Talis resembled other cities I had seen by this river, the ones I visited and those we passed. structed on both sides of the river, the city exhibited a mix of low-quality and high-quality buildings on the same streets. The sole difference was the ountains. The river’s north side had hills, while the south extended into vast pins.

  We rented a room at an inn, and I spent two days expl the city. On my sed day, I noticed a small square stone building with tiny windows and fuards in front. The heavy security piqued my curiosity, and I moved closer to iigate. A small sign beside the door read “ Exge.” That gave me an idea.

  I approached one guard and asked, “Good day. If I want to exge s, do I walk in, or do you o announce me?”

  “You a noble or mert?” he asked, eyeing me skeptically.

  “Mert.”

  “Prove it.”

  Huh? How does one prove a css or profession if the perso use Identify?

  “How?” I asked him.

  He looked at me like an idiot and said, “How do you show yoods?”

  I winced in embarrassment and removed a box of merdise from my Ste. He still looked at me like an idiot, but opehe door and said, “You go in.”

  An obese man sat behind a stone desk, fnked by two guards. The fat maed me, “Good day, esteemed healer; how I help you today? I’m not aware of an issue that needs a healer.”

  “I’m also a mert and would like to exge s.”

  “You’re a healer and a mert?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Yes. I also have a question,” I said, actively listening with my Sense Hoy skill.

  “Yes?” he prompted.

  “I made some sales in Rusha and was attacked by criminals. How I be sure I won’t be attacked again if you or the guards know how much money I have?”

  “You came from Rusha? That’s far,” the fat man said, his eyes widening slightly in surprise. He leaned ba his chair and waved his hand dismissively. “As for me or the guards, don’t worry. The first time a er gets attacked after visiting me, I’ll lose my business and my writ from the .”

  Sensing nothing amiss, I rexed.

  I kept all my gold and jewelry in an antique woodehat reminded me of a pirate chest (the esthetics appealed to me), but the silver and copper I kept in a round pstic wash basin. When I took it out, the fat man stared at it momentarily in plete bewilderment. Unsure of whether his rea was about the amount or the tainer, I chose not to ask. I was getting used to “the look,” but still didn’t like it.

  He shook his head slightly and said, “I charge a copper for every five gold s exged.”

  I nodded and started ting.

  After I finished ting all of it, I had an idea. I didn’t want to summon my barrel with the copper after the look he gave me and didn’t want to summon it in pouches; they were too uniform to show them in bulk. So, I trated and summoned only the copper s. It was more plicated. I think because they were in pouches inside a barrel, and my success was fifty-fifty. A big mound of coppers filled my basin with a few still in pouches. Well, at least no barrel.

  He took one , exami, and said, “I never came across s like these. They are too big and too uniform. Where did you get them?”

  “I’m from the isnds in the south,” I replied.

  “I know of those isnds and had some s from there. They didn’t look like this.”

  That surprised me. With the speed of travel here and the distance, I didn’t expeybody to know about the isnds. Thinking fast, I said, “All my family are isnd merts. Our trading house got many of these s from a trading ship from another ti. All their s were like this, and they paid everywhere almost exclusively with copper. So now, we have many of those s on the isnd.”

  He looked surprised and asked, “A ship came from Sovily? How did they mao pass the whirlpools?”

  This man was too well-informed, so I closed the versation fast. “I have no idea; I didn’t evehem. That’s all I know, and the information is sedhand from family members.”

  He looked disappointed, and I just tinued ting.

  After I finished ting and he double-checked everything, he owed me 361 gold. I had a few more silvers and coppers I held back for ge. He was eying the pouches with great i, and I said, “Would you be ied in those pouches instead of me paying you in s for the exge?”

  “Hoouches?” he asked.

  “How much do I owe you?”

  “Seven silver and three coppers.”

  “Their price is one silver each. I’ll give you eight for the exge.”

  “How many do you have?”

  “A lot.”

