Chương 365: B6—Chapter 15: A Totally Innocent Moonwalk

When I came down in the morning, Malith sat beside Rue, gesturing with both hands while Rue huffed and shook his head as if he were refusing broccoli. His ears twitched with irritation, and he occasionally bared his teeth in response. I moved past them, set the coffee to brew, and reached for the mixing bowl to start on pancake batter. The familiar scent of beans heating filled the kitchen as I cracked the first egg. I inhaled with pleasure and continued cooking.

Malith straightened and took a seat at the breakfast bar, choosing the stool closest to the stove. His expression was unreadable, but Rue let out a final snort and stalked off to sulk outside. Judging by the emotions coming through our bond, he was sulking hard and with full intention.

"What was that about?" I asked, whisking the batter.

"I suggested to Rue that he channel the mana from food into his power orb rather than his body," Malith said, folding his hands in front of him.

"That way, he can increase his mana capacity without growing even larger." I snorted.

"He's not gonna like that."

"He did not," Malith replied dryly.

"He insists on becoming very dangerous. But I advise you to persuade him. More mana is significantly more valuable than additional size. Frankly, he's already too large. If he gets any bigger, he'll need to stay invisible most of the time so you won't draw negative attention.

"It's been fine so far," I said, pouring a ladle of batter onto the pan. Malith eyed me.

"Then you have been lucky. However, that luck will eventually run out. In mana worlds, oversized animals are common, but often treated with fear and suspicion. In tech worlds, they don't exist. Of course, he could glamor himself to look like a large pack animal, but judging by his reaction, I suspect convincing him of that will be difficult." I sighed, flipping the first pancake.

"Yeah. We've had this argument before. I'll talk to him about the mana thing. I didn't know that was even an option." While we ate, I reached out to Rue in a private thread of thought, keeping my tone gentle.

"Malith is right, you know? You're too big. You can still be dangerous without taking up half the room. And you're always running out of mana." Rue stiffened.

"Rue is thinking. When Rue finish thinking, Rue talk to John." He didn't sound upset—just thoughtful. I nodded and nudged a pancake to the edge of my plate.

"Okay, buddy. Whatever you say." He snatched the offering without a sound and gave my hand a lick.

"I wish to head to Earth as soon as possible. How long would it take you to craft the spell for me?" Malith asked me.

"I'll start on it after breakfast," I said, wiping syrup off my fingers.

"You'll need anti-venom potions," Mahya said, glancing at him over her mug.

"Why?" His brow furrowed. Between bites, we filled him in about the flying snakes—how they'd drop out of nowhere—and our effective solution of summoning potion balls straight into our mouths before the venom kicked in. Malith blinked, then sat back, visibly impressed.

"That's brilliant," he said, voice rising with genuine admiration.

"I never thought of that. I still have a few potions in vials. If you have more of those balls to spare, I'd like to transfer them." He ran a hand through his hair and chuckled.

"How has no one thought of this before? It's genius!" Malith turned to Al.

"Can you make me anti-venom? I'll pay you, of course." Al gave a nod and hummed in agreement. Malith rubbed the back of his neck. Again.

"Along with the Gate Chain, I'd also appreciate some sketches of the maps. Just enough so I can find the Gates more easily. The one leading to Earth and the Dragon Gate."

"We also know a few Gates that lead to a Genomey world," Mahya offered, her tone casual. Malith burst out laughing, a laugh that carried both amusement and horror.

"No, no! I'm good. My liver won't survive another stint there."

"That bad?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. He laughed again, this time softer, full of fondness.

"The Genomey are amazing—both the people and their society. But they drink like fish in the ocean. Kept buying me drinks to commiserate with me over my unfortunate mutation—" he lifted his fingers in air quotes, "—that made me so big." He shook his head, still smiling.

"A lot of them are high-level, and they've got this expensive alcohol brewed for people with high traits. They call it the good stuff. Since they wanted to make me feel better, that's what they kept handing me. I was drunk for most of the years I spent there. Hangovers that even potions couldn't always fix." We burst out laughing. Malith chuckled along but lifted a hand as if to ward off the very idea.

"I'm good," he said, still grinning.

"And I'd rather not know where that Gate is. So I won't be tempted." I pulled out the Earth Gate list and a fresh page, cast Copy Text, and took out a black marker.

