The Third Portal: Chapter Twenty-Eight

Kene and I spent three days together, before I had to return to Crysite, and as I was preparing to force open the portal to Dusk’s realm so I could step out, Kene caught my hand. I turned and tilted my head. 

“Hm?” 

“Could you take me with you?” he asked. “I’ve got plenty of supplies for the village, even if I’m gone for two weeks or so, and in the worst case, I can always ask you to portal me back to your dad’s place. And I want to make a few donations to the healing guild.” 

“Sure!” I said, unable to conceal the smile on my face. 

It took Kene a bit of time to get his stuff packed for the trip and let Alice know, but I used the time to force open the portal to Dusk. I didn’t think we’d ever had so much distance between us before, other than perhaps when the Craftsman had severed Idyll’s plane in order to help her break free from her prison. Still, we had both grown a lot in strength since then, and within twenty minutes, I tore a portal open and we stepped through. 

Dusk and Dawn greeted us on the other side, both waving cheerfully. Well, Dawn’s wave was more of a happy thrash, given she only had tiny arms, but it carried the same sentiment. Dusk flew up and gave me a quick hug, then gave Kene and Siobhan a hug as well, before they flew back.

The portal to Mossford snapped shut behind us, and Dusk waved her hand, opening one that spilled out into the office of the Hyacinth Heart guild, where Gakodi looked up and smiled, though a part of her seemed… weary. 

“Hello Malachi. Who’s this?” 

“This is Kene,” I said, gesturing. “They’re one of the two people who taught me alchemy.” 

“Dunno, I think your dad deserves some credit. Alchemy isn’t all that different from cooking or baking,” Kene said. “But it’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Gakodi.” 

Dusk laughed at Kene, then said she’d been helping Gakodi train some. 

“Your worldspirit has been very helpful,” she said. “She also explains some of the bundle of impossibilities that you’ve managed.”

I tensed at that. I normally pretended that Dusk was a forest spirit who had woven her dominion into a demiplane – unusual, but not as rare as a true worldspirit. But Dusk seemed unconcerned, and told me that the big dragon had already asked Gakodi to keep it quiet. 

“Wait, you met Elio already?” 

Dusk nodded and told me he said hello. I let out a slight laugh and shook my head. 

“Of course. Anyways, Kene, you had some donations?” 

“Right,” Kene said, twitching their fingers and pulling potions from their rings. “I have some excess. It might not be the best stuff, since I’m more of an alchemist and a witch than a healer or doctor, but…”

“It’s appreciated either way,” the guild leader said, sweeping the potions into her own ring. “I would assume you all would like a status update on our project?” 

“That would be great.” 

“Your spirit, with some help from Idyll, has terraformed the field we purchased on temporary loan from the Earthwright guild,” she said. “In the last two days, two fields owned by them, as well as our new plot, have been drained of almost all of their energy. We can’t prove it’s Glowing Soil in a court of law, but fields don’t lose energy that rapidly.” 

I felt a spike of anger run through my chest. I already disdained them for doing something as selfish as war profiteering off healing supplies, but to then try and sabotage other people’s supply lines? 

“I think you’re being too kind, Malachi,” Kene said. “I think they should be banished back to Mossford for this.” 

“Well, if we take their cash cow, they might have to pack up and go home,” I said. “But… Alright. You think now’s a good time to issue the challenge?” 

“I already have,” she said. “When your spirit told me you were on the way. We’re just waiting for the official response.” 

It didn’t take long, as it turned out. Only a few minutes after the conversation turned to generic small talk between the two healers, the door was practically thrown open. 

I turned to see the guild leader of the Glowing Soil Guild standing there, and the moment he saw me, he pointed. 

“You!” he snarled. “Primes, I knew it. You’re the one who gave them the money for that plot, aren’t you? Why do you hate me?” 

I felt my tail lash, but forced it under my control, letting it swirl lazily. 

“Did you even listen downstairs?” I said. 

“What?” 

“Quiet,” I said, and a hush fell over the room. Kene, Gakodi, and my bonds were probably just humoring me, but the guild leader looked confused.

