The eyes, the braid, the silver hair, the contours of her face and body. This was the very girl he had seen back at Skurim, the very day he regained his memories. He had a hunch the girl had something to do with his awakening. He had thought the girl was a spirit at first but now he was sure—she was very much a living creature. And she turned out to be an enemy—launching those spikes at him the very moment they met. Distortions in the air emanated from Winston, as heat irradiated from his body.

  A plane of burning force expanded itself before him, as he prepared to burn the icicles bundling his way, until…. The spikes harmlessly passed by him, causing him to turn his head along the path of the icicles. They strangely struck empty air, stopping there as though they had pierced a type of physical barrier. Then cracks started slithering outward from where the spikes had struck. The cracks began to branch, and the branches themselves began to branch, and so on until the space between the two buildings that formed the alley shattered into what seemed like fragmented space. Then the space warped by stretching and expanding bulbously, until settling back into normal space.

  Everything looked the same, except within the space of the distortion earlier, a red-cloaked man stood, his face covered and hidden within the confines of a deep hood.

  “How did you know how to break my spacial illusion?” A gnarled, distorted voice rang out from the hooded figure. “I have a perfect memory. I should know when and where I've taught you that technique…. Unless we're on some sort of time….” the hooded figure shook his head. “It shouldn't be possible without that….” He paused. “I digress, that's besides the point. Why are you looking for me?”

  “We need information,” the girl that had struck the man's ‘spacial illusion’ spoke, prim and impassive. “I believe you already know what we're looking for?”

  “The relic, it's what you're after?”

  “Yes, and another thing.”

  “I don't allow two for the price of one. I need two special gifts from you, if you want both information that is.”

  “Sold!” The girl exclaimed.

  “Perfect.”

  The man's distorted voice somehow carried a tone of relief. Why was he relieved? Do these transactions give him some sort of benefit at all? Winston understood the special gifts he pawed after but the other three gifts? They were but trifles… at least, except for the alchemical value of the Dako-bear's head. But even that was also a trifle. A Dako-bear's head, when combined with other rare ingredients, was supposed to be capable of charging a man with all the necessary invigoration he needed to satisfy his wife, but beyond that? Nothing.

  “And you!” The cloaked man turned towards Winston. “Why are you looking for me?”

  Winston, still dazed by the speed of how things were developing, merely gawked and paused for a few moments. When he recomposed himself, a full minute had passed and the hooded figure seemed to be staring right through him. But before he could put it out there what he wanted, the hooded man spoke.

  “You want answers about those assassins?”

  Winston squinted his eyes, and immediately casted a simple mana shield around his mind. Quite rudimentary but he didn't have any better spells at the moment.

  “H-how did you know?”

  “I've got my ways. Anyways, it seems everything is in order, so everyone, follow me.”

  ***

  Sapphire scanned the figure of this man who turned out to be another of Kazinski’s clients. The man walked with a steady and controlled gait, his pace implacably hurried as if the candle was going to run out any time soon. He was carrying a huge leather bag—what he had placed in it, Sapphire could only guess. The young man probably didn’t know that you were supposed to grind the Dako-bear’s skull into dust and brought the whole thing with him. This information told her nothing except that this man was a first-timer, because anyone who knew anyone would only expect that kind of mistake from first time clients. Everyone in Kirisal’s underground illegal communities took it as a fun initiation to not inform new clients about this particular detail for the transaction that would be carried out with Kazinski. She herself experienced the humiliation of bringing a whole Dako-bear’s head before the man.

  Looking more closely, the young man was also hidden under a deep and intricate glamor, quite the masterful use of both illusion and mind magic. This man, whoever he was, was not to be trifled with. Although she could easily pierce through his glamor, she decided it was best to respect the man’s wishes. The man’s presence bugged her thoroughly though; she didn’t want this man to hear any ensuing conversations that they would have with Kazinski after they offered their gifts. But she reckoned Kazinski probably had a mind or illusion magic (or both) that would keep their exchange a secret.

  One other fact that she couldn’t remove from her head was the look this strange man had given her earlier. It had seemed as though he was ready to fight tooth and nail against her and Sonak—as though he was prepared to give up his life, even. All corroborated by how he had summoned a plane of burning force before himself, as well as widening his stance and clenching his fists. But that reaction could have been easily attributed to her actions. Casting a spell and suddenly slinging it towards another person’s direction did seem to trigger some alarm bells in any man’s survival instincts. But what she couldn’t justify, however, was that glint of recognition in his eyes that seemed to note that he had known her even before their first meeting. What an odd reaction; although, it was possible she was just reading too much into it, so Sapphire simply dropped any and all concern save for the tiniest bit of suspicion that the man might be a spy.

