Lis found a local illing to take us on his boat along the Li River in search of a suitable parking spot for our houses. Fortunately, he had studied ese for all his Tai Chi books, a skill we didn’t prioritize as most people spoke English. Most of the time, it was somewhat broken English, but we uood and saw no point in spending the mana.

  When Rue saw the boat, he yelled in our minds, “No! No! Boat!”

  Lis looked at him, and I could see they were talking, but they kept it between them. After a minute, Rue hung his head, tucked his tail between his legs, sighed deeply, and got on the boat.

  I looked at Lis in amazement and asked, “How did you do that?”

  “I reminded him that he’s not the only one here, and sometimes friends should be siderate of friends.”

  Hmm, good idea. I hope it works for me, too.

  The smaller boat we were on was charming—rustic, but firm. It was a traditional wooden raft with a bamboo roof that shaded us from the sun. The deck was low and open, givihe sensation of gliding just above the water. Every gentle sway of the boat sent a slight ripple through the river, and I could feel the motion in my boeady, calming.

  The wood looked weathered from all the trips up and down the river. Woven bamboo lihe sides, adding a certain rustic charm that made the whole setup feel like it had been around forever. I could hear the faint hum of the small engine, reminding me we weren’t totally at the mercy of the river’s current.

  This wasn’t some fancy yacht h-tech craft; it was simple, reliable, and somehow felt right against those t, e-shaped hills. We blended in with the sery, not just passed it by.

  The boat cut through the calm waters, the gentle pping of the river against the hull a soothing rhythm. A cool breeze brushed against my skin, carrying with it the earthy st of damp soil, fresh vegetation, and some indistinct stink that was less pleasant but somehow added to the ambiance. We sailed along the river for two hours until we saromising area. This was the first area where, even with the binocurs, I didn’t see any people.

  The boat brought us as close to the bank as possible, a into the water that reached our knees. Whe up on shore, Rue approached Lis, shook himself to get rid of the water, aed him with dog water. I ughed quietly; he agreed to cooperate but still o express his opinion in some other way.

  We walked about fifteen minutes from the bank and found a ft area between three hills with enough space for our houses.

  I g Lis, frowning. “I’m pretty sure people still travel here; how we expin the presence of our houses?”

  Lis smiled. “Don’t worry,” he said calmly, “we have a solution.”

  We removed both houses, and Alfonsen’s jaw almost hit the floor. He stared at the two houses like he’d just seen a ghost, his eyes wide as saucers, his breath caught between a gasp and a ugh. Then, as if his legs could no longer support him, he just plopped down on his butt, shaking his head in disbelief, but said nothing.

  Mahya and Lis removed a stack of poles with runes engraved on them. Mahya approached me, holding one pole out, and said, “I need one drop of your blood on this.”

  “What is this thing?”

  “A formation to ceal our houses and pel anyone approag to move elsewhere.”

  “That’s amazing! Where did you get that?” I asked, genuinely impressed.

  “I made them. That’s what I do as part of my css, not just ons. I used the trees from the dungeon we colpsed,” Mahya said, sounding proud.

  “Not from the Tuorees?”

  She looked at me funny and said, “No, the wood from Tuone was used for your house.”

  “I know that. I just thought you had some left,” I said defensively—I wasn’t that much of a clueless idiot.

  “No, we used all of it, along with some young wood from the dungeon, for the interior and smaller pos such as the railings and steps,” she expined. “That reminds me: Give me some of the dungeon wood. I’m almost out and want to create a set of formation poles for us; I’m giving this oo Lis.”

  I took out all the wood I had from the dungeon. An enormous pile of wood dropped on the ground in front of me. Mahya had to jump back to avoid being buried u and gave me a death gre.

  “Oops! Sorry! I fot there was so much of it.” I said sheepishly.

  She shook her head, looking exasperated. “I don’t need all of it, just some.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t at all. With your profession, you use it more than me.”

  “Fine.” She still didn’t sound happy.

  o self: Don’t bury Mahya under a pile of wood—that pisses her off.

  After Mahya and Lis pced all the poles, Lis turo me and gave me a pointed look. “I need you to practiana manipution,” he said firmly.

  “Why?” I asked, tilting my head.

  “I know how you could teach me spells and maybe even learn some from me, but you need good mana trol.

  “I thought you didn’t know how and needed me to find a solution,” I replied, fused.

  “Yes, at first, but Lyura told me that her mother taught her all the spells she knew; I asked her how, and she expined.”

  “How?”

  “Her mother is a witch, so she manipute mana like you. She flowed her mana into Lyura, took trol of her mana, and directed it to cast the spell repeatedly until Lyura could cast it herself. I also believe that if you stream your mana into me while I cast a spell, you will feel and copy it, but we o see if it will work,” Lis expined.

  “That sounds plicated,” I admitted, ed.

  “Yes, that’s why I need you to practice,” Lis said, nodding and giving me another pointed look.

  “Fine, I will,” I sighed.

  I gave Alfohe room that Lis used to sleep in, and as an excellent host, I even cast and Purify iire room. I showed him how to use the shower and toilet a him with a book in the mezzanine above the kit.

  Lis and Mahya settled into my spell room with a lot of small metal parts and a highly plex blueprint, and I looked for a nearby water source. I wao start my training with the easiest element for me. I found a stream two hundred meters from our houses and sat down to practice my mana trol.

