In the m, I told the house to open the deck as big as possible. The result was even bigger than st time—at least double. I didn’t know if it was all the materials and mana the house had absorbed, or maybe because it was already open in a smaller figuration. I shook my head, dismissing the thought. The reason didn’t matter. What mattered was that we now had a massive deck to unfold and ihe balloon.

  Once we had the balloon spread out, I turo Mahya. “I want to try something new. Please, help Al keep the balloon open.”

  She blinked, surprise fshing across her face as her eyes widened and her brow furrowed. But then she nodded and moved to hold the balloon with Al. As soon as they had the balloon open, I pointed my hand at the opening. This time, I didn’t ask or persuade the wind—I just pointed, willing it to fill the balloon. The response was immediate. The balloon started infting much faster than when Mahya had used the Wind Funnel. It was rising ihan five mihe basket tilting upright. Splitting my mind, I eled Heat into the balloon with my other hand. It straightened more and more until it stood upright, leaving Mahya and Al struggling to hold the basket down so the balloon wouldn’t escape. Even Rue tributed one paw to the effort.

  “You take off,” I said. “I’ll close the house and catch up with you.”

  They stared at me with wide eyes. I frowned momentarily, w what —they’d seen me el Heat before. Then it clicked. The speed with which I’d ihe balloon and the casual way I’d do must’ve beeo them. I felt the urge to brush some invisible dust off my shoulders, but I held back. Mahya would smack me upside the head and call me an idiot if I did, so I just called her a party pooper in my head instead.

  Ohey took off, I hovered in the air, gave the core an order to close the house, stored the core, and flew after them. By then, they’d already risen above the tree line, with Mahya steering the balloon using her gadget.

  “Why are we flying northeast and not northwest?” I asked, catg up with them. “I thought we were headed to Crystalspire.”

  “Yes,” Al answered. “But we would like to visit the Gate before anything else.”

  I mentally kicked myself. I hadn’t even sidered cheg the location and number of Gates in Lumis. All my attention had been on traveling. Opening the Map, I firmed there was indeed a Gate to the northeast of the s, close to our location.

  “Need a boost from the wind?” I offered.

  “Yeah, won’t hurt,” Mahya replied.

  This time, I pyed nid asked the wind, and she appreciated it. Her satisfa alpable as she pyfully tousled my hair, which was now being annoyingly long. I needed a haircut—it was as long as a girl’s. I gnced over at Al’s hair and smirked. Okay, maybe not a girl, more like a former prince. I giggled inwardly at the thought, but kept my expressioral. As I said, o be called an idiot.

  The view below was a stunning blend of greens and browns as the balloon glided through the sky. Tall ifers and leafy trees dotted the sparse woods below, their fresh leaves shimmering in the soft sunlight. A narrow road traced the edge of the s, winding through the trees like a secret path leading to an unknowination. The trees formed a natural corridor, their branches swayily in the breeze.

  Past the trees, the nd opened up into fields. The grass was a thick, green bhat moved in the breeze like waves. There were scattered forest spots in the fields, and with the bright colors and differeures, the se had more depth. I took out my camera and snapped a few pictures—fasated with the different visual textures.

  The sky was clear, pretty blue, with zy clouds moving across it. As the balloon flew over the fields, its shadow danced across the grass below. The air was and crisp and smelled like new life and growth. Maybe this feeling was ing from my new Nature affinity. I wasn’t sure, but I khat spring was here and nature was fully awake after letting go of the st bits of winter. It seemed like everything was full of fresh energy and ready to wele the new season.

  We reached the Gate area ihan two hours. After we nded and folded the balloon, we went to the Gate and touched it.

  Travelers Gate #468217242Destinatioh/Gaia/TerraStatus: UedMana level: 8Teology level: LowThreat level: Humans–moderate. Other species–very high.

  When we crossed the Gate, we found ourselves in a dense forest, making it hard to determine whether we had arrived at the sed Gate in ada or the one in Aska—both were deep within wooded areas. I hovered above the tree lio get my bearings. As I looked out over the ndscape, a rge ke came into view, and I immediately reized it—it was Great Bear Lake in ada. The st time I’d been here, I had to nd on this ke with a floatphe vast, familiar expanse of the ke firmed our location without a doubt.

  “I wonder what date it is,” I said to nobody in particur, mostly talking to myself.

