Alexander had waited around for the strange young girl to compose herself. After her bout of tears she seemed to bounce back pretty quickly, she even seemed to skip as she ran off. He felt he had dodged a bullet when the girl didn’t seem too interested in his make shift tissue paper i.e. the job ad. Alexander shifted nervously at the thought of being near someone else who had gained… powers. It felt too much like a scene from one of those hero movies where the characters team up. Following those types of story scenarios usually ended up with death and destruction all around them. A clear diversion that would distract him from his work in the distribution center.

  Alexander took a moment to clean up the dumpster and bags of garbage. Using his floating disc he flipped the dumpster back upright—then cracking his neck around he watched for any onlookers before picking up the bulk of the trash. When he was satisfied he picked up his bags of groceries and headed back to his car. He was still parked near the pet store but had decided to put in the extra leg work today to the grocery store. He had made a point of walking more to increase his endurance. Something about seeing his stat numbers made Alexander care about his athleticism a touch more.

  “Add training weights to next weeks shopping list.” He said into his phone.

  Alexander was perspiring a tad and was looking forward to some air conditioning when he at last approached his car. As he was reaching out to unlock the door with his keys, his hand disappeared past his wrist. Startled he jerked his hand back and it reappeared as if from thin air. Alexander was simultaneously marveling and annoyed at the phenomena. Oblivious to his internal conflict he stood dumbfounded staring at his door handle.

  After a minute of bewilderment he moved his head through the area near his car. With a blink the world went dark. A musky stale scent hit his nostrils as he observed that in place of his car and the surrounding buildings there was an open plane of smokey darkness, and in the distance, shadowy outlines of landscape and structures. The open clear blue sky was replaced by a dark crimson red expanse. The shadowy structures seemed to flicker on their edges like the warping vapors that made mirage effects in the desert.

  Alexander pulled his head back out, shook his head to clear his thoughts and moved to the other side of his car. He once again attempted to reach his passenger door to the same effect. So he moved to his trunk. He wasn’t above crawling through his trunk to maintain his schedule. His efforts proved futile.

  “And thus, thrice I am thwarted.”

  So he did the only thing he could think of—he flipped out his phone to call a friend. After a few rings, Ben once again picked up.

  “Alexander! Hey man, two calls in one week. Is everything ok?”

  “Hello Ben, I have a scenario to run by you. Imagine for a second you were playing a game and your mode of transportation is completely covered by a… we will call it a portal. You can’t reach your transportation without entering said portal. What could you do?”

  “Well… It sounds like a forced quest to me. Something to move the storyline forward.”

  “Storyline?” Alexander asked with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

  “Well, yeah. Something will likely happen in there like a cut scene, they could tell you about a big threat or more about the nature of the world—something like that. After you discover what that is your transportation should become available again.”

  “Cut scene.” Alexander responded, tasting the words and finding them bitter. He didn’t much like the sound of a big threat, but the nature of the world part did have some appeal to him.

  “Listen Alexander. Games are all about getting stronger, finding loot, and progressing the story. So never hesitate to explore and try new things. If it’s suspicious, investigate. If it’s shiny, take it.”

  “That sounds a bit like theft.”

  “Well if you don’t want to play it like a thief then know that stuff is often placed out for you to find unattended for a reason.”

  “I will think on your words, thank you.”

  “My pleasure, so will you tell me what…” Click.

  Alexanders parents had warned him that Ben was a bad influence. As an adult he wondered how true this was—but he still didn’t want to risk to much time talking to him seeing as his advice did seem slightly dangerous at this point. He sighed with resignation before stepping into the portal.

  The scenery once again resolved into an expanse of vague shadowy outlines. The red sky left him feeling disconcerted.

  Shopping bags in hand he went up to the shadowy building that sat in place of the pet store. It wasn’t completely blacked out, it more felt like a silhouette. Like when something is back lit with a hazy mirage surrounding it. From a distance the buildings were difficult to make out but the general shapes were all there. As he reached out to touch the building his hand passed through the black shadow. The surface that was nearest his skin took on a slight bit of color. He pulled his hand back out to make sure nothing was on it.

  Similar to his new discovery casting spells—he envisioned himself shifting his awareness and senses out of himself—but without a specific effect. He tried pushing his mana out of his hand a few inches.

  ^

  You have taught yourself how to use a Mana Field!

  You have discovered a hidden principle.

  The Shape of Magic III

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  Rewards:

  -1500 xp

  +10% increased proficiency to all spells you cast.

  +10% increased control over your mana

  +10% increased success to all arcane creations

  Be aware that casting magic outside of the system established principles may cause unusual and unexpected results.

  You have gained a level in the intermediate skill Arcana!

  Arcana level 4

  You have 6 points to distribute to your Arcana skill tree.

  “Mana field, I actually like the sound of that. Like a magnetic field, gravitational field, quantum field… not terrible.”

  After he felt the warm energy move through his palm, he moved it to the place the door handle should be. As the area of his mana field crossed with the shadowy facade of the building—the face of the door expanded outwards with color—the effect reminding of throwing a stone and seeing the ripples in a pond. What resolved in front of him wasn’t the door to Best Pets Plus however. What stood in its place was a wooden door that had some symbols carved into it. Alexander had no clues as to what the origins to the symbols were, so he pulled out his phone and took a picture. He would upload the picture to an Epigraphy subreddit page to see if anyone recognized the symbols. Subconsciously humming a tune he opened the door.

