Chương 64: Chapter 55: I Think I’m Good at This

I walked back to the tent, humming my "new" Ability Points song:"Bye-bye, my Ability Points I gave my points to my boy, and now the well is dry. The price of Ability Points makes me drink Rye. Paying will be the day that I die. It will be the day that I die …" Yeah … I still needed to work on that; I was no Don McLean. The air felt different when I got about half a mile from the tent. It took me a second to understand why. There was no mana in it; it was empty.

At about six hundred feet, I sensed mana in the air again as I drew closer. While the ritual drew a massive infusion of mana into itself and into me, what shocked me was how completely it drained the surrounding air. As I stepped inside the tent, I was in for another surprise: no trace of the ritual remained except the grooves on the floor where the purification mixture had been. Everything else had disappeared.

I went down on all fours to examine the floor, running my palm over the mat and tracing the grooves with my finger. Nothing. I didn't find a single speck of ash or grain of salt. Everything was gone. At least the vent was still pumping out mana as if nothing had changed. I built up the "mana absorption" aspect in my channels and sat down to regenerate. Every so often, I had to add more absorption; the itching decreased, and by evening, I was already at 3, 251/8, 800 mana.

When I examined my channels, they looked almost twice as wide as when I had started the technique, and the channel in my left hand was more than double its original width. I took a chance and cast the Absorb Mana spell on myself. I felt nothing for about three minutes; then a minor itch; the spell ended before it got any stronger. That concretely showed how much I had progressed with expanding my channels.

It used to take me three full days to regenerate 3, 000 mana, but now I had filled the same amount in less than a day. It still needed active regeneration, but it was worth it. That thought stopped me in my tracks. Maybe I don't need to do it actively? Maybe I can build an automatic mana regeneration system? I kept regenerating and started shaping my idea. My first attempt was to create a mesh of mana lines with an absorption aspect, but I had to give up fast. The mesh didn't fit the channel's structure.

Next, I tried a spiral that started in the palm of my left hand, gradually building it upward until I reached the Spirit orb. It took me over two hours to form the spiral, and then I hit a problem. One of the first things I'd learned about spells was that they couldn't have open ends. If there were an open end, the mana would leak out, and the spell would collapse. But if I turned the spiral back down my arm and into my hand, it would draw mana from my body and push it outward.

That would cycle mana in and out, leaving none of it in me. I realized the flaw and thought of a solution for a long time, but nothing came to mind. I'd better sleep on it. Rue had joined me in the tent about an hour earlier, so we ate dinner together and then crashed for the night. In the morning, when I checked, my mana was at 3, 617/8, 800. The "sleep-on-it" idea worked. I woke up with a plan that might actually work. I built the spiral inside my Mind orb with the Absorb aspect.

First, I wound it along the sides of the orb, then extended it into the channel leading from the Mind orb to the Spirit orb. Around the Spirit orb, I built another spiral, then continued down the channel to the Body orb, where I repeated the process. Once I reached the bottom of the Body orb, I reversed the flow, building another spiral upward through the Body orb, then the Spirit orb, and finally back into the Mind orb.

When the structure was complete, I joined the beginning to the end and "locked" the spell with a technique I'd learned from one of the mana books. Yes! The blinking red light was back. First Spiral Completed Quality: 17% I felt judged.

"Seriously? 17%? It's not that bad!" I said out loud. I didn't get an answer. With a deep sigh, I broke the spell lock and unraveled the spiral. I sat and thought about what might be wrong. My goal was regeneration, so how can I increase it? Maybe add more rings to the spiral? That should increase the regeneration. Again, I built the spiral in my Mind orb, winding it around the sides as tightly as I could so I'd have as many rings as possible.

When I couldn't fit even one more, I extended the spiral into the channel connecting the Mind orb to the Spirit orb. I packed the rings tightly around the Spirit orb, and when it was ready, I went down the channel to the Body orb and built another spiral the same way. Once I reached the bottom, I reversed the process, heading back up as I built another dense spiral in the Body orb, then up the channel into the Spirit orb. By that point, I was feeling the strain.

A sharp headache pounded behind my eyes from the effort, and it took everything I had to keep the mana stable, in the correct form instead of letting it collapse, and keep coloring it with the Absorb aspect. I pushed through, carried the spiral up the last channel, and started building in the Mind orb again. My whole body shook, but I knew—I just knew —I was on the right track, so I refused to quit. The last rings at the top felt like a David vs.

Goliath struggle, but I forced them into place, connected the start and the end, and "locked" the spell. The moment I could finally let go of that construction, relief hit me so hard I nearly blacked out. I slumped there, breathing deep, and waited for the spinning spots in my vision and the ringing in my ears to fade. First Spiral Completed Quality: 81%"Hey, that was hard. I think it deserves at least a 95 percent score, not a measly 81," I shouted in protest. Of course, I didn't get an answer.

I thought about the low score and figured it was probably because I hadn't packed the spiral tightly in the connecting channels, only in the power orbs. My channels tingled on the edge of itching, a clear warning that I couldn't add another spiral yet. It would be too much. I briefly considered unraveling the one I had built, but the memory of how many hours it had taken made me dismiss the idea immediately.

