Dark vengeful winds of frozen cotton filled the just recently barren sky. Shadows were cast against the tide of monsters, as if their time in the light was coming to an end. Pebbles of water were the first to fall free. They, while not heavy in structure, carried the weight of the oncoming storm. Clouds twisted together, highlighted against the bright sun above. As more and more clouds spilled onto themselves, the shadows darkened, and the air chilled.

The temperature drop was eerie. A single mage, and his bonded partner, shook the hibernating trees, shifting their branches with the force of a natural disaster. The trees creaked with the winds as if they were screaming out in pain. Snow and slush were kicked up, elevating into the air before mana caught up. Heat pulled the now water back to the ground, where it was forced to evaporate.

The fallen snow was the first to go, melting and rejoining forces high in the sky. This took concentrated effort, as the evaporated water tended to freeze and fall. But two mages with high levels in Water Manipulation could handle something of this caliber. The only question for the pair was mana. But as the first few real shards of hail fell, the spell was already as good as complete.

Max had thought long and hard about the perpetual rains he summoned over a small village so long ago. He was told repeatedly that the spell simply didn’t work without mage intervention, but in this moment, he was going to prove them wrong. At least, somewhat. An infinite rain worked because the water could keep the ground warm enough to promote evaporation and moisture. Hail inside a blizzard would only be self-sustainable while the ground wasn’t super chilled.

A single dagger of ice whistled by, the first of many to come. It sliced into the thigh of a fox-hippo monster, causing a thick line of green blood to ooze into the ground. Its howl was muted by the wicked winds, but the pain was evident. An arrow dashed by, an orange trail of electricity in its wake. It collided with the fox-hippo, ending its life.

“Alright, Celenia, your turn.” Max peered through the transparent floor of an Immovable Platform. “Be ready Reep! They spotted us!”

Celenia was seated with her legs crossed. Her eyes were vagally glowing, a grey-green color which seemed to reflect the above clouds. Far below, the ground buckled. Dirt stricken ropes of root revealed themselves, moving with high speeds. They wove together in rushed formations, creating a prison courtyard.

As Celenia’s breath trembled, Max gently tipped mana potions down her throat just as she had done moments ago for him. He held her softly, just enough to let her know he was still with her but not enough to get in the way. Roots continued to move as the fungus realized something was wrong. It made haste, moving its minions away. Reep took care of the furthest in-the-back monsters, ripping holes into torsos or shucking eyes out of sockets. Her arrows flew in rapid succession and with pin-point accuracy. Mid-flight, the arrows split, scattering electricity into the masses.

It was times like this Max and Emi felt in awe for their teammate. Reep was the highest level on the Humble Titans and worked almost every waking hour to better her craft. Max, even with all his advantages, couldn’t compare to the level of ferocity her arrows attacked with. None of his spells even came close to the power hers could. It was inspiring.

Six arrows struck into a star formation around the biggest gap in the root weave. Monsters barreled through, only for Reep to activate the construct. She called it Lightning Pentagram, her first signature spell. It was a culmination of a standard Lightning Rod spell and expertise in archery. The center arrow exploded with current, bouncing between the other five in rapid succession. The electricity maintained itself with mana, continuing to bounce where natural lightning would fade.

The monsters inside were quickly fried, crisping into a black charcoal. Sweat poured off Celenia, her head wobbled as the mana fatigue took effect. With a final push of mana, the roots found their resting place. Most of the area around the northern gate dome was sealed off by the roots. Gaps existed, but none large enough for most of the monsters. Celenia’s eyes spun as Max helped her to stand. This time he held on to her a bit more strongly, which she leaned into with a smile.

“You two move back into the pocket, we’ll finalize our spell and move back into Lesterwood.” Max had to raise his voice to carry over the harsh winds. Reep nodded, firing off one last arrow at a pack of flame monsters swirling a ranged attack. The fungus changed tactics as it learned it couldn’t escape.

Spells of all sorts began to surface. Primal magic, as Max had come to learn, was inaccurate but very powerful. Emi was a prime example of that. Without their bonded tether, Emi would be just another normal monster. Maybe, if she lived into adulthood, she would be able to communicate, but most monsters below were nowhere her level of natural intelligence. Beams and projectiles of various types of magic lit up the sky. Hundreds of attacks were fired off into the air, tracing the Lost Lord as he moved.

He teleported around, only stopping to take a second or two to flutter his remaining mana into the air. Once a single monster spotted him, they all turned and fired. Emi dumped the remainder of her mana into the air, slowly as to not disrupt the mana already circulating. Daggers began to fall, along with balls of ice. They began to pelt the beings below, slicing or blunting into the bunch.

Max tsked, It’s not going to be an infinite storm, we are going to have to bolster it every now and then.