  Before she could conclude anything, though, her attention was wretched away from her thoughts once she passed by a familiar spot. This was the very same alleyway that she had passed all those years ago when she had needed help from Kazinski. It was quite nostalgic if she were to be honest. Then memories of the cruelty that Kirisal had wrought upon Ethera all those years ago, when they had invaded, passed by Sapphire’s mind. The powerlessness she had experienced during those times—the failure that not even the knowledge of a near-omniscient being (as Kazinski was touted to be) could forestall—disconcerted the hell out of her.

  NO! Those things happened in a different past, and those things haven’t even happened yet. She proceeded to violently shake her head, which drew a concerned look from Sonak. Sapphire merely smiled back, which caused Sonak to shrug and continue moving. Thoughts of the possible past must not take up any partition of her mind; she had to keep churning solutions that could fix all of the problems laid bare on her lap. She needed to focus most of all on the things that mattered, and right now what mattered most was information about where the relic was and about missing persons. Right, focus, damn it!

  A few minutes after they began walking, Kazinski stopped at an alleyway corner. Sapphire, Sonak and the strange man all stopped together.

  “We’re here,” Kazinski spoke, “Welcome to my abode!” He pivoted on a heel and turned towards them, arms spread wide. “This is the home of the All-Seeing Eyes!”

  ***

  He couldn’t be truly all-seeing, was he? Winston doubted the literal implication of the title, but before he could retort anything, his eyes were wrenched wide open by the scene that unfolded before him. They were facing a wall of a building, but the space before that wall started to distort—as if a fabric, which had been placed flat on a surface, was slowly being inserted into a hole, creating creases that emanated from the center. Then the folds exploded outward, peeling the very fabric of reality; like a flower that was slowly blooming—each fabric of space, as though petals, opening up and folding away from the center, revealing what seemed to be a living room, illuminated by lights fixed on sconces attached to the walls. The room was furnished with a couch and several accent chairs, the cushions of which were embroidered with beautiful floral patterns.

  “What are you all gawking at?” The gnarled voice of Kazinski emanated out. “Come in, come in.”

  For some reason, Winston felt as though Kazinski was smirking every step of the way, starting from when he had opened space up like he was peeling a banana.

  Winston, and the girl and her companion, all followed Kazinski through this rift in space.

  “Please, sit down.”

  At his behest, Winston and the two elves sat down—Winston on an accent chair, and the others on the sofa. Kazinski himself sat down on a chair positioned to face all of them. The spacial hole then suddenly healed itself by collapsing shut.

  “Fascinated by my pocket dimension perhaps?” Kazinski snorted.

  The elven girl snapped her head towards Kazinski. “I am pretty much, I’ve never seen a stationary pocket dimension open up like that before.”

  Kazinski laughed.

  “Oh little girl,” he heaved. “This isn’t stationary…..”

  Then the elf widened her eyes.

  “What do you mean this isn’t stationary? Pocket dimensions are always stationary!”

  “Perhaps, perhaps not….”

  The elven girl scoffed. But before she could rebut, Winston had to speak his mind right now or forever hold his peace on this fucking impossible conversation.

  “What do you mean stationary? All pocket dimensions are always, and I mean always mobile. It isn’t possible to build a stationary one, it would collapse!”

  “The heck are you talking boy?” The lean elf beside the girl snapped back. “Research has always concluded that the most stable way to build a pocket dimension is by making it stationary. A mobile one would, taking the very word out of your mouth, collapse!”

  That’s impossible! Winston had a very good idea about how they did magic in this world. Basically, it was a one to one conversion of mana to magic from a mage’s personal reserves. On the other hand, Earth’s magic was the art of manipulating ambient mana using as scant personal mana as possible, and then using that ambient mana to produce magic. Although both systems were inherently different, the basics were still the same: convert mana to magic by using the equivalent amount of mana to the amount of mana needed to fuel the magic. So there shouldn’t be any fundamental difference especially in areas like pocket dimension creation. However, before he could voice out his rebuttal, a loud and deep chortle interrupted their acrimonious squabble.

  “Oh my!” Kazinski said, “I didn’t mean to start a dispute by my statements. What can I say? I’m just saying you people should widen your horizons, that’s all. You all are set in your ways, why, I remember when I was just as young as you are now and how rigid I was and how much an unexpected friendship opened up my horizons. Maybe, what I’m trying to say is both of your groups would benefit much if you just learned to learn from each other, no?”

  Kazinski continued to laugh and howl inside this magical room. Then he turned to Winston, sweeping his gaze towards the elven girl and her companion.

