Wheuro Vegas, I didn’t want to book a hotel suite, so I found a private bungalow on the south end of Las Vegas through Airbnb.

  Over dinner, a question lingered in my mind, refusing to be ignored. I turo Sonak, my curiosity evident in my eyes despite the tensioween us. “Say, what’s your friend’s name? We keep calling him ‘your friend’ or ‘the traveler.’ It would be o attach a o the mission.”

  Sonak paused, a flicker of reluce crossing his face before he answered. “His name is Rabban Fish.”

  I raised an eyebrow, a smirk tugging at my lips despite the atmosphere. “Fish, like the creature that swims ier?”

  Sonak chuckled, but there was a hard edge to it, his eyes narrowing slightly. “In English, yes, but not in uages.”

  I nodded slowly, processing the information. “Hmm, yeah, I hadn’t thought of that.”

  Sonak’s eyes held a hint of disdain and amusement, but his smile didn’t quite reach them. “Names be quite fasating when you think about their meanings across different cultures.”

  I leaned ba my chair, still p the name. “Rabban Fish... It has a certain ring to it, don’t you think?”

  Sonak grinned, but there was something almost desding in his expression. “It does. And now our mission feels more personal, doesn’t it?”

  Though the exge left a bitter taste in my mouth, I houghtfully.

  Before I fell asleep, my mi round and round in circles, trying to find solutions for the mission’s success. We had to figure out how to bypass the mana-g field a past the fehout alerting the entire base to our presence. I had a potential idea about the fence, but I k would be wise to sult Mahya, as she had more experien these matters.

  The day, we gathered around the dining room table to pn our steps. Sonak sat across from me, his expression a mix of skepticism and irritation, clearly not thrilled about my role in the mission. Ign his disdain, I addressed the group, “From what I see, we have two key challenges,” I began, my voice steady but my brow furrowed. “First, we must find a way to get through or over the fehout announg our preseo the entire base. I have an idea, but I’m not sure it will work.” I turo Mahya, seeking her expertise. “You mentiohat if I buy the Jump skill, it won’t be strong enough at level 1, right?”

  She nodded, her expression thoughtful. “Yes, at first, you might be able to jump a meter, maybe a bit more. Only after reag level 10 could you jump high enough to clear a fence like the one around the base.”

  “If we buy a strong trampolihat hold our weight, bined with the jumping skill, do you think this could work?”

  Mahya sidered this, her brow furrowing slightly as she thought. “Yes, it could work, but you’ll o practice. The skill enhances your ability to gai, but you must still learn to trol your jumps, move forward or backward in the air, and, most importantly, nd safely. When I started training, I broke my leg twice.”

  “Alright, I’ll find and buy a sturdy trampolihat support us,” I said with determination. Turning to Sonak, I asked, “How big is your friend?”

  Sonak’s lips curled into a fond smile, though his eyes held a glint of disdain as he looked at me. “He’s big. About two meters tall and very muscur.”

  Al perked up, and his eyes lit up with i, but Sonak quickly added, “Calm down, Al. He’s not ied in males, only females.”

  Al’s face fell, looking crestfallen.

  I chuckled and brought the versation ba track. “Once we have the trampoline, we’ll o find a quiet spot in the desert to practice. Don’t worry about broken legs; I’ll heal you immediately.” I then moved on to the crucial issue. “The sed problem we o overe is the mana field.” I opehe archive and read Rabban’s inal message aloud, “He writes: ‘They have a force field that nullifies magid cuts off access to mana.” I scratched my head and tinued, “I have no idea how they do it or how to overe it. The only other information we have is what the wind veyed to me. She unicated that the room was buzzing, but the feeling I got from her was more of a low and stant hum.”

  Sonak’s expression darkened, clearly skeptiy assertion. He leaned back, crossing his arms. Just then, Al leaned forward, excitement in his eyes. “If you are certain about the humming, I think I have the answer,” he said, his voice filled with enthusiasm.

  “Really?” I asked, surprised but intrigued. “How?”

  Al straightened in his chair, his face taking on a pompous air as he spoke. “In preparation for my travels, from a young age, I had to study in my family’s archives and memorize all the reports of my aors.” He looked around the table, ensuring he had everyone’s attention. “One of my aors, after he destroyed several teological devices with mana, became fasated with the subjed began iigating the collisioween mana and teological energy.”

  Al’s voice grew more formal, and he held his head high, relishing the opportunity to share his knowledge. “In his research, he focused on three types of energy. The first type he described was geed energy in all forms, from bustion to antimatter collision to gee energy.”

