After who knows how long, I woke up and headed straight to the kit, my stomach growling loudly. Starving and dehydrated, I felt weak. I ate standing up, right from the fridge; I couldn’t even wait to heat the food. After twenty minutes of non-stop eating and drinking, I slowed down and noticed my surroundings. I even remembered having hot food in my Ste, but I woke up so famished that my mind didn’t wht. I heard murmurs from my room, washed my face, ao check it out.

  When I opened my bedroom door, I saw the girl still lying in bed, Lis sitting beside her, talking quietly. Rue had his head on her belly, and she was scratg his head.

  Wheered, she looked up at me and said something to Lis I couldn’t hear. He helped her out of bed, and she approached me, hugged me tightly, and said, “Dara.”

  I uood her; it was, “Thank you.”

  Lis said, “It means thank you.”

  “I got that,” I replied, giving him a small smile.

  Lis facepalmed. He actually facepalmed!

  Ha-ha! I’m not the only one who does that!

  “Of course, the book First Steps in Ritualism and Circle Creation was in Parshan,” he said, shaking his head.

  The girl buried her fa my ned cried, so I held her gently a her get it all out.

  After she calmed down, I led her to bed and rechecked her dition. She was much better. She no longer suffered from dehydration. Her body had produced some blood and started taking in nutrients, but she needed more help. She still had food iomach, so I sent a healing spell through her and monitored the rea. Her body broke down and absorbed the food more quickly.

  I took out more food and said, “Eat; your body he food to heal. I’ll help it absorb it faster.”

  “Thank you for everything. I have no words to express my gratitude,” she said, her voice trembling.

  “You’re wele. Let’s get you in good shape, and then we’ll talk,” I replied, giving her an encing smile.

  She ate, and I healed her until her body was much better. I sank my awareness into her one open mana el and exami. A surprise awaited me: The furrows I dug and yered as a bypass had stabilized and bee a “real” mana el. I was relieved since I was worried that it wouldn’t hold.

  There ot in her mana el I hadn’t opened wide enough. It was barely a hair wide and needed more expansion. I sent a mana tendril into it and started “drilling.” She yelled in pain and jerked her hand away.

  “I’m sorry; I didn’t know it would hurt,” I said.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, her eyes wide with fear.

  “There’s a spot in your mana el that I didn’t expand enough, resulting in a blockage,” I expined. “If I open it wider, yeion will improve. Also, I o open the rest of your els.”

  She looked worried and said, “It hurts like a stab with a thick hot needle.”

  “I’ll put you to sleep so you don’t feel anything. Apologies for not doing it right away. I didn’t know it would hurt,” I said, feeling guilty for causing her pain.

  She thought momentarily and asked, “You promise it won’t hurt?”

  “I promise,” I said, nodding reassuringly.

  She nodded and y down more fortably. After casting Ahesia, I worked ohin spot. I doubled and tripled its width, and her mana flowed much better.

  I moved to her left hand and worked on the mana el. I already knew what I was doing this time, so I immediately started with the “drilling.” Whenever I came across a burned-shut spot, I built a bypass with yers to ect the rest of the el. It went much easier and faster.

  After treating her hand for about two hours, I stopped the Ahesia and checked her general dition. She was fihis process didn’t require as many resources as normal healing.

  I checked my mana: 1310/8800.

  I asked Lis, “How long have I been sleeping? After all I’ve been doing, my mana seems too full.”

  “Two days.”

  “I slept for two days?!” I excimed, shocked.

  “Yes. I knew you were exhausted, so I didn’t bother you,” Lis said. “Mahya woke up about three hours after you went to bed, so I cared for her as much as possible. Mostly, I made sure she drank, ate, aed. I also occasionally cast a Minor Heal ohat’s the only healing spell I know.”

  “You did an amazing job; thank you. I should also introduce myself; I fot to ask her name,” I said, embarrassed.

  “I think she uands you were focused on her health,” Lis said, smiling.

  She was still sleeping, so we left the room quietly and closed the door.

  I asked Lis, “Did she tell you what happeo her?”

  “She didn’t want to talk about it. She just said that she wants tet that ‘terrible, terrible pce.’ I agree with her; Tír na nóg is a nightmare,” Lis said, shuddering.

  “I’m going to let her rest and check two gates near London,” I said. “If they’re safe, I’ll go in; I he mana regeion. I won’t stay to train, only to fill my mana.”

  “Be careful,” Lis said, his worry clear.

  “I will; don’t worry,” I replied, trying to reassure him.

