Chương 70: B2—Chapter 4: Spooky Red Skull in a Black Circle I

In the morning, I headed out to look for a car. I had to keep my promise to Rue, after all. Driving on the opposite side of the road made me nervous, but I figured I'd go slow until it felt natural. On the stairs, I ran into our neighbor and asked if she knew anyone selling a van. She didn't, but she pointed me to Henry at the pub, who apparently knew everyone and everything. At the pub, I tapped on the glass like she'd told me.

A red-faced man with a massive belly shuffled over, squinted at me, and cracked the door open just enough to talk.

"Yeah? What d'you want?" he asked gruffly.

"Are you Henry?" He gave a curt nod.

"I'm looking to buy a van, and Miss Maggie said you're the one who knows everything that goes on around here. Thought I'd check if you'd heard of anything for sale." He gave me a long, suspicious look.

"Don't know you. How d'you know Maggs?"

"I think you know my dog. Big Saint Bernard named Rue." Henry laughed so hard his belly shook.

"That lump's yours? Bloody hell. You know he's an alcoholic, right?"

"Yes, I'm trying to make him quit. So he goes around hitting up the neighbors instead," I said, rolling my eyes. Henry doubled over laughing, slapped his leg, and needed a moment to breathe. When he finally pulled himself together, he said, "Alright, mate, fair enough. I'll help you out." He handed me two names and phone numbers of people selling vans. I bought a car, collected Rue, and set out for the first Gate.

The Traveler's Map didn't show place names unless somebody added them; it only gave a general view of the area. Nobody had bothered adding names to most of the British Isles. I found a shop selling maps, bought everything they had, and parked by the road to study the first one. I'd forgotten to ask Lis how to upload a map, but tried anyway. After a minute or two of staring at the printed page, I checked the Traveler's Map, but nothing had changed. For a moment, I considered calling Lis, then shook my head.

He wouldn't be with me for the entire journey, and I needed to learn how to figure things out on my own. After some thought, I opened the Traveler's Map and focused on the printed map. When I checked again, the Traveler's Map now showed names, roads, and even road numbers. Success! Back at the printed map, I worked through it section by section. Each time I checked, more information appeared.

I kept going until every map was uploaded, filling in the entire British Isles with towns, roads, hotels, restaurants, tourist spots, and everything else. It's unfair it doesn't stay updated for the next Traveler. What's the problem with just leaving it this way? Why do we have to work harder? I thought. A sharp feeling of disapproval hit me, strong enough to make me wince.

"Just thinking. Don't get all worked up," I said to the air. Rue tilted his head and sent me a questioning feeling. I scratched behind his ear.

"Don't worry about it, buddy. Just arguing with a text box with an attitude." Another rebuke washed over me, this one a little weaker. I facepalmed. Shit, I forgot to ask Lis about this communication. A firm NO slammed into me, strong enough to raise the hair on my arms. The danger felt immediate and extreme. I couldn't tell if the danger was to me if Lis found out, or if it was a warning that the thing would turn into a threat the moment I shared anything.

"What's the big secret? It's not like somebody can hurt you. I'm pretty sure you're all-powerful and shit, so what's the secrecy?" I asked the air, exasperated. A ripple of amusement washed over me, immediately followed by another firm NO.

"Fine, fine. I'll keep my mouth shut," I said, resigned. No response this time. That was interesting. Whenever I asked a straightforward question, it remained silent. The moment I criticized it, though, it reacted. Somebody was feeling pretty touchy up there. I waited for a reaction to the criticism, but nothing came.

"Ha, trying to pretend you're not?" I asked. Again, no response. Sighing, I got back to work. After some thought, I chose the Merry Maidens stone circle first, on the island's southern tip near a place called Land's End. The circle sat in an open field bordered by low, wind-bent hedges, with nothing around it except grass, grazing sheep, and a view that reached all the way to the sea. The stones weren't tall—three to four feet, with two serving as the anchors.

Even from the field, I could smell the ocean; the salty, cold air carried straight across the hills. The ground sloped gently toward the coastline, and in the distance, I caught glimpses of granite cliffs dropping into the water. We arrived in the late afternoon, but there were still some tourists around, so I waited for nightfall, passing the time on a cliff overlooking the sea.

