ALL NOVEL B2—Chapter 7: The Danger Is Not Always the Obvious Thing
After who knows how long, I woke up and headed straight to the kitchen, my stomach growling loudly. Starving and dehydrated, I felt weak. I ate standing up, right from the fridge; I couldn’t even wait to heat the food. After twenty minutes of non-stop eating and drinking, I slowed down and noticed my surroundings. I even remembered having hot food in my Storage, but I woke up so famished that my mind didn’t work right. I heard murmurs from my room, washed my face, and went to check it out.
When I opened my bedroom door, I saw the girl still lying in bed, Lis sitting beside her, talking quietly. Rue had his head on her belly, and she was scratching his head.
When I entered, she looked up at me and said something to Lis I couldn’t hear. He helped her out of bed, and she approached me, hugged me tightly, and said, “Dara.”
I understood her; it was, “Thank you.”
Lis said, “It means thank you.”
“I got that,” I replied, giving him a small smile.
Lis facepalmed. He actually facepalmed!
Ha-ha! I’m not the only one who does that!
“Of course, the book First Steps in Ritualism and Circle Creation was in Parshan,” he said, shaking his head.
The girl buried her face in my neck and cried, so I held her gently and let her get it all out.
After she calmed down, I led her to bed and rechecked her condition. She was much better. She no longer suffered from dehydration. Her body had produced some blood and started taking in nutrients, but she needed more help. She still had food in her stomach, so I sent a healing spell through her and monitored the reaction. Her body broke down and absorbed the food more quickly.
I took out more food and said, “Eat; your body needs the food to heal. I’ll help it absorb it faster.”
“Thank you for everything. I have no words to express my gratitude,” she said, her voice trembling.
“You’re welcome. Let’s get you in good shape, and then we’ll talk,” I replied, giving her an encouraging smile.
She ate, and I healed her until her body was much better. I sank my awareness into her one open mana channel and examined it. A surprise awaited me: The furrows I dug and layered as a bypass had stabilized and become a “real” mana channel. I was relieved since I was worried that it wouldn’t hold.
There was a spot in her mana channel I hadn’t opened wide enough. It was barely a hair wide and needed more expansion. I sent a mana tendril into it and started “drilling.” She yelled in pain and jerked her hand away.
“I’m sorry; I didn’t know it would hurt,” I said.
“What are you doing?” she asked, her eyes wide with fear.
“There’s a spot in your mana channel that I didn’t expand enough, resulting in a blockage,” I explained. “If I can open it wider, your regeneration will improve. Also, I need to open the rest of your channels.”
She looked worried and said, “It hurts like a stab with a thick hot needle.”
“I’ll put you to sleep so you don’t feel anything. Apologies for not doing it right away. I didn’t know it would hurt,” I said, feeling guilty for causing her pain.
She thought momentarily and asked, “You promise it won’t hurt?”
“I promise,” I said, nodding reassuringly.
She nodded and lay down more comfortably. After casting Anesthesia, I worked on the thin spot. I doubled and tripled its width, and her mana flowed much better.
I moved to her left hand and worked on the mana channel. I already knew what I was doing this time, so I immediately started with the “drilling.” Whenever I came across a burned-shut spot, I built a bypass with layers to connect the rest of the channel. It went much easier and faster.
After treating her hand for about two hours, I stopped the Anesthesia and checked her general condition. She was fine; this process didn’t require as many resources as normal healing.
I checked my mana: 1310/8800.
I asked Lis, “How long have I been sleeping? After all I’ve been doing, my mana seems too full.”
“Two days.”
“I slept for two days?!” I exclaimed, shocked.
“Yes. I knew you were exhausted, so I didn’t bother you,” Lis said. “Mahya woke up about three hours after you went to bed, so I cared for her as much as possible. Mostly, I made sure she drank, ate, and rested. I also occasionally cast a Minor Heal on her; that’s the only healing spell I know.”
“You did an amazing job; thank you. I should also introduce myself; I forgot to ask her name,” I said, embarrassed.
“I think she understands you were focused on her health,” Lis said, smiling.
She was still sleeping, so we left the room quietly and closed the door.
I asked Lis, “Did she tell you what happened to her?”
“She didn’t want to talk about it. She just said that she wants to forget that ‘terrible, terrible place.’ I agree with her; Tír na nÓg is a nightmare,” Lis said, shuddering.
“I’m going to let her rest and check two gates near London,” I said. “If they’re safe, I’ll go in; I need the mana regeneration. I won’t stay to train, only to fill my mana.”
