Nightmare Realm Summoner

Alex's eyes opened and he found himself sitting in the Mirrorlands once more. Glint stood over him, the Glasmir's solid silver mask rippling with light reflected from the twisting clouds of purple and red energy overhead.

He rose to his feet, grimacing as he found a small crick in his back that had likely been caused by the less than optimal position he'd chosen to sit in. Alex stretched his arms over his head and shifted from foot to foot.

The camp was quiet, sheltered by the shadow of the large boulder they'd taken up temporary residence beside. Claire sat to his side, her eyes closed in meditation. The wounds covering her body had completely sealed up, but her new set of clothes had been completely ripped to shreds — though the most important bits had fortunately been spared.

Orchid and Derek were beside her. The former sat with her legs crossed and her hands upon her knees, apparently in deep meditation.

Derek was sprawled out across the ground, limbs pointing in every which direction, tongue rolling out of his mouth and doing a remarkable impression of roadkill.

It seemed everyone had opted to let Glint keep watch while they caught up on sleep or missing power. That was definitely a smart move by all of them. The Mirrorlands might have been their savior from the Outworlder families for the time being, but it was also the trap waiting to slam shut on their necks.

Every scrap of power they could wrest before facing the Mirrorlands could end up being instrumental.

At the thought of power, a small frown tugged at Alex's lips. He'd equipped his new Ascending Forerunner Title, but he didn't feel any different. Disappointment prodded at the edges of his thoughts.

Does it not work on the Mirrorlands? That doesn't make sense. It didn't have anything in the description about a range or a limitation to where it works. There's no way there aren't any monsters that are stronger than a Region Boss in the Mirrorlands. I'd be willing to bet the giant City-Eater Centipedes are just as strong as some of the most powerful bosses on 274-50.

Alex's confusion and frustration didn't get to muster for long. No sooner than the thoughts had passed through his head did he feel what could only be described as a gentle tug on his mind.

It was so gentle that he barely even clocked it, little more than the faintest breeze on the inside of the own skull. He blinked, the sensation having come and gone so quickly that he couldn't actually tell if it had even happened —

Another gentle tug drifted past his mind. This one came from the opposite direction. Alex turned to look toward it, hoping he'd catch the sensation and hold onto it, but it was gone before he could even blink.

A third flicker of power took its place, only to vanish immediately afterward. And that was it. Over and over, minuscule brushes of energy danced around him. They were so faint that he had to stop and wonder several times if they were actually happening or if he was just making things up in his mind.

Even when he was completely certain that the sensations did actually exist and he wasn't just delusional, they were still so gentle that could have completely ignored them should he have had the desire to.

Alex stood, baffled, as he tried to figure out what was going on. Disappointment continued to build in the back of his mind. This wasn't what the Title had told him it would do.

Did I get scammed? Or is this the extent of the reveals that I'm going to get? If that's the case, this ability is fucking useless! Having a flicker of an instant to tell me the general direction that a monster exists is hardly going to He read back over the description, then glanced around as if expecting a giant message from the System telling him to smile for a camera.

He found nothing but his resting companions and Glint's empty expression.

The urge to start walking in circles and muttering to himself was strong. Every thought was easier when one was in idle motion. Unfortunately, that was also a great way to draw unneeded attention to themselves.

Random fights with monsters wasn't what any of them needed right now — especially while half of them were still mid-meditation.

Alex was forced to cross his arms in front of his chest and lean against the cold stone boulder, his lips pursed and fingers tapping against his sides as he dug through his thoughts in search of a solution.

He couldn't see any obvious loophole in the Title. That didn't mean there wasn't one, of course. He wasn't a genius… but it didn't really seem like the System to slip some incredibly bullshit terms and conditions into a Title for no reason. It could have just given him something else. Fiddling with it would have been pointless unless the System had a personal vendetta against him.

I'm pretty sure I didn't offend the System, so that doesn't seem likely. I don't even think its intelligent enough to get offended. Should probably look into that at some point. The fallout of the System actually being sentient and having feelings would be… interesting, to say the least.

Alex's lips turned down in an annoyed frown.

But not nearly as interesting as having my damn Title scammed out of me. I can't believe that would happen. It seems too rude. There has to be another way this—

Another distant brush of energy caressed Alex's mind and sent his train of thought careening off the tracks. An idea lit like a spark in a dry storeroom and he blinked in surprise.

Wait.

He froze, waiting for the gentle brush of wind against his mind. It came just as he expected. Alex latched onto it, thrusting his focus in its direction. The side of his skull prickled and his head throbbed like he'd just eaten a massive bite of ice cream.

A buzzing energy ignited within his head. The tiny force ballooned out into a powerful pull, strong enough to make him take an involuntary step in its direction before he stopped himself.

Alex's eyes widened.

He could feel… something. It was hard to say exactly what, but there was a presence grinding against him like a millstone. Its source was off to their left, past the mountain ranges and looming in the distance.

Alex couldn't have placed exactly how far it was with miles, but he knew instinctively that if he had a map and had enough time to study it, he'd have been able to point out the exact location of the monster that he was feeling — but in a lack of that, he could still feel the exact spot where his target resided. If he'd wanted to, he could have strolled right up to the monster's doorstep.

Excitement ballooned in Alex's chest, but it was tempered by realization. He let his mind release the connection to the monster and it evaporated instantly, leaving him with nothing but the gentle brushes of wind-like energy against the outer reaches of his mind.

He swallowed heavily.

It wasn't that his Title didn't work. It wasn't that there were no Region Boss level monsters in the Mirrorlands.

The reason he hadn't been able to pick anything up initially had been because there were too many of them.

Every single direction held so many immensely powerful monsters that his Title was completely overwhelmed. It couldn't so much as feed him one thread of new information before another one in the exact opposite direction canceled it out.