  Mahya pulled out her phour on, and stared at the s, waiting. After a few minutes, she sighed and said, “ion.”

  I looked around ahe temperature. It was maybe 14-17°C with a moderate wind. I looked at the trees. They were primarily ifers, so not much help there. I floated up again and looked. I saw a few deciduous trees just beginning to show the earliest signs of autumn—only some leaves had turned, barely tinged with hints of yellow and e. We were clearly still early in the season, and the ndscape was holding on to its summer green.

  When I nded back, I said, “Early September. It looks like the month-to-day skip is holding steady.”

  “Why would it ge?” Al asked me, looking fused.

  “I don’t know. Just saying.”

  We crossed bad looked at the Map again. I followed the road with my finger and saw it eg ter road that eventually led to Crystalspire. I estimated the time it took us to reach this spot and the distao Crystalspire.

  “If we nd just before dark and with a boost from the wind, I believe we reach Crystalspire in two days,” I said. “If we do it at a slower pace, it will take us three days.”

  I noticed that Al and Mahya exged a look, one of those silent ghat spoke volumes. They quickly looked away, like they were trying to hide something, but they were obviously keeping something from me. I shrugged internally; they had the right to have their own thing. Besides, from Mahya and Lis, I’d learhat it pays to be patient.

  “Let’s find a pce to open the house in this area,” Mahya suggested. “After all that time in the s, I want to experiene normal nature. We’ll decide tomorrow.”

  We walked away from the road into a more heavily wooded area. As we ventured further, the trees grew clether, f a natural opy overhead. The forest floor felt soft underfoot, covered in fallen needles and patches of green moss. It was cooler here, and the air smelled like wet wood and new leaves. We walked in fortable silence, with just the rustling of leaves in the breeze and the distant call of a bird breaking the quiet.

  We kept walking for a few hours until the thick forest finally thinned out. Theepped into a geous, wide-open meadow. The grass was a vibrant greely swaying in the breeze and dotted with colorful wildflowers here and there. A little stream cut through the field, with clear water that sparkled in the sunlight. The soft sound of the stream added to the peaceful atmosphere, making it feel like the perfect spot to set up camp. It was like we’d discovered a hidden gem in the middle of nowhere.

  When I opehe house, Rue immediately said, “Rue hungry. John make food.”

  I couldn’t help but ugh as I lit the barbecue. I khat when Rue said “food,” he meant “seak.”

  After lunch, I leaned against a tree a my gaze drift to the stream. This pce was so peaceful—the gentle burbling of the water, the breeze carrying the st of flowers, and the way the tree branches swayed, casting pyful shadows on the ground. It was a world apart from the s, and I pletely uood why Mahya wao stop here for the day. I could feel myself adjusting to a “normal” world without twisted trees and bizarre creatures waiting for a cert. I took a deep breath, letting go of the st two or three months. Holy, I had lost track of how long we’d been in that dreary pce—just that it was far too long.

  I pulled out the scrolls I’d taken from the dungeon and stared at them, feeling stuck. On one hand, having more spells would be handy, but oher, Lis’s advice still lingered in my mind. If I waress as a wizard, I o develop my own spells, not just rely on pre-made ones. With that thought, I used Identify and re-read the descriptions of the three spells, trying to decide what to do.

  Verdant Grasp

  Using this spell, the spellcaster cause thick roots and vio burst from the grouangling araining ehe roots tightly around their targets, immobilizing them and making it difficult to break free. It shows particur effectiveness in forested or pnt-riviros, where summoning natural growth quickly aid in capturing foes.

  Flourish

  Using this spell, the spellcaster expedite the growth of pnts. It make seeds sprout, flowers bloom, and trees grow taller, thicker, and sturdier. It be used to grow natural resources quickly, create imperable pnt barriers, or restore barren enviros.

  Nature’s Path

  Using this spell, the spellcaster create a surfaposed of stable pnt roots that will temporarily cover a difficult terrain. The roots form a stable and smooth route over mud, water, or narrow ravines. Ohe spell ends, this path will return to its inal state, but it serves as a useful way to navigate difficult terrain without causing harm to the surrounding enviro.

