Randell stepped out of the small enclosure room and slipped the Essence Reader back into his pocket. The findings from Rythica had been insightful, but ultimately within his expectations. Nonetheless, excessive data was always better than insufficient data.

  It was still a bit early, but there wasn't a whole lot of time to do anything productive. Showing up to the meeting sooner might give him some extra time to review the notes Elara had prepared for him. She would be the one representing the Sinfreed house today. That was fine by him. He was there to talk about previously unseen creatures and how to handle them, not to snuggle up to the real powers running the city.

  Despite his role as the official head of this declining household, he had no interest in politics. He cared little about the future of this house. It had been on the decline for generations, and no amount of sweet-talking the nobles would change that, regardless of how badly Elara wanted it. He would have already handed the title over to her years ago if he wasn't so convinced she'd only drag their family into the schemes and games of the major houses. Let the cards fall as they would, and don't rock the boat with unrealistic ambitions.

  Randell looked around, seeing if there were any servants nearby. He wasn't sure where Elara was, but it would be best if they started preparing the carriage to depart. Stepping out of the hall and into the foyer, he spotted Bella bundling up one of the smaller rugs for cleaning.

  "Miss Bella, would you be so kind as to alert Elara that we will be departing soon? I would also appreciate it if you'd send for the carriage if it's not here already."

  "Of course, Master Randell." The maid went to take a step away, before quickly realizing she couldn't just leave the bundled up rug on the floor. She made to reach down and pick up the rug, before glancing back up at Randell, and thought better of making him wait. Her eyes darted between the two for a moment.

  He sighed. "Just leave it for now. And bring me my coat, please."

  The young woman nodded and hurried off, leaving the bunched-up rug where it was. It was ten minutes later before the carriage was arranged and his sister finally made her appearance.

  A middle-aged woman made her way down the stairs and nodded at Randell. "Well, don't you look dour, brother?"

  "As I'm sure you're well aware, I have no interest in this meeting. I would have much rather preferred getting some actual work done."

  She waved a hand at him. "Oh, don't be like that. You know full well this was the perfect opportunity to earn some much-needed renown for the house. I know you don't care for your role, but I very much do. I refuse to let my grandkids wallow away in mediocrity just so you can spend a few more hours playing with corpses."

  He rolled his eyes. "You know full well that this grab for attention will amount to nothing, just like it always has. So, I thank you for going behind my back to smuggle us into this event and waste both of our afternoons. It's quite appreciated."

  "Of course, Randell Sinfreed, head of house Sinfreed. I am glad I could lighten your load by doing the work you refuse to do."

  "If I trusted you enough to lead this house, you would already have the title."

  She scowled but made no reply as she turned away and strode out the door. Randell shrugged on his coat and followed her, stepping out the door and down to the carriage waiting in the street. He thought for a moment and turned back to the servant. A butler by the name of Luan. He was a tall, lanky, blonde man who had a penchant for somehow always being the most sharply dressed man in the room at any given time.

  "Actually, I'd rather not let my time be a complete waste. Mr Luan, is Wendy still here?"

  "Yes, Master Randell."

  "Please fetch her for me. She'll be joining us."

  The butler bowed and hurried off.

  Randell made his way over to the carriage and stepped inside. A few minutes later, a young girl of around fifteen years entered the vehicle and seated herself.

  "Master Randell? You asked for me to join you?" His apprentice waited expectantly.

  "Yes, yes. If I'm giving a lecture to a bunch of idiotic nobles anyway, I might as well turn it into a proper lesson."

  Elara gave him a look, but he ignored her. "Let's see now..." He scratched his chin. "Ah, I know. The portvale. It'll be the subject of today's meeting, so it would be best if you had a bit of context. How much do you currently know?"

  The three passengers felt the carriage rumble as it set off towards the Studloi District, where the meeting would be taking place.

  The student thought for a moment. "Well, I know it's the source of all those creatures that I've been helping you study, right?"

  "Correct. Anything else?"

  "Uh, not really."

  The carriage bumped as the wheels hit a nasty pothole, jostling the three riders. Randell only narrowly avoided bumping his head as the seat bounced.

  "That's perfectly reasonable. It's not a topic that comes up a lot. How much do you remember about the nature of our fractured worlds?"

  "I remember you mentioned that Essence wasn't something natural, and it's because the worlds are broken and somehow connected together that Essence exists, but I don't know much more than that."

  "Hmm, a little bare, but we can work with that." He glanced out the window, thinking. "I'll explain it in a metaphor. The same one I was told when I was just a boy. I want you to imagine a marble. This marble represents a world, an entire universe with its own stars and history. In this world, magic does not exist."

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  Wendy focused intently, as she did with all lessons involving magic.

  "Following me so far? Good. Now, imagine, there's an infinite number of those marbles, all lined up in a grid spanning forever in every direction. Every single world is completely unique. Now, all that space between the marbles? That's what we call the Aether. It's a void of pure Essence, devoid of all else. Matter, energy, even space and time cannot exist within the Aether. Only Essence."

  "So, when the worlds are... broken, somehow, the Essence leaks in?" She guessed.

  He pointed at her. "Precisely. And that's where the 'fractured worlds' name comes from."

  She tilted her head. "How did they break?"

  He hesitated. "Well, we don't actually know how it originally started. But we know what happened after. Picture that grid of marbles before you. Now, reach over, and flick one. What happens?"

  "Well, it shoots forward and... hits another one?"

  "Exactly. Two worlds crash into each other. And this collision creates weak points in reality that Essence uses to seep in."

  "Oh. Wow, that sounds... unsettling." She looked around. "Should I be writing this down, Master Randell?"

  "Do you have a quill?"

  "No."

  "Then...?"

  "..."

