The Gate Traveler

Mahya and I continued to work on Al’s motorcycle. Since we worked together from the beginning, the disassembly, engraving, and assembly went much faster. I left all the copper wire to her; I had no intention of engraving tiny runes. The project took four days, and another motorcycle ran on mana.

I remarked to Mahya, “If we return to Earth, we won’t be able to ride these motorcycles.”

“Why?”

“They’re too quiet. It would look suspicious.”

She touched a rune on the handle, and the motorcycle made an engine noise. “I’m way ahead of you,” she said, laughing.

After finishing the motorcycles, we moved on to the ATV. It was a more complex project since Mahya didn’t have a blueprint ready. We disassembled it part by part, and she drew it on the blueprint. After the whole ATV was in parts, she planned the actual runes. I had nothing to do at this point, so I went with Rue to take care of the cats. He took care of them when I was busy, but not too diligently. That was on purpose, so I would have cats to practice my mana dart on and convert them into crystals.

Rue led me to a new area with cats when I felt the air change. It became more charged and heavier, and the wind sent me a warning.

“We need to get back to the house,” I told Rue.

“Yes! Wind friend tell Rue be careful.”

I noticed his speech improved daily, and I checked his level.

 

Rue Bonded Familiar Level 12

 

“Congratulations, buddy. You’ve gained two more levels,” I said, scratching his chin.

Rue’s tail wagged furiously as he replied, “Yes! One level in dungeon, one level bad cats. Bad cats good. Rue likes levels.”

I laughed, shaking my head at his excitement. “Yeah, I like levels too,” I said with a grin.

When we got back to the house, I told Mahya, “I don’t know exactly what’s happening, but the air is more charged and full of mana. The wind also sent me a warning. Come inside the house.”

I helped her store everything. We entered the house, and I ordered it to fold the deck. It was still amazing to see—the deck retreated towards the house as if on a rail, and the house absorbed it.

We stood inside the house, staring out the window. Dark gray-purple clouds covered the sky in minutes, and a lightning storm began. The change was so fast and dramatic, like someone flipped a switch. The air got heavy, and you could almost taste the rain and the static charge building up. I swear I could taste the lightning on my tongue, like licking a fresh battery. It sent a weird, almost thrilling shiver down my spine.

I felt a powerful pull toward the lightning, like it was calling me. My heart was pounding with the thunder, this deep, primal rhythm resonating with something deep inside me. I opened the glass door and stepped onto the porch, the cool air hitting me like a wave.

“John, what are you doing?” Mahya’s worried voice cut through the noise.

I ignored her, wholly focused on the storm. Standing on the porch, I reached out and created the little lightning arc I learned in Paris years ago with Lis. That memory flickered in my mind, mixing nostalgia with determination. The connection between the elements felt familiar, but also different. The lightning on Earth was always relatively weak, almost lifeless. However, here, the lightning was rich and full of mana, exceeding the world’s levels. I could feel the mana in the air. It was dense, almost like a thick mist around me.

I raised my hand to the sky and made the small arc in my palm again. This time, it felt strangely familiar. It wasn’t just raw energy. It had a distinct essence that tugged at my memory. I kept making the arc, tasting the flavor each time until it hit me: lightning isn’t a single element. It’s Air and Fire. Air fuels fire, and fire ignites the air, creating this powerful burst of energy. That energy is lightning.

With this new insight, I split my mind and connected to the wind. It felt like opening a door to a storm, the air swirling around me with a life of its own. After splitting it again, I created a flame in my palm, a small flicker of light and heat. I split my mind again to keep my awareness, then one last time to make the arc again. This time, I fed the fire into the arc and nudged the wind to mix in.

A massive lightning bolt shot from my palm toward the sky, a dazzling display of raw power and elemental harmony. The lightning from the sky and the lightning from my hand connected. For a perfect moment, they were in balance, a seamless flow of energy that felt like an extension of me. But then, the sky’s lightning overpowered mine. I could have stopped it and cut the current, but I didn’t want to. There was something strangely alluring about letting go.

