We crossed the Gate to Earth. With Rue’s new size, I was thrilled I didn’t have to carry him through the Gate. Oh's side, it was raining cats and dogs like my mom used to say, and we were soaked through in seds. I wasn’t cold, just wet. I wondered if it was because of my higher stats, but decided it didn’t matter.

  I activated my ability to gmor myself and then Rue. Luckily, my mana reserves had increased signifitly because that alone e 800 mana. After that, I jured a neort for myself and dots for Rue. Another 400 mana was gone. Recalling the world information from the Traveler, I looked at my passport, whiow showed a young man with brown hair and eyes resembli different. The problem was the ill read John Rue.

  I asked Lis, “I jured a new ID, but my name didn’t ge. What am I doing wrong?” I frowned, staring at the unged name on my passport.

  Lis looked up from his passport and expined, “You o ge your name in your Personal Information; the new name will appear on the dots. Sorry, I fot to tell you.”

  “Remember when you told me to stop thanking you? Stop apologizing. If I don’t ask something, it’s my fault, not yours.” I waved off his apology with a grin.

  He nodded, smiling slightly. “Okay.”

  I opened my Personal Information and thought of a name. I preferred to remain John, avoiding the o adjust to a new name, but I wanted a different st name. Smith was the only hat came to mind, but I felt embarrassed by its banality. Finally, I had an idea: In high school, some bullies ered me, and one of them grabbed me. I pushed him with all my strength, and he flew a few feet and hit a dumpster. After that, they started callihe Psycho. Some cheerleaders thought they were cute and niamed me John the Ripper. In defiand as a private joke, I ged the name on my profile to John Ripper and jured a neort with the least it only cost 100 mana.

  I looked at Rue, eared unged. It was odd since I paid the mana. Again, I asked Lis, “Why does Rue look the same? I paid the mana for his gmour.” I gestured towards Rue, who sat obediently beside me.

  Lis g Rue, then back at me. “He is part Traveler now, and your familiar. Travelers always see the true form of araveler. Did my eyes look glowing green or dull brown when you met me?”

  “Glowing green,” I replied, recalling our first enter.

  “My eyes are always gmoured on tech or low mana worlds to look brown; you simply see through the gmour.” He tapped the side of his head, indig the magical perception.

  “How do I see his gmoured form?” I squi Rue, trying to figure it out.

  “Unfocus your eyes with the iion of seeing the gmour,” Lis instructed, his toient.

  It took a few tries, but I got it. Rue looked like ara-rge Saint Bernard. I worried he’d look like a Great Dane, and his fur wouldn’t match the gmour.

  I asked Lis, “How e his size is the same?” I tilted my head, still puzzled by the unged dimensions.

  “Gmour ges appearanot physical dimensions; you still occupy the same space. It is not a physical ge but a magical illusion.” Lis expined, his hands mimig the idea of one form onto another.

  Yeah, that made se wasn’t a shifting spell but a “look different” spell.

  “I hope I find a pawn shop in Baden-Baden. I didn’t save ah money since I didn’t think I was ing back,” I said, gng at the nearby town on the Map.

  “Don’t worry,” Lis said, waving off my . “I have local money.”

  “Why?”

  “Low mana worlds usually have very few Gates. I wanted a nice brief vacation after my ordeal, not to be stuck there for months going from Gate to Gate looking for an iing world. I po e back here and look fate. There are a lot of them here and ways to travel fast. It made more sense.” Lis ughed, shaking his head. “Maybe our bined Luck made me fet.”

  I chuckled, nodding in agreement. “Maybe.”

  I took out my backpad strapped it on to look like a hiker. Lis saw it, said, “Good idea,” and copied me.

  We walked fast to escape the rain, not talking for a while. Our boots made squelg sounds with each step on the muddy trail. There were puddles all along the path, refleg the gray sky above and spshing water on my wet pants every time I stepped wrong. It rained nonstop, turning the fallen leaves into a slippery mat. The air smelled like wet earth and dead leaves.

  I was in my head, cheg if I reacted badly to returning to Earth. But so far, I was fine. I knew I’d healed a lot in Shimoor a go of a lot of nasty shit, but sometimes things get re-ignited. But no, I was fine. I didn’t feel like I was ing home or returning. It was just another world to travel.

