I tinued w with Lis, teag him all my Healer spells. After each spell, Lis usually needed a day tee before we would move on to the spell. During his breaks, I tio practice with stones and had five stone balls in my fruit basket—or maybe now it was my “stones basket”?

  He had already learned Healing Toueutralize Poison, and Regrow Flesh. We were w on Fortify Life Force when Mahya came running and shouted, “I got it! I got it!”

  Lis had a massive smile on his face, but I was pletely unaware of the reason for her excitement. “What exactly did you get?”

  “Look!” she said and popped out a s.

  Uhe tutege of a gifted Magiteventor and Engineer, you have shown immeitude and a talent fical engineering.New css unlocked: [Magieer]Would you like to take the Magieer Css as your sub-css?Cost: 3 Ability PointsY/N

  “Are you going to take it?” I asked.

  “Of course not. I’m not taking a paid css; I’m not an idiot...” she replied, crossing her arms and giving me a look as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

  I winced, feeling the criticism. “... Now that I have unlocked the option, I will tio upgrade my achievements until I get it for free,” she added with a fident grin.

  I hugged her tightly, letting my pride and joy for her aplishment seep into my embrace. “gratutions!” I excimed.

  Turning to Lis, I asked. “I don’t uand something. You said that you ’t get double bes from the system. But Mahya bought her engineering skills from the system, so how did she unlock the css?”

  “We didn’t work with her acquired engineering skills; we worked with something pletely ued,” Lis expined, his toient.

  “So?” I asked, still not fully grasping it.

  “She acquired engineering skills in space exploration and artificial intelligence. We worked on vertio Magitech, which are two ued subjects. The Guidance doesn’t penalize you for buying skills, so even if you buy something, it will not stop you from expl different branches or aspects of a field of knowledge. You simply ’t get a css with the aid of bought skills.”

  “Cool! You found a back door!” I said enthusiastically.

  “No, we didn’t; we walked in the front door like kings,” Mahya corrected me, stig her to pyfully.

  I chuckled and said, “Hey, where did you learn that? Did Lis i you with the Zara disease?”

  Mahya burst out ughing, her joy tagious. Lis, looking slightly affronted, stuck his to as well. Like I said, the Zara disease. Mahya’s ughter only grew louder, and soon, I joined in. Lis shook his head, feigning annoyance, but the smile tugging at his lips gave him away.

  I tio work with Lis on spells, and he learned Fortify Life Ford ralize Curse. We switched to the spell Restore, but I couldn’t teach it to him no matter what we tried. After a bunch of frustrating attempts, I could feel the exhaustion creeping in. The Restore spell was like trying to assemble a puzzle where half the pieces were missing—and the ones we had just didn’t fit. Clearly, we weren’t getting anywhere, so we switched to Adaptable Light Ball. But that one was just as stubborn, like trying to push through mud. No matter what we did, it felt like the air itself was w against us, refusing to let anything e together smoothly. We switched to Absorb Mana, and he lear without the difficulties we experienced with the other two spells.

  “Did you buy the Restore and Adaptable Light Ball?” Lis asked, his eyes narrowing slightly as he pohe situation.

  “Yes.”

  “So, it could be that our difficulty stems from the fact that these are bought spells and not your spells. Perhaps the Guidance doesn’t allow you to teach bought spells,” Lis suggested, his tohoughtful.

  “It could very well be; otherwise, I ’t find any expnation,” I said, shrugging my shoulders in frustration.

  “Show me your personal information again,” Lis requested.

  I ope, and Lis peered at the information. “I see you have Spellbinding. It seems a bit out of character,” he noted, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

  I rubbed my nefortably, a flush of embarrassment creeping up my face. “I used it to rob my in-ws,” I admitted, my voice dropping to a sheepish mumble.

  Lis burst out ughing, his ughter eg around us. “Oh, that expins it. But keep in mind that this spell is useful in many less criminal situations, so don’t give it up,” he advised, wiping a tear of ughter from his eye.

  “Okay,” I agreed, still feeling awkward but uanding his point.

  “Let’s do aest to make sure our theory is correct. Teach me the spell Heat,” Lis suggested.

  The same thing happened again; no matter what we tried, I couldn’t teach him the spell. We exged looks of realization—this roof that the system doesn’t allow you to teach spells you didn’t “earn” on your own.

  “Okay, let’s switch. Look at my information and see ells you want,” Lis said, turning the tables with a grin.