To double-check, I created a bit of the Absorb aspect in my right arm channel, and the itching flared right away. Exactly as I thought. I wasn't ready for the next one. I pulled up my profile.

PERSONAL INFORMATION Name: John Rue Age: 20 Familiar: Rue Level 0 Display Class: Healer Level 10 Healer Spells: Heal Muscles (17) Diagnose (12) Stop Bleeding (4) Heal Bone (8) Control Blood (12) Healing Touch (23) Clean (12) Neutralize Poison (1) Purify (11) Anesthesia (7) Regrow Flesh (3) Fortify Life Force (5) Cleanse (1) Class: Gate Traveler Level 3 Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

Gates to the next level: 2/8 Class Abilities: Conversion Travelers' Archive Identify Storage x 4 (512 m 3) Local Adaptation: -Spoken Language -Written Language One of the Crowd Travelers' Map Subclass 2 Wizard Level 2 Wizard Abilities: Mind Split x3 Mana Sensing [Junior] Mana Saturation [Apprentice] Mana Manipulation [Medior] Mana Regeneration x 1 Wizard Spells: Harvest Mana Crystal [In Progress] Harvest Game [In Progress] Profession: Merchant Level 6 Merchant Skills: Bargain (5) Sense Honesty (4) Appraisal (8) A Nose for Business (8) General Spells: Mana Dart (1) Mana Shield (1) Spellbinding (2) Invisibility (1) Mend (2) Adaptable Light Ball (6) Restore (4) Heat (2) Absorb Mana (2) Exude Mana (1) Privacy Sphere General Skills: Pasta Making Beer Brewing Pencil Sketching Staff Fighting (11) Krav Maga (10) Archery (12) Minor Spell Adaptation (1) Mana Meditation (8) Photography (4) Develop Negative (2) Print Photograph(2) Guitar Playing (7) Skinning (1) Butchering (1) Mining (6) Health: 3, 650/3, 650 Mana: 8, 800/8, 800 Strength: 27 Agility: 27 Constitution: 29 Vitality: 44 Intelligence: 49 Wisdom: 59 Perception: 37 Luck: 31 Free Points: 3 Ability Points: 10 The spiral wasn't listed by name, though; instead, I had the new line: Mana Regeneration.

Also, my Mana Manipulation had jumped from Apprentice to Medior, skipping Junior altogether. What the hell is a Medior? Before leaving Earth, I'd bought a stack of textbooks on different subjects along with a few dictionaries for technical terms. I facepalmed—I should've given Lis an introductory engineering textbook. In one dictionary, I found the term Medior:"A Medior is someone with three to five years of work experience who can lead projects independently.

The Medior has sufficient knowledge to perform executive tasks successfully and mentor Juniors, but is often supported and supervised by a Senior." For the first time, I really thought about the fact that the Archive and all the system messages were in English. Before, I'd never questioned it. I just opened them and read. But now it was clear that the system had been translating everything all along.

It needed a word for the level I'd reached, but since it didn't have a perfect match, it picked the closest one that carried the same meaning. Again, I felt like an idiot. I should've wondered about it much earlier. After a few minutes of sitting there feeling like a clueless dumbass, I reminded myself of Lis's words about walking before running. Maybe I was being too harsh on myself.

I was still learning, and since I'd figured out so much on my own without guidance, maybe I was getting good at this wizarding stuff. I spent another night in the tent and woke with nearly full mana reserves. Monitoring my profile, I watched my mana tick up by three points every minute, with less than a hundred left to reach the max. I fist pumped. No more sitting around actively regenerating mana. Automation for the win! After storing the tent, I headed back to the house.

Lis was on the porch, now reading the second book in the series. He looked up when I approached.

"I'm ready whenever you are," I said. Lis looked surprised and closed the book, tapping the cover with his finger.

"You regenerated fast! I thought it would take a few more days."

"I found a way to speed it up with aspected mana and developed a method to regenerate even faster yesterday." He leaned forward, elbows on his knees.

"How?"

"I built a spiral in my mana system, which increased my regeneration rate. I even regenerated while sleeping!" Lis shifted in his seat and avoided my eyes for a moment.

"I am sorry. I knew about wizard spirals. My friend, the Wizard I mentioned, built three for me. I should have told you, but I am so used to them being there that I forgot." I waved his apology away.

"It's okay, don't worry about it. Discovering things on my own helps me feel less hopeless." Lis got a serious expression and looked me in the eye, in a way that made me realize he meant every word.

"You are not hopeless, not even a little. Your first two Classes could be attributed to Earth's imminent integration, but you got the Wizard Class after a short journey on a low-mana world. That takes talent, a lot of talent. For comparison, I got my first Subclass five or six years after I started traveling. Initially, I cleared dungeons with a sword, and in a cluster of neighboring dungeons, earned psionic spells as rewards.

It took me that long to earn a Subclass after using psionic spells and a sword to clear a few more dungeons." I gave him a thumbs-up.