  He thought momentarily and said, “I want thirty, and I will pay two gold. Will this be acceptable?”

  I agreed, and we pleted the deal. Having gold instead of copper was muicer, and now I had ay barrel for the long swords.

  Back at the inn, I checked the Map, zooming out to see the entire ti. I had only dohis once before, and it seemed like I barely moved. Now, I could see that I traveled quite a distance. I tried to calcute the distance I had traveled on foot, bicycle, and ship and pare it to the US and how far I would have gotten. I cluded this ti was the size of Europe, Africa, and the Americas, all squished together.

  In this view, the distao the Gate was about two timeters. But when I zoomed in again, it became clear it was still far away. Estimating my pa foot, it could take two more months to reach there directly. Finding direct roads would allow me to pedal for a month.

  The idea of walking for awo months wasn’t appealing. I loved Shimoor and its beauty, and to my surprise, discovered I was outdoorsy. But I had my fill of nature for now. To pedal for a month also didn’t sound appealing; it souoo much of a physical workout. I found a tributary on the Map in the dire I needed. It was further west and then curved to the south. It had a point within two or three days’ walk from the Gate. I activated my Luck again, and it pointed right to the Gate. I was right; the answers were in another world.

  I copied the Map se from Talis to the Gate on a big page. After going downstairs and calling Stretch, we headed to the docks. On the way, I asked Stretch, “You ehe trip we took on the ship, right?” and got an agreement.

  “So, you saw that boats are not that bad, right?”

  He looked at me, and I got a sense of suspi, so I said, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to try taking you on the small boat you don’t like.” He rexed, so I tinued, “But we might o take a smaller boat than the oraveled here. It will be much bigger than the boat you don’t like but smaller than the oraveled on.” There was a hint of uainty from him, along with a tentative agreement. My transtion was, “I’m reserving judgment.”

  I found the port office quickly this time. After twenty minutes in line, I approached the clerk and showed him my map sketch. “Good day, sir. I o get to this point on the map. Are ships going there, or I hire a boat to take me there?”

  He examined my map and asked, “Why, there is nothing there, just wilderness.”

  “Yes, I know. I’m meeting family members for a hunting trip. This is the map they gave me of the location.”

  He hummed under his breath and said, “No boats are going there–there is nothing there. Che the other side of the river at the fishers’ dock; maybe somebody will agree to take you there for a fee.”

  “Thank you.”

  We crossed the river over the closest bridge and approached the first person I saw. “Excuse me, sir, you poio the fishers’ dock?”

  He poio the west and said, “Head straight, you’ll find it by the smell.”

  “Thank you.”

  The smell made it easy to find—it hit me when I got close. There were a lot of fishing boats, and they all looked simir. Ft bottom, pretty square except for the curve of the boat’s bow, one mast with a sail, and a deckhouse.

  I asked Stretch quietly, “You think you handle a boat that size?” And sensed a hesitant approval from him.

  “Thanks, buddy. I owe you one.”

  I searched for someone eared to be in charge but couldn’t find anyone. Finally, I approached a boat with two men on it and waved to them. One came closer and asked, “What do you want?”

  “I’m looking to hire a boat to take me somewhere. Do you know who is open to such a deal?”

  He got off the boat, approached me, and asked, “Where?”

  I showed him the map and poio where I wao go. “Here.”

  “There’s nothing there.”

  “I know. I’m meeting family for a hunting trip.”

  He nodded and said, “Yes, many mukar, sipors and deer.” He said deer, in English, not a transtion. That was a surprise.

  He scratched his cheek and said, “I take you. It will take two to three weeks and cost you three silver a day. You will pay me for two weeks when we head out, and if it takes longer, pay each day.”

  Sensing nothing fishy from him, I asked, “When we leave?”

  “Tomorrow early m.”

  After we shook hands, Stretd I returo the inn. From my previous cruise, I discovered that the weeks here were six days long, not seven. The journey will st approximately twelve to eighteen days. Not bad.