  How is it that I lift a damn thirty-kilo sh a fliy mind, but a single drop of water fights me like I’m trying to move a mountain?

  It was like wrestling with the wind—nothing to hold on to or trol. But there was no way I was letting a bit of water to get the best of me. I dug deeper, gritting my teeth, determio make it bend to my will, even if it took all night.

  As a first step, I repeated the exercise of feeling the mana all around me and log all the pockets and then switched to trolling the mana ier. When studying to perform the familiar ritual, I already practiced trolling the mana, but now I added the element taining the mana, which was more challenging. I sehe mana enpassed whatever I was moving or lifting with telekinesis, but when I tried to feel the spell stru, I still had trouble separating its various aspects. It felt like a tiny story with multiple feelings and iions, and it was too plicated for my current level of uanding.

  I returo using mana to move the water, and the more I focused my attention on it, the more trol I could exert. It felt like if I became part of the water, it would obey me, but as long as I was separate, it didn’t want to cooperate. Immersing my mind and attention ier, I felt as fluid and ected as the water itself. I sensed my flow, felt the stones I passed over, noticed the flick of a fish’s tail, felt the wind causile eddies on me, and hoart of me sank into the earth. I lost myself eo the sensation and didn’t feel the passage of time.

  As I opened my eyes, I realized it was dark. Alfonsen was standio me, shaking me by my shoulder.

  “Lis and Mahya told me to find you and tell you to cook dinner; Mahya wants seaks,” he said.

  “Thanks,” I replied, sitting up and stretg.

  Despite sitting there for a long time, my body remained rexed and filled with energy. I felt like I had expanded and bee oh the world while I was the water. I checked my mana: 8900/8900. My mana had increased by a hundred points. I sensed my mana system and could determihe progress was in my spirit power ter, and was gd about it. I believed Lis when he said that my mana would rise with adva, but there was still a niggling worry at the bay mind that I had achieved all the adva I could physically aionally and had only the mind optio.

  I set out the barbeque, grilling the steaks alongside a cold pasta sad. The aroma filled the air as we all gathered for dinner.

  Alfoook a bite, his brow furrowing in fusion. “What is this? I have never eaten anything like it,” he asked, his curiosity piqued.

  “Level fifty mana snake,” Mahya replied casually, a small smile on her lips.

  Alfonsen’s eyes widened in shock, and I asked, “Those snakes were level fifty?”

  Lis and Mahya ughed, exging amused gnces. “Of course, you fot to use Identify,” Mahya teased, her tone light.

  “Hey, I only saw one snake and was occupied with its underground trag and subsequent killing,” I said indignantly, crossing my arms. They were not being fair.

  “John dear,” Mahya said in a desding tone, patting my shoulder, “you have an additional assig on top of the mana training: Identify anything you see—and I mean anything—until it bees sed nature. See a person and identify them. See a beast, Identify it. You o train yourself to use it.”

  There was nuing with Mahya whe that tone, so I nodded and sighed, leaning back slightly. “Nothing is iing here. All the people are shown as ued men or women, and the stuff dispys their names. I will do this exercise in our world; please remind me, or I’ll fet about it again.”

  She and Lis ughed again, nodding in agreement.

  “Where did you find a level 50 snake?” Alfonsen asked, still incredulous.

  We told him about our Tuone adventure, and he looked at us with admiration but was also a bit green, especially when he heard about the mommy snake.

  After dinner, I returo my mana practice; I wasn’t tired and didn’t want to dey Lis. I couldn’t bear the thought of disappointing Lis. He was ting on me, and I couldn’t stand the idea of being the reaso a dead end. I wasn’t just practig for myself anymore; this was for him too. That thought alo me going, pushing through the fatigue and the growing frustration. I o prove—to myself, as much as to Lis—that I could do this. I would have liked him to stay with us indefinitely, but I knew how excited he was about the Dragon Pin and wao be a good friend.

  This time, I challenged myself and sehe mana in the ground and stohe ground was easier, but the rocks were harder. Little by little, the more I became part of it, the easier it became to ect with the rocks. At a certain point, I became the stoself. I noticed my density pared to the water while feeling porous and my enduring nature. I felt I wasn’t all stone, but had small metal traces. That surprised me so much that my attention was “thrown out” of the rock.

  Again, I ected to the rod, this time, explored the metal as well. I spent the entire night immersed in the ground, the stones, and the metal fkes. Eventually, I gained a deep uanding of the rock—its position and structure—and began influeng it. I gradually brought the mana ihe stone under my trol and started molding it. I couldn’t force the mana to do as I wanted, but I had to coax it to do my bidding and in the right dire. It felt less like trol over it and more like a partnership, and it was terrific.

  After coaxing the mana to do as I wanted, I opened my eyes and had a perfect stone ball sitting on my palm, the size of my fist. Instead of an asymmetrical piece of rock, I held a perfect ball, free from any cracks ns of ge.

  My red light was blinking, and I checked it.

  Mana Manipution [Adept] >> Mana trol [Novice]

  The red light was still blinking.

  Maation - 8 >> Mana Oneness [Novice]

  And it was still blinking.

  Wizard Battle Master Level 3Level up+3 to all stats.Wizard Battle Master Level 4

  Finally!

  TravelingDreamer