~Mirror Reality 34~

Loki couldn’t help but grin as he walked down an empty academy corridor.

He had just visited some students that had allsight-type abilities, ones useful for spying and prying knowledge. In the space of a day he found out all he needed to know about the one they called ‘Smiley’, also known as the smiling demon, Matheson.

Yet there were a few things these ‘spies’ didn’t know: Smiley had a keen interested in dungeon portals.

Smiley’s interest in the mirror reality’s dungeon portals was obvious to Loki. He wanted to escape, probably hoping to hijack or break them somehow, and Loki had to admit, it seemed like a smart plan; if Smiley could enter the dungeon, break the portal, he would most likely exit into the real world. According to their understanding of these anchored portals, anyway.

Ultimately, neither of them understood the rules, laws and intricacies that made these portals work. But Loki didn’t care, he just wanted to get stronger. And if Smiley was a tool to do so, he would use that tool.

There was one problem though—Smiley didn’t want his help. In fact, it seemed that Smiley despised him. So Loki came up with a plan, making the most of his own weak powers, cunning speech, and guile.

While Loki’s ability to switch similar-sized objects was useless in combat, it had excellent applications for theft, and people often wanted something they could not possesses, so bargaining with the students was simple, especially in the boring mirror reality. A few empty promises later, and he utilized another variants ability to help him slip by unnoticed into the teleport conduit area, where the active warp charges powered the dungeon portals.

While the warp charges were highly controlled by the academy, they didn’t even take notice of the empty ones. And why would they? They were empty vessels, good for nothing. They had even left them lying about in the room. Uncounted and ignored, just like Loki.

Once he was in the conduit area, the powerhouse for the anchored dungeon portals, it was a simple task to switch a full warp charge container with an empty one.

No alarms were tripped, and no one was the wiser as he left with a warp charge, safely tucked away inside his inventory.

While he wanted to pause for a moment to gaze at the strange bluish-purpe energy that crackled with red bolts, he quickly went to find Smiley to enact his next steps of his plan. The empty promises he made to the spies and the cloaking students would need to be fulfilled sooner or later; Loki was on a time limit.

***

Lannister glanced at Lara, then back at Norgrim. “What do you mean we’re pausing? I just spent that last five hours getting the portal ready.”

Norgrim sighed, “I’m sorry. For now, the it just can’t take more unanchored portals. One of our anchors already depleted an entire warp charge.”

Lannister closed his eyes and tilted his head back, facing towards the ceiling for a moment and sighing. Even Lara was surprised as he was usually the more composed one of the two of them.

“Just let us know when to leave.” Lara said, pushing Lannister on the shoulder and guiding him out of the room.

“Just wait till the resonance cracks leave the sky. It won’t be long.” Norgrim said before they left the room.

The resonance cracks were the first signs of damage to the mirror reality. They would disappear as long as the reality was stabilized, but it would only be stabilized as long as its mirror was anchored to the real world, both in time and space—as for matter, well, it was a product of the mirror reality.

As for where this alien matter came from? Well, no one cared since it worked.

***

Smiley was given a damp basement room that had a musky stench to it, it was hardly an upgrade from the pitch-black prison cell he was first captured in. But despite the unwelcoming room, he had a visitor: Loki.

Even with the warp charge as a bargaining chip, Loki felt small before Smiley’s disdainful gaze. Loki was the only one who noticed Smiley’s odd behavior around the dungeon portals, so he was the only one who was a loose end. The information he had was a double-edged sword, and as he stood in Smiley’s room he felt like he had displeased a king who was deciding his fate: death sentence or torture.

Of course, it wasn’t Loki that Smiley disdained, but the weakness of cunning, trickery and lying. It was not a path to true power, nothing but an illusion—just like Matheson’s wealth and his noble title; a hilarious lie that kept him weak.

If he didn’t look at Loki with such a despising stare, he would probably be laughing instead. Yet after an uncomfortable silence, and then another one, Smiley finally spoke.

“So, the little worm has found an apple mixed into the shit it usually eats. What do you want for it?” Smiley said, narrowing his eyes.

“I want to level up, to be stronger.” Loki immediately answered, his eyes widening, showing traces of an intense desperation.

Smiley’s lips curled. “That’s more like it.” He said with a nod. “I’ll run you through the bamboo dungeon three times.”

Loki grinned, “Three levels.”

Smiley grinned back. “Three levels.” He said, sure that Loki would level up three times within as little two dungeon runs.

Plus, Smiley knew he would get half the exp too so it wasn’t much of a loss at all.

“How do I know you’ll honor your end of the deal?” Loki asked.

“You don’t. And a weakling like you can’t stop me, so I’ll level you up three times, and then you’ll give me the warp charge. But if you don’t honor the deal, I’ll slit your belly and hold you down while the bamboo demons feast on your innards. This is the deal.” Smiley said, narrowing his eyes again, though he didn’t see any traces of fear, any nervous sweats or shivers from Loki.

“Deal.” Loki said, narrowing his eyes right back, trying to match Smiley’s gaze.

Smiley’s lips curled slightly, “We’ll start this afternoon.”

Loki grinned and left without a word. His plans were coming to fruition.