Sparse vegetation was the only thing growing as far as the eye could see. Dust swirled as the wind picked it up, giving the hardy plant life in a reddish brown coat. A lone creature peaked its head from its burrow, scanning for danger.

An echoing thrum of power broke through the mostly silent desert plains, sending whatever wildlife that could fleeing from the source. A thin, green line appeared, stretching from the ground to about three meters high before coming to an abrupt stop. It was comparable to a visible laser beam, but did not remain that way for long. The beam split in two as the sides bowed outwards and the line became an oval shape. The edges maintained the original hue and appearance of the line, but within was a rippling, shimmering mess of wavy green energy.

The surface of the green oval bent as something pushed against it, but did not resist much. A foot emerged first, quickly followed by the rest of the man that it was attached to. Mr. Portal shifted his slightly oversized top hat that had slipped to one side as he stepped through back into its proper position as he took a glance around the relatively barren wasteland.

“Quite bright here,” he remarked.

He reached forward with his left hand, which seemed to disappear into nothing at the wrist. A moment later he withdrew a pair of style-fitting sunglasses from the apparent pocket dimension that he had reached into.

“Rim Protect,” he chanted in a nonchalant manner as he slipped the sunglasses on.

The protective effect of the glasses was increased and the bright sunlight no longer seeped around the edges thanks to his spell. He chanced a glance skyward, noting the blue-colored sun hanging in the sky.

“Interesting,” he commented as he took another glance at his surroundings, “Initiate local topographical scan, check atmospheric content, locate nearest civilized settlement.”

As he spoke his orders, he tapped his cane against the dirt under his feet. Nanomachines flooded out from their hidden locations within his suit, forming a dense cloud for a moment before it dissipated as they spread out. Behind him, the green energy portal from which he had emerged popped out of existence.

“Detect Life,” Mr. Portal continued, unfazed by the green portal’s disappearance.

The spell brought waves of information into his mind as he sensed the plants, animals, and everything else nearby. Despite some unique physical characteristics, the lifeforms here were stable and carried no abnormal genetics that he could detect. Of course, the biomorphs that worked in the Headquarters Clinic would have a final conclusion on the specifics should any local sentients join the Portal Trading Company.

Satisfied with the information of the spell, he pulled out a small piece of cloth from an inside pocket of his suit coat. He gently took two opposing corners and pulled, to which the cloth stretched in a seemingly impossible way. He stopped stretching the material once it was the size of a newspaper and he took to staring at the blank surface. Slowly, black lettering began shifting into existence across the fabric, detailing the information being acquired by the nanomachines.

Among the displayed information was a simple map that showed a town to the west by a river. Satisfied, he folded up the cloth so that it matched its pre-expanded size and tucked it away. Spinning in an almost playful manner on his heel, Mr. Portal faced west and started walking.

Despite the heat of the day beating down on him, he felt completely comfortable. He neither sweated or thirst at any point along his journey. He was, after all, the greatest mage in all existence and kept all of the best technology at his disposal. As such, even the several kilometer journey was nothing to him on foot.

The terrain had changed slightly from the dusty desert plains he had arrived in. Now life here looked more vibrant and plentiful, likely due to the proximity of the river. The nearby tended fields of crops even had simple irrigation systems in place.

A signpost was affixed to a single wooden stake with a rope and driven into the ground right at the edge of town. The rough construction left the sign at an angle, but no one seemed to take any interest in fixing it. The letters burned into the sign were unfamiliar to him, but that was typical for any new world that he explored to put up a storefront.

“Translinguist,” he chanted, sighing that he had to utilize the spell for this world.

Instantly, the word made sense now to him, revealing the town’s name to be Goldwater. The opposite bank of the river was a cliff face, so the entirety of Goldwater was on this side, giving the town some shade in the latter hours of the day. It’s name, location, and construction suggested that this was perhaps a prospecting town, which gave him a small smirk of excitement. Frontier towns like this were great places to set up since the Company could provide products more quickly and easily than most, if not all, suppliers.

Continuing into the town, Mr. Portal smirked slightly as every citizen’s head turned towards him. After all, he stood out as a bipedal individual when surrounded by quadrupedal persons. The people of Goldwater, at the very least, could all be generally classified as centaurs. They had a horse-like lower torso with a human-like torso attached at the front. Clothing was sparse, to put it mildly, though a few wore something like a shirt or blanket on their back, though both left large swathes of skin visible. It seemed that they had little issue with nudity as a general rule. Most had some type of bandolier or belt strapped on with an assortment of pouches affixed to it.

Stepping up to a building that appeared at a glance to be some sort of saloon, he pushed through the swinging doors, drawing every eye from within. A wooden tankard clattered to the floor as someone was surprised by his, comparatively, unique appearance. He approached the bar, and realizing that it was quite a bit higher than he was tall, silently had a second flood of nanomachines give him a height boost.

