“Your body will naturally generate a certain amount of mana over time. Ilmarillion explained. “The more essence you put towards your mana attribute the more mana your body will both have and naturally generate. When your mana is full the excess mana generated will be converted into essence.”

  “So, I could just sit around relying on my mana generation to improve rather than almost dying?” Ezekiel asked, hopefully.

  “Were you not listening earlier? One of the three main ways people gather essence is through meditation. But they also rely on rare ingredients and high ambient mana and essence areas to achieve that. You currently would be lucky if you got one part in ten thousand converted this way. This is why it is generally quicker to gain essence in ways other than relying on your mana to convert to essence. The crickets you have killed probably provide you with an equivalent amount of essence as you would gain in a year if you did not use your mana once in that time.”

  “This is also why I recommend getting a focus, as it-”

  “Cricket, there is a cricket.” Ezekiel said, pointing ahead to their left. “I saw it first!”

  “I already saw that cricket. I was waiting till we were closer to its range of hearing before stopping. Since you have seen it now though, go take care of it.” she commanded.

  Eager to finish the fight quickly so he could continue learning, Ezekiel rushed towards the cricket which noticed him immediately since he was heading straight at it without trying to hide. It was as he slowed down to prepare to strike that his foot caught on a root, sending him tumbling to the ground. Looking up, he saw the cricket ready to strike. Instantly rolling over and rising he felt something snag his jeans briefly.

  Taking several quick steps away, he spun to face the cricket which was close behind him. He barely had time to raise his spear, managing to knock away one of its limbs with the bottom of the spear, cutting it shorter in the process. Panicking he swung the spear down like a staff hitting one of its eyes. It let out a chittering screech and pulled back slightly giving him room to bring his spear into position to strike. This time piercing its compound eye and into its brain killing the cricket.

  Taking a breath to steady himself after the close call he looked down at the back of his leg to see what damage had been done to his jeans. His pant leg was starting to turn red with blood. The cricket’s legs had cut through his pants and into his leg without him even feeling it.

  Pulling up his pant leg to inspect the wound, he was relieved to see it wasn’t as bad as he initially thought. The cricket had left a cut on his calf, he could see it hadn’t gone deep, but there was still enough blood to be concerning. Feeling the cut beginning to hurt as he began to pay attention to it, he quickly hobbled to his pack, trying not to use his injured leg as much as possible. Opening his bag he searched for his first aid kit. Finding it, he pulled the bandage out and wrapped it around his leg several times before tying it off.

  “That was too close.” he muttered.

  “Never be too confident or in too much of a rush when in a fight. Even the smallest mistake can get you killed if you are not careful.” Ilmarillion said.

  “I know, but I thought since I had killed a couple with this spear without injuring myself that this time would be the same. I did that barely knowing how to use a spear and even managed it with just a branch before I got my first spear.” Ezekiel said.

  “Well remember this moment, learn from it and never underestimate an opponent. Overconfidence can cost you your life. I would rather not have wasted my time with you.” she said

  Standing up, he put some weight on his leg. It felt a bit sore and tight but it shouldn’t slow him down that much. Doing a short walk around he checked the bandage to see how much blood had soaked through the bandage. Not seeing any blood he picked up his pack.

  Looking up at Ilmarillion, he said. “I’m good to go.”

  “If you are sure, lead the way.” she said, gesturing with a hand.

  “So, mana becomes essence.” he prompted the faerie hoping to keep his mind off his leg.

  “Yes, but as I said the conversion rate is abysmal. Being able to improve your mana generation helps but there is still a lot of time and preparation needed to really benefit from it. It is infinitely easier just going to kill a rift.” she explained, going quiet.

  Looking up at Ilmarillion to see why she had gone quiet, he walked right into something that seemed to push him back. Staggering back a step, he blinked in confusion. Looking ahead he could see the forest continuing on ahead of him, but as he looked it seemed to blur and shift. Lifting his free hand he tried to touch whatever was in front of him. The surface flexed slightly before pushing back.

  Ilmarillion burst out laughing.

  “You should see your face. You really are clueless. I should not laugh at you, but the look on your face.” she said while laughing.

  This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

  “What the hell is it?” he asked angrily.

  “That is the outer edge of the rift. What you see beyond reflects the world the rift was from and is now a part of.” she said, calming down.

  “What do you mean ‘it reflects’ the world the rift was part of? Can I get to the other world if I can pass through the edge?” Ezekiel questioned.

  “Not quite. Keep in mind that what I am telling you is the simplified version of this.” Ilmarillion said.

