TravelingDreamer

  Mahya and I tio work on Al’s motorcycle. Since we worked together from the beginning, the disassembly, engraving, and assembly went much faster. I left all the copper wire to her; I had no iion of engraving tiny ruhe project took four days, and another motorcycle ran on mana.

  I remarked to Mahya, “If we return to Earth, we won’t be able to ride these motorcycles.”

  “Why?”

  “They’re too quiet. It would look suspicious.”

  She touched a rune on the handle, and the motorcycle made an engine noise. “I’m way ahead of you,” she said, ughing.

  After finishing the motorcycles, we moved on to the ATV. It was a more plex project since Mahya didn’t have a blueprint ready. We disassembled it part by part, and she drew it on the blueprint. After the whole ATV was in parts, she phe actual runes. I had nothing to do at this point, so I went with Rue to take care of the cats. He took care of them when I was busy, but not too diligently. That was on purpose, so I would have cats to practice my mana dart on and vert them into crystals.

  Rue led me to a new area with cats when I felt the air ge. It became more charged and heavier, and the wi me a warning.

  “We o get back to the house,” I told Rue.

  “Yes! Wind friend tell Rue be careful.”

  I noticed his speech improved daily, and I checked his level.

  RueBonded FamiliarLevel 12

  “gratutions, buddy. You’ve gaiwo more levels,” I said, scratg his .

  Rue’s tail wagged furiously as he replied, “Yes! One level in dungeon, one level bad cats. Bad cats good. Rue likes levels.”

  I ughed, shaking my head at his excitement. “Yeah, I like levels too,” I said with a grin.

  Whe back to the house, I told Mahya, “I don’t kly what’s happening, but the air is more charged and full of mana. The wind also sent me a warning. e ihe house.”

  I helped her store everything. We ehe house, and I ordered it to fold the deck. It was still amazing to see—the deck retreated towards the house as if on a rail, and the house absorbed it.

  We stood ihe house, staring out the window. Dark gray-purple clouds covered the sky in minutes, and a lightning storm began. The ge was so fast and dramatic, like someone flipped a switch. The air got heavy, and you could almost taste the rain and the static charge building up. I swear I could taste the lightning on my tongue, like lig a fresh battery. It sent a weird, almost thrilling shiver down my spine.

  I felt a powerful pull toward the lightning, like it was calling me. My heart ounding with the thuhis deep, primal rhythm resonating with something deep inside me. I opehe gss door and stepped onto the porch, the cool air hitting me like a wave.

  “John, what are you doing?” Mahya’s worried voice cut through the noise.

  I ignored her, wholly focused oorm. Standing on the porch, I reached out and created the little lightning arc I learned in Paris years ago with Lis. That memory flickered in my mind, mixing nostalgia with determination. The e between the elements felt familiar, but also different. The lightning oh was always retively weak, almost lifeless. However, here, the lightning was rid full of mana, exceeding the world’s levels. I could feel the mana in the air. It was dense, almost like a thick mist around me.

  I raised my hand to the sky and made the small ar my palm again. This time, it felt strangely familiar. It wasn’t just raw energy. It had a distinct essehat tugged at my memory. I kept making the arc, tasting the fvor each time until it hit me: lightning isn’t a single element. It’s Air and Fire. Air fuels fire, and fire ighe air, creating this powerful burst of energy. That energy is lightning.

  With this new insight, I split my mind and ected to the wind. It felt like opening a door to a storm, the air swirling arouh a life of its own. After splitting it again, I created a fme in my palm, a small flicker of light a. I split my mind again to keep my awareness, the time to make the arc again. This time, I fed the fire into the ard he wind to mix in.

  A massive lightning bolt shot from my palm toward the sky, a dazzling dispy of raw power and elemental harmony. The lightning from the sky and the lightning from my hand ected. For a perfeent, they were in bance, a seamless flow of energy that felt like aension of me. But then, the sky’s lightning overpowered mine. I could have stopped it and cut the current, but I didn’t want to. There was something strangely alluring about letting go.

