(Day x + 1) Month, Day, Year of ???

I looked around. There were dunes in all directions and next to us was the

Warning: Quantum Temporal Rip imminent. You may not occupy two temporal locations within the same Universe. You must…. Error.

My vision cleared and I was once again looking at Xsitant. Tasha hadn’t moved yet. Xsitant looked at me with hope in his eyes.

“Do you still have access to your interface?” he asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“I haven’t been able to cast magic Since I arrived a couple of minutes ago. I can use a couple of abilities and have access to my interface but that’s about it.” He said.

“Hold on for a minute, let me think,” I said as I looked over at Tasha and Xsitant and noticed the moisture coming off their foreheads, then I looked up. The sun that had been over Primore was slightly larger. I conjured some specialized sunglasses and looked at the star through various spectrums. It did seem hotter. I checked the nanites and sure enough, the temperature against my skin was 101 degrees Fahrenheit. So, a little warm. I tried to send the nanites I had control out past my 500-foot radius and was surprised when that happened. So, no magic, or so little that it didn’t really matter, in this area. Okay then. No magic worked in our favor right now except for what I had access to. That could be a problem because I would need Xsitant’s help if I wanted to get out of this mess without killing my body here.

I’d already figured out that I could recreate a body back in my Place of Power and then transfer my consciousness but that would leave Tasha stranded with Xsitant on a dying planet. I couldn’t do that. Also, Xsitant was a practitioner of time and chaos magic. Two things I needed. The knowledge might provide me with the clues I needed to destroy the Ancient Enemy. Time? Why hadn’t my ability “I have always been, I will always be” protected me? I reviewed the ability:

Congratulations you have been granted the Special Sphere of Time ability “I have always been, I will always be.” Your existence is now sacrosanct. You are no longer subject to the Grand Father Paradox, nor can you be affected by Time Magic that you do not wish to be affected by.

I was right, I shouldn’t have been affected by it. I dug into my prompts and zeroed in on the prompts I needed.

You have been caught in an area of effect Temporal Vortex. The ability “I have always been, I will always be” does not apply.

NOTE: the Ability I have always been, I will always be will not prevent passage through Temporal Portals, Temporal Vortex or natural Space-Time. The immunity granted from this ability merely indicates that passage through time will not prove fatal.

That would have been nice to know in the original description of the ability, not that the knowledge helped me now. I’d think about that problem later, now I had to make us some shelter. I sent my nanites out to make more of themselves and to start making us a basic shelter with three bedrooms, bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and the most important thing, an air conditioner. Once that was started I viewed my internal links to Thor and noted that they were all active, but the information was being blocked to and from. I tried to send a mental link like I’d done a million times and it failed. I thought about it a moment then sent a message, text only

Adam: Thor are you there?

Thor: Yes

Adam: When are you?

Thor: Same day you left to get whenever you are.

Adam: Why did you block the links.

Thor: I believe our ability “I have always been, I will always be” had an unintended consequence.

Adam: I had the same idea. Did you feel the pain?

Thor: Yes, that is why I shut down the link and it will remain shut down until I physically see you again.

Adam: You think that I will receive a flood of information from your experiences throughout the time I’ve traveled into the future.

Thor: Yes, it might kill you.

Adam: I had the same thought.

Thor: I will set up a room at this quantum location in the vault. That location will be cut off from the rest of the vault and the nanites there will remain as they are at this moment without updates. You will be able to travel there and from there travel back to Primore if you need to. Do not try to portal back to our Universe. Neither of us knows what has happened, though if you are talking to me something must have happened to save Primore’s Universe from The Ancient Enemy. Last thing, I will place a monitor in the area you are portaling to. It will have the date and time and the number of years, months, and days that have passed since you left. Any idea what happened?

Adam: Yeah, someone called The Vizier who works for The Council was a little more ingenious than I gave him credit for. It seems that I was targeted by a spell from the sphere of time. Yeah, we don’t have resistances to that sphere, except our normal resistances and I think the higher tier magics are less impressed with my attributes than the primal forces are. Gotta go. Will contact you when I can.

