I felt… distinctly uncomfortable. Chained, trapped. Something was holding me down. Yet, I saw nothing.

There was no strength left in my body. I couldn’t fight it. But, somehow, it didn’t feel harmful, if that made sense. Like something was chaining me up for my betterment. Almost like a straight jacket, but… warmer?

Now, there is a distinct moment I remember when my panic set in. I think it was when the shock ran out and I realized I couldn’t breathe. It had been something I struggled with a lot ever since I once almost drowned as a kid.

And yet, here I was again, trapped on the ground, and unable to breathe. I attempted to open my mouth, draw breath, anything, and I failed. The muscles around my chest cramped from my attempts at widening them, but there wasn’t just something covering my mouth. My chest itself couldn’t move.

It felt disgusting, and horrifying. Much more than any of the pain before, I felt this gnaw at my mind as I realized it was all over. And then my lungs moved.

Getting control over my body back was so sudden, I flopped around like a fish on land. I jumped up hard enough to smack my head on something and pass out again. At least, I think that’s what knocked me unconscious, though there’s a good chance I would’ve been made to sleep anyway.

- - -

When I awoke, I still felt miserable. There was, once again, a stupid rat gnawing at my leg. I grabbed it, and tossed it against the wall, turning it into a smear of blood and guts. Then, I held my arm with a grunt. It hurt.

Yet, somehow, I was alive.

The last couple moments, when I woke up in the middle of what the system called fusing, were hazy to me. I couldn’t remember much except my panic. Taking a couple deep breaths, I calmed the horror that bubbled up inside me.

Instead, I meditated. I wasn’t hungry or thirsty, for the moment, which was a good sign. The mirror, and all its shards were gone. I just… had to take some time to process it all.

Deep, slow breaths entered my lungs, and for a few moments, I enjoyed the simple feeling of my chest moving. It was something I took for granted, but came to always appreciate very quickly when the option was taken away for a few moments.

Slowly, carefully, I let the last couple memories pass by before my inner eye. I reviewed them in the trance, picking apart what had happened. My hand touched the mirror. It initiated a fusing procedure. Then, it… ate me? No.

The mirror had wrapped around me, smothering my body in a glass embrace. That was what had stopped me from breathing. How long had I been in that cocoon? I was certainly asleep for a while before I had noticed. Had it been hours? Days? I had no reference.

A small frown found its way onto my face, as more realisation set in. The glass hadn’t just wrapped around me, it’d very literally fused with me. Sunk into my skin.

I moved again, and now felt it much more distinctly. Like there was a layer of shifting glass spread all around my body, one which I could somewhat manipulate. It seemed to also have nestled… next to my soul core. A round, entirely smooth ball of reflective glass.

Moving around felt so strange. The sheet of glass was liquid, and fitted itself around my movement, yet every time I stopped and started, I expected it to shatter. Could I make it shatter? I shuddered at the thought, something told me that wouldn’t go well for me.

Instead of further indulging my thoughts, I called open my status again.

[Body: Heavily Injured. Healing.

Core: Cracked. Mirrored. Duality.

Mind: Strained. Tired. Fearful.]

It seemed vestiges of my earlier panic attack still clung to me. I shivered a little. Yeah, no, I felt distinctly not okay.

Taking a deep breath, I moved slowly. It felt surreal. I could move my left arm despite the broken bones, the glass shifting to support it. But at the same time, I could tell it wouldn’t carry a lot of weight. The mirror might already struggle with my spear. But, strangely, it didn’t hurt to move anymore.

Of course, every bit of my body was still bruised and battered and in pain, but there was no longer the distinct feeling of bone fragments digging through my muscles when I moved my arm. I winced at that thought. Since when had I identified that kind of pain?

Once I sat on the floor, I took some more time to breathe, before calling open my proper system window, asking it to display all changes.

[Name: Fiona Bellum

Class: Spearwoman (6) / Gateway (3) [New!]

* - Techniques

* * + Spear Techniques

* * - Qi Techniques

* * * + Golden Core

* * * - Mirror Core [New!]

* - Gateway Manifestation [New!] (Low) (Your body functions as a Gateway to and from Eden.)

* - Reflection [New!] (Low) (Manifest a mirror from your Qi and use it to reflect enemy attacks back.)

* - Stats

* * + General

* * - Qi

* * * + Gold

* * * - Mirror [New!]

* - Purity (Perfect)

* - Realm (Mirror Core)

* - Stage (1st Step)

* - Path (None)

* - Disposition

* * + Covenant

* * + Temperament

* * - Talent

* - Slight Edge (Average is below your standards. Go above, even by a little.)

* - Single-Minded (Your focus is your strength. Once your mind is set, nothing will shake you out of it.)

* - Mirror Mind [New!] (You reflect what is around you. Mimicking what you see becomes second nature.)

Current Status: Fragile]

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

My eyes widened at the first line already. This made me a dual classer. My mouth dropped open.

Multiple classes were rarely seen. The experience required to even get a second one was mad. Also, levelling it was usually harder, costing more than your main class. Something told me this didn’t quite apply to me, though. A whisper of information trickled into me from the system.