  “My, my you’re all in for a treat. This encounter will catapult each of your destinies to greatness. This will be an exciting performance to watch; I’ve never been so trepid now than when I had my own unpleasant problems to deal with ....”

  Winston thought the man would drone on and on about his past that were meaningless to Winston when the elven girl suddenly coughed.

  Kazinski turned towards her and wryly cleared his throat.

  “Right, right, I’m rambling. Thank you, Miss. Who first then?”

  ***

  Sapphire elbowed Sonak to which the man gave her a wry expression. But then Sonak unlatched his satchel, taking out a bottle of milk, one apple and a jar filled with a grounded Dako-bear skull. Kazinski telekinetically lifted up the milk and the apple and stored it inside a cabinet. Then he inspected the jar.

  “Curious,” he intoned. “As I’ve already said, I have a perfect memory, and I don’t remember interacting with you, Miss?”

  “Sapphire.”

  “Yes, Sapphire. I don’t remember seeing your face anywhere, but the fact that you saw through my carefully crafted spacial illusion and how you seem to know about this…” Kazinski raised up the jar, then continued, “all point to the verity that you’ve known about me beforehand—more than a first-timer should know, so I have three guesses as to how you’ve done this. One: someone very informed about me told you all this information, even to the chagrin of most of the occupants of the underworld, who all insist to hide certain details about my transactions as an initiation rite towards newbies. Two: you stole the information from someone very informed. Or Three….”

  Kazinski paused, and although she couldn’t see through the darkness of his hood, Sapphire still felt the gaze of the man piercing through her.

  “There’s a certain reset involved…” Kazinski said, laughing rambunctiously.

  Sapphire’s eyes widened as she stiffened on the spot. Reset. Did he know? Did he somehow know that Sapphire had performed the greatest feat of magic anyone could have ever performed? Or was he testing her? Damn it, all this taunting and mystery was bugging her mind out of her sanity. Damn it Kazinski, how did you even know?

  “Oh?” Kazinski arced an eyebrow. “Based on your reaction just now, it seems my third guess is correct.” His voice carried the tune of someone smiling while talking. “How you even did it is beyond me, I know of only one way to do it, and I have to tell you, that way is a very unpleasant experience. But I guess I have no right to delve any deeper into it, everything must go on….”

  While Kazinski prattled on and on, Sonak was giving Sapphire a suspicious look to which she replied with a pleading expression. Sonak merely grunted and whispered, “Keep your secrets then.”

  “Um…. Excuse me for butting in, but I have to know, is that jar the head of a Dako-bear perhaps… err, I mean the skull?”

  Kazinski turned to the strange man. A moment before, Sapphire had forgotten the man even existed with them inside this room as she was too caught up in panicking about the fact that Kazinski had someone seen through her charade.

  The man raised up his leather bag.

  “I thought you were supposed to bring the whole thing….”

  Kazinski giggled and then guffawed.

  “Supposed to be,” he said, “for first time clients that is.” Then he proceeded to gesture as though he was wiping a tear through the darkness of his hood.

  “So will you still accept this?” The other man remarked.

  “Of course I will, but later I need to receive the special gifts from this young miss first, she’s the first to present her gifts after all.”

  Sapphire jerked in her seat. Oh right, I’m supposed to give him an offering. She unlocked her satchel and took out two small books containing the description of how to cast 2 original spells she had made herself in the past.

  “Two for two,” Sapphire began, propping up the two books. “Detailed in these books are 2 rank-1 original, legendary spells. You’d find them very new in that these spells exist in no library anywhere in the world.”

  Sapphire could feel Sonak staring her down.

  “What the hell!” Sonak spurted out. “You’re a noob at magic, where did you get that many powerful spells!?”

  Sapphire turned to Sonak.

  “I can’t tell you right now, but I promise you, I’ll tell you the whole truth.”

  “Soon?”

  “Yes, soon.”

  Sonak simply plopped down at where he sat and sighed.

  “Honestly,” he whispered, “I feel so threatened right now that I’m starting to doubt teaching you any of my secret techniques in the first place.”

  The young man with them grunted.

  “What’s so great about that?” he exclaimed.

  Kazinski, Sapphire, and Sonak all turned towards his direction. Facing their scrutiny and questioning glares, he merely shrugged.

  “I’ve got something better.”

  The young man smirked.

  He slowly reached for his leather bag and pulled out his gifts—starting with the Dako-bear and ending with the apple. Kazinski telekinetically lifted the gifts and stored it again inside his small cabinet that could not possibly contain an object as big as a monster head but nevertheless did.

