Exploring the Gateway

First he concentrated on creating a layer of Mana like Observe over his eyes but instead of using the skill he channeled another layer of Mana to wrap around the first. Spreading it out as thinly as he could. Yet it kept tearing and eating small chunks of his Mana. Eventually, though, with some additional instruction from Ember he got it. And a popup appeared in front of him.

New Spell Modifier unlocked: Mana Shielding

The sheet resembled a skill sheet, but it wasn’t quite the same. John wondered what other modifiers he would discover. But he couldn't get too excited, since even a simple Observe would cost a quarter of his Mana.

‘Still, everything I've needed is information. Now I can get it far more safely, that's a win I think,’ he was immediately interested in what his team's sheets would say. In a way, that made him sick, he didn't want to take away their privacy, and learn things they didn't want him to, ’but I can’t deny that I do need that information,’ he wanted to think it over for a while before deciding. So he watched over the rest as they practiced integrating the shielding into their own version of a scrying spell.

What he hadn’t noticed before was how different each of their individual methods of scrying were. With their faces no longer covered by Mana he found himself quite surprised. For a moment Yan's eyes were just like those of an owl, as if they transformed. Confused, John asked her about it and she answered simply.

“Oh, it helps me detect Mana and improves my eyesight. Even lets me zoom in a little,” she explained curtly. John thanked her then turned his eyes to Bass. When she looked back at him he felt the air vibrating around him slightly. He approached her with a confused expression and when she saw it she spoke.

“I use sonar waves to see Mana, boss. Good for raves and dark parties,” she laughed, turning her head back and continuing to practice.

‘Huh, I guess the different structures of Mana I saw really don’t tell the whole story. Each of us seems to have some unique ability,’ he looked over Charlotte and Matthew thoroughly, wanting to understand their abilities more clearly as well. Thinking a direct approach would be best, he approached the healer. Ember who was watching over the classroom now focused on him in particular.

“Hey Charlotte, seems like everyone has their own way of sensing Mana, can I ask what's yours? I am genuinely curious to hear about it,” he asked, stopping at arms’ reach and speaking gently.

“I g-guess I don’t mind telling you… My M-mana lets me see living things, like those i-infrared cameras,” she turned to him, and John saw a major detail. Her eyes, usually a dark red, were now glowing like nothing he had ever seen. In a way that horrified him on some unconscious level.

Moving a single step back, almost without knowing, John tried to suppress his reaction, “that’s good to know, thank you,” he said his tone flat then turned to go towards Matthew.

“Matthew, did you hear me ask Charlotte? Would you be willing to share yours with me as well? If it's not too much-” John started as he got closer to the ice mage, who was staring at the wall, his eyes completely focused.

“I’ll tell you when and if you need to know,” he stated plainly, cutting off John.

‘Really had enough of that,’ he felt frustrated at Matthew's unnecessary secrecy. And John's next action was clear. For once he didn't have to listen to Matthew to gain more information. With only a second of hesitation, he used the shielded form of Observe on the ice mage. A popup appeared just before the sheet he had expected.

Observe level task has been completed: Observe has now leveled up

John quickly scanned the sheet, and slowly began to understand Matthew's distrust.

‘He feels like he has to repent and fix things he wasn't even responsible for. That his parents and family left him, and he's alone. I think I get it, far more than I thought I would. Maybe I should help him, I'll ask Strong what his parents did, I'm sure he will tell me. I know he wants to help him as much as I do,’ John thought, more concerned for the ice mage than angry now. But he was still frustrated.

“I really should have known, fuck!” he murmured, just quietly enough as to not draw the attention of the rest. Shaking the thoughts about Matthew out of his head, as he knew he couldn't do more right now, ’I have to Observe the others as well, now. This kind of insight would be too valuable, about Ember and Charlotte especially. My Mana's half gone anyway, so I can leave Yan and Bass for when I can ask them about it,’ after hesitating once more, John looked over the healer and the spy and accrued two popups.

‘She was prosecuted for her magic?’ John thought it was ridiculous. Yet he knew so many other reasons people had been ostracized. He supposed this could be no exception to the stupidity of humanity. It wasn't so strange anymore that she so feared to share. Still, John wanted to understand, was the Council truly more accepting. Or perhaps it was using her. Looking at her, he figured he would get his answers soon enough, and the rest was Charlotte's tale to tell, ‘I hope pressing her didn’t make things worse… But at least it’s unlikely from what this says. Her life sounds awful, I want to help her too,’ once again he separated himself from the information and moved onto the next popup.