  He paused for effect, eyes sing our faces for any sign of prehension or admiration. “The wo types he discussed were Quantum Flux Energy and Gravitational ower.”

  “Quantum Flux Energy is produced by harnessing the energy of quantum fluctuations in vacuum space. Specialized tai fields create areas of intense quantum activity where virtual particles are momentarily brought iehese particles are then captured and verted into usable energy before being eradicated. The process requires extremely advanced materials to tain and direct the quantum flux.”

  I tried to hide my bewilderment, nodding as if I fully uood.

  Al pressed on, clearly enjoying his moment in the spotlight. “The other type he described was Gravitational ower. It is geed by creating and maniputing microscopic bck holes in heavily shielded facilities. As these artificial singurities merge and evaporate, they release powerful gravitational waves. These waves are then captured by hyper-sensitive detectors and verted into usable energy. The teology requires precise trol over space-time curvature aic matter to maintain stable micro bck holes.”

  Al paused, letting the weight of his words settle over us. “He detailed all those findings to prove that mana is a natural energy that the world produces, and all these types of energy are artificial. And, therefore, ot exist simultaneously. He believed this was the reason for the flict.”

  Al’s eyes gleamed as he reted his aor’s clusions. “He also theorized that the effect is depe on iy nitude. To support his cims, he also attached three reports from Travelers who entered the opposite situations, namely, that teological energy suppressed mana.”

  He leaned forward, l his voice as if sharing a great secret. “The first report was from a Traveler researg how to build mana-powered spaceship engines. He mao sneak into a facility where they were researg a ype of space drive. Let me quote his report as accurately as I . This is what he described: Psma Geion, a device that creates a highly ionized field by strippirons from air molecules using high-frequeromagic waves. The psma field is tained within a trolled enviro using magic fields to create a barrier that be tuo specific frequencies aies to i with specific materials.”

  I tried to keep up, but the details were overwhelming. Al tinued, uerred by my fusion. “The sed report was from someone inally from a teological world. Before he went traveling, he participated in research developing neons for space warfare. He reported the followiromagic Pulse (EMP) Geors, devices that emit powerful bursts of eleagic radiation. He crified that those were Localized EMP Fields desigo interfere with the frequency or energy level at which different types of energy operate, disrupting its structure and rendering it iive. Those were Nohal Frequencies, carefully chosen to avoid harming humans while affeg eleic devices.”

  Al’s expression softened slightly, siy breaking through his haughty demeanor. “After he went through a Gate and his mana was awakened, he said that the entire research facility pletely blocked his access to mana, even the Archive and Ste, and made him feel cut off and sick. He quit araveling.”

  “The third Traveler,” he tinued, his taining its desding edge, “was a herbalist who sneaked into a pce where they were researg how to grow food on asteroids. He reported that they were buildirostatic Field Geors. Those devices create a strorostatic field by charging the air with ions. He reported that it created an Ion Interferehe charged ions in the air would i with mana particles, ralizing their energy. The research was ducted with Air Ionizers, simir to those used for air purification but on a rger and more powerful scale.”

  Al leaned back, his eyes glinting with self-satisfa. “These three Travelers also reported that the space where the teology was activated buzzed or hummed. My whole family are mages and enters, and I assure you that nothing built with mana buzzes or hums.” He finally fell silent, his gaze challenging ao question his knowledge.

  From about the middle of his description, I started grinning wider and wider, and Mahya did, too. We looked at each other and high-fived.

  Al appeared utterly perplexed and inquired, “What is the reason behind your immense joy?”

  “Because I know how to overe the field,” I said, and Mahya nodded enthusiastically.

  “How?” he asked, looking pletely fused. “You might be the only oween us with enough mana to overe it, but we will be helpless.”

  “I thought the field was are in nature, maybe from some captured Traveler or something. But from your description, especially the buzziion, the field is created teologically, not magically. And if it’s teological, we don’t o overe it. I just o fry some teology.”

  Sonak’s eyes narrowed, skepticism etched across his face. “How are you going to get to it?”

  “Through the earth,” I replied fidently. “It will take me a while to locate the facility’s trol ter and reach it with mana tendrils, but I’m sure that if I ask the earth for help like I ask the wind, I’ll succeed.”

  Sonak gave a curt nod, still looking unvinced but not voig any further objes.

