Sorcerer… Cyborg???

Within a small hole in the trunk of a willow that hung over the nearby burbling stream, a black void opened up out of thin air. From it stepped out a disheveled figure, dressed in the tattered remnants of a heavy travel tunic and trousers, and wrapped in a dark cloak, the bottom edge torn and irregular from the miscellaneous bandages and cloth scrap that had been torn from it.

Kothar had grown in height from his time on Atla, and the mana rich atmosphere felt refreshing as he stepped back onto the gargantuan plane. Returning to Atla mimicked the feeling of going to the countryside after a long period of time in a smog filled metropolis. 

"You have been rewarded 2000 Credits, the Pebble Network thanks you for your services." The bright colored message was accompanied by an animation of celebratory fireworks, at which Kothar only grunted and dismissed.

[At least we'll be able to browse the Encyclopedia or have a good lock at the Marketplace with this, Kothar. We might be able to find some of the technology we need for the ship on the Marketplace, rather than having to develop everything from scratch, like with the Hoverbike.] Silane tried to comfort Kothar, she was equally distraught and disturbed after the mission, but they couldn't let their emotions get the better of them, otherwise nothing at all would get done.

[You're right, let me wash up first, and then we'll see what we can find.] Kothar understood the undertones behind Silane's words, after all, since their consciousness were so intertwined, the pair could get a sense for the other's feelings easily. 

Kothar was covered in a layer of gray dust, it caked his skin and hair, as well as having worked itself deep into his clothing. 

Kothar descended the side of the willow, to a tiny puddle that was filled by the stream, which he had been using as a water source.

Soon enough, Kothar had washed the worst of the grime off,and sat down to browse the Pebble. 

He started by opening the Marketplace, and was immediately bombarded by a massive projection shooting out from the Pebble, far larger than any message it had projected so far, taking up most of the space within the hollow he had created within the willow.

There was row upon row of rectangular videos depicting items that had been listed on the Marketplace by users of the Network. 

There were items that were both strange but echoed things Kothar was familiar with, he saw a large sword like object, but it was blood red and pulsated like a heart would, another sword like object seemed to be an enormous frozen fish and there was even a sword of sparking diamond.

The odd swords were only the beginning, Kothar saw all kinds of weapons, armor, tools and even vehicles. Whatever one could imagine, could be found on the Marketplace.

Kothar could have spent days looking at every odd item that he came across, but he zeroed in on a set of basic metal working tools that would speed up his construction of his ship, however upon selecting the video, he received a warning message.

"Warning: Please carefully read the description listed by the vendor, the Pebble Network only confirms that the description is accurate to the listed items, and takes no responsibility for any dissatisfaction on your part." The message was a glaring red color, and flashed intrusively. 

[That's quite straightforward. It saves them the trouble of having to deal with returning items and dealing with replacements, there must be a multitude of dissatisfied customers across the multiverse.] Kothar mused, he expected that the items would be delivered via a portal, and knew that it was possible to have a protected portal, which would only let people or items with a very specific mana signature through, this would allow the Network to prevent any enterprising individuals from following a portal back to their stores, sending them straight to the void instead.

"Basic metalworking equipment, durable and reliable for heavy use for at least 10 years. Multiple sets available. Make sure to select a size appropriate to your biology. Contact me via the Network for custom tools." The description read, the set of tools was listed for only 5 credits, either the creator of the tools was able to mass produce them easily, or credits held far more value than Kothar had initially expected.

[Let's just buy them, so we can see how it works.] Silane piped up, she sounded excited to know exactly how the tools would arrive. 

Kothar selected a slightly smaller set of tools than he usually would have, they would be helpful in creating the more delicate portions of the ship. Then, he tapped on the 'Purchase' option, and a loud piercing tone rang out from the Pebble, along with a cautionary message.

"Step away from the Pebble, a portal will be opening soon!" Within a few moments, a horizontally oriented black portal opened, and a large box, just larger than Kothar's wingspan, dropped onto the floor of the hollow with a 'thud'.

[That was quick, have you been able to get anything from the mana or electromagnetic signatures of the portals?] Kothar asked Silane, he had been watching the portals himself, and while he did feel some resonance to the portal due to his inherent Spatial Mana, he hadn't been able to make any significant breakthroughs.

[Unfortunately not, what I can tell you is the gated portal had a more rigid signature, apart from that, I haven't learned anything so far.] Silane replied, she knew that the Pebble Network had to have precious information on spatial manipulation, and she was frustrated by her inability to extrapolate anything.

[Keep gathering mana Kothar, my processing capabilities improve as you increase your mana pool.] Silane finally said, initially, she had only been able to awaken thanks to Kothar gathering mana, and according to her internal calculations, her energy reserves were still well below 10%.

[Of course Silane, we'll have to make Atla our base then, I won't' improve faster anywhere else, unless of course we find an even more mana rich plane.] Kothar said, moving to slice the twin that held the lid of the box shut. 

Kothar lifted the lid of the box to reveal the contents, and was pleasantly surprised.