And he was right.

The work was grueling. The Void Lady first had him demonstrate every possible spell he knew, then made him perform several exercises using them. He had to hit floating targets, find invisible balls, and many more.

Then, he had to cast several spells based on their descriptions, or based on effects his new teacher described, which was followed by an exhausting test about some fundamental details of magic and mana, which then turned into a comprehensive discussion about runes.

Hell, the Void Lady somehow got her hands on his rune mastery thesis and spent a good time critiquing it and pointing out the errors.

Sam spent two whole real-life days just doing these things at the behest of his scary host while she played fetch with the exuberant Lucky. He purposely avoided thinking about how much time that translated to in game time…

Still, he persisted.

Mostly because he knew the end results would be worth it. Magic Unbound, as a game, took a multilayered approach to learning new skills, spells, and abilities. The most superficial was – the same as all other games – going up to a trainer NPC, getting a skillbook, or doing some fetch quest, and then getting the skillbook, followed by learning said skill. This was accessible to anyone, anywhere.

The developers ensured that every major city had a full roster of trainers for everyone to approach, while lesser cities and towns only had the very basic ones and those that made thematic sense to be there.

Then, there were the Mage Towers, Mercenary Guilds, Crafting Guilds, and so many more clubs, groups, and associations – both hidden and revealed – who offered a somewhat more complex approach. You could join, earn respect (or pay for it), then one of the NPCs there would show you a few moves, give you hints, and bamm, you are walking around with a new skill. It would be the same skill that could be learned from the skillbook, but with a deeper understanding of how to use it.

The last, or at least according to Sam, was what he was doing. Instead of getting the skills and spells from trainers and skillbooks, he simply figured out how to perform them with experimentation (and a heavy dose of time traveling).

Which meant, thanks to the game's responsive system, if he managed to find a trainer for his 'unique' skills, then that trainer would deal with him differently.

Sam suspected that if he were a regular player and somehow found this tower in the middle of the void, the Void Lady would have probably given him some fetch quest or kill quest, then in exchange, she would have given him a skill book on delivery.

That was why the NPC was asking him to showcase all his skills. It was a way for the system to assess his abilities and determine an optimal path forward.

Well, that was mostly the theory he pieced together after his experience with the game and more than a decade's worth of memories he inherited. Those game researchers spent years focusing on individual aspects of the game just to create some kind of advantage for their guild.

The company, Future Unknown, of course, never confirmed or denied any theory, throwing even more fuel onto the fires.

'Or… the NPC is just making me do all these things to make fun of me…' he mused as he did his best to defeat the myriad small voidlings that his teacher let into the courtyard they were using for the lessons.

"Good, good!" the woman exclaimed as the last small void creature fell to the floor and sublimated into some kind of chaotic smoke that sparkled violently with all the colors of the rainbow and a few more he didn't really have a name for.

Is fish a color?

"Now, how about something bigger? Only use wind magic," came the instruction as the boundary between the area of calm and chaos flickered for a fraction of a moment, and a giant hulking void creature (called Void Devourer, as his screen cheerfully informed him) stepped through with hunger in his dozen eyes.

Sam blinked, and the two eyes looked back at him with rage beyond mortal comprehension. He refused to budge and made sure not to look away as the rage transitioned into anger in those twenty-seven eyes before the creature let out a roar and rushed toward him.

A quick dip into the shadows, a small twist of mana, and the creature stumbles into a small earth mound and falls face-first into several multi-edged shadow spikes.

"Acceptable. But let's do it with just shadow mana, young man!" came the mildly chiding instruction from the woman, who was currently sitting side-straddle on Lucky's hulking form and sipping from a cup of tea without a care in the world.

There was an infinitesimal pulse of mana, showcasing her absolute control, the barrier flickered once, twice, and finally for a third time, as three hulking monsters stepped through, sharing five eyes between them, all seven of them glued to Sam's form.

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He let out a few quiet curses and raised his sword.

They were sitting in the garden, with Lucky between them, being petted by both simultaneously, to his absolute delight, while Sam and the Void Lady were discussing the results of his tests.

"Well, young man, I can happily say that your fundamentals, basics, and everything like that are in perfect order. Your battle instincts and blade work could use a little help…" she said with a small smile. "However, beyond that, you're somewhat…lacking."

Sam let out a small, self-deprecating laugh before nodding. "Well, that's why I'm here. Granted, originally, I hoped that the Mage Tower could provide some enlightenment…"

She nodded at hearing that, took a sip of her drink – lemonade this time – and continued. "From what you told me, you have a mighty battle ahead of you, fraught with dangers from both outside and within. Precision should be the keyword."