  There was no little bell that sounded to warn employees of his presence. All he saw as he entered were more shadowy shapes. Oddly, as the door closed behind him, the room did not dim in any way. The ambient light had no source he could find. Walking forward he saw the outlines of many boxes with vertical bars. Hoping to repeat his success he placed his hand on a large box in the center of the room. Once again color flooded what Alexander recognized to be a cage. Abruptly a large animal roared at him and hit the bars of the cage with a large metallic thud. He managed to jump back from the cage. As he did the black haze snapped back into place as he lost the connection. His heart began racing as he processed what he thought he saw.

  That was no animal from any kingdom in our records.

  He pulled out his cell phone again and pointed his camera at the shadowy form. Body tense with adrenaline he once again placed his hand on the cage, closer to the corner however to give himself optimal distance. The ripple of color revealed once again, a large beast, almost lion like in shape but with long flowing feathers from the mane. They seemed to hover and move in the air as if under water making a hypnotic motion. The colors morphed from blue near the face to red on the fringes. The snout was a bit shorter than a lions and the eyes were like those of a lizard. The tail also was an ornate display of colorful feathers like a birds but there were no wings.

  The beast snarled and prowled back and forth causing the feathery fur to shift in color back and forth from red to blue. After taking a few photos Alexander removed his hand and made a verbal description into his recorder of all the events since entering the portal up to this point. According to a study from police, people's memories can quickly be unreliable shortly after an event, especially details.

  He moved to the next cage and saw a sort of turtle with a grass crown growing out of its head, ornate carvings in the shell, and gold flecks covering the leathery skin. He found a white fox with three tails, the neck and chest of which seemed to be made up of crystals.

  He continued around the room captivated, until his alarm went off telling him it was time to clean his bathroom. He was behind schedule already, so he needed to move on. He tried to enter the shadowy dome area that his car was now in, but it seemed his portal was no longer allowing him through. He immediately felt concerned, not so much for his safety, but for his refrigerated food in his grocery bags, not to mention his Cryptocoryne Undulata which would be vulnerable until he planted it. Trusting to Ben’s advice, he continued to explore hoping whatever event or revelation he needed to find would show up soon.

  Next Alexander headed for the First Mekland Bank. Expecting a repeat of the last experience he placed his hand on the building—but instead of a simple ripple of color—the building exploded upward shifting into a massive mountain. Its growth was joined by a defining cracking of grinding rocks. It slowed and up from the ground a golden gate revealed itself, creating a tasteful entrance to a tunnel dug into the face of the mountain. The architecture and design of the tunnel and gate married the stone of the mountain in a way Alexander could never have dreamed up.

  He moved closer to the gate and as he did he could make out the sounds of pounding anvils reverberating from deep in the tunnel. Almost out of view of the cavernous hall were the constant stream of dancing sparks and the faint roar of flames.

  He shouted down the hall, “Hello! Can anybody hear me?”

  The sound of the anvils likely drowned out his voice. Squinting his eyes he could just make out the details of an ornate engraving in the far wall, it seem to be a bas-relief. The best he could pick out was a hideous monster coming out of an oval shape. It looked to have the head of a bull and it carried a massive two handed axe. The figure was swinging at a group of short men in heavy armor carrying war hammers. Alexander snapped another photo wishing for the first time for a higher image resolution on his old phone. He stood in wonder of the massive gate for a moment before moving on.

  Crossing the parking lot to the grocery stores location, it resolved into a hill with a field of trees atop it. He began to climb the hill but it seemed the trees were moving closer at a slower pace than they should be.

  An illusion or spatial distortion?

  Alexander wouldn’t be surprised after seeing the mountain explode out of nothing. He continued to climb and after a few minutes he looked back down to see that the pet store, bank, and other shops were beginning to grow smaller in the distance—also at an unusual pace. Pushing forward it was but another few minutes until he found a little wall around the trees. In the distance he thought he saw a few shadowy figures moving away from him. They might have been running—but he couldn’t be sure as everything seemed to flicker and move slightly.

  Once he hopped the wall he moved towards a large tree in the center and placed his hand on one of the fruits. It resolved into a pear shape. It differed in that it was light blue, with silver flecks sparkling across the surface. As he watched the blue of the pear grew in saturation. Then it simply fell off the tree into his hand. Alexander didn’t feel he had touched it enough for it to fall off the tree, so he assumed it must be very ripe. He put it in his grocery bag as he didn’t want it to go to waste. He might analyze it with his microscope. He looked at the rest of the trees and saw plenty of fruit, so he didn’t think this one would be missed.

  He moved back down the hill and hit the bottom of it far faster than the climb had been. As he had postulated, space did not seem to be a constant in this place. He made another note of that in his recording.

  The last store of interest was a used bookstore he frequented. It was fun to look around and find interesting pools of knowledge that someone had committed a lifetime to collect. Regrettably this particular bookstore was going out of business—just as economists had long predicted—the digital formats were just to much of a toll on book sales.

  As he placed his hand on the storefront it resolved into a building. Those of high intelligence could likely identify the building no matter the culture or… world. A library. Excitement rose in Alexander as he wondered at the potential information inside this building.