TravelingDreamer

  The three of us were lounging on the porch, feet propped up on the railing, sipping our coffee. The warm breeze carried the st of blooming flowers and mushrooms—they had a distinct st here. Out of nowhere, Mahya blurted, “Too bad we threw away all the sex paraphernalia from Vegas,” while twirling her cup absentmindedly.

  I nearly choked on my coffee. “Why?” I gasped, hearing Al sputter o me.

  She shrugged, leaning ba her chair, the sunlight glinting off her hair. “We could have fed the house with it.”

  Setting my cup down, I shook my head, exasperated. “I’m not feeding my house with bondage clothes or blow-up sex dolls.”

  Mahya raised an eyebrow, a mischievous grin spreading across her face. “Why not? The core isn’t se. It’s not as though you defile its virtue.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” I said, crossing my arms and giving her a pointed look. “I won’t feed my house that kind of stuff. I might wake up one day with a blow-up doll in my bed. No thanks.”

  Mahya ughed, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “Don’t be a prude. It actually be very amusing.”

  Rolling my eyes, I leaned ba my chair. “For you, maybe, hearing me scream in fright.”

  She grinned wickedly, taking another sip of her coffee. “That too.”

  “I think you should start w on your boat,” I suggested. “It will keep you occupied and prevent you from making stupid suggestions.”

  “I cur,” Al chimed in with a nod, still rec from his earlier choking fit.

  Mahya stuck out her to me pyfully. I lunged forward, trying to grab it, but she quickly dodged. Her ughter rang out, filling the air with a sense of mischief.

  “And besides,” I tinued, narrowing my eyes in mock suspi, “why did you want the inftable dolls for the house? What did you pn to do with them?”

  “They are made of rubber,” she replied, her expression turning serious.

  “Oh,” I said, realizing the practicality behind her idea.

  “Yes,” she affirmed, tilting her head slightly. “We o start a policy. We don’t throw anything away, no matter how weird, unusable, broken, crazy, or whatever. What we don’t need, we give to the house.”

  “I’m not sure I want to feed my house with garbage,” I admitted, my brow furrowing in .

  “That’s exactly the point – it’s not garbage,” she insisted, her eyes log onto mih a determined gaze. “Lis didn’t know much to tell me about dungeon cores; that information is too secret. He just said that the cores process anything and turn it into usable things, based on what their master thinks is usable. They don’t create things because they feel like it. If the core has a master, the creation will be something the master knows, wants, and thinks is usable. Why do you thi a stereo system, a TV, and game soles? We fed it with a lot of differeronics, but got those things specifically because you think they are good, and you’re its master. If I were the master, we’d probably get an advanced on system or something.”

  That made Al and me ugh, our eyes meeting with shared mirth.

  “Maybe I should write to Lis and ask him everything he knows about dungeon cores,” I mused aloud, tapping my fingers oable thoughtfully.

  Mahya shook her head vigorously. “Not a good idea.”

  “I strongly advise against taking that a,” Al echoed, crossing his arms simultaneously with Mahya.

  “Why not?” I asked, raising an eyebrow in genuine curiosity.

  “Because the Archive is not secret. Do you want to advertise to all the Travelers that you have a core?” Mahya’s eyes widened, her tone serious.

  “Oh,” I muttered, realizing the implications.

  “Yeah, oh,” she repeated, folding her arms with finality.

  “Then tell us everythiold you,” I prompted her, eager to learn more.

  Mahya pulled out a notebook, flipping it open to a page filled with bullet points in a nguage I didn’t reize. She started reviewing them individually, firag each line as she read.

  “He told me that dungeons have levels,” Mahya began, gng up from her notes. “As you know, we collected the first core from a baby dungeon. The level is a mature dungeon, which means a dungeon with two floors and a pretty powerful final guardian. The core should be about the size of my fist. That’s the point at which to feed the core with materials. But he told me to wait until our little core reaches that size before we even try to feed it with anything, and only mana-rich materials from dungeons or worlds with a mana level of forty-five her, not normal materials.”

