I walked back to the tent, humming my “new” ability points song:
“Buy buy my ability points
I gave my points to my boy, and now the well is dry.
And them good ability points make me drink Rye.
Singing this will be the day that they die. This will be the day that they die …”
Yeah … I still needed to work on that; I was no Don McLean.
The air felt different when I got about half a kilometer from the tent. It took me a second to understand why—there was no mana in the air; it was empty. About two hundred meters from the tent, I sensed some mana in the air as I continued walking. I remembered experiencing a large infusion of mana into the ritual and into myself during it, but it surprised me it emptied the air.
As I stepped inside the tent, I was in for another surprise: no trace of the ritual remained except for the grooves on the floor for the purification mixture. Everything else just disappeared. I got on all fours and examined the floor; there was nothing. I didn’t find even one speck of ash or grain of salt. Everything was just gone. At least the vent was still pumping out mana as if nothing had changed.
I built up the “mana absorption” aspect in my channels and sat down to regenerate. Every so often, I had to add more absorption because the itching decreased, and by evening, I was already at 3,251/8,800 mana. When I examined my channels, they looked almost twice as wide as they were when I started my technique, and the channel in my left hand was more than double the width I started with. I took a chance and cast the Absorb Mana spell on myself.
I felt nothing for about three minutes, then I got a minor itching, and the spell ended without the feeling of getting stronger. This concretely showed how much I had progressed with expanding my channels. It once took me three full days to regenerate 3,000 mana. I filled the same amount today in less than a day. I had to do it consciously, but it was worth it. That thought stopped me in my tracks.
Maybe I don’t need to do it consciously?
Perhaps I can build an automatic mana regeneration system?
I continued to regenerate, and I started building my idea. My first attempt was to create a mesh of mana lines with an absorption aspect. However, I quickly gave up on the idea; the mesh didn’t fit the structure of the channel. Then, an idea came to me. I built a spiral that started in the palm of my left hand, and I gradually progressed with it until I reached the Spirit orb. It took me over two hours to build the spiral, where I ran into a problem. One of the primary things I learned about spells is that they cannot have open ends. If there is an open end, the mana will leak out, and the spell will collapse. However, turning around and sending the spiral down my arm and hand would draw mana from my body and direct it out of me. I would essentially cycle mana in and out.
Hmm, I ran into a problem and decided to sleep on it. Rue had joined me in the tent an hour before, so we ate dinner together and slept in the tent. In the morning, I checked my mana: 3,617/8,800.
Having that sleep must have cleared my mind because I came up with a new idea that I thought would work. I built the spiral in my Mind orb. First, I constructed the spiral around the sides of the orb, then proceeded to build a spiral in the channel linking the Mind orb to the Spirit orb. Again, I built a spiral around the sides of the Spirit orb and went down the channel to the Body orb. In the Body orb, I built another spiral the same way. When I got to the bottom of the orb, I started the entire process in reverse by heading upwards. I built another spiral in the Body orb, again up the channel to the Spirit orb, and continued up the last channel and built the spiral in the Mind orb. When it was done, I connected the two ends, the start and the end, and “locked” the spell using a technique I learned in one book on mana.
I checked, and yes! The blinking light was back.
First Spiral Completed
Quality: 17%
I felt judged.
“Seriously? 17%? It’s not that bad!” I said out loud.
I didn’t get an answer.
With a deep sigh, I broke the spell lock and unraveled the spiral. I sat thinking about what might be the issue. My goal was regeneration, so how can I increase it?
Maybe add more rings to the spiral? That should increase the regeneration.
Again, I built the spiral in my Mind orb and built the spiral around the sides of the orb as tightly as possible so I would have as many rings as possible. When I couldn’t fit even one more ring, I built a spiral in the channel that connected the Mind orb to the Spirit orb. Again, I created a spiral around the sides of the orb with tightly packed rings, and when it was ready, I went down the channel to the Body orb and built another spiral the same way. When I got to the bottom of the orb, I started the entire process in reverse by heading upwards as I built another dense spiral in the Body orb, again up the channel to the Spirit orb.
By this point, I got a headache from overexertion. It was tough to keep all this mana under control in the proper form and not let it fall apart. I continued up the last channel and built the spiral in the Mind orb. By this point, my whole body was shaking, but I knew, I just knew I was on the right track, so I didn’t give up. The last few rings at the top were a David vs. Goliath fight, but I built the previous rings and connected the two ends, the start and the end, and I “locked” the spell.
As soon as I could let go of this complicated construction and effort to keep it under control, I almost fainted from relief. I sat for a few minutes, took deep breaths, and waited for the spots before my eyes cleared.
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First Spiral Completed
Quality: 81%
“Hey, that was hard. I think it deserves at least a 95% score. Not a measly 81!” I complained loudly in an indignant tone.
Of course, I didn’t get an answer.
I considered the low score and decided it was probably because I didn’t pack the spiral tightly in the connecting channels, only in the power orbs.
My channels were tingling on the verge of itching, so I knew I couldn’t add another spiral just yet; it would be too much for them. I considered unraveling the one I built, but it took me hours, so I didn’t feel like doing it again right now. To verify, I created a tiny amount of the absorb aspect in my right arm channel, and my channel itched immediately. As I thought, I wasn’t ready for the next one.
I checked the Wizard part of my profile, and the spiral was there, as well as another surprise.
Sub-class 2 Wizard Level 2
Wizard Abilities:
Mind Split x3
Mana Sensing [Junior]
Mana Saturation [Apprentice]
Mana Manipulation [Medior]
Mana Regeneration x 1
Wizard Spells:
Harvest Mana Crystal [In Progress]
Harvest Game [In Progress]
What the hell is a Medior? I never heard this word.
