World Sphere - 39 - The Dimensional Closet

Chapter 39: The Dimensional Closet

The spatial spell was finally complete and imprinted. For the level one evolution, I allowed the entrance to be altered to any size. The space itself was a cube, 10 feet to the side. The maximum size of the doorway was one side of the cube, but with evolution, I could reduce that size. The side and orientation of the doorway were fixed on the initial casting of the spell to the caster.

When accessing the space, when I focused inwardly on my core I could access the doorway. The doorway was fluid and couldn’t cut a person or object in half when summoned or unsummoned; that basic knowledge was included in the spellbook. I left my loft and went to prepare dinner early. I ignored Gareth’s question about what I was making for dinner. He was excited because I was starting dinner an hour early; it had to be something special.

Inside the farmhouse, I found Callem and Wynna on the couch sipping wine. Wynna had retrieved her entire stockpile of fine wine, some three hundred bottles, from her old residence in the capital, and they took up a corner of the cellar below. I saw the mithril chunk on the table near the half-finished wine bottle.

“Storme!” Wynna said in greeting, “You are early! Are you making a dessert tonight? You didn’t mention anything this morning.” I studied her for a second. Still nothing about the mithril, it was right there! Fine, I could play this game. I hadn’t made any more mithril, and I had just been adding platinum and gold to the growing hoard in the old cask below.

“No, just heading to the larder for—for some juice.” Yeah, that sounded lame, but I was thirsty. Callem raised an eyebrow figuring I was up to something.

“Hold up a minute. We should talk.” I stopped at Callem’s words. Finally, we would talk about the mithril. “The end of the year celebration is coming in a few days. I thought it would be a good idea if we could do a gift exchange before everyone went home.” I stopped to process his words, confusion on my face. “Yes, you can head to Hen’s Hollow for the celebration. I will be there with Wynna at Ennet’s house anyway.” I missed my parents and sister, so this was great news.

“Also, Storme, Wynna, and Ennet are headed to the capital tomorrow. They need to do paperwork as their old residence has finally been sold. We were just discussing that you may want them to pick up gifts for your friends or family.” I remembered Callem’s last shopping spree with my coin. To his credit, he reimbursed me for everything he had spent.

“Is it ok if they use my coins?” I asked hesitantly, and I moved to sit on the couch opposite the pair, some possibilities opening before me.

Wynna explained patiently, “No, I will not use your coins. We are getting 64 platinum for the old building we owned in the city. I will use those coins, and you can repay me from your—magic coins,” she giggled demurely. “The knowledge that I had sold the house in the capital will make it more feasible for you to add to your balance at the Depository as well.”

“Okay,” I thought briefly, getting excited about increasing spending power. But what should I get my friends? It only took me a moment as Gareth’s big mouth was always wishing he had this or that. “Can you get me three, no four, potion belts, each with six potion slots each. That will cover Gareth, Callem, father, and Pascal. And get two minor stamina and two minor healing potions for each.” Potions were only one to three ounces and came in vials that could be slotted into the belt. “Better make those potions in combat vials,” I added.

A combat vial was a small glass vial dipped in silver. The silver was engraved on the outside with a durability rune. If the vial was properly washed it could be reused. The stopper on the vials had the potion’s name and its expiration date. The shelf life of potions was usually 6 months to a year, depending on the skill of the alchemist and his kit.

A great alchemist could usually get their potions to have a shelf life of over ten years, according to Gareth’s research. No such skilled alchemist resided in Skyholme to my knowledge. Gareth mentioned the combat vials to me more than once from his studies on dungeons. He mentioned there were preservation runes to extend the shelf life of potions as well, but vials could only take one runic inscription. Most delvers preferred the durability rune.

Wynna nodded, writing down my request. She added, “I think Cilia would like that as well.” Oh, I hadn’t even thought about Cilia and Leda. I nodded in the affirmation that it was a good idea. What to get Leda then? Wynna, reading my mind, smiled as she supplied, “I think Leda would like the spell book Arcane Missile. She mentioned it once when we talked.”

“Is that a tier 1 spell?” I asked, unfamiliar with it.

“Yes, it should be seven or eight gold and is fairly common. According to Leda it has great range but minimal impact on its target when it is first inscribed. After a few evolutions, it can be used well in combat on a skyship.” I nodded, knowing she planed to serve as Cilia’s attendant when Cilia was made a captain.

