We emptied the contents of our Storage onto the house’s deck. Since we brought a lot of materials, we had to do it in two parts. Each part took the house a few hours to absorb the materials, but my house was a trooper and absorbed everything.
We had no particular plans for the materials, so I didn’t pursue any further action. From my perspective, it was a long-term investnt. Mahya wished to add more wood and stone to the house, but I was not interested. I told her she could handle it herself if she wanted to.
After I emptied all the materials from my Storage, I headed to put my stuff back in. It was apparent we had been gone for at least two weeks. It was all covered in dust and fungus spores. Making the most of this opportunity, I sorted out my Storage after a long ti. Initially, I wanted to “stretch” my Storage to make it lower and longer, but after glancing at the new height of my house, I realized that wouldn’t work.
As I sorted my belongings, I went through them individually, casting Clean on each item. I left room for the house and placed all the big items beside it, like boats, rchant stalls, etc. I divided the space into three sections: one for storing food, another for sales items, and the last for my personal equipnt. There was still a generous amount of storage space in the center.
Once I had finished storing everything, I headed out to spend ti with Rue. My boy had been alone for at least two weeks and deserved attention. Before playing, we checked the core Mahya had placed on the vent. Although the core seed bigger, it was not yet the size of Mahya’s fist.
Rue inford , “Rue squishes bad cats.”
“Were there many cats?”
“Lots lots bad cats. Rue squashed bad cats.”
I laughed, scratched his ears, and said, “Well done. You’re an amazing guard dog.”
His tail drumd rhythmically on my leg.
As we stood there talking, I saw the air shimr, and Rue yelled, “More cat!”
The monster that appeared was indeed a cat, but different from the previous ones we fought. It was bigger, red with white instead of black, and much fluffier. It even looked cute—at least until it bit my leg.
“Ouch!”
Infuriated, I stomped on the cat and converted it into a crystal. At least the crystal was larger.
“If we leave now and go play, can you help find the cats later?” I asked Rue.
“Yes! Rue bestest cat finder.”
“Great, buddy. So let’s go play and take care of the cats later.”
With kites in hand, we went to play with the wind. The wind caught the kites and flew them around the valley. Rue chased the kites and tried to catch them. On the other hand, I tried to use wind magic to move the kites without cheating with Telekinesis. We spent the whole day playing. Rue had more success than , as seen by the three chewed-up kites. I couldn’t move a kite even once. I didn’t know what I was missing. The word Wind appeared in my profile, which ant I could do sothing. But I was stuck when I tried to do sothing independently, without asking the wind for help.
During our ga, I encountered a few spots where Al had harvested mushrooms and saw new, small mushrooms sprouting. It made feel better. At so point, we ran past Mahya, who was chopping down a tree. She gave a murderous look, harrumphed, but said nothing.
In the evening, after dinner, Rue helped locate the cats that had appeared in the anti. I stomped them and turned them into crystals. There were thirteen cats, and he assured there were no more. By my estimate, we played for about seven hours, aning the core created a monster about every half hour.
This gave an idea: I wanted to progress my loot spell, and here, I had a constant and stable supply of monsters. It would be a sha to waste these perfect conditions.
In the morning, Al inford us both, “I wish to return to Earth for a few days. I have identified a few additional items I require, and I do not wish to squander the opportunity of accessing a technological world that I am familiar with and know how to navigate.”
“But a few days on Earth would be a few months here. I don’t think we have enough to do to stay a few months in this valley,” I said, frowning.
“You can cross the mountains and travel the rest of the island,” Al suggested, gesturing toward the distant peaks. “I have a ans to cross the mountains. However, if you sail to the main continent, you may have to return to retrieve if I am unable to find a way to cross the sea.”
Mahya crossed her arms and looked at him skeptically. “Are you sure you need these things? Can’t you do without them?”
“I do require them,” Al insisted, shaking his head. “While I can manage without them as I did prior to my arrival on Earth, I see no reason to do so.”
Curious, I asked, “What do you even need?”
“Test tubes, vials of various sizes, particularly those with droppers,” Al listed, counting off on his fingers. “These are exceptional inventions, and I wish to procure a greater supply. Graduated cylinders, watch glasses, and Erlenyer flasks are also necessary. Additionally, I require a larger stock of distilled alcohol and distilled water, or perhaps so water distillers, so your house can produce one that operates on mana.”
He looked at us expectantly, awaiting our response.
“Didn’t you buy a long shopping list of all those things?” Mahya asked.
“I did indeed. Nevertheless, upon comncing the brewing process, I ca to realize that certain items were less advantageous, whereas others surpassed my expectations. I intend to secure a larger supply of the beneficial items.”
