A list of ideas formed neatly in Arz’s mind as he walked up the countless stairs to his study. Some city guards watched from different positions, apparently not trusting Arz despite his new agreement with the Wizards. There was no doubt that Jaralath had specifically ordered them to keep an eye on him.

  Arz pointed at a guard about halfway up the stairs. “If I add molten silver to the purple paste, it could cause more than one reaction.”

  “What?”

  “For a portal.” Arz continued thinking out loud as he walked, muttering to himself as well as announcing bits to the people he passed by. Everyone gave him a look of uncertainty. He kept a few loaves of bread cradled in his arms. The warmth of the bread was comforting, and the smell made him hungry.

  By the time he reached the top floor, his muscles ached. There were far too many stairs to travel regularly. A portal that connected to the bottom of the fortress needed to be a priority. Especially while he was still healing.

  Arz stepped over the broken door of his study and shouted, “I’m home, Sal!”

  “Welcome.” A short man stood just inside with flat, black hair. His lips were pressed together, reminding Arz of a tortoise.

  “You’re not Sal.”

  The man nodded. He wore a cheap suit with a bowtie that was more than a little crooked. Four pens stuck out of his breast pocket. “I am Orikori.”

  “From the Guild?” Arz sidled around the short man. Sal swam through the tubes and appeared in the closest tank.

  “Yes, Master Kurana.” He bowed his head. “I am here to record your notes.”

  “You don’t seem very fun, Orikori.”

  His flat face turned into a bit of a frown. “I thought you were a Wizard.”

  “Oh, ew. No.” Arz ran across the room, up the small set of stairs, and stopped at the window. “Come over here.”

  Orikori hesitantly followed and stood beside Arz at the massive window. “You see the Prime Wizard building in the distance?”

  “It is difficult to miss.”

  “Want to know something interesting about everyone in there?”

  “I would be honored to learn something from a Wizard.”

  Arz scowled, but continued. “Despite what they’ve told you, they are not Wizards. Neither am I. You know the term comes from old legends and stories where people used magic. They shot lightning from their fingers, made things float with their minds, or uh, I don’t know. They did amazing things that science couldn’t explain. Have you seen any of them do something magical?”

  “No, Master Kurana, but I haven’t observed them work. I only recorded their meetings.”

  “First, just call me Arz. Second, never use the ‘W’ word around me again.”

  Orikori nodded. He pulled out a notebook and quickly scratched some notes in the front. “I will do my best.”

  “Loosen up, Orikori. I only joined the Guild because they kept trying to arrest me for crimes that don’t exist.”

  “That sounds illegal.”

  Arz patted Orikori on the shoulder. “I agree. We’ll make Jaralath pay for it someday.”

  “That sounds more illegal.”

  “Alright. I take it back. The Guild is providing me with ingredients to help my research. You see, I almost died on one of my last adventures. Well, how high can you count?”

  “High, I would expect, Master Kurana.”

  “Just Arz. Don’t make me tell you again.”

  “I understand.”

  “Hm.” Arz eyed the scribe suspiciously. “Anyway, I almost died that many times. How high did you count?”

  “I didn’t realize I was meant to be counting already. I haven't had a chance yet.”

  Arz made a show of counting on his fingers, mouthing the numbers as he tapped each one. “Did you count?”

  “I reached thirty five.” Orikori wrote something in his notebook then looked at Arz expectantly.

  “Yeah, sure. That’s how many times I almost died on my last real adventure. You know why?”

  “The world is a dangerous place, Master Arz.” Orikori’s eyes widened. “I apologize, Arz.”

  Arz nodded. “You are half correct, young boy. Lad. Gentlesir.” Arz rolled his eyes. “I don’t know what to call you. How old are you? You look like you’re somewhere between fifteen and thirty five.”

  Orikori checked his notes. “That was how high I counted.”

  “Oh, right. Maybe that number is just stuck in my head now. Thirty five. Thirty five.” Arz repeated the number quietly a few more times as he stared out at the lewd windows on the Prime Wizard building. “Did you answer my question?” he asked after a minute of silence.

  “I will turn twenty next week.”

  Arz placed his hand on Orikori’s shoulder. “Would you like to turn twenty one?”

  Orikori narrowed his eyes and wrote something else in his notebook. “Next week or next year?”

  “Just in general.”

  “I would prefer to get older, Mas— Arz.”

  “Then, my scribe, make sure you follow me closely. Jaralath and the Guild might want to learn from me through your notes, but that means you need to stay safe and unharmed. Unharmed enough, at least. A little violence does one good. See me? Don’t I look great?”

  “You look rough.”

  “But it makes me seem more experienced, like I am wiser.”

  “I will not argue with you,” Orikori said, pressing his thin lips together.

  “Great idea. I don’t like people who argue with me. I’m usually right, after all. Well . . .” He shrugged. “Often enough. Listen to me and you will stay safe. Can you agree to that?”

