Solar Mage

Chapter 54: The Sage's Warp Gate

I hover in the air, my Flame Claws latching onto the air beneath me, as I look down, upon the scene of completely razed, scorched earth, nothing left except black, charcoaled wood from the fallen trees and wood formerly known as a platform. Nothing else could be seen, even with my Enhanced Vision.

That attack felt much more powerful than how it was when I used it in the dungeon.

My attention averts to the sky, specifically, at the sun.

It's probably because of the sun, I did have a theory of it before, but I'm certain now, the sun definitely makes my magic much more powerful, I don't know if it's because of the blessings or because of my affinity, but it just is. Maybe that's the part that was missing about my Sun's Gate, it needs to be present where the light is shining! I'll definitely have to test that later. On another note, it seems like even after spending all those days in the dungeon, without seeing the sun, my eyes are not affected. Pyro must've given me another blessing or something.

My eyes return back to the ground, as I scan for any movements.

Hmm... I can't say for certain because of my downgraded vision, but it seems like they're all dead. If they died from just that, that just goes to show how bad the gate manipulator was, and how much worse that shitty gate master who created the warp tunnel is.

Stressed, tired, and angry, I pull on my hairs and ruffle them a bit before letting go and exhaling deeply, slightly getting more and more annoyed as I speak my thoughts aloud.

"Haaaa... this is so annoying, I have no idea where this place is, where the closest town is, or where the closest city with a warp gate is!!"

I exhale again, this time a lot less long.

"Hoo... There's no use in getting angry and wasting more energy, but I am hungry and I do want water. I should've gotten some food or at least a drink before we left Ashland. I need to quickly find a way back to Dustin. But where do I even start?!"

I glance down at the pile of ash below me.

Maybe I shouldn't have killed the gate manipulator and forced him to send me to the capital.

"Haa... no, that's not a great idea. How would I have been able to trust him when I just killed all his allies and threatened him? You made the right decision, Arthur."

I pause for a second, not even believing my own words.

"But how do I get out of here?"

I stare blankly out into the forest in my heavy procrastination and sloth.

You're going to regret it heavily later if you don't stop procrastinating, Arthur.

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I know, I know, but can't I just take a break now? I've only been working non-stop for the past four days.

You're in the final stretch of this journey Arthur, you can't give up now! You're right, you have been working non-stop, so don't let your work go to waste. Don't let Tin's sacrifice go to waste.

Arthur remains still the moment he hears his subconscious mind remind him of a word he forcefully removed from his thoughts, several emotions rush through his body, starting from his brain, until he can even feel them in his feet, welling up inside him while many parts of his body begin acting without his discretion.

Stop, don't you ever mention his name ever again.

The other voice in Arthur's head disappears as Arthur regains control of his body and the emotions rush back from the toes and fingertips, moving back to the brain, the emotions condensing itself into a single invisible point in the furthest parts of Arthur's mind, and the gate to it being shut.

I'm not ready to face that yet, I'll make sure to repay you tenfold for what you've done for me.

His mind reverts back, as he shakes his head around in a confused manner, looking across the ground and the sky.

Huh? What was I talking about again? ... Right, I need to save Dustin. Well, let's not waste any more time. This newfound determination sure is great though, I don't know what caused it, but I feel much more energized!

Sagey flies out of my pocket and we stare at each other in silence. Tilting my head and staring at it in a playful attitude, I wait in anticipation for its message.

"WOULD YOU LIKE TO USE THE SAGE SYSTEM'S WARP GATE FUNCTION?"

What? It had a power like that?

"What else can you do?"

Sagey shakes for a second.

"PLEASE WAIT. SCANNING ALL FILES. REQUIRED TIME: THREE DAYS"

THREE DAYS? Even with the processing speed that's probably faster than my brain's processing speed, it would need to take three days in order to scan all the files?!?! It'll probably take it weeks in order to list all of it after the scan, and months for me to read all of it! I can't do that!!

"Actually, nevermind, but next time, whenever you have a good idea that you classify as a good idea for the situation, just tell me, and if I can't respond, just do it. Your judgment is more logical than mine."

"SCAN PAUSED. NEW ORDER RECEIVED. CHANGES MADE. SAGEY CAN NOW ACT WITH ITS OWN DECISION IN ORDER TO PRESERVE USER'S LIFE AND SUCCESS."

"Great!"

A green warp gate opens next to me, in the air.

"WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO?"

"The capital city?"

"CORRECTION: WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO IN THE CAPITAL CITY?"

Amazing, so it not only has the ability to create warp gates, it has the power to be specific with the destination, without needing a warp gate to be set beforehand? What an overpowered artifact you made, Luke Wolkan...

"Hmm... I would like to go to the temple first but..."

I look up at Rachel who is now visible, though still high in the sky, as she continues to slowly drift down.

"Set the destination for the Mint Estate in the Capital City."

"DESTINATION SET. PLEASE ENTER WHEN YOU'RE READY."

I continue to look up at Rachel, ignoring the words of Sagey, moving slightly around the air, before releasing Swift Wind around Rachel, as she begins to come flying down like a meteor, although, still unconscious, her eyes closed, while she begins to quickly gain speed.

Perfect, now I just have to catch her. This should be the correct spot. If my calculations are correct, she will fall directly into my arms at this point.

I lift up my arms, my concentration on her unbreaking, bracing for impact as she gets closer and closer.

Now!

I create a few barriers of slightly higher air resistance that she falls through, before falling lightly into my arms.

Just. As. Expected.

Sagey looks at me, almost seeming confused, but doesn't say a word as I come walking back to it, carrying Rachel in my arms in a gentlemanly manner.

It's nice to be able to enjoy breaks now that I have time.

What if the doctor's calculations were wrong though?

My facial expression becomes that of slight anger and irritation.

Damn it, why do I always have to think of the worst case scenarios and ruin my fun time? I swear, it's great for calculations and fighting, but it's terrible for relaxing.

I speed up and quickly go into the green warp gate without wasting any more time.

The next moment I deactivate Flame Claws and open my eyes, seeing that I have appeared in a completely neon green tunnel, not a single spot of darkness.

Wow... this is different. It's a little bright but, at least it makes no sound. It is a bit weird though, how was I able to look at the sun, which is much brighter than this light, perfectly fine, but looking at this green light hurts my eyes?

I set Rachel down before turning back to Sagey.

"Say, Sagey, how would you rank in terms of warp gate masters?"

Sagey replies the moment I stop speaking, without the slightest hesitation.

"IF WE COUNT ALL THE FACTORS, INCLUDING SPEED, COMFORT, TUNNEL SECURITY, AND ACCURACY, I WOULD BE UNMATCHED IN ALL OF THEM."

Sagey is never certain about anything because there is always a possibility that it could be wrong, but for it to say that statement without stating the possibilities, it must really be confident. I think I just saw him smile. Wait, did I just say him and see it smile? What the hell am I doing? I must really be tired, how could an artifact possibly show emotions and have gender?

I cover my eyes with my hand before I clear my throat.

"Do you think that you could maybe make the lights a little bit dimmer? It's a little bright."

"YES, ARTHUR."

The tunnel loses most of the green lights and becomes similar to the previous warp gates, a pitch black tunnel with many green dots racing past me.

It truly is beautiful to look at when there's no terrible whirring sound.

"So, when exactly do you think we'll arrive at the Mint Viscounty Estate?"

"WE WILL BE ARRIVING IN TWENTY SECONDS."

Great.