I perk up, “What makes you say that?”

Maria leans back, “Your teleportation ability. It’s not a natural phenomenon. It’s evident that you’re interacting with the Mystical Energy World Stratum one way or another. Which, by definition, makes you an Awakened.”

“But I don’t have Mana?” I say with a raised eyebrow. That whole Stratum business was mentioned by Johnathan, but I have no clues what it is.

“You don’t have Mana now, but I believe you can unlock its use.” The Lockheart matriarch explains.

“Remember how I said that Mana was the easiest way to interact with the World Stratum?” Johnathan, who didn’t say a word since arriving in his mother’s office, explains. “It doesn’t mean that it is the only way. Your ability probably uses something completely different than Mana, so that’s why we can’t sense it.”

“My son is correct. I am glad to see that his education wasn’t a complete waste of time,” Maria says before focusing back on me and ignoring Johnathan’s wince. “Your ability is unique, but there are records of people who were in situations similar to yours. Not the same power, since these special abilities tend to be specific to the individual, but a similar situation. These people, due to their higher level of connexion with the World Stratum, can learn a ’lower level’ way of interacting with it. But it doesn’t work the other way.”

“I understand,” I say. There’s no point in demanding an explanation of that World Stratum business in detail since I wouldn’t understand anything.

“And it so happens that we have a couple of rituals in our records to help members of our family who have difficulty accessing their Mana,” Maria says. “Of course, access to this ritual is dependent on your acceptance of being a part of our organization.”

Of course, I’m going to accept! I didn’t risk my life to change my mind at the last moment.

“I will join,” I reply, making Maria nod with a faint smile.

“Good, then I’ll warn our enchanters.” The woman says before typing something on her laptop. “It will be ready in fifteen minutes. In the meantime, I believe that we should get you cleaned up.” She snaps her fingers, and a gust of strawberry-scented wind washed over me. All the dried blood and mud stuck to my clothes disappears without a trace, in a fashion oddly similar to how detergent commercials claim their products work. “Better,” she nods at my clean clothes. “But we can’t let you walk around wearing rags, so we’ll gift you a set of clothes and armor. You two, please go with him to the Armory. Give him an aspirant armor.”

“Yes!” the two brothers reply in unison before making a Tether appear out of thin air.

“Do we have to use the Bracers?” I whisper to Johnathan.

My friend gives me a knowing look, “The Armory is miles from here, there’s no way we can get to the enchanting rooms in time if we walk.”

I sigh, “How freaking big your house is?” I close my eyes as I touch the beam. Weirdly enough, I’m getting used to this insane method of transportation. Is it because I nearly died, and nothing can phase me anymore?

“We’re here,” Johnathan appears behind me closely followed by his brother. We are in a rather large room lit by a floating orb near the ceiling. The room itself is devoid of any furniture, but I doubt it’s supposed to be a room where people live. The walls are covered in black glossy metal, and one wall is home to the biggest armored door I ever saw. It’s large enough to let a semi-truck pass through it with ease, and it’s covered in glowing runes. There are two armored guards nearby and they eye me with a mix of suspicion and surprise.

Is it because I’m dressed like a soldier? Or is it because of the rifle?

“We’re here on the Matriarch’s orders,” Nathaniel says to the guards, who nodded before saying something in what I assume is the magical equivalent of a radio. The door hums before rumbling, and mechanical noises echo. Mechanisms turn and locks unlock as the door opens. My jaw drops, that door must be more than ten feet thick!

Nathaniel and Johnathan walk into the large corridor hidden behind that blast door, and I follow. There’s no way I can break inside the Armory, even if I wanted to. Sneaking in a drill with the Twilight World wouldn’t be too difficult, but something tells me that nothing short of high-power explosives could even put a scratch on that door. The Armory itself is organized, with multiple rooms lined up in the long corridor. Each room is further protected by smaller versions of the blast door.

“What’s here?” I point to the end of the corridor, which looks like another blast door.

“R&D Department,” Nathaniel explains. “You haven’t met them yet, but they are a bit special.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“They like explosions. A lot. Sometimes they have competitions to see who can make something explode the most.” Johnathan says with a wry smile. He must have noticed the twinkling in my eyes as I head towards the R&D Department since he grabs my shoulder. “Don’t. There are things in there that could melt you if you looked at it funny.”

“But—” I protest. I want explosions! These fellows must be men of culture, and—

“No.” Johnathan almost throws me into one of the small rooms. It’s a lot less exciting from the inside. Metallic shelves and lockers are lined against the wall along with a couple of framed mirrors. “Get some new clothes from a locker.” He says. “Don’t worry about size, they are adjustable.”

