PftA Book 2 - Chapter 34

Chapter 34 – Preparation

“Make sure you’re at the warehouse by eight o’clock tomorrow morning,” Stella said as I collected the formation markers.

Because each rift influenced the ambient mana in the area, I’d had to place the last rift on a ledge instead of having it along the cavern floor. Not paying attention to mana flows was a great way to cause unintended consequences, like rifts losing energy and dissipating or unexpectedly strengthening from too much mana.

I glanced down at my Space magic mentor. “You aren’t going to be there?”

Stella shook her head. “Nope. I’m working with the interplanetary portal team. That’s why we stopped there first,” she said before standing and placing the chair she’d been using back into her storage ring. “Oh, and Rhona wanted to talk to you about the side project you’re helping her with.”

Seeing my confused expression, the Space Mage sighed. “Sumi?”

“Oh,” I said before checking the time. I only had about an hour before my training session with Shawn, my personal trainer at the HQ office, was scheduled to start. “I should probably hurry then. I’m meeting Bell and Natalie at the gym when they get off work.”

Stella smirked. “You’re making your friends train?”

“Making isn’t the right word,” I said. “I like encouraging better. It’s for their own safety.” I glanced at the last formation piece in my hand. It was clearly a manufactured item, as opposed to a hand-crafted one. I’d realized it earlier but had forgotten to ask about it. “Why doesn’t the local portal group use something like this instead of having us make modular pieces by hand?”

Stella raised a brow as I appeared on the ground next to her. “Would you trust your safety to a device made in a way that is known to cause it to wear out with moderate use?” she asked in response. “Making rifts is one thing. If a part fails, you can just replace it and try again. With portals, you’re risking the safety of the people using them. Also, even local portals will be in near constant use, so the pieces will constantly wear out. If a part failed while someone was in transit…”

I could see her point. Manufactured enchantments weren’t nearly as good as those that were handmade. Even though the imbuing portion would always be done manually, machine-engraved pieces would never be as strong or lasting as those fully crafted by hand. Using a hand-held laser engraver didn’t detract from that, either. It was a matter of focused intent.

“I guess that makes sense,” I conceded, storing the item in my ring. “So, I guess I’ll see you after your vacation?”

Stella shrugged and gave me a sly smile. “Maybe,” she said playfully. “Talk to Rhona. You should probably get moving.”

Taking her hint for what it was, I teleported back to the Atlas office and sent Rhona a message letting her know I’d gotten her request to meet. I wasn’t sure why she’d had Stella pass the message instead of telling me directly, but ultimately, it didn’t matter.

After sending a message to Bell and Natalie reminding them to sign up for personal trainers through the Atlas gym, I quickly made my way to the Administrator’s office.

“Hey, Emie,” Rhona greeted me with a wide smile before ushering me into her office. I was surprised to see the two individuals I’d just messaged sitting awkwardly in the room. “I wanted to talk to all three of you about your plans with Sumi.”

After exchanging a confused look with the other young women, I sat in the extra chair beside Bell and looked at the attractive brunette expectantly. Neither of the others looked very comfortable to be there. I assumed it was because they weren’t as familiar with the sometimes eccentric Administrator.

“I imagine you’re aware of our new friend's scheduling constraints?” Rhona asked as she leaned against her desk.

I bobbed my head slightly. “Somewhat. She mentioned watching her sister, but I figured we’d just delve at night. She’s an adult, so going out shouldn’t be an issue.” I glanced at Bell, who raised a brow but said nothing.

“That would be true if her father was staying in the country, but he’s not. Sumi doesn’t feel comfortable leaving her sister alone in the middle of the night,” Rhona said with a complicated expression. “I offered to have her stay locally for the month her father will be gone, but she rejected my offer.”

“So, you want us to wait until her dad returns to delve together?” Natalie asked.

The Administrator shook her head. “No. I’m enrolling her sister in a two-week-long Cheer Camp. Apparently, it’s something the girl is interested in. Now that Emie knows how to create rifts—”

The other two girls looked at me with startled expressions, but I just shrugged uncomfortably. Rhona looked at me and continued, “—I’d like it if you’d set up a training area and spend two weeks having the party ‘test’ it. There need to be at least three rifts, with one being a wave or wave-variant rift. I’ll also have one of the guardian merchants assigned to the site so you can offload any unwanted material you obtain.”

My eyes lit up. Though I didn’t necessarily want my ability to create rifts to be known, I wasn’t very worried about finding myself in a black site anymore. Knowing I’d been worried about it, Stella had focused some of her early lessons on escape and evasion, making me much more confident in dealing with any potential kidnapping issues.

