After the ritual, I was utterly wiped out, and Rue looked like he was dragging. We returned to Lis’s house, had an enormous meal, and both went to sleep. When I woke up, the sun looked like it was in the afternoon, but it felt like I had slept longer. Coming downstairs, I found Lis sitting and reading a book.
“Good morning,” I greeted.
He laughed and replied, “Good tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” I asked, puzzled.
“Yes, you slept for a day and a half.”
It surprised me. I felt exhausted from the ritual, but didn’t expect to sleep that much. I checked my mana: 623/8,800.
Wow! My mana jumped up!
“My mana jumped up 1,200 points. Is this normal?” I asked Lis.
“Impressive. Normally, it goes up 400 points after this ritual, but probably because of your tri-mana system, it went up 400 points per orb. That is the only explanation I can think of.” He laughed, adding, “Did I tell you I am jealous? Even if I did, I would repeat it. Surely, with this jump, you should already be in the two or even three thousand range.”
“Umm, I started with 7,600... I’m now 8,800,” I replied, rubbing my neck in embarrassment.
He looked at me wide-eyed, his mouth agape. After a minute, he asked, “How much was your mana when it awakened for the first time?”
“Um, 3,000...”
“I should have guessed. I already told you that your father comes from a very high mana world. You should thank the cosmic entities for your mana,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief and smiling.
“Why?” I asked. I couldn’t help but be curious about the answer.
“I started with 400 and reached 5,200 after over 300 years as a Traveler.”
“Remember when I told you about the Cleanse I did with six or seven thousand?” I said, frowning as I tried to recall the details.
“I believed you channeled it in increments.”
“I’m not that crazy!” Laughing, I exclaimed.
“Yes, I should have guessed by your reaction to the idea of doing it again,” he laughed, shaking his head in amusement. After a minute, he added, “When do you want to go to the world across the Gate?”
“You mean Earth? Why did you put it that way?” I asked, tilting my head.
“I did not know the name, and I told you to look at it as a Traveler, so I will not call it your home world,” he explained, shrugging.
“I like your way of looking at things,” I said, nodding in agreement. “About going to Earth, I want to regenerate fully, but I have nothing else I want to accomplish after that. By the way, where is Rue?”
“He woke up a short while ago, asked for a big meal, grumbled that the food I gave him was not rich in mana, and went outside,” he replied, pointing towards the door.
“Asked? Grumbled? How? He speaks now?! I’m totally confused,” I said, my eyes widening in shock.
Lis laughed and said, “No, he will never speak in the traditional sense of the word; he does not have a suitable vocal structure. But with time and progress, he will master mana speech. Today, he communicated with me like he communicates with you, with emotions and impressions. Did you not read about it in the book about familiars?”
“It said his communication abilities will improve, but I assumed it meant with me, not others.”
“Oh, I see. He is a familiar now. He is tethered to a human soul, so he can communicate with others since you can, but only with people or beings with mana,” Lis explained, smiling.
“Awesome! My dog can talk! Or kind of talk? ... hmm ... Yeah...” I scratched my head in confusion.
Lis roared with laughter at my confusion. With a shake of my head, I went in search of Rue. He was outside, lying in the sun. I petted him, scratched his ears, and diagnosed him. He was healthy and in great shape, and I felt delighted. I sank my awareness into him to see the changes mana-wise.
I located his three tiny orbs, maybe three millimeters in diameter or even smaller. He had the four mana channels in his legs, but they were hair-thin, and he didn’t have the network of the smaller channels throughout the whole body. I read in the book that the mana system of the familiar is initially at its beginning stages, but I expected a more progressed or developed beginning.
“We need to gorge you on mana-rich meat to help develop your mana system,” I told him.
And felt a very enthusiastic agreement from him.
“Yeah, I thought you would like the idea.”
I went inside to talk with Lis again. “Lis, you told me about a standard familiar package, but I don’t remember all the details. Can you give me the list again? I’ll write it down this time.”
“Sure. It is Invisibility for crossing the Gates, Stealth for scouting, Storage for food and water, Telekinesis so he can have more freedom, One of the Crowd so you can hide his appearance and conjure identification, and Mana Shield for protection,” he explained, ticking off each item on his fingers.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
“Thanks,” I said, pulling out a notebook to jot down the details.
He nodded and got back to his book. I noticed it was the book I gave him about an apocalypse. Curious, I asked, “What do you think about the book? Is the description of the apocalypse accurate?”
“It is completely ridiculous but very entertaining,” he said, smirking as he flipped a page.
“Why ridiculous?” I leaned against the door frame, intrigued.
“First, the idea that the hero can get AI. AI is technology; technology does not work with mana. I heard from other Travelers that there are advanced tech worlds where you can buy an AI, but to install it, you must undergo surgery to implant the AI in your head,” he said, shaking his head.
“Also, the idea of a shop between worlds is impossible. The worlds are not connected, and as far as I know, even in the most technologically advanced worlds with several colonies on other planets, there is no communication between worlds. Communication will take months or even years to reach the other planet. I do not understand how this idea can work when the physical world is built as it is.
