Malikai’s POV
After Malikai and Maeve stepped through the portal, they arrived in the vicinity of a rather-impressive lodge located at the base of a mountain range surrounded by a vast deciduous forest.
The afternoon sun hung in the clear blue sky above the ridge, further enhancing the already scenic environment, as the duo approached the lodge and ascended the stairs leading up to the lodge’s front porch.
As they did Topher released her Elemental Cloaking spell as it was know unnecessary, revealing her petite form as she lazed about atop his head. Her form was majestic in nature, giving off a regal aura, with an immaculate coat of auburn colored fur that was slightly more red than brown, pure white paws, and hazel colored eyes with slit pupils.
At the same a small bird resembling a phoenix with a beautiful mix of steel-gray and midnight-blue feathers flew out of Malikai’s oversized sleeve, before ascending into the clear blue sky increasing in size as it did so.
That would be Zara the Space-Time Elemental he contracted around the same time as Topher.
After ascending to a zenith in the sky she performed a series of delicate maneuvers before once more descending and perching on the lodges roof.
After the duo entered the lodge they went their separate ways; Maeve heading in the direction of the lounge, and Malikai heading upstairs towards his study.
When he arrived in his study he walked over to one of several bookshelves built into the room’s walls and collected several books of varying thickness before walking over to his desk setting the books down and taking a seat.
He then pulled a book off the top of the stack as his senses fused with those of Topher and the latter turned her attention to the book.
For the next hour or two he sat in relative silence flipping through the several books he had picked up before putting the books back in their places before selecting another set of books.
He then read for another hour or so before putting the books back in their proper place.
After that he left the study and made his way to his actual workshop which was located in the mountain range behind the lodge.
***
Maeve’s POV
Ruby and Sapphire were a pair of twin sister Elementals who were contracted to Malikai’s twin sister Talia but became contracted to him when he inherited her power.
They were almost identical in appearance having a slender physiques with athletic builds, fair skin, round eyes, and pointed ears while standing at about 5' 8", but Ruby's hair and eyes were a fiery red, whereas Sapphire's were a cool blue.
When Maeve entered the lounge she found the two of them were lazing about watching an intense game of hoverball between the Lunar Elves of Nameia and the Clover City Falcons.
“Hey Ruby, Sapphire.” She extended a greeting towards the duo.
“Hey Maeve, you’re just in time.”
”Yeah the second half is just about to start.”
They returned her greeting and informed her of the fortuitousness of her arrival as she found herself a seat and turned her attention to the game.
“That really is great timing.” Maeve agreed as she settle into her seat.
Both teams re fielded their players and one of the Lunar Elves passed the ball in to one of his teammates who caught it and hustled upfield towards their goal.
Two of the opposing teams players converged on him, one of them sending a few fireballs his way causing him to dart upwards on his hoverboard in order to dodge them.
When he did the other player grabbed onto his hoverboard with a magic whip tugging him in her direction.
He gazed in her direction and channeled more Mana in his hoverboard increasing its speed and attempting to pull away from her, causing her to reciprocate.
Noticing that he couldn’t get away from her and that her teammate was preparing another spell he tossed the ball to one of his open teammates who attempted top catch it but when they were blocked by earthen wall that ascended from the ground bellow.
In the same moment one of the Falcons came up from behind caught the ball, speed up and flew it downfield.
Just as they were approaching the goal another Lunar Elf came up beside them and reached for the ball.
The falcon pushed them away with a blast of air and made to throw the ball into the goal, when a second Lunar Elf swooped in and snatched the ball, tossing it to a teammate at mid-field who managed to hustle it all the way upfield, passing it to another teammate who managed to score; tying up the game 3 - 3.
“Nice!” Ruby exclaimed.
“It was.” Maeve responded and they settled into a comfortable silence to enjoy the rest of the game.
***
Malikai’s POV
He reached the workshop after a short walk through the network of tunnels that laid throughout the mountain range.
When he arrived he took note of Ren sitting at one of the workbenches Enchanting a pair of dual pistols that Malikai had completed the last time he was in the workshop.
She was dressed in a set of robes similar to Malikai’s, beneath which she wore a red-long sleeved shirt, black-pleated skirt and tights of the same color, and dark-brown ankle-boots.
Her long pitch-black hair, that possessed a silk-like sheen and gloss and contracted her fair-skin, was pulled back in a high pony-tail so it wouldn’t get in her way as she worked and her eyes, which were currently blue-green in color, were focused on the task at hand.
“Hey Rin,” Malikai spoke as he made his way to her side and observed her work.
“Hello Kai,” She maintained her focus aside from the cursory glance she cast in his direction as he approached.
As she(Ren) continued to work Topher suddenly leaped from Malikai’s head and landed softly beside Rin’s work, continuing to share her(Topher) field of vision with Malikai.
