“Wait, actually, where is Ray? Is… is he the one missing?” One of the twelve people asked as the situation developed in this way.

“Yeah, I… think he is. Only the people in the classroom came here.” Another one answered. The confirmation of this came from the Goddess and at that everyone visibly deflated.

“Unfortunately, he cannot be brought anymore either. The window we had to make you cross over from Earth to my Realm was narrow and another ritual like this will take days to prepare.”

Another nail was driven into this coffin. For the Goddess this was painful as he was meant to be the person guiding these individual talents, for the twelve people it was painful as he was already a good friend to all of them and they knew that he was without doubt the person that would have been most excited about this.

Of course, this sadness did not complete eliminate their ability to reason.

“Huh? That was a narrow window, then how were you planning on sending us back? Actually, how will we get back?”

“Do not worry about that. Unlike moving you from Earth to here, you are all anchored to Earth as your Home Realm. It is considerably easier to move to a Realm you have an anchor with than to any other dimension. That is also how you will eventually return should you wish it. Of course, by that time you’ll also have spent enough time here to be gain another anchor to my Realm, so you can always visit people you’ve met.”

They all fell into thought at this answer, thinking about what they knew and how to apply it. Their talents were already beginning to aid their growth as they encountered their first obstacle. Of course, this obstacle was outside of anyone’s expectations, yet the growth it provided could not be questioned.

“What can be considered an anchor? Can… can we act as Anchors for Ray? We have a decent connection to him, so maybe it could be possible? Then you can move him to wherever we are, right?”

The Goddess considered this idea. Luckily, she was decently knowledgeable on matters regarding dimensional travel, so her answer came quickly and with confidence.

“It should be possible, theoretically. There have been some cases where people used other people as anchors, but they were Archmages of the highest order and they used a very particular spell that I do not know the details of. However, one of the biggest problems is this: Ray does not have Magic. Spell such as this require both parties in both realms to do certain actions. Even if we attempted to communicate with him, it would be with Magic and require him to realize our attempts and be able to respond.”

“Then… there are two… no, three problems. We need this spell, or else we can forget all else. Then we need to accelerate the time window for the formation of an anchor in this place so we can solve the third problem: Sending one of us back to Earth with the ability to return here in case anything goes wrong. Is everyone with me so far?”

The entire group, including the Goddess nodded. They were all aware of the difficulty of this. The last two are problems that will solved in due time, but the first one was different. It was, after all, a spell that even a Goddess wasn’t privy to.

Even then, all of this hinged on one particular detail that nobody here could tell. A detail that they overlooked in their heated states and with their desires to begin their journey, and thus their growth as quickly as possible to bring their friend over even just a day earlier.

After all, how can you cast a spell in a place with no Mana to uphold it?

Much less a dimensional spell. After all, the reason most cannot cast these types of spell is not necessarily the theoretical complexity.

Many can understand this given enough time to set up.

The problem is that no amount of theoretical understanding increases the amount of mana you can control.

Places rife with such amounts of mana are rare even in many Magical Realms, requiring either very controlled environments or a highly skilled Archmage.

The thing none of them considered is this:

Does Earth have any form of Magic?

Does Earth even have Mana?

****

“Hmm… Yeah. Can’t tell shit.” A young adult stood in the middle of a somewhat large lecture hall. He was currently in the process of snooping around every corner of the room, even checking under each desk individually for even the slightest hint that the police could have missed.

As he made his previous observation, he decided to take a break and sat down on the nearest chair, before sprawling out across the desk in exasperation. While courses at large had resumed, his hadn’t due to the simple fact that he was the only person left for his courses. Some of them still went on as they were shared with other majors, but it could not be denied that he was given a lot of free time after talking with his lecturers about the possibility of pausing it all.

And one of those periods he dedicated to this search, the search for anything resembling a hint. He was nervous and worried for his classmates, but it simultaneously got on his nerves that nobody could find anything, as if they just disappeared into thin air. Which feeling was more important to him, only he could tell.