“Be careful,” Lis said, his worry clear.
“I will; don’t worry,” I replied, trying to reassure him.
“I don’t believe you. I saw the blood and hole in you; you forgot to change your shirt before I arrived,” Lis said, shaking his head.
“Don’t worry about it; it was just an arrow. Aside from that, I risked it to get her out. If I hadn’t sensed her, I would have left immediately,” I said, trying to downplay the danger.
He held me by my upper arms and said, “Don’t take unnecessary risks. If a Traveler is in Tír na nÓg, it was their choice and mistake; you don’t have to pay for it. It’s amazing that you got her out, but you could have just as easily died. Please remember that. I was in that world for eight days, and I still have nightmares.”
I patted his shoulder and said, “I promise to be more careful.”
He looked into my eyes to see if I was telling the truth, relaxed, and nodded. I was determined to exercise greater caution, having already sustained two injuries. It wasn’t life-threatening, but the pain was awful, and I had no intention of repeating the experience.
Before leaving, I checked my blinking red light.
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Level up |
Finally! I worked hard to learn for this class, and it annoyed me I didn’t progress as expected.
I looked at the Wizard class to see if something else progressed.
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Sub-class 2: Wizard Level 3 |
Nice. My mana sensing and manipulation progressed.
It was already evening, so I drove to Stonehenge first, touched the gate, and felt great danger. The message was clear: if I crossed the Gate, I would die. I forgot about it and drove to the next Gate.
The location was close to a town named Loxhill. I found an out-of-the-way parking spot under the trees and headed to the Gate. When I touched it, I felt a mild “tread carefully” suggestion. I cast Invisibility and Mana Shield and crossed the Gate.
I came out in the middle of a forest with the biggest trees I’d ever seen, which were pink. More specifically, the trunks of the trees were brown, but the rest was pink. Everything was pink—the leaves, the plants under the trees, and the moving, blinking lights between the trees. Remembering something Lis said about blinking creatures, I didn’t look at them but listened to my Perception. I still felt a slight warning, but no tangible danger. To be safe, I didn’t add mana absorption to my channels so that the magic wouldn’t give away my location. Settling for a regeneration rate of 20 points per second. It was still over 1,000 points per minute. The regeneration here was simply a dream; it was too bad, and it was so dangerous.
It took me less than ten minutes to be full, and I left through the Gate. It was the most beautiful and magical place I had ever seen, but I wouldn’t use this Gate for my regeneration training, not need to take chances with the blinking things? Creatures? When I returned to my car, pine needles and sap covered it. That was very annoying; it was a rental that I had to return in good condition. I looked at the tree and said, “What, you couldn’t wait until I left?”
When I got back home, Lis looked frantic. When he saw me, he shouted, “You said you’re going to close Gates, in and out, not regeneration training. What happened to that promise?”
“That’s what I did. One Gate was too dangerous, so I went to the next, regenerated, and left,” I explained, raising my hands defensively.
“So, where have you been all this time?” Lis asked, his eyes wide with concern.
I just looked at him, uncomprehending. I left in the evening, and it was still night. But he looked frantic when I got home, so I asked, “How long was I gone?”
“Three weeks! The only reason I knew you were still alive was because Rue was still alive. But I thought those monsters captured you,” Lis said, his voice shaking slightly.
“Shit! As soon as I arrived at the first Gate, I touched it, sensed it was dangerous, and decided to leave. I drove to the second one, felt the danger was tolerable, and went in. I saw the blinking things you told me about and didn’t look at them. It took me less than ten minutes to regenerate, and I left immediately after and drove straight home,” I explained, my mind racing.
“Are you sure you didn’t follow them?” Lis asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.
“Positive. I was leaning against the Gate the whole time, looking at the ground and monitoring the area with my Perception,” I said, shaking my head.
“I think you should stop going to the Gates here; that place is too dangerous,” Lis said, his tone firm.
“Yeah, I think you’re right. I’m sorry I made you worry,” I said, feeling guilty.
He hugged me and said, “Never do that again.”
“I won’t, I promise,” I said, hugging him back.
Mahya hugged me from behind and said in English, “Lis wanted to go in after you to rescue you. The only reason he didn’t was that Rue looked unconcerned. You’re lucky you have a familiar, or you might have lost a friend.”
I decided it was time to give up on the UK gates. They were too dangerous, and the danger was not always the obvious thing.