Death, Devotion, Dissonance

"Hey, sorry." Rith said, flying in from the window. "It took some time for me to find the proper item."

She wasn't really holding anything on her body, but Evin knew she had access to a Storage Space that she could access without using any of the golden Storage Rings.

"I don't mind waiting. Wouldn't have even minded if you took the whole day," Evin shrugged. 

"You sound quite unenthusiastic, which I find problematic in a student, but I'll overlook it for today," Rith purred. "Now. Hmm… Show me your Three-Dimensional Coordinate System. Make it as big as this room."

Evin complied. He absorbed some Therae energies and after a minute, some grids dividing the room into equal cubes appeared in his vision. They were all of the same size, and using them, Evin could calculate the room's length, height and width. 

He could also do the same with every object inside the room which took on a white outline in his eyes. Rith and him received a golden one, since they were things that could move around. It was a bit tricky, considering how complex their body shapes were, but Evin learned to simplify the task by imagining his and Rith's bodies as a collection of rigid forms. So, for example, in the 3D coordinate system, he was just a mess of spheres and tubes that vaguely made the shape of a human.

These were things he learned from Rith over the months, with Endra giving some advice here and there.

But that wasn't the main point of this spell. In this form, Evin could calculate the distances between everything with extreme precision, using the grid cubes that surrounded him.

"This is almost perfect. Aside from your laziness in depicting me and you, I don't see any problems," Rith nodded with satisfaction. "I'm really blessed to have such a good student like you. I only have to work half as much as the other Cosmics, but you progress twice as fast as their students. Hm-hmm."

Evin didn't know how, but Rith could somehow see Evin's 3D system, even though it was technically just an augmentation to his vision.

"With this, I think it's time for us to create our own portals," Rith continued. "First, let's create a Material Portal. I know Combat Portals are easier, but I'm sure you'll be able to create the first."

There were three types of portals: Material, Energy, and Combat. The Material Portals were able to teleport anything with a physical body. So, things, humans and other species. But there were a few difficulties in creating them, since objects that went through them could… randomly end up fucked up. So, a person could walk through a portal and end up with no arm, or maybe even with his arm stuck in his chest, which would promptly explode into a blood fountain, coz apparently that's how it worked. 

Which was why Rith was so opposed to having Evin create a portal by himself. If he somehow managed to create one and for some reason decided to jump through it, there was a real chance that he would die.

Even if he didn't go through the portal, sometimes, the two portals could overlap with itself due to the mage's inexperience, which would also result in a huge explosion. Rith didn't yet explain how one was supposed to negate this hidden danger, but Evin reckoned he'd learn today.

"Now, you know that portals are inherently very unstable things to work with," Rith said and began pulling out a golden dust-like thing from her personal Storage Space. "But all problems have a solution. Here, look at this. What do you think this is?" 

"Is it a World of Space Shard?"

"Not quite. I know they look very similar, but there are differences. Look, compared to a Shard, this one's much bigger, isn't it? A Shard you can snort in, but if you try to do the same with this, your lung's gonna get fucked, cuz its pieces are too big and too sharp," Rith said. "This is what's called Hermium."

"Hermium?" 

"Yeah. It's a material so accepting of Therae energy; some even think it's part of the thing that contains the World of Space. And they wouldn't be so wrong!" Rith exclaimed. 

"But what's the difference between that and a World Shard?" Evin asked. 

"The biggest difference is in how it's obtained. Do you know how we get World Shards on our hands?" Rith asked.

"No, not really…" Evin replied, trying his best to hide the curiosity from his voice. 

Of course, Evin asked this question, but the teachers always said they didn't know. 

'If Rith can teach me about it then… perhaps I'll be able to get my own Shards!'

But Rith seemed to pick up on his plan and shook her head.

"If you don't know, then I can't tell. But I can tell you this. Each World has a material like Hermium lying around the World. For the World of Darkness you have Nyxium, the World of Fire has Hephium, the World of Thoughts has Vizium and so on," Rith explained, sounding excited. "And, they can all be obtained from the real world one way or another. Most, like Hermium and Nyxium, are mined, while some are extracted from certain places, some are even grown in special farms."

Evin frowned, realizing that the World was much bigger and more complex than he gave it credit for.

"But what do they all do?" Evin asked.

"Well, first of all, they're heaven-sent materials to make certain magical devices and Talismans. They are so compatible with their own energies, that it feels like whatever you're trying to do with the magical device will just work. For example, if you try to make a Storage Ring out of this piece of Hermium, chances are you'll succeed by just willing it hard enough. Just keep ordering the Therae energies to create a functioning Storage Ring relentlessly and they'll do it for you! Even if you don't give them any complex orders!"

And idea came to Evin's mind and he asked. "Is that how you stabilize the portals?"

Rith smiled at Evin's deduction and nodded.

"Exactly. Just will your portal spell to absorb a pinch of this Hermium here and it'll stabilize itself."

"But if it's so powerful, wouldn't it be easy for everyone to create portals? I mean, you just said that I can probably create a Storage Ring by willing it. Surely every other mage can do the same?"

Rith shook her head and explained. "Someone inexperienced willing a portal into existence is possible. But that's going to take almost all the Hermium we have here. And I'll have you know, this much of Hermium is not cheap. For you, a Cosmic will sell it for around 3500 gold, considering your affiliation with me. For any other mage, they'll sell it for 12000."

If Evin had something in his mouth, he would've definitely spit it out. 

"That much?! Who even has that much money?" then thinking a bit, he asked again. "And why is the jump so high between me and another mage?!" 

"Perhaps 20% of mages would be able to afford it," Rith shrugged. "As for the jump, it's because the Cosmics are the only ones who can mine Hermium, so the prices are entirely dependent on our whim."

"What?! Then what's the price of it in reality??" Evin couldn't help but ask. 

Rith only smiled mischievously at that. "We're getting way off topic. Let's have you create a damn portal already."