The Gate Traveler

To mull over my options, I took a few days off. I knew I was just stalling. I had already made up my mind, but I still needed time to think things through. It was an emotional rollercoaster: excitement about a new opportunity like I’d never imagined, fear of the unknown and potential danger, sadness that Sophie couldn’t experience it with me, guilt about leaving the world where her grave was, and uncertainty about how I’d handle unexpected situations.

With hope in my heart, I meticulously went through each entry in the Spells and Skills lists, hoping to bring her back or at least establish some means of communication. Sadly, my search led nowhere, leaving me disheartened. The only spells that came close were in the Necromancy section, and their descriptions made me shudder in horror.

Regrettably, I had to abandon the idea with deep sadness and anguish. Instead, I examined the list of abilities for the Gate Traveler class. I was confident that even without exploring the Gate, the ability to learn various languages and the Map would be incredibly useful. So, I used my free stat points to get an extra ability point and got both.

My attempt to convert an additional 5 stat points from my Vitality to an ability point was unsuccessful. It was unclear if that was because those points were inherently mine or if I could only convert free stat points. My next step was to explore the Archive. World information was available only for Earth, but there was a general knowledge section that I explored thoroughly.

As I continued my exploration, I stumbled upon a section that would prove to be a game-changer: the ‘Tips & Tricks’ section. Here, I found a revelation. I didn’t need to risk my life by stepping through the Gate to access information about a specific world. Instead, I could stand by the gate, touch one of the portal stones, and access the information about the world on the other side. It was a relief, a safer alternative I was more than willing to embrace. Maybe I sounded overly cautious, even to myself, but I wasn’t ready to risk my life.

Another very helpful trick was learning an ability that I’m sure I would never need “the hard way” until I got it as a Skill, then give it up and convert it to an ability point. It came with a warning that I won’t forget the knowledge I gained the hard way, but I won’t be able to gain the Ability again to level it up and receive more benefits from it.

That was very sneaky—I loved it.

Another trick I learned was to buy cheap, mass-produced, useful things from tech worlds and sell them for a lot of money in undeveloped or mana worlds. Examples included cookware such as knives and pots, rolls of thick, soft fabric in bright colors, and children’s toys made from wood. In undeveloped worlds, I’d buy simple weapons like swords and bows and sell them for a lot of money as “traditionally hand-made weapons” in advanced worlds.

There was advice to have various means of transportation for different terrains that don’t use tech or mana, gear needed to survive in the wilderness, clothes for different weather, that technological devices won’t work in mana worlds but will be fine in tech worlds, and much more.

Another thing I learned was that the best way to transfer funds from one world to another was through small jewelry, such as silver and gold rings, earrings, thin chains, and pendants. Another tip was to have small copper, silver, and gold coins but to rub them with dirt until they looked old and worn. This way, even if the size or shape differs, I can pass them as coins from another kingdom. But in tech worlds, I should sell only jewelry and look for small pawn shops.

Different Travelers kept repeating the advice to learn how to fight with a weapon, learn hand-to-hand combat, and invest ability points in learning one defensive spell, one attack spell that can be cast from a distance, and one healing spell.

I tried to think of a general skill I have that I don’t need, but the only thing I could think of was tennis. After making some calls, I found a tennis center and made an appointment with a tennis instructor in two days.

To “farm” ability points, I searched for alternative private courses for skills and abilities.

• Making handmade pasta—I would like to learn this for myself; I love cooking.
• Ceramic workshop—a strong contender
• Pencil sketching workshop—one more in the bag
• Macramé workshop for jewelry making—I will never need this skill
• How to make beer workshop—this I might need on my travels, worth checking out
• Painting on vinyl records workshop—one more point
• Flower weaving workshop—and another point
• Iron wire sculpture workshop—definitely another point.
• Gift basket weaving—one more in stock.

I was delighted to find so many options, and with the list of phone numbers, I started making calls. My schedule for the following week looked full.

____

On my way to the tennis lesson, I used Identify on everybody and everything, which was very uninformative. All the people showed “unintegrated human male” or “unintegrated human female.” The objects simply displayed their names: “Door,” “stairs,” and “street sign.” It was not helpful. I guess it would help more in a magical world.

Well, I guess I decided and was ready to admit it to myself.

On the tennis court, scoring my first point against my opponent took me fifteen minutes, and I got the skill.

Immediately, I clicked it with my mind, with the intention of giving it up.

I clicked Yes.

Yes! It worked!

Bless you, anonymous Traveler.

____

During the following week, I attended all the workshops and learned the Skills. The class description wasn’t kidding; it was easy to learn skills. I kept the pasta, beer, and pencil sketching since I liked it, but I converted the rest.

I had 6 additional ability points, so the first thing I purchased was the skill [One of the Crowd].

Thinking about protection, I purchased the spells [Mana Dart] and [Mana Shield]. At first, I wanted to get the fireball spell, but eventually realized that avoiding any potential fire hazards might be prudent.

______

In addition, I invested two ability points into my Storage. Based on everything I read in the Archive and the books, I will need the space. Now I had 512 m³.

Many Travelers in the Archive recommended buying a healing spell, but as I scrolled through the list, my thoughts were all over the place. The healing spell stood out, promising miraculous recovery and unparalleled safety. It could be a game-changer for my upcoming journey through the magical worlds. But thinking about it, a heavy weight settled in my chest. What did this mean for everything I’d worked for?

Years of hard study, sleepless nights, and countless sacrifices flashed before my eyes. The long hours in the library, the cadaver dissections, the relentless exams. Each step had been hard-earned, and each success was proof of my dedication. My white coat was more than just clothing; it symbolized my commitment to science and healing through knowledge and skill. The idea of a spell that could make all that effort irrelevant felt like cheating, like taking a shortcut that undermined my profession’s essence.

Still, the spell had a really powerful pull. I pictured the dangers awaiting me in the magical worlds, and having such a spell could mean the difference between life and death. It promised a level of security that no amount of medical knowledge could offer. There were a lot of things that medicine couldn’t heal. Broken bones took weeks and cuts were painful and left scars. A spell to take care of those things would be amazing.

I stared at the description for a very long time.

After being stuck in indecision for a long time, I closed the list. I admitted to myself that I needed it, no doubt about it. But making those long years of study meaningless also felt wrong. So for now, I decided not to decide. And if it came down to it, I could always buy it later. The spell list wasn’t going anywhere. Instead, I focused on weapons and hand-to-hand training. I chose to travel, and I had to protect myself so I wouldn’t get injured in the first place.