(Noah's POV)
The rift shimmered before me.
Unstable. Flickering like a dying star caught between breaths of reality.
A small circular tear hovered midair — connecting my training hall to the sewer tunnel beneath the capital, the place where blood once painted the stone and monsters screamed in silence.
I narrowed my eyes.
"Just a little more…"
I pushed mana into the rift — threading primal essence through every edge of the tear, trying to stretch it wider, stabilize the flow, hold it long enough to peer into the other side.
But then—
CRACKLE.
A pulse shot through the rift. Space itself shuddered.
Mana twisted, rebelled.
BOOM.
It collapsed.
Like glass shattering in reverse, the rift disintegrated into fine particles of silver and black, vanishing with a dull thud that echoed across the walls.
I exhaled slowly.
Disappointed? Sure.
Surprised?
Not even a little.
Portal Magic.
This wasn't some flashy fireball spell. Not a clean sword slash. Not a technique you could brute-force with enough strength and screaming.
This was space.
The bones of reality.
And space… wasn't made to be bent.
One wrong surge of mana and you don't just fail — you vanish, torn into fragments scattered between seconds and stars.
And yet…
I wasn't scared.
I wasn't frustrated.
This was the kind of challenge that excited me.
The kind of obstacle that made every inch of strength I had earned feel like it mattered.
This would take focus.
Discipline.
No shortcuts.
No reliance on the system.
Just me — and the will to force the universe to kneel.
"Astral Mirage: Activate."
Fifty clones blinked into existence around me, shimmering like war-ready ghosts. Each one identical. Each one humming with raw primal mana and intent.
One raised a brow. "Back at it, huh?"
"You know the plan," I said. "Train. Learn. Push the limits."
The clone grinned. "Try not to kill us this time."
"No promises."
We got to work.
Fifty-one versions of me — moving like one.
The room crackled as space warped again and again. Rifts opened — then snapped shut with a shriek. Some curved in on themselves like they were choking. Others exploded, sending clones flying.
The training hall trembled under the weight of spatial pressure. The air itself warped, distorting light and sound like water rippling in a still pond.
Each failure echoed through my body.
Each spark, each collapse, each raw backlash…
It all meant something.
Progress.
Pain was just part of the price.
Sweat coated my skin. My eyes burned from overuse of mana-enhanced sight. My breathing was shallow. But I refused to stop.
Then… something shifted.
My fourth attempt—
I felt it before I saw it.
Snap.
A clean rift. Stable. Balanced. No pulsing. No flickering.
Through the tear in space, I saw the sewer alley from before — every detail sharp. The cobblestone, the rusted pipe, the faint crack on the wall near the gate.
"Test run," I whispered.
One clone raised his hand. "Am I seriously the guinea pig again?"
I gave him a half-smile. "You're the most sarcastic one. You can complain better if it goes wrong."
He clicked his tongue but walked into the rift without hesitation.
Silence.
Then—
He walked back out.
Perfectly fine.
He even held up a mana candy from a stash he found lying on the sewer floor.
"Stole this," he said. "Payment for suffering."
I dismissed the portal with a flick of my hand and let out a long, relieved breath.
It worked.
Finally.
The other clones clapped.
I glared. "Back to work."
They flinched and scattered.
Now portals were opening everywhere.
Inside the training hall.
To nearby forests.
To mountain paths I had walked months ago.
To the lake where Scarlett once nearly drowned me in a spar.
Some clones were leaping from one rift mid-air and diving into another like it was a game.
Others threw fire spells through multiple portals to hit the same target from different angles.
Every rift opened left behind a shimmering trail of primal residue, like ink smeared across time.
Three hours passed.
My body staggered.
Mana—low.
My veins were trembling.
I dismissed the clones with a wave.
Each one exploded into dust.
One clone clicked his tongue.
One saluted like a soldier.
One showed me a middle finger with a grin.
The last one blew a kiss and whispered, "See you in hell, me~"
What a group of weirdos? Can't believe they all are my clones and still all have different personalities?
I chuckled.
Then the wave hit.
Woosh.
All their memories. All their progress. All their calculations.
Flooded into me in a single moment.
Like fire behind my eyes.
I gritted my teeth and endured the pain.
I didn't scream.
I welcomed it.
Because now—I understood.
Now I knew the art of portal casting.
Not enough to be perfect. Not fast enough to use mid-combat.
But I was on the edge of mastery.
Still…
There was one thing missing.
Speed.
Efficiency.
Flow.
If I had to stand still every time, channel for 10 seconds, calculate distance, and stabilize mana — I'd die before the portal even opened.
I needed a skill.
Not a spell.
A shortcut woven directly into my essence.
"Eva."
[Yes, Host?]
"Use Skill Weaver. Create a skill that lets me open portals to any location I know or have marked. No casting time. Instant if I want. And… let it support multiple short-range portals for use in combat. One flick—one portal."
[Understood.]
[Calculating...]
[Warning: This skill requires extremely high spatial control, mana density, and battle instinct.]
[100 SP will be deducted.]
"…One hundred?"
[It's space, Host.]
"Yeah, yeah."
[Skill Created Successfully.]
[New Skill Acquired: Prime Rift — Rank SS+]
Skill Type: Spatial / Tactical / Offensive
Mana Cost: Moderate to High (scales with range and complexity)
Effect:
Instantly creates rifts to any known or marked location.
Allows for rapid deployment of multiple rifts in combat.
Built on primal mana, making it highly stable but violently forceful.
Can be used mid-attack, during movement, or defensively.
At perfect mastery, flicking a finger is all it takes.
I stood there, panting slightly.
A grin pulled at the edge of my lips.
"This… this is the real deal."
***
Back in my room, I laid down on the bed.
Let the warmth sink into my bones.
Then—
Soul Space: Enter.
The world shifted.
The ceiling vanished into stars.
Gravity faded.
Here… I was infinite.
My soul. My world. My rules.
No time limit. No mana limits. No mercy.
I stood tall in the golden void.
"Let's go again."
One hundred clones materialised besides me.
They didn't even wait.
Portals exploded everywhere.
Fireballs launched through chains of dimensional gates.
Clones teleported mid-swing and reappeared behind invisible enemies.
Some used wind blades, disappearing into the sky—reappearing underground.
It was beautiful chaos.
My domain rumbled under the strain of raw magic.
I watched it all, arms crossed.
Then I moved.
Flick.
One portal.
Flick.
Another.
One to the right. One behind me. One under my feet. One in the clouds.
The entire battlefield became mine.
No borders. No walls. No limits.
Only me…
And the places I wanted to reach.
The day I master this?
There will be nowhere to run.
Nowhere to hide.
No one would be able to escape from me.
To be continued...