PftA Book 2 - Chapter 33

A/N: I changed Elaine's name to Natalie. I wouldn't want anyone associating my character with someone else's work...

Also, I chose to call it Portology instead of Aperology because I'm not trying to copy PoA, even if I do use some of the same terms.

Chapter 33 – Portology

I was a little nervous when I headed to the teleport beacon to meet with Stella the next morning. It was my first day working on the new project, and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Stella had mentioned that it was a collaborative effort with other Mages, but finding myself surrounded by an encampment that looked like it was inside the skeleton of a huge stadium was certainly a surprise.

Thankfully, Stella had warned me to change my appearance to the one I usually used when working as a shuttle so I didn’t have to worry about being recognized by the random familiar faces I saw within the mix of personnel.

Two were active-duty Beta Group members that I recognized from the local office, though I wasn’t aware that either of them had awakened already. The other familiar visage belonged to the man that Natalie claimed was a liaison between awakened testers and whatever government official was involved in the beta testing project. I’d only seen him a few times, but he’d already managed to leave a poor impression.

“Where are we?” I asked hesitantly.

“We’re at the first portal site in North America,” Stella replied. “Your government representatives were really particular about where they wanted portals built. I believe there is still some misconception about their use, but it’s not worth fighting over.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, reflecting on the portal locations I’d heard of during the first timeline. I’d started my journey from Earth using the portal in Kansas City since it was the only one nearby, but I knew there were several other portals in major cities around the country.

“We’re setting up two different types of portals on Earth. The first is an intra-planetary portal system, which will allow travel between various locations on Earth. Those are a lot easier to build and require fewer resources, so most of the portals we’ll be building are that type,” Stella said as we bypassed a secondary perimeter and entered a separate area.

“The second,” my Space magic mentor nodded to where three individuals were carefully carving out inscriptions, “is an inter-planetary portal, which will allow travel to other Alliance planets. We’re only adding a handful of these portals to Earth, and they won’t tie into the intra-planetary network. We’ll add a secondary portal for local travel on the other side of the facility to make it easy for travelers.”

“Let me guess,” I said, shaking my head slightly. “Whatever government representative you’re working with doesn’t want any portals near populated areas and wants the ones leading to other planets locked behind…something,” I said, unable to think of any mundane material that would stand even a fraction of a chance against someone of a higher tier.

“Not quite. Our primary contact in your government wants to control the portals, claiming it’s a matter of national security.” Stella rolled her eyes. “Like that’s going to matter in a couple of years.” She released a deep breath and flicked her hand dismissively. “Anyway, the compromise was allowing a few awakened government agents to observe and ‘guard’ the area. For our safety.” The last part was added with a scoff.

“So, this is the site of the interplanetary portal, the one that will connect to other planets?” I asked, looking more closely at the inscriptions being carefully added to the massive crystal platform. I didn’t remember seeing a crystal platform when I left Earth, but it was probably covered to hide the enchantments by then.

“It is,” the Space Mage said, pleased with my insight. “Did you know that aside from creating spatial devices, Portology is the most common field for those with strong Space affinities? I’m sure you can understand why.”

I nodded. It made sense since Space Mages could charge and activate most of the needed reagents without requiring external energy sources. However, few complicated enchantments relied solely on one mana type, so I knew other affinities would also be involved.

As if reading my thoughts, Stella continued, “While not all Portologists have a Space affinity, I’d estimate more than half do. Many of the stronger Arcane specialists also find their way into the field, though there are so few with a score over fifty that they only make up a few percent of our total number.”

Sensing my curiosity, Lisa enlightened me on several ways an Arcane affinity would be useful in creating, modifying, and cultivating rifts, as well as the benefits of using the mana type for permanent portals. While Arcane mana wasn’t specifically required, it generally bypassed some of the limitations other mana types would create, ultimately producing more stable connections.

It was a particularly important feature for portals connecting different planets.

“I was going to start by having you watch and learn as the others created the base for this portal since it’ll be the only one of its kind in North America, but since you’re a week late—” she gave me a mild glare, “—you’ll have to wait and observe the next one in a couple of months. This is the only team qualified to work on inter-planetary portals. The rest are building the simpler, local portals.”

Stella motioned for me to step closer before teleporting us to a new location. Instead of a stadium-sized facility, we’d arrived in one the size of a warehouse. A much smaller group was present, and all of them appeared to be involved in the portal-building process. I didn’t see any government personnel standing around.

“Oh, good. You’re early,” an older man said with a smile when he noticed us. He was dressed like a normal person from Earth, wearing simple slacks and a collared shirt. On the surface, he’d blend in well with the local population, but I could sense the strength of the energy within him. It wasn’t quite on the level of Rhona, but he was obviously stronger than Stella. It made me wonder how Stella was presumably in charge of the project.

Then I remembered that Stella was the daughter of a noble.

“Enchanter Aperon, this is Emie Mercer,” Stella said, introducing us.

“Oh! The first native to awaken! How exciting!” the older Enchanter said with a grin as he shook my hand. “I’ve heard all about you. Let’s get started so I can see how much of what I heard was true!”

