Tears fell from Silvano’s eyes. Recalling that moment was still hard. The moment a person's life ended as he embraced him, it took him a minute to regain his composure. It was the first time he shared this memory with someone. Now all Dawn members and a pix knew it.

Nora got up from her seat and offered him a handkerchief to wipe away his tears.

"Thank you." After a moment, he was ready to continue explaining his past.

***

After Edward's death, his heart and mind were shaken; he couldn’t remember well, but he was taken back by the pix soldiers to the leader of the tribe. They explained to him how the ants around the Rock were powerful insects.

There were several kinds of ant species living here; they fought for territory and prey. Each colony has its own queen. The tribe of pix living here was one of many using the Rock as their base to hide from the terrible sandstorms.

"We tried to help your friend, but it was too late. You need to drink the antidote in the first few minutes after the attack. The poison also changes depending on the ant colony, so even if you drink it, it’s still a gamble."

"I know. I saw it, the moment his eyes died."

He explained his situation as best he could, but no one there had powers like him. The pix were descendants who only knew about the System from legends and tales. Of course, he could prove his power by just summoning some portals; that was enough for them to believe.

He also discovered the situation the pix were in. Their small village was trapped in the middle of the Rock without any chance to escape.

"You can’t escape?"

"Yes, we’re trapped in these tunnels. The ants made tunnels everywhere to confuse invaders; we can try to travel back outside, but we would be hunted and devoured if we wandered too far from here. This is one of the only few safe places in this maze." The village chief was honest.

"But with my power, maybe we can make it. I made it this far inside. I can do the same thing to get back outside. I only need time to learn the layout of the tunnels."

"And then what? You came here to hide from the sandstorm, right? is the same as what our ancestors did. Life outside is dangerous and harsh; we are too weak to stand our ground, and the power of this world can bend anything to its cruel will. It's been hundreds of years, but nothing seems to have changed. You’re better staying here."

They gave him a place to stay, water, and food. It wasn’t free, but there was plenty of work in the village. Repairing the walls that were constantly attacked by the ants and soldiers, who had to fight scouting parties occasionally to keep them at bay. Cultivating food inside the village or cooking. All kinds of work needed more hands to help.

Despite the pessimism of the villagers around, he wanted to try to get outside again. Find out about the routes of the ants and their territory. Maybe learning about the colonies around and taking advantage of their wars. He practiced his power during his free time and looked around with a map, a feather, and some ink made with ant blood.

It wasn’t the best instrument, but there was no other choice. He started to map the tunnels and caves around the village. At first, it was slow and tedious; his power could only open short paths in the distance, but with time and practice, he advanced further into the twisting paths.

The small map got filled, and then he made a notebook. Putting the pages together to form a real map. The pix considered him weird at first; they had never seen a human before, but after months of watching his work pay off, he discovered another village nearby.

After that, the villagers started to take him seriously, thinking that his efforts could do something to improve their quality of life. The first thing was the establishment of trade routes, followed by the exploration of the ant colonies and marking their territory with paint on the cave walls. Last was the path to the outside.

After ten whole months living in the village, Silvano found the route outside. The desert was the same as before, but seeing it made him feel like he was having a dream.

"I made it out, hahahaha! Edward, I made it back outside!" He laughed at himself, not only for going outside but also for watching the storm come closer. Nothing had changed; he was a bit stronger after working with the soldiers and having a few encounters with the ants, but there was no way for him to survive outside.

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The Chief was correct; now that he had made it outside, the only thing he could think of was to go back to the village. This desert was an obstacle that he would never overcome. He was going to go back inside his portal before he could get tired, but then a voice called to him.

The voice was high-pitched. He turned to his left and saw two humans. After months without seeing another human being, he couldn’t help but make a dumb expression. A woman and an older man. They were covered in sand and dirt.

"Please help us; we need water. We have been running from the storm for four days!" Her voice was tired.

He didn’t hesitate; his hands moved by instinct, and he took them inside the portal. They were surprised as they appeared in the middle of a tunnel, but Silvano told them it was fine. He only needed to make one more portal to the village.

