At the training facility, Lucas was enduring a splitting headache. He had been correct in assuming that the skill would come with some insights into spatial magic—something required for properly utilizing the Glass Gate skill—but the theoretical knowledge was only the tip of the iceberg when it came to actually making use of the ability.
It turned out that the choice of words in the skill description wasn’t random. When it said "mirror," it meant it. Essentially, the skill worked by mirroring the user’s image—his self—through space and out the other “gate” that had been previously established.
Immediately after selecting the skill, he was able to grasp that concept. He also gained an understanding of a few principles of spatial magic—enough to get him started. The problems only arose when transitioning from theory to practice.
Theoretically, in order to open a gate, he needed to use his mana to form a communion with his bones, then use a hand seal that tied it all together, forming a bridge between his knowledge of spatial magic, his own mana, and the glass. Only when these steps were in perfect sync could he set up a portal.
Of course, as with most things in this world, it was easier said than done, and after what seemed like ages—but was only a couple of hours—Lucas was still stuck on the first step.
How the hell am I supposed to form a communion between my bones and mana? What does that even mean? Lucas raged in frustration, deciding to take a break from training.
He had picked the free option for the training room on the totem, knowing he wouldn’t need much at the start, so he wasn’t exactly concerned about running out of points or anything like that.
The reason he stopped was simply because he had learned long ago that when something isn’t clicking, it’s better to take a break and come back fresh. He had somewhat ignored this valuable wisdom before in his rush to gain more power, but he had recently escaped a life-and-death battle that had literally burned him to ashes, so he thought he deserved the break.
It was only when Lucas exited the training room that he realized how famished he was. He hadn’t eaten anything substantial in a while, and since there was a kitchen at his disposal, he decided to fix himself a meal.
Lucas’s cooking skills were nothing to write home about, but he knew his way around the kitchen, and fortunately, the Tower had provided him with the right ingredients. About half an hour later, he was eating a nice pasta at the counter, gazing at the living room in front of him.
All of a sudden, his objectives from when he finished medical school came rushing back, and the first thing on his list was to buy a house or an apartment. Since then, he had plenty of opportunities to buy his own place, but the only time he did so, he gifted it to Hilda to open her shop.
He didn’t regret that decision in the slightest—it had been an investment, considering he would receive a part of the profits once the place was up and running—but it still felt odd that he didn’t have his own place with all that money just sitting in his pocket.
Only after actually receiving this apartment as his waiting room did he realize how tired he was of hotel rooms. He needed to have his own space, and that would be one of his priorities as soon as he got out.
“I hope I have enough money by then,” Lucas murmured between bites, his words echoing through the room.
It felt strange to speak out loud in that empty space, and somehow it made him aware of how lonely he had been. Sure, he had talked to people on the floors, but as much as he tried to take them as seriously as he would a normal person, a part of him could never forget that they were merely echoes from the past and another world.
He missed his daily meet-ups with Aysha, Hilda, and the people of Zoria—he even missed his boxing instructor. Even though he was in a similar gray area with those people from the Tower, at least he was in his own world and time.
There are only five floors left, Lucas thought, trying to cheer himself up.
He had been expecting his recent achievement would help him get through the next floor more easily, but since nothing was certain in the Tower, he didn’t take anything for granted.
After finishing his food, Lucas went to lie down on the couch and let his mind wander. Involuntarily, his thoughts drifted back to his new skill, more specifically to one of the first ideas that came to mind when he read the description. Could he use these Glass Gates to set “checkpoints” all around the world?
Of course, he hadn’t even managed to create a single mirror yet, so that was a distant dream, but he couldn’t help but wonder. Theoretically, it seemed possible. If it was, wouldn’t that mean he could be in multiple places at the snap of a finger? Able to escape any situation he got himself into?
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Not only that, but if he managed to create some long-distance portals, he could leave Zoria without a care in the world, since he could return anytime he wanted.
Lucas let his imagination run wild for a moment, exploring multiple possibilities, but in the end, he doubted it would be so easy. Like his life aura, this skill was bound to have some limitations. However, those wild dreams were all he needed to return to the training room with a refreshed spirit a few minutes later.
…
The first part was completed more quickly than expected. Searching for similar experiences he’d had before, Lucas once again reflected on the mysterious orb he had found in the Dark Forest. Back then, he was also required to enter some sort of communion with the orb. As soon as the idea popped into his head, he tried it, and was met with success not long after.
It was strange trying to communicate with his own bones, but he was surprised to see it working. The glass inside his body somehow responded to the probes of his mana, and thus the first part was completed.