"What are you doing?" Malith asked me.

"This is a list of all the Gates we've mapped from Earth," I said, uncapping the marker with a click.

"I'm just deleting the Genomey Gates. You know, to save you from yourself." He lunged forward and grabbed my wrist before the marker touched the page.

"On second thought, you can leave it in. Maybe after a visit to the Dragons, I'll be tougher." That got us all laughing again. This time, even Rue joined in with a happy whuff and a thump of his tail against the floor. Malith took the list and began scanning through it.

"Oh. Bloodsuckers. Great!" The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. We all froze. Al cleared his throat and asked, voice cautious, "Are you sure?" Malith nodded enthusiastically.

"Their blood is excellent for enchantments."

"Seriously?" I asked, blinking. I wasn't sure if I was more shocked or grossed out. He gave me a puzzled look, as if I were the odd one.

"What's the problem? They try to drink my blood, I take theirs. Fair's fair." I shook my head. That's... one way to look at it. Malith struck up a conversation with Al about a potion order he wanted to place. Anti-venom, of course, but also health, mana regeneration, and a whole list of others, all in bulk. I left them to it. After clearing the table and casting Clean on the dishes, I headed off to work on his spell. Malith caught up with me outside.

"Hey! what's your Stealth level?"

"Two," I said, narrowing my eyes.

"Why?"

"I'm working on something." His tone was light but just cagey enough to raise an eyebrow.

"Do you have any spare mana crystals you'd be willing to sell?" I poured a handful into his waiting palm. He handed me ten gold coins and gave a quick nod.

"Thanks," he said, and without another word, turned on his heel and disappeared back inside. It took me most of the day to craft the spell marble for the Harvest Mana Crystal spell—the [Upgraded] version, naturally. I only paused once, to prepare a quick lunch of barbecued Occurrence birds with smoky barbeque sauce, before diving right back in. The rest of the day slipped by in steady concentration, and by evening, the marble was ready. I handed it over.

Malith took the marble carefully, channeled mana into it, and the spell sank into him. He looked up.

"You're absolutely sure you don't want payment for this?" I waved him off.

"You helped me improve it. We're square."

"I need two more days to complete the potions," Al told him.

"It's okay," Malith said.

"I'm working on some things of my own." After dinner, I grabbed a few blank pages, focused on the mental image of the Map of Lumis, and cast the Print Thoughts spell. The result was garbage: one sad line across the page and two lonely words floating: Crystalspire and Prismatic Falls.

"This spell is awful," I complained to no one in particular.

"Which one?" Mahya called from across the room." Print Thoughts," I said, waving the page. She made a face.

"That one? Probably made by some drunk wizard who'd given up on life."

"Hey, don't dis wizards!" I shot back.

"Maybe someone else came up with it." Mahya and Al both turned and stared at me like I'd grown an extra head.

"What?" I asked.

"Wizards are the only ones who can create spells," Mahya said slowly, as if she wasn't sure if I was joking.

"I thought you knew that."

"I knew they made spells," I said, frowning.

"I didn't know they were the only ones." Mahya walked over, wrapped her arms around me, and kissed the top of my head.

"Please don't ever change. The day you stop being Clueless, the universe will lose all its charm." I scowled and pushed her off.

"Go away." The following day, after breakfast, Malith handed each of us a metal pendant on a chain. It was shaped like a twelve-sided die and was brimming with mana. I could almost make out the runes etched along its faces, but something kept distorting them. They shimmered, flickered, and faded in and out too fast to decipher.

"What's that?" Mahya asked, holding hers up to the light.

"A stealth medallion," Malith said.

"John has the lowest level in the skill, so he'll get the most benefit from it, but it will help all of you. Unfortunately, it's not very effective above level twenty, so your gain will be smaller."

"No benefit at all, or just less?" Mahya asked, tilting her head.

"Less," Malith said, "but much less. It's as if your skill is bumped up to around level twenty-one, give or take. The improvement is a percentage-based boost, so it'll vary from person to person."

"How high will mine go?" I asked.

"At least level ten," he said.

"Maybe a bit higher."

"Mine?" Al asked.

"Somewhere around level fifteen, more or less."

"Thank you," I said, genuinely impressed.

