Chapter 52: Upgrade (Patreon)

“So you’re not using the heat from the lava to power the portals. That much is obvious.”

Marlon scoffed, never taking his eyes off the clay as he pumped the wheel with his foot.

“Well, you might be, I guess. But that wouldn’t explain the anti-fall enchantment.” He studied the Traveler from the corner of his eye, watching for some reaction, any tell that he was getting warmer to the truth. But after almost two hours, there was still nothing. “Though, I suppose you could be using micro portals invisible to my senses to—”

Marlon threw his hands up into the air, sending bits of wet clay spraying in every direction.

“Enough! Someone save me from this amateurish prattling.” He turned an annoyed glare on Terry. “I’m offended by your wildly inaccurate—and frankly lazy—speculations.”

Terry opened his mouth to reply, but the man cut his hand across the air.

“No. No more. Open your eyes and observe!”

Terry stifled the smile itching its way across his face and schooled his expression.

Two fist-sized portals split through the air in front of his face. One had the characteristic opaque surface that he’d come to associate with all Traveler portals. The other—well, the other blinded him with pure heat and bright light. He raised a hand to cover his face, the heat making him sweat immediately.

“Are these the same Skill?” Marlon asked gruffly.

“Uh, no—”

“Don’t guess!” the man barked. “Use your damn aura at least!”

Cringing, Terry opened his senses and began feeling out the opaque portal. As he tried to send his aura through, he met resistance and realized this was the exit side connecting to some other entrance portal. So he felt around the edges, mapping the aura signature to the one he had already cataloged. By all accounts, this was the very same Skill he had Affixed currently; he even felt the connection tracing back toward Marlon’s aura.

He swapped his attention over to the second portal, feeling the heat and light on his skin as he felt the aura with his senses.

With a start, he realized something right away.

There was no aura connection tracing back to Marlon!

His focus sharpened and he ignored the blinding light and stifling heat as he turned everything onto identifying what was different about this portal compared to the first portal.

At first, he didn’t noticed anything unusual except for the fact that this portal defied conventional wisdom on numerous levels. But as his aura traced across its exterior, something did feel off. Almost as if the space displaced by the portal was negligible—a fraction of the second portal hanging beside it.

He shifted his attention between the two, feeling that difference starkly now that he knew what to look for. The opaque portal cut across the air, injected with continuous power from Marlon as he maintained its existence. While the other felt thinner, a subtle parting in the air rather than the obtrusive, practically overbearing rent in space.

He did another pass, confirming his observation before speaking.

“They are the same Skill,” he replied with confidence. Marlon arched a brow but didn’t interrupt. “This one just feels barebones, like its on life support. Like it might collapse under a stiff breeze. Almost as if you put just enough energy in to open space, then tied it off.”

The Traveler’s lips turned down and Terry feared he had finally worn down the man’s patience with his embarrassing conjectures. But after a moment, Marlon grunted—not one of his grumpy grunts, but more like a…begrudging grunt.

“But do you know why?” He indicated the thinner portal. “The what is the least interesting question. Followed by the how. But the why.” Clicking his tongue, he shook his head. “That’s the meat of it all.”

Terry bit his lip in thought.

“There’s two factors that don’t make sense and I’m guessing they’re related to your why question.”

“Oh?”

He nodded. “One, this portal’s emitting light and heat—which I’ve never seen done before. And that leads me to the second factor, which is the obviously low energy requirement to maintain the portal’s displacement of space.”

“Go on.”

Marlon had a curious look to his face now, which emboldened Terry.

“My guess is…this portal would collapse under the slightest pressure. If a mosquito popped inside, it would never reach your shop.” A half-smile touched Marlon’s face and Terry felt his heart race as he realized he was on the right track. “You’ve said it before and the Skill description corroborates this. Portals are all about mass. The energy requirement to transport an elephant is higher than a human which is higher than a bug…” He trailed off, something nagging at this train of thought.

The mass of a bullet isn’t overly large though. I’ve never seen Travelers catch bullets…but was that because they couldn’t or because they were smarter than to try?

“Spit out whatever you’re chewing on, boy.”

Terry hesitated, expecting that he was about to sound stupid.

“Well…I guess I’m wondering why Traveler’s can teleport groups of people across the world, but not catch bullets. I would imagine the energy requirements to be much higher for the people than…” He trailed off as Marlon shook his head.

“Who says we can’t catch bullets?”

The question shocked Terry silent, his eyes widening as his thoughts suddenly ran wild.

I can learn how to catch bullets?

“So…we can catch bullets. Then what about a Duelist’s attack?” He imagined a series of portals opening across his body as a jerry-rigged portal armor.

“I didn’t say we can catch bullets. Some Travelers—” His eyebrows raised skeptically as he regarded Terry. “—some select Travelers, can—in very specific circumstances—catch the occasional bullet. But we don’t, if we can help it. Do you know why?”