  Oskirts of Baden-Baden, a police cruiser stopped beside us, and a cop approached. The rain was still ing down hard, making the entire se tense.

  I told Lis quietly, “Let me ha.” He nodded, stepped back slightly, and gave me space to i with the officer.

  The police officer said, “Guten Tag, die Herren.” He g Rue, who sat beside me.

  “Hello, officer. I’m sorry, but we don’t speak German,” I replied, trying to sound as polite as possible.

  “Hello, gentlemen. You must put y on a leash. You ot walk with a free dog iown,” the officer poi Rue.

  “I’m sorry. We were camping, and the rain started. So we packed quickly a, but somehow, in our haste, we lost the leash. I promise we’ll buy one in town, but we must get out of the rain; we’re freezing,” I said, shivering slightly to emphasize our situation.

  “November is not a good time for camping,” the officer remarked, raising an eyebrow at our poor pnning.

  “Yes, we found that out,” I responded with a rueful smile, hoping to vey enuine mistake.

  Nodding, he returo the cruiser and drove off. That was nice of him.

  There was snow the st time I crossed the Gate, so it was winter. It had been about a month and a half in “Shimoor time,” but it looked like at least six months had passed oh. Having been in Shimoor for about fifteen or sixteen months, I wished to know the date but hesitated to ask the officer.

  Whe to town, I led Lis to the Holiday Inn Express, where I stayed st time. We got a double room, and they were okay with Rue. I gave them a mental thumbs up. I saw some neers on a lobby table and checked the date: November 7th, 2026. Four years had passed oh since I left. I k would happen, but it was still jarring.

  In our room, after drying Rue and sh, I asked Lis, “Did you learn any other Earth nguage?” I tossed the towel aside and took out a shirt.

  Lis, sitting on the bed and flipping through a guidebook, replied, “No, only English. There was no need.” He shrugged, looking up from the pages.

  “I think we should go to the UK,” I suggested, putting on my shirt.

  “Not America? It is bigger, and they speak English too, correct?” Lis asked, tilting his head and raising an eyebrow.

  “Yes, it’s also my home try, but they know about the Gates,” I expined, sitting on the edge of the bed to put on my shoes.

  “How?” Lis closed the guidebook and leaned forward, looking worried.

  “I have no idea, but out of eleven Gates, eight were on army bases, so I don’t want to take a ce,” I said, shaking my head as I tied my ces.

  “Yes, I agree,” Lis nodded, his expression serious.

  “I’ll get you the engineering books.”

  “Thank you,” Lis said, a grateful smile spreading across his face.

  I moved one bed and started summoning my bookcases one by one, pulling all the relevant books I could find:

  Meical Engineering (4 books)Automobile Engineering (3 books)Chemical EngineeringAerospagineeringputer Engineering (3 books)Industrial EngineeriryMathematics (5 books)Physics (3 books)Engineering Drawing (7! Books)ThermodynamicsSolid Meics (3 books)PineeringTransportation EngineeringMaterials EngineeringStructural Engineering (5 books)Draftironigineering (2 books)Optical EngineeringManufacturing EngineeringMae DrawingFluid Meics (3 books)Manufacturing TeologySketgKiiaeryMeical Measurements (2 books)Heat and Mass TransferLinear Algebra and Ordinary Differential EquationsIntrodu to Electrical aronic CircuitsData Structures and AlgorithmsModern Physics (5 books)Abstras and Paradigms in ProgrammingEngineering Graphid DrawingAutomata Theory and Logic (2 books)Artificial Intelligenputer Architecture (3 books)puter worksEngineering Schematitrol Systems Engineering (4 books)Enviroal Engineerieical EngineeringHydrauligineeringBiomeical Engineering (3 books)Marine EngineeringNuclear Engineering (3 books)Petroleum EngineeringSoftware Engineeriile EngineeringRobotics (3 books)Nanoteology (2 books)MechatronicsApplied Meics (5 books)I emptied the third bookcase of relevant subjects, and Lis looked dazed. He stared at the pile of books on the bed with excitement and fear. I stopped, even though I had seven more bookcases and many book crates.

  I patted him on the back. “Have fun.”

  He looked at me wide-eyed, gulped audibly, shook his head, and stored all the books. Puy had no idea what awaited him. I had a lot more books. Mwahahaha ?.