Rayse's days were intense. Between practicing with the spear and working at the stables, having magic lessons on top of it was quite overkill.

He knew it would be difficult, but his greed was getting the better of him even with the improved physique that the mana heart provided.

His work was by far the most physically demanding, but he used that time to improve on his magic imaging. Most spells would only spook the horses, so he settled on support spells, like one that would increase his strength and stamina.

After his work was over, he had a quick meal and then rushed over to Aleph's house, where his friends would be waiting. 

Aleph had already left for the scouting mission, but he let them use his home for training. Everyone went there to practice at various points in the day, and once in a while Iona would come by to instruct them.

Brandon had been practicing with one of the giant cleavers that they took from the harbingers. The wide cuts and sweeping blows were quite intimidating. His magic was lagging behind, but Rayse was sure he was working hard behind the scenes.

Lacey, on the other hand, seemed to have abandoned the spear altogether. Rayse had never seen her with such focus before. Iona had really taken a liking to her, teaching her much more advanced spells. A cacophony of sounds emerged from the back of the house where she practiced, and even though she always came out looking refreshed, Rayse still subconsciously started to tread lightly around her.

Rayse was lagging behind. Every day that passed, his friends were starting to come into their own. Their individual talents have begun to manifest.

What about me? He wondered. He was absent mindedly going over the spear forms that Aleph had taught them. It took a while before he noticed something off. The spear in his hand was not the one he usually used in training, but one of Aleph's magnetite spears.

He remembered how amazing he was in the previous battle, a whirlwind of steel that swept away the opposition. Could I do something like that?

He tried commanding the spear, remembering how Iona used her glasses before. He conjured up an image in his head and shouted, "Thrust!" 

The spear moved forward, escaping his hand as it pierced through a nearby tree and into the ground.

"Hmm. Might wanna adjust that." Iona said from behind him. It seems that she had been watching him for some time.

"Haha, yeah, I'm working on it." Rayse said, too preoccupied to say anything more.

"Return." And just as quickly, the spear returned to his hand. He saw from the periphery that Iona was inspecting the spears that Aleph left behind, curious about their construction. Rayse shook his head, focusing on the task at hand. 

He adjusted the image in his head. Using a weapon as a medium to cast spells with seemed to work well for him.

"First form." 

The spear did two forward thrusts, followed by a horizontal slash.

"Hmmm. That's much more useful." Iona said. Then, she threw a bunch of spears at him.

"Try it with these. Float."

Rayse covered up, but the spears stayed floating in mid air.

"These are quite interesting. Did Aleph really use these to beat an emissary?" Iona said offhandedly. Rayse just stared at her, not bothering to respond. Rayse and his friends agreed not to disclose too much information about Aleph after the woman revealed she was spying on them. They were especially careful about the Mana Well and the portal inside. 

When he didn't respond, she went back into instructor mode.

" I cannot actually move them like you could. Might have something to do with how Aleph made them. Anyway, it was a good idea to overlap your image with your training. Try doing it with more at the same time. It would be good practice for later."

She set the spears down and went to give pointers to Brandon.

Rayse sat down, just staring at the spears.

"Come to think of it, mister Aleph uses these without uttering spells, doesn't he?"

He decided to try it, but figured out quickly that the image is useless without intent. The spears just lay motionless around him. Then how does he do it?

He sat down and thought about it more deeply. The obvious thing was that the crystal makes it easier. But why? In theory, a mana crystal was just a power source.

Iona mentioned that the mana heart reconfigures the mana in the body to suit the user's needs. It was why they could create fire without sulfur, for example. Rayse thought that maybe that process needs a clearer mental image than a processed crystal.

Rayse stood up once again, this time imagining the spear tip heating up.

"Burning thrust, return."

The spear he commanded sprang up and did as he commanded. He lowered the spear tip into the grass, confirming his guess.

"Hmmm. Interesting."

Rayse's head spun with all the possibilities, but stopped himself after a time.

"War is fast approaching. I can't be playing around like this." He scolded himself.

Regardless of how Aleph's search turned out, there was a very real possibility that they were going into battle soon. In the worst case, they may have to fight without the scouting team. Rayse was anxious about that the most.

He started practicing once again. He can think about the wonders of mana once the invaders are gone. 

_________________________________

Aleph was once again back where he fought the emissary. A group of soldiers spread about, inspecting the battlefield.

"I can't believe the four of you took out this many by yourselves." Said a voice from behind. He turned to see Carrack, who was inspecting the emissary's corpse. Aleph walked over to him.

Carrack kept poking around the emissary's corpse. These demons haven't rotted at all, strangely enough. Aside from nature taking its course, They looked the same as when Aleph left them here. The smell wasn't even that bad.

"Hmmm. You were pretty thorough. What did you do with his horns and claws?"

In response, Aleph handed him a dagger.

"I fashioned some knives after them."

Carrack inspected it and nodded.

"This is good work. Can I keep it?"

"It only responds to my mana, Captain. I could make you one with a harbinger's horn, if we can get our hands on some." Aleph offered.

Carrack grunted before standing, looking around for someone.

"Where's… ah, Brig! Come here!"

"Be right there, sir!"

A young man answered his call and came forward. Carrack patted his shoulder and said proudly,

"This one's Brig. Scoutmaster. He's here to help us track these devils."

Brig stood straighter, looking proud to be doing such an important job.

"Well? Got any leads for us?"

"Yes, sir! It appears that there were some stragglers among the hounds. I've already checked and they all led to the same place. Animals shy away from demon blood, making them far easier to scout. That makes it all the more baffling that we haven't been able to find them, but… A-anyway! Right this way!"

