B3—Chapter 8: Milestones and Monsters (Patreon)

Looking at the message, I did a full-body shimmy. It deserved more than a butt wiggle, but it wasn’t quite enough for a full Gangnam Style celebration. That, I reserved for the complete Loot Spell—when it would be ready. And now, I was stuck on the name. Loot Monster? Harvest Monster? Convert Monster?

What the hell should I call this thing?

Create Mana Crystal was a strong contender, but it felt wrong—I didn’t create it; I harvested it. So, finally, I settled on Harvest Mana Crystal—the initial name the system assigned to it. The screen disappeared after filling in the name, but the red light was still blinking. Before checking the rest of the messages, I checked my profile, and under Wizard Spells, I had Harvest Mana Crystal without the [In Progress] tag.

Yes!

I tapped the red light and read the new message:

Level Up

+3 to All Stats

Wizard Battle Master Level 8

That was always nice. The red light was still blinking, so I tapped it again.

Milestone Reached

Creativity 20 or Above

Reaching a Creativity level of 20 or above marks a significant milestone in your journey. At this level, you can now actively engage your Creativity to find the most inspiring direction for innovative solutions. This means more than just coming up with ideas; it means sensing the direction in which your creative energy will be most fruitful, leading you to breakthroughs and inventive outcomes.

Creativity over 20 gives you an intuitive sense of where to direct your efforts for the most creative results. Whether seeking the perfect materials, discovering new techniques, or finding the ideal environment to foster your ingenuity, this heightened sense guides you through the paths of possibility, ensuring your creative projects reach their fullest potential.

Engaging your Creativity in this way transforms it from a passive trait to an active tool in your arsenal. It enhances your journey and helps you navigate challenges with innovation and originality. This directional sense ensures that you are always in the right place to draw upon your creative strengths, making your journey successful and truly extraordinary.

Woo Hoo!

I especially liked the part about finding a direction for solutions. I was stuck on so many things, and this would help solve some of them. That was the last message.

First, I opened the Archive to share my achievement with Lis. I saw the message Mahya wrote to him about the dungeon core. She used my idea.

Yay me! 

He hadn’t responded yet, but there were quite a few comments from Travelers with some wild ideas about what they would feed the house in such circumstances or telling her it was a fantasy story and not a good one since it can’t happen in real life. I snickered to myself—keep thinking that, boys and girls, keep thinking that.

Lis had responded to the long report I sent him while we were on our way to Canada.

Tr. LM

“Inventor, Versailles, Hungry, Clueless.”

Hello, my dear friend,

I'm so glad to hear you're enjoying yourself and that the extraction went smoothly. I must say, I'm truly impressed by that mana wave you created. Such a solution would never have crossed my mind.

Your stories had me laughing out loud - I even shared a few with the dragons. They particularly enjoyed hearing about your cruise when you parked the house on the ocean, and Mahya was in the hot-air balloon. They also loved the tale of how you cleverly avoided detection by the soldiers in the hotel after Sonak got injured, your shameless way of milking the casino for a large sum of money, and the story about the enormous warehouse you emptied. They thought it was all hilarious.

And I agree with you. Sonak does sound like quite the fool.

I hope you enjoy the new world you're heading to. Here's a bit of advice: a world on the verge of integration is a rarity in the multiverse. I suggest you stay until you've filled enough ability points and the empty class slots. Of course, don't fill those slots with just anything - choose things that truly interest you and that you'll stick with.

I'm doing well here. Most dragons have learned enough English to make progress on the books independently, with some help from the dictionaries I brought. I'm glad I thought to bring them along. It's freed up my time to travel and see this world I'm in. I haven't learned anything new yet; I'm simply being a tourist.

I've made three new dragon friends who took me to see interesting places in their world. I must confess that I'm thoroughly enjoying myself and adjusting to everything here, which is massive. From bushes to mountains, all things in this world are at least twice as big as anywhere else, and most things are five or even ten times bigger. It takes some time to get used to the scale, but once you do, this world is truly beautiful.

Our journey began in a lush forest, where ancient trees stood as silent sentinels, their canopies scraping the heavens. The air was thick with the essence of nature, and unseen creatures serenaded us with their calls. Flowers of impossible size bloomed in a riot of color, each petal as vast as a wagon wheel. As we traversed this verdant realm, I felt a childlike wonder. My dragon guides moving with grace through the dappled sunlight.

Then, as if by some arcane sleight of hand, we found ourselves amidst a rugged mountain range. The transition was abrupt and awe-inspiring, a testament to the potent mana that suffuses this world. Colossal peaks thrust skyward, their snow-capped summits piercing the clouds. The air grew thin and crisp, redolent with the scent of ice and stone. Each mountain seemed to whisper ancient secrets, their faces etched by the relentless passage of time. As we navigated narrow passes and precarious cliffs, the vistas that unfolded before us were nothing short of divine.

