Chapter 65 – Friends Are Awesome (Patreon)

We flew from Paris to Moscow, Russia. I could take Rue on the plane as a service dog, but I had to buy him a seat because of his size. He decided actually to use his seat, demanded that I lift the handrest, and flopped on me. He had too much fur, so I spent the whole flight squished and sweating bullets. Thank God the flight was only four hours long.

We spent a week touring Moscow and visited the Kremlin and the Red Square. At the Red Square, Rue made friends with a class of six or seven-year-olds and thoroughly annoyed their teacher; instead of listening to her, all the kids were busy petting him. We had to leave quickly so she wouldn’t murder us.

From Moscow, we flew to Tomsk in Siberia – It was the northernmost gate, so we wanted to visit it first. We took a short tour of Tomsk and visited the Tomsk Regional Art Museum. From there, we rented a car and drove towards the Gate. The gate was a two-hour drive from the city and another half hour on foot.

We all touched the gate.

_________________ 

Travelers Gate #466214228

Destination: Payan

Status: Integrated

Mana level: 24

Threat level: Moderate-low

____________________

Rue decided to stay on the Earth side to guard the Gate. We all cast Invisibility, entered the Gate, looked around, and returned to the other side.

Next.

From Tomsk, we flew to Irkutsk, which is still in Siberia. We toured the city for a few days and visited the Cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, which, in my opinion, had a ridiculously long name and looked like a giant cake, but nobody else agreed with me. We rented a car and drove to the gate.

__________________ _

Travelers Gate #466214227

Destination: Payan

Status: Integrated

Mana level: 24

Threat level: Moderate-low

_____________________

Once again, the destination is the same, and the Gate number is consecutive.

Invisibility, in and out of the Gate.

My red light started blinking.

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Class: Gate Traveler Level 3

Gates to the next level (8/8)

Level up

+1 to all stats, +5 free points, +1 ability point

Class: Gate Traveler Level 4

Available stat points: 5

Available ability points: 156

Gates to the next level (0/12).

____________________

My lowest Trait was Strength, so I put the free stats there.

I asked Lis, "In the UK, all the gates lead to Tír na nÓg; the two Gates in Germany lead to Shimoor; in America, the Gates in the north lead to Lumis, and the south to two tech worlds; and now in Russia, two Gates lead to the same place. Doesn't that seem strange to you?"

“I never saw the phenomenon before.” Lis said, “Maybe it’s because of the imminent integration?”

“Yeah, it could be. It’s still strange.”

He nodded in agreement.

Next.

From Irkutsk, we flew to Saint Petersburg; our internet research told us it was a beautiful city, and we wanted to see it. We spent a week touring the city, and it was as promised. Lis was forced to drag me from one location to another as I repeatedly paused to take photographs; the girls found it hilarious.

At some point, he had enough and told Rue, “He’s your human; you drag him.”

Rue turned his head away from him, lifted his nose as high as possible, lifted his tail straight up like a cat (I think he cheated with telekinesis), and padded regally away.

Lis looked perplexed and shouted after him, “Traitor.”

The girls and I couldn’t stop laughing.

From there, we took a train to Kirishi, took a taxi to the outskirts of town, and walked to the Gate on foot.

Again, the Gate led to Payan.

We returned to Saint Petersburg, flew to Tampere in Finland, and took the train to Rovaniemi in Lapland. I tried to nap; the train ride was over eight hours long.

In Rovaniemi, we toured the city and went to the Gate.

___________________ 

Travelers Gate #254781364

Destination: Tuonela

Status: Integrated

Mana level: 61

Threat level: High

___________________

Lis and Mahya looked at each other, moved away a little, and started talking in whispers. After a few minutes, they returned. Lis told Lyura and me, "Wait here. Don't go through the Gate. We'll check to see if it's safe and come back."

We waited for twenty minutes, and only Lis returned.

He turned to Lyura and said, "Cast invisibility, in and out of the Gate. Don't linger inside."

He turned to me and said, "Come with me. We need your help with cutting down some trees. You will cut down the trees, and we will protect you."

He turned to Rue and said, “Come with us; stay close to John.”

Rue nodded.

Then he turned to Lyura again and told her, "After you leave the gate, book a hotel room and text us which hotel. We might be delayed, so we'll check our phones when we return."

We crossed the gate, and I immediately felt the mana in the air. The Gate was in the middle of a very dense and dark forest, and as always, the anchors were two large stones. The trees in this forest were odd; their bark glowed and looked polished, almost metallic. I saw the branches and leaves very high up, with dense foliage barely letting the light through. I heard roars in the distance.