  Orikori nodded eagerly as he frantically wrote into his notebook. Arz watched for a second before walking away. He wasn’t going to read the notebook anyway. He didn’t care. What difference would it make? There was no chance the Guild would be surprised at anything he said. None of it was new.

  Arz dumped the loaves of bread on his bedsheets and sat beside them. He took a big bite out of one and held it out. “Want some?” he asked Orikori.

  “No.”

  Arz shrugged and took another bite.

  “Orikori, I have a request I need passed to the old man.”

  “Which old man?” Orikori asked.

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  “Hm. Good point. Jaralath.”

  “I am not a messenger.” Orikori walked over, still frantically writing notes. “I could perhaps find a messenger, though I was told to stay with you.”

  “How will you find a messenger then?”

  “I could leave momentarily, as long as you don’t plan on scurrying away,” Orikori said.

  Arz set the bread down and strode over to the ingredients table and picked up a few gems. “That would be incredibly helpful. Especially if I had a messenger accessible. How else will the Guild know my whereabouts?”

  “I will fetch someone immediately.” Orikori placed his notebook back in his pocket and ran to the door.

  “Wait,” Arz called.

  Orikori froze and slowly turned his head.

  “Pass my request to the messenger so we don’t need to take as long, right?”

  Orikori nodded.

  “I need an astronomer for an experiment. Anyone will do. As long as they’re a professional.”

  Orikori nodded and ran out of the room.

  Arz held a ruby up to his eye. Did it have enough facets for his idea? Was that even the right word? “Is this the right thing, Sal?”

  The eel didn’t respond, just as always.

  Arz set the ruby on the edge of the table, separate from the other gemstones. There was probably a fortune just in items on the table. He swept a pile of silver coins into his hand and walked them to a tiny forge beside Sal’s main tank. A blacksmith had helped Arz build it, but he hadn’t used it before. It looked like a barrel suspended by chains.

  A few chunks of coal and some random papers seemed like a good way to start a fire. Arz shoved all of it into the barrel. “Sal?”

  The eel shocked the barrel.

  Arz scratched his cheek and peeked inside. “Huh. Nothing.” He stuck his hand inside and wasn’t surprised when it was cold. “I have another idea, but it is far less exciting.”

  It took a few minutes of searching around the unkempt study for Arz to find a matchbook. Mysteries were his speciality. Well, not really.

  “See, Sal?” Arz pulled a match from the pocket. “This is probably the easier option.” He struck the match and watched the flame explode to life.

  The forge was burning before long, but it would take a little bit to be hot enough to melt silver. Arz stood and watched the fire burning, trying to visualize the formula in his head. He didn’t want to speak it out loud, only to do it again when Orikori returned. Sal wouldn’t remember anyway.

  Gargaxia, Xylaphus, and Jumtha were different planets. He knew that for certain. But Wildil had never heard of Earth or humans. Arz still didn’t know exactly how his portals worked. He called them realms only because he wasn’t certain. Was he traveling to different planets or different dimensions and universes?

  There were too many unknowns in his current experiments. Recipes were fine, but just traveling wasn’t going to result in Arz finding answers. He needed to narrow things down, to discover more about how portal traveling actually worked. He couldn’t afford to keep getting lost or stuck like he had on Doumenus. That could only result in his death, which he was really trying his best to avoid.

  The forge burned brightly. Heat poured out of the opening, making it difficult to even get close. Arz clenched his jaw and tried to put the silver inside, but it was too hot to even get close.

  “I might have underestimated the heat, Sal.”

  The eel swam around his tank, ignoring Arz altogether.

  He watched the flames burn and let his mind wander, thinking of each realm he’d been to, to the night when he first saw part of a portal tear through reality. There were still too many unknowns. One misstep could get him killed. The spotted frog and the AZ-32 robots flashed through his mind.

  A smile crept onto his face. It kept things exciting. All he had left was the excitement of the unknown. Although, perhaps it had been too exciting.

  Orikori led an old man into the study about an hour later when most of the fire had died down.

  “Arz, I found him,” Orikori said.

  “Thanks. You’re late.” Arz smiled and waved dismissively at the forge. The experiment could wait. “What’s your name?”

  “Corpith.”

  He was a tall, lanky man. His clothes didn’t fit quite right, and he didn’t seem like he was totally certain how to present himself.

  “I am in need of your help. Let me create something quickly. Orikori, if you would, you can use that tome on my lectern to look at the recipe with cinnamon that I recorded. That is what I will be recreating right now, assuming I don’t mess up.”

  Arz spread purple paste onto the workstation and chopped up a cinnamon stick. They started sizzling as he combined the two, but it didn’t create the smoke it had last time. “Perhaps the black pepper was necessary,” he muttered. He ground some on top. Smoke appeared almost immediately. “Ah, good to know.”

  “Fascinating,” Orikori said a little too loudly.