The older man immediately began calling out instructions, drawing an instant response from the workers nearby. Everyone rushed to follow the man’s directions, including Stella, much to my surprise. For some reason, I’d expected her to observe and supervise instead of being part of the portal-building process.

“I heard you reached Advanced Enchanting already,” the man commented as he examined me critically. “That’s pretty impressive, given the situation and your lack of formal education.”

I nodded. “I only reached the Advanced stage after assimilating the augments. They provided a pretty significant boost,” I said, minimizing. The truth was that I was already close to the threshold and had intentionally avoided using techniques that would push me into the next stage, knowing it would be nearly impossible to explain with less than two years of experience.

“Still, that’s quite an impressive feat,” the man said approvingly. “No wonder Mage Stella wanted to include you in our project. For now, I want you to craft Espiron bases. We’ll be building the portals modularly, so you’ll have quite a few to prepare. Use any of the free workstations. The material is kept in [Stasis] storage cabinets along the south wall.”

Using the information gained via the augment, Lisa manifested a blueprint for the portion of the portal I was responsible for. After taking a few minutes to collect the needed material, I picked the closest empty workstation and got started.

Learning local portals could be created modularly was a surprise until Lisa shared the relevant information contained within the augment. It was impossible for me to contain all the information within my fleshy brain, especially at such a low tier. When I reached Tier Four again, things would be much different.

= = =

“Alright,” Stella started, drawing my attention as I finished the base I was working on. “It’s time for lunch. Afterward, I’m supposed to run you through the basics of setting up and maintaining rifts. I know the augment covers the process, but Rhona thought it would be good to go through it with you since you’ll likely be involved with creating training rifts during the initial transition.”

I wasn’t really surprised that would be part of my responsibility, given my ability to teleport and the fact that the information was included in the augment I’d purchased. Still, I’d expected the training to come later, not my very first day on the new project.

“Is there a reason we aren’t waiting until my lesson on Saturday?” I asked.

Stella nodded. “I won’t be there. Since it’s a holiday weekend, I’m starting my vacation as soon as we finish Friday. Rhona will likely ask you to add another LT1 rift to the training area being developed, so we might as well cover it now.”

Lunches with Stella were awesome, if only because we often traveled to exotic locations for our meals. I usually managed to add a few new recipes to my MealMaker with each trip.

As I enjoyed the authentic Indian meal, Stella sent a file to my interface. “What’s this?”

“That’s a copy of the current rifts, along with their resource management data. I also included estimates pertaining to the reintegration so you know what will be needed. That way, you can create rifts that will fill anticipated demands.”

I opened my mouth to ask how I would manage such a thing, but Lisa was a step ahead of me. The information swiftly flowed into my mind, answering my questions before I’d voiced them. With a quick mental nod of thanks to my interface assistant, I asked, “So, where should we start?”

Stella smirked. “Where do you think?”

I looked over the material she’d sent, noting several anticipated shortcomings. The most prominent were in Metal and Nature. Metal would be needed for a plethora of weapons and devices, while Nature would be necessary to aid in food growth.

I was surprised there weren’t more Time resources since creating [Stasis] storage was immensely helpful in reducing spoilage and waste. Then again, beating the occasional mob with Time magic was an absolute pain. I could see why it wouldn’t be a popular elemental focus. Having a whole rift dedicated to Time magic would be insanely difficult for most parties.

When I voiced my thoughts, Stella grinned. “Both types of materials will be needed, but don’t get focused on mana-type to the exclusion of everything else. Having a creature or environmental focus can be just as useful for training and resources. Not giving a rift an elemental focus often yields better overall results. Variety matters.”

When we arrived at the next location, which happened to be a massive underground cavern, Stella withdrew several items from her storage ring. “These are prepared formation markers for rift creation. The overall formation has been standardized, meaning they are available for purchase if you know where to look. Of course, that doesn’t stop you from designing your own from scratch if you want.”

The Space Mage laid the thin wooden plates in a rough circle before placing thin poles vertically around the perimeter. The area was well-lit by mounted manatech light fixtures, and there was a gentle breeze through the space, making it clear several enchantments were being used.

“You probably already know this, but the part that controls the makeup of the rift is called the control plate. The runes used, materials added, and intent of the creator are all equally important in how the rift manifests…”

I listened as the young-looking woman covered the basics of rift creation and design, though I’d already learned most of the information through the augment. Aside from the lone guard standing near the swirling green mana that represented a nearby rift, we were alone in the huge underground space. I briefly wondered what state, or even country, we were in. I could easily check, but didn’t want to get too distracted.

We created and dispersed six rifts before Stella deemed the outcome acceptable. She had me create all but the first one, displaying the variability caused by small changes in my mental imagery and intent during the creation process. It was enlightening, though it also took the entirety of my mana pool for each manifestation.

Thankfully, Stella brought mana potions to recover my spent resources.

By the end of the day, I felt fully capable of creating LT1 rifts – provided I had the proper formation markers to use. Thankfully, Stella gave me a set to use when I was tasked with creating new rifts. I enjoyed the process, so I hoped it would be something I was tasked with often.