Mahia was waiting for us on the gate's other side, looking alert. When Lyura crossed the Gate and returned to Earth, we felt it.

Lis held my upper arm and said quietly, “Cast invisibility and stay close to the Gate, Mahya, and I will do another round, and if everything is clear, I'll come back to get you. Cancel your invisibility when you see me."

"How do I cancel a spell? I have no idea."

“You just intend to cancel it and pour some mana into the intention.”

I nodded and cast Invisibility.

I heard fighting, and a few minutes later, Lis returned and said, "Come. Stay close to me."

He had blood on him, so I asked, “Are you hurt? You need healing.”

“It’s not mine.”

I relaxed. He led me about two hundred meters, and we reached an area where the trees were less dense and more light filtered through.

“What’s your Intelligence number?” Lis asked.

“Fifty-six.”

He looked at the trees and said, “Should work.”

After a second, he asked me, “How many times did you enlarge your storage?”

“Three. On my status, it shows as times four.”

“Enlarge it once more. We’ll find you a workshop to compensate.” He said, “Examine all the trees around you with your mana sense and pick ten with the most mana. You need to cut them down, but you won't be able to do it with a regular axe—too much mana. You must coat the axe edge with mana or find a way to cut it with magic. You know how to do that?”

“Not yet, but I’ll figure it out.”

He nodded and said, “Don't feel pressured but don't delay either. Mahya and I will go around the area here and make sure no monster or beast gets close to you, but just to be safe, monitor your surroundings and listen to your Perception. When you cut down a tree, store it and move on to the next.”

He told Rue, “Make yourself invisible and patrol in a tight circle around John. If something approaches, don’t get into a fight; you’re not ready. Howl, and I'll come running.”

Rue disappeared, and I took out the biggest axe I had. I tried to coat the edge with mana, but it dissipated when I cut the connection. I tried repeatedly, to no avail, and started feeling pressured. I heard fighting in the distance and was worried for Lis and Mahya.

I tried to create a line of mana and cut the tree with it. I had no chance; the tree was too saturated with mana. I think it laughed at me.

I returned to trying to coat the axe and had an idea: If the mana dissipated when I let it go, I shouldn’t let it go. I coated the whole axe in mana, and now it stayed put. I started making the mana on the edge thinner and thinner, and when it was hair-thin, I applied the “sharpness” aspect to it.

I swung the axe with all my might and scratched the tree. Even to see the scratch, I had to look closely. I swung again and again, and finally, the scratch was visible. I was stumped.

I decided to try something: I cast Exude Mana on the scratch area, and the axe sank almost a centimeter. Well, it was progress.

I tried a different approach: instead of casting the spell, I “colored” my mana with the Exude Mana aspect and pushed it into the tree as deep as possible. It felt like my mana was trying to fight through a thick gel or molasses, but slowly, I could push in a few centimeters. Now, I split my mind and, with the second half, coated the axe once more before swinging it. This time, it sank to the point my mana reached.

Success!

It took me over forty minutes to cut the first tree, but it finally started falling in my direction! I jumped and rolled out of the way but shouldn’t have bothered. The other trees caught the canopy, causing it to halt in the middle.

Phew!!

I tried to store it but couldn’t. I examined the cut area and saw some small parts were still attached. Finally, after two more swings, the cut was complete. I tried storing it again and had to really flex my mental muscles. It felt like I lifted a car with my mind.

One down, nine to go.

Lis checked on me several times and was delighted that I solved the edge issue.

While cutting the fourth tree, Mahya stumbled into my area. She had two long gashes from her shoulder to her palm. I rushed over and started healing her, but I noticed the cuts were oozing. I diagnosed her and felt the poison in her system. I had to cast Neutralize Poison repeatedly to stop the spread and, more times, to neutralize it in the wound. After she was poison-free, I could heal the cut.

She thanked me and rushed off. I continued to cut trees.

After six trees, I felt "Danger" and looked around, but saw nothing. Just in case, I said quietly, “Rue, come here.”

I felt him press against my leg. I looked around and still saw nothing, but I felt the danger. I tried to sense the mana's disturbance, but I found nothing.

I told Rue, “Howl. We need help.”

He did so, and I continued to monitor the area. Something “pinged” in my perception, and I located it; it was moving toward us underground. I quickly summoned my operating table, jumped on it, and told Rue, “Jump up.”

