

“I had a few questions for you, most of them to do with the expedition. We needed information about the schedules and I figure you were who I should ask,” John started, trying to keep his tone serious and calm, “additionally, I had some questions of my own to ask you about magic, but I’d prefer to ask them during one of our lessons. Which is why I’d like to schedule one as soon as possible, if I can.”

“Go ahead then, I’ll answer what questions I think are appropriate. And if you wish we can have a lesson immediately after I finish answering them,” she looked at him, just a bit more kindly than before.

“Well, first, I’d like to know what the exact schedule for the teachers are?”

“That’s simple, our schedule is the same as it has been during the last three days. In other words your morning class today is personal magics, the class you missed three days ago, your noon class will be stealth, and your afternoon will be close quarters combat training. Exactly like it was the first day you got here, I think you’ll be able to figure it out from there,” she informed him.

“Yeah, that should be enough, thank you. And I would like to have a lesson soon, but can that wait until I catch up with the other half of my team?” he asked.

’That would make my life a lot easier, we need to work out what they’ll do for now too.’

“Yes, of course, just come back here when you are ready, John,” Ingrid said, her voice sounding genuine now.

“Alright, thank you for your help, Ingrid,” John said, getting up and leaving the room quickly.

As soon as he stepped outside Bass asked him directly, “What’d Ingrid tell you?” her voice showed clear curiosity.
He briefly explained what Ingrid had told him about the schedule and then followed it up with a request, “I think we all should attend personal magics now. At least I would like to,” he stated honestly.

“I suspect that will be a good use of all of your time,” Ember said, staring directly at the Gamer.

“I tend to agree with Ember, boss, developing our own skills is important. You know, in case we find something completely unexpected,” her tone was serious but she looked at him with a smile.

“You’re probably right, so let’s meet up with the others and see if they agree,”

---

“Well, we’re not sure what we need yet, lieutenant, but we want to know what this warehouse has on hand,” Matthew responded.

“We have everything you guys could possibly need. From magical space suits and other such equipment to mundane survival supplies. Just give me a list and I’ll tell you where to find it and how much work you’ll need to do,” the older man continued kindly.

“What kind of work would that be, lieutenant?” the ice mage said in such a respectful tone that Yan was shocked it came out of his mouth.

“Mainly two things. We need more workers in carrying goods in and out of this place, you’ll help with that a bit. I’ll also ask you to run me some missions in the second Plane for some more exotic materials, if you have the time. That should get you some nice gifts from the R&D department if you do, but no promises as to what they will be right now.”

“Manual labor, of course…” Matthew mumbled under his breath angrily

“Either way, thank you for the information Lieutenant Strong. We’ll come back here once we meet up with the rest of the team,” Yan said, picking up Matthew’s slack and trying to remain professional.

’That should be enough for all of us to make a decision,’ she thought to himself, wanting to end the situation if possible.

“Then shouldn’t we get back to John and Bass?” Charlotte remarked quietly.

“Yeah, you’re right Charlotte,” the shapeshifter agreed, hurrying Matthew and Charlotte along as they stepped back towards the hallway.

---

“In summary, the quartermaster told us to get back to him with a list,” Yan explained calmly, along with what he wanted in return for the items, once they had all sat back down in the classroom.

John explained what he had learned about the schedule as a follow up, hoping the others would agree with him, Bass and Ember about attending personal magics.

“Then there's no use standing around here. We shall discuss what to do next afterwards,” the ice mage stated decisively.

“For once I agree with you wholeheartedly, Matthew,” John said. Yan and Charlotte also nodded in agreement, and it wasn’t long afterwards that they had all split off, leaving the classroom individually to find their teachers. All except John, who Ember had apparently decided to escort.

“I’d like to talk to you after your lesson, John, so it is the most efficient,” she told him just as they entered the hallway.

“Sure, I don’t mind,” he responded nonchalantly.

’I’m sure I can still trust her, and if she finally tells me what her reason was last time that would be great,’ John thought hopefully.

A bit later he found Ingrid standing in front of her office, and after a short exchange they headed for the training room for the third time that week.

“You said you had some questions about magic?” she said as they entered, her tone regaining the familiar sense of regality.

“Mainly just two. The first one is that I want to understand how to hide my Mana and by extension Observe. If you and Graham could detect it so easily I assume others could too. I also want to understand how to detect Mana in that same way, if that’s possible?” John asked, his tone curious, while trying to stay polite.