Faintly, through the floorboards, there was a muffled groan of pain. Elsewhere in the building, there was the sound of weeping. Somewhere else, someone was coughing up a storm. 

“That’s why,” I said. “You had the option to help all of these people, even turn a profit on it. Instead, you chose to maximize profits.”

I flicked my fingers and cast Transport Item, pulling the papers he was holding to my hand. I glanced over where he’d signed off on the agreed bet of his field for the field owned by Gakodi, then I teleported it to her and hopped off the table I’d been sitting on. 

“Alright, let’s go, who am I facing? The fourth gate, or the third gate with time magic too?” 

“What?” 

My tail lashed a few times, and I didn’t stop it this time. 

“Wow, you must really not be smart,” I said, not bothering to hide my contempt. “I joined the guild the minute after you started trash talking about it. I’ll be their Spellbinder fighter.” 

Kene was having trouble holding back laughter as the guildmaster spluttered.

“But you’re an Arcanist!” he protested. 

“Huh? No I’m not.” 

“You infused your mana senses with resonance, and I felt it, it was stronger than any third gate mage should have!” 

“Sure, what’s your point? Were you not able to do that as a third gate?” I asked innocently, letting my voice grow saccharine.

“Why you little piece…” the guildmaster said, before he got a triumphant gleam in his eye. “I refuse the guild duel!” 

Gakodi unleashed her power in the room then, the full might of a peak fifth gate mage, empowered with resonance. 

“You have agreed to the guild duel already, signed and notarized it with the Brighteyes,” she said, drawing herself to her feet and placing the contract on her table. “Malachi, restrain yourself. A member of my guild should carry themselves with decorum.” 

The guildmaster flinched, then crossed his arms. 

“Fine. But I want an examination to prove you’re not trying to sneak two Arcanists in, Gakodi.” 

“Consider it done, Jeremy,” she said. “We will get the Lightwa– I mean, the Brighteyes – and resolve this.” 

“You might have stronger senses than me, but you won’t win,” he said. “I’ll look forward to putting you in your place.” 

Gakodi didn’t dignify that with a response, instead sweeping from the room. I followed, as did Kene and Siobhan, with Dusk and Dawn following a moment later. 

While the pair of guildmasters went to the Brighteyes to arrange the ring for the duel, I sought out the girl who the Hyacinth Heart was forwarding as their fighter. She was tall, with a buzz cut and several piercings, and despite being about Kene’s age, she was in the middle of second gate with her life and solar magic. 

“Got your blademoss?” I asked her as Kene and I approached.

“Ya,” she said, smacking the gum she was chewing on. “Who’s the hottie?” 

I glanced at Kene. 

“Kene,” Kene said, “This one’s partner.” 

“Wanna–” 

“Happily monogamous.”

“Shame,” she said. “Any other advice, mister philanthrope?”

“Go hard and burn your mana as fast as you can,” I said. “If you take their person out quick, great. If not, you’ll have taken a chunk out of them. Terrible advice for a real fight, good for this duel.” 

“I’ve got a bit of help,” Kene said, then drew a spell out in the air. “This is one of my second gate blessing spells. You’re a solar mage too, right? Cast it on yourself in the fight.” 

“Oh, good idea,” I said, nodding. 

The woman studied it and sketched it three times, before nodding.

“Think I got it.” 

We loitered around for a little bit longer, before we were called outside, and led to a large open field. I was surprised for a brief moment, since when I’d dueled Mallory, it had been in a gym, but I supposed that there wasn’t enough established architecture here for such a thing.

Ed was there, as was Liz, and the adjudicator, a broad shouldered woman with an axe hovering next to her, who radiated knowledge and abnegation mana. Odd, to see opposites naturally like that.

“Alright, I want a nice, clean fight,” she said. “Guildmaster Jeremy has asked for us to check everyone, as well as the battlefield. Would the contestants please step forward?”

I gritted my teeth at his attempt to put the Hyacinth Heart guild as the tricky people who might trap the battlefield, but stepped forward. The adjudicator cast Analyze Mana-Garden on each of us, then cast three spells on the ring, before turning to Gakodi and Jeremy. 

