The Gate Traveler

It felt like déjà vu, but in a weird, backward way. Mahya and I retraced our steps from two days ago and arrived at the same spot where we had previously stored the boat. It took almost five hours before no boats or ships were around, but finally, the river was clear. I was SO glad Rue stayed with Alfonsen in Shanghai. Just imagining Rue in the dinghy for five hours made me shudder—I would have had a telepathic migraine for days. We sailed into the marina only after dark, so we had to wait another day before heading out.

In the morning, Mahya asked me, “Did you buy chains to connect the house to the boat?”

“Yes.”

“Can I see them?” she asked in a businesslike tone and held out her hand.

I took out a chain and handed it to her. She examined it carefully, her brow furrowed as she ran her fingers along the links. “It’s steel; you’d better buy something else. Better yet, an alloy of many types of metal.”

“Why?” I asked, only half-expecting an answer I’d understand.

Mahya sighed as if I should’ve known. “Iron’s conductivity sucks for what I need. Alloys are better for transferring mana—think of it like wiring a circuit. Steel’s just not cutting it.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You could have mentioned that earlier, you know?”

“It’s for a new idea I came up with,” she replied, waving off the comment. “Before, I didn’t know I needed conductivity.”

I sighed and nodded. Of course, she’d need conductivity now.

“Oh, and one more thing,” she added with a sly smile. “Get three of them, and there are a few more things I need you to grab.”

She handed me a list. My eyebrows shot up as I looked at the unusual items. Large wooden panels, six thick and durable metal hoops, preferably made of alloy, five-meter diameter, more gold and gold-plated wires, and other strange items. “What’s all this?” I asked, trying to make sense of the request.

“If we just drag the house along with the boat, it will slow us down. I’ve got an idea to add a paddle wheel to the house that will activate when we start the boat’s engine to help push it forward.”

“Won’t that exhaust our power?” I scratched my chin, unsure if I was missing something obvious.

“No,” she said, shaking her head with confidence. “We have enough crystals to travel to the US, not counting the forty-two spares. If we add the spares, there will also be enough for the house. Remember, you can always recharge them at home, or we can replenish them with mana. We’re fine.”

I shrugged, trusting her expertise. “You know best; I trust you. Also, what’s anti-fouling?”

“It’s a special paint,” she said, sounding like a teacher explaining something to a student. “It prevents sea life, such as algae and mollusks, from attaching themselves to the hull, or in this case, the paddle wheel.”

“Okay …” I muttered, scratching my head as I realized all this Magitech stuff was over my head.

“Oh, one more thing,” she said, her eyes lighting up mischievously. “Which color do you prefer, blue or red?”

“Depends on what for,” I replied cautiously, narrowing my eyes at her.

“It doesn’t matter what for. What color?”

I shrugged. “Red, I think.”

“Excellent,” she said, smiling as if everything had fallen into place. “Give me thirty thousand dollars.”

“Why?” I asked, blinking in surprise.

“It’s a surprise,” she said, her grin widening. “You won’t regret it.”

I narrowed my eyes. “If it’s a surprise, why am I paying for it?”

“It’s not that kind of surprise,” she answered, already holding out her hand expectantly.

I sighed again, more out of resignation than frustration, and shrugged as I handed her the money.

It took me hours to find her entire list, especially the chains. There were many steel chains, but finding alloy chains was much more complicated. After gathering everything on Mahya’s list, with spares just in case, we returned to the boat. I thought about the journey ahead and wondered how the paddle-wheel contraption would hold up once we hit the open sea.

Mahya and Alfonsen hadn’t returned yet. It was already late afternoon, and I wasn’t sure if sailing in the dark was a good idea. Because our boat operated on mana, we couldn’t install GPS, the Maritime Weather Observation System, or Marine Radar to receive data on weather conditions or detect other ships and land obstacles. We had to navigate based on sight only and plot our course with the Travelers’ Map. Unfortunately, mana faced limitations in the tech world.

Since no one had returned, I took Rue to eat Guo Tie one last time. These were terrific fried pork dumplings to which we were both addicted. And close to the marina, there was a street stall that sold them. After we both ate half of the stall owner’s stock and bought the other half to store, we returned to the boat; this time, Mahya and Alfonsen were back.

After a brief discussion, we decided not to sail that day because it was already getting dark but to spend the last evening in Shanghai. They wanted to go to dinner at a fancy restaurant, but the thought of food made me want to throw up. My stomach was too full. I ended up joining them for dinner but only had a cocktail. Rue somehow managed to eat more. I would never understand how he fits it in—he consumed over fifty Guo Ties two hours ago! My stomach was still bloated, but somehow Rue squeezed in more food. I couldn’t decide if I should be impressed or worried. Over fifty dumplings, and he still had room. Was there a black hole in his stomach?

We got up at sunrise and set off. After I steered the boat out of the marina and into the open sea, Mahya asked Alfonsen to take over the helm.

“Show me the chains you bought,” she asked me.

She examined the chains and told me, “Engrave the runes Durability and Transfer on each link of the chain, on opposite sides of the link.”

I sat down on the saloon’s roof to see everything before us without obstructing Alfonsen’s field of vision and engraved the chain. The sea was calm, too calm. There was almost no wind. The mainsail got a little push, but the jib looked like wet laundry—flapping from side to side without doing much.

