It was a few days after that, when I felt the change in the world. It happened in the evening. As things were winding down.

  The tension of the day had passed, and no gate opened up. I’d put on my pajamas and was lying awake in bed, reading a little. Right around 11 p.m., on July 22nd, the world cracked open like an egg against a kitchen table.

  I could feel it.

  Qi spilled into the air, from my body. Like a seal that had been lifted, as though the vacuum around me dispelled a little. My body adjusted to the change in pressure, and I was suddenly able to access my wellspring more fully. Still not to the degree of my true power, that was chained behind the mirror gateway.

  But it was enough to rival a beginner wellspring cultivator.

  Still, that inner shift was minor compared to the outside. Echo spilled into this world. It crept in through the cracks, seeped in through each open gate, alongside Qi and Mana and even a bit of Divinity.

  Now, a trickle turned into a pour. The world shifted, and I saw double. My fingers moved in an endless string, leaving behind afterimages, echoes, of where they had been. The air whispered to me of noises from days ago, and everything shook.

  Ann shot up next to me, her heart thumping and fire enveloping her, almost lighting our bed before I graciously carried her off it.

  “Seems it’s time,” I said.

  “Y-yeah,” Ann stuttered. She was still on fire, and my arms would have burnt were I a normal human. But they did not, so the only thing that happened was that my pajamas started smoking before she doused herself. “Uhm. You can put me back down now.”

  I smiled, pcing my girlfriend back on her feet, then took a deep breath. With a single movement, I pulled Astraeus from my inventory, the spear brimming with power in my hands.

  “You know where it is?” Ann asked.

  “Yeah,” I nodded. “Let’s go.”

  By the time we were downstairs, with me still wearing my scorched pajamas, Liam already leaned against the door. Matt was yawning, coming downstairs after us, and carrying Emilia on his shoulder. Marie had her bow strong, and Reya’s fore of Divinity glowed within her chest.

  We were all here. Eric… well. He wasn’t. We’d invited him to the guild, but he chose to try and make his own path.

  So, this was our little group. Dawn of Ambition was the seven of us. Ann, Matt, Liam, Reya, Emilia, Marie, and me. I took another breath, then pushed open the door. “Let’s go, I said.”

  “You got it, boss,” Matt yawned. We stepped out the door, and then, into the night sky.

  - - -

  Ivan had never quite gotten used to the changing world.

  Well, that was a lie. He was plenty able to handle the world having changed. In fact, he had taken it better than most people. His mom had needed a day to y in bed and gasp dramatically before she was even able to resume life as normal.

  And, frankly, things hadn’t changed that much. Oh, sure, there were monsters, and magic, and mercenaries. But the same companies held the same power. The same pnet was still dying, though a little slower and a little differently now.

  He drew in a breath, hopping into his car as the change sank in. He should get there before his sis did. Because that was what he couldn’t get used to. His sister, Bell, the rebellious upstart was now this world’s hero.

  Ivan chuckled to himself as he lit a cigarette and turned the keys in the ignition. He wasn’t dressed for the chilly evening, but summer was still sticking around, so the temperature was tolerable. Still, he sighed.

  What was he really doing? Driving around with magic measuring devices in his trunk. His skin tougher than it had any right to be, and with him feeling a dang manacore in his chest. He was an alchemist now. He could create miracle drugs. Hell, he made the cigs he was smoking himself.

  They had no nicotine in them. In fact, he had weaned off nicotine entirely. These ones used a new pnt he had grown himself, using a bit of magic and some grafting. It was absolutely bizarre to think, but his home had turned into something of a greenhouse.

  He shook his head slightly. It was silly. The world had changed so much, and there were monsters that occasionally broke out of gates… and he was thinking of his mother, who still did paintings, his beaten nicotine addiction, and his hero of a sister.

  All while driving a car to a new gate, this one bigger than any before.

  So big, in fact, was the tear in reality, that he felt it before he got there. The way the air curled, as if space itself was trying to run away. The way the world changed in density as Mana spilled into it, and the ringing in his ears caused by the incessant invasion of Echo.

  Ivan grimaced, his steering becoming slightly wobbly, but he still held it together. He was blessed with all the talents Bell had collected, after all. Eventually, he made it to where he was supposed to be.

  Zinnic was there already, of course. They’d made a deal with the keepers, after all. Ivan grit his teeth. Fuckers. They really weren’t above selling out their own world. Then he calmed himself again.

  It was fine. No one owed the pnet anything. Ivan had a firm belief in interacting respectfully with the environment, since it was something that deserved to be preserved. But some people had less respect and that was fine, rgely. Of course it bothered him. But it was tolerable.

  Before Ivan could think even deeper about the morality of pnetary incursions, he arrived at his destination. Already, some of the other scientists came towards him, as well as Zinnic suits.

  Moving swiftly and with practiced motion, he got out of the car, swung the door shut, and opened his trunk. Then he reached in, and held out the first Mana resonance wavelength detector, which was swiftly taken by Jamie, his friend.

  “Sir, you cannot be here,” one of the suits started. She was a woman with blonde hair, tied back.

  Ivan waved her off. “I’m with Dawn of Ambition.”

  She stepped closed. “Sir, please, I need to ask you to leave. There is a gate, it’s-”

  “Yeah, yeah. I get it. A gate, yeah. I’m also with the government. Needa take measurements. If you would please let me past…” he said, holding a piece of b equipment and trying to squeeze by the dy.