I opened myself up to the lightning, letting it use my arc as a pathway to reach me. The lightning struck me, passing through me again and again. It didn’t hurt, but it was definitely unpleasant. Every nerve felt like it was on fire. All my channels were lit up—the main, the secondary, and even the stage two channels. Everything was on fire. My entire body felt like it was blazing, yet I stayed in control. I could have stopped the connection, halted the fire, and blocked the access point anytime. But I chose not to.

The lightning kept coursing through me. All the strikes that would have hit the valley zeroed in on me. As the lightning passed through my body, grounding in the porch and the house, I repeatedly saw flashes of light around me. I felt the house’s core absorbing it, a steady hum of energy vibrating through the structure.

Eventually, the storm ran out of steam, though I didn’t know how long it lasted. The storm channeled all its power through me. I stood on the porch, swaying, trying to hold on to the remnants of my consciousness. Steam rose from my skin in thin wisps, proof of the immense energy that had passed through me. But after a few seconds, the lights went out.

I woke up in my room, lying in bed. For a few minutes, I just lay there, listening to my body. Everything felt fine, but different. I raised my hand, and it moved easily. No problem there. I touched the skin of my other hand with my fingertips; it felt normal. I moved my head and legs, testing my range of motion, and everything worked as it should. I got out of bed and walked over to the mirror, noticing I was completely naked. My eyes seemed to glow more than usual, and all my body hair had disappeared. I was smooth as a newborn baby—awkward. At least I still had most of my eyebrows and all the hair on my head.

Turning my attention inward, I examined my mana system. All my channels were wider now, across all three stages. My power orbs looked different, too. The spirit orb was about twenty percent larger, while the body orb stayed the same. The mind orb hadn’t changed in size, but the mana inside looked different. Before, it had been like vapor with occasional purple streaks. Now, the mana resembled steam, almost liquid and much thicker, with purple streaks spread throughout the orb, not just along the inner walls.

I checked my mana: 11,100/11,100. My mana had gone up by 900 points. I looked, and under my Wizard Abilities, I had Lightning. Again, only Lightning. There was no additional information or anything in brackets.

Mahya entered my room, her eyes blazing when she saw me awake. Her face twisted in anger, and she started yelling at me. “John, you’re so stupid! Suicidal! Irresponsible!” Her voice rose with each word, and she jabbed a finger in my direction. “You’re like a little kid who doesn’t think ahead! What were you thinking? Do you have any idea how reckless that was? You could have been killed or worse! You never think about the consequences, do you? It’s always just about the thrill for you! You’re utterly thoughtless and completely irresponsible! How can you be so blind to the risks you take? Do you even care about the people who worry about you? Do you ever stop to think about how your actions affect those around you? It’s like you have a death wish, or you just don’t care at all!”

Her arms flailed, and her eyes were wide with frustration. She didn’t hold back, calling me every name under the sun that questioned my intelligence. “You’re an idiot, a fool! Suicidal! Completely and utterly reckless! It’s like you have no sense of self-preservation whatsoever! I can’t believe you sometimes! Do you have any idea what it’s like to watch you do something so dangerous and not be able to stop you? It’s infuriating! You make me so angry I could scream!” At this point, she did scream and then continued berating me.

After what felt like an eternity of her yelling, I took a deep breath and said, “Mahya, would you mind getting out for a moment so I can get dressed?” I tried to keep my voice calm.

She let out an exasperated huff, turned on her heels with a dramatic spin, and stormed out of the room, the door slamming behind her.

I quickly got dressed and called her back in. “You can come in now.” She returned, and it was clear she had picked up more steam while out. She launched into another tirade, her voice sharp and piercing, but this time, it only lasted about ten or fifteen seconds.

When she finally finished yelling, I didn’t bother to argue. Instead, I raised my hand and shot a lightning bolt from my palm.

The room fell silent. Mahya’s eyes widened in shock, and her mouth dropped open. She stared at my hand, her mouth moving wordlessly like a fish out of water. After a few moments, she looked up at my face, shaking her head in disbelief. She threw her hands up, turned, and left the room without another word.

I couldn’t help but giggle. I never believed I could make Mahya speechless. She always had something to say.

