"So, your mom runs the Monster Hunters?" I asked, taking another bite of the apple Lana had shoved into my hands.

  It was, frankly, the best apple I'd ever tasted—not just because I hadn't eaten in a week, but because the thing was the size of a grapefruit and tasted like it had been picked five minutes ago.

  Felix was leading us toward a sitting area just outside the portal room, and I was still processing the casual bombshell about his family connections.

  "Only the largest faction outside the Central Lands," Cassie said with a smirk, snatching a bite from my apple as we walked. "No big deal."

  We emerged from the brightly lit alabaster halls into a vast courtyard, and I nearly choked on stolen fruit.

  We stood on the edge of forever.

  Below us, an endless sea of emerald jungle rolled toward the horizon like a living ocean that breathed with its own rhythm. But that wasn't what stole my breath—it was the impossibly high cliff face rising from the jungle's far edge, a wall of stone so massive it seemed to hold back the sky itself.

  From somewhere so high I couldn't see the source, an enormous waterfall poured down in a cascade that defied every law of physics I thought I knew. It wasn't just wide—it was infinite, spreading as far as the eye could see in both directions, like the gods had taken a cosmic sledgehammer to heaven's foundation and let an entire ocean spill through the cracks.

  Mist rose from where billions of gallons crashed into the jungle below, creating cloud banks that drifted and swirled around the cliff face like the breath of sleeping giants. And piercing through that ethereal veil like a gleaming spear thrust toward the heavens was an alabaster tower that climbed nearly two-thirds of the way up the impossible wall.

  Multi-colored birds flew in flocks so massive they looked like rainbow storm clouds drifting through the mist, their cries mixing with the waterfall's roar into a symphony that made my chest vibrate.

  The entire scene was like stepping inside a fantasy painting—except I was living it, breathing the mist, feeling the spray on my skin.

  I forgot about the apple entirely until juice dripped down my chin.

  "Holy shit," I whispered, and even that felt inadequate.

  "Yeah, that's one hell of a fucking view," Cassie confirmed, flopping onto a bench near a low wall that sat way too close to the edge for my comfort. "Welcome to the Lobby."

  I blinked hard. "That word isn't translating right. How is a colossal jungle a lobby?"

  Felix pointed toward the tower gleaming against the cliff face. "Technically, we're still in a spirit realm, but this one's stable—anchored to that tower. We call it the Lobby because this is where our world connects with others in the Multiverse. The only place transpiritual portals actually work."

  "Like the multiverse's train station," Lana added from behind us, her tiny feet making surprisingly aggressive sounds on stone as she stomped into the courtyard. She didn't miss a beat before launching into her complaint. "And you don't get to just walk away from me, Initiates. I am owed an offer. Unless your friend would prefer to volunteer for some experiments?"

  The word 'experiments' made my stomach clench.

  Cassie's eyebrow arched, but Felix was already fishing a small wooden slate from his vest—something that looked like a magical tablet.

  "Mom said you'd want this," he said as Lana snatched it with surprising force.

  White letters started scrolling across the black panel. Her whiskers twitched as she read, muttering under her breath with increasing irritation.

  "This had better be worth... hmm." She kept flipping through the text, her tiny face scrunching. "Procedurally, does he need to register before I get my offer? That's just bureaucratic bullshit." She paused, then added defensively, "And I didn't mean to collapse that entire section—it was an experiment."

  Lana groaned and hurled the slate like a frisbee out over the jungle. The device whizzed through the air with enough force to probably kill someone, disappearing into the green vastness below.

  Right. Superhero mouse-people were apparently standard here.

  "Fine," she said, hands on her hips in a way that screamed barely contained violence. "Take him to register. I'll meet you there."

  She spun on her heel and stomped back inside, suddenly cursing creatively enough to make a sailor blush.

  Felix motioned for me to sit next to Cassie while he hoisted himself onto the wall, his back to the spectacular jungle scene like it was just another Tuesday view.

  "Take a breath, new guy," Cassie said, sprawling on the bench with the exhausted grace of someone who'd survived way too much in one day. "Lots happened, even for us. A dead spirit realm... Fucking Glids are real... I thought they were just stories to scare kids."

  "Magic is real!" I blurted. "I'm clearly about a trillion miles from home, the world's actively tried to murder me twice, and I just watched a guy tear holes in reality with his bare hands. Oh, and I lived a week in an hour somehow."

