I stared at my palm. There was a pin head sized point that would glitter when you hit the light just right. 

-Like I have a single piece of glitter stuck to my palm 

I closed my eyes and looked from the inside at the spot where I had drilled the hole to transfer magicicles to Jessica. Everything looked normal, until I looked closely. There were bits of crystalized mana stuck into regrown skin. 

-What? I thought that only happened when the Phantom Forest healed. Why the heck are magicicles crystalizing now without linking and collapsing them? 

I had only seen crystalized magics occur without my intervention was the Phantom Forest closing a breach, or under high energy conditions like my lightning strikes.  

-Maybe something about how our soul image is repaired is acting like a catalyst? But why hasn’t it happened before now?  

I opened my eye to check on the others. Lana an Adrianna were off talking by themselves. Jessica and Ajay were scribbling in the dust, discussing what I had told them about earlier about linking and collapsing magicicles into crystalline forms. Jessica was now practicing for building her core and was explaining the results of her experimenting to Ajay. Ajay turned out to be a font of ideas, enthusiastically suggesting new structures and pulling comparisons from his high school science courses. His knowledge was much fresher than my half-baked recall. 

-I probably shouldn’t start cutting holes into my skin to test this out. I should check if it's happened before, and I just haven't noticed. Gods know that I have probably regrown most of my image at some point. 

I twisted a bunch of soul memory expansion spells, sending a pale bead of light zipping into everyone. I waved “continue on” as everyone looked at me, then closed my eyes.  

Turning back inside, I checked my right hand first, since that is where I had poked a lot of holes previously. The drill had gathered a new swirling cloud which prompted a sudden idea. 

-I wonder If I had something like a core here, I could sort of stage magicicles here for spells. Since I usually my electrical twist with my right, I could stage Electricles? Voltacles? Electrocles? Maybe just Terracles or Neutrals for now. I could do the same for Aeroicles in my left. I think I left the test cores I built earlier in my arms and legs. I’ll check on them as I look for more embedded crystalized magicicles. 

As I checked around my hand, I found a few other points where small bits of crystalline magicicle was embedded. I thought I would find most instances in the palm, where I had done most of my magicicles recharge, but instead I found most had occurred in my fingers. They had been replaced after I lost them with my last Thor strike. 

-Maybe I blew away the previous evidence and replaced it with new instances when my soul image was renewed. I wonder if I can control the process, maybe place a diamond like lattice in my skin. If I could replicate the Phantom Forests hardness in my skin? Dermal Armor? 

Several images flashed in my eyes, one with all my skin being transparent, like one of those posters in a doctor's office. The other was a mad scientist image of me being lowered into an acid bath to remove all the skin before it was replaced. 

-Yah.... I think I’ll pass on that for now. 

I continued spot checking, working my way over my right side and down into my right leg. The small core was still here, a small accretion disc having formed around it. There were a few rings forming in the disc, but not to the extent of my main core. I could see that the bands of different types of magicicles were blurred together at their edges. 

-Looks like the small core does not have the power to completely separate the magicicles out. I should test to see if it’s the speed of rotation or the size that has the most effects. I already have two, one in each calf, but it fells wrong to have those unbalanced. If I go with my staging idea, I'll put cores in my hands. I can make them larger and compare their affects to my leg cores. 

I checked on the left leg core next. It was exactly the same as the right although spinning in the opposing direction. Like I had noted from my testing before, neither had formed cyclones. I moved my way up and into my left hand. The cylinder core was clouded in a layer of magicicles with two large cyclones at either end. 

-Those cyclones look almost the same size as my main core. Looks like the cylinder core produces a greater affect along its axis. 

I looked closer to see that both cyclones were producing the thin mist of liquid magicicle being drawn down to the cylinder cores surface. I watched the process with happy anticipation of future experiments for a while till something else caught my attention.  

The thin accretion disc, in this case more like a sleeve around the cylinder, had some odd features. There are faint blurry bands running perpendicular to the core. With my main core, bands were formed into concentric rings out from core, something the cylinder core was demonstrably poor at producing. But now it was producing band along the cylinder’s length, and what is more interesting, those bands were of the same type of magicicle. I concentrated on the inner most layer, the one closest to the surface of the cylinder, where neutral magicicles collected. Along the length of the cylinder new bands had formed separating out neutral magicicles by a different criteria. I started to compare ones at the tip of the cylinder verses the ones at the middle. 

-Is it spin? Each of these new stacked bands seem like they are, hmm, coherent. Like laser light is? I'm not sure. I don’t think my senses are good enough to really tell why. I can see that there are differences but not really what the differences are. 

I frowned in frustration, my nose wrinkling against my thumb.  

-Another new facet of magicicles to an already expanding complexity. The long road of Magicology, Magicestry, Archanism? Is going to be a long one. Ok Back to what I was doing. 

