Going through the portal was strange. Felix was familiar with the concept of portals. They were hallmarks in fairytales, a wonder of magic. Incredibly rare and costly things that were created through the collaboration of dwarves and humans, shaped from materials found deep in the untamed wilds of the Continent.

  Or at least that’s how ‘The Adventures of Sir Thombalt the brave’ described them.

  His Grandma once told them that most homeworlds don’t even have portals. Aspirants normally need to board starships and journey for weeks to get to one.

  When she told the story, she thought they would be in awe. Felix could still remember the look on her face when they both burst out in tears because they couldn’t go on a real starship. The thought almost brought a smile to Felix’s face. It would have if it weren’t for the position he found himself in.

  A moment ago, when Felix stepped into the portal, instead of his foot touching the ground on the other side of the warped space, it fell straight through. He instinctively wanted to pull back, but it was too late; when he tried, the ground behind him was gone.

  He was terrified; it felt like he was falling in every direction simultaneously. He couldn’t tell up from down or forward from back; the only reason he could tell right from left was because of the somewhat painful grip Lara had on one of his hands. Even then, it felt like his hand was in front of him one moment and below him the next.

  Somehow, the portal tasted purple, smelled like thunderstorms, and sounded like a cozy blanket. He had no idea how long it took to go through the portal; his mind was stuck trying to interpret the deluge of nonsensical information bombarding it. He couldn’t even figure out what the inside of the portal looked like. His eyes were too busy tasting all the pretty colours to bother telling him what they saw.

  Some indeterminable amount of time later, his ears felt something he recognised, grass. It was to his left, then his back, then he was falling towards it, headfirst, or maybe feetfirst? He wasn’t sure, then it was in front of him, and he was standing on it.

  Like a rubber band, reality snapped back into place, making him stumble forward. His feet were mercifully back on solid ground. His mind still didn’t know up from down, but his feet were solidly planted on the earth. He felt like kissing it after what he just went through. No book he’d ever read had come close to describing whatever just happened, that was for sure.

  Before he could kiss the ground to thank it for being there, someone saw it fit to disrupt their joyous reunion.

  “Step forward, don’t block the way.”

  Felix heard the voice and quickly realised that if they kept standing where they were, they’d soon be knocked over by the next person to come through the portal. Still not quite trusting his body to move in the right direction, he gingerly started taking steps forward.

  Well, he thought he did, but it was really a team effort between him and Lara to not accidentally fall back into the portal.

  After moving out of the way, he looked around trying to find the source of the voice. Next to the portal, ready to stop them from falling back in, stood a short figure leaning against the portal frame. When Felix saw who it was that spoke, his mouth hung open.

  It was a small humanoid lizard, even shorter than Felix. Its head was a dazzlingly bright yellow, and its body a brilliant light blue with white speckles. The robe it wore did nothing to diminish its flamboyant appearance, being just as colourful as the creature that donned it.

  In its clawed little hand, it held a staff that might have looked elegant, if not for the fact that it seemed to have been painted every colour imaginable. The artist, if one were generous enough to call them that, was almost certainly a half blind and severely inebriated toddler.

  Felix recognized the small creature as a Lizling, a race of small but very intelligent humanoid lizards. He remembered something about their rather erratic temperaments, but couldn’t recall much else. Even though they had many subspecies, they weren’t a very widespread or remarkable race. He only knew about them because he thought they looked cool after seeing one in a book.

  Both Felix and Lara were surprised that the first creature they’d run into wouldn’t be human, let alone something so far from it. Homeworlds were a mostly human concept. They’d only rarely seen other races outside of their classroom.

  Before they could make too much of a fool of themselves, more children started coming out of the portal. Bringing them out of their surprised stupor. The other children went through a similar process of being ushered to the side, only to be surprised by the Lizling.

  “Alright, that’s all. Time is short, no questions. Find a spot, sit down. Headmaster speaks. You go Ways.”

  The Lizling didn’t bother to introduce itself. It somehow managed to sound bored and half asleep despite its short, excited bursts of speech. It sounded like he was trying not to fall asleep through sheer force of will.

  The little lizard quickly ushered their group forward. Once it’d cleared the space around the portal, it went back, presumably to wait for more students.

  Felix looked around to see if he could spot any more strange creatures. Unfortunately, most seemed to be human. Portals kept appearing and spitting out more children onto the lawn. All were just as disoriented as he was. A few even surrendered to the temptation to kiss the ground.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  Taking in his surroundings, he noticed a dome surrounding the area. It prevented him from seeing anything except blurry outlines of the outside world. The only feature of note was a cobblestone path lined with ornate street lanterns, running from one end of the dome and continuing straight out the other side.

  Some children had already taken their seats on the lawn. Judging by how bored they looked, they had to have been waiting for a while. Felix noticed them all occasionally shooting glances towards the northernmost part of the dome.

  Once he noticed it, his eyes were fixed as well. At the edge of the dome sat a woman, cross-legged and floating in meditation.

  Behind her, the night sky stretched out infinitely, galaxies, nebulae, and stars creating a vivid tapestry of constantly moving lights. The cobblestone path continued into the night, branching, splitting, and merging into countless paths, some stretched so far into the dark that lantern lights looked like constellations in the sky.

  Felix knew immediately what it was. The academy hid many things about magic, instead focusing on practical subjects like fitness, geography, sociology, math, logical reasoning, and other topics necessary for life in the Alliance.

  The one thing they were taught about magic was the Ways. A spell cast through the combined effort of several of the earliest starfarers so that future generations may learn through the struggles they themselves experienced.

  Even though countless other methods of raising the next generation of Travellers have come and gone, several even producing more Starfarers, the Ways was the oldest and to this day it's regarded with reverence.

