Chapter 53 – I’m Definitely Going Back to Earth (Patreon)

After the ritual, I was utterly wiped out, and Rue looked like he was dragging. We came home, had a big meal, and both went to sleep. The sun looked like afternoon when I woke up, but I felt like I had slept longer. Coming downstairs, I found Lis sitting reading a book.

"Good morning."

He laughed and replied, "Good tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yes, you slept for a day and a half."

It surprised me. I felt exhausted from the ritual but didn't expect to sleep that much.

I checked my mana: 623/8800. Wow! My mana jumped up!

I asked Lis, "My mana jumped up 1200 points. Is this normal?"

"Impressive. Normally, it goes up 400 points after this ritual, but probably because of your tri-mana system, it jumped 400 points per orb. That's the only explanation I can think of." He laughed and added, "Did I tell you already that I'm jealous? Even if I did, I'll repeat it. Surely, with this jump, you should already be in the two or even three thousand range."

“Umm, I started with 7600… I'm now 8800…” I replied, rubbing my neck in embarrassment.

He looked at me wide-eyed with a gaping mouth.

After a minute, he asked, "How much was your mana when your system first woke up?"

"Um, 3000..."

"I should have guessed; I already told you that your father comes from a very high mana world. You should thank the cosmic entities for your mana."

"Why?"

"I started with 400 and reached 5200 after over 300 years as a Traveler.”

“I think I told you I did a Cleanse with six or seven thousand, no?”

“I thought you channeled it in increments.”

“I’m not that crazy!”

“Yes, I should have guessed by your reaction to the idea of doing it again.” He laughed, shaking his head in amusement. After a minute, he added, “When do you want to go to the world across the Gate?”

“You mean Earth? Why did you put it that way?"

“I didn’t know the name, and I told you to look at it as a Traveler, so I will not call it your home world.”

“I like your way of looking at things,” I said, “About going to Earth, I want to regenerate fully, but after that, I have nothing else I want to accomplish. By the way, where is Rue?”

“He woke up a short while ago, asked for a big meal, grumbled that the food I gave him was not rich in mana, and went outside.”

“Asked? Grumbled? How? He speaks now?! I’m totally confused.”

Lis laughed and said, “No, he will never speak in the traditional sense of the word; he doesn’t have a suitable vocal structure. But with time and progress, he will master mana speech. Today, he communicated with me like he communicates with you, with emotions and impressions. Didn’t you read about it in the book about familiars?”

“It said his communication abilities will improve, but I assumed it meant with me, not others.”

“Oh, I see. He is a familiar now; he is tethered to a human soul, so he can communicate with others since you can, but only with people or beings with mana.”

“Awesome! My dog can talk! Or kind of talk? … hmm … Yeah …” I scratched my head in confusion.

Lis roared with laughter at my confusion.

I shook my head and went looking for Rue. I found him outside, lying in the sun. I petted him, scratched his ears, and diagnosed him. He was healthy and in great shape; I was delighted. I sank my awareness into him to see the changes mana-wise.

I located his three orbs, which were tiny, maybe three millimeters in diameter or even smaller. He had the four mana channels in his legs, but they were hair-thin, and he didn’t have the network of the smaller channels throughout the whole body. I read in the book that the mana system of the familiar is initially at its beginning stages, but I expected a more progressed or developed beginning.

I told him, “We need to gorge you on mana-rich meat to help develop your mana system.”

I felt a very enthusiastic agreement from him.

“Yeah, I thought you would like the idea.”

I went inside to talk with Lis again.

“Lis, you told me about a standard familiar package. I don’t remember all the details; can you give me the list again? I’ll write it down this time.”

“Sure. It’s Invisibility for crossing the Gates, Stealth for scouting, Storage for food and water, Telekinesis so he can have more freedom, One of the Crowd so you can hide his appearance and conjure identification, and Mana Shield for protection.”

“Thanks.”

He nodded and got back to his book. I noticed it was one of the books I gave him about an apocalypse.

I got curious and asked him, “What do you think about the book? Is the description of the apocalypse accurate?”

"It's completely ridiculous but very entertaining."

"Why ridiculous?"

"First of all, the idea that the hero can get AI. AI is technology; technology doesn't work with mana. I heard from other Travelers that there are advanced tech worlds where you can buy an AI, but to install it, you must undergo surgery to implant the AI in your head.

“Also, the idea of a shop between worlds is impossible. The worlds are not connected, and as far as I know, even in the most technologically advanced worlds with several colonies on other planets, there is no communication between worlds; it will take months or even years for communication to reach the other planet. I don't understand how this idea can work when the physical world is built as it is.

“The idea that you must buy your house from the shop is also amusing. Your house is your house. It doesn't stop being your house because your world has been flooded with mana. Technology gradually collapses, that’s true, but everything else remains the same - the world doesn't change; it just starts working on different physical laws. Or rather, with an additional element that has a far-reaching effect.