The place was gorgeous, with rolling green hills running right up to the edge of the granite cliffs, patches of yellow gorse catching the last of the light, and the Atlantic stretched endlessly into the distance. The sound of the waves breaking against the rocks below put me in a tranquil mood. Rue spent the evening chasing seagulls. No idea what his problem was with those birds, but his annoyance spiked at every single one. At night, I returned to the Gate.

Traveler's Gate #2672165 Destination: Tír na nÓg Status: Integrated Mana level: 89 Threat level: Lethal I told Rue to stay on Earth, ensured no one saw me, cast Invisibility and Mana Shield, and crossed the Gate. Pain shot through my mana channels the moment I stepped through, and I jumped back immediately. The burning sensation disappeared once I was back, but my channels felt raw, as if I'd scrubbed them with a barbecue brush. Directing my awareness inward, I found some micro-tears.

My mana had gone up about 280 points during the single second I was on the other side. It never crossed my mind that my spirals would be a problem in a place with a higher mana level, but it should have. I tried to cast Healing Touch on my channels and almost screamed from the pain. OK, no using magic for now! It took my channels a week to heal. After the first day, they felt less raw and more like the soreness after a hard workout. The pain faded gradually until everything felt normal again.

I kept checking the tears; they healed on their own after six days. No sign of lasting damage appeared where they had been, and they looked completely normal. After a full week, once I was sure everything was fine, I cast Healing Touch on myself. The spell did nothing, but there was no pain or discomfort either. But the whole experience gave me an idea. Lis had said regeneration was tied to the mana channels, and this offered a perfect opportunity to make them wider.

When Rue came home that evening, he trotted over and bumped his head against my leg. I crouched to scratch his neck.

"I'm going back to the Gate to train my channels. This time, I want you to stay home. I'll try to stay inside longer, and with the time skips, I don't want you waiting there for who knows how long." He sent me a sharp wave of concern.

"Don't worry, buddy," I said, rubbing behind his ear.

"I'm staying right next to the Gate. Not taking a single step away from it. If anyone shows up—human or creature—I'll jump straight back to Earth. I'm not planning to be a hero, just working on my channels." Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Rue let out a low huff, ears tilting back. He sent me the resigned feeling of someone giving up the argument, but absolutely not liking the outcome.

That evening, I drove to the same Gate, parked in a secluded spot, and walked over. Before going through, I "broke" the closing points of the spirals and waited until they unraveled, and no trace of them remained. After crossing the Gate, my channels itched, but there was no pain. I stood in a narrow ravine between two high cliffs, the rock walls curving out of sight fifteen feet ahead. The air was cool and damp, with a faint floral scent drifting through it.

Behind me lay a shallow cave, its entrance acting as the Gate's anchors and its back wall covered in a thin sheen of moisture. I crept to the edge of the cliff and peeked around. The ravine stretched for another twenty feet and curved again. I listened for any hint of danger, but the place was silent except for the occasional drip of water. Branches above blocked most of the sky, their leaves rustling in the breeze. For safety, I stayed close to the Gate, leaning against the anchor wall.

The itching faded gradually, and less than an hour later, my mana was full. I pulled out a rusty sword and channeled Restore. The itching came back immediately. I recast Invisibility as needed to stay hidden, and after a while, the skill rose; it now lasted close to ten minutes. Restore made it hard to keep track of my surroundings, so I split my mind: one part watching for danger, the other casting. Time blurred. I stood there for hours, restoring swords and absorbing mana.

When the itching eased, I added Absorb and kept going. I lost track of how long I'd been there. When I ran out of swords, my channels looked wider. I built a loose spiral with five rings in each orb. The itching returned, but remained manageable. I switched to parchment and flooded it with mana. Once the itching settled, I felt ready for a tighter spiral, but I was out of parchment, my feet hurt, and I was starving. A good day's work. Time to go. It was midday on the other side.

I slipped behind a stone, checked that nobody was looking, and dropped the Invisibility. I pulled my phone from Storage and checked the date. Five days had passed on Earth. I guessed I had spent about a day on the other side, maybe a little more, but I'd been too absorbed to be sure. I called Lis to let him know I was fine, found a place to eat, demolished an enormous meal, and drove home. On the way, I considered different ways to spend mana to push my regeneration even higher.