I grumble as I open one of the lockers. The clothes are of good quality, they have a metallic sheen to them even if they are as soft as silk. The set is comprised of a white shirt, black military-style pants, and a pair of sturdy boots. I glance at the two brothers before disappearing from their view.

***Welcome, Heir of the Twilight World.***

***Countdown: 00:25:07***

Why yes, I am using my power to travel between dimensions so I can change clothes in private. How could you tell?

I check myself out on the mirror once I’m done, and these clothes are better than anything I ever bought. They fit perfectly thanks to their ability to adjust to the wearer, and it feels like I’m wearing nothing at all. I then shove my old rags into my backpack before appearing back into reality.

“Here you are!” Johnathan is still surprised by my sudden appearance no matter how many times he saw me use the Twilight World. “You could have asked for us to turn around.”

I shrug, “It was faster this way. Now, what do I do?”

“You see these disks?” my friend points at the metallic disk lined up on a nearby shelf. “Grab one. That’s your armor, press it against your body and it will form.” My friend explains.

Liquid magical metal? That sounds amazing. But it also begs the question— Do the Lockheart have a secret T1000 hidden somewhere?

Nevertheless, I follow their instructions. The disk sticks to my clothes before covering my body. I look into a mirror, and I have to admit that this is rather cool looking. My entire body is covered in black armor similar to riot gear. However, the featureless full-face helmet is straight out of a sci-fi movie. I didn’t pay too much attention when I first saw Lockheart soldiers, but it looks awesome! A black visor covers my eyes while the general shape of my head is encased in the black material. Once again, I feel no discomfort and could forget that I’m even wearing armor.

“You can retract the helmet if you think about it,” Nathaniel explains. “It’s easier to breathe that way.” I nod and do as he says, even if I don’t feel any different once the helmet slides back into the rest of the armor.

“Do I get some awesome magical weapons?” I ask.

“Nope,” Johnathan answers. “We need to get you to your ritual first. We’ll see what you get once it's done.”

I click my tongue, “Fine.” I pick up my rifle and put on my holster. Now, where should I put my magazines? To my surprise, the armor changes its shapes to resemble my now destroyed plate carrier, with magazine pouches and all. Neat. I put back my magazines where they belong and follow the two brothers out of the Armory. The door slams shut, causing a miniature shockwave. The two guards hardly pay attention to us as Nathaniel pulls out the wand needed for the creation of Tethers.

“Ready?” he asks, and I nod before touching the beam. This time, I force my eyes to stay open. Blurry colors mingle with each other as we travel through that mansion at lightning speed. Isn’t that dangerous? What if we bump into someone, would they be turned into paste? And how big is this place? I’m starting to believe that the mansion is a cover-up for a Pocket Dimension. It would make sense when I think about it. Why bother with building huge structures when you can shove everything into a small ball in the middle of nowhere? Construct a shack, or in this case, a luxurious mansion, around it and nobody would notice!

The beam ends in front of a plain wooden door with chipped paint. There aren’t any special markings or pulsating energy. I cock my head to the side, did we get to the right place?

“Let’s go,” Johnathan pushes the door open, revealing a spacious circular room with no furniture. Two middle-aged men wearing long blue robes covered in ever-shifting runes raise their heads from the tablet in their hand. It seems that even wizards have embraced the digital age.

“It this the recruit?” one of the enchanters asks while focusing back on his tablet.

“He is,” my friend replies. “Is everything ready?”

“We’re calibrating the Crystals,” the other enchanter checks something on his device before shifting a — is that a Mana Crystal? I almost enter the Twilight World out of pure reflexes. There are three columns of blue stone, each thicker than my torso, arranged in a triangular pattern. It takes all of my energy to not drool at the sight. How many Twilight Points is one of these worth?

“And that should do it,” the second man turns towards us. “Let me run some check-ups and we will begin.” He then taps on his tablet before scanning the wooden flooring. Looking down reveals that runes carved on metal plates have been laid out very carefully while various geometric shapes have been drawn between them with orange dust that has a metallic sheen. The enchanter’s tablet beeps and he mutters something under his breath as he adjusts one of the runes until the beeping stops. “Okay, everything is good on my end,” he says to his colleague, who grunts before giving him a thumbs up.

“Then, shall we begin?” he gestures towards the center of the ritual. “Young man, please stand in there. It will only take a minute.” I look at the two brothers waiting behind me, who both nod.

