The ability to fix mistakes made Robert's enchanting work much less stressful and easy. He could take more risks if he were willing to dump a shit-ton of essence to fix the error. He also learned that the sooner he cast Temporal Restoration, the lower were the essence costs. The object size and nature also mattered. Repairing a broken teacup was cheaper than fixing the teleportation crystal. But the most defining factor was how long ago the damage object occurred and how far the pieces were. Restoring an old book was impossible, at least at this stage. And if a shard from the broken teacup had flown ten feet away, that would also impact the spell.

Noah did another test, this time making a small nick on himself. Robert found it was easier but only because Noah didn't resist his essence. A willing and conscious subject could allow foreign essence to work on them, just like when he was healing them with Life spells. The severity of the damage was among the least impactful factor. Restoring the shattered crystal was more expensive than restoring the cracked one mostly because the length of time Robert had to rewind was longer.

As for the slug, Robert took it back to a random point in the jungle away from any delvers. No need to kill it again.

Spells evolved depending on the amount of essence spent on them. Complexity weighed on that but as a rule of thumb, expensive spells advanced faster than cheap ones if one had the essence to spare. By the time he finished the second teleportation platform, Temporal Restoration had reached the cusp of stage zero. Robert immediately went to upgrade it, adding the concept of "Inexpensiveness" to it. The essence cost dropped by around ten percent, which was huge considering how essence-hungry it was. This was not to save essence, though. He wanted to ease the amount of essence poisoning each casting subjected him to.

Because before this upgrade, he had to spend a considerable amount of time cleansing his system of the dross essence. Now, he still needed to actively expel the stale essence but at least it wasn't at a point he was risking death. His intent was to bring the cost down to something he could use after a fight, to restore an ally.

iRobert penned down the variables in the cost equation on a fancy floating scroll. In his mindscape, his imagination was the limit. In order of impact, they were. Length of time restored. Area covered. Nature of the entity restored. Amount of Ether held in the restored entity. Severity of the damage.

The spell wasn't a good fit for battlefield use. It took too long to cast. Spreading and dissipating the essence took a few seconds depending on the area covered. Then the spell needed to rewind the object in time and brought back through a safe timeline. The movement up and down the time stream was faster than normal but it still took about five to ten seconds plus seventy percent of the length of time affected. In combat, that much time was unconscionable. Add that to both the need to purge the dross essence and the essence expenditure and it made no sense to use the spell unless it was to save someone's life. Or to reverse someone's death.

He daydreamed about having this spell when he had his head popped like a grape by that asshole. He could make a personal version but that would have to wait.

*

*

Gurglock Ocean passage facility.

* *

A scowl decorated Robert's face when he saw Tyrone doing the job that was supposed to be his. The pugilist Arch was wearing a Man in Black suit, complete with the dark sunglasses and earpiece, for some reason. Neither man acknowledge each other but Robert made a show of pulling Amanda in for a hug and a kiss on the lips, which she complied with glee. Tyrone remained cool.

Robert would've killed the guy if Tyrone had reacted with hostility. He was seething inside, with resentment, hatred, and jealousy. And then reversed time so he could kill Tyrone a second time.

He also noticed two businessmen behind Tyrone. The two seemed older and respectable, with that self-important air arrogant rich people in high positions carried around themselves.

"Are the teleportation platforms ready?" Amanda asked with her business voice.

"Yes, they are," Robert replied.

"Let's go to the room they should be installed," Amanda ordered.

The group went to a secure room inside the heart of the facility. Robert made a show of taking the humongous platform out of his spatial storage technique. He earned a raised eyebrow from one of the executives. That platform was too big to fit in any but the biggest rings, like the eight-cubic-meter one Amanda wore. Using telekinesis, he lowered the platform to the ground.

The platform was fully charged already. But Robert injected some of his essence into the activation mechanism. He hid some runic inscriptions that gave him some privilege and control over the platform. It was a "just in case" precaution if he ever needed to take over the Gurglock Ocean. Ordinary crafters wouldn't ever notice it and master craftsmen would need to carefully disassemble and examine the crystal disk. Robert wished them good luck reading fairy-sized runes.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Strategically placed gaps in the platform metal shielding glowed with a soft cyan light. Points of light seemed to run through the platform, leaving behind a fading glow. The control panel displayed some information about Ether levels and self-integrity checks but the important part was the red boldfaced "PAIRED PLATFORM OFFLINE" message.

"Well, that's not good," Amanda said with theatrical disappointment, staring at the message. "I guess we would need to send a group to sail three thousand miles in these perilous waters... Oh. Wait. Mr. Blaze, would you mind giving us a free ride to the Dungeon portal?" She offered him a hand.

