Zero world

Something in Ink's body reacted instinctively. He extended his hand in the direction of the firmament, a tiny transparent ball appeared in the palm of his hand - less than a centimeter in diameter.

"And is this my force field?"

Ink was still sad when another ability was activated - micromanipulation. Myron-thick particles began to separate from the spheres, he clearly felt this, after which they merged into a kind of stripes of ultrafine invisible fabric. The flaps managed to extend so much that they reached Ink's head. Something controlling his abilities combined the individual strips into a single canvas, which began to expand overhead like a parachute. Then came the jerk and the body began to fall much more slowly.

Ink automatically noted that he felt the force field over the entire length, but he could only control it in a small radius. He thought about the possibility of using separate flaps as a sling, but immediately felt how the force field is torn in one place or another. It was simply impossible to patch holes due to lack of control. The field itself was almost invisible, but at the time of the gap sparks and flashes of miniature northern lights of different colors appeared. It looked pretty nice, but Ink was prevented from enjoying the sight by the thought of approaching the earth.

Something took control again. The force field began to tighten toward the palm of the hand, which caused so many gaps that its entire "fabric" began to sparkle. Ink was amazed, even approximately it turned out that his small ball stretched over an area of ​​more than one hundred square meters. It seemed completely unrealistic.

It didn't end with one pull. Near the palm there was a reassembly of the force field. With the help of micromanipulation, something released many thin and stiff knitting needles toward the earth. Ink felt them quickly reach the surface and, to his shame, even trembled with fear. Next, the rest of the "fabric" was transformed into bubbling foam. She rushed down and filled the space between the stiff knitting needles. The grouped body dived into an impromptu pipe and was immediately surrounded by the rainbow radiance of a collapsing force field.

Clutching his knees to his chest at the behest of an unknown force, Ink felt how this something strengthens the connection of the microbubbles closest to him, and then explodes them so that the main discharge of compressed air is directed downward.

"This is so as not to destroy the weak knitting needles of the limiters," Ink guessed. "If they disintegrate, all the foam below will spread around, because I can't control it."

As a result, they nevertheless collapsed when there was still a decent distance to the ground. The abilities were activated again, the amount of foam emitted down and new spokes exceeded Ink's understanding. He no longer realized that he was falling down or taking off - microbubbles sliding across the body from top to bottom deceived feelings, created the illusion of air resistance on take-off. Ink jerked his eyes, trying to grab a picture of what was happening, and behind the rainbow radiance he was surprised to note that he had almost stopped in the air, although he was still two and a half meters to the ground — no less.

The body itself straightened, calmly plunged into invisible bubbles and smoothly reached the ground.

"It must have looked very cool from the side. Next time, let someone take the camera. Although, what am I talking about? What is next time ?! I'm alive!!!"

Ink could scream only mentally, as the body still remained in someone else's power. Something activated the remaining two of his abilities. Ink could not imagine that there is so much blood in the body, and it is so distributed throughout the body. It is one thing to know about many small capillaries and quite another to feel them through blood control. Activation of magical powers worked too. Thanks to this, Ink found out that the white matter absorbed by his body in the world of reflection barely noticeably changes his blood. The body becomes stronger, more agile, faster. He moved, but did not notice any changes.

"What did you count on? This is a long process. This white thing nourishes my body. Without it, I would have to look for ... food to replenish energy and ... what? Any special substances? Are these the same resources that everyone is talking about? "

Ink tried to decipher his instinctive feelings and felt that he was on the right track. Extraneous interference has disappeared.

"Further on, huh?"

Ink looked around, at first glance there was no danger. His comrades could be seen from above. They were rapidly approaching the earth.

"Or in this case, we must assume that they are approaching heaven?"

In the distance, Ink noticed a city from which he had recently flown into a strange snail's shell. He raised his hand, tried to estimate the size. It turned out that visually the accumulation of buildings indistinguishable from such a distance is smaller than the cushion of his index finger.

"Exactly! It is necessary to activate the activation of magical powers. How stupid it sounds ... activate activation."

Ink succeeded in starting his gain without any problems. It was as if he always knew exactly how this ability works. Thanks to the intervention of the voice, even without his participation, the amplification will pass every second until the process is completed or the white energy ends, but thanks to the conscious intervention, everything happened much faster.

Grank began to sparkle with flashes of lightning, and a shining ball gathered under his feet. Even as he approached the tops of the trees, the radiance erupted in such a powerful explosion that Ink's ears were blocked. He involuntarily crouched. As it turned out, this saved him from flying debris of trees. Where the motorcyclist landed, everything blazed in a fierce flame. He himself went out into the open, crackling from the small discharges jumping over him. His equipment was covered with dark spots, but in Ink's eyes didn't burst and burned nowhere.

"These are the shoes ... We went through such an explosion and remained safe. I need to buy one myself. "

On the other side, Kiass climbed out of the crater.

"Metallization is a cool skill. Even a fall from such a height did not kill him. "

A minute later, when the golden-skinned approached, Ink noticed that certain parts of the metallized body were dented and twisted.