  I checked the food supply and saw we had enough, but I wao ore, just in case. There wasn’t enough time to leave the city ie afternoon. I approached the innkeeper and asked, “ I pay you to use your kit to cook?”

  He ughed and said, “When you get married, you’ll discover it’s not your kit anymore.”

  His ent hit me hard. I was married, happily, and lost it. I felt choked and had tears in my eyes.

  He noticed and asked worriedly, “You alright, d?”

  Nodding, I turo hide my fad headed to my room. I just y on my bed in my room, tears streaming down my face. It was close to two and a half years since Sophie died. I overcame my grief and was much better, but not pletely healed yet.

  On my way to the dock the following day, I stopped at every food vendor I saw and bought food. The early sele wasn’t impressive, but si was a “just in case” food, it wasn’t a big deal.

  I needed a few mio locate the boat. It docked in a different location, but I reized the sailor I talked to yesterday. When he saw me, he waved me over and yelled, “e aboard.”

  When I approached, he looked at Stretd said, “You didn’t say anything about a dog ing with you.”

  “Since he was with me yesterday and you didn’t say anything, I assumed you had no problem with a dog. He traveled with me on a ship from Rusha to Talis with no problem. He does his business in a bowl, and I throw it overboard. I’m also a healer with the spell, so I everything if he has an act. But from experiehere is no need. We traveled for almost four weeks, and he had no acts.”

  He grunted and said, “It will cost you four silver and five copper a day with the dog.”

  I still sensed nothing fishy or suspicious, so I agreed with a nod and gave him five gold and five silver. He checked the s one by one by biting them, and it took immense power to stop myself from ughing. I saw it in movies, but didn’t believe people did it in real life.

  He saw something on my fad asked, “What’s so funny?”

  “I’m happy we reached an agreement, and I start the journey. My family is waiting for me there, and I don’t want to dey.”

  With a wave, he signaled for me to follow him. He led me around the boat’s deckhouse, where I spotted two young men handling ropes. Pointing at them, he said, “My sons Jul and Rin, I’m called Romas, but everybody calls me Ro.”

  “o meet you, Captain Ro; my name is John, and this is Stretch.”

  “No captain, this is no ship, just Ro.”

  He led me into the deckhouse. The door opened into a tiryway with three doors. He poi the right-side door and said, “You and y stay in this room, and my boys and I will stay iher. My wife ed it the best she could, but we are w men, so don’t expect a ship’s luxury.”

  He opehe door opposite the entrance, and I saw it antry. There were shelves with food on them and a big water barrel. “We don’t have a galley here.” said Ro, “We eat hardtack, jerky, cheese, aables. Don’t drink from the river. Fill this barrel and drink only from it. It’s a mage barrel spelled to purify the water.”

  That excited me—my first magical item!

  “ I exami? I’m ied in magical items.”

  He looked at me suspiciously and said, “You said you are a healer and hunter; why are you so ied in magical items?”

  “I’m no hunter; my family members are the hunters. I join them as a healer, just in case. I’m fasated by magical items. Don’t worry. I won’t do anything to the barrel. I want to exami to figure out how the mages do it. It’s a hobby.”

  He nodded and said, “You look.”

  Despite casting my light ball and examining the barrel from all sides, I found nothing. “Do you know where the magic is? I don’t see anything.”

  He shook his head and said, “I don’t know anything about magic. I know it e ten gold, and my boys and I never got sick from drinking the river water.”

  “ I empty it to examihe inside?”

  “It will cost you a silver, and you’ll have to fill it up after you exami. But not now; we o set sail. I’ll tell you when.” And I nodded in agreement.