Robert heard a grunt but didn't bother with the origin. He graciously took Amanda's hand and used his main talent. In the liminal void, he pulled her closer to give her a passionate kiss.

"Whoa, easy there," Amanda said, pretending to be out of breath. “Take us to the Dungeon island first."

Robert held her hand and did the Superman flight as he took her through the true void to the island. He gently landed on the rocks facing a huge spray of water from an oversized wave.

Amanda looked at the gray droplets and foam. "It would be gorgeous if it didn't look like it's dirty with soot."

He laughed. She turned to him, biting her lower lip. "How long do we have?"

"A couple of weeks," He grinned. Robert was no longer worried to stay with Amanda for a while in here. Robert's guests didn't need physical contact to stay safe from the dangers of the liminal void, so long they remained within fifty feet of him.

She took a king-size artifice bed from her ring, another creation from Aethericheart Artificers. The one-meter cube of metal expanded and deployed into a king-size floating bed with a full entertainment suite, a four-post canopy and privacy curtains. Some would say it was a waste of space, Amanda would retort that not having it was a waste of opportunity.

*

*

Less than a minute since they vanished, Amanda and Robert materialized on the teleportation platform. The people in the room already expected them because the control panel had cycled through a green "PAIRED PLATFORM ONLINE" to an orange "SHIELDING ACTIVE", staying in that state as a Force shield kept intruders from walking into the landing pad, then a yellow "INCOMING TELEPORTATION". Finally, after they appeared, it went to a blue "RECHARGING..." message. The shield went down.

"As you can see, gentlemen, the first two platforms are online and operational," Amanda said with a victorious grin as she sauntered off the platform. "Tyrone, if you want to test the Minotaur Dungeon, it is already fully respawned. You have exclusive use for the next forty-eight hours. Feel free to use the platform once it is fully recharged. Daniels, I want the building crew over on the other side to secure the passage and the teleportation platform. Does anyone have anything to add?"

Tyrone seemed eager for a challenge. The only reason he didn't use his own essence to charge the platform faster was that he wouldn't have any left to fight the Minotaurs. And the traps. Gosh! Did Tyrone knew about the traps? Robert believed he did. Surely some weak Dungeon traps wouldn’t screw him over, right? One could hope.

The two executives were fuming. Amanda was wickedly delighted at the sight.

"Well, that completes the delivery of the first two platforms, right on time. Now, gentlemen, let's to go the meeting room to discuss the delivery schedule."

The meeting was boring. Amanda proposed a schedule, Robert pushed for more time, she didn't like it, they negotiated, settled in the middle. It was all a scripted scene, because Robert could make all eighteen remaining platforms in four workdays. Or in just a few hours if he crafted them in the liminal void.

"Mr. Blaze, can we see where your company sourced the materials for the teleportation platforms?" The older executive asked. Robert didn't bother learning the man's name.

"Sure. It's attached to the invoice I handed over to Ms. Samson."

A couple of folders popped into existence on Amanda's hand. "Here's a copy, for your convenience." She handed one to each executive. They eagerly read it, their voracious eyes trying to find any irregularity they could latch on to.

"The ATA auction? In the early hours of the morning?" The younger executive, Daniels, said with a gasp.

"Yeah, I was worried where I would find these materials and had some friends watching the auction. I believe they were posted in Europe or somewhere around that region, because of the time." Robert lied.

He sensed Tyrone vanishing from the teleportation platform in a burst of Space essence. Robert could only hope a Minotaur managed to cleave his head in two.

"This is highly suspicious," Daniels said. The other executive grunted and glared at his partner in crime.

"Feel free to check if the receipt is true with the ATA, Mr. Daniels," Robert said nonchalantly. He wanted to see if they would mention the heist at their corrupt supplier.

"We will," the other guy said. "But just to make sure everything is above-board."

Amanda's neck tensed as she clenched her jaw momentarily. Robert would've missed it if not for his spatial senses and iRobert keeping watch over it at six times the normal speed.

"You do that. And please, report your findings to the Imperial Academy Administration, if you see something that is not according to the law. They take these matters with the utmost seriousness," Robert said and shifted to a humble tone. "To be frank, I'm profiting threefold from this deal. The capital is good, the experience is good, and I'm earning academic credits because of this business. I hope you understand that I want this partnership to succeed, and it cannot be built on a foundation of incredulity."

"Well, it seems you did a good job," the younger executive said. "Let's go, Jack. We need to catch the flying transport back to the arcology and it departs in ten minutes. Ms. Samson? Will you return with us?"

The young boss-girl shook her head. "No. I need to go to the Academy; Robert will take me there."

The two executives, Jack and Daniels, excused themselves and left. Robert held Amanda's hand and vanished.