  I opened myself up to the lightning, letting it use my arc as a pathway to reach me. The lightning struck me, passing through me again and again. It didn’t hurt, but it was definitely unpleasant. Every nerve felt like it was on fire. All my els were lit up—the main, the sedary, and eveage two els. Everything was on fire. My entire body felt like it was bzing, yet I stayed in trol. I could have stopped the e, halted the fire, and blocked the access point anytime. But I chose not to.

  The lightni c through me. All the strikes that would have hit the valley zeroed in on me. As the lightning passed through my body, grounding in the pord the house, I repeatedly saw fshes of light around me. I felt the house’s core abs it, a steady hum of energy vibrating through the structure.

  Eventually, the storm ran out of steam, though I didn’t know how long it sted. The storm eled all its power through me. I stood on the porch, swaying, trying to hold on to the remnants of my sciousness. Steam rose from my skin in thin wisps, proof of the immense energy that had passed through me. But after a few seds, the lights went out.

  I woke up in my room, lying in bed. For a few minutes, I just y there, listening to my body. Everythi fine, but different. I raised my hand, and it moved easily. No problem there. I touched the skin of my other hand with my fiips; it felt normal. I moved my head and legs, testing my range of motion, and everything worked as it should. I got out of bed and walked over to the mirror, notig I was pletely naked. My eyes seemed to glow more than usual, and all my body hair had disappeared. I was smooth as a newborn baby—awkward. At least I still had most of my eyebrows and all the hair on my head.

  Turning my attention inward, I examined my mana system. All my els were wider now, across all three stages. My power orbs looked different, too. The spirit orb was about twenty pert rger, while the body orb stayed the same. The mind orb hadn’t ged in size, but the mana inside looked different. Before, it had been like vapor with occasional purple streaks. Now, the mana resembled steam, almost liquid and much thicker, with purple streaks spread throughout the orb, not just along the inner walls.

  I checked my mana: 11,100/11,100. My mana had gone up by 900 points. I looked, and under my Wizard Abilities, I had Lightning. Again, only Lightning. There was no additional information or anything in brackets.

  Mahya entered my room, her eyes bzing when she saw me awake. Her face twisted in anger, and she started yelling at me. “John, you’re so stupid! Suicidal! Irresponsible!” Her voice rose with each word, and she jabbed a finger in my dire. “You’re like a little kid who doesn’t think ahead! What were you thinking? Do you have any idea how reckless that was? You could have been killed or worse! You hink about the sequences, do you? It’s always just about the thrill for you! You’re utterly thoughtless and pletely irresponsible! How you be so blind to the risks you take? Do you even care about the people who worry about you? Do you ever stop to think about how your as affect those around you? It’s like you have a death wish, or you just don’t care at all!”

  Her arms filed, and her eyes were wide with frustration. She didn’t hold back, calling me every name uhe sun that questioned my intelligence. “You’re an idiot, a fool! Suicidal! pletely and utterly reckless! It’s like you have no sense of self-preservation whatsoever! I ’t believe you sometimes! Do you have any idea what it’s like to watch you do something so dangerous and not be able to stop you? It’s infuriating! You make me so angry I could scream!” At this point, she did scream and then tinued berating me.

  After what felt like ay of her yelling, I took a deep breath and said, “Mahya, would you miing out for a moment so I get dressed?” I tried to keep my voice calm.

  She let out an exasperated huff, turned on her heels with a dramatic spin, and stormed out of the room, the door smming behind her.

  I quickly got dressed and called her ba. “You e in now.” She returned, and it was clear she had picked up more steam while out. She unched into airade, her voice sharp and pierg, but this time, it only sted about ten or fifteen seds.

  When she finally finished yelling, I didn’t bother tue. Instead, I raised my hand and shot a lightning bolt from my palm.

  The room fell silent. Mahya’s eyes widened in shock, and her mouth dropped open. She stared at my hand, her mouth moving wordlessly like a fish out of water. After a few moments, she looked up at my face, shaking her head in disbelief. She threw her hands up, turned, ahe room without another word.

