Alex's story, continued.

Dark Flame sat down in her chair then got out her notebook and started working through the numbers on Abby‘s map. “If you’re interested I’ll explain as I go. Do you have any questions before I start?”

“How does Abby know any of this? I mean I looked through the books and I read about the basic theory…” It looked like a strange combination of math and shorthand that made little sense to Alex.

“Abby’s brother is into realm creation and her family have been magic users for ages. How far did you get reading the book?”

“I sort of skimmed through it, basically you reach out and focus on a doorknob and door then push magic into the aether through them while you focus on what you want your realm to be. The book doesn’t mention exact calculations or the need for magical blueprints.”

“The textbook is just an introduction to the topic. It has some good ideas but leaves out a couple of things that are covered in class. If you’re just trying to create an extra room or something simple then it’s easy enough to skip drawing things out.” Dark Flame made a sweeping gesture. “Take ten seconds to look at the room then try to describe it, ignore the people and the tables.”

Alex glanced around the large room filled with tables and students. “Black stone walls, floor to ceiling windows, polished wood on the ceiling and grey tiles with enough twists and angles that keeping everything straight would be a nightmare.”

“Which is why we use maps and or blueprints. Technically they aren’t required, they just make things easier. It’s sort of like drawing a circle with a compass versus free handing it.”

“You get a better circle by using a tool,” Alex admitted.

“Exactly.” Dark Flame drew a circle of glowing yellow light in the air about the size of a basketball with her finger and a trickle of magic. “What does this look like?”

Alex studied the glowing circle that was hovering in the air. “A glowing yellow circle.”

Dark Flame grinned as she filled in the circle with yellow fire then spun it so that it changed into a ball of fire. “Now what does it look like?”

“A ball of fire…” Alex trailed off as Dark Flame gestured and created an illusion of eight tiny planet like marbles orbiting around the ball of fire. “The sun.”

“Exactly.” Dark Flame gestured at the sun and planets and let the orbiting planets and sun vanish. She picked up her pen and drew a small circle on a blank page in her notebook and then made squiggly lines around the outside of it. “Would you agree that this looks like a sun?”

Alex nodded. “It looks like a sun to me. Is that the symbol for the sun we’re supposed to use for realm building?”

“It’s what I use and I doubt you’d find all that many magic users that wouldn’t recognize it, at least in the western world but it’s just a mental shortcut. While the college has a list of symbols they suggest students use, it’s merely a suggestion outside of class. Technically, a magic user could use ancient runes from dead cultures or cartoon like symbols they made up but using the standard list means it’s easier to have someone check your work.”

“That makes sense. Where do I get a list of the standard symbols?” Alex asked curiously.

Dark Flame smirked. “The teacher normally hands out a list on the first day of class.”

“So how dangerous will this realm turn out to be?”

Dark Flame shook her head. “I’m actually going to suggest that she not try to make it yet.”

“What? Why did you agree to look it over then?”

“Two reasons, I was curious and I wanted to get paid. Still, everyone that helps with the ritual to create the realm will add something to the world. With the way things are set up, they’ll most likely add a monster.”

Alex asked, “Why a monster?”

“Even though Abby will be the primary caster who sets the theme of the world everyone else will be dumping magic into the pocket world. Because she left the number and power of the monsters open, adding new monsters is the path of least resistance for everyone’s magic. It’s not a bad way to create the world, just a bit dangerous.”

“How many pocket worlds have you built?” Alex asked curiously.

“I’ve helped out with at least a hundred over the last three years, I’ve built and sold my fair share as well.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, is it decent money?”

Dark Flame laughed. “If I make it and sell it, I charge about a hundred thousand dollars for a basic city block sized realm, so it can be.”

“Wow…” Alex trailed off.

“Keep in mind that I usually need to pay a third to a half of that to other people for each job. Still my take home depends on what the client wants and how hard it is to create. I normally build realms on Fridays so I have time to recharge by Monday classes.”

“How come people don’t just create their own realms?”

Dark Flame said, “For the most part unless you’re powerful you need at least five or six people to make an apartment sized pocket dimension that a person can alter. If they don’t need to alter the basic laws of nature in the realm then the cost is less. If you want the place aspected you need a lot of a particular material or someone like a member of Abby’s family with a major blood path.”

“Aspected?” Alex asked curiously.

“Abby’s making a shadow realm. If someone else wanted to make the same realm they would need a couple of hundred gallons of liquid shadow to reproduce the effects she’ll be able to pull off just by being her.”

“Liquid shadow? How do you get liquid shadow?”

“You brew the stuff up in enchanting class by the bottle.” Dark Flame replied.

“Oh, I can see where people might just hire someone to create aspected realms then.”

Dark Flame nodded. “Yeah. Realms of fire are easier to create as you only need a large enough source of fire though honestly I can’t see the point, though I did sell one to a priest once…”

Alex looked at Dark Flame curiously. “Why?”

