Because of the incident at the mall, we didn’t really get much shopping done. “You boys alright?” I asked Jerome and his friend Haralamb. “That was dangerous, what you did there.”

“We couldn’t just let those people get killed,” Jerome protested.

I couldn’t really argue with that. “At least you used clever tactics instead of trying to fight directly. That would not have gone well for the two of you. Speaking of which… how long has Haralamb been able to use magic?”

“Well…” Jerome scratched his cheek timidly. “Since the incident.”

There were many incidents in New Bay, but for him there was one of note. It was where he both gained full grasp on his power as well as developed some unintentional side effects.

“Do you have full control over your abilities?” I asked Haralamb directly.

“Well, uh, I don’t have a class window, or points and stuff. Just the portal power version. I never stepped through one…”

“Maybe if we can find a way to do so with low risk, we can attempt that,” I said. “But for the moment, have you been training properly?”

“Jerome has been teaching me,” he admitted.

“Sorry,” Jerome bowed his head.

“Why are you apologizing?” I asked. “Do you think I would be mad? You got your powers by accident, and so did he. It’s only hiding it that has me slightly upset.” I shrugged, “But it’s also your choice, I suppose.”

Jerome and his friend exchanged glances, “I guess I didn’t really think about it.”

“That’s fair.” Not thinking about the right things was where a lot of my problems historically came from. “I assume you’d like mention of your involvement to be kept to a minimum?” I didn’t exactly want to have to explain Jerome being in danger around me to his mother. Though I had told them to get somewhere safe.

“Yeah…” Jerome nodded.

“Good. And I suppose I should say, it would probably be better for the two of you to sign up for an official training program, whether you want to be heroes or mercenaries or whatever. You’re still too young to actually get involved in proper hero work, but the training would still let you use your powers. And uh… it is apparently good for a ‘resume’, whatever, that is.” That was something Tylissa would care about, probably.

-----

Since I was right on the edge of leveling after that battle with the orcs, it didn’t take long for me to level up with a few days of training. Though the fact that it took so long for 6 measly experience was concerning. At that rate, it could take three months to get another level. Obviously that meant not getting involved in actual combat, and if I were to compare that to the expected rate of growth, it was more than a few times better. But that was comparing to people living normal lives in my previous world, not those who faced constant struggles that they needed to be strong for.

It was just a concern that came up when I determined something. My spellcasting capability had not increased. By which I meant the fatigue point that should have been half my mana had not increased. In short, I was not as close to my goal of casting Gate as I hoped. It kept slipping from my grasp, with miscalculations and misunderstandings. The fact that I’d gotten a book on it made it seem to be important. Though I had no desire to live back in my previous world, I had many questions for Master Uvithar- and he was reluctant to even skirt around the topics while we communicated via Sending.

So I would either need 6 more levels, or I would have to find some way to push through that barrier. It already seemed like an extreme portion of my mana to use at once so I wasn’t sure how valuable such a skill would be- exhausting myself in two moves was bound to be an issue.

There was another alternative where I saved my points for next level and spent them all on Gate to reduce its cost. However, that would involve neglecting immediate needs. Even with just one upgrade spent on Chain Lightning, I could potentially eke out another use. Stoneskin could increase my safety further, or I could even upgrade Storage so I could retrieve necessary equipment more easily if incidents like the mall repeated themselves.

The only thing I was certain I shouldn’t do was just hoard points. I had two level’s worth now, and I should spend at least a portion of them. Even if I wanted to force Gate as early as possible, I could still spend 27.

Chain Lightning had gotten its natural upgrade. I still had no solid basis for that being easier or not without point upgrades spent on it, but I wanted that efficiency. Along with another upgrade to Storage, allowing for a bit more space and efficiency, I was also going to try something crazy. Without knowing how much it would cost, I attempted to spend points on Mana Crystal Deposition.

At some point in the past it might not have worked, but things had changed significantly. Either way, it worked seamlessly… subtracting 5 points from my total. That put it more towards the level of a lower level ability, and I wondered if there were higher level ones that could be discovered even if just a few.

With that cost, I couldn’t really upgrade much else of interest without going below my intended threshold. But it was crazy to save enough points for two Gate upgrades. Rushing for it next level was just greedy. At least I was fairly certain that the reduced cost would be what I had to wrestle with my fatigue threshold for- nominally half of my maximum, until recently.

I added another point to both Stoneskin and Sonic Lance. Chain Lightning was cool, but it was far too expensive and trying to cast it with less mana came with a loss of control. Electricity was also more commonly resisted than sound based attacks, with Rocker being one of the few exceptions.

Turlough (No surname)

Level: 29

Experience: 2176/2325

Storage +5 (4|1)

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Firebolt +3

Shocking Grasp +5 (3|2)

Grease +3 (2|1)

Force Armor +7 (6|1)

Mage's Reach +4 (2|2)

Translation +1

Alter Time Flow +5 (4|1)

Disguise

Familiar Bond +4 (3|1)

Enlarge +2

Energy Ward +3 (2|1)

Sonic Lance +3

Scrying +1 (0|1)

Shield +1

Stoneskin +3 (2|1)

Mana Crystal Deposition +4 (1|3)

Water Breathing

Variable Freedom +2

Basic Light Magic +2 (1|1)

Locate Object

Alter Portal +1 (0|1)

Gate

Arcane Sight

Sending +1 (0|1)

Chain Lightning +2 (1|1)

Remaining Points: 22

Quite a few things had improved with training- and practical use. Both Stoneskin and Chain Lightning were pushed to their limits against the orcs, and I got something beyond injuries for my efforts.