"Thanks for the pep talk."

"What is a pep?"

"It's a feeling of happiness or energy. So, a pep talk is something to make you feel better." He nodded.

"I was waiting for you to regenerate. I am ready to go." He stood and stretched. Lis stored his house, and I called Rue. He came bounding toward me, tail wagging with excitement. Despite traveling for over a year and storing plenty of things myself, watching Lis put away a massive three-story house was still something else. My mouth hung open a little as I watched the entire building vanish into Storage.

"I remembered that I have a lot of engineering texts in my Storage, so now it's my turn to apologize for forgetting about them," I said to Lis, scratching behind Rue's ear as he brushed against my leg. He laughed, patting my shoulder.

"Thank you for making me feel better about forgetting the spirals. And do not feel bad about the books. I am enjoying the ones you gave me." We walked toward the mountain, and I remembered something that had been bugging me.

"When we discussed the book, you said it was ridiculous because there can't be a store or communication between planets. But the Guidance communicates with us in every world, even in translation. How can that be?"

"You are confused, my friend. The things I was talking about are man-made. The Guidance was not made by people but by Cosmic Entities. This is completely different."

"What's the difference?"

"Cosmic Entities are beings with limitless power. Some worlds believe they created the physical world. They have many names: Cosmic Beings, Cosmic Gods, Celestial Gods, the Ancient Gods, the Guiding Spirits, which is the most common, and many more. Many worlds have temples, and others have churches where people pray to them for help or blessings. They are not people but supernatural powers beyond the material world."

"What's the difference between a temple and a church? Isn't it the same?" I asked as we stopped at the foot of the mountain.

"No. A temple is a sacred space where people can pray, ask for help, or express gratitude. Priests or priestesses are present, but people dedicate themselves to a God or a Cosmic Entity by choice, or for the sake of family honor or prestige. Churches actively send representatives to convert people to believe in one entity or another."

"And all these worlds believe in the same entities?"

"Yes, some of them have different names, but when you discover what the entity represents, you realize it is the same Cosmic Entity called something else in a different world."

"It's strange. There are many religions on Earth, and throughout history, numerous wars have been fought to promote the acceptance of one religion over another. Yet you tell me many worlds believe in the same entities. How is that possible?" Lis laughed, a short, rueful sound, as we climbed.

"Is there any proof on Earth of the gods responsible for these religions?" I shook my head.

"No."

"And that is the root of the problem. There is proof of these gods' existence in the worlds I told you about." He fixed me with a steady look.

"How?" I asked, eyebrows raised.

"Religious Classes that have the name of the god or entity, like a Paladin of The Two-Faced God or a Faith Healer of The Triple Goddess." Feeling like a dumbass again, I shook my head.

"I should have guessed. I didn't think about the fact that people have Classes. It makes sense that there would be religious Classes with the names of the gods. I even read about it in books."

"A day when you learn something new is a day worth getting up in the morning."

"So lately, I shouldn't sleep at all. I keep learning a lot of new things," I quipped, nudging him playfully with my elbow. Lis roared with laughter. During the climb toward the Gate, I told Rue, "I hope it was the beginning of spring on the other side and not the end of autumn. I know you hate snow." I got an emphatic agreement from him. Lis turned to him in surprise.

"You hate snow? But you have fur; you cannot even feel it." I got a feeling of cold feet and a strong distaste from Rue. Surprised, I said, "That's your problem? Cold paws?" A firm yes and an even stronger feeling of distaste.

"I thought you didn't like it because it wet your fur." Rue shook himself like he did to fling out water from his fur.

"Yeah, that makes sense," I said. After thinking a moment, I added, "Sometimes, I saw dogs in Chicago with dog shoes in winter. Maybe we can find something in your size." I had never felt such happiness from him before. I laughed and scratched his ears. We turned invisible and crossed the Gate to Earth. With Rue's new size, I was thrilled I didn't have to carry him through the Gate. He padded beside me under his own power.

On the other side, I looked back at the Gate, the first one I had ever encountered, the anchor stones carrying a much deeper meaning for me now. It marked the beginning and the end of an adventure—my Shimoorian adventure—and it had been a good one. Maybe nothing truly exciting had happened like in the books—exploding goat notwithstanding—but it had been precisely what I needed. I needed the time to heal, to breathe, and to find my footing again.

I was different now, steadier than when I'd first stumbled through that Gate, weighed down by grief. More stable and optimistic, no longer trapped in depression, and honestly, a lot happier. Shimoor hadn't given me battles to boast about or treasures to hoard, but it had given me something better: space to mend and strength to move forward. Well, the emeralds I mined were a type of treasure, so it did give me one, even if I had to work for it.

I turned and looked at the Black Forest stretching out before me and realized my return to Earth wasn't the end at all. It was the start of a new adventure. Maybe I was back on Earth, a world I knew well, but Lis had been right all along. With the correct viewpoint, even the ordinary could turn extraordinary. Who knew what adventures still awaited me here? After all, I had magic now. No way it would ever be ordinary.