Emi followed the raining ice. Monsters were dying, fast. Not unless all of the monsters die quickly.

Max stepped up on a vantage point of the northern wall. Around him people stopped and stared, but he ignored it. Maybe, but this is only one section of Lesterwood. Do you think we can move the storm?

Emi grumbled over the idea. She was tired, he was tired. They were both out of mana, and Max, particularly, needed sleep. I don’t think so. At least, not today. She replied.

Hmm. Max teleported high above Lesterwood, past the storm into open sky. The air was thin, much thinner than he was comfortable with. Far away, past the clouds and beyond the forest, a particular seem of trees laid. They looked broken and cragged, as if a fire warped each trunk and branch. The trees were bigger than that of the kind near Lesterwood. They were more akin to the breeds around Esmel. Stomping through the broken husks, four bears casually walked.

Max folded space in front of his left eye, activating a spell he had learned a few hours prior.

Magnified Eyes (Common):

Bend space in a small area, allowing for far things to seem close.

15 mana per thirty seconds.

Two young cubs, about the size of two full sized elephants, and two parents, both bigger than the Mage Guild in Lesterwood. Their movement was odd. It was if they were trying to move with the least effort possible. Short, flat movements, rather than long hasted strides normally accompanied with beings of such size. It would be a few hours until they reached Lesterwood Max estimated.

Max arrived in his room of the mansion. The white walled room mixed with the warm and inviting bed seemed to mock him as he created a ripple of space. He and Emi stepped into the Pocket World for the first real time. Upon entry, the world seemed to expand. It was as if someone pulled back a curtain that led into the jungle. But instead of a tree and green, the pocket was bleak and lonesome.

Cross hatched markings were the only identifiable ‘land mass’ in the whole pocket. A staircase of markings led down into an area that bent. The wall-floors slowly climbed up and around, looping into a perfect sphere. Celenia and Reep were standing at the last step, but Max investigated the light source and door at the top. Light was a spectrum of colorful ways. He edited the world, changing what was allowed to enter…

Light began to shift in the pocket, the normal ‘white’ light of the world dipped across the rainbow. Red, orange, yellow. Thinking to the future, Max was already crafting blueprints for a rune-remote to control the miniature world’s lighting. Not that he needed one, as he could change the light from anywhere. But who wouldn’t want a cool remote that can change the world!

But he tabled that for now. He was hungry, along with Emi and surely Celenia and Reep.

“Come on you two!” The girls were watching him with a hint of interest and seemed somewhat disappointed he stopped changing the light color. “Let’s go eat something.”

“Fish!” Emi shouted, breaking the tension.

The mansion was quite crowded. Most seats were taken, and the ones that weren’t were the hard wooden chairs. The kitchen was occupied by Belopi and a few elderly villagers. They were all moving around the ovens and stoves like a practiced kitchen staff. Some kneaded bread, rolled pastries, caramelized vegetables, stuffed turkey-like-poultry, and stirred pots. The smells came out in bulk, wafting through the kitchen and surrounding rooms with a fury.

Belopi went wide eyes when she spotted Celenia, ditching her cutting board, and dashing into a hug. Her daughter accepted and returned the gesture of love, reddening because of all of the eyes looking upon her. “I was so worried.” Belopi said.

“I’m okay, we’re okay.”

“Did- Did you fight off the monsters? Is the wave still attacking?”

Celenia shared a glance around with the others, “It is being contained, Icarus has his barrier-“

“But what about the ones that made it inside?” Belopi was speaking fast, as if she would forget her what to say.

“I don’t think any got in the city, if they did there would be a lot more guard activity in the streets.” Celenia and the others didn’t actually know if monsters made it in somehow. That, unfortunately, was one of the main draw backs of teleporting everywhere. Travel was instantaneous, which removed moving through the city.

“Who told you about the monsters in the city?” Max asked, taking a bite of overly ripe fruit.

“At the market, there were rumors!” A woman with a hunched back yelled from across the kitchen.

“You went to the market?” Celenia’s question was full of worry.

“Had to feed all of these people somehow. Some brought sacks of food, but not enough to last.”

“Alright, alright, I understand. But no more going out unless you have an escort. I don’t want any [Thieves] getting the wrong idea due to the circumstances.”

Max pushed in a few steps, “What did they say about the monsters?”

“It was… Weird. They spoke about a giant silver spider with a Human torso growing out of its back. It attacked from the air, wrapping victims in web and hanging them mid-air for later consumption!”

The tension broke, Max and Emi began to laugh. Belopi and the other elders in the room looked horrified. “That- That’s no monster- That’s Unlo-tous and- Clair!” Max eventually got out, through giggles.

“But what about the webbed victims?” Someone asked.

“Those are the real monsters, invisible and not from our world. Unlotous can see them, that’s what he’s attacking. Don’t worry.” Emi said.