“In addition, the Personal Information described here is somewhat similar to traits in other worlds, not the Travelers’ Personal Information, but I can't understand the connection between intelligence and mana - these are entirely different things. And what is the connection between a trait and regeneration? Regeneration depends on the width of your channels and the amount of mana in the air, not some arbitrary number.

“Furthermore, the idea that a world is a dungeon cannot really exist in reality. Dungeons are created when there is a mana pocket with a much higher mana level than the world’s level; it’s a kind of filter. But apart from these things, the book is very entertaining, and I enjoy reading it."

"What do you mean the Personal Information is like on other worlds, not Travelers? I thought the system, or guidance as you call it, is the same everywhere?"

"No. There are worlds where the inhabitants have different traits from us; there are worlds where the process of getting a class is completely different, and only among Travelers have I come across the fact that traits have both physical and mental aspects. It may exist elsewhere, but I haven't encountered it. I have a theory that we have the additional aspect to deal with the differences between worlds."

"Huh." That was a surprise.

I let him get back to his book and went back out to spend my ability points on Rue. I was starting to be glad I was returning to Earth; I needed more ability points.

I opened the GT class abilities list to buy him the abilities Lis recommended and had a surprise. The abilities had a new line regarding familiars, and they were expensive!! Hmm, a familiar is a costly business.

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Storage: Rare Class Ability
Gain a storage space of 64 m3 (4x4x4m).
All stored goods stay in a suspended state.
Cost: 1 Ability Point
There is no mana cost, but accessing the space on worlds with low mana levels (10 or below) takes longer and requires more concentration.
To expand the space, spend 1 Ability Point for +4 to all the dimensions:
64 m3> 512 m3> 1728 m3> 4096 m3>
Space expansion is unlimited, but expanding without raising your stats might cause a mental strain.

Familiar Version: Buy your familiar storage space of 1 m3 (1x1x1m).
All stored goods stay in a suspended state.
Cost: 5 Ability Points
To expand the space, spend 3 Ability Points for +1 to all the dimensions:
1 m3> 8 m3> 27 m3> 64 m3>

One of the Crowd: Unique Class Ability
This Ability is everything a Traveler needs to hide their status as a Traveler.
In worlds with low to high mana levels, many classes can view personal information or have runic or magic script artifacts to view the personal information of a being.
To help hide your status as a Traveler, you can hide/edit parts of your Personal Information. You can change your name to match local conventions. You can display your Profession or one of your sub-classes as your Class or a false class based on one of your Skills or Spells. You can also hide any part of your Personal Information and display question marks instead.
Note that displaying question marks might direct unwanted attention your way.
Cost: 1 Ability Point
No mana cost.

In technological and some mana worlds, various means of proving identity exist, such as identification papers, badges, identity chips, and more.
Use this Ability to conjure the needed identifications to travel the world peacefully.
A one-time cost of 100 mana to conjure identifications.
If the identification means are more advanced, such as an identity chip connected to a central database, it costs 500 mana to conjure the chip and connect to the database.
Depending on the need, more mana might be required to perform additional adaptations.

If your race is unknown in the new world, you can glamour yourself to look local.
The glamour will remain constant and drop when you pass through a Gate to a new world.
A one-time cost of 300 mana in each new world.

Familiar Version: Buy your familiar the ability to hide their nature.
In worlds with low to high mana levels, many classes can view information or have runic or magic script artifacts to view the information of a being. This Ability gives you the means to hide/edit your familiar's information.
Cost: 5 Ability Points

In technological and some mana worlds exist various means of identification, such as identification papers, badges, identity chips, and more.
Use this Ability to conjure the needed identifications for your familiar. Note that if your familiar does not have enough mana, you will have to spend your mana to use this Ability.
A one-time cost of 300 mana to conjure identifications.

If your familiar’s kind is unknown in the new world, you can glamour them to look local.
The glamour will remain constant and drop when you pass through a Gate to a new world.
A one-time cost of 500 mana in each new world.

General Spells and Skills: Unique Class Ability
The Traveler visits many worlds, faces many challenges, and needs many Skills and Spells to travel safely and hide their status as a Traveler.
As such, this class is not limited to the Skills or Spells the Traveler can learn.
A Traveler can learn any Spell or Skill in the connected worlds.
Cost: 1-3 Ability Points for each Spell or Skill.
All Spells and Skills start at level 1.
Use the Spell or Skill to raise its level.
There is no mana cost to acquire a Spell or Skill.
The mana cost for use varies according to the Spell or Skill.

Familiar Version: You can buy your familiar any Spell or Skill from the lists.
Cost: 3-9 Ability Points
Note that familiars without the required limbs cannot use a corresponding Skill.

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I had 35 ability points to start, but the 2 GT abilities cost me 10 points! Invisibility, Stealth, and Mana Shield cost me 3 points each, and Telekinesis cost 9! 9!! Points.

Just recently, I had 40 points. And now I had 7.

Yeah, I’m definitely going back to Earth.