The convoy came to a stop at a place colloquially known as Middlepoint, since it was halfway between Caeli and Fernsdale. Zach was pleasantly surprised to see three long buildings with cobblestone foundations. Located around the buildings were carts and tents belonging to other people.

“These are the Middlepoint Inns. They make a killing off of the merchants traveling between Caeli and Fernsdale,” Lydia explained. “Fortunately they are owned by separate people, so their competition keeps the prices relatively low. But most people just camp outside anyway. C’mmon my little baggage carrier. Help me set up the tent and we can go practice the magic you just learned.”

Hearing the words ‘practice’ and ‘magic’ in the same sentence, Zach nodded eagerly and helped Lydia set up her tent. Then she pulled out a second one for Zach and helped him set it up. By his modern standards, the tents were utter trash--too thin, not waterproof, and too small--but they would have to do.

Afterward, he and Lydia walked into the forest, finding a place where they wouldn’t be disturbed. The sun would be going down soon, so it would be hard to see where they were walking on the way back, but conversely he would also be able to see his magic better.

“Alright, Zach. Switch to the water element and draw a spell. You might not have as much affinity towards it, but it will be much safer than using the fire element.”

“Um. How do you switch elements?”

He had only ever used fire mana before.

Lydia shrugged. “Try to feel the energy inside of you. It should be instinctual. The stronger your affinity is towards an element, the stronger the connection should feel.”

Zach closed his eyes and imagined himself looking through his body. After a while, he frowned inwardly. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t sense anything.

“What should it feel like?” he asked.

“I don’t know. It’s indescribable, like trying to describe color to a blind person. Just keep looking, you will know it when you feel it.”

Zach kept looking. He felt every nerve ending from his head to his toe but it was all normal. The only thing abnormal he could feel was his stomach growling.

‘Shut up! I fed you earlier!’ he sighed. ‘This isn’t working. You’d think I would be able to sense the difference since I’ve lived my whole life without magic, but right now I feel nothing. There’s nothing extra in the air or my body. It’s exactly the same. Maybe I’ll feel it when I activate a skill.’

He activated his skill [Candle] and a bright flame appeared on his fingertips. He sensed around that area for anything abnormal while simultaneously keeping an eye on his mana bar.

He was so absorbed he didn’t hear Lydia gasp.

‘He can channel so much mana into a manifestation that it becomes solid!?’ she thought with quivering eyes. ‘Not very many mages can do that. His affinity with the fire element must be really strong.’

Zach canceled the skill. He sighed inwardly. Of course, he couldn’t sense anything even while using such a mana intensive skill.

‘I’ll have to try something else,’ he thought.

The same way Zach used one of his skills, by ‘desiring’ to have the skill happen, he tried switching to a new type of mana. He ‘desired’ for it to happen.

He brought his hands forward. Instead of the orange light of the fire element, a dark blue light appeared!

“Well done,” Lydia clapped her hands. “I knew you could do it, although it took you a while.”

Zach nervously scratched the back of his head. “Y-Yeah.”

“Now let’s get on to the real magic practice. Here’s what I want you to do. Draw a circle and imagine it is a clock face. Draw a straight line between one o’clock and seven o’clock. Cast the spell. Draw a circle again, but then draw the line from two to eight, and cast the spell. Do it again from three to nine and so on. Repeat until you get to six o’clock and watch how each spell changes.

“But aren’t you going to teach me what is happening and how it works?”

“No. I quizzed you on your math knowledge earlier. In fact, you already have all the knowledge and terminology to describe spell casting. Linear spell formula is the easiest type of spell to understand. Instead, I want you to make your own observations and I’ll correct you if needed. Does that sound good?”

“Okay,” Zach agreed. “But what does my math knowledge have to do with spell casting?”

“Everything. Please start.”

He drew the circle right away, drawing a straight line from one to seven. Then he spread his fingers. Instead of floating away like a manifestation, the lines collapsed into the center, forming what looked like a blob of glowing blue light. But it only lasted for a moment, the blob dimmed and became more realistic, appearing more like water, before shooting out and splashing against a tree.