“But- Then shouldn’t you be finding and killing them?” A man with brown spots across his skin asked.

“There is only a few people in the city that can see them. I happen to be one of them, but I am out of mana, hungry, and in need of rest.”

Max couldn’t be sure, but he thought he heard the old man grumble something of ‘today’s youth being lazy.’

“Look, these monsters only eat souls of the recently deceased. They are here because they think the monsters will break in and destroy the city. I’m trying to prevent that.”

“Why are you here and not out there then! If the city is going to fall, does your hunger truly matter?”

Max groaned, looking to Reep for help. She simply pointed out a window. “He made that.”

Her finger traced out to the hailstorm that was bombarding the main forces of the monster wave. The man didn’t respond and got back to slicing a thick slab of meat. The gesture remined Max to check his notifications.

Congratulations you have learned the spell Create Snowstorm (Rare):

Channeling

Creates a cloud to drop snow on a designated location.

Be warned, many places and things will act negatively to sudden large amounts of snow and water.

Congratulations, Create Snowstorm has branched into Create Blizzard (Rare):

Channeling

Creates clouds and winds to pour snow on a designated location.

Be warned, many places and things will act negatively to sudden large amounts of snow and water.

Congratulations, Create Snowstorm has branched into Create Hailstorm (Rare):

Channeling

Creates clouds and winds to pour hail on a designated location.

Be warned, many places and things will act negatively to sudden large amounts of snow and water.

As Max shoveled meat and vegetables into his mouth, he wrote through a checklist of potential items his Pocket World could use. First was a base. Dirt and grass were the obvious two, good thing he knew a prospecting [Druid] who could help with that. Next was somewhere to sit. This caused quite a bit of back and forth with Emi. While she ate a steamed fish, she spoke to Max through their bond. As it turned out, speaking through a mental connection was easier to do when eating than talking.

Emi wanted a palace. And while Max agreed that that would be awesome, he couldn’t realistically figure out how a palace would fit into his economic budget. He had money, but not enough for massive constructs. In the end, it was decided a set of couches would be a reasonable short-term solution for the palace problem. Emi did, however, mention that she would settle for a mansion like Lester’s, which caused Max to chuckle.

Max’s list of amenities quickly turned into a sheet of gardening contraptions. If the pocket was going to have grass, it would need to be cut. But how does one feasibly cut a few hundred football field’s worth of grass without lawn mowers? Max came up with a runic formula that controlled a simple spinning blade, which would travel the length of the pocket slicing grass. It would need more fine tuning, mainly for safety, but it looked sound to him. He decided he would give it to Elliot for commission, hopefully helping the young [Artificer] get own shop one day.

Eventually, Max finished eating and fell down the rabbit hole of rune crafting. His problem was all about the grass. He needed a rain system, which he could easily do, but how would that drain? It would be too moist if he simply evaporated the extra water, and too slow if funneled it somewhere else. An idea was slowly forming about a mass of water, just above the entrance, but a golden owl had formed.

Max always loved watching Icarus form. Stealing light sources to create a body was mesmerizing. The slow build up, from perch to beak, was a nice touch. He often wondered how much was simply for show versus practical. But the bird and his partner were [Illusionists], so Max figured it was a bit of both. Maybe the light show was a cover for the time it took for Icarus to transfer his consciousness around the city? But that asked the question, where was Icarus’s true body?

“Max, we have a situation.” Icarus finally said. His beak flapped open and closed with his words, but the sound didn’t seem to come from them.

“My mana is not quite full, and I can’t drink anymore potions otherwise I’ll be mana poisoned. If it’s the storm, I can bolster it but I can’t move it.” The journal Max was writing on disappeared. Reep and Celenia, who were both resting their eyes, leaned up to listen to the conversation. Emi was still tackling the fish, she always got slowed down when eating the bones.

“Seetrin is here and is asking for you. More specifically, you and Emi.”

A breath passed, everyone had Icarus’s full attention. “Where?”

“Southern gate.” Emi moved to Max, jumping on to his shoulder and ignoring the squishiness of his magical arm. “You must ask her for help. Please, the bears are not slowing down, and we have heard nothing back from any of the [Druids].”

Celenia’s throat clenched. She had looked for her master earlier in the day but found nothing. If Icarus couldn’t even find her…

“I understand. Anything else?” Max asked almost subdued, conclusions forming in his own mind about the [Druids].

“Good work on the storm. A spell worthy of your title.” He turned to the others, “Well done with the trap. The roots and the lightning star are excellent accomplishments for your age.” Icarus faded away.

Max looked to Emi, then to Celenia. “She’s going to be fine.” He turned his serious face into a smile, “Do you two want to come meet the Unicorn Legendary Beast, Seetrin?”

Celenia forced a smile.