Their names were Lidia and Arnold. Two more people dropped into this world. They managed to survive through sheer luck. Their previous place was a cave around a small oasis, but it was attacked by some type of raiders. They were the only survivors.

He and the chief didn’t have any problem accepting them. but Lidia told them they weren’t planning to stay for long.

"We need to go back to our world, and you too, Silvano. With your power, we may be able to do it."

"What do you mean?"

"I saw it. The first few days, a girl made a portal with mirror shards, and she disappeared; she went to another world. We can make it back to our world!"

"What? But I’m only able to open short paths. There is no way my power can take us back to Earth."

"Maybe you need more practice. We can help you build something to make the travel better and longer!"

It was a pipe dream, but if someone tells you about going back home, of course your heart will be moved by that hope. "Ok, we can try!"

They spent weeks building a crude train made of capsules thanks to Lidia’s power. She could produce metal from the walls inside the Rock. Despite her efforts and Arnold's to make an appropriate vessel, Silvano wasn’t sure he could do it.

In the end, he didn’t have a choice, as one day, without any provocation or warning, the ants attacked.

Thanks to his efforts, they discovered three villages nearby and traded goods and supplies after the trade routes were established. One of these villages sent a messenger.

"The ants attack us; please help!" As agreed, the other tribes sent a force of their soldiers to defend the tribe, around thirty warriors, but none returned.

The chief asked for his help to open a portal and discover what happened in the village. Were they all devoured by the ants, or maybe they managed to escape to another village?

He opened a small portal, just barely big enough for a person, and immediately something came out of the other side. A giant ant attacked, but it was different from the colonies he knew. It was red with yellow stripes across its body.

The soldiers attacked the insect, but they were slashed by one swing of his sharp legs. "What are its legs like, a razor?" Not only that, but he could see the poison seeping from the legs as well as its mouth; it was like acid melting even the rock under his feet.

"Behind me!" Arnold jumped forward, and with his power that could turn his body into metal, he blocked the attacks. The ant bit into his metallic flesh, trying to tear him apart, but it was useless. "I’ll crush you!"

With a bear hug, he smashed the ant against himself and killed it. The gravity of the situation didn’t take long to settle on everyone's minds. The last morale hit was the sound of the alarm.

"We are under attack by a horde of ants; they are attacking the north gate!" They were the same ones that destroyed the village, and now they were coming here looking for more food.

"We send almost half of our army. If they were killed along with the tribe, we don’t stand a chance on our own. We need to run; send word to evacuate the village. Hurry!" The chief didn’t waste time.

"Can we use the thing you were making to escape?" His eyes were begging for a chance for his people to survive. After all they did for him, he couldn’t refuse.

"We can go now, but I don’t think I can transport everyone. Every time my portal is used, I get tired."

"Can you take half of them? If you do that, we’ll try to use the map you made to reach outside. If we don’t make it in time, leave us behind."

"Understood." He opened the portal, and half of the tribe crossed along with Lidia and Arnold. The train was waiting for them outside, but there was also another thing.

When he crossed to the other side, his eyes looked at the dozens of creatures around him. They were dressed in strange clothes, but they all matched; it was a uniform.

"What do we have here? I heard pix lived in the Rock along with insects, but I wasn’t expecting these weird things." It was a devil with four arms, Se’ky. "Just surrender, and I’ll make it painless. We’re taking you as our new slaves."

The demon cracked his fire whip, and the others attacked. It turned into chaos, and the only thing he could do was run for the capsules and activate them.

"Go inside, everyone! I’ll keep them busy!" Arnold and others tried to buy them time, but the strange horde of creatures was powerful.

He wanted to do more, but he was the only one who could make the portal. Transporting so many people was impossible, but if they were all inside the train, maybe he could do it. "Enter everyone!"

He closed the door and started the mechanism. Lidia was in the capsule behind. Using all his power, he made the biggest portal yet.

"Where are you going?" Se’ky jumped on top of the train, trying to stop it.

Silvano advanced toward the portal. "Please take us back to earth!"

He prayed from the bottom of his heart, but the System would never allow him to escape; instead, he arrived here.