“He thought it was amusing to show his parishioners what ‘hell’ was like. The guy was a jerk in some ways but he had a deliciously warped sense of humor and his checks cleared well enough,” Dark Flame replied with amusement.  

Alex gulped as she thought about what normal people would think about a realm like that. “What happens if you let normal people into a realm?”

“It depends on how long they’re there, a couple of days probably wouldn’t cause people physical damage. If you left them there longer… from what I’ve read, some of people develop the ability to see magic, some go insane and some develop other powers if they’re there for months or years. The aether control instructor teaches a spell to see if a particular human will go insane from spending time in a particular realm.”

“Particular realm?” Alex asked curiously.

“Sure, not all of the dimensions are the same so why would they affect people the same way?”

“I guess I can understand that.” Alex made a mental note to ask her instructor about that spell so that she could check her family.

Dark Flame chuckled as she looked back at the map. “Is that enough for now? I‘d like to have this done by the time she gets back.”

“Sorry, please continue explaining.”

0o0o0  

Professor Cameron glanced down at his cell phone as it started to vibrate across his desk while playing the Star Wars Imperial March clip he’d downloaded. He picked it up, flipped it open and put it to his ear. “Hey Flame. What do you need?”

“I’ve got an interesting realm project that I thought you might like to supervise,” Dark Flame replied.

He looked over the stacks of paperwork on his desk, “You’re a big girl. I know you’re capable and besides, I’m working on paperwork.”

“Nah, if I was doing the project for myself I wouldn’t bother telling you but I’ve got Raven’s little sister down here.”

“Oh? Is she as good as her brother?” He asked hopefully.

“Based on some of the things he’s said and her calculations I think there is a good possibility that she’s better than he was as a freshman. She’s hired the whole computer game recreation club for her first large project.”

“The whole team? That’s like forty people…”

She laughed. “Actually they picked up a couple of freshmen so they’re up to forty three people that they could call in for this project.”

“Do you think it will work?” He asked curiously.

“I wouldn’t be helping and wasting my power if I didn’t think it would work. Still she’s got forty five other magic users helping, one of which I can‘t get a read on. I‘d appreciate it if you could come down here to supervise just in case. And besides, you did agree to be the faculty adviser for the club…”

He frowned, “Hold on. What do you mean can’t get a read on them?”

“Raven’s sister’s friend is like Raven only worse. Even with my enchanted glasses I can only tell that she’s a magic user. Without them I can’t even tell that.”

“So you don’t know how much magic she’s bringing to the table?” He asked in concern.

Dark Flame glanced at where Alex was socializing with a couple of the computer geek magic users, “Nope.”

He smiled as he realized that his paperwork could wait a couple of hours. “In that case, I’m on my way.”

“Thanks, normally I wouldn’t ask but this is Raven’s little sister and it’s a decent number of people.”

“I’ll be there shortly.” He stood up and walked out of his office. “Don’t let them start without me.”

“No worries about that,” Dark Flame replied warily.

0o0o0

Alex relaxed slightly as a man that looked to be in his thirties walked up to where they were sitting in the conference room. They had relocated once they realized that the project was a go. He had an interesting collection of professional and not so professional clothes on. His black slacks and button up short sleeved shirt passed as semi professional, his sandals and strangely tinted sunglasses didn’t look professional though considering the warm weather they were understandable. His dark hair was also a bit messy.

Dark Flame waved at the man as he walked over. “Hey Professor Cameron.”

He smiled as he walked up to where one of his favorite students was sitting with a tall red haired girl that he hadn‘t seen before, “So what do you have for me?”

She handled him the map with a grin, “Take a look.”

He frowned as he looked the map over. After a minute he sighed, “I’m not sure this is all that safe. With this many people you could get some odd results, not to mention hideously powerful monsters. Still, as long as she doesn’t mess up, the binding on the monsters to keep them in the arena should hold.” He scanned over the group of computer geeks until he saw one of his old students. “Heather, can you do me a favor?”

A blond girl turned and smiled at the attractive teacher. “Sure.”

“I need a couple of the standard we are not responsible for your realm containing dangerous soul eating monster contracts and I want you to flag down a couple of the school guards in case something goes wrong.”

“No problem.” She headed out of the conference room at a jog.

Alex frowned. “Soul eating monsters… Is it that dangerous?”

He shook his head. “Probably not for the rest of us but I’d rather have the backup than not have it because we got careless.”

The teacher’s words didn’t fill her with confidence. She was still wondering if it was too late to call the whole thing off when Abby came back into the room with a wheelbarrow filled with black stone for the arch that would lead to her realm. ‘Yep… too late to call things off.’

Dark Flame smiled at Abby, “Abby, I’d like you to meet Professor Cameron, he’s the aether control teacher.”