Holy shit.

I knew the Mirrorlands were insane, but this is something else. There's no way there are this many ridiculously powerful monsters on Earth, right? Even the Field Boss Claire and I fought was a pretty tough challenge. If there are this many monsters far stronger than them in the Mirrorlands…

He couldn't even finish the thought. Alex couldn't tell if he was excited, terrified, or some mixture of both.

"How'd it go?"

Alex turned as Claire rose to stand behind him, brushing her backside off with a dirtied hand. Even though the wounds covering her had sealed shut, she was still covered with grime from the fight.

"Perfectly," Alex said.

"Really? You were staring off into the sky like you watched someone punt your gopher into the atmosphere."

Alex bit back a laugh. "I just realized that the Mirrorlands were a whole lot scarier than I initially thought. Actually — correction. I knew they were scary, but now I've slightly quantified it on accident."

"You have?" Claire blinked. "How?"

"Not here. Not now." Alex sent a pointed glance at their other companions. Orchid's features were peaceful and Derek definitely looked passed out cold, mouth open to catch flies and tongue lolling out like that of a dog.

Derek definitely looked asleep, but Alex wasn't going to risk it. There was no way to tell if the others were actually awake and paying attention or not. He wasn't about to go spilling secrets when they were around.

Claire nodded. "If it's important, then probably a good idea. Sounds like getting stronger went well, then."

"It went very well. I've got exactly what I wanted," Alex confirmed with a nod. "And I'm fully rested up as well. I'm good to go. What about you?"

A smile pulled across Claire's lips. She extended a hand, keeping it between herself and the others so that only Alex could see it. A crackle of black energy twisted across her fingertips before vanishing into her palm.

His eyes widened.

Qi?

"Initiate 1?"

"Just barely," Claire confirmed.

Damn it. I want to know what her Qi is, but even if she can reveal that without failing her class trial, we shouldn't do it while others have a chance of overhearing. I have no clue how important Qi types may be.

"I'll look forward to seeing what you're capable of, then," Alex said, sitting down in the shade of the boulder to wait.

Time wasn't on their side, but it wasn't exactly working against them either. The Outworlder families didn't know where the Town Token was. Orchid had the best lead on it, so giving her and Derek a little longer to recover before they set back out was better than rushing ahead and losing a fight so badly that they had to take a second break.

And so time ticked by. For a few minutes, neither of them said anything.

"Say," Alex broke the silence but kept his words to a whisper. "I had a question. Do you happen to know anything about how Disruptors work?"

Claire sent him a glance out of the corners of her eyes before answering in the same hushed tone. "Not more than you. Why?"

"I'm just thinking a bit. They weaken the area around them to let us use more power," Alex said, tossing the us in there for Orchid in case she was listening in. "But that effect carries over to the real world. It's just lessened by the distance between planes."

"Logically," Claire agreed. "There'd be no point doing it if it only effected the Mirrorlands."

Alex nodded along. "Right. There's a connection between the planes. That's obvious in the presence of Valley Ford and all the other cities that exist in both 274-50 and the Mirrorlands. But not everything gets copied over. What do you reckon determines if something gets copied?"

Claire pursed her lips. "That's an interesting thought. I'm not sure. I'd guess random, but I don't think that's how the world works. Random is too convenient."

"I don't think it's random," Alex said. "There's definitely a pattern to it. Valley Ford copied over nearly perfectly. I'd guess it was the Disruptor causing it, but there was no Disruptor in Towntown. That said, the city in the Mirrorlands overlaid over Towntown was different."

"That's true." Claire was silent for a few moments in thought. "Magical energy definitely passes between the planes. It has to, or the Disruptors wouldn't work. Their purpose is to weaken the restrictions on Outworlders, not to bridge the connection between the Mirrorlands and 274-50."

"That's what I was thinking as well," Alex said slowly. "So… magical energy. Do you think it's a reasonable guess to assume that the more magically potent an area is, the more it gets mirrored over?"

"A bit of a leap, but it seems like a decent guess. I wouldn't go betting on it. Why would there have been a city corresponding to Towntown if that was the case?"

"Well, it was still a town according to the System. That has to carry some magical significance."

"That's a good point, actually," Claire allowed. "Okay. I get the feeling you're going somewhere with this."

Alex nodded. "I am. If a city has enough magical presence to get mirrored here… do you think an item that has the potential to create a city could cause the same thing?"

Claire's eyes widened. "You want to find the Town Token's location in the Mirrorlands rather than on 274-50?"

"I'm going to take you coming to the same idea that I did as a sign that I'm not completely off my rocker," Alex said through a growing grin. "If I could find a way to rip open a portal right to the token, we could steal it right out from under the familes' noses."

"You can do that?"

Alex and Claire both spun to find Orchid leaning back on her hands, staring at them with wide eyes. Their conversation must have gotten loud enough for her to hear it. But, as Claire turned back to Alex and her gaze was hidden from the other woman's, she winked.

She wanted Orchid to hear us?

"Yes," Alex said. There was no point denying it now, and Orchid's tone wasn't accusatory.

It was excited.

"Gods above and below," Orchid breathed, scrambling to her feet. "That's brilliant. I didn't even think that was possible. I suppose I shouldn't underestimate the Starfallen family. You must have paid a deep price to properly prepare an item to access this place. Using the Mirrorlands like this is so ludicrous that nobody would ever consider it."

Whelp. Looks like my theory was right. All I'll have to do is find a way to get through to 274-50 when we find the Town Token… but it looks like we've got a plan.

Derek sputtered at all the noise. His eyes cracked open. He rubbed at his nose, yawning. "What's the racket about?"

"It's time to head out." Alex grinned and offered a hand to the large man. "We've got a heist scheduled."