  She paused, tapping her finger against the notebook rhythmically. “The level is aablished dungeon with three floors and a strong final guardian. He reehat we not attempt more established dungeons than this. The core should be the size of a rge e. At this point, it process materials with less mana, but still not normal materials.”

  She looked up, her expression serious. “He told me that he had fought a few dungeons with a final se guardian, but they were always trolled by guilds or royal houses, not wild dungeons. He reehat we run away immediately if we entered something like this. If I had known that was the situation in the dungeon you found here, I would have reehat we run away. He was sure these cores would be rger with much greater capabilities, but he didn’t know which. He had a theory that they could probably process materials without mana, but he wasn’t sure.”

  She sighed, running a hand through her hair in frustration. “I’m trying to think of a way to tell him what we discovered without posting in the Archive that we have a core.”

  “I think I have an idea how you do it,” I said, leaning forward with sudden inspiration.

  Mahya’s eyes widened with i. “How?”

  “Write to him that you read a book you liked called Master Hunter K,” I suggested. “Tell him that this book describes our entire dungeon run, the size of the core, and everything we did with it and discovered. Then ask him what he would do in such a situation and if he thinks it’s possible that there is anything like that or if it’s all an iion of the writer.”

  Mahya frowapping her pen against her lips thoughtfully. “How will that help? He’ll tell me it’s a story.”

  Shaking my head, I leaned ba my chair, the wood creakih me. “No, he won’t. I reehis book to him, and he read all of it. He would know immediately that the name came from me and that there’s nothing like that iory. He will uand that you are telling him something through the Archive. Lis is not stupid.”

  “Huh.”

  “That is a good idea,” Al said, agreeing.

  “Yeah, I think so, too,” Mahya said, her expression thoughtful.

  “Now, what else did he tell you?” I asked.

  She looked at her notebook again. “The points are what I already told you. The creation of the core depends on what its master wants, not random creations,” she said, trag the notes with her finger. “Besides, he said that if we find a ma, we should take the core out of the house and put it on the vent so it would draw more mana. But he warhat monsters would be created that we would have to kill. He was sure the monsters created would be the same big-toothed cats Rue killed in the dungeon.”

  Mahya paused, tapping the notebook pensively. “He did not reend parking the house on the vent because it would burden the filters that prevent monsters from f. He was sure the vent would speed up the growth of the core by at least fifty pert, but he said he had no proof.”

  “The’s put the little core in the vent,” I suggested, leaning forward with determination.

  “Do you know where there is one?” Mahya asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically.

  “Yes, where the dungeon we destroyed was. That’s how I found it; I followed the rich mana,” I expined, gesturing toward the dire of the dungeon.

  “That’s right,” Mahya excimed, her eyes lighting up with realization. “Now I remember. That’s how we found the snake in Tuone. Lis led you to where you felt richer mana.”

  “Before we go pce the core, is there anything else he told you?” Al asked, leaning closer.

  “A few st points. He said the only way to feed the core with materials is through the magic circle he drew on the floor. I’m sure it would be relevant to the small core, but we already discovered that’s not the case with the big ohe st thing he said is that if we don’t have materials, or the core hasn’t reached the point where it create things, the master still ask for what he wants. The core will register that, and when it reaches the size it create the thing, it will just suddenly create it.”

  She turhe page and added, “Oh, there’s something else here. He also said that if you want to sail with the house iure, the core should be at least the size of a rge e. Then, you ask the house to add a ship’s rudder or something and feed it fabrics so that it creates sails, or we build a magigine. He left it to me as a task. But I think with our boat, we don’t o do that anymore, right?”

  “Yes, there is no reason. On a long voyage, ark the house on the sea and pull it with the boat,” I agreed, nodding.