“That sounds great. Maybe I should get a spell for Aelyn as well? I was thinking of Shadow Merge or Quick Step? She is currently working on the obfuscate spell.” I waited for Wynna’s wisdom as it related to a woman’s wants.

“Quick Step would be better for her,” Callem interjected. “It would help her in combat more. Shadow Merge requires the mage to be stationary, I think,” I nodded to his implied question. “Movement is her strength, and she should maximize it.” Wynna frowned, not having the chance to offer her advice.

So, who did I have left on my list left? Mother, Freya, Monty, Wynna, and probably Ennet. “Can you get some treats for Monty in the city? Gareth said he saw a few pet stores.” Wynna said no problem. For mother… “Can you get a nice set of leather graving tools for my mother? I don’t know how much they cost but something of quality.”

“I know just the place in the city Storme. It won’t be an issue. What about your sister?” Wynna asked as I was still thinking.

“How about some basic textbooks? Hen’s Hollow doesn’t have access to material, and Callem keeps reminding me that the education in the capital is far superior to what we learn out here.” Wynna smiled at that, noting it on her sheet.

“Perfect! She may not be too happy with you, but it is a fantastic gift!” Wynna’s eyes were lively, probably thinking about Freya’s response.

“Then you should probably get her some candy too. I will give that to her after she opens the books.” I said, chuckling to myself. “For you and Ennet, how about some wine? I don’t know what to get you two, but I count you friends and owe you a lot.”

“That would be perfect as well, Storme. There are two vintages I have wanted to try from the lowlands. My friends in the capital said a shipment just came in.” Wynna and Callem both looked happy that I hadn’t forgotten the two master readers. I rose and headed downstairs, but there was still no mention of the mithril. I would not lose this battle of patience.

In the basement, I opened my dimensional space for the first time. I made the doorway the size of a normal door. First, I checked the edges of the door. They were not sharp but firm and slightly elastic. I knew the door couldn’t close if an object were wedged in the archway. If there was an object wedged, it would be expelled outside the doorway so it could close. Inside was—dark. The interior sides of the space were all matt black.

Evolutions could change that, but that would be a waste of evolutions. I was still contemplating the fact that this space was essentially inside my aether core. So, the paradox of having my aether core inside me and still being able to enter the space was still perplexing to me. There were two paragraphs in the spell book explaining how it was possible, but I didn’t grasp the logic.

There were so many evolutions that I wanted for this spell form. There was the basic expansion of the space that allowed the box to increase two feet in any direction. Right now, the space was large enough for me. One evolution that I wanted to learn was the material exchange ability. This allowed me to put things into the space by touching them. I could also remove things from the space without having to open the door. I needed a single point of reference when the evolution occurred, so that was typically either the right or left hand. I walked out of the space. I had a semi-cheat I was eager to try.

The spell cost about 40 aether units to cast. This was much higher than a typical tier-three spell. Tier three spells typically cost about four aether units to cast. After it was cast, the dimensional space reduced a mage’s aether pool by four available aether units. If you canceled the spell you got that aether back. Items within the space when the spell were expelled back into the world.

The book clearly noted that canceling the spell and a mage dying were two different events, though. When a mage died, their aether core collapsed, meaning everything that was stored in their aether dimensional storage disappeared as well. Well, my cheat was to cancel and recast the spell until I ran out of aether to try and level it up. It was one of the suggested methods in the spell book.

It took about five castings to get to level two and about twenty total castings to get to level three. For me, the 800 aether was less than 60% of my total aether. A normal mage might need a few days to accomplish this, but I was an aether juggernaut!

It was a weird feeling as I canceled the spell. Some slight heartburn with a gust of wind in the basement as the air in the space was expelled. Nothing determinantal happened, so I continued. I found I needed to wait about a minute between castings after canceling the space in my core. This was because my aetheric heartburn got super intense as the dimensional space dispersed. That had not been noted in the book!

Maybe most mages who learned the spell already had their aether core fully formed, though. It took four castings, and I was able to evolve the spell to get the exchange property. I chose my left hand as the point of reference since I was left-handed.

Fourteen more castings, and the spell hit level three, and I focused on my next evolution. I choose stasis. It made items within age at one-tenth of their normal speed. This would allow me to store cooking ingredients. I could evolve this aspect again to slow aging to one hundredth with the next evolution. And yes, this was an excellent cheat to extend the shelf life of potions as well. Many alchemists and herbalists learned the spell just for this reason. Aelyn’s pocket space spell only slowed aging by half with her first similar evolution, so this tier three version of the spell and its evolution was much more powerful.