“Emie can create rifts?” Bell asked.

“That’s pretty crazy,” Natalie commented under her breath as she looked at me with renewed interest.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “I only learned how to do it today. It’s not a super big deal,” I said dismissively. Turning my attention to Rhona, I asked, “Do you want us to spend the whole time delving to quickly push the three of them to Tier Two?”

“That would be optimal,” Rhona agreed. “However, you should ensure the rifts are reset to LT1 before you depart. I planned to start rotating teams through the site as soon as you finish.” A tablet appeared in her hand and she tapped it a few times. “I’ll send some crafters to the location before you get there to build the basic infrastructure to support you. They’ll likely remain during the two weeks to continue developing the site for those using it later.”

I didn’t think it would be very difficult for the three girls to reach Tier Two in two weeks if they had three rifts to delve, even if they each purchased the upgrade. Delving that often was certainly not sustainable under normal circumstances. However, if nobles had access to people who could build rifts, I could see how they would easily maintain an advantage over the common people.

I thought about asking for permission to do something similar in Antarctica to push to Tier Three, but I got the feeling that now was not the time to bring up such a topic. Instead, I asked a few additional questions about Rhona’s goals for the training site.

We also discussed Sumi’s schedule and made a tentative training plan for the next week. Sumi had been given permission to spend some of her ‘beta testing’ time training with her new party, so our nights during the next week were spent getting the three women used to working and delving together.

Bell and Natalie also scheduled joint training sessions with one of the trainers at the Atlas gym, but I couldn’t observe their progress since I had lessons with Shawn during the same time slot. His training had pushed me to a whole new level of capability, making me a far better fighter than I ever was before, even at Tier Four.

Seeing my continued improvement, I couldn’t help but feel proud of how far I’d come. I was no longer the scared young woman I once was. Instead, that person had been replaced by someone capable and confident. It had taken a long time to reach this point, but I was hopeful that I was still far from the peak of my potential.

= = =

“Whoa,” Natalie said in wonder as we arrived at the site location almost two weeks later. She looked around the large space with her mouth open, stunned at our surroundings.

Having set up the first rift training area in a similar setting, I wasn’t nearly as shocked to find the site was in a large, underground space. It wasn’t a natural cavern like the last one, but appeared to have been expertly carved out of familiar striated stone, very similar to what I’d seen as a youth when traveling through Arizona and Nevada.

The walls contrasted sharply with the verdant greenery spread around the illuminated space.

“Yeah, it’s pretty amazing,” Bell said as she stepped forward. The teleportation beacon was set in a small alcove near the south wall to keep it out of the way of traffic. The location also gave new arrivals a clear view of the sprawling artificial cavern that would soon be home to a trinity of training rifts and a small settlement.

I glanced at Sumi. “Are you ready for this?” I asked amicably.

The shorter girl looked at me nervously. “Yeah. I pretty much have to be at this point.”

I’d joined Sumi, Bell, and Natalie for several of their practice delves within the game, but knowing the risk was real had a way of making even the most boisterous gamer a bit nervous. Bell had been the same when I brought her to the site and let her explore one of the rifts the week before, but Robert and I were both with her, so she’d been relatively safe.

Somehow, Robert had gotten himself assigned to the excursion, and seeing the new blanket of greenery covering the previously stone ground ensured me he’d been hard at work preparing the space. I wasn’t sure the artificial light would be enough to keep the grass and the rest of the greenery healthy, but I appreciated his effort, even if I was sure it was mostly to impress Sumi.

As if summoned by my thoughts, Robert appeared by the closest stone building. “Hey, Emie!” he said brightly, though his focus was on the young woman next to me.

Not wanting her to think my delving partner and former guardian was a weirdo, I sighed and introduced them.

“I’m such a huge fan… No, that sounds wrong,” Robert corrected himself nervously. Sumi gave me a questioning look, but I just shrugged. “I’ve always wanted to meet someone with three affinities. There are stories about people like you.”

“Really?” Sumi asked. “Rhona said it was a big deal, but I didn’t realize there were stories…” the other girl trailed off uncomfortably.

I shook my head and ignored the two as Robert regaled Sumi with the same story about the system creator he’d told me weeks before.

“Are we staying in the training barracks?” I asked, interrupting Robert’s monologue. There had only been one building with beds during my last visit, so I assumed we’d be staying with the crafters who’d been assigned to build the infrastructure.