‘Woah!’ he thought with wide eyes.

He redrew the circle again, this time placing the line across two and eight, like Lydia had instructed, and spread his fingers. The same thing happened, only the blob was brighter and had more of an egg shape, rather than being a perfect sphere.

Once again he drew another circle, this time drawing a horizontal line. When he spread his fingers the resulting water blob was even brighter and was shaped more like a skinny bottle.

The next spell was brighter yet, and was more like a slowly moving arrow. When it hit a tree, blue light splashed out on the other side.

The next spell didn’t look much like water at all. The consistency and brightness was identical to a line manifestation and the resulting ‘blob’ was no longer a blob, but a spear. It passed through trees, bushes, and branches and kept flying, slowly losing color with each object it passed through and finally dissipating after a long distance.

The last spell Zach drew was one with a vertical line going between twelve and six o’clock. Finishing it used up the last few points of his mana. When he spread his fingers the resulting spell was much different than what he saw before. The circle collapsed before spreading out in a cone shape, getting bigger as it expanded but also dissipating at an equal rate too.

Lydia clapped.

“Nice job, that last one was perfect. It’s known as the jamming spell, one of the four ultimate defensive spells.”

“Oh, cool! I learned a powerful spell already?!” he exclaimed, then raised an eyebrow. “But I thought I was drawing offensive magic, not defensive. What gives?”

Lydia nodded. “Yes, spells with circular spell boundaries are considered offensive spells, but there are always exceptions. That third spell you cast, the horizontal line with zero slope, should have produced a very different effect, but since you didn’t draw it perfectly it resulted in a normal linear spell. That’s fine for now, since you’re new. It’s hard to draw lines that are perfectly horizontal or vertical, especially in higher stress situations.

“Alright, back to the lesson. What did you observe from your little experiment? Describe it to me without using the clock analogy.”

Zach made a flat face. “Well you practically gave it away when you said the word “slope.” And earlier you said math knowledge meant everything.”

Lydia winced. “Well, this is what I get for being a new teacher. Tell me what you understand anyway.”

He sighed and crossed his arms in thought. “Spell casting is like graphing math functions. What I’m doing right now, I’m just graphing lines in the air. And so far it seems like the slope of the line changes the effect of the spell. More positive means more blob-like and solid, or in the case of water mana, more liquid. The more negative the slope is, the more spear-like and less solid the spell will be. As for the vertical line, you can’t define the slope of a vertical line, so it produced the jamming spell.”

“Very good. You figured out almost everything I wanted you to figure out except for one thing,” Lydia paused for dramatic effect, “Each time you drew a line, you drew it through the center of the circle, the origin. What you didn’t realize is that the x-intercept and the y-intercept affect the spell as well, changing the speed and path the spell takes after it is cast.”

Zach’s eyes widened as he truly realized how complex the spell was. He was only drawing a single line, yet he could draw that line any of hundreds of different ways producing just as many different variations of the same spell. Not to mention vertical lines and horizontal lines, which were two different spells altogether.

“Linear spells alone are super flexible,” he said in amazement. “What about quadratics, square roots, or exponentials?”

Lydia laughed. “I don’t know what your country is like, Zach, to have such knowledge of math yet not knowing magic. I really hit the jackpot. I don’t regret for a second, meeting you in that alleyway.

“Don’t worry about the other spells. You’ve already made astounding progress. For now, train just this spell until you get used to it. If you ever want to graduate from being my apprentice, you’ll need to become a fully fledged mage yourself, and there are a whole bunch of requirements for that.

“For one, you’ll need to be able to cast spells with both your hands at the same time… perfectly.”

Zach blinked. “What.”

Lydia nodded sagely. “Dual casting is one of the minimum requirements, so starting tomorrow, you will practice drawing circles with your right hand, your left hand, and both of them at the same time. Don’t forget to keep in mind those three things I told you earlier: straight lines, mana density, and perfect spell boundaries. It’ll take some practice, but eventually you will be able to draw circles like a real mage. What do you think?”

