1.87: Another Portal
Ethan eyed the portal for a second as mumbles spread out around them. "Well… no clue. But we survived this part, so I'm sure we can figure it out."
Over the next few minutes, Ethan caught up with the team, but he often found himself looking back toward the portal, and clearly, he wasn't the only one. Every one of them kept stealing glances at the supposed exit. Some worried that the portal might be another set of harrowing trials, and some were afraid that it would get them back home, where they'd have to confront whatever was waiting out for them.
Surprisingly, even Ember was a bit apprehensive as she stared past him at the portal, paws hanging limply as she had resigned herself to being held by Amelie. Ethan had asked her if she wanted to be let go, but the cat completely ignored him before she gave voice to her own concerns.
"[That portal might take us to your world. Taking me further away from my home. While I can rely on myself away from my clan, I do wish for the possibility of going home. Eventually.]"
Ethan looked up from his new Arcanum's menu. "Can your clan not summon you back?"
Ember flicked her ears"[I don't even know how those lizardling things even managed to summon me in the first place. Well, it was an accident and I got here instead of a drake, but even that shouldn't be at the disposal of such weak creatures. So I really don't know…]"
Ethan glanced once more at the blue and purple gateway hovering a dozen yards or so away. "Hey. You're welcome to hang around until we figure out a way for you to go home. If you want. I guess we'll figure something out. In the meantime, I'm sure we can find a lot for you to do," he said as grinned down at her.
Ember glared up at him, ears flicking, then hopped off of Amelie's loose grip and began trudging toward the portal before she sat down and stared up at it.
More and more people were drifting closer, and he realized a few of them were looking at him. waiting to see what he would do. But just in case trouble waited for them out, Ethan wanted to finish upgrading his new Arcanum and in the end, he managed to raise it all the way up to tier-3, and raised his spellform capacity up to 3 before he ran out of fragments.
3300 fragments. Now I just need to raise the spellform bonus and get my hands on a few more spellforms, he thought. He took a deep breath, then stepped toward the portal.
It was time.
From across the small clearing, Diego got up, and Amanda walked with him, soon followed by the older man with the club, the coach, and quite a few people Ethan hadn't seen before, until there was a small crowd surrounding the gateway.
A hundred and fifty? Two hundred, maybe?
He couldn't tell exactly how many were around. But it was nice to see that most had high levels, aside from a small group of harried men and women that Ethan assumed had been from the higher camp. Shockingly, their levels were still in the thirties. A few still in their twenties, even.
Ethan looked away and found himself staring at the exit. He hoped Luther had gotten some good levels as well. If this has been a tutorial, then Earth was likely not that much better than this place, and everyone had to be ready.
After telling everyone present to wait a minute before they went in, Ethan walked through the blue and purple lights with Ember on his shoulders and once more, the odd magic grabbed him by the navel before it pulled him through the space between worlds.
***
One moment he was in the underground cave, illuminated by crackling fire and blue mushrooms, and the next moment Ethan was standing in an empty parking lot, under a bright, almost blinding afternoon sun. Up ahead, he could see the store he used to work in, covered by overgrown vines. At least, what remained of it.
A good chunk of it had been carved through, as if something had scooped out a portion of the sidewalk, the store, and then just… vaporized them. Wild vegetation was covering a lot of the surrounding buildings, with roots cracking through the stone and forcing their way out of the ground. Wherever he looked, Ethan felt that years, maybe even decades had passed since he'd been teleported away.
What the hell happened here? We were gone for like a week. And why… why does it feel like this?
The air felt heavy. Pressuring. Almost…as if he had the riftcore in his hands.
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Ethan frowned. Mana?
"[This place smells.]"
Ethan glanced down at the cat at his feet. Ember was alert, peering around, but before he could respond, a large prompt popped in front of him.
Congratulations on completing the initiation tutorial. Future integration steps will be disclosed once the first tier-3 pylon of your world has been established and for now, no new quests will be issued.
As your world adapts to the heightened levels of mana, more and more rifts will spawn. Unclaimed rifts can release the creatures spawned within into the world, threatening the territories in which they appear. For this reason, it is recommended that all settlements monitor the levels of mana at all times and be prepared whenever a higher threshold is reached.
Eventually, the mana levels will stabilize, but it is not possible to know the limit at this point in time. It is of the utmost importance to keep improving and preparing for the next threshold. A high-tier rift, unchallenged, can lead to catastrophic losses. Good luck.
Ethan quickly read through the text, and no sooner had he finished than a second prompt arrived.
As the highest level participant of your group, you will be awarded a tier-1 pylon.
As the owner of a pylon, you will have access to multiple system-assisted features to rebuild, protect, and enrich your territory.
Once activated, a pylon cannot be moved. If captured, the upgrades, resources, and unlocked features could be salvaged by the captor. If destroyed, all of the pylon's content will be lost.
There was a pulse in the air around him, then a clatter. Ethan looked down to find a small, black box with silver filigree on the ground in front of him. It was tiny, almost the size of a ring box. Ethan picked it up and turned it around in his hand, and quickly realized there was no opening he could see. And unlike spellcores or primagems, he wasn't getting an offer to absorb it. But he did get a prompt.
Do you wish to activate the pylon?
Ethan dismissed the prompt and leaned down to safely tuck the pylon into the pouch, but as he tried to put it away, the box refused to get in.
Huh?
"[What is that?]"
Ethan looked down. "A pylon. Do you know about them?"
Ember tilted her head. "[No clue,]" she said, peering past him. "[Something's coming.]"
Forms began appearing around him. First, Amelie and Audrey, soon followed by Liz, Gerald, and over the next few seconds, everyone else. They all landed, blinking around with their hands above their eyes.
Ember didn't look at them. She was still staring down the street, and when Ethan followed her gaze, he noticed the large gray and black shape coming into view. And he wasn't the only one who noticed it. Liz already had her crossbow raised, and Amanda's golden eyes were training on the creature but she didn't pay it any mind.
A lamp post crashed down as the wide, fat, raccoon-looking monster ambled itself toward them, breaking off the already deformed pole, and the clatter broke through the chatter as all those who hadn't noticed it whirled in a panic. It bared its teeth, eyes glowing red as a thread of white-saliva dribbled out of its mouth.
[Raging Raccoon (I) - Level 64]
Raccoon? That thing's larger than a freaking bear…
Ethan's eyes followed the creature, unimpressed, but he did raise a brow when he saw how fast the people around him were reacting now that they knew a threat was around. The highe-level individuals moved up while the others retreated and impressively, most quickly fell into formation as the creature growled in its throat, approaching the humans who had encroached on its territory.
Then it finally saw him, and its advance halted.
The parking lot went quiet as the monster seemed to hesitate when it realized it might not be the strongest around, but a few levels were not enough to dissuade it. The oversized raccoon shook its head and snarled, and its eyes grew brighter while its fur stood up on end.
It didn't care about the others anymore. It didn't even look at them as they backed away. Seemingly, what had begun as an opportunistic meal had now turned into a territorial challenge and so, Ethan began charging three fireballs atop of his horns, igniting the bronze scales as the air began warping around his form.
These should be an interesting couple of days.