  “I don’t believe you. I saw the blood and hole in you; you fot to ge your shirt before I arrived,” Lis said, shaking his head.

  “Don’t worry about it; it was just an arrow. Aside from that, I risked it to get her out. If I hadn’t sensed her, I would have left immediately,” I said, trying to downpy the danger.

  He held me by my upper arms and said, “Don’t take unnecessary risks. If a Traveler is in Tír na nóg, it was their choid mistake; you don’t have to pay for it. It’s amazing that you got her out, but you could have just as easily died. Please remember that. I was in that world fht days, and I still have nightmares.”

  I patted his shoulder and said, “I promise to be more careful.”

  He looked into my eyes to see if I was telling the truth, rexed, and nodded. I was determio exercise greater caution, having already sustaiwo injuries. It wasn’t life-threatening, but the pain was awful, and I had no iion of repeating the experience.

  Before leaving, I checked my blinking red light.

  Level up +3 Intelligence, +3 Wisdom, +3 Perception, +1 to all other stats Css: Wizard Level 3

  Finally! I worked hard to learn for this css, and it annoyed me I didn’t progress as expected.

  I looked at the Wizard css to see if something else progressed.

  Sub-css 2: Wizard Level 3 Wizard Abilities: · Mind Split x3 · Mana Sensing [Medior] · Mana Saturation [Apprentice] · Mana Manipution [Senior] · Mana Regeion x 1 Wizard Spells: · Harvest Mana Crystal [In Progress] · Harvest Game [In Progress]

  Nice. My mana sensing and maniputiressed.

  It was already evening, so I drove to Stonehenge first, touched the gate, a great dahe message was clear: if I crossed the Gate, I would die. I fot about it and drove to the Gate.

  The location was close to a town named Loxhill. I found an out-of-the-arking spot uhe trees and headed to the Gate. When I touched it, I felt a mild “tread carefully” suggestion. I cast Invisibility and Mana Shield and crossed the Gate.

  I came out in the middle of a forest with the biggest trees I’d ever seen, which were pink. More specifically, the trunks of the trees were brown, but the rest ink. Everything ink—the leaves, the pnts uhe trees, and the moving, blinking lights betweerees. Remembering something Lis said about blinking creatures, I didn’t look at them but listeo my Perception. I still felt a slight warning, but no tangible dao be safe, I didn’t add mana absorption to my els so that the magic wouldn’t give away my locatioling for a regeion rate of 20 points per sed. It was still over 1,000 points per mihe regeion here was simply a dream; it was too bad, and it was so dangerous.

  It took me less than ten mio be full, and I left through the Gate. It was the most beautiful and magical pce I had ever seen, but I wouldn’t use this Gate for my regeion training, not o take ces with the blinking things? Creatures? When I returo my car, pine needles and sap covered it. That was very annoying; it was a rental that I had to return in good dition. I looked at the tree and said, “What, you couldn’t wait until I left?”

  When I got bae, Lis looked frantic. When he saw me, he shouted, “You said yoing to close Gates, in and out, neion training. What happeo that promise?”

  “That’s what I did. Oe was too dangerous, so I went to the , regeed, a,” I expined, raising my hands defensively.

  “So, where have you been all this time?” Lis asked, his eyes wide with .

  I just looked at him, unprehending. I left in the evening, and it was still night. But he looked frantic when I got home, so I asked, “How long was I gone?”

  “Three weeks! The only reason I knew you were still alive was because Rue was still alive. But I thought those monsters captured you,” Lis said, his voice shaking slightly.

  “Shit! As soon as I arrived at the first Gate, I touched it, se was dangerous, and decided to leave. I drove to the sed one, felt the danger was tolerable, a in. I saw the blinking things you told me about and didn’t look at them. It took me less than ten miee, and I left immediately after and drove straight home,” I expined, my mind rag.

  “Are you sure you didn’t follow them?” Lis asked, his brow furrowed in fusion.

  “Positive. I was leaning against the Gate the whole time, looking at the ground and monit the area with my Perception,” I said, shaking my head.

  “I think you should stop going to the Gates here; that pce is too dangerous,” Lis said, his tone firm.

  “Yeah, I think you’re right. I’m sorry I made you worry,” I said, feeling guilty.

  He hugged me and said, “Never do that again.”

  “I won’t, I promise,” I said, hugging him back.

  Mahya hugged me from behind and said in English, “Lis wao go in after you to rescue you. The only reason he didn’t was that Rue looked uned. You’re lucky you have a familiar, or you might have lost a friend.”

  I decided it was time to give up on the UK gates. They were too dangerous, and the danger was not always the obvious thing.