Chương 34: Interlude 3: Not in a Million Years

Lis fell through the Gate and lay on the ground, wheezing. He made it out! He got out of that awful, awful place. Thank you, great beings of the cosmos. He would find a temple and light incense as a gesture of gratitude. After he got his breathing under control, he looked around. He was in a circle of standing stones, two of which were the Gate anchors, with others on both sides. There were many people around, holding strange devices to their faces.

He had two more minutes of Invisibility left, so he cast it again, just in case. By their motions with the strange contraptions, he suspected that the purpose was photography, but the gadgets looked like nothing he had seen before. One woman headed his way and looked about to trip over him. He got up quickly and put his back to one of the Gate stones. It was as if she were following him; she walked straight to "his" stone. He moved aside, and she struck a pose when she reached "his" stone.

Her male companion lifted the strange apparatus to his face. Yes, definitely photography. Unusual, but he did not feel the usual draining sensation he experienced in tech worlds. After a moment's thought, he dismissed it. There were more important things to focus on. Lis slipped away quietly. With no trees around to hide in, he studied their clothes, ducked behind a stone, and pulled out the closest matches he had.

He flickered visible and invisible in quick succession, just long enough to blur the eye so the new clothes would fade from sight as well. After changing, he walked a short distance away, and when no one was watching, he let his Invisibility drop. He relaxed and thought more clearly. That place was just horrible. He wrote the name Tír na nÓg and resolved to run far away from any Gate leading there. There were creatures of nightmare; one of them literally caused him nightmares and fed on his fear.

Its ghostly wails echoed all around, paralyzing Lis with terror. The only thing that saved him was falling and hitting his head, which briefly knocked him unconscious and broke the creature's hold on him. There were blinking creatures that tried to lead him into treacherous swamps. Their eerie, floating lights danced enticingly before him, nearly luring him to his doom in the murky depths.

Half-human, half-farm animal beings played music that confused his senses, their melodies twisting reality around him until he could barely tell up from down. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Every food he identified came with the warning that if he ate it, he would never be able to eat regular food again. The vibrant, tempting berries of that world promised eternal youth, but at a terrible price. One bite would bind him forever to that realm.

Green humanoid creatures in the trees attacked with magic, their bark-like skin camouflaging them until the last moment, when they unleashed nature-based spells. He washed his face in a lake, not realizing it was home to a temperamental water spirit. The lake turned violent at this intrusion and almost killed him, its waters rising in a massive wave that threatened to drag him down to the depths. Only his quick reflexes and Luck saved him from a watery grave. The denizens were the most terrifying of all.

They were beautiful with long hair and pointed ears, possessed powerful magic like he had never seen before, and were relentless. They chased him for days, constantly repeating that the trees, the land, and the lakes had told them about an intruder. To escape, he had to change his Glamour, cast Invisibility, engage Stealth repeatedly, and rely on his Luck. The only saving grace was air so rich with mana that he regenerated hundreds of units every second without meditation. It was a truly dreadful experience.

Going there again was something he would never do. He did not know what world he was in, not having the time to check the Gate from the other side. So, he opened the World Information and read. A Traveler native to this world posted the newest entry a day before he left on his journey. It was a very detailed and thorough account, maybe a little too thorough. Lis did not care about the political landscape or that gold coins needed proof of ownership, but the rest was pure gold.

He wished the World Information had the same comment option as the Traveler's Archive so he could post a thank-you note, but alas, it was not so. He wrote the Traveler's name, "John Rue," and decided to shake his hand and buy him a drink if they ever met on the road. The following account was by a new Traveler who had never visited tech worlds before; he got confused and left. But his account included some excellent information.

The bicycle sounded interesting, the tip about English was good, and he mentioned he came from a boring place called Shimoor. Lis needed peace after that horrible experience. His next steps would be to inspect that "bicycle" invention, stock up on food that would not bind him to a place, and take a vacation in Shimoor.