I thought montarily and said, “Yeah, I can understand that.” Turning to Mahya, I added, “I want to use the vent with the core to advance my loot spell, and you wanted to finish work on at least one motorcycle, preferably more. So, how about this: I’ll work on my spell, and you’ll work on the motorcycles and the boat. If I finish before you, I’ll join you, and we’ll complete these projects together. If Al doesn’t return by then, you still have your phone. We’ll store the house, and the three of us will cross over to Earth, call him, and find out how long it will take. If it’s a brief wait, we’ll have a picnic near the Gate; if it’s longer, we’ll stay a night or two in Calgary. What do you think?”
Mahya still looked hesitant.
I told her telepathically, “I don’t want to refuse Al. He was patient and helped us when we needed things for the house. It wouldn’t be fair if we didn’t consider his needs.”
Mahya nodded slightly and said, “Sounds good to . How many days do you think you need on Earth?”
“I am uncertain. It depends on whether I find everything in Calgary or must place orders through Amazon and await deliveries.”
“Okay,” I said. “Anyway, we’re not crossing the mountains without you. Either you co back before we’re done, or we’ll cross to Earth and wait for you.”
Al gave a huge smile and said, “Thank you very much. I genuinely appreciate it.”
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
After Al left, I walked toward the core to work on my spell. For the first few hours, I didn’t try anything. I only waited for a monster to spawn, killed it, and turned it into a crystal. I scrutinized each step of the process carefully to understand the aspects I would need for the spell.
After a few hours, I felt I knew exactly what was required. I already understood the purification aspect well from the aluminum blobs I had made before, so I didn’t need to focus on that. What I was missing were the aspects that made up the Clean spell, as well as the aspects of ‘envelope with mana,’ ‘squeeze,’ and ‘shrink.’ I thought I might also need an aspect or aspects to prevent the mana from escaping, but I wasn’t sure since the sh shell of the spell might handle that.
For three days, I worked on those aspects, occasionally killing monsters. My focus was intense as I experinted, watching every detail closely. After those three days, I had the ‘squeeze’ down pat, but the Clean spell was impossible. It was composed of so many aspects, all woven together, and I couldn’t “un-weave” them. The ‘shrink’ was also giving problems, since it needed to be a gradual progression. I needed it again and again at each stage. But if I layered the mana inside the sh with it, I didn’t have enough space for the other aspects.
After spending another two days trying to solve this conundrum, I had to admit defeat and think of another approach. Frustrated, I took a day off to clear my mind. Rue and I spent the whole day playing, this ti without the wind. We raced around the valley, swam in the big lake, roughhoused, and had a lot of fun. His joyful barking and our playful interactions helped lift my spirits.
The following day, I returned to the core with renewed determination. I spent the whole day near the core, killing monsters occasionally and thinking of a solution.
Mahya ca over, her hands on her hips, watching for a mont before asking, “Do you think you can create a magic circle with magic script that will work on a sphere-shaped surface?”
“Maybe?” I replied, scratching my head. “I’ve never tried.”
“Please try.”
“What kind of magic circle do you need?”
“To absorb ambient mana,” she explained, showing a rough sketch of her idea. “I created three different circles with runes, and they work great, but only on a flat or semi-flat surface. The minute I apply them to a sphere-shaped surface, the whole thing collapses.”
I nodded, studying her sketch. “I’ll give it a shot and see what I can do.”
To practice, I walked around the valley and collected stones with a more or less spherical shape. I took so parchnt and drew the initial circle. It didn’t take long to understand why Mahya had a problem. I played around with a few ideas, but no matter what I did, I ran into the sa issue. On a flat or semi-flat surface, everything worked fine. The sphere shape was a problem. Another puzzle. On the one hand, these puzzles were interesting. It was boring when the solution ca to too easily. But on the other hand, it was very frustrating.
This puzzle took another two days, but I cracked it. I used the magic script to create the circle, and incorporated engineering runes—Relay, Transfer, Connect, Consistency, and Continuity—placed at precise intervals to overco the spherical issue. Additionally, I integrated runes for Adaptability, Stabilize, Convergence, Harmony, and Integration to further refine the circle’s effectiveness. Fortunately, the second batch of runes only needed to be placed once in the circle, not at intervals. The stone I practiced on humd with the mana it absorbed, and I felt like a genius.
When I showed Mahya the circle and the stone, she jumped on , hugged , kissed my forehead, and agreed that I was a genius. It was very nice.
I was about to go back to the core, but she stopped and asked, “Do you know the aspect of heat?”
“Not yet. But I have the Heat spell, so I’m pretty sure I can learn it.”
“Excellent,” she said, handing the two large crystals we collected in the dungeon from the floor guardians. “I need you to aspect one crystal to wind and the other to heat.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Why do you need them?”
“Project.”
“I figured, but what project?”
“For now, it’s a secret,” she replied, her smile widening as she turned away.
I shook my head and sighed helplessly and went to learn the heat aspect. The heat aspect was very simple. I thought maybe it was because I already knew the aspect of fire, and heat was a derivative. I gave the crystals back to Mahya and went back to the core.