No way was I wasting an opportunity like that. When I got home, Lis was in the living room with a disassembled transistor radio spread out on the table. He glanced up, his fingers still fiddling with one of the tiny components.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Trying to figure out how to make this thing work with mana."

"Good luck," I said, giving him a thumbs-up before heading to bed. The following day, I cleaned all my coolers and drove between butchers and supermarkets until they were full. In the evening, I drove to the Evelina London Children's Hospital, cast Invisibility, and snuck in. Moving between the wards, I slipped into rooms whenever a door was open, or someone opened it just enough for me to squeeze through, and healed the children.

Some didn't even wake up, and some scratched the spot where I touched them, almost touching me, but no one caught me. A few times, I had to wait for someone to open the door again before I could get out. More than once, a nurse almost bumped into me, but I stayed undetected and kept going until my mana dropped to 200. Back at the Gate, I parked in a hidden spot and crossed it once more. My channels were fine, and my mana ticked up by 35 every second. I dismantled the spiral.

My mana regeneration dropped to 20 per second, and I built a new one with ten rings in each orb. When my mana was full, I took out a cooler and saturated the meat with mana. After the second cooler, the itching almost disappeared, so I added the Absorb aspect to my channels and kept draining and refilling my mana. Three more coolers later, my channels handled the mana with no trouble. I dismantled the spiral and rebuilt it as densely as I could.

First Spiral Completed Quality: 95% My channels tingled and itched again, but it was tolerable. I kept draining and refilling mana until I had ten coolers with mana-rich meat. Exhausted, I left the Gate, tiptoed to the car, and dropped the Invisibility. Three days had passed on Earth. At this rate, I would be a hundred years old on paper and fifty in practice. The next morning, Lis sat at the table with the disassembled radio and thick copper wires, engraving something on a wire with a jeweler's loupe.

"How's the transistor going?" I asked as I sat down across from him. He looked up for a moment, adjusting the loupe.

"The original electrical wires were too thin, so I switched to thicker copper." He went back to the engraving.

"Did you get the class?"

"Not yet."

"Good luck. Let me know if you need help."

"Yes, thank you for the reminder." He set the wire aside and removed the loupe, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Did you study how to aspect mana crystals?"

"Yes." Lis took out a pea-sized crystal and placed it in my palm.

"I need you to aspect this crystal to lightning."

"I still don't know the lightning aspect. I don't know its flavor," I admitted, turning the crystal between my fingers. It caught the morning light, throwing tiny reflections on the table.

"Hmm." He scratched his chin.

"We will have to find a lightning storm. I will check and let you know."

"No problem, I'm here every few days," I said, handing him the crystal back.

"How is your mana channel training progressing?"

"Good. They're almost two millimeters thick," I said, pretty pleased with myself.

"Impressive. Soon, you will start expanding the secondary channels."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I confessed, shaking my head.

"Find the book Mana Body: Supreme Control. It explains everything."

"Thanks." He gave a slight nod and picked up the wire again. That gave me another idea of how to spend my mana. I spent the whole day cooking for Rue and Lis, and went to the hospital again that evening. When I arrived at the neonatal unit on the sixth floor, someone had propped all the doors wide open. Shrugging, I did my rounds. Fewer children filled the ward this time, which made me happy.

When I finished with everyone, I still had 3, 580 mana, so I moved to the Sky Ward and the Pediatric Critical Care Unit and drained my mana until I had only 200 left. I drove to the Gate again, parked in a secluded spot, and crossed over. This time, instead of saturating meat, I took out the books I'd copied and paid 1, 000 mana to learn the language, spoken and written. After about twenty books, I built a second spiral with five rings in each orb. My channels itched again, but I was used to it by then.

When I pulled out the next book, a warning from my Luck hit me. I froze, listened, and scanned the area. Nothing moved. I pushed my senses harder and caught a disturbance in the mana right where the ravine turned. Not taking any chances, I jumped through the Gate back to Earth. Halfway through, pain tore through my leg. I hit the ground on the Earth side, half-paralyzed by it. Luckily, it was night, so I dropped the Invisibility and looked at my leg. It was torn to shreds and bleeding badly.