Terry canted his head to the side in thought. “I suppose…because it would be hard to know when and where the bullet was going to hit. The kinetic force would be pretty high, too, meaning you’d need to bulwark the portal with a ton of your aura. You could condense the mass but a bullet moves so fast, maybe you couldn’t.” He bit his lip as he considered the possible implications. “Opening a bunch of portals around you wouldn’t work either, because you wouldn’t know which portal to inject your aura in until after the bullet already hit. The higher ranks can probably brute force their portals to be strong enough to absorb a bullet, but not us.”

Marlon scoffed, but didn’t disagree with him.

“But what does this have to do with this portal?” he muttered, indicating the one emitting the heat and light. “The energy of the lava heat I’m feeling right now is pretty intense. Way more than the minuscule energy you’ve injected from your aura…”

Marlon was nodding now, waving his hand impatiently.

“Get there, boy.”

Terry felt a smile touch his face.

“But light and heat don’t possess mass. Or if they do, it’s unmeasurable to us. Meaning, the aura requirement to pass through a portal is either null or so tiny as to not matter.”

Marlon clapped once, bits of half-dried clay splattering Terry’s clothes.

“That’s the why! Now explain the how!”

Terry felt infected by the man’s enthusiasm, but had to admit that he was stymied on that part. How was Marlon getting the light to pass through the portal when no one else seemed able to?

Then, his thoughts flashed back to what Marlon had said earlier.

“Didn’t want to go, you shoulda just declined the portal.”

There was something powerful in that statement that Terry hadn’t considered. An answer to an earlier question. Why did people and things move through portals, but not air? Opening a portal across two different atmospheric levels would hypothetically create pressure imbalances that would be akin to popping an airlock in space.

So why didn’t Travelers accidentally kill themselves and everyone around them all the time?

“You can decide what enters your portal…” he muttered under his breath. “It’s the only explanation.”

“Speak up, boy!”

Terry’s head shot up, his eyes wide. “You can decide what enters your portals! Just like I should be able to use my aura reject your portal!”

Marlon smiled, then dismissed both portals. With a wave, he summoned a new portal and Terry immediately felt that it was keyed as an entrance.

“Yes,” he agreed. “But how?”

Terry regarded the man, then the portal, knowing what he was supposed to do, but hesitating a moment. He was afraid. Afraid of failing, of disappointing Marlon and missing his chance to unlock this secret. Before his thoughts could spiral, he forced in a deep breath and pushed his aura forward.

How did one give guidelines to a portal? There must be a trick in the mold, something different that keys to specific things. That was how Skills worked; the shape of the aura dictated the form and capabilities.

Rolling his shoulders, he settled in, prepared to unravel the mysteries of Marlon’s light and heat portal.

***

Four hours later, he found the wrinkle he had been looking for. Without a word, he began splitting space using his Affixed Skill.

But as he activated the portal, he intercepted the flow of his aura, forcing it to a slightly different mold that he only held in his mind. The guiding aspect of the System Skill resisted for a moment, then relented, shifting into the shape he envisioned.

His modified portal hung in the air before him, barely larger than his fist, but still opaque. He wasn’t concerned though; he hadn’t connected it to an entrance yet.

With a second shift of his aura, he split space outside of Marlon’s shop, connecting the two portals with a thin strand of power.

The first portal before him flashed as an image formed in its center.

He jumped to his feet and punched the air.

“Yeah, baby! Let’s go!”

Staring back at him through the portal was a picture-perfect image of the shop’s exterior.

He turned to Marlon, who had gone back to his pottery hours ago. The man had worked in complete silence as Terry had studied his portal. Now, he looked toward Terry with a begrudging smile.

“Not bad—for a copycat.” Then he nodded sharply toward Terry’s portal. “But it ain’t finished yet. Your aura’s still tethered.”

Terry nodded, turning back to his work. He had an idea on how to proceed, but it was more by feel than actual know-how.

Slowly, he began to wind the connected strand of power around the portal’s aura, creating a container to house the magic. With a final twist, he wound off the end in a way that reminded him of Marlon’s own portal, then began to separate the tendril of power from the aura framework. He met resistance, the connection between him and the portal stretching like taffy. With a sharp mental tug, he managed to overcome it, and the connecting tendril snapped back into the larger body of power that was his aura.

And his portal still hung there, relaying the view from the front of the shop.

He turned toward Marlon with a triumphant smile, when a notification flashed in front of his eyes.

-

Skill upgraded!

High-Efficiency Matter Transportation (F) upgraded to High-Efficiency Light and Matter Transportation (E)

New Affixation slot created — E-ranked slot

High-Efficiency Light and Matter Transportation Affixing.

 -

The Affixation on his left-hand slot began to morph, altering his aura all along his body. A familiar shifting of his skin and muscles itched at him and he grimaced as the effect began working its way along his being.