Arsi's appearance was sudden and strange. It was as if she was coming out of the air from somewhere and there were several of her. The bodies of the girls were slightly different in size and looked transparent in some places, but then merged, forming the image familiar to Ink.

- It seems everyone is safe.

- Yes, Ink, - Kiass squinted at the slightly twisted lower leg and shrugged, - although I don't know how to react to this. It's good that the teacher threw us here. The first visit to the celestial continent forcibly activates ability. Arranges a demonstration in case of danger. Usually, this happens on a hunt, but I'm glad that we did not really have to encounter monsters.

"That's what it was. Demo from the Voice ... "

- Of course, there are no monsters nearby. You did not think that the place of the fall was just random. If they pulled with an attack, you could fall in the habitat of a flock of lizardwolves, - the voice of Glam was heard.

- Teacher? - Kiass began to look around in search of a master, but he was either not present here, or was invisible. - And if you attacked earlier?

- This snail is not as slow as you might think. Stop talking, I hid another transport nearby, but without my control it can get a little crazy. Move to the voice. Here.

Ink realized that the sound was gradually moving away. No one had to repeat the command twice.

- It's not the most difficult thing to take for yourself, - Glam went on to say, giving them a guideline. - It is much harder to keep him. The library really will not help anyone in this. Therefore, all rubbish is flocking into it, mainly that nobody wants to steal.

- Teacher, have you prepared in advance?

- Of course, Kiass. True, I did not expect that I would catch such a good catch as the three of you. Ink, what abilities did you use to land so spectacularly? It looked like a force field, but given your number of points, it was definitely something else.

- Actually, that's right. It was a force field. As I told Kiass, his flair for strength was not mistaken. My abilities can be estimated precisely at nine points. I just got them weakened too.

- Are you kidding? The price of a force field in the world of reflection is five hundred thousand points!

After Glam's words, two fellow practitioners and clinging glanced at Ink.

- Five hundred thousand? Seriously? - muttered Grank.

- That ability is too powerful. Weakening is not such a secret, but such a truncated force field is just zilch. You should have been smudged. Besides its size... - Glam extended. - None of the owners of this ability could demonstrate anything like that even with the full version.

- Someone could get into the world of reflection with five hundred thousand points?! - Arsi could not restrain herself and screamed, and then she cautiously closed her mouth with her palms. Attracting monsters with shouts is the last thing anyone from a group of newcomers would like to do.

- A weakened force field alone would not really save me, but in combination with micromanipulation, the situation was completely different, - Ink explained.

- She... is also weakened? - Glam's voice faltered.

- Of course, - Ink answered calmly.

- Of course, - Glam gave a laugh, - of course... she's worth two thousand points. Of course, you could not have received it in full force.

The group walked in silence for a while, until it stopped.

- Teacher? - asked Kiass. - Where are we going now?

The question was not superfluous. All this time the movement was not straightforward. The direction changed several times, but no one doubted the need for such an approach in a poorly passable forest.

- Sorry, this is so amazing that it doesn't let my mind go, - Glam said. - Don't tell anyone about this combination, okay? It belongs to Ink. If he wants to sell this bomb, he will do it himself. Otherwise, no one has the right to speak on this subject. This applies not only to my students, but also to you girl. I hope I do not need to threaten you in order to convey the idea of ​​the importance of following my instructions?

- Of course not, Mr. Glam, - said Arsi cheerfully. - I hope you keep my secrets too.

- They don't cost that much. Do not overestimate yourself. The solution is elegant, but compared to a combination of Ink's two abilities... God, how simple it is. Weakened abilities can be so powerful in combination. It totally changes... it just changes everything!

Glam fell silent again and Kiass had to draw his attention again.

- The teacher. Why exactly the library? After leaving your clan, was it possible to join another strength of the small circle?

- Because it was in the library that I found what became my incentive. It always seemed to me that she was of much greater importance than they attach to her. That turned out to be true. If I hadn't buried deep in one of its branches, I would never have known about sairen.

- What is it? - interestedly stained Grank raised his head.

- The art of developing the body, or rather, many human bodies. Siren is a legacy of the former great powers of the Earth. Guidelines for improving not only physical flesh, but also subtle bodies.

- We would like to know more, - added Kiass.

- We'll talk after arriving in the zero world, - replied Glam. - You are almost there.

The mentor said only "here" or "this way." He refused to continue the conversation on any meaningful topics. Ink wanted to know more, but had to moderate his curiosity. In the end they saw Glam. He stood beside a huge bear with brown fur, covered with red luminous patterns. On the back of the animal was a stone platform destroyed at the edges.

"It looks ancient."

- I hope there is something to hold on to, - Ink said aloud.

- This is of no use," Kiass's voice sounded scared, - our teacher... he... he stole a portal into the zero world!

Only at that moment did Ink realize that Crazy Glam's nickname was not just for show. And this…

"I like!"