By the time I am done with all of that, Jarvis has built the new tower and connected it to the main building. When I move the new gates into the tower I find that the shadow gate is already there. Once they are in place, I activate the new gates one by one to make sure they work.

  I also double check that they are labeled correctly and that they won't interfere with each other. I am worried that there might be some kind of effect if more than one gate is open at a time. However, even when all four are open, there is no strange effect or energy released.

  In fact, the gates don't interfere with each other at all, which is a relief. With all the tests that I can do from this side done, it is time to go through the gates. Of course, the first gate I head through is the one that leads to the plane of fire.

  As soon as I step through, I am surrounded by heat that even I can feel. When I look around, all I can see is lava and fire, with no actual ground anywhere. There is no way that anyone who isn't immune to fire could survive here.

  However, it doesn't bother me so I let the gate close behind me and spread my senses out. I can detect multiple life forms around, but none of them are heading my way. Since I am safe, for the moment, I spread my senses out as far as I can.

  Which turns out to be enough to cover the entire plane, it isn't very big. In fact, it is only a little bigger than Holos' domain, which is not what I was expecting. I thought that the elemental planes would be really huge, if not infinite.

  As I am standing there with my senses spread out, I get a really strange feeling. It feels like as I am standing there, my understanding of fire is increasing. If that is the case, this place is going to be great for Mulan, Mushu, and Nala.

  +5 Evolution Points!

  'Ah, I guess I am still compatible with fire. That means I can't stay here too long! But it also means the plane of lightning will be really beneficial to me!'

  I am getting the feeling that the kids are not going to be able to explore as one big group. They are going to need to split up by element, but they will have huge gains if they do. Since that is probably the case, it is even more important that I locate the subplanes.

  That way everyone will have somewhere to go when the kids split up. The subplanes are supposed to be connected, so I focus my senses on the edges of the plane. After a bit of work, I manage to sense where two subplanes connect to this plane.

  Those should be the subplanes of lightning and magma, but I can't tell which is which. However, since I plan to build gates to both it doesn't really matter right now. While I am curious about what life might be here, I keep my focus on my goal.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  Once I have sensed the connected subplanes, I use the remote to summon the gate home. I mainly want to make sure that there are no problems with the process. If I get the kids stuck in another plane I will never forgive myself.

  Once I am safely back, I let the gate close, put the remote down, and move to the air gate. Having a suspicion of what will be on the other side, I extend my wings as I step through. As expected, I find myself in midair with no sign of any ground anywhere.

  Luckily, having two sets of wings makes hovering much easier than it used to be. After letting the gate close, I spread my senses out to cover the entire plane. Again, I sense a few life forms, but they either don't notice me or aren't interested.

  There is no ground, the entire plane is nothing but air and a few random clouds. Meaning only people who can fly should enter here, but thanks to the tattoos all the kids can fly. However, I think that only Kechara is going to gain anything from coming here.

  It might benefit me if I stay here long enough, but air spells have never been my focus. I can feel the two connected subplanes and I can also feel where I am in relation to the fire plane. The air plane is larger than the fire plane, but still nowhere near as large as I expected.

  In fact, if the rest of the planes are like this, then all together they would equal what I was expecting. Like one plane that is just divided into several different areas. Even then, it would still be much smaller than the shadow or material planes.

  Not that it really matters, I just want to understand as much as I can about the planes. As I am thinking things through I use the remote to summon the gate. Once it is open, I head through and let it close behind me, then head to the water gate.

  Before walking through, I take a deep breath and hold it, then step through. As expected, I am underwater when I arrive on the other side with no land in sight. When I spread out my senses, I find that there is a lot more life than in the other planes.

  Unlike in the other planes, I see a few fish that swim over to investigate me. However, so far there is nothing big enough for me to consider it a threat. So I ignore them and focus on sensing the edges of the plane and finding the connections.

  It is a good thing that I can hold my breath for a long time since there is no air here. The water fills the entire plane, although I do sense some currents and areas with increased pressure. As soon as I have located the connections, I use the remote to summon the gate and return.

  I dry myself off and then head into the last gate to the earth plane. Luckily, I arrive in a cavern and not trapped in solid earth, which I was a little worried about. The cavern immediately puts me in mind of the underground worlds that I have found previously.

  There are plants all around me and crystals in the ceiling above that provide light. As my senses spread out I also find lots of life forms in what seems like an endless series of caverns. The water plane was about the same size as the fire plane, but the earth plane is far larger.

  My best guess is that it is about the size of the other three planes combined. That means that it takes me quite a bit longer to sense the connections to the subplanes. As I am searching for them I sense quite a few minerals that interest me.

  However, I know that if I start running around mining I will get distracted from what's important. If I take too long, the kids will become impatient and might try exploring on their own. Before they do that, I need to explain to them that they need to go to planes matching their element.