“Adamantadine, what’s happening,” Xsitant asked.

“I am making our shelter, food, and drinks really quick so we can get out of this sun. Once we’re inside we can talk. Just hold on.” I said as I walked over and conjured a glass of water for Tasha. I gently lifted her chin and said “Drink this”

“What is it?” she mumbled

“Water, don’t worry we’ll be inside in a minute.”

She drank the water and the glass disappeared. I looked at Xsitant, “Are you Thirsty?” I asked

“Will be able to drink inside?” he asked.

“Yes, and it shouldn’t be longer than another 5 minutes.”

“I can wait then,” he said as he stood and moved to stand beside us. I helped Tasha to her feet, and we walked over to where the front door would be. We waited a couple more minutes then I led them inside. I led them into a small one-story home. As we entered I had the nanites create an elevator shaft to a lower floor and started creating a base of operation. Thor hadn’t said it, but I was going to need to recreate my very first portal device with enough power to get back to my Place of Power and into the vault. Though I couldn’t just make a door and then enter the vault. If I went into the Tower, everything we were trying to do to circumvent creating a paradox would fail. I needed to portal directly into the Vault to the coordinates he’d given me. I reviewed my memory dump when Thor and I had been connected and looked at the energy requirements to open those portals. Okay then, this was going to take a few days, if not weeks.

I turned to Xsitant and Tasha, as I started the tour, “Over to our right is a small dining area. I don’t think we’ll need to worry about guests, though I will go check to make sure after I’m sure you two are settled. First things first. Xsitant, I know magic doesn’t work, do you have access to some of your abilities and your personal interface now or is everything still off?

“I have access to my personal interface and some abilities, must be my proximity to you,” he said.

“Good, can you Analyze people?” I asked

“Yes, but for some reason, it doesn’t work on you?” he answered.

I lowered my resistance to Analyze and said, “Try now.” When his eyes bulged I reactivated my defenses and looked him square in the eyes, “Do we understand each other?”

“Yes, I think we understand each other. How can I help?” he asked

“First, let’s get out of this heat, then well get to that. Okay, Tasha and Xsitant. This house is modeled after a home from my universe and is more technologically advanced than anything you’re probably used to. The good news is that we will have all the food and water we need while I work to get us to a location where we can probably fix this problem. Tasha, do you know what has happened.

Still looking bewildered she hesitantly said, “We’re in a desert somewhere?”

“True, but we’re in a desert right next to where the Obelisk for the Dungeon next to Venoran is.”

“There isn’t a desert there,” she said

“There wasn’t a desert near Venoran when we met, there is now”

“She thought for a moment, then asked, “Time Travel?”

“Yes!” both Xsitant and I said together.

I looked at him and then continued, “Xsitant here had an accident and you brought us to him.”

“How did I bring us to him, I’m not a caster?” she asked.

“I think it has something to do with the ring you’re wearing.”

“What ring?”

“The Ring on your right hand,” I said

“I don’t have a ring on my right hand,” she said lifting her hand to show us which clearly had a ring on her right hand.

I looked at her, and saw the sincerity in her eyes. “Okay, please trust me when I say I’m not going to hurt you as gently reached up and removed the ring from her finger while she watched me. To her, it must have seemed like I was a crazy person until the ring was completely off and her eyes locked onto it.

“I was wearing that ring?” She asked as Xsitant moved closer to get a good look.

“Crux,” Xsitant said with a hint of disbelief in his eyes.

I looked at him questionly

“Identify the ring, you’ll understand,” Xsitant said.

I looked at the ring and identified it.

Identify Success! Crux. This ring allows the wearer and everyone with 10 feet of them to travel to a target location or person. The target can be anywhere. Also, the ring can target persons even if they have traveled through time into the future. This ring bypasses all resistance and will deliver the wearer and everyone within 10 feet to the target location.