Brig led them through the forest, following a trail that only he could see. He pointed out bloodstains and traces an animal left behind, even sniffed at the air sometimes, but aside from the clearly different colored demon blood, Aleph failed to see what was was looking for.

The search party went up to a place with hardly any trees. "Trail stops here, sir."

They spread out and started searching for clues, but Aleph stood there stunned. There was a familiar feeling in the air, and a growing sense of dread.

"Brig, tell everyone to stop rummaging around and fall back." He ordered.

"W-what? Mister Aleph, I-" He started, but it was too late. The ground all around them started to glow, bathing everyone in light, and a moment later, they were gone. The environment shifted, and they found themselves in unfamiliar ground.

They were now in a bleak wasteland, dead trees circling around them in twisted forms. The air smelled stale, as if not even rot can survive here. The very ground shook, angry that the living had once again shown up in this desolate place.

The party was disoriented. They looked around, confused even as a group of demons charged at them from all directions. Aleph adjusted quicker than the others had. He leapt forward as soon as they were teleported and met them head on, brandishing his knives.

"It's a trap! On me, men! Sunbeam!" he heard Carrack say from behind him. A light erupted following his words, blinding the harbingers Aleph was about to intercept. He dealt with the ones in front of him quickly, then, when the light died down, he turned to see how his companions were doing.

The battle was almost over, surprisingly. The soldiers made quick work of the harbingers despite being ambushed thanks to Carrack's spell. Most wielded flames, but Brig flew around in a literal tornado, shredding all in his wake. Aleph jogged back towards Carrack, keeping an eye on Brig as he made short work of the enemy.

"They're using portals," Aleph said. The air was charged with mana, as if he was back in his well. Carrack was silent, waiting for him to continue. The rest of the soldiers gathered around him, on guard for the next attack.

Aleph picked up the soil and showed it to him. It was mixed in with bits of something that looks like shredded glass. Aleph picked one out and showed it to Carrack.

"The vicinity of an active portal creates mana crystals as a byproduct. I am assuming someone had already harvested the ones on the other side, so it escaped my notice until it was too late. Forgive me, Captain."

"No point blaming each other now, Aleph." Carrack said, waving his hands dismissively. He pointed to something over Aleph's head, who turned to see a massive structure in the distance. He felt a pit inside his stomach. Oh, gods. It's a Splinter of the Abyss.

"We're very close to the frontlines now. See that spire? It's right in the middle of the enemy camp."

Aleph just stared at it, still in disbelief. The spire Carrack was referring to was a piece of Erebos himself. He scattered them around the universe, connecting any planet it hits to his domain. It looked the same as the one in his memory, except this one looked like it arrived fairly recently.

So it is true. That bastard survived. He swore under his breath, pulling himself back to reality. He could feel the ground starting to shake even more.

He turned and faced Carrack once again. "We made a mistake, Carrack. We must return at once. The range on this portal is massive. If there are more of these outside the city then-"

"Can you send us back somehow?" Carrack interrupted, the panic in his voice barely contained. He had already grasped what a portal this size could mean for Hios.

Aleph knelt, trying to sense the portal itself. It resisted his intent somehow, as if it were sentient and knew that Aleph was an enemy. He thought for a moment, brought out the Emissary's heart and tried again.

There was an immediate reaction. He felt the space connecting through the portal, agitating the mana in the surroundings.

"Come closer to the center, Captain. It will take a moment to begin the transfer."

The scouting group relocated to the middle of the portal, where a tree identical to the one where they entered from.

"I suspect that the trees serve as the anchor for the portal. We would need to disable it from the other side once we return." Aleph said as he laid his hand on the tree. The land beneath them glowed once again, preparing to bring them back home. He turned to look at his companions, grateful that this elite band had minimal casualties despite being dropped in the heart of the invading force.

"Captain Carrack, I-" Aleph was about to commend his men when he saw something from the corner of his vision: It was barely visible, but it was big, and was flying straight towards Carrack. Having little time to react, Aleph stood in the way of this invisible assailant, his daggers crossed and ready to intercept. Their blades clashed, and Aleph felt his knees buckle. It was followed by sharp pains in his sides. Whatever he caught had wrapped itself around him.

The next thing Aleph knew he was up in the air, looking back helplessly as the scouting party was swallowed up by the floor. It was so bright that all he saw were the shadows of his companions, but the scene looked wrong, as the shadowy figures were far more numerous than expected.

A massive hand caught him right out of the air, and Aleph turned back to see a grotesque being. Its corpulent figure was a stark contrast to any demon he had met in this realm. It was closer to a mound of flesh than a man, with limbs sticking out in odd places. Each appendage carried an implement of torture, nightmarish tools to sever flesh from bone without killing outright. The sight amplified the pain Aleph felt. It was the first time since coming to this realm that he had been hurt this badly, and the pain it accompanied threatened to send him into shock. 

The hands that held him grew tighter, until Aleph could no longer hold back his screams. The steel jaws clamped even tighter around his body, drawing out even more of his blood in a shallow pool beneath him.

Lips parted from what Aleph had assumed was the creature's belly, forming an evil grin. A massive tongue stuck out to lap up his blood, greedily slobbering without heed for etiquette. The creature then laughed, waving Aleph around like sort of prize. He then turned around and walked towards the spire, his joyous hums sounding like a rumbling belly.

This was the worst possible outcome. Aleph did not know how this branch of the abyss handled their ranks, but even he knew this creature was not to be trifled with. A herald, Aleph thought as he blacked out from the pain. He summoned the last of his strength to warn his disciples. One of the generals of Erebos had joined the fray.