Rue grumbled about the lack of TV, but Mahya convinced him to start a Shogi tournament. It took me an hour to realize that whenever I heard Rue bark, his shouts were no longer in my mind. Before that, I could hear his communication regardless of who he spoke to. Now, I only heard the barking, not what he said telepathically.

I went down to the saloon, hugged him, and said, “Buddy, you’ve learned to talk to people individually! That’s amazing! Well done!”

“Rue is great!” he yelled into my mind. “Rue is smart!”

“You sure are great and smart.”

I continued petting him and scratching his ears until Mahya said, “We’re in the middle of a game, and for a change, he’s not cheating. Go away.”

“Rue never cheat! Rue good boy!” He shouted, sounding indignant that somebody even dared to suggest he cheats.

“You are the best boy in the world,” I told him and returned to carving runes.

In the afternoon, Alfonsen asked me to replace him at the helm, and he joined the Shogi tournament. The score was 23 Rue and 25 Mahya—it seemed like he really stopped cheating. I thought the increase in intelligence would only manifest in better speaking ability, but apparently, it had other benefits. But I still looked forward to the day he stopped yelling and started talking normally. Sometimes, after a conversation or an argument with him, I felt like my mental ears were bleeding from all the yelling.

Mahya left the boys to continue the tournament, went out to the back deck, and took out an enormous sheet of paper and a dirt bike.

“What’s this?” I asked, raising an eyebrow as I pointed at the sleek machine before her.

“My new motorcycle…” Mahya replied, a satisfied grin spreading across her face as she patted the seat. “I will take it apart and turn it into a Magitech. At first with crystals, and one day, when we find a free dungeon core, into a real Magitech device.”

“Did you buy me one, too? Is that why you wanted the money?” I asked, half-joking but hopeful, crossing my arms as I eyed the bike.

“No. I bought you something else. But like I said, it’s a surprise, so stop asking what.”

I frowned, narrowing my eyes. “Why not a motorcycle?”

“Because Rue won’t be able to ride with you,” she said, glancing at the giant dog. Rue’s ears perked up at the mention of his name, and he huffed as if agreeing with her.

When she’s right, she’s right.

I gave her a thumbs-up and proceeded to steer the boat. I have to admit, it was pretty dull. The sea was beautiful, but it always looked the same—blue, blue, and blue. I was used to being busy all the time or sailing past interesting views, and just sitting and holding the helm felt like wasted time.

I split my mind in two—one part continued to look out to sea and pay attention to where I was sailing, and with the other part, I began to feel the surrounding mana. Splitting my mind a third time, I spread my mana sense as far as it could go and felt the world around me. The sea had much more mana than on land, and it felt thicker. I tried to figure out why. After all, if the world’s current level was seven, it should be uniform, right? However, it wasn’t uniform. On land, there were areas where I felt more mana, mainly areas in nature with fewer people, but the difference was minor. I felt a much more significant difference in mana amounts in the environment here.

Do people absorb mana? How is it possible? They haven’t “awakened” yet.

Are they getting primed? Like an animal for a familiar bond?

I had more questions than answers.

When I sent my mana sense into the boat, a surprise awaited me there, too—the boat was full of mana. The whole boat, not just the engine area and all the copper wires we threaded through the bulkheads, was brimming with mana! I put more and more of my awareness into the boat and examined the mana. It had a familiar flavor. I’m embarrassed to admit it took me a while. But in my defense, I never “tasted” my mana. Eventually, I recognized the mana’s “flavor” as mine. I was so taken aback that the sensation “threw me out.”

I thought about it, and I must admit it took quite a while, but then I facepalmed. I’m an idiot. Of course, I’d channeled over 90,000 mana into the boat. Where else would it go? My focus was on everything else, and I didn’t notice. It was like putting rocket fuel in a lawnmower and wondering why it was zooming across the yard.

Returning my mana sense into the boat, I examined it inch by inch. During my examination, I encountered minor points that were not perfect. The restoration completely revitalized the boat, yet I discovered minor flaws that weren’t damaged but traced back to the original construction. Here was a place where one section of the boat skeleton frame was thinner than the others. There was a part of the boat’s body that protruded out a bit and created more drag. The keel’s tip was not optimal, cutting the water less than it should have. I felt all these parts, and every time I found something, I gave the boat’s mana gentle nudges to fix it. The boat became smoother and stronger and sailed better.

I also sensed a lot of junk stuck to the bottom of the boat, so I removed it. Removing the items stuck to the boat one by one proved challenging, as some resisted disconnection. It was like they were stuck inside the boat. But I used what I learned from the quill bears, inserted my mana under the things stuck in it, and popped them out.

It was the middle of the night when I finished, but I wasn’t tired. Every time I immersed myself in mana, I didn’t feel tired, as if it nourished me. I looked at the sea and noticed how fast we were sailing. The boat was flying on the waves. The wind was still absent, the jib was still flapping, nearly empty, but it was flying much faster than before.

I continued to steer for another two hours, enjoying the peace of the sea, until Mahya approached me and said, “You have been steering for over twelve hours. Let me replace you. You must rest.”

I thanked her and went to sleep for a few hours. The first day of our cruise was definitely educational. As I dozed off, I couldn’t help but wonder about all the other surprises the sea had in store. If today was anything to go by, there was still much more to discover. I only hoped that I wouldn’t have to facepalm again.