The day, as the sun dipped below the horizon, we finally reached my destination. Ro expertly dropped anchor with practiced ease. I could see the satisfa in his eyes as he secured the boat.

  Jul and Rin quickly joined in, helpiake down my tent. Rin fshed me a grin, his hands deftly w at the nails, while Jul gave a nod of encement. I felt a surge of appreciation for their assistance.

  Once I stored the tent, I turo them, a smile tugging at my lips. “Thanks for everything, guys,” I said, shaking their hands firmly.

  Their surprise arent—eyes widening slightly as they looked at me. I reached into my poud handed each of them a silver . “Just a small token of my thanks,” I added, my voice filled with genuine gratitude.

  Jul’s eyes softened, and a smile spread across his face as he took the . Rin’s eyebrows lifted in surprise, but he quickly matched Jul’s smile, his expression turning into one of appreciation.

  They heir smiles refleg their gratitude. The mome warm and sincere, marking the end of our jourogether.

  Standing on the riverbank, I watched the boys skillfully mahe boat with their oars. To my astonishment, the boat executed a perfect U-turn, defying my expectations. I waved a st farewell, and they waved back before we turned our backs to the river and tinued on our way.

  After a leisurely two-hour stroll, we arrived at a charming grassy area—ideal for setting up camp. I quickly set up the gmpi and got a fire going. We settled in, relishing the wide-open spad the freedom to move around—something we’d sorely missed while cooped up on the boat.

  I opehe Map and zoomed out. It looked like we were right on top of the Gate. Zooming in revealed a few mountains we’d o cross to reach it. I checked my Luck; the dire still poioward the Gate, and the “take your time” feeling was still gohough there was no pressing urgency. So, I decided to camp in the clearing for a few days, cook some meals, and reacquaint myself with solid ground.

  It seemed I jinxed myself with the decision to stay. That night, the rain started and didn’t let up for almost five days. It wasn’t a torrential downpour, just a steady, persistent rain. I was relieved I’d set up the gmpi and put the bamboo fl. Otherwise, we would have been wading through mud.

  We spent most of those days ient. Stretch mostly napped or sought affe while I immersed myself in mana exploration. I felt the mana in the air, the pnts, the rain, and the ground. At one point, I sank my sciousness into the earth and ied it—the mana and the very substance of the ground. I learo use less and less mana while probing until I could send out a tendril of 50 mana and use it like a delicate probe.

  I didn’t attempt to create spells, influenything, or alter my mana’s fvor. Through exploration, I simply learned. Each element had a distinct mana “fvor.” The grou “solid,” “sturdy,” “enduring,” and “strong.” The air was “light,” “traveling,” or “moving.” Pnts exuded “life,” “growth,” and “nourishment.” The rain was the most surprising. After experimenting with purifying river water, I noticed rain tained more mana than anything else. As it got absorbed into the ground, it spread and enriched everything. It offered a fresh, exg perspective on nature’s cycles. I was so engrossed that the five days flew by in the blink of an eye.

  Ohe rain stopped, the ground was still too soggy to move on. I stayed a few more days to let it dry out. I lit a fire, cooked various dishes from my Ste, and made three sagnas. After the third one, I figured I’d try my hand at baking something else, so I tackled an apple pie. The first attempt was a disaster—burnt oside and raw in the middle. I tried to trol the heat better and used my mana practice to help. I covered my pie in coals and e in a mana bubble to mahe heat. It wasn’t easy. I threw out six ruined pies, but made signifit progress with my mana trol and mana bubble skills.

  Cheg my Wizard css abilities, I saw that my Mana Sensing had advao [Junior] and my Mana Manipution to [Apprentice]. Junior sounded lower than Apprentice, but I guessed this system might work differently. Despite the adva, I still hadn’t made an edible apple pie.

  After two days of pie failures, the ground finally looked dry enough to walk on without sinking. We set out, enjoying the peacefulness of nature. I particurly appreciated the freedom of movement after the cramped ditions on the boat.

  In the evening, I tried a new pie recipe, this time using peaches instead of apples. The sed attempt was edible, but not much else.