“What?” the Nature Mage said in confusion before realizing what I’d asked. “Oh, no. I’d never ask a tri-affinity mage to stay in such substandard lodgings. Once I told the crafters who was coming, they were happy to help me build a small manor for the party to stay in while they’re here.”

I rolled my eyes. Of course, he’d do something like that. “Can you take us there? I’m sure Sumi and the others would like to get settled a bit before we start delving.”

While Bell and I had storage rings, the other two women did not. I’d considered giving them some of my earlier work, but I didn’t want to establish a precedent by handing out storage items for free. It was different for Bell. She was my roommate – if only for a couple more weeks. Besides, she was dating my brother, and I was responsible for her early awakening.

I’d already agreed to sell Natalie and Sumi storage items at a discounted price, so I didn’t feel too bad. And it wasn’t like they needed their own storage items when we were with them. The fact that I was carrying both of their luggage and gear was part of the reason I wanted to see our lodgings before our first delve into the rift I’d set up the previous week.

I’d only made one rift in advance since nobody would use it until we arrived. I also had a lot of work to do to prepare for the trip. My grandma and aunt were also visiting, which had cut into a lot of my free time.

I’d spent all of my weekend – aside from my lesson with Master Kairos – at my parents’ house the weekend before because of the holiday. After learning my grandmother had recently been diagnosed as having early Alzheimer’s – a fact I did not recall knowing during the first timeline – I’d secretly used Time magic to de-age her brain. I wasn’t worried about her losing memories since I knew most memories were actually stored in the soul. The issue was when brain damage interfered with accessing memories.

I preemptively gave Aunt Betty the same treatment, though I didn’t note any signs of degradation in her brain. By the time they left on Monday, both of my elder relatives had noticeably improved health. I couldn’t do everything with Time magic, but I had access to healing items and practice using them alongside my personal healing magic.

I didn’t want to do anything too obvious, but I also wasn’t going to watch my grandma whither away when I had the ability to help.

“Here we are,” Robert said proudly as he motioned to a hybrid structure that looked to be a mix between stone and plant. The Nature Mage’s contribution was obvious.

“How is this even possible?” Bell asked in wonder as she gazed at the interesting residence.

The base appeared to be carved out of the stone wall, though the second half featured a wooden dome of intertwined leafy vines. They were a popular choice for builders since the vines absorbed Light mana and manifested it in tiny fairy lights inside the structure. It didn’t produce enough light to actually illuminate the interior space, but it created a neat effect.

“Magic,” I replied glibly before walking inside. The others were quick to follow.

The building was truly set up like a small manor, with all the conveniences of a modern, manatech home. The first floor held the common areas, including a large living room, dining room, kitchen, half-bath, and workshop. The upstairs featured four well-furnished rooms, each with their own ensuite. There were no closets, but that was to be expected with magical storage available.

“This is amazing,” Sumi said in clear appreciation, causing Robert to preen slightly.

“I’m glad you like it. I didn’t think having you sleep in a communal barracks with the rest of the workers was appropriate. Even if you don’t realize how special you are, I do,” Robert said with near reverence.

Wanting to keep things from getting too weird, I said, “Okay, pick your rooms so I can offload the extra equipment. I don’t want to carry everything around.”

It didn’t take long to unload Natalie and Sumi’s gear. They brought much more than I’d initially expected, though I shouldn’t have been surprised.

“Where’d that come from?” Sumi asked, pointing to the armor I’d placed beside her suitcase.

“It’s a loan from your sponsor. It’s made with Tier Three material, so it should be able to handle pretty much anything you encounter at this stage.”

“I wish my armor was that good,” Natalie said longingly before eying the leather armor she’d been ‘issued’ after awakening. It was nothing special but had basic enchantments for durability. I knew because one of my tasks had been enchanting armor for newly awakened beta testers.

Now that others had awakened and had the skill, it was no longer my responsibility. In fact, I was pretty sure it was one of Bell’s new duties.

“If we’re going to delve soon, we should go ahead and gear up,” I recommended. “I’ll meet you guys downstairs in a few minutes.”

It only took a second to equip my sect robes, though I did it out of sight of the others. There was no reason to make the others jealous of the additional features my ring provided.

Robert was waiting for us in the living room and quickly reminded me of my promise to take him along during the first delve with Sumi. I managed to keep from rolling my eyes, but I could somewhat understand his fascination with the younger girl now that he’d told me the stories.

When the others arrived, Bell and I discussed the rift setup before I pushed the plan-making to the trio. Like Robert had been for me, I intended to remain a mostly silent observer. I was only there to keep them safe.