“What’s a PortalSmith?”

  Desmond was so confused.

  He had read the user manual on the forums so many times and not once had there been a single mention of a unique class like this. His mind raced but couldn’t decide if the class was something worthwhile or not.

  “Well done buddy,” Clemiticus said with an overly excited grin. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

  “Welcome for what?” he asked. “What even is a PortalSmith?”

  Clemiticus shrugged. That particular conundrum hadn't crossed his mind yet.

  “Knowing Clem's luck, it’s something stupidly overpowered. World bending yadda, yadda,” Melly said.

  For some reason the way she spoke was really odd, as if she'd spoken through experience. Desmond silently questioned the grimace on her face and gave her a polite reassuring smile.

  Clemiticus, on the other hand, was having a blast with his magic stick. "This is so cool!" he cheered with mischievous glee in his eyes.

  "That's just a stick..." Melly commented.

  "Yeah, just a super cool stick!"

  He swung it around with a goofy grin smeared over his face. The stick may appeared ordinary... But it had come from the special box.

  With each swing, it lit up with a magical glow. “Let me try something,” Clemiticus said, then placed his stick on his back. “Ah-ha!”

  The stick somehow floated there behind him on his back unaided.

  Well, that’s some good news, Desmond thought. It was comforting to see the standard MMORPG mechanics at play. Fanswald looked so real, but the physics behind the world was clearly designed for the players.

  Clemiticus glanced up above Desmond. “Okay, Mr P-hoe-nix, Let’s see what you got,” Clemiticus said, rubbing his hands together.

  Melly pointed at Desmond’s character name. “I think it’s pronounced “Phoenix.”

  Desmond nodded, with his face full of confusion. He knew it was spelt oddly but to get the name completely wrong was nothing short of odd. “Um, yeah, Phoenix… Like the magical fiery bird.”

  Desmond turned to the chat window. “No idea, but he’s helping me. I think."

  Clemiticus looked at Desmond and tilted his head. “Who are you talking to?”

  Desmond flinched as Clemiticus came far too close to his face.

  “Is there someone here?” he asked.

  Desmond's brow furrowed. “I… um, I’m streaming.”

  Recognition dawned as a burning envy lit up his eyes. “Oh, damn, no fair! Why can’t I do that? How many people are watching? Never mind…”

  Clemiticus flipped open his shirt and began to prod his belly button where his own little menu cog sat.

  “Watching?” Melly asked, spinning around in alarm as if a bunch spies were secretly observing her every move.

  "Options, options…” he mumbled.

  “I don’t think it’s in the options,” Desmond quickly added. “I had to sign up with the streaming option before making my character.”

  Clemiticus shot Desmond a disappointed glance, his expression quickly turning into a miserable frown. “Awww…”

  “Sorry,” Desmond said, apologetically.

  “I honestly think that’s for everyone's best interest,” Melly added. “It's better for everyone's safety and well-being."

  “Well, that just sucks,” Clemiticus said flatly. But then, his face instantly lit up as his short attention span took over. “So, what can a PortalSmith do then?”

  Desmond was taken aback, freezing momentarily as he tried to process the sudden change in Clemiticus' line of thought.

  “Well, go on, open your spell book,” Clemiticus urged.

  Desmond's eyes darted around, searching for the book in his peripheral vision. "Where is it?"

  Clemiticus rolled his eyes and glanced at Melly. "Newbies..."

  He stepped beside the fresh-faced PortalSmith and stretched out his arms. "Okay, imagine your spell book and hold out your arm."

  “That sound’s easy,” Desmond said as he complied. And true to the mad Adventurers word’s a book materialised before him. On its cover sat one spell.

  Clemiticus moved as close as he could, reading the spell out loud. “What? One centimetre in size? What a rip off… Well at least you can level the skill up.”

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  What about a weapon? Desmond thought. “How can I level it up?”

  Clemiticus scratched his chin. “How much mana you got?”

  Desmond flipped open his character info.

  “Twenty-five,” Desmond said. It certainly didn’t look impressive.

  Clemiticus nodded confidently, “Go on create a portal.”

  Desmond nodded, then held up his hand. “I guess I just say the spell?”

  Clemiticus nodded, while Melly ignored the boys and focused on admiring her new, uncommon ring.

  “Create minor portal!”

  -10 mana.