As I continued, I found a lot of embedded crystalline magicicles. Locations where I had been hurt earlier, had small specks embedded in my soul image.  

After my internal surface survey, I returned to my main core to check to see how much neutral magicicles had been collected. The inner band was still looking thin, but there was more than after I had finished transferring most of the band to Jessica. 

-Looks like it will be a bit till I can either recharge Jessica or transfer enough to the next mage apprentice. I should also build a needle instead of using the drill, but maybe I should try a different aspected magicicle to build it from, or stick with neutral for now? 

I was checking on the other bands in the accretions disc when Adriana interrupted.  

“Lana and I are going to look around at the closest doors. I somehow think that neither of us is going to be the next mage in line”-Adriana 

She looked at Ajay, who's big grin and “I’m going to be a wizard and cast spells and fire balls and blow up stuff and....” attitude was readily apparent. 

“The doors are always so interesting, and I like guessing what is on the other side.”-Lana 

She smiled and looked a bit shy as she spoke. I paused a bit looking at the two. 

“I should tell you no, but I not your keeper, and you wouldn’t listen to me anyway.”-Me 

I looked over at Jessica. She looked a bit worried, but not like she was going to object. 

-Adriana and Lana would listen to Jessica, but It looks like she isn’t going to stop them either. 

“If you see anything Uglie or weird, return. We’ll be here. If not, give it some time, then go back to the Black Gold door. There is nothing there so any Uglies showing up should leave quickly.”-Me 

Adriana nodded. 

“So do Andor and Everet count as ugly or weird?”-Lana  

Lana stood with her hand on her chin in a contemplative pose till everyone laughed. 

….. 

Adriana and Lana returned several days later. Various pairs, including Jessica, started foraying away from our desolate door hub while I stayed. Fortunately, there were no more sightings of Uglies. Adriana and Ajay spotted another soul off in the distance on one of their trips, but whoever it was disappeared into the grey distance without getting close. 

I spent my time on Mentat training, teaching, peering into my Ebony Turnip, and Soul magic practice. I had been able to successfully complete the horridly complex Soul inheritance twist several times but was still not confident in powering it up yet. 

Jessica continued to be far ahead of my Mentat progress, her memory was quickly approaching the perfect recall level, and she could do ridiculously complex calculations in her head. She had also completed here first “toy pattern collapse” core, after I had transferred more neutral magicicles to her. I was secretly pleased that I took her till the third try to get pattern to collapse. I was starting to get an inferiority complex in the face of her monstrous talent. 

I had also transferred a small amount of magicicles to Ajay and Lana so they could practice linking as well as casting leaders with Jessica. The Dragon Claw turned out to be an excellent practice tool for all of them to get used to using leaders, as they probed its structure.  

Adriana continued to hold off on the transfer. I think she was still mad about the original misunderstanding with Jessica. I wasn’t going to push since she had relaxed and was ok with soul memory expansion that I was casting on everyone. 

I also snuck in a bit of Soul magic on everyone without telling them. My ability had gotten to the point that I was able to build a Soul Beacon twist. With it I could later locate them by the Soul Beacon no matter who, or what they reincarnated as. I could also use it as a focus for Soul inheritance magic, reincarnating myself, or anyone else into their blood line. It could also be used for more nefarious means. Now that the Soul Beacon was set, they could not long resist any Soul magic I cast in the future. I felt guilty for not telling them, but I felt that it was better if I had a trump card if something went wrong later. I really hoped it didn’t. 

After more than a “month”. We all started walking back to the Black Gold door, talking as we went. 

“But I think I should go through one of the magic doors and start learning magic sooner.”-Ajay 

“I think you’ll be like me and regret not knowing more modern sciences if you do.”-Me 

“But school is so boring! I want to fight monsters and zap black goo!”-Ajay 

“Fighting monsters and Miasma is fun to hear about, but absolutely terrifying when its right there trying to eat you.”-Me 

I poked Ajay in the side. 

“Besides, wouldn’t it be better to learn to fight in a modern world? Then go and surprise everyone, beating monsters and bandits with you martial art moves?”-Me 

“Your both fools! And stop giving him ideas Magician! Your stories are bad enough encouragement without you adding more fuel to his adolescent imagination!”-Adriana 

“OH, come on Adri! I'm not some little kid.”-Ajay 

“My name is not Adri! And when you stop acting like a grade school child I'll stop treating you like one.”-Adriana 

Adriana smoked Ajay across the back of his head to emphasize her dislike of his nick-name for her. While Ajay covered is head and ran around complaining about how it hurt, Jessica pointed off into the distance.  

“I think that is the Black Gold door, and it looks like someone is there already.”-Jessica 

-What? Does everyone have better eyes than me? 

I peered off towards the vignette, trying to make out the figure. 