Alright, here we go. I’m going to become a wizard. Just like that. Somehow, it feels a bit anticlimactic. I was expecting a ceremony, some weird artifacts, or a sketchy potion.

But I only got some dust and two old men.

I step into my designated spot and take one deep breath. My heart once again feels like it’s going to explode, and— “Ready?” the enchanter with the tablet asks, and I reply with a nod. He and his colleague both kneel near a rune and touch it with their open palms. The crystals rumble and hum before settling down.

I look around, nothing else is happening. Is that it? Did the ritual fail?

Suddenly, the crystals light up at the same time, filling the room with blinding blue light. A transparent blue triangle appears above the ritual, each point corresponding to a crystal. The shape spins as the dust pulsates with power. Each pulse makes the very fabric of reality shudder as the spinning triangle picks up speed. A rune then lights up, soon followed by another one. It doesn’t take long for all the runes to light up, each one is emitting a unique color. The atmosphere doesn’t feel like a solemn ritual but instead resembles a nightclub that invested too much in a laser show.

The runes themselves vibrate and hover above the flooring before spinning. I look up, and the triangle is now spinning so fast that it has turned into a blur. Energy shoots out of each rune and condenses at the center of the triangle before diffusing in the spinning construct. The spinning lights swirling together reminds me of an Aurora Borealis that I saw on TV. I can’t help but be amazed, is that what magic can do? Is it that amazing?

More importantly, will I ever be able to cast flashy spells on my own? I can already see myself floating in the air, throwing fireballs the size of a car at my enemies. Or will I become an efficient mage who destroys universes with a snap of his fingers and without a showy light show?

I can hardly wait! I recall that Harpy that almost killed me and the stampede of Scaled Flame Deers. I snort, these mere ants will bow down before my might, my amazing power of — The light then condenses into a tiny ball, barely bigger than my pinky finger, before slamming into my chest. The power knocks me down and feels like I’ve been run over by a freight train. Hot energy invades every single nerve of my body, surround every muscle fiber and—

*** The ######### of Twilight reacts!***

A blue window appears. I frown, don’t tell me that it will interfere!

***External energy source detected! Beginning the absorption process!***

The energy stops coursing through my body while something near my heart siphons it. I was about to get up when a flash of pain forces me to my knees. What was that? What’s happening?

***Foreign instruction set detected!***

*** The Domain of the Heir is Immutable, nothing can intrude.***

The energy siphon rumbles and extends its greedy maw, as if furious that Mana is coursing through my body. I cough black gunk and look at the enchanters, who are starting to lose their cool as they wave their hands in the air. The rumbling of the crystal became so loud that I cannot hear anything they’re saying. My vision becomes blurrier as a wave of pain reverberates across my head as if someone pierced my skull with a pickaxe.

*** The Domain of the Heir is Immutable, nothing can intrude.***

The floating window becomes so bright that it hurts my eyes. What the fuck? Why is this happening? A steady stream of black goo now comes out of my mouth, almost making it impossible to breathe.

***Heir qualifications upgraded!***

***Instruction Set memorized, integrating beneficial instructions…***

***Unlocked new sub-#########! Twilight Mana unlocked!***

***Further external influences have been rejected.***

I blink, barely able to comprehend the stream of messages. Did the Twilight World absorb the Mana? And thought it was too shit so it made its own? What the hell—

The ritual fizzles out as the crystals are erased from existence, prompting the enchanters to jump back along with the two Lockheart heirs.

On my end, things are— well things are happening, that’s for sure.

***Heir qualifications upgraded!***

***Heir qualifications upgraded!***

***Skill upgraded!***

***Twilight Portal(1->2): Allows the Heir of The Twilight World to enter his domain. 02:00:00/02:00:00 remaining. Cooldown time: 6 hours.***

***Acquired Skill: Twilight Portal!***

***Hands of Twilight(X): Allows the Heir to create up to (Qualification Level-1) Twilight Hands; Twilight Hands are part of the Domain. Only the Heir can see Twilight Hands.***

***Next Qualification Upgrade: (2/10000)***

I spit out one last burst of black gunk before falling on my back. I’m covered in sweat, every limb feels sore and I can hardly move. But I’m still sporting the biggest grin of my life. I almost died by drowning in that shit-smelling black goo, but I gained so much it’s hard to believe. I can use Mana now, and the Hands of Twilight look very promising. I wipe off the remains of the goo around my mouth and get up, only to be greeted by two angry enchanters with reddened faces stomping as they approach me with clenched fists.

Something tells me that they’re pissed that I fucked their ritual; Or that I destroyed their expensive crystals.

Either way, I’m about to get yelled at.