The magic circle I created for her got thinking. Maybe instead of building layers of aspects inside the sh, I could build the magic circle inside the sh. Of course, I would have to invert it. I built the circle for a spherical shape outside the sphere, not inside it. But I didn’t expect the process to be too complicated. The question was whether it was even possible to build a spell in this way. All the books I’ve read so far on magic insist that you can only build spells with aspects. When I thought about it, it made little sense. Magic script was so versatile and adaptable that it made little sense that it couldn’t be used to build spells. Either way, if I wanted to build a spell with magic script, I was definitely missing so symbols.
Mahya ca over again, her brow furrowed. “You built a magic circle with runes and a magic script.”
“Yes...” I replied, unsure of where this was going.
“Runes of engineering,” she clarified.
“Yes...” I repeated, waiting for her to get to the point.
“Why?”
“Because it solved the problem of the spherical shape,” I explained.
“Engineering runes?” she asked, incredulous.
“Yes, why not?” I shrugged.
“You can’t build magic circles combined of runes and a magic script. Everyone knows that.”
“Who is everyone?”
“Anyone who works with rituals,” she insisted.
“If you say so...” I muttered.
“I’m serious. What made you build it like that?” she pressed.
“I told you. It solved the spherical shape problem,” I repeated patiently.
“But it won’t work,” she argued.
“Where is the stone I gave you?” I asked, holding out my hand.
She took it out of her Storage.
“Look at the stone. Tell , is the circle stable?” I asked, watching her closely.
She nodded.
“Feel the mana in the stone. Do you feel it?”
“Yes, but you keep ssing with rocks. We have a basket of stone balls on the breakfast bar,” she pointed out.
“I didn’t do anything to the stone, except engrave the circle on it. All the mana you feel in the stone is mana that the circle absorbed from the environnt,” I explained, my tone growing more confident.
Her eyes widened twice as wide as she looked at the stone again, then back at . “Seriously?”
“Yes,” I nodded.
“Are you sure?” she asked, still in disbelief.
I gave her a look, my patience wearing thin.
“Okay, okay. You’re sure,” she conceded, finally accepting the truth. “But I’m not sure I’ll be able to engrave the circle on the crystals. Can you do it?”
“Sure.”
She handed the two crystals back, and I engraved the circle on them. It took a while; the circle was complex and required precision. As I worked, I heard Mahya laughing. I looked up, a questioning look on my face.
She shook her head, still laughing. After a few seconds, she asked, “Did you even register the fact that you stomped on the new monster and converted it to a crystal without lifting your foot from it?”
“Oh, that,” I replied, glancing down at my foot. “Yeah, I’ve done it so many tis in the last week and a half that I don’t need to stop what I’m doing to handle the monsters. It’s muscle mory by now.”
She laughed even harder, clearly amused by the situation, while I returned to engraving the intricate circle on the crystals. It took about two hours, but I was done and gave her the crystals back. I also picked up the five crystals that accumulated on the ground. Seeing this, Mahya laughed again and went back to the house. I continued working on my loot spell.
It took a few more days—I’m not entirely sure how many—as I was too engrossed in studying. I worked through two more books of magic script until I felt I had all the necessary symbols.
I didn’t even try to draw the circle, but imdiately built it from mana. I constructed the outer sh orb, making it quite large from the beginning to give myself more room to work, and then built the reverse circle inside the sh.
Another unknown number of days passed—it’s embarrassing to admit, but when I get engrossed in sothing, I lose all track of ti. I didn’t even bother taking breaks to cook, just ate whatever I had stashed in my Storage and gave the sa to Rue. He checked in on a few tis, licked my face when he saw I was busy, and returned to doing his own thing.
I encountered several obstacles, including three exploding sh orbs, a couple of unraveling magic circles, and a few other mishaps. But finally, the spell—or at least the potential spell—was ready.
I checked it over and over to make sure everything was fine, and everything seed stable. I closed the sh and poured mana into it. The ball disappeared, and my red light began to blink. I kept my fingers crossed, hoping for good news.
Congratulations!
Hark, intrepid Wizard! The arcane forces have borne witness to your unparalleled ingenuity and unyielding perseverance. Your hand inscribed a new chapter in the annals of magic. You have forged a spell never before seen in the realms of existence—a testant to your brilliance and mastery over the mystic arts.
By the ancient and eternal decree, your feat shall not go unrewarded. You are hereby bestowed with 1 to all stats, a mark of honor, and recognition of your exceptional skill and dedication. The ethereal energies themselves bend to your will, acknowledging your creation.
Now, noble Wizard, the final rite remains. This groundbreaking spell, a beacon of your legacy, awaits its christening. What shall you na this wondrous conjuration that shall echo through the ages?
Enter the na of your spell: [________________]
Stand tall, for you have ascended to a new echelon of magical prowess. The cosmos reveres your na, and the elents bow to your command.
Well, it was quite sothing. For a minute there, I thought the system was cursing , so I had to look up the word Hark in the dictionary.
Hark: derived from Middle English herken, used as an order to tell sobody to listen.
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