When we crossed the Gate to Earth, of course, there was a torrential rain. What else did I expect? It matched my “excitement” for being here perfectly.

Rue immediately complained. “Rue hate rain!”

That reminded me of something, and I asked him, “In Lumis, when we were sailing, and it rained, you had no problem with it. Why is it a problem now?”

“Rain in Lumis nice. Rain on Earth not nice.” He declared forcefully.

“What’s the difference? Both are wet.”

“Rain in Lumis with mana. Rain on Earth dirty.” He sounded put upon for having to explain something so basic.

Huh!

I didn’t notice, but apparently, he did. “Let’s fly fast,” I told him.

While we flew, I could see his outline despite the invisibility. The water droplets didn’t pass through him and painted an exact outline of his body. I hoped nobody would look up. That gave me an idea. I cast Mana Shield on myself, and immediately, the water stopped soaking me. Instead, it ran down the shield.

“Buddy, cast Mana Shield,” I sent to him.

“John smart!” came the enthusiastic reply, and I could discern his tail wagging and flinging rain in all directions.

That took care of the rain issue and was a pleasant discovery.

We reached the house Mahya and Al rented, but nobody was home. Fortunately, Mahya gave me a spare key the last time I visited so we could get inside and dry out. Rue immediately demanded a movie, and I went to cook.

In the morning, I was waking up when I felt Mahya approaching. When I got downstairs and looked out the window, I saw her drive an RV into the driveway. It looked very nice. The thing had clean white paint, with some retro brown and gold stripes running along the sides, giving it a bit of an old-school charm. The front had that classic boxy shape, all business, but still cozy. It gleamed in the sunlight like it had just rolled out of the showroom. Mahya hopped out, looking proud of herself, while I stood there, and held my fingers crossed that my idea would work.

Suddenly, she turned sharply and looked at the house. I heard her in my head, “What? You couldn’t stay away? Aren’t you afraid I’m going to kill you?”

Oops! She sounded pissed.

Lifting my hand in surrender, I said, “No matter how much you shout at me, it won’t be worse than what I told myself. I know I fucked up. I’m sorry.”

She narrowed her eyes and stared at me through the window for a minute. I saw her shoulders rise as if she sighed, and she nodded, looking resigned. Still, when she walked into the house, she slapped the back of my head hard and said, “Idiot!”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

She pointed at me and said, “This is the most annoying part. I can’t even shout at you properly when you readily admit defeat. I need you to come up with excuses so I can shout at you.”

“There’s no excuse. I fucked up, and I know it. Sorry!”

She threw her hands up in exasperation and said, “Fine! As long as you know you’re an idiot.”

I nodded vigorously, and she growled, “Grrrrrgh!” and slapped the back of my head again.

I stayed silent; I deserved it. When I saw she got it out of her system, I asked, “Where’s Al?”

“Hunting.”

I was confused. “Hunting? Hunting what? Where?”

“In Chugach State Park. I think he’s hunting bears, wolves, and cougars.”

“Why on Earth would he do that? Is he planning to turn them into potions or something?”

Mahya burst out laughing. “No. I don’t think even Al will try to make potions out of them. He wants to get a mage class, as you know. Initially, he planned to expose himself to criminals. But then he decided to thin out the aggressive predators around here. One more mana level up, and the waves will start. Those predators will grow rapidly and become very aggressive. He wants to help as much as possible. By culling them, he might get the class he wants and save a lot of people.”

That was an excellent idea. “Smart,” I said.

“Yeah, he has his moments,” Mahya said. “So, what brings you back this time? Another core? And why did I buy an RV?”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

I scratched my head. “I’ll tell you first. We need darkness to answer the RV question.”

I told her everything that had happened in Lumis since my last visit. When I told her about the assassins’ ambush, she hit the back of my head again! Called me an idiot and scolded me for not escaping instead. She changed her tune when I told her about the class upgrade I got as a result. She couldn’t stop laughing when I told her about the robbery and all the gossip in the city afterward. We spent the whole day talking and joking. She already finished converting one Jeep, but still didn’t get the class she wanted.

When it got dark, I said, “Come. I’ll show you the reason for the RV.”

Placing the core on the ground, I said, “Disguise yourself as a wagon.” After the wagon grew around the core, I made an inviting gesture towards the back part. “Ladies first.”

Inside, she looked at my house’s standard living room and tapped her cheek with her finger. “If we feed the RV to the core, I don’t think it will work like with the wagon. The result won’t be mobile. We need to take it apart first. If we feed the RV to the core with a detailed conversion blueprint, it might do the rest—like it did with your electric toys. If not, I’ll have to get it back, do the complete conversion, and then have the core absorb it again. Either way, it’s a great idea. For now, I’m removing the idiot title.” She looked at me with narrowed eyes and said. “Until you do the next stupid thing, that is.”