  He joined his boys, and we went to our room. It was tiny! There were two narrow bunk beds attached to the wall, a bucket in the er that, judging by the smell, was the chamber pot, and maybe forty timeters of space between the bunk beds and the opposite wall. Just being inside made me custrophobic. I cast and Purify on the chamber pot and, just in case, ohing else. Stretch didn’t look or feel too impressed, either. I scratched his ear and said, “We will spend most of our time outside, don’t worry.”

  He sent me a sense of cold, and I said, “It didn’t snow for a week, and I saw some flowers he river. Spring is here, so no more snow.”

  I got uainty from him.

  “If it snows or rains, we’ll find a solution.”

  We watched them navigate the boat out of the dog area. They had oars on the boat with a metal ring to secure them to the railing and used them to navigate out. I went to the back of the boat, looking for a spot out of the way. There was a strong smell of fish everywhere, and not fresh fish. I diligently ed the entire back se of the boat, repeatedly casting and Purify until it was impeccably and had no trace of odor. Better.

  After arranging Stretch’s bs, I treated him to a tasty breakfast of barbequed chi, anized my camp table with a chair, and enjoyed breakfast with coffee. The issue of coffee orip had me worried. They allowed me to use the galley to make more on the ship.

  On our jouro the tributary, we sailed peacefully down the river, allowio unwind and enjoy the calm. It was ued. Our boat sailed faster than the ship I had arrived on.

  The coffee issue bugged me, so I looked in the Spells list and found the spell Heat in the Fire Discipliion. Again, it was a eled spell, but this one cost 1 Ability Point, not two. At least that. After buying it, I took out a pot, filled it with water, and eled the spell. Ihan a mihe water was boiling. The moment I stopped eling the spell, my hand got burned from the pot.

  Oww!

  After healing myself, I wondered about it. When I eled the spell, the heat didn’t bother me. The moment it stopped, I got burned. I pointed my hand to the sky, eled the spell with the smallest amount of mana possible, and sensed with my mana what was happening with my hand. A barrier on my palm art of the spell, on top of the heating aspect. While eling it, I tried to analyze everything about the barrier: its thiess, its position on my palm, the may within it, and its overall “feel.” I tried to learn it and replicate the same pattern on my hand.

  Recalling my mana shield, I cast it on myself. Again, I tried to analyze it with my senses. I cast it again and again, learning it. Once again, I eled the Heat spell, split my mind, cast the shield, and pared betweewo. They were simir yet distinct. The mana shield was thin but had a “thiess” and “prote” fvor or feel. The barrier was the same thiess but had a “yers” fvor. I cast them repeatedly, zeroing in on the different fvors until I could easily distinguish them.

  I started pying with my mana and tried to recreate the barrier. It kept dissipating into the surrounding mana. Based on my experiments with the jurbers, I created a bubble around my hand. I had to actively maintain its bubble shape. Otherwise, it dissipated. I practiced exerting less and less trol over it without letting it dissipate. It was a long process, but gradually I improved.

  When I could “keep it together” with almost no effort, I switched again to a barrier shape. It was harder to prevent the dissipation. Something about the bubble shape made it easier to keep it whole, maybe because the bubble had no boundaries. With this thought, I tried to “close” the barrier boundaries. It was still ft, not a sphere, so the ma dissipating, but slowly, I could “lock” it more and more to prevent, or at least slow, the dissipation. When I reached a point where I could keep one millimeter of mana for almost three minutes before it dissipated, the red light started blinking.

  You have learned [Mana Manipution]

  YES!!

  The sun was setting, and I felt lightheaded. It shocked me that I had spent over ten hours pying with my mana. I checked my mana: 120/7200. Wow! It was full when I started. It was a surprise I had spent so much. I checked my Profile, and I had Mana Manipution [Novice] uhe Wizard Css.

  Stretch was dozing on his bs with his head on my foot, and I was starving. As I took some food, he woke up and appeared very ied. I fed us both and y down tee. I hysically aally exhausted. As soon as I set up the camp mattress and my sleeping bag, I settled down tee and was asleep in a fsh, less than a mier.