“It doesn't look like a Uglie”-Ajay 

I still couldn’t see anything from this distance. 

“We’ll find out who it is soon enough. Less goofing and more practice you.”-Me 

I grumped at Ajay. Lana giggled from behind me. 

The figure soon turned out to be Dan leaning against one of the posts surrounding the Black Gold door. He waved when we got close. 

“Saw you guys coming from the last door, so I waited around.”-Dan 

Lana giggled at my incredulous face. 

After the greetings, and Ajay’s often embellished retelling of our adventures, especially the fight with the Uglie, Dan talked about his trip. 

“I got to the complex. You weren't kidding about the draw of that giant marble door. I almost joined in one of the ques just to get to it.”-Dan 

I nodded at him to continue. 

“The only way in is through one of the arches managed by the Uglies. Between the effect of the door, and the Uglies patrolling, most people were just quietly standing in line. It’s weird. I even saw the same Uglie talking in at least 4 different languages.”-Dan 

“I often wondered if that was magic, or do they learn all those languages.”-Me 

I shrugged. 

“I also checked out the other doors around the complex. They are all similar modern doors you could find anywhere on earth. Besides the guards on each door, they have several 3 Uglie patrols that move around encouraging people to head to the complex. There is a least three of those, probable more.  Uglies are hard to tell apart.”-Dan 

“Doesn’t help that they all dress identical. We discovered that their weapons and cloths are not part of their Soul image, which means we can use them if we can get them.”-Me 

We pulled out the pouch from the Uglie I had defeated, showing Dan the contents. He picked up the white stick with the black line. 

“I think this is like a countdown clock. I saw a group of Uglies gambling with dice like these, they were mostly betting these crystals. But on one hand they bet the sticks as well. The winner took the one with the shorter line.”-Dan 

I looked at the stick we had. The black line was now down to 2/3rds from the 3/4s it was before. I pointed that out to the others. 

“So, it’s a time card.”-Adriana 

We looked at her. 

“Employees are supposed to only work for so long, but here you can’t tell time. The guards are all too far away to hear a siren or bell for shift change, so you give them a timer. When the timer runs down, they come back for a shift change.”-Adriana 

I nodded. 

“That makes sense why the winner would want the shorter line.”-Dan 

He flashed a smile at Adriana, who blushed a bit. At least till she realized that I had noticed. She immediately glared at me then looked away to ignore me. Jessica winked at me from behind her. Adriana signaled for Dan to continue. 

“You were also right about who the Uglies are. They are all polite and reassuring for anyone around the complex, but get away from large groups, or at least where any other Uglies can see them, and they get mean. Real quick.”-Dan 

He turned to look at me. 

“You told us how you saw one of them spear a guy to death. Well, that happens a lot more than I think you realized. It looks like standard procedure that when a large group challenges one of the Uglies, it makes the loudest one an example. The Uglies I saw it happen with, all kept playing with the example even after the crowd ran away.”-Dan 

Everyone was quiet. 

“I avoided the Uglie guards after I saw what they were, so I probably missed a lot.”-Me 

Dan nodded. 

“I’ve seen enough. I’m in.”-Dan 

“It’s going to be a long fight. Even if everyone here becomes a powerful mage, there are still thousands of them, and probably millions more behind them. And there is something else I've noticed.”-Me 

I held out my hand gesturing for Dan to take it. I smiled when he took it and stood up pulling him with me. 

“Push. I want you to use just your strength and push me back.”-Me 

Dan looked at me quizzically, then shrugged and pushed. When I didn’t move, he re-evaluated, then pushed harder. It wasn’t till he was leaning hard into it that he started to push me back. Dan and the other looked surprised. 

-I’m glad that I was right, and that Ajay inadvertently showed me how heavy the Obsidian Turnip really is. I grumbled that it was awkward, but I didn’t realize how easily I was carrying around an object that a healthy 17 year old could barely pick up. 

“Experience. The silver glitter, the kind that the soul absorbs. Each life makes our souls stronger. Were against the Uglies who have been shearing all that experience from billions of humans, from many different worlds, over who knows how long. We have a long way to catch up.”-Me 

“I’m not sure about fighting a war, but I’m not going to let a bunch of flat faced goons shear me.”-Adriana 

“I'm not a sheeple either!”-Ajay  

Ajay nodded then started to push against my hand like Dan had. I didn’t move. 

“I can’t fight, but I don’t want to be money for the Uglies to gamble.”-Lana 

She put her hand on Ajay’s and pushed as well. 

“I won’t give up on my responsibilities, and no one is going to take them from me either.”-Jessica  

Jessica held my free hand.  

“I’ll help too.”-Jessica 

I looked at her face looking at me and smiled. A big stupid grin. 

Dan turned to Adriana, pointing a thumb at were Jessica and I were holding hands and looking at each other. 

“So. When did that happen?”-Dan