On that note, after being checked out by the Brigade doctors and having no obvious problems beyond the physical wounds which were set on the right track, I felt confident in continuing my attempts to absorb mana crystals. With Mana Crystal Deposition improved and another level, I was able to create larger crystals. Almost five points worth, if I was not incorrect. This was where I first determined that my fatigue threshold had not really changed. With Gate being the only spell I had that could surpass that expense, I couldn’t really test much else. Unlike a certain doctor, I wasn’t going to try to open portals to random places. Or even an intentional place when I was uncertain what could go wrong.

My reading indicated that as long as there was a proper connection, my gate should arrive where intended- but I wasn’t going to risk sloppy spellcasting screwing it up and opening a hell portal while I was unconscious on the ground at barely more than half mana. How would I even get experience from that?

Absorbing another mana crystal while I was at capacity hurt just as much as the first time. Fortunately for me, it was not more. And while it hurt no less, it did come with a reduced increase in my mana capacity, even with a larger crystal. A little more than half as much. Given how many things had changed, that was the best I could determine. Still, I did have a capacity more than a handful of mana higher than I was ‘supposed to’, so I couldn’t complain too much about any results. It was just that the effort seemed like it might become not worthwhile at some point.

-----

With bruised and cracked ribs and a large visible cut across the bridge of my nose, as well as other less notable injuries, I had only trained just enough to get the experience required to level up. I shouldn’t be going on missions, so I had free time. It was just… most of my friends didn’t, with their day jobs and all that.

I did have one friend with a day job that was actually enhanced by wandering around doing as she pleased… and another friend who was back from her vacation. Though she was technically doing something involving work.

“This is very far,” I said as we drove on roads from which we couldn’t even see any city.

In the driver’s seat of the car was Ceira, my first friend whose job involved… something with videos and the internet. I rode next to her in the front, with our third companion strapped into a device in the rear seat. “This sucks,” Izzy said, looking at the platform beneath her.

“Seatbelts don’t really work for people your size,” Ceira said. “You’re lucky the martians have proper replacements or you’d be in a kiddie booster seat with cup holders and armrests.”

“... That actually seems kinda useful,” Izzy said.

“Would still be weird,” Ceira said. “You’re just a miniature adult, not a kid. Every time I look back I almost think the car is giant.”

“So this job you’re applying for involves what?” I asked Izzy. “A park ranger? Does that mean you hunt down bears and wolves who would attack visitors?”

“Uh, not really,” Izzy shook her head. “I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t want weapons to be involved. Except for Halloween or whatever, but they’d just keep the park closed.”

“It is quite a long distance from home,” I said. “I doubt you could comfortably travel several hours each way daily.”

“Yeah, if I work here it would be seasonal, and I’d probably stay in a cabin.”

“I thought your delivery work was going well?”

Izzy shrugged, “I guess. It’s inconsistent, though, and I don’t necessarily like hanging out in big cities. Which was part of what the vacation was for. I’m glad you’re taking one.”

“I don’t think he is,” Ceira commented. “He just said he can’t go on patrol because he’s injured.”

“Eh, still counts.”

Some time earlier, I had connected Ceira- the druid- with Izzy. She needed to understand her portal powers, but even though we were both spellcasters her abilities were nearly as close to Izzy as a scout as she was to me as a mage.

“Is the camera going?” I asked, looking at the device placed in the car.

Ceira shook her head. “Nah, takes too much storage space to have good quality footage. Everyone wants ultra high quality and I need to be able to crop and edit. I just flip it on when I need it.”

“That is fine,” I said. “I would just have you cut out parts of our conversation otherwise. I wanted to discuss increasing your maximum mana.”

“Yeah, I’m kinda reluctant to try the method you said earlier. Not good with pain.”

“That’s fine,” I nodded, “And I would imagine it to be different for other classes. Though it could be possible.”

“I don’t really need it,” Izzy added. “So I’m also going to decline that method.” Non-caster classes still used mana, but generally at a slower rate- instead of being able to go through their whole supply in less than a minute.

“I would hope that we could discover something else that works for the two of you,” I said, “But there is still the matter of Ceira not having gone through a portal.”

“Yeah, that’s a thing I definitely don’t want to encourage my audience to do. There was one idiot…” Ceira shook her head. “Or should I say, one who survived. He got like a billion views. And a city investigation. Wonder if he had the full kit?”

I shrugged. “It could require separate incidents, one of exposure and one passing through. And it would have had to lead to my world, though it seemed that many of Doomsday’s portals have done so. I don’t think it is a coincidence.”

As we approached the park, I looked ahead. “Those trees don’t seem so big.”

“Really? Did you grow up in a magical forest or something?”

“No,” I shook my head, “I grew up in a large town. But they seem hardly bigger than the ones we’ve been driving past.”

“Ah, that’s probably the perspective and distance,” Ceira said. “See those dots? Those are cars.”

“Those trees are big,” I said. About that time, we passed a sign welcoming us to the Sequoia National Forest. Apparently, the trees had always been very big, and though they were generally far enough from New Bay that the supernatural influence was minimal, it was speculated that this forest was its own, lesser nexus. It did exhibit a similar collective phenomenon during some holidays if there were visitors, though it didn’t have so many people stepping through natural or artificial portals. So I’d heard, anyway.