The Gate Traveler

The following day, I got started on preparing for the ritual. I’d learned from the third book on mana that performing rituals on mana vents is preferable, since it allows the world to supply some of the power. So, the first thing I did was to look for a vent. I spent half a day wandering around, eyes half-closed, focusing on sensing the mana. It wasn’t uniform; some areas had thicker mana, while others had almost none, adding a layer to experiencing the world. By the afternoon, I found a spot with denser mana and focused on the point where it was emanating from.

Dense bushes filled the area, likely thriving due to the rich mana. I started cutting through them with a machete when a jurber leaped out and bit my hand.

“Oww! I hate those little, bitey things,” I grumbled, grabbing it by the neck and tossing it to the ground. That was the end of the jurber, and I quickly healed my hand, too annoyed to even convert it into a crystal.

A red light started flashing, and I opened it to get rid of the annoyance.

 

Level 1 Jurber defeated

 

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” I muttered.

I understood why Lis said I should take a fighting class. If those little nuisances kept attacking, at least I’d gain levels from them.

I kept cutting the bushes until the entire area was clear. Reflecting on my experience, I realized the last time I encountered jurbers, it was also near a vent. The mana at that spot had been thicker, but I’d assumed it was because of the jurbers I killed. Now, it made sense they spawned on vents because of the higher mana concentration. I hadn’t seen this mentioned in any of the books, but it seemed logical. If I wanted to find a vent, I should look for a concentration of monsters.

With the area cleared, I stood on the vent, feeling the mana flow. It was like a pipe from the earth, releasing mana into the air. The mana had a distinct flavor of fire and stone, a sensation rising from below.

I set up my glamping tent over the vent since it still rained every other day, and I didn’t want the ritual to get washed away. I was ready to sacrifice the tent flooring for this purpose.

The first step required carving two large overlapping rings, overlapping by at least 20% but no more than 30%, and they had to be the same size. I pondered how to do this until an idea struck me: I took an arrow, tied a rope to it, and stuck it in the floor. Heating a kitchen knife with a heat spell until it was red hot, I struck it with a stone to create a convex shape suitable for carving a channel. Tying the knife to the other end of the rope, I moved around at maximum tension, creating the outer circle of the first ring. Estimating the overlap by eye, I moved the arrow and created the outer circle of the second ring. Wrapping the string around the arrow several times, I made the inner circles smaller by about 20 centimeters.

Next, I mixed ash, salt, and soil, saturating them with mana with the flavor of Purity (slightly different from Purify’s flavor and something I needed three days to learn during my mana exercises), and filled the grooves with the mixture. The ashes symbolized the Spirit, the salt the Mind, and the soil the Body. I had prepared a large amount of the mix in advance, but hadn’t expected how much mana it would absorb. By the time the mixture saturated, it nearly drained me.

Mana: 230/7600.

I sat down to regenerate mana, practicing Absorb Mana to expand my channels and speed up the process. The channel in my left arm could already handle twice as much mana as the others. Doing this on a vent was brilliant; the mana in the air was far richer. It was dark by this time, so I hurried back to Lis’s house, finding Rue waiting with a “not happy” vibe.

Oops! I forgot to leave food for him.

I scratched his ears. “Sorry, buddy, I’ll remember to leave you food tomorrow. My mind was too busy with the ritual.”

After we both ate, I sat down to regenerate.

The next day, my mana was still not full, but I returned to continue the preparations, remembering to leave food for Rue this time. Adjusting to his new name was still strange, but Lis’s advice made sense. I hoped it would feel less odd with time.

Back at the tent, I poured the mixture into the grooves of the rings, creating a mana filter to ensure the ritual only contained neutral mana. I needed a bit more mixture, so I mixed another pot, channeled Purity, and filled the last groove.

The next step involved sketching the runes inside the rings with a pencil, ensuring the distances were correct before preparing them. I had to repeat four large central runes—Mind, Spirit (Emotion), Spirit (Astral), and Body—all the same size. Using a piece of cardboard as a template, I ensured the size of the runes was consistent. The smaller runes—connection, meld, relationship, bond, understanding, link, merge, and blend—were half the size, and I used a smaller cardboard square for them. Connecting lines from the central runes to the small ones were specific: straight for Mind, wavy for Spirit runes, and zigzag for Body.