  PERSONAL INFORMATION

  Name: Lissarom “Lis” MunyonAge: 29 (451)

  Dispy Css: Psionian Level 69Psionian Spells & Skills:

  Swordsmanship (25)Ethereal Bde (22)Psionic Bst (13)Mental Attack (17)Bded ons Mastery (23)Mind trol (12)Psychic Shield (15)fuse Senses (11)Mind Cleave (20)Dual Wielding (23)Create Illusions (9)Bde Telekinesis (10)Spellbind (5)Strike Dash (18)Mental Fortitude (15)Mesmerize (3)Telepathy (14)Hypnotize (5)Hidden Css: Gate Traveler Level 23Gates to the level: 111/268Gate Traveler Abilities:

  versionTravelers’ ArchiveIdentify (25)Ste x5 (8,000m3)Local Adaptation:Spoken LanguageWritten LanguageRunes/Magic ScriptMapOne of the ind IndexSub-Css 2: Schor Level 38Schor Skills:

  Indepehinking (25)Are Insight (20)Intellectual Vigor (19)Fast Search (21)Fht (19)Mind Pace (18)Cross Reference (19)itment to Tasks (11)Eidetic Memory (15)Resilien the Face of Adversity (6)Intellectual Hoy (12)Systematic Approach (3)Sub-Css 3: Magiteventor & Engineer Level 2Magiteventor & Engineer Skills:

  Designing (3)Innovation (2)Copy Blueprint (9)Profession: Researcher Level 57Researcher Skills:

  Attention to Detail (20)Data Synthesis (22)Innovative Thinking (18)Critical Thinking (12)Empirical Analysis (20)Problem-Solving (24)Resource Ma (19)itive Mapping (18)unication (17)Troubleshooting (23)Colboration (17)Knowledge Extra (15)Erase Previous Knowledge (6)Analytical Thinking (16)Analysis (14)Sub-Profession 1: Scrivener Level 14Scrivener Spells & Skills:

  Copy Text (21)agical Text (24)Perfect Visual Memory (19)Scroll Duplication (16)Illustration (6)Sub-Profession 2: Mert Level 10Mert Skills:

  Bargain (19)Sense Hoy (23)Appraisal (17)A Nose for Business (22)Iory (1)Sub-Profession 3: Alchemist Level 7Alchemist Skills:

  Potion Brewing (11)Se (13)Mana Fme (4)Infuse (6)General Spells:

  Fire Ball (12)Mana Dart (6)Mana Shield (25)Wayfinder (25)Iain (17) (25)Minor Heal (25)Mend (25)Trail Bzer (21)Purify (25)Light (25)Terrain Adaptation (22)Peaceful Night (25)Invisibility (25)Weather Ward (23)Prote Dome (11)Telekinesis (25)Erasure (19)Healing Toueutralize Poisrow FleshFortify Life Foreutralize CurseAbsorb Mana

  I looked at his profile, and he was very impressive. “You’re a Mert like me!” I excimed, eyes widening with surprise.

  “I told you I have the Luck trait, no?”

  “Yes, but I thought it was from some other css,” I said sheepishly.

  “No, from my Mert css. Many Travelers have this css because we sell and buy so much to fund our travels,” he expined, his tone casual.

  “You’re also an alchemist?!” I asked, eyebrows shooting up in disbelief.

  “Yeah, I thought you knew,” he said, shrugging as if it were on knowledge.

  “How would I know? You never said anything,” I retorted, crossing my arms.

  “Because I wao find the mother snake for the eggs.”

  “I thought to sell,” I said, suspiciously narrowing my eyes.

  “I keep telling you that money has long ceased to i me. No, I wahe eggs to make anti-venom and anti-poison potions.”

  “Do you have any books on alchemy?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did you let me copy them?”

  “No, I gave you everything magic-reted. Why? Are you ied in alchemy? Don’t get too carried away; you have too many things to focus on,” he cautioned, raising an eyebrow.

  “Right now, it doesn’t i me; maybe iure. But Alfonsen is an alchemist; I thought of him,” I replied, thinking aloud.

  “The boy’s an alchemist? I never would have guessed. He doesn’t seem to have the right temperament,” he mused.

  “He took the css because he wahe Vitality stats,” I expined, shrugging.

  “Idiot,” he muttered, shaking his head.

  “Why?” I asked, genuinely curious.

  “Passion is the fuel that drives mastery,” Lis said, his voice dropping into that serious tone he only used when teag me something important. “Look at me—I’m a det Mert and a passable Alchemist, but those csses are stagnant, barely scraping by because my heart was never in them. Practicality might get you started, but you’ll eventually hit a ceiling without a fire burning inside you.” His eyes locked onto mine, searg for a sign that I uood.