“I think magic is both more complex and simpler than I initially thought. Is there anything else I need to know?”

“Hmm. Ah, yes! Expert mages can draw their spell circle in any size, making them smaller to save their mana or bigger to increase the power of their spells. You will practice that too.”

Zach let out a nervous chuckle. It seemed he was in for the long haul.

Paul and the other seven people sat around the fire in discomfort. The sun was going down and they weren’t prepared for the night. He pulled the thin lab coat even more tightly around him, but it wasn’t helping. Somebody’s stomach grumbled, probably his.

Beaumont cleared his throat. “Alright team. We can’t move now, but let’s organize a scavenging party for tomorrow. Any volunteers?”

Everyone raised their hands.

Ross chuckled. “You know, guys, one of us has to stay by the portal in case it opens.”

“Like you’re one to talk. You’re the botanist. You have to go. The unlucky soul who stays behind will have to wait for an unknown amount of time for their meal.”

“Beaumont, sir. I’m hungry now. I don’t care if I have to look in the dark.”

“How long are we going to stay here anyway?”

“Until the portal opens or someone on Earth figures out how to open it, of course.”

“But what if it never opens?”

There was silence and then suddenly the camp erupted into argument. The fact that such a grim possibility was, well… a possibility, was enough cause for argument. The optimists and the pessimists were at war, and Beaumont was working hard to calm everyone down.

Suddenly he realized there were nine pairs of boots instead of eight.

“Jambl, muy luke forler?”

All eyes turned to the man speaking gibberish. The camp went perfectly still.

The stranger repeated his question. “Muy luke forler? Grebe to verl ikvalibli?”

The camp continued to stare at the man dressed in dirty rags. His hair was long, but well groomed, and his face was clean. Even so, it was obvious that he wasn’t from the little town of Burlington, Colorado.

“Anyone understand him?” whispered Kim.

There was a collective “no” and head shaking from the group.

“I lived in France for some time… This aint French.”

“That’s very helpful,” came a sarcastic reply.

Finally Beaumont coughed twice into his fist. “Sorry, good sir. We don’t understand you. Do you understand us? English?”

The stranger sighed. “Grebe ikvalibli broten narl.” He pointed to the STA and looked at them with a serious gaze. “Blarten suk?”

“I think he’s trying to ask what the STA is.”

“Tell him to join the club.”

“That’s the thing we came through,” Beaumont said to the stranger, forming a stick man with his hands and making him walk across the air in between them. “We walked through on accident, then it closed,” he made a stopping motion with his other hand, “and now we can’t get back through.” He rapped on the barrier of the STA showing that the portal was solid.

After a moment the stranger made a face of realization, he talked to them again while pointing between them and the STA.

“Yes! Yes!” Beaumont said excitedly. “We came from out there into here.”

The two men conversed, neither one knowing what the other was saying. It was a blessing that body language was the universal form of language.

To Paul, watching them try to communicate was a beautiful sight that left him entranced. Then a realization popped into his head.

“Beaumont,” he said, “Do you think this is first contact?”

Beaumont chuckled. “If that’s the case, then congratulations, Kim.”

Kim raised an eyebrow. “Huh? Why?”

“You were the first person to say anything to an alien race! And your first words were, ‘anyone understand him?’ Hahaha!”

Kim blushed. The camp roared with laughter.

“Okay! Time to introduce ourselves,” Beaumont continued, then pointed at himself. “My name is Beaumont.”

Paul practically lurched forward. “My name is Paul.”

“My name is Fletcher.”

The group quickly introduced themselves to the stranger, who nodded with understanding.

“Glarme hutru vebemet Beaumont, Paul, Fletcher…” and he continued to point at and correctly name each person there.

“Damn. This guy is smart.”

There was another round of laughter.

Nodding to himself, the stranger suddenly called out into the woods.