  “That’s more or less it. There are other points here, but he also expihis to you. For example, you uhe cores if you find another baby dungeon. He said he expined how and that you have enough mana to uhe cores. I don’t have enough. Maybe Al does; Lis wasn’t sure. He’s never merged cores, just heard how to do it and that it takes a lot of mana,” she finished, closing her notebook with a thoughtful expression.

  After a minute, Mahya added, “I think we should return to Earth for another day.”

  “No, not again,” I protested, shaking my head and crossing my arms.

  “Listen to me,” she insisted, leaning forward with a determined look in her eyes. “We should put the core on the vent a absorb may the Ste of the three of us and leave Rue to guard the stuff. He would love that. Remember the third pce of the tires we didy and the big junkyard near our rented house?”

  I nodded, recalling the piles of discarded items and their potential resources.

  “I think we should empty it in the same way, leave a payment, and thehe house with all these materials,” she tinued, her voice filled with enthusiasm. “There is a lot of metal, pstic, rubber, and who knows what else. I am sure the core create amazing things with this material wealth. If we also cut down trees here and collect stoo feed the house, we will have a stoaterials y with acc to our needs for years to e.”

  “I need more Valerian,” Al added, his tone firm.

  “More?” I asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise. “But you bought a lot.”

  “It’s a very effective pnt,” Al expined, running a hand through his hair. “I’ve used a lot of it. If I’d known how effective it was, I’d have bought ten times as much.”

  Mahya houghtfully, her fiapping rhythmically on her cup. “Alright, we add that to the list. We must ensure we stock up ohing we might need.”

  “ the core even store that much material? It has to go somewhere, so what is the limit? I don’t want to be stuck with huge amounts of junk in my Ste. Retly, I’ve had to repeatedly e, and it was expensive. I want my ability points to st me for years, not months.”

  “I’m pretty sure it store ten times the amount we harvested from it in the dungeon. We have a huge core. I haven’t heard of cores this size before, not even once.”

  I sighed, rubbing my temples. “I just hope we don’t run into any issues. The st thing we need is trouble oh.”

  “We’ll be careful,” Mahya assured me, her eyes gleaming with determination. “We’ll get what we need, pay for what we take, and make sure we’re not leaving a mess behind.”

  Al nodded in agreement, his expression serious. “And we’ll make sure we have enough Valerian this time.”

  I took a deep breath, feeling the weight of their pling on my shoulders. “Alright. Let’s do it. But let’s be quid effit. No lingering.”

  Mahya grinned, her excitement palpable. “Great. We’ll make this work, you’ll see.”

  As we stood up to prepare, I couldn’t help but feel a mixture of apprehension and anticipation. The idea of going back to Earth was daunting, but the potential bes for our home were undeniable. We just had to make sure everythi smoothly.

  From the house, we walked to a spacious open area and unloaded our Ste. We had a lot of stuff! I thought my ste would be the most cluttered, but Al and Mahya pulled out just as much as I did.

  We stood and looked at the field, now several hundred meters in size, filled with an eclectic mix of items. The sheer volume of stuff left us shaking our heads in disbelief.

  “Wow,” I said, the only word that came to mind as I surveyed the sprawling colle.

  “That accurately portrays the situation,” Al agreed, scratg his head.

  Mahya, oher hand, was beaming. “Why do you guys look so depressed? We’re rich! It’s amazing!” she excimed, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

  “I think the most accurate description would be that we are hoarders,” I said, shaking my head and chug.

  Mahya ughed, her voice ringing out. “That’s a trait of all Travelers. Our ste demands it, don’t you think?” She gri us, her enthusiasm iious.

  Al and I exged ghen nodded. Despite the chaos, our accumuted treasures had a certain charm.

  The only things left in my Ste were the food that needed refrigeration or freezing and the gold, gems, and jewelry. When I looked at my Ste now, I got dizzy. It was enormous. I k was big—I paid for it after all, again and again—but only when it was empty did I see how big it was.