WARNING: This magical item is potent. Do not destroy this ring

“Holy Shit!” I said

“Yeah,” Xsitant replied

“What?” Tasha asked.

The ring is an Artifact” Xsitant said.

“So now I know how we got here. What spell did the Vizier use on her to get her to use the ring?” I asked.

Xsitant thought for a moment, “Most likely Geas and then some form of memory eraser. She didn’t even know she was going with you did she?”

“Probably not, you’ve seen her level. She was a messenger, and her alignment even shows as Neutral Good, which would have caused me to drop my guard. The Vizier is a slimy, sneaky son of a bitch!” I said with a little bit of respect. He’d tricked and trapped me after all.

“So now what?” Xsitant asked

“Now I continue my tour. Off to our right is a kitchen. To our left is a sitting room with chairs couches and a television. Don’t worry we’ll go over what a television is after we eat. Behind these two doors is an elevator shaft that will lead down to our underground base once it’s finished and until the rooms are finished below the surface there are three rooms along the back wall, each with their own bathrooms.” I showed them how to use the bathrooms turn on the showers set the temperature to what they wanted it at and how to lock their room doors. I’d had the nanites in the house reduce the temperature to a comfortable 75 degrees Fahrenheit while we were walking around and had the nanites prepare dinner. Nothing fancy just cooked hens with some veggies, bread, and mugs of ale.

“Is that food I smell?” Tasha asked

“Yes, why don’t we sit down and eat, I said”

As we made our way to the table Xsitant asked, “You have been most generous since you arrived, even though I destroyed your tower. Might I ask why?”

I motioned for everyone to sit, “Please sit and dig in. I give both of you my word that the food is harmless. While we’re eating I’ll explain further.” I made my plate, taking a bite from each item and swallowing so each could see that the food was not harmful then waited while they prepared their plates and started eating before I started talking again.

“First things first, Tasha, we are still on Primore, but we are millions, if not billions of years in the future. I won’t know exactly how far into the future until we get back to my Place of power,” which caused a look of confusion to cross Xsitant’s face. I turned to him and continued, “Xsitant, your spell did not destroy the tower. It would seem that when your spell went off something chaotic happened, which we will definitely talk about later. As for the loss of magic. I am directly tied to my Place of Power, so I am able to utilize magic wherever I go. Everything you’ve seen me do so far was not created with magic though. I may explain exactly how I’m doing everything I am doing over the next couple of days, weeks, and months we are here but suffice it to say as long as I have access to matter of any kind we will be fine.” I paused to take a bite of my meal and drink some ale, then turned on some Tangerine Dream. Optical Race being one of my favorite albums. I let that play while we ate in silence for a little bit.

“Tasha, you are an innocent bystander in this. I will try to find a way to get you home which is why my fellow Mage here is still alive.”

Xsitant looked up at that and asked, “You need a teacher?”

“Yes,” I said

“But your levels…”

“Did you know Apolyn, I have a feeling that you did?” I asked.

“Why yes I did, The Tower you claimed as a Place of Power was once mine. I gifted it to him some years ago.”

“Did you know what he was working on until about 13 years ago?” I asked.

“He had this idea that he could steal experience from The Labyrinth. I thought the idea intriguing but warned him that he should do more research first,” he said.

“Well, he succeeded, then he died,” I said

“So, your stealing experience from The Labyrinth?” he asked.

“Simple answer, yes. Long Answer, is it really stealing if an Adjudicator makes the link permanent?”

Xsitant had been taking a drink of ale which he coughed up, the coughed harder to clear his throat as he croaked, “An Adjudicator did what?”

“Yeah, long story. Anyway, we’re here now and I need to learn as much as I can about the sphere of time and I know that you can at least cast Time Shield and since I have so many choices for teachers guess what? You’re it.”

“Why?” he asked.

“Because if you help teach me, I will get the three of us back to the time we came from,” I said.

“Yeah, that’s probably not going to happen,” Xsitant said

“Because there are Time Crux between then and now?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“I’m not going to use magic to make this happen, I’m going to use technology. Currently, I’m in contact with, let’s just call it, part of my soul back in that time. I believe that if I can figure out the equations I can have it create a portal for us using technology.”