A second man, this one also wearing rags, walked out of the forest toward where the other man was standing. This man had a white beard, and appeared to be older. Fletcher relaxed his grip when he saw that neither of them were armed.

“Vetrice,” the first stranger said while pointing at himself. “Namile,” he said while pointing at the old man.

“Vetrice and Namile, it’s nice to meet you,” Beaumont smiled.

Due to the time difference, Earth had finally registered there was a stranger amongst the group, not to mention two. Kim was once again occupied with the task of communicating through the barrier. Paul, Beaumont, and the others had the luxury of engaging in first contact.

They started with naming the items sitting around them, things like fire, sticks, rocks, trees, birds, and each other. Then they tried numbers, counting fingers and drawing in the dirt. After that they quickly learned Namile and Vetrice’s ages were 340 and 29 respectively.

“340? We must have misheard. There’s no way he’s a day over sixty.”

“Says who? Have you forgotten where we are right now?”

“Yeah, man. We don’t even know if they’re human, like us.”

“Ask him again.”

Their conversation stretched on for hours. Even though they didn’t understand everything, their grasp of each other’s language progressed quickly. All worries of food and shelter were temporarily absent from their minds.

They felt like they could go on forever, talking to these two. But alas, it was not to be.

The bushes nearby trembled and a small mob of well dressed people shuffled into the clearing. Vetrice and Namile turned quiet and stood up. Together they moved in front of Beaumont’s group.

“Friends, please run,” Vetrice said carefully in meager English.

Beaumont’s gaze sharpened, sensing something amiss.

The members of the Hunter’s guild walked into the clearing. An object like the one they were looking for was standing ominously, like a gate to hell, behind a campfire and a group of ten people.

“What kind of strange clothing are they wearing?” a random hunter asked.

“Those other two aren’t much better,” said another, pointing at two men in rags.

The leader of the Hunters, a man named Aliph, stepped forward and addressed them. “Alright, this area is now under the control of the Hunter’s guild, and by extension, the military of Fernsdale. Everyone please step away from the instance dungeon and follow me. We need to question you.”

Suddenly the two men in rags stepped forward and planted their feet. One of them said something in gibberish and the ones in strange clothing moved backward.

“My apologies, mister,” said the old man. “Our new friends do not understand our language. And for other reasons, we can’t go with you.”

“And why the hell not?”

“Because anyone with magic powerful enough to cross space and distort time would make a valuable asset for the rebellion.” Then the old man rapidly moved his legs, sliding his feet across the ground and striking different positions. Glowing green mist suddenly rolled off his body.

Aliph gasped, “Chakra users! Take cover!”

Hands shot forward and drew white-colored dot manifestations, which promptly shot out toward the chakra user. The dots collided with the green mist and punched a few holes, but it was too late to disrupt the attack completely. Namile struck his final pose and kicked outward. The green mist wafted forward and took the form of a fanged beast, which tore the ground in front of it and displaced dirt like an enormous plow. Three Hunters in the line of fire were flung backward.

Aliph rolled to the side and shouted coded orders to his men. “Draw swords! Execute flowing river! Break root!”

With practiced efficiency, the Hunters readied their weapons and surrounded the camp like a river encompassing a boulder. The mages were already drawing their spells, even while running. Their left hand created a blank defensive formation and their right hand created a green, offensive one.

However, the other chakra user, a young man, had just completed his set of stances. Blue mist engulfed his body before tightening around him like a second skin. Suddenly he shot out with inhuman speed, covering the ground between him and the nearest mage. When he arrived, he delivered a series of targeted punches, one hand to the throat, the next hand to the sternum, and two punches to each bicep. Then Vetrice was gone in the blink of the eye, moving to the next mage and tearing him down in the same manner. The mages hit felt like they had been kicked by a horse. For many precious seconds they were unable to catch their breath or move their arms properly.

Suddenly Vetrice was struck by a dozen orange dot manifestations. The blue mist surrounding his body dissipated and he returned to normal speed.

Seeing this opportunity, Aliph cried out. “Cast!”