Once again John found himself surprised, but this time he felt flattered, *’She's proud of me,’* he half chuckled in his mind, *'and she went up a level,'* was his second. It was the smallest difference in the sheet but it somehow felt significant to him, *’Is her wanting to move past her obligations by coming with us really all she wanted to tell me?’* the Gamer doubted it, but it was possible that was all it was, *’even if it isn't, I’m glad I can understand how she feels. Maybe I shouldn’t have rejected her in the first place if that was her reason,’* despite his suspicion of her at the time he could still have said yes, but whether unforeseen consequences would have occurred he didn't know.

A single word brought him back to reality, “boss!” Bass called from the other side of the class, and signaled him over, “what were you doing standing there?” she asked quietly once he was only a few steps away.

“This Mana shielding training just got me thinking so I was a bit distracted. Especially once I asked you guys about your unique styles. So I wasn’t really doing anything in particular,” he tried to force a laugh, but his hand instinctively went to the back of his neck, rubbing it a little.

“Your tell is too obvious for me to believe you, boss,” she chuckled slightly before heading towards the door, “hey, Ember, mind if we go out for a minute?” she asked quickly, drawing the attention of the rest of the room.

“Sure,” the spy answered, clearly aloof.

Bass left the class swiftly thereafter, keeping the door open for John to join her. Curious about what she wanted to say, he did, and closed the door behind him.

After walking a bit further, making sure no one could hear them, she spoke quietly, “you were scrying the others, weren’t you?” she was direct and clearly intrigued.

“I did, I scried Matthew, Charlotte, and Ember,” John responded, hoping she wouldn’t judge him too harshly for that. With her having already figured it out, it would be stupid not to share it. And he trusted her, on some level that was far more natural than with almost anyone else. Maybe it was how much she seemed to trust him in turn, but he wasn't too sure.

*’I have no reason to lie to her, especially now when we need to work as a team,’* John found himself thinking as she opened her lips to talk, and he noticed they had a faint blue lipstick on them he hadn’t seen her use before.

“So your immediate use for the Mana layer technique Ember taught us was to scry her and half our team,” John wasn't sure if her tone was angry or amused, “maybe you should tell me what you found out,” she looked into his eyes straight faced and waited for his reaction.

‘Maybe I should explain how my Observe works as well?’ the Gamer considered it for a moment and decided he had nothing to lose, spending the next few minutes explaining how his ability worked and what he had seen.

“Charlotte’s a death mage?” Bass was obviously shocked but she also sounded suspicious, “I knew about Matthew’s family, but what you told me about Ember is surprising. I guess her reason is kinda the same as the rest of us. Makes me feel worse for judging her,” she sighed loudly, “thank you for trusting me with this, boss. Sometimes I’m not sure if anyone in this place can tell the truth.“

“To me it looks like lying is one thing the Abyss encourages, even more than the mundane world.“

“Yeah, more than I’d like,” the sound mage shrugged, “you should scry me too. I trust you with the information, and I want to know what you’ll see.“

John was happy to oblige her request, as much for his own sake as for her trust. Given he didn't need to hide it, his Mana issues were no concern, and a popup appeared in front of him almost immediately.

“You went up two levels, wow! I didn’t even notice,” John said immediately, confused at his apparent lack of attention to his party interface.

“Wait… You scried me before? And what do levels mean exactly?” Bass seemed entranced by the idea.

“Oh, not really. My party interface shows me your levels as well as your health and Mana like you guys can see… I’m not sure what levels mean, but they increase your stats for sure. Guess those must have some impact on your abilities, or they represent them, or something,” it all sounded more mysterious than he liked. But if he wagered a guess maybe they merely symbolized the growth in their abilities.

“Sounds like there’s more to it that you don’t know. Anything else you can tell me, boss?” she asked, her voice full of wonder and curiosity.

John went through the rest of the sheet with Bass, eliciting various complaints and surprised remarks.

“Gaia, you really can be a bitch at times,” she said, “only she could be talking to you and giving you all this information at your leisure,” the sound mage sounded somewhat concerned, “glad you’re probably not going to use it too badly. Otherwise maybe I would have to take you out or something,” she chuckled, “but either way you are a lucky bastard John,” Bass said with a smile on her face.

“I guess I am.“