  When I nodded, he tinued, “At least the Mert css gave me Luck, so it wasn’t a total waste.”

  “I see that the Mert css has iory. Is it like our Ste?”

  “No, you’ll see. I use it only for the money t option,” he replied with a shrug.

  “Okay. I want Create Illusions, Mind Index, Copy Blueprint, Copy Text, and Scroll Duplication,” I listed, ting them off on my fingers.

  “I ’t teaind Index; it’s a skill, not a spell, but the rest is fine.”

  “You said you had Crity; I don’t see it,” I pointed out, sing his profile again.

  “It’s a Trait or an attribute, as you call it. It’s on my Traits list.”

  “Why ’t I see your attributes?” I asked, narrowing my eyes suspiciously.

  “I didn’t want to dishearten you.”

  “They’re that higher?” I asked, incredulous.

  “Yes,” he nodded, a small smile on his lips.

  Now I stuck my to him, and he ughed, the sound light and carefree.

  We started w oe Illusions. Once more, I pced my hands on the backs of his hands, immersing myself in his mana. I split my mind, direg the other half to study the spell’s pattern.

  Lis kept casting the spell over and over, and I focused hard, trying to make sense of the mana swirling around. But no matter what I did, the pattern wouldn’t click—it was like trying to grab hold of a cloud of smoke. I could catch bits and pieces of it—the faint buzz of energy holding the spell together, the brief flickers of light at the edges, and the shell maintaining its iy. I could even make out the intricate ttice pattern at the edges that stopped mana leakage and spell colpse. But the core pattern? It kept slipping away like it ying hard to get. It was frustrating because I could see the parts I was already familiar with, but I couldn’t piece it together despite all my efforts. We kept at it until Lis ran out of mana, but the damn thing stayed out of reach.

  “Give me a day tee, and we’ll try a different spell,” he said, smiling reassuringly.

  “Okay,” I said dejectedly, my shoulders slumping.

  “Cheer up; I’m sure we’ll find a solution,” Lis said, trying to ence me with a pat on the back.

  We tried all the spells I had chosen for five days without success. It felt like my css prevented me from seeing the pattern and allowed me to see only the spell’s structure. And because I didn’t have enough knowledge, I couldn’t see all the parts that made up the spell. After five days, we gave up; we saw it wouldn’t work.

  After we gave up on the spells, I asked Lis, “Do you have books besides Alchemy that you didn’t give me?”

  “Yes, a lot,” he replied, nodding casually.

  “ I copy them?” I inquired, a hint of eagerness in my voice.

  “Yes, but you’ll o purchase the Copy Text spell. Otherwise, copying everything will take months, and you’ll have to ask Mahya and Alfonsen for help. Some books tain diagrams with runes ic script, so you’ll need part,” he expined, his tone practical as he met my gaze.

  I checked, but there wasn’t much part, so we decided Lis would take the E-foil and go to Yangshuo to buy a supply of part. Lis had already finished building Rue’s E-foil, so they went together. I recruited Mahya and Alfoo copy the books. They cooperated and agreed to spend the ability points to purchase the spells: Copy Text and agical Text.

  My Luck attribute seemed to work in the background because when Mahya and I were shopping in Beijing, we bought oon of A4 paper and split it between us.

  We set up a produ line: I would sehe book to see if it had magid if so, I would put it aside. If it cked magic, I would hand it over to Mahya or Alfonsen, who would then copy the book onto paper, which I would store.

  When Mahya ran out of mana, Alfonsen and I tinued, and then I tinued alone. In three days, we copied over two thousand books and finished all the books that didn’t tain magic.

  When Lis returned with aensive iory of part, I sat down to i with mana. After three days, with breaks tee, the part was ready. Alfonsen wanted an E-foil too, so I sold him a “tech-operated” one, and he paid Lis to transform it into a mana-operated one.

  Again, the three of us copied books until we finished his entire colle. Lis requested I infuse all the remaining part and give it to him, a task that took me an additional week to plete; he had purchased a rge quantity of part in various sizes.

  Finally, we finished with the books. Lis finished building Alfonsen’s E-foil, and Lis and Mahya also fiheir project. We had pleted all our open tasks, and it was almost time to say goodbye.

  We decided to go to Yangshuo and have fun. We wao spend our time together, enjoying each other’s pany for the st time, without workshops or shopping. Alfonsen gave us our space; he sensed we o spend the st stretch of this journey with just the three of us.