The one negative, or maybe positive, was that the dimensional space could not be closed with a person inside it. Well, a person or being that had an aetheric core anyway. I couldn’t use the exchange ability to bypass this either, so no zapping enemies into my storage. Small insects were not an issue with no aetheric core, but a small mouse sneaking in? The mouse needed to be found, expelled, or killed to close the doorway.

Since the space was essentially part of the mage, finding the living creature preventing the door from closing was fairly easy. There was a track of using evolutions for the mage to hide within his own personal space detailed in the spellbook. It would take up six spell evolutions, but I was not planning to make that investment.

Other evolutions I planned to add were air recycling and temperature control. If I was going to put organic material in the space, I needed to keep the air clean. Temperature control may not be needed unless we were hiking in a desert and needed a cool place to recover or perhaps, we were on a glacier and needed somewhere warm to retreat to.

There was a parade of footsteps upstairs. Everyone was here for dinner. It was usually plated and ready to eat when they arrived, but I had gotten distracted and hadn’t prepared anything. Well, they would have to wait a few minutes. I looked at my space before closing the door. I definitely needed shelving as Sebastian had in his space to organize my things.

I went upstairs, and everyone was dumbfounded. They were clearly wondering where the food was. “Hold your stomachs. I will get dinner out soon. Wynna is going to go to the capital for shopping, so if you need anything, ask her.” That started a flurry of activity. Everyone crowded Wynna, and the conversation was going full force as Callem revealed we would be free to go home for the festival and that our group would be exchanging gifts before everyone left.

I tossed two large salads with dressing. The stove quickly heated the water, and Wynna had made the fettuccini fresh this morning, so it cooked quickly in the water. I brought the alfredo sauce to temperature slowly, as it would burn if I heated it too quickly. Soon, I was plating piles of noodles and cheese sauce. Callem had everyone stop their bantering, and Wynna had them go and eat. Wynna had told them she was going to the capital, and everyone was requesting things. Callem went downstairs to retrieve two large pitchers of fruit juice and muttered he was running low.

The conversation at dinner was very animated. Everyone wanted gifts from the city and to talk with Wynna privately to keep it a surprise. Wynna, for her part, was already taking notes, which included everything I had mentioned earlier.

I wondered if I could get Wynna to get me some shelves for my dimensional space. I thought about what I would need before asking her. I would need two shelves ten feet long and fairly deep, at least two feet. With a shelf every two feet, that would be at 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8, so five shelves on each. They also should be heavy-duty. Oh, and I should get some book ends. No, maybe a specialized bookshelf for the third wall. That shelf wouldn’t need to be as deep, just 18”, to hold only books.

I would have to wait, though. Wynna’s appointment calendar was full after dinner, so Callem canceled class this evening. I got the last appointment after Aelyn, who, at Wynna’s urging, was also meeting her.

Back in the bunkhouse, I was getting everything packed. I planned to bring all my possessions into my storage. Aelyn returned from doing dishes, and at first, she was quite upset at seeing me packing my belongings. She had thought I was preparing to move back to Gareth’s side of the bunkhouse but quickly calmed when I explained about my storage space.

“Do you want the obfuscate spell back?” she asked.

“Keep it till you learn to imprint it,” I told her with a reassuring smile. We spent the next hour talking about the obfuscate spell, how I had found it useful, and how to manipulate the spell evolutions once she imprinted it. Aelyn was called in to see Wynna when Leda returned from her session, so I was alone.

I needed to choose my next spell. It was going to be either the alarm or the aether shield spell—or maybe lightning reflexes? Lightning reflexes was a tier 4 spell, and I had struggled with a tier three spell. I needed more practice with simpler spells. I decided on alarm as it shouldn’t take too long to imprint. It would be the only book left on the shelf after tomorrow when I moved all my possessions to my space.

Twenty minutes later, I was called in to see Wynna as Aelyn returned. Wynna was alone on the couch and had a leaflet of notes. “So, Storme, have you considered other things you need from the city?” She smiled but looked a little tired. “Oh, don’t worry about me, Storme, I will have runners in the city get most of these things. I already planned to hire a skyship to move my furnishings to Hen’s Hollow, so transport is not an issue.” My eyes lit up at the last bit as it addressed a concern.