Abby smiled brightly as she looked at the professor, “Raven has told me a lot about you.”

“All of it good, I hope?” The professor could see the family resemblance between Abby and her brother.  

She snickered. “Mostly, I think he still blames you for the flying monkey he found in his locker last year.”

The professor smirked. “I think I have to officially state that it wasn’t me. Unofficially it would have been nice if someone had had a camera when he opened his locker. Anyways, let‘s get this project started.”  

A couple of seconds later Heather ran back in carrying a couple of wavers. “I got them.”

Alex watched as two humanoid shaped knights followed Heather into the room. Their heads and just about everything other than their breastplates were wrapped in green and blue flames. She could feel the magic they were putting out from across the room. The armor they wore was covered with glowing runes that shifted and twisted depending on how you looked at them. She wasn’t sure how they were created but they were rather creepy. The school’s pamphlet hadn’t said much about them other than that they guarded the school and to not cause them problems. She had no desire to cause them problems if that meant they left her alone.

He smiled as he accepted the wavers from Heather. “Thanks.” He passed the wavers to Abby and Alex. “If you want I’ll set up the arch while you sign the disclaimers that say that the school isn’t responsible for anything that happens in your realm.”

Abby had expected something like this because they were conducting the ritual on school property. “Sure, it should just fit together then it’s got to be fused.”

He smiled as he gestured toward the black stone in the wheelbarrow and floated it toward the middle of the room. “No problem.” He lined all of the pieces up then used some of his magic to fuse the stone together to form the arch that would be the basis for the door to Abby’s world. He did a couple of quick mental calculations in his head and decided to toss some additional magic at the door to make sure it didn’t break apart during the ritual.  

Alex read over the short and straightforward contract looking for anything suspicous or strange then signed it when she didn't find anything wrong with it.  

Abby handed Dark Flame a sports bag filled with cash then took a couple of minutes to read the contract with the school over and signed it while she waited for everyone to get into position.  

0o0o0  

Professor Cameron smiled as he looked over the group from his spot against the wall, “Don’t mind me. I’m just here because I want to watch a new realm come to life.”

Dark Flame chuckled as most of the people turned to look at her, “Most of you have done this before but for those that haven’t, I’ll explain. Abby will go first to set things up. She’ll be pumping all of her power into the arch while she defines the new world. Once she’s done we’ll go around in a circle channeling power into the arch. The last person will be Abby’s friend Alex. Once she’s done putting magic into the arch Abby will use her last mana battery to send the arch into the aether so that it will be ready for summoning. Any questions?” She didn’t expect there to be any questions as she had demonstrated what to do already and she had stuck the freshmen toward the end of the line so that they had plenty of opportunity to observe the casting process. After a couple of seconds of silence she said, “Let’s get to it.”

Abby concentrated as she tapped into her power and unleashed it into the stone arch as thick cables of shadow. She focused on the map in front of her as she mentally ran through her list of requirements and focused on the map itself. She increased the flow of magic as much as she could as she relied on her natural shadow talent to multiply her magic as she poured shadow laced magic into the doorway to her realm. She ignored the elation she felt as she unleashed more magic at once than she had in years. She reached the end of her list of requirements then started running through the framework that she wanted, mostly the fact that the monsters would turn into items for the town after they were defeated.  

One of the freshmen watched in amazement as the large cables of shadow spread over the arch and flowed over it until it was nothing more than a vaguely arch shaped mass of shadow that looked like black fire. Devon was impressed with the girl creating the realm, he had thought that he had a decent magic amplification talent but he was forced to admit as the minutes ticked by that either the girl’s mana pool was worlds past his or she had a far better talent for amplification of shadows than he did. Not impossible but more than a little surprising considering his bloodline. He honestly hadn't been expecting to do much more than walk in, toss some magic at the arch then walk out with a couple of hundred dollars for his time but now that he'd seen how much magic she was putting into the arch he was curious what would happen if he tossed everything he had at the project. 'Besides, if I can impress her, maybe she'll help me with a personal realm when I figure out what I want.'

Alex smiled as she watched the sewer pipe sized streams of shadow magic shrink back to mere fist sized cables as Abby placed her hand on a softball sized black orb. ‘It must have Abby’s family’s magic in it as well because I still can’t sense it.’ She wasn’t sure how much magic Abby’s mana batteries held but hoped that they held enough to finish the project with everyone's help. Abby paid close attention as the next couple of magic users poured their magic into the arch. She was surprised at how quickly the magic users seemed to run out of mana. She smiled slightly as she noticed that one of the magic users lasted a full ten minutes at a decent output. She was relieved when it finally got around to her turn as it meant the waiting was over. She tapped into her mana pool, raised her hands and started pouring her magic into the glowing black arch.