  I tried to think of how I could even begin to develop these spells. Closing my eyes, I expanded my mana sense. Instantly, the vegetation in the area came alive in my perception. I could feel the mana in every bde of grass, every flower, and every tree within my sphere. I let go of my self-awareness, fully immersing myself iural world around me, and tried te a e.

  At one point, I ected with the tree I was leaning against. It wasn’t Unity, not even oneness, but there was a clear e between us. I let my awareness sink into the roots, feeling their shape and how they twisted and dug deeper into the earth. I followed their path until they iwined with the roots of aree.

  Curious, I returned my focus to “my” tree and attempted to s roots to move. One root shifted slightly, but I also sensed—no, intuited—that tinuing to push the roots could harm the tree. It was as if the tree itself was stopping me, warning me.

  I looked back at the description of the spells. One specifically mentioned “without causing harm to the surrounding enviro,” and I felt fident the others carried a simir i. It made little sense for a nature-based spell to harm nature. I realized that if I tried to do what the spell was desigo do, I would end up causing damage to the enviro, but the spell itself was desigo avoid that harm.

  I had my answer.

  I opehe first scroll, expeg a magic circle or something are. But the scroll tained precisely the same text I’d seen when I used Identify. There wasn’t any additional information—it was identical. This time, I had a hunch about what to do, so I poured mana into the part. For a split sed, I glimpsed the outline of a magic circle with magic script symbols, and then the scroll crumbled to ashes.

  The same thing happened with the other two scrolls. The glimpse I caught of the magic circle was so brief that even with my heightened perception, I couldn’t make out the symbols. It was too short—maybe a tenth of a sed or less. I opened my profile and checked. The spells appeared in the general se, not under Wizard.

  Rue came over aed his head on my p, and I began scratg his ears. I knew what he was after.

  “Did you learn the new spells we got?” I asked him.

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Rue not need. John knows spells.”

  “Don’t you want to learn your own spells?”

  “John think Rue need learn new spells?”

  “No. I think you should do what you want. You’re a big boy and decide for yourself.”

  His tail started wagging faster. After a minute, he said, “Rue wait until Rue is smarter, then decide.”

  “Good idea, buddy. It’s always better to wait until you’re smarter.”

  He gave me a big lick from to forehead, theled his head bay p and said, “Rue ears need more scratg.”

  I ughed and tio scratch his ears.

  Whe down to eat dinner, Mahya and Al acted strahey both avoided looking me in the eye, fidgeting and shifting unfortably. They kept squirming and gng away, making the tension in the air almost palpable. After a few minutes of this, I’d had enough.

  “Okay, what’s going on?” I asked, cutting through the awkward silence.

  Mahya took a deep breath, clearly steeling herself, and said, “We o talk.”

  That didn’t sound good. Throughout human history, that phrase has been the harbinger of trouble. “I’m listening,” I replied, brag myself for whatever was i.

  “You see,” she began, her words tumbling out in a rush. “Al and I have been talking, and we feel like we left Earth too soon. It’s not that we don’t have enough ability points—that’s fine. But getting new csses is always such a grind; it takes years and requires crazy feats. Right now, Earth presents a golden opportunity, and it feels like a mistake not to take advantage of it. I mean, look at me. I bought a silly hat in a and was offered a mert css. Sihen, I’ve sold stuff for over three thousand gold here and haven’t received a single offer. I’m pretty sure I could sell ten thousand gold worth and still not get the css. But oh, I could sell a few thousand dolrs’ worth of stuff ahe css for free. It’s just—”

  “I thought you didn’t want the mert css,” I interrupted, catg her mid-sentence.

  “ly,” she corrected. “I said I was undecided. Now, I’ve decided. I like money. I like having a lot of it. Plus, I know the prices and what’s avaible in higher mana worlds. I want to make a lot of money. And with all my work on vehicles and the skills we learned with motorcycles and car meics, I expected to be offered the Are Meist, Teancer, or Mechamage css—but nothing. Not even a hint. The same goes for my Mosaic Ritualist css. I got a full-price offer, and then we left—nothing sihen. I’m vihat if we return to Earth, I get those csses in no time.”

  She said it all in one breath, as if she o get it out quickly. When she finally finished, she took a deep breath and looked at me with a guilty expression, like she was brag for my rea.

  I turo Al and asked, “I thought you didn’t know what csses you wanted yet. Now you know?”