“That’s quite complicated to explain, but I will teach you what you’re ready to learn,” she stopped for a moment and readjusted her stance, “what you need to understand is that whether you see Mana depends on how concentrated it is. You will always be able to see your own Mana, but only some abilities, like your Mana bolts or the Mana structures you created are dense enough to be seen by the naked eye of even a mundane. In other words, if you simply spread out the Mana over a larger surface area or use less of it, you can make similar abilities that can’t be seen by a normal eye,” she moved her hands around in a trained way and then continued, “step forward, you’ll see exactly what I mean.”

A step forward told him exactly what she meant, as he struck a wall and was knocked back immediately. He figured it was quite similar to his Arcane Barrier but clearly stronger, since it hadn’t broken from his whole body's movement. Once he touched it he could also see the outline of the box it made around him.

“Try to break it,” she asked him curtly.

John started with a few punches. The first one just hurt his hand as it recoiled off the invisible and shimmering wall. His second punch, however, broke through and the shimmer from the box disappeared from the area.

“Do you see now? That is how you can make your Mana invisible. Using the same method in reverse you can make it visible,” she moved her hands again and the box around him appeared clearly, shining in bluish shades of purple. A thick layer of color was standing and shimmering in the air, “try to break it again, you’ll see what I mean.”

So he did, but a repeat of the last punch did nothing to the wall of Mana, only hurting his own hand further.

“In other words, you can trade the potency of or the space taken up by your Mana for the ability to hide it,” she explained more clearly.

“I suppose that makes sense…” John mumbled to himself, “like a spell modifier of sorts that depends on the shape and density of the Mana you use.”

“Exactly, now you shall try it. Pick which ability you would like to start with.”

“I think I’ll try to use this with my Observe first, that’s why I asked about this after all,” Ingrid nodded in response and so John began.

He first tried to focus on the Observe as an extension of his Mana. Using it on Ingrid, he tried to understand how it worked exactly. It took him a few moments to search for the Mana he was moving around his body. Eventually, that was clear, part of his Mana was being channeled to his eyes and specifically to the image of Ingrid there. That was the activation of the ability. Once he identified it, he tried the exact course she had described, imagining the Mana spreading across the surface of his eyes and pulling what Mana he could away. It wasn’t exactly clear if anything happened, but then his teacher spoke up.

“Did you stop the spell?” she asked, clearly confused in an almost uncharacteristic manner.

“No, it’s still there, but I tried what you told me.”

“Congratulations then, John, you mastered that much quicker than anybody I have seen,” John could almost see a smile crop up on her face, “be aware, however, that with those types of abilities changing the density of Mana might change the operation itself. I suspect in this case that will be somewhat useful, however,” she moved her arms around again, and John saw the box reform around him, but the walls were somewhat thinner this time, and far more purple than blue.

“Huh? Why are you making the visible box again?” John asked, himself confused.

“I didn’t remake the visible version, no” she retorted casually.

“But I can see it!” John responded, trying to grasp how that had happened.

“Then you have successfully learned what I was trying to teach you John!” Ingrid congratulated him, her tone much warmer than usual.

Seconds later a popup appeared, along with another screen.

New system unlocked: Spell Modifiers

Along with the Stealth Enhancement he had presumably just gotten, the screen also had two other enchantments he didn’t completely understand. But he knew those would have to wait for later.

“Thank you Ingrid, but there is something else I wanted to ask…” John said, not sure how to continue.

“Oh, what is it John? I assure you I can answer any questions you have about magic, or at least I will tell you if you’re not ready yet,” she responded, almost as if trying to calm him down.

“When I was back in the cave, I fainted from using too much of my Mana, and the rest told me what can happen to someone’s soul if they do that… I just want to know how to prevent that from happening to me,” he sounded worried, because he truly was. Even the thought frightened him to his core.

“That is an important question, though I should inform you that your team left something out. You will only ever be able to damage your soul if you decide to do so yourself. As a Psychic mage, at least, you have some finer control of your own soul. I assure you, you will feel it if you ever reach that point, and you’d have to decide to continue,” she explained, now clearly using a calming voice.

“Good to hear,” John said, half thinking out loud, “I guess that’s all I have to ask then.”

“Then you may go John, that will be the end of our lesson,” Ingrid responded, and with that he left the training room in silence, thinking about what she had said.