Changeling

“So this is the pit.”

Nestra looked around with curiosity. The Palladian clan often mentioned this repeating portal world as a cakewalk assignment, one that was both lucrative and easy, considering their power. It was a very strong D-class one, and it had the peculiarity of being circular with the exit portal in the middle. The path started up, right under a cliff of jagged rocks under a sky of perpetual yellow clouds. It led down in a clockwise path, sometimes over barren rock, sometimes over patches of deep white sand and down to a central arena, also covered in sand. The place smelled vaguely of sulfur. It was also the second most intense mana concentration human Nestra had ever felt (after the regrettable hide-under-an-ant-corpse incident).

Mom was waiting for her near the entrance. Neat piles of bleeding carcasses littered the path, stacked two Nestras high. The creature looked like a mix between giant moles and antlions with an exoskeleton and very prominent front teeth. They were only valuable as feed since they apparently tasted rather terrible. The mana-infused sand was the portal’s treasure. It was stripped-mined every session, then used in fancy glass-making and luxury construction. Nestra frowned.

“Did you leave me any?”

“I told you we would go over the basics and we will go over the basics, my young daughter,” Mom replied with some annoyance.

Despite the ease of the portal, she was still wearing her mage robes.

“Not so young now…” Nestra grumbled.

“Young in the way of the portal worlds,” Mom insisted. “We will take it slow. Or are you going back on your promise to be careful?”

“Nope, and I would not have tried without you present,” Nestra shamelessly lied.