“This is your last chance to back out. You’ll lose what you put up as collateral for the bet, but your guild won’t suffer the penalties for losing a guild challenge, and you’ll be entitled to write off your collateral as a donation on your taxes.” 

There was a beat of silence, before she nodded and stepped out of the ring, then cast another spell on the ring, this one causing it to glow with abnegation magic. 

“Practitioners, you’re up!” she barked. 

The short haired healer stepped into the ring, and across from her a tall, lanky man with tempest and life magic. The healer gripped the blademoss and began sketching Kene’s spell, while the lanky man began to glow with a green aura. 

The aura actually felt interesting, surprisingly complex for a human, touching on elements the man didn’t have. I filed that away for later as the adjudicator shouted for them to begin. 

The healer raised her hands and released a wave of blademoss that glowed with some of the golden light. It hummed with power, clearly overcharged, and approaching the same power as a normal wave of my own blademoss. That felt mean to say, but for a second gate, it was really quite impressive. 

The savagery and power of the attack caught the lanky man off guard, and there was a flare of abnegation mana as he was yanked out of the arena. 

“Ten minutes to recover, then round two,” the adjudicator called.

Dusk waved and conjured a red star tree, calling it out of her land and plopping it on the ground of the field for the healer to drain from.

“You won’t catch him off guard again,” I advised, and Kene nodded their agreement. 

“Now you need to play the long game,” Kene said. “Run as fast as you can, and use little bits of blademoss to cut him down.”

I tossed her a chunk of muddy-armroot. 

“Eat this before you enter the ring, it can enhance your vitality a little.” 

She started to make a quip, but I cut her off by jerking my thumb at the tree. 

“Drain some power and get yourself topped off. They’re using a similar strategy.”

Gakodi nodded, pointing to where Jeremy was feeding his guild member with potions of his own. 

“They are,” she said, then lowered her voice. “Don’t eat the root. Pretend to, and lose the next round, lull him into a false sense of security.”

I considered, but Kene nodded. 

“Good idea. If he underestimates you, you might be able to squeeze out a win in round three, and then Gakodi won’t have to fight at all.” 

They glanced at the older woman. 

“Sorry.” 

“No offense taken – I am not a fighter.” 

There were a few more moments for the healer to rest, before they were called back into the ring a second time. 

The healer kicked off the ground, but this time it was the lanky man who opened with aggressive, overcharged magic. Twin rays of green light erupted from his hands, and the healer twisted to try and dodge between them, only to be met with a kick to her throat. She let out a ‘gurk’, and then the lights curved back in on her, striking her back. The man took her in a chokehold, and after a ten count, she tapped out. 

This time, the healer didn’t need to restore much of her mana, but she gorged herself on the armroot and cast the blessing spell before entering the ring the final time. 

Both launched into motion, with her leaping back while he lunged forwards. She released quick spikes of blademoss, but he drained them mid-cast, and his fist clipped her jaw. She spun and knocked him off his feet, then shot blademoss at him, but he opened his mouth and sparkling lightning rushed out, burning the moss. 

The healer swept more blademoss down, and this time she overcharged it, going for a powerful blow to cut through the lightning while he was down, but at the last moment wind spiked and he shot between her legs. He punched out, trying to hit the back of her head, but she turned, the power of the armroot just enough to let her dodge the blow. 

She lashed out with blademoss, and he fired off a windblade. Both of them took long cuts to their side, and the healer’s magic spiraled out of her hands, starting to patch herself up, while tempest magic flew out of the guilder, building in the air. 

I resisted a groan as they clashed three more times, and the healer seemed to not notice the building core of magic in the air overhead. Each exchange left them both injured, but the healer thought she was coming out ahead, as she was healing her wounds faster than the guilder. 

Then the lanky man finished the core in the air, and a dust devil the size of her body descended down, ripping at her short hair and piercings, thick slicing winds cutting into her flesh. Within seconds, she was pulled from the arena. 

“One point awarded to the Glowing Soil Guild!” called out the adjudicator. “Spellbinders, get in the ring.”