Chapter One Hundred and Six - Sharing Knowledge It was going to be tight, but I decided to bring Fran along with me to the site of the portal. In my mind, I was gonna invite her to ride on the back of my bike. You know, arms around my waist, her body pressed into mine, maybe some boobs on my back and wandering hands. Fran stared at me after I offered a ride, then pointed out that she'd come in her limo. It had AC, leather seats, and a mini-fridge. It was stocked with champagne and a type of soda made from portal-sourced materials that tasted a bit off, but also had a (literally) magical fizziness to it. "So, is there a plan, beyond parking by the entrance to this portal, in a car directly linked to me, then stepping out in this... getup?" Fran asked. "Oh, yeah," I said. I took a sip, then eyed her from the corner of my vision. "So, what are your guesses so far?" I gestured at myself. I was in costume too, though my mask was lowered to dangle around my neck. "About how I'm doing all of this. I figure you're smart, so you should have a few educated guesses so far." Fran eyed me, then glanced to the front of her limo. A press of a button later, and a small window came up between us and the driver... that was an option? Fuck, that was cool. I wanted a limo. "I've spent some time thinking about it. Your magic isn't only Void. It has to be one of the more fringe magics. The less common outer magics. Those are very poorly documented." "Yes," she confirmed. "Magic hasn't been around for a large enough sample size to form around every kind of magic, and some are incredibly diverse, even within their narrower bands. So, something past Void. Dark magic makes up about three percent of the entire magic-using population." "That's not bad," I said. "Void magic makes up one point two percent," she continued. "Interestingly, Light magic is about as uncommon." Neat. I'd never been one for stats like that. "I'm assuming that you're not a Void user, however. That might make you a user of an outer-element, and that's tricky, because those don't have an 'element' attached to them." "We're not as physical," I said. "Exactly," she replied. "So, Contempt feeds your magic. Or Remorse. Or Regret? That latter is a point of contention in some niche academic circles. But academics enjoy arguing over semantics a little too much, in my opinion." She shifted, staring at me fully. "You can see how likely something is to succeed." "Tsk. It's not pre-cognition. You don't have the ticks that are associated with that." I blinked. "There are ticks?" "Yes," she replied. "Oneiromancy?" I shook my head. "I don't even know what that is." "Dream visions. I'll take that as a no. Is it a sort of second sight, then? Or causal intuition?" I might have let it slip my mind, but damn, Fran was... smart. Sure, she knew a lot about business, but watching her work through something, putting little hints together, it was, well, simply put, she was a lot smarter than I was. Given the same power I had, Fran would be president within six months. Of her company or the world. I was just chugging along in comparison. "Close enough, at some point," I said. "So, what we're living in right now is as good as a simulation. You and I, right now? We basically don't exist." "So, if I stabbed you right now, there would be no consequences?" Fran asked. She summoned a small, six-inch blade of humming light pinched between her thumb and forefinger. I stared at it. "Well, I'd be a little upset, I guess. And it would waste a perfectly good simulation, but yeah, no consequences." "And how far along does this stretch?" "Eh? Oh, this sim is... from this morning." "That's quite long. Is that length normal?" she asked. "And you used it on me to get into my bed?" I blinked. "To be clear, if I didn't go to your room, you'd eventually get up and we'd fuck on the couch, so really, I was saving both of us some back pain." She stared for a long, long time. I did notice a bit of rosiness on her cheeks. Was she embarrassed? Angry? I couldn't tell. "I see. And I won't recall this in the non-simulation, I take it?" Love this novel? Read it on NovelHub to ensure the author gets credit. "Not one word," I said. "Sorry? Like... it sucks, but I need to know if I can trust you? Uh, and I think I can, but we're working on that. Look, the goal today is to clear that portal. That's it. Clearing it means we both get stronger, and that's just good, because we're going to need that strength for what's coming." "An explanation for another time?" I tried. She glared. Damn, the mask and hat really made her glares intense. The heat from the glowing knife helped. She dismissed the blade with a flick. "Fine," she said. "Cool! This is the first time we go in together, and the last time, all I did was step in to confirm that it was a normal portal and to see what we'd be fighting. So, this is going to be an exploratory loop." "Loop?" Fran repeated. "A mannerism," I said dismissively. "A-anyway, we're basically here." The limo pulled to a stop and we stepped out, masks on, weapons checked. I had my sword, my revolver, and that little Crow-Tec shotgun on a slung at the small of my back with some extra shells stuffed into my thigh pocket. We weren't exactly armed to the teeth, but we did stand out. People were staring, some of them a little concerned, and I noticed Fran hesitating a little. "It's fine," I said. "The portal is this way." I took the lead, and she followed along behind me. It was... okay, it felt really cool to walk quickly with the poncho-cloaks. They flapped out behind us a little, and I felt like I'd just stepped off the set of an old-school hero movie. People stared, sure, but no one approached. That is, until we entered the food court and came to a stop. I crossed my arms and stared at the space where the portal would be soon. I could already tell it was coming, there was a smell in the air that I hadn't noticed before. Almost a taste? A guard started to walk over to us, but I glanced at him, cast See Darkness on myself to make my eyes glow, and then shook my head. He backed off. Dude wasn't paid enough to deal with two D-ranker cosplayers with real guns. "This is the place?" Fran asked. "Yup," I said. I pulled out my phone and glanced at the time. "Two minutes." That turned out to be a long time. Fortunately, people kind of just got used to weird shit in Fortress ENE, and other than a few folks taking pictures on their phones, there wasn't much of note. I'd make sure that on the final loop, we walked in just as the portal was opening. Fewer pics that way... also, it would be so much cooler. Presentation was important, I was sure everyone sensible would agree. The air shimmered, then the portal ripped itself into our reality. "There it is," I said over the growing panic all around us. I stretched a little, then stepped towards the portal, arriving just as it was stabilizing enough that stepping through would be possible. "You ready?" I asked. "I am," Fran said. She flicked her hand to the side, and a three-foot-long blade of spitting, hissing light appeared. It warbled and shifted, then tightened into a shape that was more sword-like. A blade that hurt to look at, a small cup-shaped guard, and a small bar over the hand. A saber? I think that was the kind of sword she was trained with. The world on the other side was just how I remembered it. A lush jungle, caught in the late evening, the air thick and humid. I pulled my shotgun out, then panned it to the side, searching until... there. "I'm going to shoot," I said. "Okay," Fran replied. My eye met a single deep blue-ish one, hidden by the brush. Its iris narrowed. I pulled the trigger. Buckshot ripped through the lower canopy of leaves and bushes and punched a dozen holes into something big that immediately darted ahead. I pumped, fired, then pumped again. I was pretty sure my second shot had caught the monster too. I was a lot more sure when I saw the not-a-real-velociraptor stumbling out around a tree. It turned towards us, hissed, then it started running our way. I shot it twice more, then jumped to the side. As it crashed down a few metres ahead, a long, greenish tongue flopped down onto the ground between Fran and I. The monster's tongue, which was twice as long as its body, with a spike-covered barbed head. Thɪs chapter is updated by 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡⚑𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚⚑𝙣𝙚𝙩 "Well... that's good to know," I said.