“Wynna, Callem already has a list of the rarer cooking ingredients I need, but I was hoping to get some shelving.” I dove into describing what I wanted, and she nodded along, taking notes.

“An excellent carpenter has a large warehouse in the lower city. I should be able to find what you need there. It may not be to your exact size requirements, but it should be close. So three shelf units for your dimensional space that measures 10-foot square?” I nodded. “That will be an impressive space when you imprint it, Storme. I have seen smaller dimensional spaces, and they are incredibly convenient. Is there anything else you will need for your space? A chair? A desk?”

I broke the news with a grin, “Oh, I imprinted the spell already, I just need to furnish it.”  Wynna looked up, and I was happy to see her disbelief. Callem, as if he had been listening, came out of the bathroom.

“Really?” Callem asked in disbelief. I nodded. “At your age—a tier three spell, right?” I nodded again. His jaw was slack, evaluating me. “That is amazing.”  They both congratulated the remarkable achievement. I mean, I had earned it with all my work, but it still felt good to receive the praise. We returned to my shopping list to furnish my new space.

I started by detailing the three shelves I wanted for each of the walls and then continued, “Oh, I think large light stones, twelve in total, I think. And a comfy reading chair—and a small desk, maybe two feet by four feet. Ten small casks of water, too. Best to have water at hand if needed. I will add food stores in time.” Her eyes widened a little as I expanded my list. I thought it best to stop there and not burden her too much. I thanked her for helping and went to my loft in the bunkhouse. Aelyn was already asleep.

The next day at breakfast, everyone was lively. After thinking about it overnight, Wynna was leaving right after the meal, and everyone had a few additions to their lists. I added four casks of apple-pear wine myself. It had very little alcohol and was generally considered a kid’s drink, but I liked it. A small cask held roughly four gallons, so that should last me a while. I told Wynna to add ten mugs to my list, which earned me some odd stares from everyone.

I had yet to reveal my space to the group yet. After stretching that morning, I moved everything from my loft to my space, with the exception of my bedding and the alarm spellbook. I would move it out in the morning and repeatedly cast the spell to try to raise the level as much as possible before Wynna returned, and then once I added the shelving, I would move everything inside permanently.

I returned Leda’s enchanting primers to her bed and noticed her sheets smelled like lilacs. She was working on her cleanliness spell. I picked up the cleanliness spell book and took it to add to my other things. She had mentioned she was finished with it but just hadn’t found the energy to walk it over to my loft. I was making pizza tonight and trying out some new toppings, with seven different pizzas being prepared. Each person had their preferred toppings.

I wasn’t the only one distracted as training progressed during the day. Apparently, everyone was thinking about the gifts they had gotten for others and what everyone might get them in return. Callem started to get frustrated at the lack of focus and made us run the obstacle course. The winner would get to decide the topic for lessons tonight. Without Wynna here, Callem would most likely just turn it into a discussion. He would start us at intervals, a stupid suggestion I had made. We would start in reverse order of our best finish by our times. If we all ran our best time, then we would finish at the same time.

The start model gave a lively run of the course, but I hated it when Gareth started behind me. He always gave me a little extra shove when he passed me, and yes, he always passed me. Leda started first, then Cilia, then me, then Aelyn, and finally Gareth. I decided I wanted to win today, so I took risks. Jumping off twelve-foot walls and rolling down cargo netting instead of climbing.

I thought I won with just a fifty-foot climb up a ladder, fire pole descent, and a short sprint to the line. But then Aelyn was on me during the climb, and just as I was about to reach the top, she pulled even. She gave me a cheeky grin as she passed me. Gareth somehow also swung up onto the platform right after her, passing me as well. They were human squirrels.

Aelyn was on the fireman’s pole first, but Gareth was right on top. Somehow, his descent was faster, and he landed on her at the bottom and sprinted the 20 yards to Callem for the win. I was dumbstruck and helped Aelyn up when I got to the bottom, and we hobbled to the finish together.

The others stumbled in after us. Callem said, “Excellent! You all improved on your best time!” He looked at me, “Three times in this start order, and three times you all improved!” I didn’t like the tone of Callem’s voice. It was one of excitement, like a kid with a new toy—a toy I had given him. Gareth had recovered enough to speak.

“Dungeons!” He yelled hoarsely. “Tonight, we will all talk about dungeons!” We all moaned. It was inevitable, and it was probably why everyone had pushed hard today. Gareth only wanted to talk about dungeons.