  I did an online seard found that Walmart Superter offered a variety of trampolines, including the Skywalker 15-foot Regle Trampoline, which could support multiple jumpers and had a weight capacity of 500 pounds. After I bought the trampoli took us some time to figure out how to assemble it, and the result was BIG.

  Sonak asked, “How exactly are you pnning to hide the trampolier we jump over the fe’s too big; the first patrol will immediately see it.”

  “John store things that are within his mana field range. If he stands very close to the fence, he even reach teers away,” Mahya answered.

  He turo me, looked me up and down, made a displeased face, harrumphed, but said nothing.

  We headed out to the desert to have fun a our new skills orampolihe sun shone brightly, giving the sand a beautiful goldehat seemed to go on forever. Our excitement was obvious as we set up the big, strong trampoline and ehe mat was tight and ready for our training.

  We all bought the Jump skill, and Mahya, our instructor, began the session with a demonstration. She moved with grad power, showing off her expertise. First, she taught us how to use the trampolio jump higher.

  “Watch closely,” she said, positioning herself in the ter of the trampoline. With a light bounce, she initiated the first jump. “To gai, you o synize your movements. Bend your knees slightly, push off with your feet as you jump, and activate the skill simultaneously.”

  She demonstrated this three times, each bounce propelling her higher into the air. “Remember,” she tinued, “the timing of your jumps is crucial. As you desd, absorb the impact with your knees, and as you asd, extend ys fully to maximize your height, activating the skill again.”

  , she taught us how to trol our bodies in mid-air. “Once you’ve reached a good height,” she expined, “it’s important to know how to mailt your head and shoulders forward to initiate a somersault. Your body will follow naturally.”

  Mahya demonstrated a perfeersault, her body rotating gracefully in the air. “Keep your core engaged and your body tight,” she advised. “This will help you maintain trol and bance.”

  She then showed us how to fly above an obstacle using this teique. “After the somersault, you extend your arms ao cover more distance. Imagine yliding through the air.” With a swift motion, she leaped, somersaulted, and soared above a marked spot on the sand, nding softly several meters away.

  Finally, she emphasized the importance of a safe nding. “As you e down, prepare to absorb the impact. Bend your knees and lower your ter of gravity to stabilize yourself.”

  Al, of course, demonstrated perfect athletic abilities from the first jump, nding like a professional gymnast with his arms outstretched to his sides. I couldn’t help myself and asked, “Al, with your acrobatic abilities, why did you choose the Heavy Warrior css? Wouldn’t a more athletic css, like Mahya’s, be better suited for you?”

  Al shrugged, “All the athletic csses only get two points for vitality. A Heavy Warriets four. The points ied me more than practicality.”

  I furrowed my brow, curiosity piqued. “But why? Isn’t it easier to accumute those points through other csses?”

  Al sighed, his expression turning serious. “In my family, the tradition is to take a Mage and Enter css, progress to level 10, and theurn within ten years to take the throne. I did not know I would have the time tress at my pa what I want.”

  Mahya interjected, her tone encing. “You ge your css if you demonstrate different abilities.”

  I looked at her in astonishment. “We switch csses?”

  “ly switch,” Mahya expined, her eyes twinkling with excitement. “You advance a css. If Al starts fighting in a more athletic or acrobatic way, his css might advao something like a Heavy Acrobatic Warrior or a Heavy Bde Dancer. He’ll still have the base of the css he started with, but the abilities he demonstrates will be added to it. The Guidance is desigo help us, not hold us back. With enough effort, we correct past mistakes.”

  Al raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “How do you know that? I have never heard of it.”

  “Lis told me,” Mahya replied with a shrug.

  “If Lissarom said this, it is so,” Sonak interjected.

  Al’s eyes widened slightly as he processed this new information, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. “Iing. I guess there’s more flexibility in our paths than I realized.”

  “Well, we better make the most of our training then,” I said to get everybody ba track.

  Al grinned, his petitive spirit ignited. “Absolutely. Let us explore what we do out here.”

  Well, Al might have been a born athlete, but I wasn’t. By the end of the day, I had to heal two broken ankles, a broken tibia, a dislocated shoulder, and lots of scrapes and bruises. My only sotion was that Sonak was even worse thahere were times I really wao dey his healing; he got on my nerves. But for the sake of the group’s iy, I overcame the urge and was very nice.

  Spirits help me, I wao dey his healing as much as possible! Sometimes, being a nice person sucks.

  At least, by the end of the day, all of us could jump over a five-meter-high pole and nd safely. And my Jump skill even progressed to level 2.