“If the technological portal is bound by the same rules as magical portals are it won’t matter.” He said

“Why?” I asked.

“The part of you in the past may very well be able to make a portal and open it to us here. They might even be able to step through to come to us. The problem you have is that anyone from this end attempting to go back through the portal will be ripped apart as they cross any time between now and then in their timeline that has a crux. The barrier that prevents me from just using a spell, even a wish, to return to my own time also prevents me from stepping through a portal into the past.” He explained.

While he was explaining, Tasha was partaking of the Ale very liberally and her gaze had started to fog over.

“I think we’re losing Tasha. Also, this is why I need a teacher. We will be traveling to my place of power as soon as finish creating the items I need to be able to do so. If I get you back into a magical environment will you be able to teach me about the sphere of time?” I asked.

“Yes”

“Okay then, Xsitant please help Tasha to a room, my technology will lock the door behind her once you leave the room. Word of warning. Through my technology, I can see and perceive everything. You are not to touch Tasha without her sober consent. If you do, I will leave you at this time, by yourself when we leave. I need you, but I don’t need you that much. I’d much rather have a teacher, but I do have an Orb of Knowledge. I can probably find the answers I need from it. Act Honorably and I will bring you back with me. Do something stupid and you can find your fate in this place, though I warn you, I do not know how much longer this planet will survive. This brings me back to my first request. Please escort Tasha to her room to get tucked in. I need to go take a trip around the planet to see what’s what and how far spread this waste land is.”

Xsitant nodded, I stood then walked outside. I Activated my monk ability “Cloud Running” and then rose in altitude gaining speed until I broke the sound barrier at 730 mph. I trusted my Air Power ability “The Wind Flows By” to protect me from any wind resistance I might be creating. My nanites maintained my energy level and allowed me to breathe normally as I rose to almost 50 miles above the surface. Then I increased my speed. I’d never run at my maximum velocity before. It was both exhilarating and terrifying to run around the planet in just under fifteen minutes. Of course, the only reason I knew I’d gone around the planet once was that as I made it back to my starting point was that I saw a reflection below me. I might be 50 miles up but when the only thing visible from this high was sand, mirrors from the solar panels stuck out a bit. My first pass had been to go west, now I went north over the pole, then down to the south pole, and back to my starting point. No water, just sand everywhere. I used my ability Gravity is the way and went straight away from the planet until I was in low orbit. As I rose I used the limited Air molecules I had access to conjure two satellites and then released them into orbit at different altitudes. One traveling along the equator and the other going North to South. I made sure they had quantum links to me then reversed my ability and dropped back into the atmosphere.

I returned to the House and then had the nanites enclose it in a bubble of transparent aluminum. I altered my instructions to the nanites. Made the shelter airtight then added co’2 scrubbers and oxygen tanks to the structure to ensure there was enough breathable area. I had held off on infiltrating Tasha with nanites, but I had them do so now and set them up to check her medical condition and ensure she’d be able to breathe. Xsitant was fine. The nanites I’d flooded him with had automatically adjusted to the low oxygen environment of the planet and helped him compensate. The mode the nanites defaulted to for humans was simply if no other instructions were given to keep us alive. Since we’d arrived I hadn’t given any instructions to the nanites in him. When the nanites infiltrated Tasha however, I was notified that her oxygen saturation was low and dropping. As I’d suspected she’d been having a harder and harder time breathing. Coupled with the alcohol she’d had at dinner; it could have proved fatal. I had the nanites in her correct the problem, gave instruction for the nanites to cleanse her system when she left her bed then left them at the default setting as I also made the changes to our shelter. I didn’t have my normal amount of nanites and creating the mass I needed was taking time. Thankfully there was a lot of sand around and as the complex below me was constructed all the removed rock and sand would be converted to nanites as well. I was on a mostly dead planet and I had a lot of work to do.