I sighed and nodded. I still deserved it, but then I thought of something. “You knew we needed a detailed blueprint for the core to convert the electric toys? How?”

“What do you mean? Of course, it needs a blueprint. It can’t think.”

I got exasperated. “Why didn’t you say anything? I was sure the core did all of it by itself! Only when I found Lis’s blueprints did I realize it needed them.” I exclaimed, my tone rising.

She looked at me uncomprehendingly for a minute or two and started laughing. “You thought I did everything just like that?! Shit, of course, you did. We keep telling you it’s not sentient. And I’m guessing you didn’t check the blueprints Lis left you, hmm?”

I shook my head and got another slap at the back of it. If this continued, I would get a permanent bruise there.

She sighed, muttered something, and said, “We’ll start working on the RV tomorrow. I’ll postpone the next Jeep for now. Let’s go to sleep.”

For the following two weeks, I helped Mahya work on the RV. Luckily, in San Francisco, I bought mechanical books about every type of vehicle. We had to take apart not only the motor but the whole thing. Wiring ran through the RV walls and pipes for water and gas, and we had to take apart everything and incorporate it into the blueprint. Every piece had its purpose. The electrical system needed to be dismantled entirely so we could map out each connection, down to the last fuse. We ripped out the plumbing—pipes snaking under every surface—labeling each section, so nothing got lost in the chaos. The interior fixtures, cabinets, and even the flooring came apart, revealing the structural framework beneath. We carefully removed the tanks for fuel, water, and waste, figuring out how they could be converted. Even the insulation had to come out for the modifications.

After two weeks, we had an enormous pile of parts with label stickers on everything. Mahya gave me the initial blueprint on paper and told me to put Trottie back together again. Yes, Trottie was the new pet name of our RV, and I had no idea why. She came up with it one day and refused to call it anything else.

After ten days, she finished the blueprint, but I hadn’t finished the “putting back together” project yet. It was much more challenging to assemble than to disassemble. She joined me, and it progressed faster.

Finally, Al came back. When he saw me, he hugged me with a clap on my back and asked, “Another core?”

“No. Had to leave Lumis,” I replied, glancing away.

“Why? Something happened there?” he asked, his voice tinged with worry as his brow furrowed.

“Yeah ... sort of. I’ll tell you about it later,” I said, fidgeting in embarrassment, rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly. “Did you get the class you wanted?”

“I got an offer for three ability points, which is good enough,” he said with a satisfied nod. “Now I need to continue using spells I earned until I get it for free.”

“I thought you wanted to continue until you got the class,” I said, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, but I was out of predators and had to travel a long distance to find any,” he explained, his tone shifting to a bit of frustration, his hand running through his hair. “The offer unlocked the possibility. Now, I need to continue in the same vein until I get it. It is much easier to achieve after you unlock the option. That is the important part.”

“I hope it happens quickly,” I said, squeezing his shoulder and offering a reassuring smile.

“Yes, me too,” he agreed, exhaling sharply as his eyes landed on the RV. “What are you doing with this truck?”

“It’s not a truck, but an RV. And you’ll see once we are done,” I replied, trying to sound mysterious.

“Did you bring me more herbs?”

“Umm, no?” I hesitated, scratching my head. “I thought you had enough between the swamp and what I got you the last time.”

“Yes, for now. I only asked to verify,” he said with a casual shrug.

“If you need me to get you more, tell me. I can fly there and get as much as you need.”

He nodded. “Thank you. I will think about it,”

It took us another two days to finish assembling the RV—it went much faster with Al’s help. When it was done, I stored it at night, and we drove to a secluded area to do the next experiment. I removed my core and instructed it, “Open the house in the smallest configuration possible, but extend the deck.” When the deck was open, I removed the RV from my storage onto the deck and told the house, “Absorb the RV.” The core sucked it in like a vacuum. With an almost imperceptible gulp, it disappeared into the deck without a trace. I put the blueprint on the deck and said, “Absorb the blueprint and apply it to the RV.” The blueprint disappeared as well. “Close the house.” I took a deep breath, crossed my fingers, and said. “Disguise yourself as an RV.”

The RV grew around the core. It differed from the way the house grew. Whenever the house opened from the core, it was like a flower blossoming. The RV, however, expanded around the core like a second skin, growing until it stood fully formed in front of us. We entered through the side door, and inside, my living room greeted us.

Mahya said, “One last test. Pray to the Guiding Spirits and cross your fingers.” She moved to the driver’s seat and started the RV. We heard nothing, but I felt the subtle vibration of the engine underfoot.

“Yes!” I jumped enthusiastically, pumping my fist in the air, and hit my head on the ceiling. I couldn’t understand how it happened. I hadn’t activated my Jump skill, so how the hell did I get so high?

Hmm ... Yeah ... I might have accidentally added a little windy push.

Mahya and Al were laughing their asses off, and I just stood there, rubbing my head.