  I called Rue over, needing to use our mental bond. He was somewhere far in the valley, pying with the wind. I called him over, and he came bounding over, his tail wagging.

  “John call Rue?”

  “Yes, buddy. The three of us must return to Earth for a while to stock up on some things. We emptied our Ste, so we need you to stay here and guard it in case some Traveler crosses the Gate or somebody finds a way to cross the mountains into the valley.”

  “Rue guard. Rue on the prowl.”

  I ughed and scratched his . “Thanks, buddy. The thing is, the time skip is on this side, and it’s bad. So we’ll be oh for a day, or even less, but at least two weeks will pass here. I will give you enough food for a month and more kites so you py with the wind. I’ll leave the house so you use it.”

  He put his paws on my shoulders and licked my face. “John not worry. Rue excellent guard dog. Rue take care things.”

  “Thanks. You are an amazing guard dog.”

  His tail was wagging so fast I was afraid it might fall off. I spent three more ability points te his ste and gave him all his favorite things to eat in rge quantities. He stored them and walked with us to the Gate.

  When we crossed over, it was about noon, judging by the sun’s position.

  “No one around,” Mahya said. “Let’s drop the invisibility.”

  I felt the familiar sensation as the spell dissipated, revealing us to the world again. Mahya pulled out her phone, her brow furrowing in tration as she navigated through her apps.

  “Alright,” she said, showing us the s. “These are the pces we buy herbs. Let’s divide them up.”

  Al leaned in, his eyes darting over the list. “I’ll take these three,” he said, pointing at the s. “They’re all close to each other.”

  I nodded and took a closer look, making a mental note of my own tasks. “I’ll hahese,” I said, jotting down the addresses in my notebook. “And I’ve got the addresses of two pawn shops.”

  Mahya looked at both of us, her lips pressing into a determined line. “We’ll meet he third pce that sells tires at eleven tonight. Don’t be te.” She gave a small smile, her eyes flickering with a hint of mischief. “Remember to cast invisibility before you run into the city.”

  “I he address,” Al said.

  I gave him the address and verified that he still had his phoo find it. With a st nod from Mahya, we cast the invisibility spell again. I felt the magic wash over me, and then we were off, sprinting towards the city, each of us focused on our tasks.

  When I reached the city, I found a secluded er he pawnshop to cel the invisibility and cast on myself. I sold two jewelry pieces and fgged a taxi to the first herb shop. It took me till the evening to empty all the valerian stocks of the shops I took from the list, and I had to visit the sed pawnshop.

  I arrived early at the tires’ pd had to wait for them. Al came , aalked until Mahya arrived. He bought not only Valerian but some other things aed that we didn’t visit some drug dealers first to stock up on cash. I just shook my head in resignation. I created a monster.

  Mahya arrived, and we quickly walked around the area to verify that it was deserted. It was in the industrial area, where wide streets lined with warehouses and manufacturing pnts sprawled out in a grid-like pattern. The distant hum of maery was the only sound breaking the eerie silence, and the occasional truck rumbled by, its presence a stark reminder of the relentless activity that usually filled these parts. The smell of metal and oil lingered in the air, mixing with the faint st of greenery from the small parks scattered amidst the crete expanse.

  We waited a couple of mio verify that no other truck was ing and jumped over the fence. I envied Mahya. Al and I he trampoline; she jumped over the three-meter-high fence like I jump over a small stream.

  We stored all the tires. It took us lohan the previous pces—this pce was huge, with tires stacked up high. I used my mana sense range, but they o touch the tires.

  Ok, maybe I’m not jealous of Mahya anymore.

  After we emptied the pce, I left another his time, I left them ten big gold s and five gems—we took a lot of tires.

  After jumping over the fence, we cast invisibility again and ran to the junkyard. It was also massive. There were mostly cars, big heaps of assorted metal and wood junk, like old appliances and broken furniture, and a big heap of mattresses.