  “And? What’s this surprise you have for me?” Kazinski taunted.

  “Here.”

  ***

  Winston wrapped ethereal mana around his forearms, and casting the material ghost spell, slowly pierced the opening of his pocket dimension, which would have otherwise been impossible had he not temporarily turned his forearm into an ethereal matter, the only thing that could phase through the opening of a pocket dimension. Once in, he cancelled the material ghost spell and slowly peeled away the ethereal mana from his hands and forearm. Then slowly, he spread his mana all over the interior of his pocket dimension, and using them as an extension of his senses, felt his way through to find the spell bombs he would soon proudly present towards this mysterious informant. It’s his turn to surprise the man. He commanded his mana to pull the spell bombs towards his direction, pushing away obstructions and paving a path towards his hand. When he felt the glass orb touch his fingers, he gently grabbed it and pulled his hand out of the pocket dimension, which prompted the opening into the inner space to heal itself, forming a barrier that no physical matter could pierce.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  “Behold,” Winston proudly spoke, raising the small glass orb with spell circuits imprinted within it, and on its surface. “A spell bomb unlike any other, forged from a magic unknown to this world.”

  He expected a reaction from Kazinski—perhaps a gasp of awe or a surprised exclamation. Instead he got his reaction from the elf accompanying the woman who calls herself Sapphire.

  “How the heck did you just pull that out of nowhere!?”

  “I've got my ways,” Winston said, feeling the glare from both elves. “What's important is that this spell bomb works.”

  “Bonkers!” the elven man said, flailing his arms up then down. “You expect us to believe it’s a spell bomb? The most efficient material that can absorb mana from a magical enchantment is an arcane wood. It’s the only ideal material for a spell bomb. And you’re expecting us to believe that you found a whole different way of making a spell bomb? You’re lying! If that is a spell bomb, I’m sure it’s a very weak imitation of the real thing. Several magnitudes weaker than the real thing!”

  Winston couldn’t help but smile to himself—smug and proud.

  “What do you think?” he asked Kazinski, instead of resisting the elf’s accusations. He looked at the elven girl, and all she was giving him was a suspicious glare. Hah! Unbelievable isn’t it? He gloated. Now to consume the cherry on top—Kazinski’s reaction.

  The strange man merely laughed at himself.

  “Let me check,” was all he said, then he waved his hand just once and Winston felt a strange wave of energy wash over him, something very familiar, something like—a divination? It can’t be!

  Winston couldn’t fathom the ability to cast a divination without a spirit. At least, he was sure he didn’t sense the mind of a spirit acting on that divination. How could this be? He could only guess two things—that Kazinski was so powerful that he could hide the mind of the spirit he was using to cast a divination spell, or that just as his magic was a completely different domain from the one used in this world, that Kazinski also came from a world that had different magical rules. On a fundamental level, Winston’s magic is similar to that of the elves or any other magical race on this world, but Kazinski’s magic is fundamentally different from Earth’s or Mundus’s magic. What that difference was he couldn’t put a finger on it.

  “Alright, I can confirm,” Kazinski said. “This is indeed what you call it….”

  Winston could see the lanky elf almost stand up from the sofa, but the elven girl held him back.

  Kazinski turned to them.

  “It is the real deal,” he said. “Please refrain from doing anything violent or any action that may be interpreted as such.”

  The elf merely gritted his teeth and backed down. Then Kazinski turned to Winston.

  “It’s a deal,” the strange man told him, which woke him up from his reverie.

  Winston merely laughed weakly and awkwardly.

  “Good to hear,” he replied.

  This wasn’t what he expected at all. He wanted to be the one doing the unexpected. He’s the one being bedazzled instead.

  “All has been well done,” Kazinski announced, clapping his hands. “I presume it’s time to move on beyond the pleasantries, eh, everyone?”

  The girl and her companion simply stared blankly and stolidly at the man, perhaps harboring suspicions about the character and true identity of their anonymous informant. But Winston had a bugging question in the back of his head that begged an answer, and he wasn’t just going to sit passively and let that question sink into the void, forever harrying the mind later on, during what would probably be innocent activities he would partake in. This harrowing curiosity would stay with him for as long as he lived, and he didn’t want that sullying his future. Winston decided to go for it and raised a hand.

  Kazinski turned towards Winston, and somehow, beyond anything Winston could contrive, he felt as though the man arced an eyebrow toward him, which made him gulp a healthy dose of saliva. Who the heck is this man?

  “I have a question.” Winston dropped his hand. “What do you need these ‘gifts’ for? They seem to be rather ordinary in quality and effect. What else could they help you with?”

