The hull began to tilt—barely, yet enough for those on deck to notice.
Sensing doom, the crowd surged even more frantically toward the lifeboats.
Not all of them were good people.
A girl noticed a man scoop up a Child who wasn't his and haggle with the distracted sailor.
Some shoved women aside, stormed aboard, and refused to budge.
Others pulled dinner knives from their pockets and threatened young girls into giving up their spots.
Curses, wails, and sobs blended with the band's music on deck, turning disaster into a grotesque, glittering ball.
Chin in hand, Sen Getsusa gazed at the beauty and ugliness humanity revealed.
"Terrifying, isn't it?"
The Ancient One had somehow settled beside her: "How have these days treated you?"
She still wore the yellow robes, hood thrown back, and reached out to brush empty air.
In Sen Getsusa's eyes, space suddenly filled with endless panes of glass; shattering rang in her ears, and everything around froze.
The Ancient One lowered her hand and rose. "Mirror Dimension—a minor sorcery. Nothing inside can touch the real World. Now it's just you and me."
"So the decision you mentioned refers to this ship?"
Sen Getsusa slipped off her shoes, bare feet on the deck, pale against the fresh green paint.
"Of course. In this timeline's history, nearly everyone aboard perishes," The Ancient One lifted a brow. "One in ten survives, Planeswalker. Your arrival scrambled the timeline."
Sen Getsusa curiously traced the glass surface where the two spaces overlapped.
"So?"
"So I can reopen a timeline for you—let them live," The Ancient One said. "Though it will cause me some trouble."
Reopening a timeline meant endless possibilities. Sen Getsusa couldn't guess what future The Ancient One saw, nor fathom the deeper intent.
The sorceress smiled: "You carry dimensional power. Once I start a new stream, you'll be drawn into it, entangled."
"Perhaps in the future, you'll have to return—more than once."
Sen Getsusa blinked. "That's it?"
The Ancient One pondered for a moment. "You could also buy me a few more strawberry cream ice-creams."
Barefoot, Sen Getsusa padded back and forth inside the Mirror Dimension; as The Ancient One spoke, she pressed her palm to the mirrored surface.
Instantly, a strand of violet void-mana drilled out from her palm.
"It was meant for you anyway—no matter." The Ancient One appeared behind her, voice gentle. "Seal it into a card, but use it carefully. With your current Spell Power, merely sealing the Mirror Dimension will probably leave you drained."
Sen Getsusa turned her head, looking at The Ancient One with innocent eyes, showing no sign of having been caught.
"Yes, that gaze—exactly like His…" The sorceress trailed off, muttering softly, a hint of distaste in her voice. "After every disaster, someone else has to clean up. I hope you'll grow stronger than He ever was…"
"That way you won't get killed so easily…"
Sen Getsusa didn't hear the quiet complaint; her attention was wholly on the mirror dimension.
Starting from her palm, a sharp, needle-like pain appeared, slid along her blood vessels, pierced her heart, and was pumped throughout her body.
The needle roamed freely within her blood, as though, after skewering her internal organs, it rode the flow straight into her brain.
Pain.
Excruciating pain.
Her face expressionless, Sen Getsusa felt bean-sized beads of sweat roll down her cheeks and drip onto her chest.
It was the harbinger of Spell Power exhaustion.
Unlike a family sedan that won't hit Formula-1 speed even if the driver floors the pedal, Spell Power can be overdrawn.
What it overdraws is the land card.
Noticing the girl's agony, The Ancient One walked over and rested a hand lightly on Sen Getsusa's shoulder.
Dark, chaotic, disorderly power joined in.
In the void, a translucent card was stitched together by purple mist; its soft surface rippled, and then an ancient mirror appeared upon it.
Cutting off her Spell Power, Sen Getsusa leaned on her knees, gasping. "Thank you."
The Ancient One stuck out her tongue. "You're welcome, Miss Forest."
She plucked the floating card.
Spell Card:
Mirror Dimension: highly practical and extremely costly.
When used, it pulls the target and yourself into the Mirror Dimension; nothing that happens inside can affect reality—or you can unfold it as a shield, using the dimension to block high-intensity energy attacks.
Within the Mirror Dimension, the caster may freely alter, move, or destroy all reality inside.
Provided you have countless land cards.
Putting the card away, Sen Getsusa tapped the deck with one finger.
In an instant the planks rippled like water; a gigantic lollipop burst through the deck and stood towering on the ship.
"You learn fast."
The Ancient One stepped forward, tilting her head at the girl's playful creation. "Is it strawberry-flavored?"
The girl shook her head, broke into a childlike grin, and waved both arms.
The water hardened into rock; a castle shot up, hung with portraits of herself—and several girls The Ancient One didn't recognize.
Huge brass gears turned beneath the castle, creaking as they pushed the Gothic structure toward the titanic.
The ship sprouted wings; black feathers made of soda were studded with toffee and nuts, and a rainbow appeared—
Suddenly everything froze.
The Ancient One patted Sen Getsusa's shoulder and pulled the crestfallen girl back onto the chair.
"Your energy can't sustain such massive alterations; your reckless streak is identical."
The Ancient One sighed, pulled a lump of flowing silver from her pocket, and popped it into the girl's mouth.
"So interesting… (chew chew) …you carry candy with you? (chew)"
Sen Getsusa rubbed her temples as the flowing silver slid down her throat.
"A Planeswalker's Spell Power comes from land cards. What about you?"
Each day, land cards generate Spell Power that flows into a Planeswalker's mana void. So where do this World's mages draw their energy?
The Ancient One stroked the girl's soft hair and lowered her eyes. "We? We borrow it from… other dimensions."
"Borrow?"
"Yes, borrow."
Sen Getsusa looked puzzled. "…What if they don't want to lend?"
The bald sorceress's tone was meaningful. "They don't get a choice."
Sen Getsusa: …That's just robbery!
The Ancient One widened her eyes playfully, the elderly mage feigning innocence: "We usually call it 'borrowing'."
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