  Elara snickered from the side but otherwise remained out of the conversation. Randell didn't think Wendy needed to write it down anyway. When it came to magic, the kid memorized her lessons with an obsession he rarely saw among the students at the academy. She simply loved learning. Especially about how magic interacted with people and animals, which was why she requested to study under him.

  Randell continued. "Moving on. Now, the marbles, as you said, they crashed into each other. But these marbles are special. They don't stop or slow down after they crash into each other. They just bounce off and keep moving in another direction, moving towards another marble. And the world that *used* to be stationary on that grid now *also* gets flicked away randomly from the crash. And those two marbles crash into a few more, and those into a few more, and so on forever, never ceasing. Crashing into each other, crashing into new worlds, and so on."

  "That's... a lot of broken marbles."

  "Oh, yes. Hundreds of trillions of worlds. Maybe more. We don't know how long it's been happening, but some suspect this ever-growing chaos has been occurring for millions of years or more."

  Wendy's jaw dropped open.

  "But that's not the point of this lecture. Focus. These weak points in reality are the important part. And not just because of Essence. When these worlds crash into each other, for a brief period in time, they sort of merge. And stuff that was on one world suddenly finds itself falling through a crack into another. Be that objects, animals, or even people. We call these merged areas 'portals'. There are different kinds, and I'll explain those another day. But, these portals are what bring new creatures, plants, and other sapient species through into our world. And vice versa."

  "Wait, I'm confused. If the worlds are constantly crashing together and leaking out Essence, then why aren't there portals appearing everywhere, all the time? And more importantly, shouldn't we be worried about the worlds being damaged more?"

  "Well, to answer your first question, they do. Why do you think so many cities have so many different species living in them? People who fell through a portal and eventually joined the nearest settlement. That's why we have so many types of plants and animals all the time. Portals appear everywhere. It's just that most of them are never noticed. If one opens up in the middle of a forest for a brief second and nothing but a rock comes through, that's it. No one will ever know the portal was even there. You only hear about portals when they do something obvious, which is incredibly rare.

  "As for whether we should be worried about the worlds breaking down, it's quite the opposite." He smirked. "As I said, these weak points in reality are where Essence seeps in. So if a world has more 'weak points', then...?"

  "... More Essence comes in?"

  He smiled. "Exactly."

  "So, you level up quicker?"

  "Indeed. The more fractures a world has, the faster people can level."

  "Wouldn't that mean it would be better to move to a world with more Essence in it, then?"

  "Oh, yes. Many wars are fought over territory on higher worlds. But that's a lesson for another day. Back to the subject at hand. Portvales."

  She blinked. "Oh, right."

  "Now, as I mentioned, when these worlds slam into each other, they open a portal. Very rarely, when two worlds hit each other hard enough, they sometimes 'stick' together. This creates a permanent portal between the two worlds, called a 'rift'. Or a 'gate' if the portal is big enough."

  "What does that have to do with portvales?"

  He shushed her. "Listen. These rifts are rare. Most established worlds only have a dozen or fewer, and maybe one or two gates if they're lucky. Amazing for trade and sharing of knowledge, I might add. But that's beside the point. A portvale is an incredibly rare phenomenon. Almost unheard of. It's more a statistical anomaly caused by pure random chance than anything concrete. A portvale occurs when a large number of rifts open in very close proximity to each other. This means a bunch of worlds are suddenly linked together at a very small intersection. And that means there's now a whole lot of traffic coming through."

  She leaned forward. "OH! That's why there's been so many new creatures showing up! They're all pouring in from the other worlds! And *those* worlds have creatures from other worlds pouring into them, right?"

  Randell nodded. "And when you have that many new creatures entering a small territory, what happens?"

  Wendy recalled her previous lessons perfectly. "Well, they fight for territory, obviously. It turns chaotic fast, and that means lots of struggle between the animals. And some of those animals inevitably level from surviving the struggle, causing even more conflict in the area. All the weaker animals will be forced away into neighboring regions. Which means they come here."

  "And thus, you understand the dilemma the city faces. As more creatures, people, and so on enter the area from the other side of those portals, the region will only grow more chaotic as everything fights for dominance. And everything else will pour out towards us. And because of so many portals existing in such a small area, Essence is far more dense there. Meaning the monsters aren't just a little higher level, but *much* higher."

  "Oh, I didn't even consider the Essence thing."

  "Yep. So you see the issue, yes?"

  "Very. That's actually a lot worse than I thought it would be..."

  The carriage lurched as it came to a stop in front of their destination. The building was massive and ornate; a structure assembled from blocks of marble and stone, with the walls and pillars decorated in the designs of nature. Vines were carved spiraling up the pillars, while the walls were made to look like a sculpted forest. The windows were beautiful works of stained glass depicting the shapes of various plants and animals. It was an odd choice, considering the fairly barren landscape surrounding the city, but to each their own. But no one could deny the building was a work of art.

  The Studloi District was a neutral territory within the city, not directly controlled by any of the major houses. Most of the government dealings occurred within this section of Saltbrook. It was the one district that was, by law, not subject to the whims of any house without the approval of all seven seats.

  Randell waved off the girl's worries. "No, no, don't worry about that. The city won't let the issue grow out of control. That's why it's making plans now instead of pushing it off for a few more years. Stars, if they left it alone, we'd need to raise an army of monsters of our own to tame the territory. Besides, we're plenty far away from the real dangerous stuff. We're just being hit by the aftershocks."

  The student didn't look too convinced but nodded anyway. Still, the slight unease on her features was clear.

  Randell slapped his hand down on her shoulders. "Hey, none of that. Cheer up. We'll get this problem handled quickly and professionally, alright? These nobles, pricks that they might be, still have a duty to protect the people of this city. They wouldn't dare let a problem like this fester."

  He blatantly ignored Elara's incredulous stare.