In the morning, I went looking for a car to buy. I remembered promising Rue a fast car. Even though I was a little worried about driving on the opposite side of the road, I reassured myself that I could always drive slower until I got used to it.
Our neighbor, Miss Maggie, was on the stairs, so I asked her, “Good morning, Miss Maggie. Do you know anyone selling a van or another vehicle big enough for Rue?”
“Good morning, deary,” she replied with a warm smile. “I haven’t heard, but if you ask Henry in the pub, he will surely know; he knows everything that goes on here.”
“When does he open?” I inquired, adjusting the strap of my bag.
“Only in the afternoon,” she said, glancing at her watch, “but he’s there now to clean and prepare everything; if you knock on the window, he’ll come to the door to talk to you.”
“Thanks.”
I went looking for Henry at the pub. I knocked on the window, and a fat man came to the door, squinting through the glass before opening a crack. “What do you need?” he asked gruffly.
“Are you Henry?” I asked, tilting my head.
He nodded.
“I’m looking to buy a car, and Miss Maggie said, you know everything happening around here. So, I came to ask if you’ve heard of anything?”
He scrutinized me momentarily before replying, “I don’t know you. How do you know Miss Maggie?”
“I think you know my dog. A big Saint Bernard named Rue.”
He started laughing, his belly shaking. “That’s your dog? You know he’s an alcoholic?”
“Yes, I’m trying to make him quit, so he goes and asks the neighbors,” I said, rolling my eyes.
He laughed even louder, slapping his leg. After he stopped laughing, he wiped a tear from his eye and said, “Alright, alright. I’ll help you out.” He gave me two names of used car dealers.
I bought a car, collected Rue, and set out to the first Gate. The Travelers’ Map didn’t have names of places if you didn’t put them there specifically, only a general view of an area. So, I found a place selling detailed maps of the entire country, bought every type of map they had, found a spot by the road, opened the first map, and looked at it. I forgot to ask Lis how to “upload” a map, but figured this should work. After a minute or two of looking at the printed map, I opened the Travelers’ Map, but nothing was new. I considered calling Lis to ask, but decided against it. He wouldn’t be with me on my entire journey, and I needed to figure things out myself.
After some thought, I tried something else. With the Travelers’ Map open, I focused on the specific section of the printed map in front of me. After a second, I glanced back at the Travelers’ Map and saw that it had updated the area I was looking at on the printed map, now showing names, roads, and even road numbers.
Success!
Returning to the printed map, I looked at it section by section to ensure I left nothing out. I checked my Map, and it was all there. I continued to “upload” all the other maps until I had a detailed Map of all the British Isles. It uploaded everything: towns, roads, hotels and restaurants, tourist attractions, just everything. If it was on the map I was looking at, it got updated on the Travelers’ Map.
It’s unfair that it doesn’t stay updated for the next Traveler. What’s the problem with just letting it stay like this? So we have to work harder?
I felt a rebuke directed at me.
I said to the air, “Just thinking. Don’t get all worked up.”
Rue gave me a strange look and sent a feeling of a question.
I scratched his ear and said, “Don’t worry about it, buddy, just talking to a judgmental text box.”
I felt the rebuke again.
Shit, I forgot to ask Lis about this communication. There’s no doubt that I should do it.
I felt a firm “NO” and a sense of danger. I wasn’t sure if the threat was to me if Lis found out about it, or if the thingy warned me it would become a danger if I told anybody.
“What’s the big secret? It’s not like somebody can hurt you. I’m pretty sure you’re all-powerful and shit, so what’s the secrecy?” I asked the air, exasperated.
A feeling of amusement washed over me, and again a firm “NO.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll keep my mouth shut,” I said with resignation.
I didn’t get a response. It was interesting: When I asked a question, nothing happened, but if I criticized, I got a reaction.
Somebody is pretty touchy up there.
I waited, but didn’t get a rebuke this time.
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Ha, are you trying to pretend like you’re not?
Again, no response.
Returning my attention to the Map, I looked for the first Gate. It was on the southern tip of the island, near a place called Land’s End. When we arrived, I saw many standing solitary stones far from each other. I felt the Gate and followed the feeling, finding a big round stone with a hole in the middle—it looked like a donut standing on its side—and another stone near it were the Gate’s anchors. We arrived by evening, but the place was still full of tourists, so I waited till nightfall.
I spent the evening sitting on a cliff enjoying the sea. The area was beautiful, and the sound of the waves breaking on the cliffs put me in a tranquil mood. Rue spent the evening chasing seagulls. I didn’t know what his problem was with those birds, but I could feel his annoyance at every bird he chased.
At night, I returned to the Gate, told Rue to stay on the Earth side and make sure no one saw me, cast Invisibility and Mana Shield on myself, and crossed the Gate. My mana channels were on fire as soon as I was on the other side, and I immediately jumped back to Earth.