  “Oh, well, the first three items are merely for pleasantries—especially the grinded skull, it makes for a good bone broth. Who goes seeking information from an archmage and dare bring no gifts? None, if I should be putting it out there. So I only trade with those who go out beyond mere need and also bring gifts with them, albeit pricey if you consider the price of a Dako-bear’s head, but the information I bring is worth all that.”

  “And the special gifts?” Winston asked, bugged out of his mind.

  Kazinski waved his hand in front of him.

  “It doesn’t matter to you, young man,” Kazinski said. “I need them for a… shall we say a research endeavor of mine.”

  “Can’t we know?” Winston replied.

  Kazinski slapped his forehead under his hood. Damn kids and their curiosity, Winston heard the man murmur. I’ve been stuck in this realm for so long….

  Winston’s eyes widened and he turned to look at the two elves with them. They didn’t even bat an eye. Did it not concern them? No, actually it looks like they didn’t hear at all. The fact that Kazinski hinted at being from another world—no from another realm, perhaps from another universe—and that he seemingly imparted that news to Winston seems rather to be too purposeful than an accident.

  This man knew.

  Kazinski knew.

  That Winston was from another world.

  Kazinski didn’t even bother letting Winston recover from his shock. He simply stood up and spoke.

  “Enough dilly-dallying, we must hurry along, I haven’t got all day for all of you.”

  Kazinski then snapped his fingers and everything went dark.

  ***

  Sapphire opened her eyes but there was nothing there. She thought she had gone blind but that was not it. Everything just went dark. She groped with her hands in the air beyond her but she felt nothing. Then a sound rang in her head, heralding an ominous image. Flashing before her was the sight of a city besieged on all sides by monsters of unknown stages in development. She tried to move her limbs but she felt nothing, it was as if what she was seeing was merely being streamed directly into her mind. In fact, it seemed she did not have any body in this space. She hazarded a guess that all of this was happening inside her mind.

  “You are correct.” The sound of a garbled voice, belonging to a man in his prime, resounded around her. “We are in your psyche, and what you are seeing is a glimpse of the near future….” The voice paused, then continued. “Well, one of the possible near futures. Currently, this is the most likely outcome of what’s going to happen. I’m showing you this because you, and that young man you were with—no not the powerful wizard, although he will nonetheless be part of this scheme, I mean the human—”

  Sapphire scrunched up her brows—or at least she would have, had she a body in this place. Human? That boy who was sporting an obviously magical glamor? How could a human produce such an effect, which was clearly magic?

  “Surely you jest!” Sapphire screamed to the invisible nothingness.

  “I don’t, young lady, he is human—every cell, bone, and flesh, perfectly human in all and every possible way. Anyway, I digress. You both will be essential to saving the world from a darkness that I cannot, through my vow, reveal in detail to you. Just know that it exists, and that you would later face this foe. I digress again…. I show you this to help you all forward. Skandrim is playing with dangerous magics and I wish to stop him—without getting involved of course, since that would violate my vow.”

  “What is this horror?” Sapphire bleated weakly. “Why is this city besieged?”

  “An inevitable consequence if you do not stop Skandrim.”

  The scene then changed and showed the figure of a man clad in all black, weaving through the city of Thokos, who then flitted like a snake, traversing meters in mere seconds, going beyond Thokos and into the next city—Halbert. Winding through its streets he stumbled into a giant warehouse and there vanished in the darkness.

  “This is all I’m allowed to show you. Your thief arrived in Kirisal long before you did, and brought what you’re looking for into their territory. Your thief is a member of Clan Ausir. An ancient, prestigious and infamous assassin clan, who’ve lurked in the darkness for far longer than you, your companion, or your whole country has lived. Three days from now, the Sautur Aspifone will be delivered to their client—Skandrim, the infamous old donkey.”

  “So he is involved. Do you know if Skandrim stole it for his own devices or was he bidden by another master?” Sapphire hurriedly asked Kazinski.

  “You only paid for two, young lady,” the voice of Kazinski responded, in a very booming and bellowing trill. “I cannot reveal that to you as per my oath. But I will tell you this: you must know that this very clan you’re after is the same clan that the human boy is looking for. It’s up to you what you’d do with this information. Will you team up with him or go at the problem separately? It’s none of my business to pry.”

  Sapphire still couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that the man shrouded under heavy glamor was a human.

  Then a memory rose up in her mind. Wasn’t that person in her dream a long while ago, the one with entangled meridians in his head, who could suddenly cast elaborate spells using an ungodly level of mana control when she had unsnarled his meridians, a human? No it couldn’t be. But it could, couldn’t it?