The rest of the day progressed, and after dinner, with everyone clean and healed, we settled in for tonight’s discussion. Leda sat crossed-legged in a loose shirt, and her bust was visible, and Gareth kept getting his eyes drawn back to it. She was teasing him, and the only thing I could do was ignore it. Callem started, “Ok, Gareth, so what are we going to talk about regarding dungeons tonight?”

Gareth sat up and said, “Instance dungeons. They were in the new book that you got for me. They are rare and interesting. From what I read, they are mostly found in young dungeons. They allow multiple groups inside at once, each group experiencing a different dungeon. Similar but not exactly the same terrain.” Gareth said in a rush. Callem looked a little aggrieved.

“Ah, instance dungeons.” Callem hesitated and then continued. “Let me tell you the story of my son, Gylan.” Callem got up and got a bottle of wine, poured himself a glass, sat down, and resumed. “Gylan was an energetic boy. From the time he could walk, he never stopped moving. As he grew, he made friends, many friends. They got it into their heads to be dungeon divers. I supported him. I trained him. He finished third or fourth in the Annuals every year, and attended the Dungeon Academy.”

Callem sighed as his reminisced. “He was the top swordsman at the academy. But there were twin boys from the Torrent family enrolled at the Naval Academy. They were exceptional lads in their own right and had advantages in terms of abilities. Well, I digress. Gylan and his friends were all at the top of their class in the Dungeon Academy and, on graduating, started their own delving company. They were very successful in the dungeons on Skyholme but soon wanted new challenges. They got a transport to the lowlands and settled in an Adventurer’s Guild town.” Callem sipped his wine as he paused the story.

“An Adventure’s Guild town is a town that is usually remote and outside the influence of a kingdom but has access to multiple dungeons nearby. The town was called Hero’s Rest, if I remember correctly. The town was adjacent to an instance dungeon. It allowed up to twenty-three groups to enter at a time. Gylan’s group was there for over a year, running that dungeon and others nearby, amassing fame and wealth. They did extremely well, and we talked every few days using stones.” Callem’s eyes drifted to a communication stone on the mantle.

He continued a bit more morosely. “They were getting ready to move to a big city with a more challenging dungeon. Well, I didn’t hear from Gylan for weeks, and I was getting worried. I went to the town of Hero’s Rest myself.” Callem finished the cup and refilled it. We all listened in rapt attention.

“The instance dungeon had evolved suddenly, not giving the groups time to exit. Seventeen dungeon diver teams were inside at the time, Gylan’s group was one of them. Of the ninety-eight men and women, only six made it out alive, one from Gylan’s team. She was shell-shocked when I found her in the tavern. She told me the horrors of being inside during the transition. The Adventurer’s Guild said the turmoil was mostly due to the instance of the dungeon transitioning to a regular dungeon, with just one instance instead of 23 separate instances. The Adventurer’s Guild was less concerned with those who had been lost and more focused on mapping the newly tiered-up dungeon. So, no matter how well you are prepared, dungeons are unpredictable.” Callem stopped, and I hoped this might dissuade Gareth from delving as was Callem’s intention.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Gareth spoke, missing the message. “Callem dungeons are notoriously difficult but fair. When a dungeon evolves, it conflicts with other dungeons as it tries to expand its footprint within the ley lines. Perhaps some of those adventurers who didn’t return were pushed into other dungeons? It is extremely rare, but you can travel between dungeons…” Callem was already shaking his head, no.

“Yes, the Adventurer’s Guild thought that might be a possibility. But,” he sighed, “In the decades that have passed, not one of those adventurers who perished in that dungeon has returned to my knowledge.”

Gareth persisted, “But Callem, he could have exited anywhere with the Sphere…he could have emerged millions of miles away! Or even on one of the 23 moons!” Callem was shaking his head a little more forcibly.

“Hope is a powerful thing, Gareth. I will always have it, but no diviner or magic could locate Gylan.” Callem looked hard at Gareth, “I will not try to alter your path, Gareth. But understand the dangers ahead of you on the path you wish to walk.” That message ended the night. We returned to the bunkhouse, and I noticed Gareth at least looked contemplative.

Unfortunately, just before I climbed into my bunk, Gareth whispered to me, “We should go and try to find Callem’s son when we explore the Sphere.” Well, I liked that about Gareth, he was an optimist.