  Again, she stepped into his path, stopping him. “No. No one is allowed past this spot.”

  Ivan sighed. “Okay,” he said. “We’ll do this the hard way then.” With a wave of his fingers, he cast a small spell. Then, he pointed his index finger to the sky, firing off a greenish fireball that fizzled out harmlessly as it burnt through the mana.

  “What-” she started, then was interrupted.

  There was a rumbling noise, and a yawn. Emilia suddenly appeared from the ground next to Ivan, the stone splitting before her, then mending itself again. She cracked her neck. “Sooooo…” she mumbled, dragging out the words. “Somethin’ the matter here?”

  The Zinnic agent blinked. “Ah, Ms. Emilia, I-”

  “You were holding up our alchemist, yeah,” the warrior said bluntly. “Look. No harm, no foul. This happens every time. You’re seeing Ivan for the first time, yeah?”

  “Yes, Ms. Emilia,” the agent said, suddenly looking like a drenched puppy.

  Emilia pointed her thumb at Ivan. “Alright, then. He’s part of our guild. None of the documents are forged, and he’s one of the most brilliant minds of our time. So, would you let him through?”

  The dy grit her teeth. “Ms. Emilia, you’re not supposed to be at the gate, either.”

  At that, the warrior smiled, baring her teeth. Suddenly, the sleepiness disappeared from her motions. “Oh, really?” she asked. “Curious. Really, no, I’m surprised. See, I thought this gate was not yet owned by anyone. Not Zinnic, not us. Yet, you’re trying to make us leave?”

  “Zinnic discovered this gate-”

  “Oh did you?” Emilia asked. “Really? Cuz I’m pretty sure we were here first. Like we usually are for this kinda stuff. Or was someone from Zinnic on the clock, at midnight, in this pce, just by coincidence? My, my. One might think something sinister is going on… don’t you think?”

  “What? Ms. Emilia, please stay back here. We have this entirely under control.”

  “Oh, yeah, I’m sure you do. How troublesome, then, that we. Were. Here. First.” Emilia grinned, then stretched out her palm, and slowly moved the Zinnic employee aside. “Alright. We’ll be going to clear the gate.”

  “Ms. Emilia, I-!!”

  “Nope, not listening!” she said, walking forward, as Ivan and his retinue of scientists followed. There were a few more attempts to disrupt Emilia, who made a very specific point of just walking forward, not once using her powers to hurt or cause trouble.

  Ivan, of course, recorded the ck of violence with his phone, while the dy from Zinnic kept yelling at Emilia. After just a few minutes of walking, they were at the gate, though, and, as usual, dozens of people in suits moved around like bees.

  “Oh wow,” Ivan said as he pced down his equipment. “They really brought their best game.”

  “Yeah,” Emilia nodded along. “This was their big gambit. Biggest one for months to come. But, well. You know what they were gonna do. And what we’re gonna do.”

  Ivan’s sense for magic wasn’t as powerful as that of some other guildmembers, but it was still good enough to tell that the people Zinnic had brought were monsters. They were stronger than Bell, even. Glowed brighter than the true strength of anyone in the guilt.

  A full realm higher.

  Three realm five fighters. That was what Zinnic had brought. Wellspring was the fourth realm, above “core” and “foundation” and “tempering”. These people had reached even higher than wellspring. They were powerful, beyond powerful even, but they were also sealed.

  Some of that seal had lifted. Rather than being limited to the beginning of wellspring, they could now manifest the power of someone at its very peak. That was their biggest advantage - right now, each of them could take on someone from Dawn of Ambition in a one-on-one.

  But it wouldn’t come to that.

  There was an old man there. He had grey hair that was pulled back with gel. His grey suit was impeccable, not a single fibre out of pce. His brows were furrowed in exasperation over dark eyes, his clean shaven face pulled into a frown. The CEO of Zinnic Inc., Jonathan Henney. “You’ll regret this,” he said.

  Fio stood in front of him, taller by just a few inches, but seeming to tower over the man. He carried himself with authority, with the knowledge of decades of being a leader. But Bell? She carried herself with force. Ferocity.

  Like it was natural to stand up against those who think themselves better.

  “I don’t think I will,” she said with a faint smile. Then, she shook her head, as she so often did. “No, none of us will.”

  The old man grit his teeth. “Fine, then. How much to let us have the gate?”

  At that, Bell’s smile widened. “Oh,” she said. “No, no. That won’t happen. I have enough money.” She took a step backwards, closer to the swirling hole in the world, radiating light and heat and power.

  “How tragic. To see someone so young waste their potential,” he said, then gave a soft sigh, stepping backwards. “Fine then, Fiona Bellum. I will talk to you again, I’m sure. For your sake, I hope our paths do not cross this way again.”

  And then, Ivan’s sister smiled, in that stupid, wide, heroic way she always did. “I will do what I must,” she said.

  She shot him a look. Ivan smiled. “You’re clear to go,” he told her. “Gate is looking… wobbly. Break in three hours. This one might break soon”

  “Well, you heard him, Mr. Henney,” Fio said. Then she twirled her spear and took another step back, and a third. “I will go do my job. I hope you get to bed soon; wouldn’t want you to oversleep. Get to your office tomorrow… and make sure you do your job, too, yeah?”

  And she stepped through the gate.