  “A rift is a failed portal between two or if truly unlucky multiple worlds. Instead of linking two worlds, it has collapsed and formed its own dimensional bubble from the essence and materials absorbed from the worlds. The rift will then create an echo or reflection of one of the worlds it was connected to.” she explained

  “The more worlds that were part of the portal originally, the more dangerous and powerful the rift will be when initially formed. Though portals can be created between worlds safely, rifts are often made from naturally occurring portals which lack the safety and failsafe’s of a created portal.”

  “Most people call the rift an echo because it uses the essence it has absorbed to recreate everything inside itself. Which is why creatures will generally behave how they would have on their own world until a foreign mana and essence is introduced.”

  “Now the reflection you see in the dimensional membrane or edge of the rift reflects the worlds it was connected to, usually favouring the world it took the most mana and essence from. In this case the cricket’s home world.” she explained.

  “If I managed to get through the dimensional membrane would I be on the other world?” he asked.

  “If you somehow managed to pierce the membrane, you would not only cause the dimensional collapse of the rift, you would then be pulled into the void between worlds, which would lead to a rather horrific death.” she said.

  “Won’t I be collapsing the rift by killing all the monsters though?” Ezekiel asked worriedly.

  “Of course, why do you think I brought you along? I do not want to die from the dimensional collapse of the rift” she said with a mocking laugh. “I already told you I could close this rift with ease if I wanted to. I led you here so you could become a selfless hero, willing to sacrifice yourself for your planet.”

  “What the hell, I thought you were helping me! Why bother trying to teach me anything then?” he said, both angry at being tricked and afraid he didn’t have any other choice.

  Laughing, Ilmarillion said “I am only joking with you. No heroic sacrifices necessary, I swear.”

  “The rift will collapse naturally as it runs out of essence, making it unable to sustain itself. This causes it to naturally dissipate, releasing whatever essence it still has. That is the essence you will gain the vast majority of once it collapses and what makes rifts worth clearing. There will be some that is not absorbed as no transference is ever perfect.” she said.

  “Far out.” he said “I seriously thought you were setting me up to die.”

  “No, as I said earlier hospitality is a very important law to the fae and I am still trying to figure you out as well.” she said. “Now come on, we need to keep moving”

  Taking one last look at the edge of the rift, he headed off in a direction that took him on an angle from his original path.

  “I have taught you a lot now, I would like some of my questions answered. What planet are you from? It is exceedingly rare to have no idea that magic is real, and even rarer to be able to have as little essence as you have at your age.”

  “We call our planet Earth mostly, some people might call it something else but Earth is what it is generally known as.” he answered.

  Sighing, Ilmarillion shook her head. “Humans can be one of the most unimaginative races I have ever met. Okay, Earth, I know of at least twenty other planets called Earth, let alone ones called something similar like dirt, rock or sometimes just planet.”

  “Okay” she said “what else, what else. How many moons does Earth have? Does it only have one sun? What colour, or colours if there are more?”

  “We only have one moon which is white though it can look yellow or red at times which I think is due to pollution in the skies. We only have one sun as well which I would say is yellow. And there are eight planets in the solar system with several dwarf planets as well if that helps.” he answered.

  “It does help narrow things down a bit. Let me think about it for a while. What is a ‘video game’? You have referenced them several times but I am not familiar with the term.” she said

  “A video game is a game you play on a computer, phone or console that connects to a screen. There are video games based on nearly everything: science fiction and fantasy, adventure, mystery or even just games you need to line up certain shapes to win. I prefer to play action, role playing games where I have powerful spells and abilities.” he explained.

  “What is a computer, phone, console and screen?” she asked. “I also thought you said you did not know any magic?”

  “Computers, screens, phones and consoles are all a type of technology called electronics.” Pulling out his phone to show her. “This is a phone, it hasn’t worked since I got knocked out. It runs on electricity which is kind of like controlled lightning we use to power everything. The games are all just pretend. It’s almost like reading a story except I control what the character does in the story. I don’t know magic, it’s just part of the game. I press a button and my character will do the action.” he tried explaining.

  Looking at the phone, Ilmarillion said. “Interesting, I would love to look at it further if you can get it working any time soon. Your explanation leaves a lot to be desired though and I think I would need to see it working to truly know. Also this is taking forever, I will be right back, just keep walking.” she said before flying up into the sky.

  Ezekiel exhaled, feeling uneasy now he was left in the rift on his own. He hadn’t realised how much he had relied on her. Even though she mocked him and brought more danger his way than necessary, it still felt better than being on his own. Slowing his pace slightly, he carefully scanned the trees as he continued walking, hoping she wouldn’t be long.