  In an instant, a small, pink, sparkly circle materialised just a meter away from him. It glimmered with a magical glow as it opened, revealing an absorbing glimmer of magical power. And to Desmond's amazement, a matching circle appeared right in front of him. As they widened to one centre meter, it opened, connecting both circles together. He gasped as he peered through the miniature gateway, witnessing a tiny reflection of the beautiful meadow stretching out beyond.

  Curiosity getting the better of him, Desmond couldn't resist the temptation. He cautiously extended his finger through the magical portal and wiggled it.

  Clemiticus burst out laughing, completely amused by the display.

  "Ha! You could tickle anyone you want with that!" Clemiticus chuckled, considering the possibilities with a serious expression on his face.

  Desmond shook his head and retrieved his finger from the magical gateway.

  -10 mana.

  “Are you getting any experience for that?” Clemiticus asked.

  Desmond eyed his character sheet and sighed.

  “Barely a drop,” he said as the portal faded out of existence. “Zero, point zero three percent.”

  Clemiticus placed his hands on his hips. “Well, that sucks.”

  Desmond nodded and let his hand drop, the spell book fading with it.. It was indeed disappointing.

  “Well anyway, Ima let you go. We've got some serious leveling up to do!" Clemiticus declared.

  "We do?" Melly questioned, tearing her attention away from her ring.

  Clemiticus nodded. “How else are we going to find the others?”

  Melly shrugged initially, but then her face lit up with enthusiasm as she found the plan to be quite fitting.

  "Okay, holey boy, we'll head over there," Clemiticus pointed towards a big tree to the south, where a few bouncy slimes hopped around happily. Clemiticus then gestured towards the spot where Desmond had unfortunately met his demise just a few moments ago. "And you can level up over there."

  As Clemiticus dashed off with his stick, with a roaring excitement, ready for the imminent battle ahead, Desmond couldn't help but let out a sigh of resignation. He watched his new friend's enthusiasm from a distance, his own barely a flicker. His gaze shifted towards his character sheet, taking note of the mana bar.

  Suddenly, his eyes widened in realisation. "Wait a minute..."

  Desmond was an Elf—a creature born of and connected to magic itself! The inherent power of his race presented him with a remarkable opportunity to become a magician like no other. He stared intently at his character sheet, holding his breath in anticipation of the mana gauge ticking upward.

  Mana 05/25

  “Common, what’s it going to be?”

  He clenched his fist’s waiting, hoping for his mana to react.

  Mana 15/25

  “Ten? How long was that? Thirty seconds?” he asked.

  “Nice, so every minute I can pretty much have a portal up.”

  As Desmond walked towards the lively bouncing slimes, his mind was humming with thoughts. He replayed their conversation in his head, trying to remember every word. And then, something the woman had said hit him like a lightning bolt, capturing his attention completely.

  Something stupidly overpowered. World bending yadda, yadda…

  An idea, although a bit gloomy, crossed Desmond's mind. In order to gain experience, he realised he needed to defeat the slimes. There was no other option. Even if he didn't possess a weapon, he did have a trick up his sleeve.

  Desmond turned to the chat window. “What I’m doing?... An experiment.”

  Mana 25/25

  As he approached the slimes, he carefully moved into position. One meter before the first creature.

  User has entered the chat.

  He ignored the notification and concentrated. His hand darted up and the spell book appeared before him once more. He focused within the centre of the clear, happy little slime and spoke, “Create minor portal!”

  -10 mana.

  Instantly a pink circle appeared within the clear slime, its twin just like before appearing before Desmond. As soon as the portals connected and opened up, the portal closest to Desmond burst in a gelatinous mess as the innards of the slime gushed through the opening.

  “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Desmond shouted as the cute little slime dissolved in front of him.

  -10 mana.

  A red system notification popped up.

  Slime level 1 has died.

  Gained EXP.

  “I did it?” he said as the slime creature dissolved into a puddle before him. Its membrane melted, leaving only harmless water in its wake.

  He breathed out a sigh of relief. He had a way to level.

  “Now how much exp did that give me?” he asked then turned to his character window.

  “Oh, snap!” he said, elated. He had gained almost one third of a level.

  You have gained two new followers!

  Desmond glanced up in surprise. “Holy crap, thanks for the follow, Garbles and FluffyDinos!”

  He couldn’t believe it. On his very first day in the game, Desmond had already achieved more than just one victory.

  “Alright! I think we need to wait only a minute before we try that again!”