Gateway was apparently a very special class, since it was usually reserved for objects. I’d never even heard of mirror Qi, but apparently it wasn’t completely impossible to utilize, even for people without my strange class. If I still hadn’t heard of it, that meant it was most likely rare, or hard to handle.

I was torn between a smile and a grimace. This was highly unexpected. I’d hoped to take something supportive as my second class, but those hopes were dashed now. I think I would have made a lovely blacksmith or alchemist. Yet here I was, being a gateway.

At the same time, I had apparently gained three levels, and a full on second core. Which was madness. Absolute insanity. You couldn’t even gain levels without visiting the gatekeepers, or the gods if your class was a divine one. And here I was, with a whole new class in the middle of nowhere.

The new additions to my status were even more insane. [Gateway] was strong if I had allies. I couldn’t imagine it working on myself. I tested for a moment, and was proven correct. [Reflection], on the other hand, was a whole different beast. It was essentially an instant-win button against anyone in a lower realm than me.

And then the fact that I had a second core. Up until now, I thought it was simply a fragment of the mirror I’d felt, but now. A whole second core. That was insanity.

People hardly ever trained more than one type of Qi. There was just a whole host of issues with it. Incompatibility was one, if two types of Qi clashed inside you, it ended poorly. Then you had to split your resources, and master multiple paths. I already struggled with my one path, and now I had to figure out a second one?

Still. I had two types of Qi. With a little bit of luck, they wouldn’t tear me apart from the inside. In fact, if I focused, I felt something. My mirror core was… leaking Qi. No, not leaking, transferring it to the golden core to patch it up.

A small smile flickered onto my lips. I supposed I’d not have to deal with the whole incompatibility stuff at least. In fact, the mirror Qi almost seemed to synergize with my regular, golden kind.

I’d picked golden Qi because my affinity for it had been the highest. It represented metal as an element, but was much more focused on general physical enhancement and weapon Qi usage. So while I wasn’t going to be summoning giant slabs of iron, it would allow me to use it far more effectively to enhance myself and my spear.

Honestly, calling it metal felt so awkward and clunky, I stuck to golden most of the time. Simpler, honestly. I didn’t even know what type of Qi Matt used, it was just plum Qi to me.

The fact that the purity of my new mirror Qi was perfect was honestly just insane as well, but I supposed I should have expected it at this point.

Slowly, my eyes trailed down further and I gasped at my new talent. That was… insane. Absolute insanity. Mimicking what I could see would speed up my training by an insane amount. Just, absolutely incredible.

Then I frowned. It would help. If I made it back to society, that was. For now, I was still stuck in a cave, with no sign of light or my circumstances changing. Out on the surface, there were dozens of monsters waiting to kill me. Rule number four sure held true in situations like these.

I grimaced a little, feeling the liquid glass in my body shift, then settle. The longer I sat, the firmer it grew, but I felt I could have it move again with a thought. I didn’t.

As I leaned against the cold stone walls, I felt the exhaustion cling onto me tightly. I was so, so tired. My golden core was empty, and my mirror core was patching it up. It was all so exhausting.

Reluctantly, I closed my eyes. I could sleep a little, just this once.

- - -

Once more, I was awoken by rats. This time, there were a handful of them in the room. They’d seemed reluctant to enter before. Perhaps the mirror had warded them away, and now they were exploring in search of food. Well, they sure had found me.

Teeth dug into my skin, when the glass shifted to meet them. Subconsciously, I felt [Reflection] activate. Tiny mirrors seemed to appear inside my flesh, the glass shifting and morphing into them. Then, when the rats bit me with their teeth, they sunk into the glass.

Exact copies of the rats' teeth, made from pure reflections, struck home. They sank straight into their heads, and most of the rats dropped dead. One had been smart enough to dodge, and ran away. I was a little perplexed. Some of my Qi had gone along with it, but it wasn’t an insane amount. More expensive than just smashing them would have been, sure, but not too much.

I also felt a bit better, overall. My wounds had properly scabbed over, and none of it had worsened in my sleep. It felt like the liquid glass under my skin was working hard to protect my body. Not that it was intelligent, but I could tell it wanted me to live, since it was part of me.

Right, then I better not disappoint it. Well, myself, I guessed, but still. Slowly, making sure nothing hurt too terribly, I pushed myself upwards. The glass moved with me, taking a slight bit of pressure away, somehow. My muscles flowed easier, the torn parts being relieved of their work. And then I stood.

Silly as it was, I almost started crying. I was standing properly. Not leaning against a wall, not shifting or stumbling, but properly standing. How long had I crawled across that floor? It must have been a week at least, given my provisions, maybe more. And now, I stood again.

I had no idea how long I’d slept, but I was thankful. That I was alive. That I might see Ann again. I truly hoped they lived, but I couldn’t spare them the thoughts now.

Ever so carefully, I took a step. My hurt leg moved through the air without issue, but when it was on the ground, and I wanted to shift my weight onto it, I could feel the glass begin to quiver. Right, it certainly could not hold the entire load of my body.

With some chagrin, I took out my spear again, and used it as a cane in front of my body. I wasn’t expecting to heal soon, but I needed to find water, or I would still die down here.

Having made my decision, and with the lovely help of my new gateway-glass body, I marched onwards to uncertainty.