  “I cluded that the Mert css could aid me greatly in my journeys. Since I chose not to return to Leylos and tinue my exploration of the worlds, I will require a sistent souroney. Currently, my Ste is filled with merdise I sell, but those resources will diminish over time. In such circumstances, I aim to accumute siderable moo sustain my travels without s about finances. Moreiven the multitude of Trait numbers and advantages each css offers, it would be u to pursue the mert css.

  “Also, I have always been aware that I will eventually choose the Mage css. It is a ary css in our family, and as a result, knowledge about it is abundant in our family archives. So, it is logical for me to pursue the css. Previously, I believed that if I did not return to Leylos, I would be pelled to seek out a mage who could instruct me until I acquired the css. However, armed with the spells we acquired from the dungeon and the one you have created for me, I am now assured that by employing them oh, I will receive an offer to take the Mage css.”

  “How exactly do you pn to use them oh? There aren’t any monsters you fight and turn into crystals.”

  “I am aware of that fact. However, I have thhly sidered the matter. I may deliberately veo a high-crime zone, spicuously dispy signifit money, and provoke the criminals to pursue me. Employing the roots spell to impede their progress before eliminating them should be enough. In addition, I possess the ability to utilize the st two spells. I employ oo induce vegetation blossoming as a diversionary tactic. Alternatively, I employ the other spell to traverse challenging ndscapes and elude pursuers. What is important is that I own these spells, and I did not purchase them from the Guidance or fold. This should be suffit to prompt the of the css.”

  “So what exactly do you want to do? The time skip is crazy—as far as I’ve figured out, one day oh trao twenty-seven to thirty days here.”

  “I have a suggestion,” Mahya said, log eyes with me. “Al and I are ready to give up traveling Lumis. We’ve been thinking about moving back to Earth to achieve oals. You keep traveling with Rue. I’m sure you’ll finish your journey in Lumis before we’re done oh. Like you said, the time skip is crazy. But during all that time, we’ll keep each other updated through the Archive—don’t worry, you’re stuck with us as long as you want us. But we also don’t want to let go of our dreams and ambitions. So there are two options,” she said, tig them off on her fingers.

  “One: You tio another world and update us oe’s location so we meet you there.

  “Two: You e back to Earth and wait for us.

  “We know you don’t want to return to Earth, so we hesitated t this up. But the other side of the Gate here leads to forests, kes, and open nature. The settlement is something like thirty or forty kilometers from the Gate. You open the house and do your own thing until we arrive. The wait won’t be long since we’ll both be on the same timeline. I believe we won’t need more than a month, two tops, to get the csses we want if we focus on it intensely.”

  I sat there, looking at both of them, entirely at a loss for words. A storm of emotions whirled inside me, and I couldn’t quite grasp how to respond. If I insisted we tiraveling together, it would be selfish—wrong, eve, for the first time in my life, I had real friends, friends I genuinely liked a in sync with. The thought of letting that go was almost unbearable.

  A part of me khat someone else in my situation might smile, wave it off, and say, “Sure, go chase your dreams.” But for me, it wasn’t that simple. I’ve always been a bit too gy and attached, and though I reized this fw, it didn’t stop it from surfag. The urge to throw a tantrum and demand they stay with me g my insides, but I held it back. I was a grown man, after all, even if the book on long-lived races insisted I was barely entering adolesce.

  They sat there, waiting patiently, while I wrestled with my thoughts. The sileween us grew heavier while our dinner grew cold. After what felt like ay, I let out a long, resigned breath.

  “Of course, I won’t stop you from achieving your dreams,” I finally said, trying to mask the tremor in my voice. “I uand that the situation oh is unique—I remember what Lis wrote. I’ll tiraveling with Rue, and when I finish up in Lumis, we’ll talk and decide what’s .”

  With a momentary pause, I made myself meet their eyes. “I don’t think having that discussion through the Archive is a good idea. Instead, leave me your phone. Send an SMS to your old number when you get a new one. When I’m doh Lumis, I’ll gh the Gate—either the one here or the oo Aska that we haven’t fou and call you.”

  “There is iohe Gate,” Al pointed out.

  “I fly,” I reminded him, managing a small, strained smile.

  As the words left my mouth, I felt relief and sorrow. I k was the right decision, but it didn’t make it any easier.