Lis came running, and I said, “Something is moving underground.”

He cursed, "fucking burrowers," and began to stomp his foot on the ground. He said, "Tell me when it's near, and get your axe ready with a mana edge."

I observed the burrower and said, "Now."

Lis jumped back, and a big green snake with four eyes, two giant fangs, and a mouth full of teeth burst out of the ground.

The snake suddenly froze, and Lis said, “Chop its head off with the axe. Quickly, I can't hold it for long; it’s too strong.”

I jumped off the table, ran to the snake, and started chopping at it. It took five swings; Lis was sweating and shaking, but I killed the snake.

 “Store it; we can harvest it.” He said, “If a class is offered, don't take it. I need to help Mahya," and rushed off.

I stored the snake and started to swing on the tree faster. My muscles were burning, but I wanted to finish it quickly. I didn't want to delay if that's what they were fighting. I chopped and cast Heal Muscle every few minutes.

After another two trees, Lis came running and extended his hand. His palm was shredded, and he said, “Poison.”

I immediately cast Neutralize Poison repeatedly until he was clean, and I healed the wound. He rushed off again.

I had the last two trees to go and gave it my all to finish it faster. The ten trees took me at least five hours, and I heard fighting all this time.

I shouted, “Lis, Mahya, I’m done.”

Mahya returned first and said, “I heard you killed a burrower. What did you use?”

“An Axe.”

“Take out a sword, create a mana edge, and get ready.”

A minute later, Lis came with a monster following him. He looked focused and like he was under strain.

Mahya told me, “Kill the monster with the sword.”

After two swings, the monster died. Lis said, “Don’t harvest it for a crystal; we are after a different benefit. Prepare all the types of swords you trained with. I'll lead monsters to you, and you'll kill them. Always use mana with the weapon.”

I agreed, and he left.

Mahya kept going around the area on full alert, telling me, "Extend your mana sense as far as you can, above and below ground."

I did, and I discovered that my range was a radius of about five meters. Why had I never thought of it before? It made so much sense to monitor with mana.

Lis led monster after monster to me, and I killed them first with swords and then with polearms. I switched to two types of war axes, and then a dagger and a push dagger.

Lis told Mahya, “Patrol a little wider. We need a few minutes.”

Then he turned to me and said, “I know you trained with a staff, bow, war hammer, and screaming sticks.”

“Eskrima sticks.”

“Sorry, Eskrima sticks. Any other blunt or ranged weapon?”

“Bamboo Kendo sword and crossbow.”

“Gun?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t like them, and it never crossed my mind.”

“Why don’t you like them?” Lis asked, “They look very useful.”

"As a doctor, I treated too many gunshot wounds."

“So you should have known how effective they are if you treated wounds, no?”

“When you put it that way...”

“Never mind. Now I need you to figure out how to apply mana to the other weapons you know and kill monsters.”

“Why?”

“Because a magical fighting class is better than a mundane one.”

“Oh.”

I tried different things with my staff, and after fifteen minutes, I remembered my electric arc from Paris and decided to try it. It took me some more time to get the aspect just right and figure out how to aspect my mana immediately, but not constantly; lightning is unpleasant to hold. Finally, I coated my staff in mana to initiate the aspect immediately.

I told Lis, “I’m ready.”

He led a few more monsters that I bashed and electrocuted simultaneously.

I asked him, “Those monsters don’t look too scary, but I heard you fighting; it sounded intense, and you both got hurt. How come?”

“Those are the small fry that we didn’t bother with. We cleared up the real threats. At least, I think we did.”

After that, he wanted me to figure out how to coat my arrows with mana and shoot them, but no matter what I tried, I couldn’t. The moment they left the bow, the mana connection broke and dissipated.

"I'll lead monsters to you, and you shoot them, but don't kill them—just paralyze them—and then finish them with magic.” He finally said, “I think it will work.”

Again, he led monsters, and I killed them. I must admit, I was not having fun. I understood why I needed the class, but I wouldn't say I liked fighting. I was okay with training, hunting for food, or killing monsters that attacked me, but this systematic carnage wasn’t my thing.

At last, we cycled through all the weapons I was familiar with, and I was confident we had completed the task. The red light had been blinking repeatedly for the last three hours. But I was wrong.

Lis said, "Now, unarmed combat.”

“Seriously? You want me to punch a monster to death?”

He nodded and said, “Yes, and add magic to the mix.”

I sighed in defeat and said, “Fine.”