I grabbed the blood to slow the bleeding, held the flesh together as best I could, and cast Healing Touch repeatedly. I had to regrow the missing parts in some areas. It took more than an hour for my leg to heal completely, and only then did I calm down. My mana was down to 1, 300/8, 800. In my mind, I marked this Gate with an X. I'd taken advantage of it as much as possible, but it was time to move on. The following morning, Lis told me a storm front was approaching mainland Europe, so we took the train to Paris.

Rue wasn't happy about his leash but accepted that it was necessary. We found a pleasant hotel with a balcony for lightning practice, and went to explore the city, waiting for the storm to hit. Lis turned to me as we strolled along the Seine.

"Remind me why we chose London?"

"English."

"Right. We should move to Paris; the food is better." He waved his éclair under my nose as if he were offering proof. Rue sent me an approving feeling. I laughed and shook my head.

"No problem, but first I want to finish visiting the Gates in the UK and boost my mana regeneration." He lifted an eyebrow.

"How is that going? Any progress?"

"Yes, but something attacked me last time, so I'm switching Gates." Rue's worry pushed through our bond, and I reached down to scratch his ear.

"Don't worry, buddy, I'm fine. Like I promised, I was right next to the Gate and jumped straight through." Rue gave me a judgmental side-eye, ears flicking back, clearly not buying a word of it. I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck.

"Okay, I did get scratched a bit, but don't worry. Remember, I'm a Healer, so I fixed my leg, and I'm fine." Rue huffed, the worry easing a little. Not gone, but close enough that he let it go. We visited five patisseries, got a sugar rush, and went back to the hotel when the rain started. I waited for the main body of the storm, and when the lightning began, stepped out onto the balcony. The wind hit me first, and the cold sank straight into my bones. The sacrifices I'm making for friends.

Rain pattered on the railing and soaked the floor beneath my feet. The entire sky flickered with distant flashes, each one rolling in with a low rumble. Paris looked muted under the storm, lights smudged by rain. Focusing on the mana, I tried to zero in on the flavor of lightning. Gradually, I could separate it from everything else. Knowing water and wind helped a lot. I started shaping the aspect with my mana, but it still felt off, like the pieces weren't fitting together.

I focused harder, bringing the mana in my hand closer to the correct aspect. When everything clicked, my hand shot an arc of electricity. Startled, I jumped back, slipped on the wet floor, and banged my elbow on the railing. Ouch. I rubbed it, grumbling under my breath about the unfairness. I created the aspect again just to be sure, and another arc snapped from my fingers. It was small, but I knew I could grow it. Ha! I'm a lightning Wizard. Beware my mighty arc! I stepped inside to dry off.

Lis stood waiting near the door, eyebrows raised almost to his hairline.

"Yes, yes, I got it," I said, rubbing my arms.

"Let me get dry first; I'm freezing." He looked very pleased with himself. I dried off, but the cold still clung to me, so I took a hot shower. When I came back out, Lis handed me the crystal without a word. I laughed and started to aspect it. It felt different from channeling mana into the crystals at his home. There, it always felt like the crystal was pulling the mana out of me. Here, I had to force it in, as if the crystal were determined to stay neutral.

After a brief battle of wills, it finally accepted the aspect and behaved like a normal crystal, drinking my mana like a hungry baby. When it was full, it turned silvery-white with tiny arcs flickering inside. I held it up and tilted it to catch the light, admiring the arcs, when Lis snatched it from my hand.

"Hey, I was admiring my creation," I protested, reaching for it. Lis tossed me another small crystal.

"Aspect this one, and you may gaze at it lovingly as much as you want. I need my crystal."

"Spoilsport," I muttered, rolling my eyes. He stuck his tongue out at me, grinning.

"Lis, my friend, you're spending too much time with Zara from across the hall. You're starting to act like a ten-year-old," I said, shaking my head in mock dismay.

"She's a lot of fun, and some gestures are too expressive not to use," he said, his grin widening. I shook my head again, chuckling. Earth was ruining my sensei and turning him into a hooligan.