Turns out I did gain some small tidbits from the system. After most of the night and a few more hours after waking up, I continue cycling through all the exercises with both versions of my perception field while trying to see if there is anything to be gained from the increase in level with the better version that is not dependent on the system. I also try to make both skills work at the same time.

The latter is not successful, but I slowly increase the skill level and gain very slight, but still meaningfully improvements in resolution detail with the system’s skill. Especially in being able to differentiate materials. Not in a way to be useful in my reading efforts, which was a small disappointment, but dealing with different materials that wouldn’t normally be confused with one another was becoming effortless.

At least reading books with proper ink would become a breeze. Even if it wouldn’t help with the shenanigans the system pulled with the differently colored cellulose fibers making the paper in the books.

I start sending out my perception field and find the people outside the HLZ in what used to be our silver mine, but nothing of note is happening there. All the cameras and directional microphones I set up to monitor the region are all still in place. I withdraw and leave the endeavor for the operators in the comm room to deal with them.

Even with all of the noise and other things that I could be doing, I head for the library and take in the small underground chamber set up for the storage of the data cells and now something else as well. They increased the space and added a way of pulling the large stone which already had four of the copper mechanical storage racks inside. Focusing on it with my perception field I see a decent amount of plates already filled.

I find the pedestal in my hut and with eh usual shenanigans with my inner world bring it in front of me. Placing the book on it and connecting everything to the data network, I set up an automatic sequence so all the new information will be added.

All four storage racks continue transcribing everything they can to my book, at least whenever they aren’t busy punching more copper or being accessed by someone else.

I continue to work on my perception field in the interring, but every hour I stop for a minute or so. When the process is almost over, I look at what has been added to the library. A lot of notes from our village and others as well.

People seemed to have stopped adding their daily appointments and stuff, probably because they realized that the whole system is public, but I’m glad to see the amount of useful information growing.

After a couple of hours, I move to return the pedestal allowing the book to take in the information but stop myself. It was fine in the hut, but I can’t separate myself from the book. Leaving the book in the inner world sitting on the pedestal all day long and just inputting the new data whenever I’m in the network is feasible.

I take the book and start reading through the last few pages of new information.

There is nothing revolutionary there, but the increase in my understanding of magic and the slowly shaping of my understanding of the system’s intricacies. A very useful skill in the situation we found ourselves in.

I add to the library of my mind a few new runes, new ways of working with the ones and so much more.

Hours pass until sunset starts approaching and a messenger finds me.

“Let me guess,” I say before the girl even gets a word in. “Charlie?”

“No, Merlin and Burges at the MRI.” She says chuckling.

“I will be in my way in a minute.”

“Ok.” She runs off at a slow pace as a carefree being. A nice change compared to the focused and purposeful strides everyone was developing, especially during the last week or so with the intermittent HLZ attacks.

Not every one of them was getting people killed, but when one of the beasts did run into a village or a larger group, it was simply a massacre.

At least in most encounters. In two cases the villages manage to hold out against the beasts.

That reminds me of something I didn’t want to deal with, the stolen mine. What the hell are they thinking? Right when the entire instance is fighting?

I finish putting everything in place and stretch for a minute as I get up from my meditative pose before walking to the MRI.

After a minute walking, I see almost a dozen researchers along with Merlin and Burges pouring over a large blueprint.

A large sheet of good quality paper marked in pencil with several charcoal smudges from being erased. I look at the bones of a netherworld portal formation, except it’s not intended to go to the Netherworld.

Merlin sees me entering and says: “We were working on finding that place that you mentioned, we took as far as we could, but we are unsure of how to proceed.”

“You seemed to have made some progress.” I gesture at the five foot wide runic blueprint.

“Sure, but we don’t have any frame of reference to actually find what we are looking for. We managed to find how the netherworld is identified on the engraving, but even if we find the correct way of ‘dialing’ another number, we can’t just keep randomly trying thousands of combinations.”

“Well, there is probably a thing or two I could try to help out. Is that why you called me?”

“Yeah. So far the only path to learning more about this other place is for you to go to the netherworld a couple of times. If you see something that will guide us it will be immensely helpful, otherwise, we are pretty much at a standstill.” Says Burges.

“Ok, let’s go then. You are staying, right Merlin?”

“Yep, I have a couple of hours to play.”

We all walk to the field where I teleported to the netherworld and the main portal is set up. There are smaller mobile ones that they began to take around so they can map the netherworld and even run into other wolves, but this larger one is needed to allow a human sized being to physically cross.

Everyone is already used to how this is supposed to work and considering our deeper understanding of how the portals work, we don’t have to be quite as careful as the first time, but everyone still takes this seriously.