“What sorts of alcohol do you have? It is always interesting to try new things,” he asked.

The bartender gaped at him, but rhythmically filled a tankard with something and placed it in front of Mr. Portal. It was a bit larger than what he was used to, but still he was easily able to lift and drink from it. The grainy smelling alcohol burned as it flowed down his throat, but the kick left a spring in his step as he set the empty tankard down. Several other clattering sounds echoed through the room as more items hit the floor. Perhaps it was uncommon to finish this particular drink in one go.

With a shrug of indifference, Mr. Portal removed his oversized top hat, revealing his unkempt brown hair. Flipping the thing over, he reached inside and withdrew a bar of solid gold and a large knife.

“Activate,” he said simply, which caused the balde to vibrate at a high frequency.

He proceeded to use the vibrating knife to slice a piece off the gold bar before returning the bar and deactivated blade to his hat.

“For the drink and any damages,” he said as he slid the piece to the bartender, “A good merchant always pays.”

With a flourished flip, the top hat landed back on his head. He was just turning to leave when the swinging doors were pushed open again.

“You there!” called out the centaur that had just entered, “You’re coming with me.”

“It took you far longer than I expected,” Mr. Portal replied.

“I… What?” the centaur stumbled in response.

He was an intimidating looking man for a centaur, as every muscle of his horse half was clearly defined and he had several firearms holstered on his belt. The badge that was on display also signified some sort of authority, likely a sheriff. The sheriff was clearly thrown off by Mr. Portal’s apparent lack of fear. He stepped towards the sheriff.

“Well, let’s be off now!”

“R-right.”

He followed the sheriff, who guided him to the largest structure in town. It was a mansion compared to the other hybrid shop homes and farm houses that sprawled nearby, forming Goldwater and the surrounding area, but was nothing compared to many of the ever increasing number of storefronts for the Portal Trading Company. The architecture was simple, and gave him many details about how to stylize the new storefront that would soon be open here.

The mayor, who seemed to live out of the mansion, was the host that the sheriff brought Mr. Portal to. He was a more robust man, which manifested in his horse half more so than the human half, with a thick beard and mustache combination that was styled with far too much product. He let off a audible snort of frustration at the sight of Mr. Portal.

“What are you?” he demanded without bothering to have any sort of introduction.

“That is quite rude, don’t you think? At the very least we should exchange introductions first,” Mr. Portal replied, again unfazed by the manner he was being addressed.

“You don’t get to demand anything! You are a strange creature that stumbles into Goldwater and poses a clear threat to the people! I will not have you threaten the stability and peace here!” the mayor shouted back.

Mr. Portal caught the twitch that the sheriff gave at the mayor’s mention of peace and stability. He had seen it many times in his travels, when those in charge had a false idea about how things were. It was likely that this mayor was even the source of whatever the unrest was. It was already time to replace him with someone far more agreeable. He removed his hat yet again, pulling out the gold bar and vibrating knife. He cut the remainder of the bar in half, returning the knife and one half to the hat, smirking internally at the bulging eyes of both the mayor and sheriff at what had just occurred. He placed the remaining half on the mayor’s desk as he replaced his hat.

“You can call me Mr. A. I’ll be opening a store here in the next few days.”

The mayor ripped his gaze from the gold, displaying a far more positive attitude than he had just a moment before. The underlying greed in his eyes was visible to Mr. Portal though.

“Well, now. That is quite a surprise. We would love to have your business here in Goldwater, Mr. A! Of course you would be subject to our laws and taxes here of course, but that won’t be an issue now. You’ll surely find some qualified persons to assist you…”

“I’ll be bringing my own staff from trusted personnel. Something I’m sure you understand,” Mr. Portal interrupted, “And you can tax my imports if you meet my suppliers, but you won’t. So I think any strong-arming that you think you can do is finished right now. That gold is all you are getting for free from me and my company. Consider it your cut and your warning. Of course, you are still welcome to purchase from my establishment once things are running.”

The mayor sputtered in disbelief, but Mr, Portal left swiftly without waiting for any sort of response. He heard shouting as he exited the mansion, but ignored it as he made his way towards the river. He preferred setting up near water sources since it reduced the setup to an extent. The hoofbeats that followed shortly after were expected.

“You need not worry, good sheriff. He is not the first of his kind that I’ve dealt with in the past.”

“Technically my title is ranger, not sheriff. You have a lot of confidence, Mr. A,” the ranger replied.

“As I’ve said, he’s not the first. I suppose that he controls the gang or villain who vexes you, but you can’t connect them legally?”

“Yes. Everyone knows it, but I have nothing concrete.”

“Perhaps you should join me for the evening. I suspect that you’ll have your proof by the sunrise.”

The ranger, not sheriff, was silent but followed along. From within another internal pocket of his suit coat, Mr. Portal pulled out a pair of black leather gloves, which he donned as the two arrived at an open space near the river.