I felt terrible for worrying her, so as an apology, I made two huge trays of Pâte à Choux, as I learned in Paris. It seemed appropriate to me. The lightning had started in Paris, after all. When I brought her a plate full of Crème Chantilly-filled pastries, she looked at the plate with a mix of surprise and suspicion for a few seconds before saying, “That still doesn’t get you out of jail.”

“I understand,” I replied, nodding.

For dinner, I made her a Szechuan-style meal. She began to soften, but still didn’t talk to me. The tension in the air was palpable, but I could see her resolve wavering.

The next day, I joined her in working on the ATV. Mahya had already marked some runes on the blueprint, so I started carving them. We worked in silence for an hour, the only sounds coming from our tools and the occasional sigh from Mahya. Suddenly, she came up to me, hugged me tightly, and started crying.

I held her, letting her get it all out, feeling the weight of her emotions as she sobbed into my shoulder.

After she calmed down, I said softly, “I’m sorry if I scared you. I knew I’d be fine. Lightning is a combination of wind and fire. The wind would never let me get hurt. I understand you didn’t know I’d be fine. So again, I’m very sorry for scaring you.”

She buried her face in my chest, her voice muffled as she muttered, “I only knew you were alive because Rue was still alive, and all your junk was still in your Storage.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “You forgive me?”

“Not yet,” she replied, her voice still shaky.

I laughed softly, and she joined me, but then she punched me hard in the chest. I winced, but said nothing. It was something I rightfully deserved.

That evening, I made her a big Italian dinner, still feeling the need to apologize. Finally, the atmosphere between us returned to normal. We ate and laughed, and she started calling me Sparky. Well, it was better than Clueless.

After dinner, I took out my guitar and started strumming for fun. It wasn’t a special song or anything, just a pleasant melody. As I played, it slowly took shape, first the melody and then the lyrics. It was different from all the songs I had ever written. There was no specific reason for it. I wasn’t trying to get a class, make a storm, or exude the remnants of hurt from my system. It was music for the sake of music, and it felt amazing.

Celestial Tapestries

Verse 1:
Among the constellations, seek release,
Where comet trails trace paths of cosmic grace.
The Milky Way, a bridge to inner peace,
As stardust mends the fabric of your space.

Chorus:
Beneath celestial tapestries,
Shed the weight of yesteryears.
In cosmic dance, find melodies,
Healing echoes, free from fears.

Verse 2:
Let go of constellations etched in pain,
And twirl with galaxies in midnight waltz.
Each star a luminary, healing rain,
A universe reborn, where hurt dissolves.

Chorus:
Beneath celestial tapestries,
Shed the weight of yesteryears.
In cosmic dance, find melodies,
Healing echoes, free from fears.

Bridge:
Trace comet trails across galactic night,
Where nebulas hum forgotten lullabies.
Each star, a promise etched in cosmic light,
Heals rifts between constellations’ skies.

Verse 3:
In astral waltz, let go of earthly strife,
Become stardust, woven into infinity.
Celestial choirs sing of boundless life,
And healing orbits spin with divinity.

Chorus:
Beneath celestial tapestries,
Shed the weight of yesteryears.
In cosmic dance, find melodies,
Healing echoes, free from fears.

Bridge:
Trace comet trails across galactic night,
Where nebulas hum forgotten lullabies.
Each star, a promise etched in cosmic light,
Heals rifts between constellations’ skies.

Verse 4:
Trace Milky Way’s path through starry seas,
Where stardust whispers secrets to the night.
Each meteor, a promise of new peace,
Heals rifts between constellations’ light.

Outro:
In cosmic hymns, let earthly burdens cease,
Become the notes in interstellar song.
Celestial choirs sing of sweet release,
As healing orbits right what once was wrong.

Chorus:
Beneath celestial tapestries,
Shed the weight of yesteryears.
In cosmic dance, find melodies,
Healing echoes, free from fears.
In cosmic hymns, let earthly burdens cease,
Become the notes in interstellar song.
Celestial choirs sing of sweet release,
As healing orbits right what once was wrong.