After a few minutes of discomfort, he felt now that he had two E-ranked Skills Affixed to his main aura body—Metal Telekinesis and High-Efficiency Light and Matter Transportation. The positioning didn’t affect how he used his Skills, but rather dictated how much aura he could inject into the Skill.

Now that his portal power was Affixed to the main body of his aura, he knew instinctively that the capabilities had increased dramatically. Before, anything big enough for a person had taken him multiple seconds of concentration to open and his maximum distance was barely a hundred meters. With those limitations, he’d mostly restricted his portal use to practicing the Iron Maiden trick he’d used on the sanguine elder and the occasional self-teleport when he didn’t want to be seen entering the Feed Wichita warehouse.

But now…

Now, he could inject enough aura to move an elephant—no, a group of elephants. And the distance—well, he didn’t know, yet. But it felt further—much further.

With a thought, he pulled up the newly-upgraded Skill.

-

Skill Affixed: High-Efficiency Light and Matter Transportation (E — Upgradeable)

Use aura to part space and create a bridge to another location. Distance and duration of the tunnel are dependent on the mass of the entrants, the caster’s mastery of space and aura manipulation, and the caster’s application of an aura framework.

Note: This Skill is upgraded from High-Efficiency Matter Transportation (F). Further upgrades are dependent on the caster’s rank, understanding, and aura control.

 -

When he finished reading the description, he turned to see Marlon giving him an appraising look, which he quickly hid with a dismissive sniff.

“Bout time.”

Terry chuckled, feeling light, giddy with triumph. He stretched his aura, imagining a spot above the lava. He wanted to feel that heat the same way Marlon’s portal had projected it. If he could do this, then maybe he could reach above the Emperor’s working and bring the sun back to Wichita.

But as he tried to form the entry portal in the location he was picturing, he felt his aura forcibly dissipated. He turned to Marlon, wondering if the man was blocking his working.

Marlon noticed his accusatory stare and raised an eyebrow. “Let me guess, you tried to make a portal somewhere else in the Pit?”

Terry furrowed his brow. “Yeah. It felt like someone shut it down.”

Marlon shrugged. “There’s an S-ranked Artifact restricting portals to and from the Market. Terraform gave me and my shop an exclusion zone.”

That made so much sense considering Skipper’s betrayal. But Terry vibrated with pent-up energy.

He wanted to test his new Skill’s capabilities!

“I gotta get going, Marlon. Hate to copy and dash, but this could be a game changer for me.”

Marlon snorted, waving a hand as he turned back to his pottery wheel.

“You’ve been nothing but a distraction anyway,” he replied dismissively.

Terry chuckled and turned to go, but Marlon cleared his throat quietly and he stopped to look back. To his surprise, the Traveler looked uncomfortable, clearly wrestling with himself over something.

Turning back fully, Terry waited in patient silence as the man formed his words.

“You…you weren’t a complete waste of time.” That seemed to pain him to say and Terry felt a small smile touch his lips. “Come back when you’re ready to learn more.”

Terry didn’t reply for a moment and Marlon flicked his eyes up, only to see the ear-to-ear grin occupying Terry’s face.

“Thank you, Marlon. That means a lot.”

The man grunted, turning back to his wheel.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Go on, get out. I’ve got an entire day’s worth of work to make up for now.”

Terry laughed lightly, waving over his shoulder as he set off to navigate the pottery maze. Then, a thought hit him, and he split space, connecting to directly outside the shop. With what he considered a sort of mental switch, he toggled on the light-transporting capability and stepped through. The energy requirement of his passage pulled at his aura, but once he was through, he began crafting the framework he had discovered with Marlon’s help. With a few moments of work, he was able to tie off the ends of the portals, separating his own aura from the space bridge.

The crystal clear image of Marlon frowning towards him transmitted through the portal. Terry knew the portal was only one way and Marlon couldn’t see him, but he waved anyway.

“Tell the Prime he owes me another session!” Marlon called out. His voice didn’t carry through the portal, which was interesting, but echoed out from the shop and into the street.

Seems like sound is another switch I’ll need to find.

Then, Marlon cut his hand across the air and both portals were forced shut.

As exciting as his new capabilities were, Marlon’s mention of Silver sobered his mood. He could only hope his grandfather was alive.

But there was nothing Terry could do, so he turned his thoughts to Wichita.

Not only can I bring a permanent source of light to the warehouse…I can also create these portals all over the city. I can return the sun to Wichita.

The only question was…would the Emperor allow it?

That was a fight for another time. For now, he needed to get back to the warehouse before the farm died.

As he left the alley leading to Marlon’s shop, he spoke aloud to himself.

“Hey, Terraform. I’m ready to head back.”

Almost instantly, the stone beneath his feet shifted and a rough impression of a face formed. A gravelly voice spoke through the stone.

“Return to the Pit and I will ferry you across.”