  I’ve decided, Sapphire thought. I’m going to pierce through his glamor and really see who he is. I remember the human’s face, so I’d recognize him even at a single sweeping glance.

  The scene shifted again, of human slaves and elves alike being whipped on their backs by draconic enforcers. They were wearing nothing but burlap clothes, all saturated in blood, now dried and black. Under the heavy weight of their authoritarian despots, their wills dragooned and crushed, they toiled the earth with their pickaxes, building tunnels through, up and down the mountains. Where this place was, Sapphire couldn’t hazard any guess, it was all unfamiliar.

  “Unfortunately,” Kazinski put forth, as if in answer to her thoughts. “I cannot tell you where this is—showing you this is actually only a little less than the limit of the bounds I labor under. You would have to do your own investigation. I tell you this though, you would do well to look deeper into Skandrim’s current business enterprise.”

  “Could the sudden shift in the slaver’s delivery traffic back home be because of this? Were the slaves illegally bought from Ethera all sent here to do all this digging? But why? If they wanted this done quiet and fast, they should have done so with heavy machinery!”

  “Aye,” invoked Kazinski. “That is also one of the mysteries you would have to unravel without my aid, young lady.”

  Sapphire exhaled deeply—or at least, whatever passed as a sigh in this world inside her mind.

  “Right,” she noted. “Because of this ‘oath’ again, whatever that is. But I can work with this information. Thank you, Kazinski, for showing me all this.”

  “No, thank you! Young one,” Kazinski expressed. “I would not have it on my conscience to idly stand by while there are things—though admittedly little—that I can do to save Kirisal even under the… well you know what I mean.”

  “Yes, perfectly reasonable. So, now what happens?”

  “Now,” Kazinski muttered. “I eject you out of my space.”

  ***

  The scene of gore that Winston saw, from a monster incursion happening all over the 500 cities close to Skurim, made him queasy. He saw it as merely an extension to the current monster incursion that had stolen thousands of petroliseom wells aplenty around Skurim. This was an even greater disaster than the present incident that had spurred Kirisal to prepare for war. That’s when it clicked inside Winston’s head.

  Could whatever be causing this be….

  Manmade?

  But what did that concern him? He hated the elves more than the moral compass imbibed from 22nd century Earth dictated him to cherish life. Plenty of them were certainly vicious and deserving of destruction—and if he could help it, by his own hands. This was just a just and deserving punishment for their deplorable practices—their arrogance, and the hell they had put him through since he was just a child. An uneasy grin appeared on his face—that was, if he had a face in this mental world.

  “Does it matter?” Winston inquired, mentally wiping sweat from the tips of his eyes. “I hate the elves more than anything in this world and second only to Io. It pleases me that they burn in their own conniving fuckery.”

  Kazinski was silent.

  “Why have you gone so quiet all of the sudden? Cat got your tongue? You think that showing me this would somehow urge me to help them? Well fuck you, that’s what. Just proceed to the information that I came here for and stop this tomfoolery!”

  Winston felt a jerk on his mental body and he spun in the air—to be more exact, his mental perspective cartwheeled in a three-sixty turn. Once his perspective settled, a new view appeared before his mental eyes. It was a large warehouse. On the surface, Winston couldn’t see any activity, but he felt sure that inside—even underground—people were bustling to-and-fro. The moment Kazinski showed him this, a thought instantly lit up in his mind. Back on Earth, he’d been part of various task forces that were sent to crack down on illegal drugs. Most of those drug dens were secretly based in private warehouses that operated like a normal business warehouse on the surface, while secretly operating drug-related pursuits. Those drug dens usually had assassins doing their bidding—killing competition, or traitors.

  “You’re partially right—except this is a three layer operation,” Kazinski boomed inside Winston’s head.

  Winston frowned. Kazinski was so silent for multiple heartbeats that he forgot the man was the one showing him this scene.

  “On the surface, they operate as a normal warehouse under the employ of a certain business, which is popularly known as Beyond Enterprise. On the next level below that, they operate as a drug manufacturer and supplier. But below that, they are an organization—a clan called Ausir—that specializes in assassinating both low-value and high-value targets, anywhere in the world.”

  “I see,” Winston said. “So the assassins will come from them eh? This isn’t going to be easy. How do I stop them from assassinating Sashaiuin, when, if I kill anyone they send they could just send more? This has become rather complicated.”

  “That it is, young man. But perhaps it would help to know that the two elves who’ve come to seek my audience as you have also seek this very same clan and the male of the two is actually a very powerful mage.”