I had to punch and kick another three defenseless monsters. This time, I coated my hands with the “stone” aspect. I wanted to protect my hands, and the lightning was very unpleasant with direct skin contact. I still coated and outlined my feet with lightning.

Finally, the fighting was over.

They decided to do another round to check for monsters, and Rue and I sat and waited. After twenty minutes, Mahya came back, and after another five minutes, Lis came back and said, "My side looks clear; how's yours?"

"I didn’t see anything."

“Good,” he said, turning to me and saying, “Now you can look at your Guidance messages.”

I poked the red light.

______________________ 

You have demonstrated advanced ability with many weapons and combined combat with mana.

New Class unlocked: [Magi Battle Master].

Would you like the Magi Battle Master Class to be your sub-class?

Cost: 5 Ability Points

Y/N

___________________

Of course, I clicked yes.

I was planning to go to my profile and read the class description but saw that the red light was still blinking, so I poked it first:

___________________ 

Synergy Detected

Would you like to combine your Wizard Class and your Magi Battle Master Class?

Note: You must advance all parts of the combined class to advance in levels.

Y/N

__________________

I had no idea what to do and decided to ask Lis. I pushed Mana, intending to show the screen, and it popped into existence.

"Lis, look at the message I received.” I said, “Should I do it?”

He looked and said, “Definitely.”

"But what about the part where I have to advance all the parts? It sounds like I must do wizard stuff and fight to gain levels. Isn’t it better to level them separately?”

“Are you in a hurry to level up?”

“No, not really. But I don’t get what the benefit is.”

“An empty Sub-Class slot.”

“Oh, I didn’t think of that.”

I chose yes. This time, the red light didn’t blink again, so I went to my profile and had a new line: Wizard Battle Master.

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WIZARD

This is a rare and very sought-after class.

Wizards are scholars of magic and mana.

They develop new spells, combine them, and expand them. They study mana and its complexities, learning to wield it like a tool. When a Wizard advances their understanding of magic and mana, they can develop the ability to wield external mana.

This Class does not have Spells, Skills, or Abilities – the Wizard develops their own.

+3 Intelligence, +3 Wisdom, +3 Perception, +1 to all other stats.

This class does not receive free stat points.

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MAGI BATTLE MASTER

This is an advanced fighting class.

Battle Masters can wield any weapon and are adept in various fighting disciplines.

A Battle Master can learn any fighting discipline more efficiently and, after level ten, can teach others with great benefits to the students.

+3 Strength, +3 Agility, +3 Constitution, +2 Vitality, +3 Free Stats

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Combined Class

WIZARD BATTLE MASTER

This class blends both aspects of its constituent parts.

To advance in levels, you must progress in magic and combat.

+3 to all stats.

This class does not receive free stat points.

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I was annoyed that I “lost” the free stat points at every level, but besides that, it sounded great.

The Wizard section in the profile looked different.

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Sub-Class 2

Wizard Battle Master Level 3

Wizard Abilities

Mind Split x3
Mana Sensing [Medior]
Mana Saturation [Apprentice]
Mana Manipulation [Adept]
Mana Regeneration x 1

Wizard Spells

Harvest Mana Crystal [In Progress]
Harvest Game [In Progress]

Battle Master Skills

Unarmed Combat [Apprentice]
Ranged Weapons [Apprentice]
Blunt Weapons [Apprentice]
Mana Combat [Apprentice]
Bladed Weapons [Novice]
Polearm Mastery [Novice]
Hafted Weapons [Novice]

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I looked, and the Krav Maga, Staff Fighting, and Archery disappeared from my profile page. I guessed that the [Apprentice] tag was due to the higher level of those skills.

The class level confused me, so I asked Lis, “All my other classes when I got them, I had ‘level up’ messages. But this class is level Three, and I didn’t get any this time; how come?”

“What level was your wizard class?”

“Three.”

“You told me you killed in Shimoor, hunted and killed some monsters, and killed quite a few today. All this banked advancement was applied to the new class. I believe that with everything you did, you won’t have to fight at least another two or three Wizard levels.”

“But this class gives more stats, and I didn’t get a message about it.”

“Check your traits; you might have got them.”

I checked, and he was right; I got +6 Strength, +6 Agility, +6 Constitution, and +4 Vitality, which were the stats of Magi Battle Master times two, but I didn’t get the free stats.

The system cheated me!

I waited for a rebuke, but it didn’t come.

I decided it was a great class, and was extremely grateful to Lis and Mahya for helping me get this class. Friends are awesome!!