Our descent from the mountains led us to an endless sea of sand. The shift was as sudden as it was stark. One moment, we were surrounded by craggy peaks; the next, we stood upon golden dunes stretching to the horizon. The sun beat down mercilessly, a blazing orb in a cloudless sky. The sand shimmered like a sea of gold dust, rippling with each gust of wind. Despite its harshness, the desert held its own austere beauty, a sense of timelessness and solitude. My dragon guides remained unperturbed, their scales a natural defense against the sun's fury. At one point, I found myself astride one of these magnificent creatures, soaring above the dunes – a truly exhilarating experience.

Our final destination was a frozen tundra, the transition marked by an invisible line as if drawn by some cosmic artist. In an instant, the temperature plummeted, and a biting wind howled across the icy plains. The ground crunched beneath my feet, a carpet of snow and permafrost. The sky above was a pale, ethereal blue, and the landscape glittered with ice crystals, refracting light into a thousand tiny rainbows. The tundra's beauty lay in its stark simplicity, a fitting denouement to our grand journey.

Each step through these varied landscapes deepened my appreciation for this dragon realm. The high mana doesn't merely enhance the environment; it reshapes it entirely, crafting these breathtaking biomes. This is a world where natural laws bend to the will of magic, where every turn reveals a new wonder. It is a realm of immeasurable beauty, where I find myself forging memories that will endure for ages to come.

I'll write more as I continue my travels. In the meantime, keep learning and progressing as a wizard and as a person, and of course, tell me about all the highlights of your journey. It really brightens my day and my entire week.

With deep affection and friendship,

Lis

It was amazing to read his descriptions. I could almost imagine walking through those places and seeing the sudden environmental change. It sounded like he was having fun, and I was glad. While I read, a new monster formed, and instead of stomping it, I cast my new spell.

Nothing happened. Annoying.

I stomped on it, cast my new spell, and in less than a minute, I had a crystal lying on the ground. Unfortunately, I still had to kill the monster first.

Oh, well. That will be a future project—a spell to eliminate and harvest the monster.

I checked the Spell list, and the spell wasn’t there. That was odd. I opened my Profile, poked the Gate Traveler class, and opened the abilities list. Looking down, I found the description of the ability. It stated, “A Traveler can learn any Spell or Skill in the connected worlds.” So how come my spell wasn’t there? I directed the question to the “rebuking” entity but didn’t get a reaction.

What else is new?

I wrote to Lis and told him about the spell I created, asking if he knew why it wasn’t on the spell list. After completing this task, I went looking for Mahya. I found her on the enormous deck of the house with the motorcycle blueprint, fiddling with some parts.

I approached Mahya, a grin on my face. “Hey, Mahya, I cracked the loot spell!”

Her eyes lit up, and she clapped her hands together. “That’s fantastic! Congratulations!”

“Thanks,” I replied, rubbing the back of my neck. “But do you know why the spell wasn’t added to the spell list of our class?”

She tilted her head, a puzzled expression crossing her face. “I have no idea,” she admitted. We both shrugged in unison.

Mahya’s face brightened with enthusiasm. “You should join me in working on the bike!”

I shook my head, laughing. “I appreciate the offer but want some time off to enjoy my achievement.”

She pouted but nodded. “Alright, but you owe me tomorrow.”

“Deal,” I said, smiling. “I’ll help you tomorrow.”

With that settled, I set off to find Rue. Walking away, I realized how much I had neglected him while busy with the spell. It was time to make up for that.

Rue and I raced on our E-foils on the big lake, pissing off some big fish in the process. Suddenly, a massive fish appeared below me, flicked my E-foil with its tail, and sent me flying. Falling into the water was not an option—I didn't want to end up swimming with that giant fish. Instinctively, I connected to the wind, hovered, stored my E-foil with my mana sense field, and took out my crossbow.

"You're tonight's dinner," I declared to the fish, then shouted to Rue, "Stay away from here, or it will throw you off too."

I aimed at the fish and shot it, but my hit wasn't fatal. The fish dove, forcing me to descend toward the water. I stood back on my E-foil and zoomed on the lake with my mana sense spread as wide as possible. The moment I felt the fish approaching again, I stored the E-foil, hovered, and shot it once more. This sequence repeated several times until I finally hit the fish in the eye, ending the struggle.

Approaching the fish on my E-foil, I grabbed its tail and dragged it to the water surface. It was even bigger than I thought initially—easily the size of two, maybe three dolphins.

"You're not just tonight's dinner. You're this week's meals," I informed the fish with a smirk.

Rue and I continued racing on our E-foils for a few more hours before heading back to cook a feast. The following week, this fish would be the basis for many interesting dishes.