Sketching the first ring, I realized I lacked space for the last rune and its connecting line, so I had to redraw several runes more densely to fit everything. I repeated the process for the second ring, reversing the order of the runes.

By sunset, I’d finished sketching the rings and headed home, and had dinner with Rue. His new name still felt strange.

The following day, I explained to Rue, “For the ritual, we need blood from both of us. Give me your paw. I’ll take some blood and heal you.”

He offered his paw without hesitation. I cut him, filled a cup with blood, and healed him. Then, I did the same to myself, mixing our blood with ash, salt, and soil until it became a thick mixture. I was ready for the next step.

Returning to the tent, I had to purify the mana inside the rings, not with a spell, but with mana. Finally, the mana was pure, and I could start painting the runes. I hadn’t thought to buy a brush—another oversight—so I improvised, making one from a rope’s threads tied to a stick. Using this makeshift brush, I painted the runes with the blood mixture, channeling mana into each until it glowed. I had to regenerate before continuing after painting a third of the first ring.

When I got home, I found Lis was back sitting on the porch talking to Rue. He waved with a huge smile when he saw me.

“How was your trip?” I asked, leaning against the porch railing.

Lis stretched his legs out, looking relaxed. “Nice. After a while, the low mana worlds start to look the same, but it is nice meeting new people and enjoying the wilderness. How is the ritual coming along?”

“I’ve finished all the learning and am currently painting the runes,” I replied, sitting down beside him. “Today, I completed more than a third of the first ring. I believe I’ll have it all done in three to four days, but I haven’t started building the cross in the center yet. Where did you visit, and what did you do?”

“I went in the nearest capital city,” he said, stretching his hands above his head. “I enjoyed the bathhouse, ate interesting food, visited several taverns, met the locals, and even learned a new song about a boat on a river.”

With a laugh, I took out my guitar, strummed a few lines from “Boat on the River” and sang it in English. “Is this the song?” I asked, glancing up at him.

He nodded, a grin spreading across his face. “How do you know the song, and in English no less?”

“It’s an Earth song,” I said, smiling. “I translated it into Shimoorian.”

Lis burst out laughing, shaking his head. “The universe is huge, but sometimes something happens that makes it feel tiny.”

We chatted on the porch until he went to sleep, and I sat to regenerate.

For the next three days, I spent all day in the tent, painting runes and filling them with mana. By the second day, I developed a faster technique: creating mana with the absorb flavor in my left arm, drawing runes with my right, and channeling mana into them. I still needed breaks to regenerate, but they were less frequent. During breaks, I focused on absorbing mana to balance my channels. By the third evening, I’d completed the first ring and 40% of the second.

On the fourth morning, as I approached the tent, something sticky wrapped around my hand. Startled, I jerked my hand, sending a furry frog flying. I cut the tongue with a knife and tried peeling it off, but it was stubbornly sticky. The frog then spat fire at me, burning my pants! I knocked it on the head with my staff, ending its attack.

 

Level 2 Hopping Fire Spitter defeated.

 

“Do higher-level monsters get longer names?” I wondered, peeling off the tongue. I healed my arm, changed my pants, healed my leg, and headed into the tent. Luckily, I wore jeans; the fire hurt but not terribly.

I continued with the runes, and by evening, I had less than 15% left to finish the rings.

Now, I had to plan the inside of the rings. In the middle of each ring was a large plus sign with a circle at each end, and from these circles, straight lines to all the primary runes in the rings. On the sides of the cross, I had to put two runes that represented me, one of which was my class and the other a representation of me at this moment in time. Above and below, I had to add runes representing the connection between me and Rue. Rue’s circles were more straightforward: a mana beast on one side and a canine on the other. Both our crosses had to have the same top and bottom.

While choosing the wizard class, I found it difficult to decide between Sapience and Self-Awareness for the second circle. I felt that sapience might help Rue, but for me, this journey was a journey of self-discovery. After some deliberation, I chose Self-Awareness.