The burning sensation disappeared once I was on Earth, but my channels felt raw, as if I’d scrubbed them with a barbecue iron brush. Directing my awareness into myself, I checked them and thought they looked wider than before, but wasn’t sure. I saw a few places with micro-tears. Checking my mana, I saw it went up about 280 points during the second I was on the other side.
Touching the Gate, I checked the mana level.
Travelers Gate #2672165
Destination: Tír na nÓg
Status: Integrated
Mana level: 89
Threat level: Lethal
It never crossed my mind that my spirals would be good on Earth but a problem elsewhere with a higher mana level, but it should have. I tried to cast Healing Touch on my channels and almost screamed from the pain.
OK, no using magic for now!
I returned to London to let my channels heal and think about a solution.
When we returned home, Lis asked me, “Did you go through a Gate?”
“Yes, but I encountered a problem. I almost tore my channels with the mana level there and had to jump out quickly. I need to find a solution to this issue.”
He looked thoughtful and said, “I never even considered the possibility. I don’t know much about wizard spirals. I know wizards can build them to boost regeneration, and an advanced wizard can build them in others, like my friend did for me as a thank-you. You know more than me about this subject.”
I nodded and went to my room to think about the issue.
It took my channels a week to heal. After a day, they felt less raw and more like muscle pain after a workout, gradually subsiding until they felt normal. I monitored the tears, which healed naturally after three days—the places where the tears used to be felt normal and with no lasting damage. After a week, when I was sure all was fine, I cast Healing Touch on myself. I didn’t feel the spell do anything, but there was no pain or discomfort.
When Rue came home that evening, I told him, “I’m going to return to the Gate and solve the problem with my channels. This time, I want you to stay home. I’ll try to stay inside the Gate longer, and with the time skips, I don’t want you to sit by the Gate for a long time.”
He was very unhappy and sent me a powerful feeling of concern.
“Don’t worry, buddy. My intention is to stay close to the Gate and not venture even a meter away. I will stay in contact with the Gate, and at the first sign of someone approaching, and it doesn’t matter if it’s human or creature, I’ll jump back to Earth. I won’t endanger myself, just solve the problem with my channels.”
He sent me a feeling that he had given up on the argument but was still unsatisfied.
That evening, I drove to the last Gate I visited, parked in a secluded spot, and walked to the Gate. Before going through the Gate, I “broke” the closing points of the spirals and waited until they completely unraveled and no trace of them remained.
After crossing the Gate, I turned my attention to my channels. There was a slight itching sensation, but no pain. I looked around and saw I was in a narrow ravine between two high cliffs. I could see about five meters ahead before the cliffs turned a corner. The air was cool and damp, carrying the faint scent of moss and earth. I looked behind me and saw a very shallow cave. The back wall was about a meter from the Gate’s anchors, covered in a thin layer of moisture that glistened in the dim light.
I crept forward quietly to the corner of the cliff, my footsteps barely audible on the soft, mossy ground. As I peeked around the corner, the ravine continued another few meters before turning again. I strained my ears, listening for any sounds that might indicate nearby danger, but all was quiet. The silence was almost oppressive, broken only by the occasional water drip from the cave. I looked up and saw tree branches above that hid the sky, their leaves rustling faintly in a gentle breeze. The place felt eerily empty, devoid of any people or creatures.
To be safe, I stayed as close as possible to the Gate without going through it. I just stood there and let the mana soak into my body. After less than an hour, the itching sensation disappeared. I checked, and my mana was full.
I took out a rusty sword and channeled Restore. The itching sensation returned when I renewed the sword and stopped the spell. I kept casting Invisibility on myself to stay hidden, and at some point, it went up. Now, it lasted close to ten minutes. While trying to channel Restore, I had difficulty staying aware of my surroundings, so I couldn’t listen for any signs of approaching sounds or figures. I tried to split my mind so one part would continue paying attention to my surroundings and the other would continue channeling, and it worked. I could continue without losing situational awareness.
Hours passed as I stood there, restoring swords and absorbing mana. After a while, the itching stopped, so I added a small amount of the Absorb aspect and continued the Restore/Absorb cycle. I didn’t know how long I stood there, but I ran out of swords, had to add more of the Absorb aspect, and my channels looked wider.
After building a loose spiral with only five rings in each orb, the itching went up a notch, but was still bearable. Switching to parchment, I saturated it with mana. The itching subsided, and it felt like I was ready for a tighter spiral. However, I was out of parchment and swords, starving and tired, and my feet hurt from standing for hours.
It was a good day’s work, and it was time to head out.
It was the middle of the day on the other side of the Gate. Sneaking quietly behind one of the standing stones, I made sure nobody could see me and dropped the Invisibility. I took my phone out of Storage and checked the date. Five days passed on Earth. In my estimate, I was about a day or maybe a little longer on the other side, but wasn’t sure. I became too engrossed in what I was doing.
After calling Lis to let him know I was fine, I found a place to eat, had an enormous meal, and drove back home. On the way, I considered some ideas on how to spend mana to continue increasing my regeneration. It was a great opportunity that I didn’t want to waste.