Regardless, he just sat there, going over the possibilities in his head. They even included things as absurd as a Magic Abduction or Aliens, but he quickly came to the conclusion that he needed literally anything to go off of before deciding anything. He could only sigh at this progression.

“Seriously. If only at least Kal was here and we could bounce theories. Or maybe Emmy. She could cheer me up a little.”

He sighed once more and decided to leave it at that for the day. That is until he caught something in the corner of his eye. He thought it was some kind of movement, but he wasn’t sure. It appeared like a reddish blob, but once again, it was only barely that he perceived it at all, not enough to tell details.

“Maybe…” One of the possibilities he had though about came to mind, but he quickly dismissed the notion. Not quick enough, however, to prevent him from tightening his grip on his umbrella.

He stood as still possible, only letting the ambient sounds of students on break talking outside the room permeate the surroundings. He calmed his breathing as much as possible and began sneaking up on the final row of desks, the place he saw this movement at.

Each second felt like an eternity as his mind raced through the chances.

Maybe Aliens.

Maybe A Magical Creature.

Maybe it’s just a homeless guy or a random student doing weird stuff.

His grip only tightened as he played through each scenario.

His quick thoughts only heightened his perception of time as he felt each moment pass, time slowing to a crawl.

Individual beads of sweat crawled down his face and he felt each and every one slowly fall faster and faster as gravity was applied.

He could feel his fingers individually apply different levels of force on his umbrella and each time he felt a difference he adjusted it carefully.

 The talking outside slowed down and quieted down. His attention was fully on this mysterious being behind the desk.

If it turned out to be nothing important, he would call himself an idiot for being overly careful.

If it turned out to be something unique, he would applaud his survival instincts for jumping into overdrive.

But with each step an unfounded confidence grew within him. The confidence that he would not call himself an idiot on this day.

As he grew closer and closer with each inching, sneaking step, he thought he could feel the presence hiding beneath that desk. He could feel its existence, feel its heat and hear its breathing. It was there, and it was waiting for him to get closer.

That feeling, which he thought must the Sixth Sense some people describe feeling, grew stronger and stronger.

Strong enough to make him grip his umbrella with both hands and all his strength.

Strong enough to make him stop a few steps away from the desk and just stay there, basking in this unique feeling. Waiting for any response.

Seconds passed.

Minutes passed.

To him, it felt like hours as he could hear each individual breath he was making.

As he could hear each individual breath the creature was making.

He was sure now.

That feeling was correct.

With nothing more to consider he, quietly, slowly pulled up his umbrella behind his shoulder, holding it like a golf club with perfect form. A form not born of training, but instinct.

The perfect stance to hold as much energy as possible.

And he released it.

Thunk. A dull sound rang out and filled the entire class room as the incredible energy, almost the maximum a human being could hold, connected with something.

Not a hard something, that is the desk or a chair.

But a soft something, like the head of a living being.

Of course, this thunk was followed by the crunch of bones breaking and the splatter of a liquid onto the floor, reinforcing this feeling.

For but a moment, he stood frozen, thinking that he might have actually just killed a person.

Yet, this feeling was quickly gone as his brain, now filled to the brim with adrenaline, the perfect example of a person’s peak ability being demonstrated in life-or-death scenarios, worked to decipher the situation.

After all, what human bleeds black?

None.

What human would cause the surrounding air to be sucked in upon death?

None.

What human would leave behind a small, light-blue stone upon death?

None.

He was shaking, shivering and breathing heavy as he stood there, still frozen, but now not with worry about murder, but a weird feeling that he had never felt before.

A feeling that soon made him double over and clutch his chest as pain spread out from it.

It disappeared just as suddenly as it arrived, but he was sure now.

Whatever just happened had awakened him.

The fact that he could feel that weird stone, instead of seeing it, was proof.

The fact that he could feel his blood flow through his body alongside another substance, was proof.

It was all proof.

He though to himself, all previous miscellaneous thoughts gone, all replaced by this single revelation.

‘Earth has Magic.’

‘Earth has Mana.’