  As much as Felix wanted to stare at the Ways for hours, he couldn’t, as magnificent as it was, he couldn't keep his eyes off the figure seated in front of it. She wore a strange uniform that reminded him of Huá Fèng, something between a monk’s kasaya and what he’d typically think of as a wizard's robe. However, hers was made of a beautiful light green fabric that seemed to dance in a wind that wasn’t there.

  While meditating, the woman seemed to blend with the air around her. Even when looking straight at her, Felix felt like she wasn’t really there. It was as if her presence was merely a suggestion, a rumour blown through the crowd on the wind.

  His focus was broken when Eugene stomped his way past them. Looking to his side, he could already see that familiar frown starting to form on Lara’s brow. Having had enough conversations with Eugene for one day, he quickly pulled Lara forward, hoping he could distract her.

  “Hey! Felix!”

  “C’mon, we should find a spot before it gets too crowded.”

  Knowing from what the lizling said that the next step was likely to involve entering the Ways and wanting a better view of the meditating woman, Felix pulled her forward. Tactfully, or at least he hoped tactfully, he steered clear of Eugene while pulling them towards the Ways.

  Lara tried pulling him off towards Eugene, but he resisted.

  “You can check on him after our first journey, Lara. Right now, we need to get our own heads on straight. We have no idea what to expect from the Ways.”

  Seeing that she still didn’t look convinced, he hastily fished for another reason.

  “Besides, don’t you see the woman meditating there? Doesn’t she feel a little like Grandma? I mean, she hasn’t summoned a fire giant or started flexing, but somehow she feels similar. I want to get a closer look. Maybe we can learn something.”

  With a sigh, Lara relented. “Fine, I can check on him later.”

  She looked like she felt a little guilty for not talking to him immediately, but Felix knew by now that if he wanted half a chance to get Lara to ignore her empathy, it was by appealing to her curiosity. The two of them didn’t want to become explorers out of a love of boats and camping, that’s for sure. Well, boats are kinda cool, really cool actually. Camping also sounded kinda great if he was being honest. Look, the point is they were both curious.

  As they approached the meditating woman, Felix noticed that the portals appearing around the edge of the barrier were becoming less frequent. The grass on either side of the path seemed to be nearly filled now, which made their progress slow.

  They managed to get closer, but their footsteps halted when the woman opened her eyes. With a start, Felix realised that the portals had stopped appearing. A tension immediately filled the air as everyone realised something was about to begin.

  As the woman opened her eyes, the dome was filled with a stifling pressure. Felix couldn't tear his eyes away from her as she stood. Every action was filled with such deliberate intent that he would have thought she’d practiced standing exactly in that way a thousand times.

  When she spoke, her every word crashed like thunder, not in volume but in magnitude. Like lighting scorches a tree, her every word slammed into her surroundings as if the world itself took note and remembered. Every word carried an intent that no one could ignore.

  “Welcome, aspirants, to the Ways. I will be the guardian of this crossroad during your stay. You have learned about the ways, so I will not bore you with unnecessary details.

  “When the first gods provoked the rage of the Dragons, they were obliterated. Their cults were thrown into chaos, and all those who had suffered under their rule finally saw a chance. Some sought to become gods themselves, while others tried to find a different way. Those who sought their own path, learning from the lessons the creator left behind, became the first Travellers.

  “While they travelled creation looking for their answers, they learnt how to commune with mana and receive guidance on their path. The Ways was created to teach you this very ability, to learn how to see your path and follow it.

  “If you choose to become Travellers, you will spend the rest of your life honing this ability and seeking the guidance it offers you. No one can show you your way. It is unique to you, and only you can walk it.

  “The adults around you will not be your teachers. They are merely guides. They may offer advice, but it is yours to heed or disregard. Though, should the Ways direct you to seek their guidance, I recommend you listen. The Ways may offer you knowledge, in which case I suggest you learn.

  “The Crossroads is merely a place for you to rest on your journey. Here, you may sleep, eat, train, or learn. Prepare yourself however you wish, but remember that a Traveler does not become a Traveller by standing still. Travel the Ways, learn from the lessons of your forebears, face its challenges, and clear its gates. That is the way forward.

  “Now then, off you go”.

  Normally, you might expect some hesitation from the crowd or some doubt on whether they should move immediately. But somehow the guardian’s voice carried an undeniable clarity. No one could fail to understand her intentions. So as soon as her last sentence ended, the children made their way onto the path.

  Felix felt Lara reaching for his hand. He looked over to see her with a resolute smile on her face. He pushed down his bubbling worries and gave in to the excitement of the moment. This was everything he’d been hoping for. They’d already seen more magic on this single day than they’d seen throughout the rest of their lives.

  Now it was his turn to embrace it. At a pace that was simultaneously too fast and too slow, they made their way to the front and, with one final nod of encouragement to each other, they stepped onto their paths.

  VAMPIRE NINJA

  He’s a vampire. He’s a ninja. And he’s here to kick ass.

  Rick never believed in vampires, until one drained him dry the same night he just wanted to boot up his brand-new game. Dying should’ve been the end. Instead, it was the tutorial. Now he’s isekai’d into a game world that feels like a Souls-like nightmare, with a special class modification that turned his choice into something unique: Vampire Ninja.

  With Gabriella, a fiery cleric carrying secrets of her own, Rick will carve through monsters, duel cult fanatics, and grind for the XP that might just keep him alive. The stakes? Higher than his Blood Level.

  Dark, brutal, and laced with sharp humor, Vampire Ninja is a LitRPG where every level-up is written in blood.

  “LET THE BLOOD SPILL!”