"This is great." Mahya and Al echoed the thanks. Mahya didn't even look disappointed that hers would be the least effective; she simply looped the chain around her neck and tucked the medallion under her shirt without a word. Al was still tied up with the potion order, and Mahya had vanished into her workshop with Malith to do Spirits knew what. Rue was off waging his one-dog war against the flying snakes, now forced to venture farther and farther from the house to find any.

That left me standing around, uncertain of what to do with myself. After a minute of thought, I headed to the darkroom and checked over all my cameras, cycling through them until I found the one with the quietest shutter click. Camera in hand, I made sure Mahya was still busy, then slipped through the Gate to the moon. I had no intention of going anywhere near the Gate to Nami—I'd promised I wouldn't, and I meant it—but I wasn't entirely sure she'd believe me.

Better to sneak in and ask forgiveness later than start a debate I'd already won in my head. I spent only a couple of hours there. The longer skip was on the Zindor side, and I didn't want anyone to get too worried. I zoomed fast from place to place to capture the interesting spots I'd seen while searching for Mahya, and, obviously, one spooky corridor. You can't have a proper scrapbook without at least one ominous-looking place. The first shot was the corridor near the Gate anchor.

Dim lights, weird tubing along the walls, and that humming silence that made the whole place feel like something was waiting just around the corner. After snapping a few quick shots, I moved on. The next stop was the indoor farm. Bright lights, rows of green plants growing in glass tubes, and the distinctive smell of recycled air with a hint of chlorophyll. Took a couple of wide shots and kept going. Next stop, the bots. White, sleek, and completely ignoring me this time.

They were working in some kind of assembly line, orange lights flickering across their helmets. I crept along the edge, barely breathing, but Malith's gadget was awesome! This time, there were no alarms and not even one chase. Just the steady (quiet) click of my camera and a dozen clean close-ups. I could have had a whole spread dedicated to them, but didn't want to linger. After that, I ducked into a control room full of terminals and glowing blue screens. Took a few shots and got out.

The last place looked like a cross between a lab and a vault—tall glass cylinders, softly glowing, all arranged in perfect rows. I had no clue what they were for, but they screamed "sci-fi tech nobody should touch," so I took plenty of photos. And I was done. No alarms, no bots chasing me down, just the quiet thrill of a successful stealth run and a camera full of pictures. A couple of corridors away from the Gate, I felt Mahya and Al. Oops! Caught in the Act.

I zoomed straight toward them and, before they could kill me, quickly sent,"Mom, Dad, don't worry. I didn't even think about going near the other Gate. I just came to take pictures. That's it. Now let's get out of here." And zipped right back to Zindor. On the other side, Mahya punched me in the gut hard enough to knock my breath out but not hard enough to bruise. Before I could catch my breath, she yanked me into a hug and held on tight, trembling and crying. Now, I felt terrible.

I hugged her back and didn't even try to defend myself. Just stood there and let her hold on. It took a while before her breathing slowed, her fingers unclenched, and she finally pulled away. Tears streaked her face, and her expression was a mix of fury and heartbreak.

"Don't—" Her voice cracked, and she stopped, swallowing hard.

"Don't you ever do that again. Not—not like that. Even if you're doing something stupid, I want to know. I need to know. So I can help. So I can... can do something." She wiped her face with the back of her hand, then jabbed a finger at my chest.

"Not knowing where you were... it was the worst. The worst. I thought—I didn't know if—" She stopped again, shook her head.

"Please. Just... please. Don't make me go through that again." I nodded, still winded, and whispered, "Okay." Al nodded, his expression unreadable, then gestured toward Mahya.

"She is correct. The uncertainty is the hardest part. It leaves the mind to imagine every potential outcome, and none of them are ever kind. Next time, inform us. Regardless of your intentions."

"I promise." Since they were pissed at me, I hid in my darkroom and developed the pictures. I felt terrible for worrying them. Yeah, it was a shitty thing to do. They probably would've believed me if I'd just said I was going on a photo shoot. Rue joined me at some point, flopped down with a huff, and declared,"John is silly," before promptly falling asleep. That made me laugh—and made me feel a little lighter. At dinner, they acted normal, and I let out a quiet breath of relief. I was forgiven.

Malith noticed and gave me a wink. Like I asked before: are all the Travelers nuts, or is it just my luck?