“How frequently does the river flood?” Mr. Portal asked.

“About once a year. Happens during the spring.”

“Expected. Comes from the mountain source most likely as the snowmelt increases.”

Mr. Portal began to wave his hands around as though he were a musical conductor or puppeteer. In truth, he was channeling magic with his left hand while ordering nanomachines around with his right. Both hands glowed, the left being a golden yellow and the right an electric blue. It was the same color scheme that he utilized for the portals to the stockhouse and headquarters. The ranger stared confusedly at him, since nothing obvious was happening aside from his hands glowing. However, that confusion turned to disbelief as a building started to almost grow out of the ground.

A three story wooden structure did indeed rise up from beneath the dirt. Utilizing magic, he had accelerated the growth of several tree seeds to the point they were far beyond anything that would have grown naturally. Then, utilizing the nanomachines, he had fabricated the structure out of the grown trees. He added in metallic framing to stabilize the structure and provided wiring and piping for electricity and water respectively. Continuing with the magic, he fired bricks which built into a decorative wall around the first floor and melted sand to refined, pure glass for the windows. A decorative sign emblazoned with the name Portal Trading Company was the final touch to the exterior.

“Please, come in,” Mr. Portal said.

Several other nearby citizens were staring in equal disbelief at the structure that had not been there an hour prior. The ranger looked at him finally.

“Who are you?”

“Just a merchant in search of product and profit.”

News spread fast of the shop that magically appeared that afternoon, with everyone coming by to witness the spectacle. It would be a couple days still until the shop was ready. Furniture and appliances needed to be moved in, the displays needed to be arranged, the plumbing and electric needed to be connected, and most importantly the portals installed. However, Mr. Portal was not about to reveal the secrets of the company to just anyone, so things were delayed as now he hosted the ranger.

As dusk began to arrive, there was a violent banging on the front door. As the ranger and Mr. Portal were currently enjoying a spot of tea inside, the latter commented.

“It seems that they are a little early. Are you ready to get the proof you need, ranger?”

“What now? You mean about the mayor?”

“Of course.”

Mr. Portal walked over to the door and pulled it open. He had made it large enough to accommodate the larger build of the centaurs, so it was not light, yet Mr. Portal acted like it was nothing.

Outside were five gruff looking centaur men with vile sneers on their faces.

“You’re the two legged fella. You are an ugly one. Bet you couldn’t handle a real woman with your tiny, squishy frame,” laughed the lead one.

“Good evening, sir. I’m afraid the Portal Trading Company is not open for business just yet. You will have to come by another time,” Mr. Portal announced.

“What? You think we came by to buy shit from you? You are an idiot. You know who we are? Who we work for?”

“Not in the slightest,” Mr. Portal lied.

“Well then. I think you’ll look good in a rope. What’d you think, boys?” the leader called to his companions.

They all laughed as they voiced their agreement about the situation.

“Now before we do that, how about you hand over that shiny bit of gold you got in your hat?” the leader said, leaning in and poking Mr. Portal in the chest roughly.

“My hat?” he replied with a flourish as he removed it and showed them the inside, “Nothing in there, see?”

“What? Where’s the gold the mayor was talking about?” the leader demanded.

“Hmm. I can’t help but be concerned. You seem intent on trying to rob and kill me. Ranger? Are these things considered crimes in Goldwater? Would I be justified in defending myself?”

The ranger stepped into view, causing the gang outside to snarl in agitation.

“They are considered crimes, and you would be justified.”

“Why hello there Ranger Gathen. It seems you picked a bad spot to be in this here evening. How about you walk away and we don’t string you up like the last ranger?” laughed the leader.

“I’m afraid that won’t be happening. The ranger is my guest and you all are not.”

The gang’s attention shifted back to Mr. Portal. All five drew a revolver-like firearm with each hand. Ten barrels were pointed at him and the ranger.

“You really don’t want to do this,” Mr. Portal warned with a sigh.

“Yeah, I think I do,” the leader retorted.

A bang rang out as the first bullet was shot right at Mr. Portal’s head. However, he did not crumble to the floor in a dead heap.

“What?” the leader asked in shock.

“This is your final warning,” Mr. Portal stated coldly.

“Kill this idiot!”

All ten barrels unloaded every bullet currently chambered, yet still Mr. Portal stood there untouched.

“My turn.”

He pulled out a pistol from within his suit coat and fired five times in rapid succession. Superheated plasma shot out of the barrel and pierced the five gang members directly in the head each. All five died instantly and crumbled to the ground like puppets with their strings cut. He had returned the pistol to within his coat in the span of ten seconds.

“I believe that should handle the gang. Your word seems like it would count for arresting the mayor. Things should be good now, yes?”

The ranger could not help but stare in shock at the proprietor of the Portal Trading Company. From that day on, the town of Goldwater had an unwritten law: do not mess with the Portal Trading Company.