  “I know he’s powerful, I can see his aura pretty clearly. Stop patronizing me, Kazinski.”

  “Of course….”

  The atmosphere fell into a lulling silence as Winston mulled over it.

  “A common enemy huh…. I might be able to strike a deal with them.”

  “That you might.”

  “Alright,” Winston beamed. “What’s next?”

  “Next,” repeated Kazinski. “You leave my space.”

  “Huh?”

  Winston’s perspective cartwheeled again and he felt his body lumped down on a hard, paved floor. Winston mewled as the pain of the drop had just registered in his mind. He rubbed the back of his head, which had hit strongly against the ground. He opened his eyes and could see the contorted face of the girl named Sapphire looking askance at him.

  “How,” she hissed, standing up from the floor. “How could this be?”

  “Indeed how!” cried her companion, after he had dusted himself. “It’s really true! I can see it all now!”

  What the heck were they talking about?

  “Is there something on my face?” Winston asked innocently.

  ***

  “‘My face’ your ass, how are you using magic?” Sonak griped, pointing a finger at the man.

  Sonak’s surprise was warranted, but Sapphire was perhaps more conflicted than surprised. This man right here was the spitting image of the person she had helped in that dream of hers. So it wasn’t a dream! Nonetheless, even if the dream was real, it still didn’t explain how the man could cast magic.

  “The heck?” the man blurted out.

  “We can see it now, you know,” Sapphire interposed, rolling her eyes. “I didn’t see through your shroud out of respect but now that I do, everything’s so clear that, funny enough, reality makes me doubt my eyes more than the shroud you had been wearing.”

  The man widened his eyes and muttered obscenity under his breath.

  “Alright,” he said. “I can explain.”

  “Explain away please!” Sonak rumbled, crossing his arms.

  “Okay, look,” the man sighed, raising two hands like a thief caught red handed. “I’m not originally from this world.”

  Sapphire raised a brow.

  “Meaning?”

  The man’s brows furrowed. His mouth agape as if wording, ‘What?’ silently.

  “Oh, no, no,” Sapphire said, double backing. “What I mean is how does coming from another world affect your magical ability?”

  Sonak nudged her rather forcefully.

  “You believe what he’s saying?” he said, frowning at her. “I’m more inclined to suggest he did some kind of necromantic ritual—probably through the help of a powerful elf—that allowed him to steal the magic of a native.”

  Sapphire snapped her attention at Sonak.

  “You believe something so ridiculous?”

  “And you believe something even more ridiculous?”

  Sapphire sighed, rubbing her temples.

  “Look, Sonak,” she began. “The universe is vast and endless, I thought you of all people should know the possibility that other worlds out there—other than ours—are inhabited by living creatures.”

  Sonak flailed his hands up in exasperation.

  “I’m insulted,” he said. “That you think I’m uneducated enough to disbelieve the possibility of alien lifeforms. I’m talking about a human doing magic! It’s an even more ridiculous story than if he stole it by some unknown necromantic ritual done by an elf of some regard. Everyone knows human mana lack the pressure required to stabilize a spell’s structure. It’s a universal truth and should be true anywhere and everywhere!”

  “You doubt your eyes?” the man butted in, conjuring a force chair and sitting on it.

  Sonak turned to the human and glowered.

  “I doubt nothing but your lies!”

  “So you’re just going to discount the fact that you’ve just consulted with an unimaginably powerful being that was somehow able to hack into your mind—even though, and I emphasize, you probably had had the strongest mind magic defensive spell protecting your mind—and inviting you in inside what’s obviously a pocket dimension that’s unheard of in this world as in my home world. That mage was clearly from a different world—and if I were to hazard a guess, he’s from a different realm entirely, a different universe.”

  Sonak, though still scowling, stood down.

  “Alright, explain it then. Explain your magic to us.”

  But his tone was still clearly acerbic.

  The man sighed, drooping in his force-seat.

  “Can we first introduce ourselves? It’s hard to talk about these things with a person whose name you don’t know,” the man turned to Sapphire. “I know you’re called Sapphire but can I call you that?”

  Sapphire nodded at him.

  “Good,” the man approved. “You can call me Winston, but out here in the streets, I’d rather you call me Merlin. That was my official title as the Archmage of the United States of America back in my homeworld. And you?”

  Sapphire glanced at Sonak, sensing the tension that was all over his body, and seeing him grit his teeth—but only for an instant as an apprehensive laugh escaped from his lips. He rubbed his forehead in a disconcerted gesture.

  “Okay, okay, I get it, we're all going to pretend like we’re all buddies. Yeah, I get it, I get it for sure.”