  "Your day was definitely worse," Felix laughed, and I couldn't help joining him. Everything felt so insane that laughing was the only sane response left.

  "But Chas," I said, needing some reassurance that what I'd witnessed was as impressive as it felt. "He's a legitimate badass, right? That wasn't just beginner's luck with fancy punches?"

  They both laughed.

  "Oh yeah, that's easily top ten material," Felix confirmed with obvious admiration. "Remember when he wrestled an Onytax to death without spilling his tea? Just to prove he could?"

  "What the hell is an Onytax?"

  "Imagine an angry gorilla monster," Cassie explained, "but furry, with four arms, and an ornery disposition. Way out of our league. Chas took it down one-handed while sipping from a fancy teacup."

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  A pause. Then: "I hate how awesome he is, because he's also an irresponsible piece of shit."

  I laughed again, feeling the knot in my stomach finally loosen. Like I was safe for the first time since this whole adventure started.

  "He seemed pretty competent with those explosive punches."

  "Chas is never fucking here!" Cassie exploded, clearly months of pent-up frustration pouring out. "I earned my mentorship fair and square. I was so excited when I found out I'd be his apprentice. Now I understand why no one trains under him. He hasn't filed a single job report in months. I'm fucking broke!"

  Felix shrugged with the casual acceptance of someone used to chaos. "I'm just here because Chas lets me do whatever I want."

  "You're here because he's married to Nana, and she told him to babysit you," Cassie chuckled, some anger dissolving into fond exasperation.

  Felix nodded as if this was obvious. "Also that."

  "Nana?" I asked him.

  "My grandmother. Everyone calls her Nana. She's been traveling for a while—I haven’t seen her in at least a year."

  "So let me get this straight," I said, staring at Felix. "Your mom runs the Monster Hunters, and your grandma can boss around someone like Chas? Are you some kind of prince?"

  "He wishes," Cassie snorted before Felix could answer. "I'm closer to royalty than he is, and that's not very close."

  "The Aldertrees are massive," Felix said with a casual shrug. "I just happen to be from the leadership branch. I have something like thirty million cousins."

  "Family reunions must be intense."

  "They're honestly pretty boring."

  Cassie roared with laughter and slapped her knee. "Alright, enough tower-gazing. We'll be up close soon enough, and I desperately need clean clothes."

  I looked down at my blood-stained linen outfit, amazed at how much damage one healing pill had erased while leaving the evidence behind.

  She led us back inside and downstairs into a long hallway lined with alcoves. Glowing orbs hung in leather straps like magical light bulbs, casting everything in warm amber light.

  I gaped as two white-furred Vildar approached an alcove, placed red coins onto a control panel, and triggered a brilliant flash. The alcove suddenly expanded backward into what looked like a hallway opening into thick jungle—complete with bird song and rustling leaves, like someone had torn a door into the wilderness far below.

  They walked through and vanished into the greenery. The alcove snapped back to original size with another flash.

  "What the actual fuck?" I breathed.

  "I know, right?" Cassie said, then turned to Felix with the careful tone of someone doing mental math. "Three people, two coins each... that's six red coins total, Felix."

  Felix started patting down his vest, then checked his pants, then looked in his sleeves with increasing desperation.

  "Gaia's tits, you left our money in your dirty clothes, didn't you?" Cassie asked with the weary voice of someone who'd seen this exact disaster before.

  "I swear I had it! Portal, got changed, talked to Mom, came back," Felix replied, still frantically searching his clean outfit.

  Cassie shook her head. "And you call me the slow one, dumbass."

  "What does this mean for us?" I asked, though the sinking feeling in my gut already knew.

  "Coins power the portals," Felix explained sheepishly. "No coins, no portal to the Tower."

  Cassie stretched her arms in mock celebration. "Means we're walking."

  I looked back toward the courtyard, thinking about the endless jungle stretching between us and the distant tower. "Through that insane jungle? The one that probably wants to eat us?"

  "That's the one," Cassie confirmed with a grin that suggested she was actually looking forward to it.

  The realization hit me like a punch to the gut—we were about to trek through an alien wilderness with no guide, no supplies, and creatures that could probably kill us without breaking stride.

  This was either going to be the adventure of a lifetime, or incredibly short-lived.

  The stone stairs carved into the mountainside stretched endlessly below us, each step worn smooth by countless feet. I was grateful we were heading down—my legs already burned, and climbing this mountain would've killed me. Bronze-skinned Florans and white Vildar occasionally bounded past us going up, their breathing steady and unbothered by what had to be thousands of stairs.