  The following day, we kept walking, and around midday, I felt the Gate’s presence like a guiding bea. Sing the area, I spotted a mountaintop about two hours away that seemed to be the source. Oh, I’d noticed the distance I could sehe Gate increased with my progress ie Traveler css. But since I hadn’t adva on Shimoor, the longer distance surprised me.

  We reached the mountain and began the climb. It wasn’t overly steep, but it wasly easy either. When we reached the top, the se looked oddly familiar—two round, ft boulders that resembled tree stumps made of stone. I turned around and took in the view. It was the same spot I’d visited before. I even pared it to the photos I’d taken earlier in Shimoor. It was unmistakably the same pce.

  I approached the gate ahe inscription:

  Travelers Gate #468217258Destinatioh/Gaia/TerraStatus: UedMana level: 4Teology level: LowThreat level: Humans–moderate. Other beings–very high.

  The mana level had increased, but this was my first Gate.

  I said to Stretch, “Wait here for me, buddy. I want to cheething, be ba a minute.”

  I cast Invisibility on myself to avoid startling any hikers and stepped through the Gate. Oh, it was the beginning or end of winter, with a light dusting of snow c everything. I activated my Lud sensed a dire to the west, but it felt off—as if I wasn’t supposed to be here.

  Returning through the Gate, I found a distressed Stretch pawing anxiously at the ground. I hugged him and reassured him, “Don’t worry. I won’t leave you, and always e back for you.” The sense of relief he projected nearly knocked me off my feet.

  I wao test something else that worried me, so I told Stretch, “This time, follow me through the Gate,” and stepped through agaie waiting a few minutes, Stretch didn’t appear. I went bad found him still anxious but slightly calmer. Something was wrong.

  Determined not to leave him behind and unwilling to settle in Shimoor, I searched for a solution. I came up with an idea, and told Stretch, “Stay close to me and walk with me through the Gate. Don’t stray, and don’t worry about the mana; it won’t hurt you.” I enveloped him in a mana bubble, ensuring it had no distinct fvor, so it was just my mana.

  “Walk as close as you to me,” I instructed, crossing ain. As I passed through the force field, I felt my mana bubble vanish. It didn’t colpse or dissipate; it simply disappeared. I rushed back to che Stretch. He was fine, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

  I sat there, thinking of possible solutions, but nothing came to mind. I sidered putting him in my Ste, but sihe ability description didn’t specify whether I could store living beings, I feared it might harm him.

  Activating my Luck again, it poiraight at the Gate with no sense ness. I told Stretch, “I think a Traveler might e through soon who could have answers. Maybe they’ll know how t you with me.”

  As it was getting te, we climbed back down, had dinner, and I pyed my guitar for a while.

  The following day, I woke up with a new idea. Maybe “sleeping on it” wasn’t just an expression. My belongings crossed over with me when I moved through the Gate, so perhaps the solution was to have Stretch be part of what I carry.

  We climbed up again. I lifted Stretto my shoulder in a fireman’s carry and walked through the Gate with him.

  YES!! Thank you, Jesus, God, Guiding Spirits, or whatever force was listening!!

  I felt like dang right there in the snow, but Stretch was whining—he wasn’t a fan of snow. I never uood why; his fur was thid fluffy, so he should have been okay with it, but he seemed to despise it.

  Crossing back to Shimoor with Stretch over my shoulder worked as before. I was thrilled and couldn’t tain my joy. I yelled at the top of my lungs, “YEAH!!” Pumping my fists in the air and wiggling my butt.

  Stretch gave me a disapproving side-eye.

  “Don’t look at me like that; I’m not crazy, just ecstatic I take you with me. I’m celebrating.”

  Stretch seemed to cat to the celebrating idea, howling loudly and wagging his tail enthusiastically.

  “Yes, buddy. That’s the spirit.”

  ______

  We stayed he Gate, waiting. Each m, I climbed up to tinue my mana practice by the Gate. Stretch either joined me or explored nearby, returning in the evening. Despite my ongoing struggle with baking, my pies showed slight improvement, and my mastery over the mana bubble improved even further, although it still couldn’t pare to having a proper oven.

  I was hoping the Traveler would show up soon. Waiting for months on end didn’t sound appealing.