Sam thought about it a little. The game was indeed rather perceptive. Precision was his keyword with most things. He generally used surgical strikes, mostly because of his foreknowledge, to achieve his goals and defeat his enemies.

"Makes sense…" he finally replied, waiting for the revelation. He really had no idea what to do here. Most of the stuff he achieved was mere theories from some of the most whackjob researchers out there, or simply mere rumors that the other Sam spent months acquiring.

He really hoped that she had something for him…

She smiled and began to speak.

"The first thing we need to discuss is the nature of the Void…"

They stood once again in the courtyard, though this time he was in the middle, while the Void Lady was sitting next to a delicate wrought-iron table with a puppy-sized Lucky in her lap, watching him like a hawk.

After spending a lot of time on theory, it was finally time for Sam to prove his understanding and mettle.

According to his teacher, he was using the void, but he wasn't using it.

Sam stood there a few moments, just taking calming breaths, then closed his eyes and focused inward. He 'watched' as his mana core spun around in an even tempo, observed as the mana rushed through the channels in his body, remembering the first hesitant steps he had taken when he started the game. Comparing the two states was like comparing a fresh spring to a rushing river. Still, the river was pure, filled with clean water.

It was time to dump some hazardous waste into it…

Touching upon the nothingness, he slowly began to gather it, letting it rest and preparing himself, before simply channeling the void mana into his mana channels, letting it move around his body. Nothing more, nothing less.

And as the mana went around and around, he saw the void slowly absorbing his own mana, until just a diamond solid mana remained as a core, surrounded by the seeping cold of nothingness. He felt his body cool down, while it began to emit a sort of black light, casting him in ghoulish shadows.

Gritting his teeth, he took the thus created mana and began to fully direct it toward his mana core, letting it absorb the new mana.

The crystal-clear core began to darken as the crystal began to darken before his mind's eye. The darkness began at the edges, held at bay by some kind of light that gradually condensed as the void gained more ground.

Per his instruction, he had to strike a balance. The void was voracious. If left alone, it would continue to devour until there was nothing to devour. However, letting in too little would be less than useless. Just as steel requires the right balance of carbon content, so too must neutral mana fall within a specific threshold.

Too little and it would be consumed. Too much and it would disperse the void.

Naturally, he made sure to add his spin to things. While the void was consuming, he made sure to put pressure on his own mana, condensing it on its own, removing impurities and refining it even further.

After all, why not use an opportunity when presented…

Sam didn't know how long he had been standing there, surrounded by a thin barrier that was maintained by a crazy lady, holding back the very essence of chaos, and he didn't care. His focus was on his mana, once again cursing and blessing the developers for creating such an intricate system.

WHUMP

A blast of mana, fully made of void, with a strong core of Sam's own mana, blasted out of him, destroying several pillars until it slammed harmlessly into the barrier.

As he finished purging the last remnants of his experience, he couldn't help but look around with a frown.

"Why does everything feel the same? Where is my super cool transformation?" he muttered disappointedly. There were a few notifications, but he was a little disappointed by not getting some kind of über-cool void form…

"Because," came the dry rebuke from his teacher, proving she had overheard his mutters. "There is no such thing as a void form. If you were to take the form of a 'creature' from the roiling chaos, I would personally erase your existence from every plane. Then write a textbook using your picture as an example of what not to do."

Sam looked into her eyes and only saw the truth. "Noted…"

She nodded and took another sip.

"What's next, teacher?" he asked after a minute of silence.

The Void Lady placed her cup down, made Lucky climb down from her lap, stood up, and began to walk away with a clear intent for Sam to follow her. So, he did so.

"Next, we take a break so that your body can acclimate to the wondrous and horrible things you did to it, and I shall showcase some of the absolute horror that the chaos outside of this tower can produce."

They walked in silence for a minute before reaching another part of the courtyard, where, over a small stone wall, beyond the slightly shimmering barrier, existed the sheer unbridled chaos.

The Void Lady stopped next to the small wall and gestured with her hand. "Behold! Feast your eyes upon the monstrosities that chaos birthed!"

Sam looked at the woman and then at the monstrosity. Then back again before finally letting out a sigh.

"My lady, that's not a monstrosity. That's my friend…"

On the other side of the barrier, smushed against it, like it was glass, was Katie, with her nose almost completely flat and making different shapes with her mouth, leaving a small trail of saliva in her wake. Puffball, the cat that wasn't a cat, was doing the same thing.

As soon as she spotted Sam, she began to talk (still smushed against the barrier), but almost immediately she realized that no sound went past the magical protections, so she began to mime with her hands, face still flat against the barrier.

"I think she wants to be let in…"

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