Cameron frowned as he watched Alex‘s outstretched hands. He tapped his glasses when they refused to pick up anything from the girl. His glasses showed the magic in the arch swirling and twisting around chaotically as more magic flowed in. Judging by the speed the magic in the arch was moving around he could guess that there was a lot of it coming in but he wasn’t sure about exactly how much magic the girl was pushing into the arch. ‘Crap, I’m not sure I can move that much magic.’ He could feel the hairs on his arms rise from the energy in the room but he couldn’t mystically feel the magic flowing into the arch. ‘I need to upgrade my glasses.’ He took a look at some of the other students. Most of them looked confused at why the girl wasn’t pushing magic into the arch though several of them seemed to understand that she was even if they couldn’t see it. He worked on remembering the faces of the couple of new students that seemed to have a clue about what was going on. He felt a shiver of fear go down his spine as he watched the swirl of visible magic flying around inside the arch begin to disperse because there was more invisible magic in the arch than visible. After fifteen minutes he felt his heart nearly jump into his throat as he realized that the arch was starting to vibrate. Typically speaking the arches only started vibrating when you approached the limit of the material and binding spell to handle the magic. Normally when that happened the magic would shatter the door and escape in a less than controlled form that was more often than not fatal for everything around it. Based on how much magic he guessed was in the arch they might have to build a new school if he didn’t get them to finish the spell before the door shattered. He shouted, “Close the spell Abby!”

Alex frowned as she stopped the torrent of magic she was pushing into the arch so that her friend could use the last of her mana batteries to send the arch into the aether. She was a bit annoyed that she hadn’t gotten to burn through more than a tenth of her magic. She held her hands up as she said, “Clear!”

Abby reached out, tapped into the last mana battery she had and sent the door into the aether. “Done!” She giggled as she leaned over and collapsed into Alex’s lap with a goofy smile on her face. “I love you.”

Alex snickered as she patted Abby on the head then whispered, “I love you too.”

Devon felt drained and tired as most of the rest of the students collected their money from Dark Flame and left. He hadn’t intended to drain everything he had in his pool but he had wanted to prove to himself that he could push more magic out than Abby. He wasn’t sure how much magic she had actually managed to push into the arch but he thought he’d won. He was less sure if he had beat her friend as he hadn’t been able to sense her magic directly other than a nebulous feeling of power in the air. He had been able to sense the magic swirling in the arch at high speed so he knew that she had been pumping in a lot magic for more than fifteen minutes… but that was about all he knew. He was a bit surprised that she had been able to outlast him by a good five minutes. He really hoped his friend Cael never heard about that or he would never let him live it down. “That was interesting…”

Dark Flame smirked as she looked at the rather powerful magic user. “Yeah, if you’re ever looking for work I could always use someone as gifted as you.”

Devon smiled as he thought about actually getting paid for his help. He had helped his family on a couple of realms over the years but they didn‘t really see the point in paying him. “Thanks, is it always this interesting around here?”

“Not always but you should see some of her brother’s stuff. He creates worlds that would scare horror writers.”

Cameron felt his heart rate slowly running to normal. He was rather glad that no one else seemed to understand how close they had come to being smears on the walls or worse. He hadn’t expected to need more than basic reinforcements on the arch but he was glad he had put extra magic into the arch on account of the girl being Raven's sister. He forced himself to smile as he walked over to where Dark Flame was talking to the blond kid that had an impressive amount of magic. “That was worth skipping out on my paperwork for.”

Dark Flame laughed as she looked at her slightly frazzled instructor. “Yeah, no way in hell do I want to actually go into that realm but yeah.”

Devon frowned. “Why not?”

“The monsters aren’t capped and the town’s size is.”  

He coughed a couple of times in surprise. “That’s insane…”

Alex looked up at the group from where she was still being used as a pillow for Abby. “There is a fine line between genius and insanity. We’ll have to wait and see which it is in this case. How long should we wait to give the door a chance to rest?”

Cameron glanced at the spot on the floor that used to hold the gate. “It should be good now but aren’t you tired?”

Alex shrugged, “Not particularly. Mostly, I’m just curious to see the town…”

He frowned slightly as he realized that Alex was actually serious about not being tired. 'I really need to check with the head of the enchanting department to see about an upgrade for my glasses if I'm getting her as a student. “I have to admit to a bit of curiosity as well.” He turned to look at the flaming guards. “What about you?”

The left guard said, “It is not in my job description to be curious.”

Alex blinked in surprise, “They talk?”

The face under the flames smirked in amusement though he kept it out of his voice, “Occasionally yes.”

The other guard shook his head. “I should continue my rounds.”

“Thank you for the help.” Cameron looked at Abby, “Do we have permission to enter your realm?”

Abby giggled as she sat up then slowly got to her feet, “You do today.” She looked at the two crystal doorknobs that she'd linked to her realm and handed the second doorknob to Alex then helped her to her feet.