  Sonak sighed.

  “Call me Sonak,” he said. Sapphire could almost see the hostility in his gaze belying his friendly smile. “That’s all you’re going to get from me.”

  “Alright,” Winston said, wiping his hands on the leather armor over his pants. “You all know that humans don’t have the necessary pressure to produce spells I presume?”

  “Didn’t you hear what I….”

  “Yes,” Sapphire cut in. “We know it fully well.”

  “But have you ever thought of just using ambient mana?”

  “Are you…!?”

  “No,” Sapphire replied curtly, before Sonak could finish his snide remark. “I’m assuming you know about our magic as well. If so, I’m sure you’d also know that spiritual touch can only affect a person’s own personal mana. In that sense, it’d be impossible to effect spells using ambient mana.”

  Sapphire could hear Sonak grumble beside her.

  “But let’s just say,” Winston said, smiling at Sapphire, “for the sake of argument that you could manipulate ambient mana, could it be possible to effect spells out of them?”

  Sapphire pondered while Sonak silently brooded beside her.

  “I suppose I’d say that, for the sake of argument, that would be possible. Ambient mana is produced from the core of the world and hence possesses enough pressure to effect a spell.”

  “Correct,” Winston beamed, straightening up. “Now, my next question, is it possible to direct ambient mana with personal mana?”

  “It’s possible,” Sonak grouched. “If there’s enough pressure diff….”

  “Difference,” Sapphire finished, biting on her thumbnail. The possibility finally dawned on her.

  “It’s possible,” Sonak repeated. “If there’s enough pressure difference. But how do you effect spells from that?” He was slowly lowering down his guard, his gaze far and pensive.

  “I won't reveal everything,” Winston began, standing up and dispelling his force-seat. “But I'm going to give you a little hint. “How do you apsect your mana?

  “We mold it,” Sapphire answered, playing with the latch of her satchel. “Then we inject the ‘idea’ onto the mana to aspect it—the kneading, being an integral part in making the mana receptive to change.”

  “Right, so….” Winston released a tendril of mana which coiled into a knot.

  Ambient mana moved back and forth through the knot. When the mana passed through the knot, he squeezed the end towards which the ambient mana was moving to increase the pressure at that end. Then when the ambient mana doubled back and returned towards the other end, he squeezed that end to make the mana flow in the other direction. Winston basically repeated this until the ‘idea’ he wanted to impose on the ambient mana transformed and aspected the mana into the force aspect.

  Sonak moved closer to get a better look at the now aspected mana.

  “Fascinating,” Sonak belched, rubbing his chin—his curiosity now overcoming his hostility. “The ambient mana has indeed been aspected. How do you shape your mana like that? I don't think I could ever make a tendril of mana as flexible as yours, let alone shape it into knots.”

  “Let's just say it's a perk to having low-pressure mana.”

  “So you use your mana to direct ambient mana and thereby produce spell-effects?” Sapphire asked restrainedly.

  “Correct. Knots like this are called aspect conversion nodes. They are essential in any and all spells cast using spell circuits.”

  “But surely you need more than that,” Sonak whined, lifting his eyes towards Winston. “Simply aspecting mana doesn't cut it, you also need…”

  “Intent and the thing which will impress intent into the mana.”

  Winston smugly smiled.

  “We have that, but I ain't telling you everything. I still can't trust you with the fullness of my knowledge.”

  “Fair enough,” Sonak admitted, then bowed deeply before Winston.

  Winston jerked suddenly where he stood. He probably wasn't expecting Sonak to act like he had just done.

  “I am terribly sorry for having accused you of murder and necromancy. It was childish and stupid of me. I wish to study this new magic, but only if you'd allow me.”

  Sapphire smiled at the sight of Winston standing gawkily before Sonak. Sonak may have been shallow and competitive, but he would never shun giving an apology that was righteously owed to another. At heart, he was an academic, and academics were largely concerned with one simple thing in the world: the advancement of their own understanding. No doubt he’s salivating about the opportunity to study this new magic in depth. Of course Sapphire wouldn’t be outpaced. She too was an academic at heart, and hence she too would want to study this man’s magic to her heart’s content.

  Tip tap, tippy, tap, tap. The clacking sound of a walking stick resounded in the alley way. All three of them snapped their attention towards the sound.

  A tall dragon wrapped in a coat and wearing a broad-brimmed hat greeted them with an uncanny smile from his scaly mouth.

  “I’m afraid, I’d have to end this touching moment of growth for everyone. You’d have to come with me. You see….”

  The dragon tipped his hat upwards with the handle of his walking stick.

  “You’re all under arrest.”