  I stored the mattresses, two big heaps of general junk, thinking that my ight learn something from the old appliahen, I moved on to cars. After less than ten minutes, I couldn’t store another car. When I checked my Ste, I discovered it was pletely full. I couldn’t even fit a spoon in there.

  I waited for them to finish for another half an hour, feeling the time stretdlessly. Finally, we were ready to go. Despite our efforts, the pce still seemed full of junk, hardly touched. I left another h the payment, including two gold s each from Mahya and Al.

  “No, really, it’s my house,” I insisted, pushing their hands away as they tried to tribute. Mahya’s eyes narrowed, a stubboro her jaw as she crossed her arms.

  “We’re traveling and handling things together,” she said firmly, not budging an inch.

  Al nodded in agreement, his expression equally resolute. “John, it’s important that we work together as a team.”

  Their insistence warmed my heart, making me feel both loved and appreciated. Maybe I was strange, but having grown up without friends or anybody, those slight gestures of care meant the world to me.

  After we jumped over the fence, Mahya brushed a braid from her fad said, “I found a pce that recims wood. We should visit it.”

  I shook my head. “My Ste is full. I ’t fit anything more into it.”

  Mahya tilted her head, a determined look in her eyes. “Mioo, but we e.”

  “I already spent three ability points today,” I replied, rubbing my temples at the thought. “Besides, I don’t want a headache.”

  Her expression softened slightly, but her tone remained insistent. “I don’t think you’ll get a headache. You got levels from the dungeon. And you’ll e eventually, as all Travelers do. So just do it earlier.”

  Al and I exged a weary gnce, both of us sighing in resignation. It was challenging tue with Mahya. She crossed her arms, a triumphant smile pying on her lips, knowing she had won anument.

  We ran to the wood recmatioer. I enrged my ste by awo ability points and didn’t look at it. I didn’t want to get scared or dizzy. A as much wood as we could, left a note and payment, and ran back to the Gate.

  On the way, Al said, “I stumbled upon a news story ig your escapades during your st visit. The story revolved around the thefts at two tire recmatioers. ion was made of the payment you left.”

  “Assholes,” I said.

  “Big assholes,” Mahya added, and we ughed.

  When we crossed the gate, Rue was all over us with face licks, his body shaking from excitement, and his tail wagging furiously. My boy missed us.

  I tried to find out how much time passed, but his only answer was “long.”

  In order to speed up the process of feeding the house with everything we brought, I tried something new. I wasn’t sure it would work, but it was worth a try. I took out a rge part of the wood I had collected, put it on the porch, and told the house to suck it in.

  The house seemed to e alive, a soft hum resonating through its structure. I didn’t think Mahya or Al heard it. I didn’t hear it either; it was more of a feeling. The wood on the porch disappeared, piece by piece, as if being swallowed by an invisible mouth.

  After it sucked in all the wood, I instructed it to get as low to the ground as possible, lower the porch railing, aend the porch forward. The house plied and reshaped itself. The baly railing desded slowly, almost like a drawbridge, while the porch extended forward, creating more space. It was a remarkable sight, the house shifting and morphing as if it had a mind of its own.

  I ordered it to extend the porch more, with a mental picture of an enormous deck—at least thirty meters long and wide. The house rolled the deck out as instructed. I ordered it to retract the deck, and it rolled back to the house and got absorbed.

  YES!!

  I ordered it to extend the deck again to its maximum capacity, and I got a deck that was more than a hundred meters long and thirty meters wide.

  Mahya and Al watched iheir expressions mirr my astonishment. For a moment, we stood there in silence, marveling at the house’s transformation. It was clear that the possibilities of this house were far greater than any of us had imagined.

  Mahya said in an awed voice, “I really like your house.”

  All just nodded enthusiastically.

  That summed it up. I had an amazing house.