The 11 researchers, Burges and Merlin each chose a spot around me and the mana connection is established. I put on my main suit of wooden armor in a single move. Just taking it out of the inner world already surrounding my body, though that does require a bit of mental gymnastics with the portals.

With comm rune in place and without anything new, I sit on the ground for a minute centering myself to maximize how focused I’m and what I will be able to sense with my perception field.

It won’t be an enormous difference, but compounding one percent better detail with one percent better recall with one percent better comprehension and so forth can add up.

I say a single word trying not to disrupt my focus:

“Portal.”

They understand what I mean and after a few seconds, I open my eyes to see the small spheric portal to the netherworld slowly growing. Extending my perception field just a few millimeters off my skin, with as much resolution as possible, though not using the system skill, just my own version for now.

I get up and walk forward giving a small jump when I’m in position and what I feel for the few seconds or the instant that it takes to cross the portal is similar to last time.

Getting to the other side I sit on the ground a couple of meters beyond the portal without any compunction. I start meditating as deeply as possible while maintaining a grasp of my memories as I walk in my memory palace. I leverage all my technics to imprint everything in my memory about my experience.

Just an instant, but an instant that stretches forever, or so it seemed to my senses.

I recall a little hut at the exact stop that one stood in our village before we demolished it to make this clearing., but it doesn't look to be the same place. There is something different about it.

The wood. Like on the village selling paint. Not quite as vibrant in color, more of a dark varnish.

That confirms it is not our village, and it is also not the same place I saw last time.

After the system drags me back I recount everything to the others and open my eyes, not surprisingly finding myself back in the clearing.

“Was there anything to identify, or something about the ‘path to get to this other place?” Asks Merlin

“Nope.”

“Damn,” curses Burges.

“Let’s run it a few more times,” I say.

And that is exactly what we do.

I cross the threshold a few times.

Once, twice, a dozen times.

Sometimes I just go and wait for the system, other times I cross the portal and return right away trying to glean a little more on the return trip. Sometimes I do it fully awake, other times I cross over in an almost meditative state.

Thousands of mana points in each short transition, but I continue to refill the batteries each time it gets to the halfway point. A good hour later, after my 17th transition and with little luck in identifying anything to help us, I ask:

“Have you guys thought about setting up a secondary engraving on the other side to help stabilize the portal?”

“Uhmm?” Both Merlin and Burges in concert.

“What do you mean?” Asks Merlin.

“Well, you guys know what is causing the ripples on the portal that is so troublesome, right?”

“Uhmm, no.” Says Burges.

“We have a lot of guesses, but nothing concrete.”

I attempt to recall having ever discussed with them though I stop and begin again.

“I… shit. I think these transitions are messing with my memory. Still, look at this.”

I sit on the ground and make a ‘return, feedback and stabilization’ runic pattern that should help in not only reducing power draw but also in keeping the portal stable.

“Ohh, I see where you are going with this.” Merlin holds his chin as I can almost see the puzzles fitting in his mind.

“What?” Asks the dedicated and decently talented, Burges, though not quite on the same level as Merlin.

A researcher from the MRI looking over his shoulder answers:

“It’s a formation to tap into the very power of the portal and provide an anchor point. It will use a little bit of mana, but it is well worth the expense. The total mana consumption will at the very least be half what we are using right now.”

“Exactly,” I say. “Though with the right alignment, I don’t see why we couldn’t go way beyond just 50% mana economy.”

“Ok, it will help us use a little less mana in our trials, but I don’t see it as being much more useful than that.” Says Burges.

“Probably not, but no use in wasting mana if all it will take is a few more minutes and it might teach us something new. Not like we have many avenues to research for now.”

I continue working and prepare to cross over. On the other side, I take a copper battery from the inner world and place it in the ground putting the root formation I just worked on in place before the system drags me back.

Turning off the portal I hold my fingers hoping that everything works as intended I look at the portal.

The same wrongness and foggy broken hole in reality happens in the instant the portal is formed, but as about one second passes, the portal is half formed instead of taking about ten-second to grow to full size.

In record time the surface settles. Probably about two seconds and unlike a few minutes ago, the entire sphere is crystal clear, not only on the frontal part.

It is perfectly smooth all around.

“Mana settled down at about 45% of normal consumption.” Says the portal operator monitoring the stats coming from the portal. In the same table that the comm operator is at.

I grin widely hearing that through both the headset and as his voice carries over the small distance.

“And it is nearly perfectly stable.” Complements Burges.

“Yes,” I yell before running across the threshold trying to reach for something more, something that will light the way forward, something that will put us in contact with more humans.

Against everything, the system tries to limit us to this day, it doesn’t matter, as long as we manage to start reconnecting to all of mankind.