The hand seal was easy enough and could be done with just one hand. At first, Lucas moved through it slowly, making each motion with extreme care not to mess it up, but after about half an hour, he had already mastered it enough to perform at a respectable speed. The gate, however, was nowhere to be seen.
From Lucas’s understanding of hand seals, every movement he made was part of a larger spell. In a sense, they were like the ingredients of a recipe—only when all of them were executed in the correct order could he expect to get the result he was hoping for.
Of course, that was only part of it, and even though his hand seals were on point now, he was still struggling to connect them with his mana and bones, all three of which were needed to make the skill work. Fortunately, though, he had time.
…
Finally, after about two hours, something happened. A faint bluish light, about seven feet high and five feet wide, appeared right in front of him. “So that’s the gate,” Lucas murmured, unable to suppress a smile at the ethereal sight.
For a moment, he even wondered if he was imagining things, so ethereal was its appearance, but after a few seconds he confirmed that it was real. However, looking at it, he had a feeling others wouldn’t be able to see it. The fact that he had used his bones to conjure the portal made it uniquely his, visible only to him.
Lucas appreciated his handiwork only briefly, though, as a single gate wasn’t enough to make the skill work—he needed two to be able to cross over. So, a few feet away from the first gate, he began making hand seals again.
…
This time, it only took him a few minutes to get it right, and a second bluish figure appeared in front of him. Lucas hesitated for only a few seconds before attempting to cross through, just as the skill description instructed.
Despite expecting this outcome, Lucas was still quite bewildered when it happened. One moment he was on the east side of the training room, stepping forward, and the next he was on the west side. It worked!
Lucas couldn’t help but laugh happily—he felt like a little kid who had just received the most awesome gift. He had literally teleported! He went on to teleport three more times just for the thrill of it, enjoying himself immensely each time.
After the excitement died down a bit, Lucas checked his status and noticed that his mana had dropped by 95 points. He hadn’t paid attention to his mana usage when creating the portals, so he wasn’t sure how much of that was spent on making the portals and how much was used for crossing over.
To figure it out, Lucas crossed a fourth time and saw that five more points had been deducted from his total. So, the cost of crossing the gates is 5 mana points, which means I spent 80 creating both of them, 40 each, he quickly calculated in his head.
It wasn’t an absurd amount, considering he now had 620 mana points in total and was using a Rare skill. However, he wondered if the small mana “fee” for crossing the gates would increase the farther apart they were. Right now, both gates were only a few feet apart, which could explain the low cost.
Lost in thought, Lucas came up with another possibility. Could I leave a gate open in the Tower and come back through it once I’m done? He quickly discarded the idea, doubting the system would allow something like that. Nonetheless, he decided he would try it at some point, just for peace of mind.
Returning to the task at hand, there was another thing he wanted to test. A couple of minutes later, he created another gate. He knew he could create multiple gates, so he wanted to make sure he could cross to the correct one.
According to the knowledge granted by the system after accepting the skill, all he had to do was visualize the destination before crossing, and that’s exactly what he did. It came as no surprise when he realized it worked.
With that confirmed, Lucas then tried closing a gate. There was a specific hand seal for that purpose—all he needed to do was make the hand seal and visualize the gate he wanted to close. This way, he could close them even from a distance.
Five minutes later, Lucas managed to close the first gate he had created. The delay was due to learning how to use the new hand seal, but once that was done, the gate promptly closed.
On a whim, Lucas checked his status again and noticed that his mana had regenerated rather quickly. After a moment of confusion, though, a frown creased his brow.
Wanting to make sure he wasn’t just being paranoid, he took a mana potion and saw his total stop at 540—eighty points were missing, the exact amount he had used to create two portals.
So if I create a portal, I’m giving up those mana points for as long as it remains active, Lucas sighed with a bitter smile.
It was a concept similar to the one Faruk had taught him about raising Undead: as long as the Undead remained “alive,” his mana points would be “withheld,” so to speak.
While 80 points wasn’t much considering he could regenerate them afterward, if he started making several portals, his mana pool would be depleted little by little, eventually leaving him unable to cast any magic.
Seeing his dream of populating the planet with his Glass Gates—pun intended—shattered before him, Lucas felt a bit disappointed. But it was to be expected that a Rare skill wouldn’t be cheap to use, and he had picked it fully aware of that possibility.
Deciding there was no point in complaining, Lucas continued with his experiments. There was a reason he had chosen this skill, and it was more than just for fast traveling; he wanted to be able to use it in combat. And for that, he needed to get pretty darn good at it.