  Having all the ingredients right at his fingertips and a full workstation brought a smile to Arz’s face. It was calm and easy, and he knew the planet he was going to would be simple and harmless. With Orikori’s reminders, Arz grabbed some shining moonstone ore and some Glacirith dust, which he still had labeled as “Storm Dust.”

  All of the ingredients together started smoking as they reacted easily. Arz double checked that he had return potions and sparkstones, which he did.

  “Sal,” Arz called.

  The eel swam through the tube and shocked the smoke, tearing a portal through the air.

  “How does that work?” Corpith asked. “You just used household ingredients for cooking.”

  “You know, this isn’t the simplest or most complex portal I have made. I was also surprised how quickly the cinnamon reacted. I don’t make these.” Arz stopped, tilted his head, and spun to face Corpith. “Actually, I guess I do. But, you know what I mean.”

  “I certainly do not.”

  “Well, shall we go?” Arz stepped backward into the portal. His study disappeared immediately as his shoes crunched on dead, dry ground.

  Corpith hesitantly stepped through, appearing in front of Arz with terror in his eyes.

  “Perfectly safe,” Arz said. “There aren’t any monsters out here.”

  “Are there monsters through other portals?”

  “Oh, yes. Certainly. You wouldn’t believe what I’ve seen recently.”

  The portal vanished, leaving them alone in the quiet, dead realm. The sky was dark with the yellow clouds in the air, hardly visible.

  “I have traveled to several different places, which I have been calling realms because I haven’t been able to determine if these are different planets or dimensions. I was hoping an astronomer could help narrow down some of these possibilities. I recently traveled with some other people to planets, but they had not heard of Earth, so I don’t know if they are in the same universe as we are.”

  “Uhm.” Corpith looked into the night sky and sighed. “I’m an astrologer, not an astronomer.”

  “What?”

  “I read horoscopes.”

  Arz closed his eyes. “How is that going to help me?”

  “I never claimed I could.”

  “Well, what is my horoscope?”

  "Oh, I have no idea. I don’t recognize these stars. Or . . . maybe. Is that Sirius?” Corpith shrugged. “None of the constellations look the same.”

  Arz stared into the sky and slowly grinned. “You know, that was actually very helpful. Thank you.”

  “Really?”

  “I think you might be right. Do you see that colorful cloud?” Arz pointed near the brightest star.

  “The nebula?”

  “I don’t really care about the specifics right now, Corpith. Obviously you see it. I think we can see that from Earth, right?”

  “If I say yes, will you bring us back?”

  “Yeah, fine. You are not an adventurous person, Corpith.”

  “I never claimed to be.”

  Arz rolled his eyes. “So, you would say you’ve seen that nebula from Earth?”

  “Yes.”

  “So, we are currently in the same universe?”

  “I am not an expert, Master Kurana.”

  Arz sighed. “I get that. Just tell me, with a guess, what my horoscope is.”

  “What is your star sign?”

  Arz stared blankly at Corpith.

  “You will achieve great things in the near future,” Corpith blurted.

  “Well, that was bull shit.”

  “Can we go back?”

  Arz thrust his arms out. “Look at this. A whole planet you have never seen before, and all you can think about is getting back to Bralincote. You know, it’s actually a pretty boring city compared to others I’ve seen.”

  “I am not worried about how boring Bralincote is, Master.”

  Arz rolled his eyes and used a return potion with a sparkstone. Corpith rushed through as if his life had depended on it. Arz casually strolled back in and took a seat in a cushioned chair behind the lectern, turned to face the window.

  “Did you learn anything?” Orikori asked. He dragged a dining chair over and sat across from Arz.

  “There is a strong possibility I am traveling to other planets. I can’t confirm it, but Corpith kindly . . .” Arz looked back to an empty study. “Where did he go?”

  “Oh, he ran immediately.”

  “Huh.” Arz shrugged and relaxed. “He was boring. I don’t like boring.”

  “Am I boring?”

  “I haven’t decided yet.”

  Orikori nodded knowingly and wrote in his notebook.

  “I don’t feel like Jaralath needs to know about every conversation we have.”

  Orikori narrowed his eyes as he finished his note, then flipped the book shut and stuffed it into a pocket.

  “I traveled to different planets recently. From what Corpith just said, I think that’s all I’ve ever done. I used to use the term ‘realms,’ which you will see in my notes. If you copy it down, you can change it to planets. I’ve learned the names of most of these, but I think some, like the one I was just at, don’t actually have names.”

  “What would you name it?” Orikori asked.

  “Escapopolis,” Arz said with a smirk. “It’s a great place to escape from danger. There’s literally nothing there. If something was chasing me, I wouldn’t have to worry about it accidentally following me through the portal into my study. I could end up in the desolate land of Escapopolis and then take another portal back here.”

  “That sounds inefficient,” Orikori said.

  Arz shrugged. “We’ll see.”