I went to ask Rue about the other two runes. Finding him napping, I scratched his ears. “We need to choose two things representing our connection. I’m considering love and protection because we both love and want to protect each other.”

I sensed negativity coming from him.

“So, what should the symbols be?”

I felt a massive wave of love and deep friendship.

“Love and friendship?”

He nodded.

“No problem, buddy. I think these are excellent runes.”

At dinner, I told Lis, “You’re right about the fighting class. Monsters keep attacking me. So if they bite and burn me, at least I’ll earn levels.” I picked at my food, thinking about the recent attacks.

He laughed, setting down his fork. “Yes, it is in their nature. Monsters are composed of tainted mana and exhibit aggression towards all entities. You can wait until you are in a world with dungeons or take the opportunity here to get a fighting class.”

“How? I fought with a bow and staff and didn’t get a class.” I leaned back in my chair, frustrated.

“Did you buy the skills with ability points?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No, I trained and earned them ‘the hard way.’” I shrugged, remembering the countless hours spent practicing.

“Ah, good,” he said, nodding in approval. “But were you defending yourself or fighting to kill?”

“Only self-defense,” I replied, scratching my head.

“You need to fight to kill to get a fighting class,” he explained, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.

“That’s how it works?” I asked, my brow furrowing.

“Try it a few times, and you will get the class,” Lis advised, leaning forward, his eyes serious. “You can go to an area with criminals, flash some money, and they will attack you.”

“I don’t want to kill people,” I replied quickly, shaking my head. “Besides, criminals on Earth have guns. My bow or staff wouldn’t be effective against guns.”

“Then hunt animals,” Lis suggested. “I’m sure there are places with overpopulation of certain animals. Hunt them, and you will get the class.”

“That’s a good idea,” I said, perking up. “I’ll search the internet when we get back.”

With clear curiosity in his voice, he said, “I heard about the internet but did not have the opportunity to looked into it.”

“I’ll teach you,” I offered with a smile. “There’s a lot of engineering information there.”

“Thank you,” Lis said, his eyes twinkling with excitement.

I smiled and nodded, feeling the beginning of friendship growing between us.

The next day, I finished the second ring and moved on to the crosses. The runes in the circles had to be 200% larger than the primary runes in the rings. After Rue’s ring, I regenerated again. Finally, in the middle of the night, I finished the whole ritual.

The following day, I rushed back to the tent to ensure everything was flawless—no mistakes, no blocked mana channels, no imbalances. I ran all the tests from the mana books and the book about familiars, and everything was perfect.

“Lis, everything’s ready. Want to come with me to the ritual site?”

“Is your mana full?”

“No...”

“Sit and regenerate. Do not do the ritual without full mana. Rest, eat well, and only then do it. This type of ritual is taxing on the body and mana channels. You need to be in top condition for it to go smoothly.”

“Thanks. I’ll do it.”

It took two days before I felt ready to perform the ritual. My mana was full. I’d eaten well, rested, drank water, and even took vitamins. I made sure Rue did the same, except for the vitamins.

We went to the ritual tent, sat on our crosses, and I began channeling mana. As I channeled mana, the runes glowed more and more, drawing the mana in the air into the ritual and into me. I continued until I was empty, but the air mana kept flowing in.

Intense pain erupted in my head, followed by pain in my other two power centers. It hurt! I heard Rue whimper and realized I’d closed my eyes. Looking at him, he was whimpering weakly.

After a few minutes of pain, I passed out.

When I came to, I immediately checked on Rue. He’d opened his eyes too, looking different. He was larger, his fur lighter and matching my hair color, and his eyes were a lighter purple color than mine. Suspicious, I took out a mirror.

Correction: his eyes were exactly my color. I hadn’t realized my eyes had become such a bright purple.

I identified him.

 

Rue Bonded Familiar Level 0

 

Examining our connection channel, I felt it was much more open and stable, now a two-way link.

“Are you okay, buddy?” I thought to him.

I felt a clear “Yes.”

It wasn’t an emotion, and he didn’t say the word, but it was a “yes,” not just an affirmative.

I walked up to him, hugged and petted him. “It’s you and me against the world, buddy.”

He stuck his tongue in my nose. Some things, even magic can’t change.