Before leaving Earth, I bought many textbooks on various subjects and some dictionaries for technical words. I facepalmed; I should have given Lis an introductory engineering textbook.
In one dictionary, I found Medior:
“A Medior is someone with three to five years of work experience who can lead projects independently. The Medior has sufficient knowledge to perform executive tasks successfully and mentor Juniors, but is often supported and supervised by a Senior.”
For the first time, I considered that the Archive and all the system messages were in English. I never gave it a second thought. I just opened it and read. But now, it became apparent that the system was translating everything. The system needed a word for the level I reached but didn’t have a suitable word, so it took the closest word that conveyed that concept.
Huh!
Again, I felt like an idiot. I should have wondered about it sooner.
After a few minutes of feeling like a clueless idiot, I reminded myself of Lis’s words about first-walking before running and decided that I was too harsh with myself. I was learning, and because I discovered many things myself, with no guidance, I concluded that I might be good at this wizarding stuff.
I spent another night in the tent, waking to nearly full mana reserves. Watching my profile, I saw my mana tick up by three every minute, missing less than a hundred points to the max. I felt exhilarated. No more sitting around actively regenerating mana.
Automation for the win!
Packing up the tent, I headed back to the house. Lis was on the porch, buried in a book. “I’m ready whenever you are,” I announced.
“You regenerated fast! I thought it would take a few more days,” Lis said, looking surprised.
“I found a way to speed it up with aspected mana and developed a method to regenerate even faster yesterday,” I explained.
“How?”
“I built a spiral in my mana system, which increased my regeneration rate. I even regenerated while sleeping!”
Lis looked embarrassed, awkwardly rubbing his neck. “I am sorry. I knew about wizard spirals. My friend, the wizard I mentioned, built three for me. I should have told you, but I forgot.”
“It’s okay. Discovering things on my own helps me feel less hopeless,” I reassured him.
“You are not hopeless, not even a little. Your first two classes could be attributed to Earth’s imminent integration, but you got the Wizard Class after a short journey on a low-mana world. That takes talent—a lot of talent. For comparison, I got my first sub-class five or six years after I started traveling and clearing dungeons with a sword. It took me that long to earn a sub-class after using psionic spells and a sword to clear a few more dungeons.”
“Thanks for the pep talk,” I said, appreciating his encouragement.
“What is a pep?” Lis asked.
“It’s a feeling of happiness or energy. So, a pep talk is something to make you feel better.”
He nodded. “I was waiting for you to regenerate. I am ready to go.”
Lis stored his house, and I called Rue. Despite traveling for over a year and storing many things, seeing Lis store a huge two-story house was still something else.
Rue came running, and I told him we were going to Earth. He didn’t have an opinion on the matter.
“I remembered that I have a lot of engineering texts in my storage, so now it’s my turn to apologize for forgetting about them,” I said to Lis.
He laughed, patting my shoulder. “Thank you for making me feel better about forgetting the spirals. And do not feel bad about the books. I am enjoying the ones you gave me.”
Something had been bugging me. “When we discussed the book, you said it was ridiculous because there can’t be a store or communication between planets. But the Guidance communicates with us in every world, even in translation. How can that be?”
“You are confused, my friend. The things I was talking about are man-made. The Guidance was not made by people but by Cosmic Entities. This is completely different.”
“What’s the difference?”
“Cosmic Entities are beings with limitless power. Some worlds believe they created the physical world. They have many names: Cosmic Beings, Cosmic Gods, Celestial Gods, the Ancient Gods, the Guiding Spirits, and many more. Many worlds have temples, and in others, churches where people pray to them for help or blessings. They are not people but supernatural powers above the material world.”
“What’s the difference between a temple and a church? Isn’t it the same?” I asked.
“No. A temple is a place to pray, ask for help, or express gratitude. Priests or priestesses are there, but people dedicate themselves to a God or Cosmic Entity by choice or for family honor or prestige. Churches actively send representatives to convert people to believe in one entity or another.”
“And all these worlds believe in the same entities?”
“Yes, some of them have different names, but when you discover what the entity represents, you realize it is the same Cosmic Entity called something else in a different world.”
“It’s strange. There are many religions on Earth, and there have been many wars to make people believe in one religion or another. Yet you tell me many worlds believe in the same entities. How is that possible?”
Lis laughed. “Is there any proof on Earth of the gods responsible for these religions?”
“No.”
“And that is the root of the problem. There is proof of these gods’ existence in the worlds I told you about.”
“How?”
“Religious classes that have the name of the god or entity, like a Paladin of The Two-Faced God or a Faith Healer of The Triple Goddess.”
“I should have guessed,” I said. “I didn’t think about the fact that people in many worlds have classes. It makes sense that there would be religious classes with the gods’ names. I even read about it in books.”
“A day when you learn something new is a day worth getting up in the morning.”
“So lately, I shouldn’t sleep at all. I keep learning a lot of new things,” I quipped.
Lis roared with laughter.
As we started climbing toward the Gate, I told Rue, “I hope it was the beginning of spring on the other side and not the end of autumn. I know you hate snow.”
I got an empathic agreement from him.
Lis turned to him in surprise. “You hate snow? But you have fur; you cannot even feel it.”
I got a feeling of cold feet and a strong distaste for Rue.
Surprised, I said, “That’s your problem? Cold paws?”
I got a firm yes and an even stronger feeling of distaste.
“I thought you didn’t like it because it wet your fur.”
Rue shook himself like he did to fling out water from his fur.
“Yeah, that makes sense,” I said. “Sometimes, I see dogs in Chicago with dog shoes in winter. Maybe we can find something in your size.”
I never felt such happiness from him before. I laughed and scratched his ears.