In Saul’s former timeline, magic had been—in a way—a simpler prospect. By accessing the massed power of the channelers from the Prism Academy at the Citadel, he’d been able to cast a whole host of spells from the seven Schools of Magic, the five fundamental schools of Fire, Earth, Air, Stone, and Glade, and the two advanced schools of Water and Metal.

Now, his magic was different. At the moment of his reincarnation, he’d been granted a new way of interacting with magic. This was the System, an unprecedented magical machine created by the trickster god Sarkur. Built on the arcane magical power storage devices called Sigils, the System allowed Saul to use and unlock new magic without the need for channelers.

Since channelers drew their power from the Seven Elemental Gods who were the source of magic, Saul’s ability to bypass their use was essential to his purpose. In his old timeline, he’d dedicated his life to the building of an empire with his friend and battle-brother, Emperor Baraz Karak. Saul’s magic had come from the gods, and he had worshiped and prayed to them, doing all he did in a fervency of faith.

But the gods had betrayed him. They had exiled Saul to oblivion for all eternity. Sarkur had saved him from that terrible fate, had fused the System to Saul’s soul, and had sent him back into the world with a new body, new magic, and a new mission.

Now, Saul was rebuilding his magic power, but his ultimate goal had been given to him by Sarkur along with the System—to master magic and destroy the seven gods who had betrayed him.

Since his rebirth, he had managed to reach Level 24 and had mastered the Five Fundamental Schools of Magic, beginning with Fire and ending with Glade. Each School of Magic came with six spells arranged in two tiers, the first tiers being mostly useful for non-combat applications, and the second being focused on the violent destruction of enemies.

The School of Glade was the most recently unlocked School, and it was Saul’s favorite so far.

Evening was falling when Saul, Zorea, and Brand approached the hilltop called Sprite’s Corner. As they approached, Saul ran through the list of spells he had access to, then looked closer at the School of Glade.

School of Glade:

Spells Available: Tier 1

Promote Growth (Crafter)

Scan For Ingredients (Crafter)

Detect Poison (Ranger; Survival)

Spells Available: Tier 2

Leafblade (Ranged Attack)

Gladesword (Melee Weapon)

Creeping Vines (Area-of-effect)

As before, Zorea and Brand could see Saul’s System interactions. Brand spoke up.

“You’ve not tried all the spells in the Glade school yet, have you, Saul?” he asked.

“I’ve not had access to the School of Glade spells for long,” Saul answered. “The Gladesword has proved the most consistently useful, but I would like to use the others, too.”

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“Perhaps you’ll get the chance before long,” Zorea said quietly. “Look up ahead. Here’s the standing stones, and this is where the old woodsman said he saw the ghosts.”

Saul cast Gladesword, and the summoned weapon rippled into existence in his right hand. He dismissed the menu of spells, though he knew he could access them again in an instant if he needed them.

They all gazed at the standing stones.

Two of the rocky pillars still stood, leaning toward each other at a crazy angle, and another two lay flat on the ground nearby. Around the stones, the grassy sward was broken here and there by clumps of reeds and bushes, and off to their left, the dark edge of the forest began. The trees were tall oaks and dark pines, good quality timber if one could put it to use. That was what the unfortunate woodsman had been investigating, but Saul guessed the townsfolk of Jillin would be happier not to use this stretch of woods after the sighting of the ghost.

The Xornians of the borderlands were superstitious folk, and not without reason. Magic was abroad in the world, and not all of it was good.

“Do you feel any magic, Zorea?” Saul asked.

Since she had claimed her lineage as the inheritor of the ancient legacy of old-world magic, her senses had become sharpened to the presence of spells and enchantments.

“I do feel something,” she said. “It’s the same feeling as when I got near the portal stones at Eastwood Clearing in the Northwood.”

Saul nodded. “That confirms it,” he said, with rising excitement. “When Marcos mentioned standing stones, I suspected they might be another set of portal stones. The portals are a legacy from the ancient days of old-world magic, but now they’re being put to use by our enemies.”

“Not if you can use your powers to take control of them,” Brand said. “You’ve done it before.”

“Let’s get closer,” Saul said, “but be wary!”

He took the lead, aware as he advanced of the line of magical connection between himself and his two companions. With the Squad magic active, he was able to feel their presence and pick up a sense of their emotions. Brand and Zorea were both alert and wary, but not afraid.

Like him, they relished the prospect of a fight.

As he and his friends approached, Saul could feel the potential coming from the portal stones. When he had first discovered that portals existed in the world, it had been when his enemies the warlocks of the Northwood had escaped through one. Afterward, he’d used his System magic to craft a Sigil that gave him control of the portal, stopping anyone else from using it but giving him access to it anytime.

So far, that hadn’t been of much use, as there was only one portal. Traveling instantly to Eastwood Clearing through the portal would mean a long journey on foot back to the borderlands afterward. But if Saul could open another portal at Jillin, he could travel between the northern and southern extremities of Xorn in an instant, cutting out a journey of several weeks.

Now, his senses tingled as he got closer to the mysterious pillars.

“These stones are active,” he said quietly. “I get the same feeling from them as I did from the ones in the north. In fact, I think that someone might be about to use them…”

Even as he spoke, a low humming noise began from the direction of the standing stones, followed by a flash of red light. Suddenly, the light expanded into a sheet of roiling dark red, like boiling blood, that appeared and stretched between the two stones, tall and rectangular like a ten-foot high door.

“You were right, Saul, it’s a portal,” Brand said.

At the same moment, something appeared from the ground nearby. From under the stones that lay flat on the grass, black shadowy figures emerged. They were tall and evil-looking, humanoid shadow figures with red eyes and long, gleaming claws.

“The ghosts!” Zorea cried. “These must be ghosts the woodsman saw. There are so many of them!”

She was right.

More and more of the black figures emerged until, within a few moments, nearly twenty of them thronged the hilltop, crowding around the red crackling portal.

“Get ready!” Saul warned. He raised his Gladesword, then reached into his list of spells and added a School of Air combination to the Gladesword, increasing the sword’s speed and destructive power.

For a moment, the ghosts held back, but then the portal rippled, and a nightmare figure emerged.

The figure was seven feet tall, a monstrous, skeletal man dressed in gold armor and a long, green robe. His hands and feet were encased in gauntlets and boots of gleaming gold, but his head was bare.

There was no sign of a face. Instead, the figure’s head was a grinning skull with burning eyes.

The monstrous creature raised his armored hands, and blue lighting flashed from the fingertips, extending out to the shadowy wraiths that clustered around the stones.

The bony jaws moved, and a booming, disembodied voice spoke as the terrible figure turned two blazing eyes toward Saul.

“So, I have found you,” the voice gloated. “All has gone just as I planned. Now, it is time for you to die!”