  I couldn’t help but giggle. I never believed I could make Mahya speechless. She always had something to say.

  I felt terrible for w her, so as an apology, I made two huge trays of Pate à Choux, as I learned in Paris. It seemed appropriate to me. The lightning had started in Paris, after all. When I brought her a pte full of Crème tilly-filled pastries, she looked at the pte with a mix of surprise and suspi for a few seds before saying, “That still doesn’t get you out of jail.”

  “I uand,” I replied, nodding.

  For dinner, I made her a Sze-style meal. She began to soften, but still didn’t talk to me. The tension in the air alpable, but I could see her resolve wavering.

  The day, I joined her in w oV. Mahya had already marked some runes on the blueprint, so I started carving them. We worked in silence for an hour, the only sounds ing from our tools and the occasional sigh from Mahya. Suddenly, she came up to me, hugged me tightly, and started g.

  I held her, letting her get it all out, feeling the weight of her emotions as she sobbed into my shoulder.

  After she calmed down, I said softly, “I’m sorry if I scared you. I knew I’d be fine. Lightning is a bination of wind and fire. The wind would never let me get hurt. I uand you didn’t know I’d be fine. So again, I’m very sorry for sg you.”

  She buried her fa my chest, her voice muffled as she muttered, “I only knew you were alive because Rue was still alive, and all your junk was still in your Ste.”

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “You five me?”

  “Not yet,” she replied, her voice still shaky.

  I ughed softly, and she joined me, but then she punched me hard in the chest. I winced, but said nothing. It was something I rightfully deserved.

  That evening, I made her a big Italian dinner, still feeling the o apologize. Finally, the atmosphere between us returo normal. We ate and ughed, and she started calling me Sparky. Well, it was better than Clueless.

  After dinner, I took out my guitar and started strumming for fun. It wasn’t a special song or anything, just a pleasant melody. As I pyed, it slowly took shape, first the melody and then the lyrics. It was different from all the songs I had ever written. There was no specific reason for it. I wasn’t trying to get a css, make a storm, or exude the remnants of hurt from my system. It was music for the sake of musid it felt amazing.

  Celestial Tapestries

  Verse 1: Among the steltions, seek release, Where et trails trace paths of ic grace. The Milky Way, a bridge to inner peace, As stardust mends the fabric of your space.

  Chorus: Beh celestial tapestries, Shed the weight of yesteryears. In ice, find melodies, Healing echoes, free from fears.

  Verse 2: Let go of steltioched in pain, And twirl with gaxies in midnight waltz. Each star a luminary, healing rain, A universe reborn, where hurt dissolves.

  Chorus: Beh celestial tapestries, Shed the weight of yesteryears. In ice, find melodies, Healing echoes, free from fears.

  Bridge: Traet trails across gactiight, Where nebus hum fotten lulbies. Each star, a promise etched in ic light, Heals rifts between steltions’ skies.

  Verse 3: In astral waltz, let go of earthly strife, Bee stardust, woven into infinity. Celestial choirs sing of boundless life, And healing orbits spin with divinity.

  Chorus: Beh celestial tapestries, Shed the weight of yesteryears. In ice, find melodies, Healing echoes, free from fears.

  Bridge: Traet trails across gactiight, Where nebus hum fotten lulbies. Each star, a promise etched in ic light, Heals rifts between steltions’ skies.

  Verse 4: Trace Milky Way’s path through starry seas, Where stardust whispers secrets to the night. Each meteor, a promise of new peace, Heals rifts between steltions’ light.

  Outro: In ic hymns, let earthly burdens cease, Bee the notes in ielr song. Celestial choirs sing of sweet release, As healing orbits right what once was wrong.

  Chorus: Beh celestial tapestries, Shed the weight of yesteryears. In ice, find melodies, Healing echoes, free from fears.In ic hymns, let earthly burdens cease, Bee the notes in ielr song. Celestial choirs sing of sweet release, As healing orbits right what once was wrong.