Mages on the other flank finished their spells, a single line of negative slope, and spread their fingers upon hearing the order. Their circles collapsed and white spears of the air element shot out. They arced through the air towards the depowered Vetrice with pin-point accuracy.

He dodged as best he could. Two of the five spears missed entirely. The other three hit his left knee, right hand, and grazed his rib cage. One of his legs was compromised but he kept moving. He threw his good fist at the next mage, who was quickly retreating. The punch turned into a grab and he pulled the weak mage by his expensive shirt, hitting him with his right elbow and knocking him out cold.

Before Aliph could tell his men to “cast again” a green tidal wave washed over the whole area. Namile had completed his second set of stances. A cylindrical stone wall sprouted up around the camp, cutting through the Hunters and separating half of them inside with him and Vetrice. As intended, Aliph was outside the wall and couldn’t order his men anymore.

Paul and the other earthlings were paralyzed with fear and wonder. Only Fletcher and Beaumont, the two soldiers, had an ounce of common sense at this point.

“Break down the wall, quickly! Get out! Get out! Do you want to be caught in this crossfire?! Move! Move! Move!”

Ross and Kim grabbed anything they could, a large branch, a rock, anything that would help them break the wall down faster.

Paul stole a glance at the battle. Namile had joined the mele. His hands hit accurately and his feet were constantly surrounded by strange green mist, which would occasionally move out and disrupt someone’s footing, or form blades and strike someone in the chest. Orange colored balls of light were flying everywhere.

Suddenly certain places along the wall turned green and melted like it was made of liquid. The men dressed in nice clothing rushed through the openings and drew more strange symbols in the air only for Namile to make the ground in front of them fold upward and hit them in the face.

Paul watched in dismay as several circles appeared in the air above Namile and rained giant ice spikes on his position. One went through his chest and he collapsed to the ground.

Paul’s eyes shifted to Vetrice, who was struggling to stay standing. He was like a juggernaut but Paul could see he had reached his limit.

His body moved on its own. He rushed toward Vetrice just as another volley of light was on its way.

“We’re through!” Beaumont shouted. “Everybody get out!”

The team from Earth clambered through the narrow opening and started running toward the forest.

Seeing them running, Aliph ordered his men to stop them. A round of magic spells surged through the air in their direction. Kim screamed as a fireball burned through his clothing. Donald collapsed while grabbing his bleeding leg which was severed at the mid calf. Finally, Fletcher and Beaumont pulled their triggers for the first time.

Aliph’s eyes trembled as his men suddenly started collapsing all around him. Instinctively he dropped to the ground and hid himself.

The sound of automatic gunfire was deafening… and terrifying.

At this moment, who was more alien?

Fletcher and Beaumont watched with careful eyes as many ran away in terror. Seeing their comrades fall so easily to those who didn’t even use magic shocked the Hunters to their core.

Suddenly, Beaumont noticed Paul and Vetrice had collapsed near each other. There was a dangerous amount of blood pouring from their wounds.

“Paul!” Beaumont rushed toward him and pressed a cloth to the wound. “Y-You freaking idiot. Why did you have to go and be the hero? We don’t know these people, or their conflicts. There was no reason to…” Suddenly Beaumont realized something. “Hey... Hey! Paul, stay with me buddy!” He started performing CPR on Paul’s chest. “Don’t do this to me! You’re the one that walked through the portal first! You need to... accept your… punishment.”

Tears started forming in Beaumont’s eyes. “All day we went without food, got very little sleep, and in general just had a very miserable time. C'mon! Hang in there! There’s still so much you need to do! You need to tell the world that you were the first one to get here!”

Someone placed a hand on his shoulder and Beaumont stopped pounding Paul’s chest. He looked up at the man who stopped him. Fletcher stared back with a sad look in his eyes and shook his head.

Beaumont covered his mouth and he sucked in a shuddering breath.

As if a cruel joke of fate, it was ten o’clock on Vera. The barrier blocking the STA went down.

[End Chapter 19]