  One thing I'd quickly learned about Cassie: she was stupidly fast. Several times as Felix and I picked up our pace, we'd lose sight of her blonde hair completely. Then the stairway would curve around the mountain face, and we'd spot her waiting below, leaning against stone railings with the patience of someone used to waiting for slower folk.

  "Okay, so Felix shoots lightning, and you're basically superhuman?" I asked as we caught up for the third time, trying not to sound as winded as I felt.

  "I'm also stupid strong," she said, flexing an arm that looked like it could punch through concrete. The muscle definition was no joke. "But yeah, speed's my specialty."

  "So magic has different types?" The question carried genuine curiosity. If I were stuck in a world where magic was real, I wanted to understand every rule that might keep me alive.

  Felix nodded, working to hide his slight wheeze. "Yeah, specializations. Let me think how to explain this without the technical stuff."

  "I like hitting things; Felix enjoys hiding behind books," Cassie said, walking backward down the steps with a casual grace that made our careful navigation look pathetic.

  "I specialize in Arcanist techniques, physical manifestations like lightning." Felix clarified, finding his rhythm. "Cassie prefers Striker ones. Physical enhancement."

  I grinned. "We have similar concepts on Earth. Cassie gets up close and personal, Felix prefers distance and reading time?"

  Felix shot me a genuinely wounded look while Cassie hooted with laughter.

  "Oh, I definitely like the curtain-guy!"

  "What about Chas?" I asked, curious where their mysterious mentor fit.

  "Grand Master Runebinder," Cassie said with grudging respect. "Mastered dozens of techniques across all types. Striker, Arcanist, Guardian—probably stuff I've never heard of."

  "Nana can still kick his ass though," Felix added with obvious satisfaction.

  "Guardian's the third type?"

  They nodded in perfect sync. "Spiritual specialists, usually defensive," Cassie added. "Mostly people who take themselves way too seriously. Like my brother Erik."

  "And you two are still in training?"

  "Apprentices," Cassie corrected, like the distinction mattered. "Initiates with mentors. Still learning how not to accidentally kill ourselves."

  "I'd prefer not accidentally killing myself too," I pointed out.

  "We'll work on that," Cassie shot back.

  As we descended the endless staircase, the air began shifting around us. Humidity crept in like a living thing, thick and warm, carrying rich earthy scents of the deep jungle. Temperature climbed to match the wall of green stretching below. But something else danced across my skin—a strange static charge growing stronger with each step, like the moment before lightning strikes but without the threat.

  "What's this tingling?" I asked, flexing fingers as the sensation intensified. "It's like gentle electricity."

  Felix's face lit with understanding. "Mana! The further from the portals, the denser the ambient mana becomes."

  The tingling grew stronger, raising goosebumps along my arms.

  Then Bravery pulsed in my mind—that same presence from the void between worlds, hovering beyond conscious vision. My step faltered as perception suddenly spread outward like ripples in a pond, and the unfamiliar sensation completely threw off my balance.

  Something coiled in my mind like a spring under tension, ready to snap. That's when I face-planted onto the stone steps with a resounding smack.

  Senses flooded with overwhelming information—every sound sharper, every scent distinct, every texture magnified. I pushed up to my knees, head spinning.

  "Ow," I said, which covered the basics.

  Felix and Cassie spun around instantly, staring at me with wide eyes as I rubbed throbbing temples.

  "Is that an aura spell?" Felix asked, face scrunched in concentration.

  "I don't know," I said, forcing my focus on one sensation instead of the chaotic symphony. "Figured it out when I was stuck in the portal."

  Cassie helped pull me up, then squinted with an unreadable expression. "Feels like you're judging me. Daring me to hit you."

  I met her eyes, meaning every word. "I promise there's nothing I want less."

  She laughed genuinely. "Sounds useless. But you'll want to shut it off before we reach the Lobby, or something down there might take you up on that challenge."

  Rising urgency tightened my chest. "How?"

  They shrugged in helpless synchronicity.

  “I haven’t done aura control,” Felix admitted. “Chas would know.”

  "Chas isn't here," I pointed out, panic creeping into my voice as the spring coiled tighter.

  Cassie grinned—the reckless expression of someone finding danger amusing rather than alarming.

  "Now you know how we feel, Ben. Welcome to the team."