  The day, we started sing items between our ste. Mahya insisted on giving me five MK-47 rifles along with three big crates of ammo, “just in case.” No matter how much I protested, she wouldn’t budge.

  Al handed me five boxes full of potions, eae carefully beled. There were health potions, mana regeion potions, life force restoration potions—which he pointed out were leftover from the st time I hem after the big dungeon—and mana el restoration potions from the same escapade. He tried to give me a few others, but the names raised red fgs. When I asked about them, he sheepishly admitted that they taiher Earth drugs or halluogenic mushrooms from the ge, so I refused to take them. He shook his head, thinking I was making a mistake, but I didn’t want to risk getting addicted to something by act. He also gave me the rest of the sleeping potion he had left after Vegas.

  I dug out the damaged ons I’d been st siuone, which I had dohing with. I restored them, eliore into eae aurning them to their inal state. There were seven swords, two with runes, and one adorned with gems. I also had seven daggers—oh ruhe others with ornate handles—all clearly from the same source, given their identical craftsmanship and design. There was also an axe, which still looked quite simple even after restoration, and a metal spear with runes and a pattern of leaves and branches. Rest these ons took a lot of mana, so the process stretched over two days. When I finished and sed them with my mana sehey felt different, as if they were noartially of metal and partially of my own mana.

  Curious, I handed a sword to Mahya and asked, “Hold this and tell me if it feels strange in your mana field.”

  She held the sword, closed her eyes briefly, and said, “No, just a sword. A beautiful sword, but nothing more.”

  I shrugged and handed over all the ons.

  “What’s this?” she asked.

  “These are the ons from Tuohat I hadn’t gotten around to rest yet. You could probably sell them food amount oh.”

  She sorted through the ons and handed back all the ones with runes. “Keep these. They won’t realize their worth, but they would kly how valuable these ons are in the mana worlds. Save them for a world with higher mana—not Lumis. I’ll take the simpler ones if you don’t hem.”

  “They’re yours,” I said. “I have no use for them.”

  “We o find a pce with water so I give you the boat.”

  “I don’t he boat,” I replied, shaking my head. “Leave it with you.”

  “Why not? I’m leaving you the balloon and the boat.”

  “I don’t hem,” I insisted gently. “I fly, and I have no iion of sailing to the other tis in Lumis. We’ll be in touch after I’m doraveling the main ti.”

  “Are you sure?” she asked, searg my face for any sign of hesitation.

  “One hundred pert,” I assured her.

  She didn’t look pleased, her brow furrowing slightly, but she let it go with a relut nod.

  I pulled out the new dungeon core and ha to her. “If you want to get the csses you mentioned, you’ll o work on the jeeps. Take this core too. I’m not sure one jeep with a core will be enough to get the css.”

  “I thought we were eg you to that core,” she said, looking fused.

  “For now, it makes more sense for you to ect with it while you work on the jeep. When we meet again, we do the ritual and trahe core to me.”

  “Yeah, you’re right,” she replied, nodding as she handed me a box.

  “What’s that?”

  “The quills from Tuone,” she said with a shrug. “I didn’t have a ce to do anything with them. Take them for now. Maybe you’ll think of something. If not, give them back wheurn to Lumis, and maybe by then I’ll have an idea.”

  Once we finished sing everything, I spent a few hours cooking, so they’d have food in Ste until they reached the city. That evening, we sat down to diogether, chatting about unimportant things, avoiding the heavier topics that loomed over us. We left those for the ime we would meet, whehat would be.

  The m, we made our way to the Gate together. They both hugged me tightly, then turheir attention to Rue, scratg his ears. Mahya hugged me again, leaning in close to whisper, “Don’t have doubts, not even for a moment. We’ll meet soon. Or soon in our time, a little longer in yours. I want you to remember that every day, every moment, okay? Promise?”

  I nodded, feeling the weight of her words, the unspoken hope aainty in them.

  “And don’t be an idiot,” she added, bringing an ued ugh out of me, lightening the heaviness in my chest for just a moment.

  Al hugged me once more, whispering, “Thank you for everything. We will meet soon.”

  What’s with these people and whispers? I thought to myself. Why not just say it out loud?

  They scratched Rue’s ears o time, and with a st wave, they stepped through the Gate, back to Earth. And just like that, they were gone, leavih an ache that I couldn’t quite shake.