“The idea that you must buy your house from the shop is also amusing. Your house is your house. It does not stop being your house because your world has been flooded with mana. Technology gradually collapses, that is true, but everything else remains the same. The world does not change. It just starts working on different physical laws. Or rather, with an additional element that has a far-reaching effect.
“Also, the Personal Information described here is similar to traits in other worlds, not the Travelers’ Personal Information. But I cannot understand the connection between intelligence and mana – these are entirely different things. And what is the connection between a trait and regeneration? Regeneration depends on the width of your channels and the amount of mana in the air, not some arbitrary number.
“Furthermore, the idea that a world is a dungeon cannot exist. Dungeons are created when there is a mana pocket with a much higher mana level than the world’s; it is a filter. But apart from these things, the book is very entertaining, and I enjoy reading it.” He chuckled, clearly amused by the book’s absurdities.
“What do you mean personal information is like in other worlds, not Travelers? I thought the system, or guidance as you call it, is the same everywhere?” I asked, utterly confused.
“No. There are worlds where the inhabitants have different traits from us. There are worlds where the process of getting a class is completely different, and only among Travelers have I come across the fact that traits have physical and mental aspects. It may exist elsewhere, but I have not encountered it. I have a theory that we have the additional aspect to deal with the differences between worlds,” he explained, leaning back in his chair.
“Huh.” That was a surprise.
I let him get back to his book and went back out to spend my ability points on Rue. Returning to Earth sounded better and better every minute since I needed more ability points. I opened the GT class abilities list to buy Rue the abilities Lis recommended and had a surprise. The abilities had a new line regarding familiars, and they were expensive!
Hmm, a familiar is a costly business.
Storage: Rare Class Ability
Gain a storage space of 64 m3 (4x4x4m).
All stored goods stay in a suspended state.
Cost: 1 Ability Point
There is no mana cost, but accessing the space on worlds with low mana levels (10 or below) takes longer and requires more concentration.
To expand the space, spend 1 Ability Point for +4 to all the dimensions:
64 m3> 512 m3> 1728 m3> 4096 m3>
Space expansion is unlimited, but expanding without raising your stats might cause a mental strain.
Familiar Version:
Buy your familiar storage space of 1 m³ (1x1x1m).
All stored goods stay suspended.
Cost: 5 Ability Points
To expand the space, spend 3 Ability Points for +1 to all the dimensions:
1 m³ > 8 m³ > 27 m³ > 64 m³
One of the Crowd: Unique Class Ability
This Ability is everything a Traveler needs to hide their status as a Traveler.
In worlds with low to high mana levels, many classes can view personal information or have runic or magic script artifacts to view the personal information of a being.
To help hide your status as a Traveler, you can hide/edit parts of your Personal Information:
* Change your name to match local conventions.
* Display your Profession or one of your sub-classes as your Class.
* Display a false class based on one of your Skills or spells.
* Hide any part of your Personal Information and display question marks instead. Note that displaying question marks might direct unwanted attention your way.
Cost: 1 Ability Point
No mana cost.
In technological and some mana worlds, various means of proving identity exist, such as identification papers, badges, identity chips, and more.
Use this ability to conjure the needed identifications to travel the world peacefully.
A onetime cost of 100 mana to conjure identifications.
If the identification means are more advanced, such as an identity chip connected to a central database, it costs 500 mana to conjure the chip and connect to the database.
Depending on the need, more mana might be required to perform additional adaptations, or conjure various credentials to ease your travels.
If your race is unknown in the new world, you can glamour yourself to look local.
The glamour will remain constant and drop when you pass through a Gate to a new world.
A onetime cost of 300 mana in each new world.
Familiar Version:
Buy your familiar the ability to hide its nature. In worlds with low to high mana levels, many classes can view information or have runic or magic script artifacts to view a being’s information. This Ability allows you to hide/edit your familiar’s information.
Cost: 5 Ability Points
Various means of identification exist in technological and some mana worlds, such as identification papers, badges, identity chips, and more. Use this Ability to conjure the needed identification for your familiar. Note that if your familiar does not have enough mana, you will have to spend your mana to use this Ability.
A onetime cost of 300 mana to conjure identifications.
If your familiar kind is unknown in the new world, you can glamour them to look local. The glamour will remain constant and drop when you pass through a Gate to a new world.
A onetime cost of 500 mana in each new world.
General Spells and Skills: Unique Class Ability
The Traveler visits many worlds, faces many challenges, and needs many Skills and Spells to travel safely and hide their status as a Traveler.
As such, this class is not limited to the Skills or Spells the Traveler can learn.
A Traveler can learn any Spell or Skill in the connected worlds.
Cost: 1-3 Ability Points for each Spell or Skill.
All Spells and Skills start at level 1.
Use the Spell or Skill to raise its level.
No mana cost to gain a Spell or Skill.
Mana cost for use varies according to the Spell or Skill.
Familiar Version:
You can buy your familiar Spell or Skill from the lists.
Cost: 3-9 Ability Points
Note that familiars without the required limbs cannot use a corresponding Skill.
I started with 35 ability points, but the 2 Gate Traveler abilities cost me 10 points!
Invisibility, Stealth, and Mana Shield each cost 3 points, and Telekinesis cost 9! NINE!! Points.
I had 40 points just recently, and now I have 7.
Yeah, I’m definitely going back to Earth.