Malikai then made his way over to a different workbench that was already littered with books, scrolls, pieces of ore, and other such materials as he informed her, “We’re going to be moving up the Timeline for the Gate and putting sum other projects such as the development of Quintessa and the rest of the fleet on the back burner, as Plan A for our entry into Samsara fell through.”
“Still no word from Rayleigh then.” Ren stated having deduced Malikai’s reasoning.
“None.” Malikai affirmed as he dusted his hands off and made his over to the digital interface located on one of the walls beside one of many tool racks.
“I’m turning on the time dilator and adjusting it to 100 times the normal flow and setting it to set in 15 seconds from now.” He announced as he clicked through a series of screens before a timer eventually appeared on the screen and began to countdown.
“Okay,” Ren responded in understanding as she split a portion of her attention towards preparing for the time dilation to set in.
A few seconds later a spatial-time barrier took shape separating the mountain from the rest of the alternate dimension, the Magic Formations Inscribed on the walls released dim streams of midnight-blue light, and the temporal dilation set it.
The two of them then descended into relative silence for the next several days with of time absorbing the ambient Mana and converting it into life force for nourishment; Malikai moving between several different workbenches, the forge, the tool racks, and the storage area where most materials were automatically transported when he placed them in the alternate dimension, working on several different projects (Topher following him from workbench to workbench as he did so), and Ren finishing up the Magic formations she was Inscribing on the two pistols.
They exchanged some small talk as the work, but for the most-part focused on the work.
Ren soon finished the Dual Pistols and began helping him finish up the other projects which included; a sniper rifle, a next generation hoverboard, a pair of metallic combat boots, a pair of dual pistols crafted from a dark silver metal, and a spear that they had been working on for Maeve for quite a while which was made from the same material as her armor.
They ended up finishing everything after three weeks worth of time.
After they placed the finishing touches on the spear, which was the last of the projects, Malikai handed Rin the robe she had taken off earlier on with on hand and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the other before walking over to turn off the time dilator.
As it powered down the space-time barrier encompassing the mountain vanished and the workshop’s Magic Formations dimmed completely.
He then returned to the workbench and created a hole in space-time that led the Armory located in a different section of the mountain range and took the spear through to the other side, placing it inside a display case before returning back to the workshop, closing the portal behind him.
He then told Ren, “I’m going to hit the bathhouse before I meet up with Maeve and head back to the Main World.” Before picking up Topher, holding her in the crook of his arm as she gave a small yawn and curled up before dozing off to sleep.
Watching Topher’s actions, Ren felt a wave of drowsiness threaten to overcome her as well and responded to Malikai, “Sounds good, but I’m going to wait until after I get some sleep, before I have to go collect the rest of the stuff we need for the Gate.”
“Okay then,” Malikai nodded in understanding.
They then left the workshop and headed towards the residence located in a different section of the mountain range.
After they reached the residence they split up, Malikai heading towards the bathhouse and Ren towards her room to get some rest.
When he reached the man’s locker-room adjacent the bathhouse he placed Topher, who had woken up, on top of his head and removed his robes, placing them on a hook.
He then removed his loosely fitting long-sleeved shirt and pants, made from a grey linen-like material, as well as the cloth that was wrapped around his face and grabbed a fresh towel before making his way into the bathhouse.
One half of the bathhouse was dedicated to a natural hot spring that existed in this section of the mountain range, and the other was dedicated to a shower area set up similarly to a Japanese onsen, which drew its water from the same source as the hot spring.
He had just finished taking a shower, making sure to clean Topher as well, and was walking towards the hot spring as Topher shook herself dry, when he turned his attention to the entrance that led to the women’s locker-room just as Ren walked in with a towel wrapped around her mid-section.
“I thought you were going to get some sleep.” He stated simply as he tied the towel around his waste and continued towards the hot spring.
She met him there, sitting on the hot spring’s edge dipping her slender legs and delicate feet inside, giving a small sigh as she did so.
“I was but then I realized I had something else to talk to you about, well two things actually, and figured that if I took that nap you would be back in the Main World by the time I woke up and we wouldn’t get to talk.” She began to slowly swing her legs.
“And what would those things be?”Malikai arrived at the hot spring, setting both Topher and his towel on the ground before stepping inside, the water rising to just above his waistline.
“Will first off, the Portable Railgun.” Ren supplied, doing her best to ignore Malikai’s well defined physique and keep herself from imagining how he would look fully mature in just a few years time.
He made his way to one of the partially-submerged boulders populating the hot spring and took a seat and asked, “What about it?" as he settled into a comfortable position.
“I finished the blueprints and uploaded them to the database. I also spoke to Randall and he said the first prototype should be done within six months and ready for testing when we can move onto the second phase of development.” Rin responded.
“That’s fantastic, with the Portable Railgun being taken care of that’s one less thing to distract us from the Gate's completion.” Malikai said before he lowered his hands to gather some of the water and rinsed off his face.
“Exactly.”
“So,” Malikai turned Ren, “I’m pretty sure I know the answer to this question, but what was the other thing you wanted to talk about?”
