The Gate Traveler-Chapter 464 B7— 44: Good Times Before the Next Madness

It took us another three months to reach the next Gate. We could have made it much faster, but there was no reason to rush. The place was gorgeous and quiet, with no human footprint anywhere.

We passed a few more male camps in the first few days after the female camp, and once, the blue guys even spotted us. They sprinted after the jeep, hurling fireballs and icicles. Mahya muttered something under her breath and pressed the gas pedal to the floor. We shot ahead, leaving them in a long trail of dust.

"I am curious to learn of the stories that will emerge about our vehicle," Al said.

"Probably about a scary monster they fought and ate," Mahya said.

"Maybe the jeep wheels would inspire them to invent the wheel and progress," I said.

Rue was very confused. It came down the bond in waves. "How invent wheel? Wheel exist."

I reached over to scratch behind his ear and gave him the short version of humanity's progress, from the discovery of fire to the invention of the wheel. He listened, head tilted, tail thumping against the seat.

"It is intriguing that those two items appear in the historical records of numerous civilizations, magical or tech, as a critical juncture in their development," Al said.

"You studied historical records?" Mahya asked.

"Only mentions about them in my family's archives," he said.

We reached an area with six great lakes connected by wide rivers and ended up spending over a month there. The smallest of the lakes was bigger than Lake Michigan, which I knew well, and its water was crystal clear, with an unbelievable variety of fish, some as big as tuna. Most days, we drifted lazily across the lakes and rivers, taking our time. We fished, swam, and messed around on the jet skis and E-foils, the whole place feeling like one giant playground.

Rue picked up water skiing with no equipment, like me. He experimented for hours, ears flapping in the wind and his paws slapping the surface as he tried to get the balance right. After a full day of very serious testing, he flew to shore, shook the water off his fur, and announced, "Jet ski better. More zoom," giving a firm, decisive nod.

The biggest of the lakes was over 300 kilometers across. It was HUGE.

One morning, Mahya woke up in a competitive mood and, after breakfast, suggested, "Let's have a swimming competition across the lake. No water magic and no cheating."

Al and I exchanged a glance and shrugged. "Sure," I said.

She grinned as if she already knew the outcome.

We lined up at the shore, toes sinking into the cool grass. The water in front of us stretched to the horizon in a perfect sheet of blue. Mahya crouched forward, muscles coiled, while Al adjusted his goggles with a very dignified air. I bounced once on my heels, mostly to hide how excited I was.

"Ready," Mahya called.

The moment she said "Go," she shot forward like someone had fired her out of a cannon. The splash she made was small, and she cut through the lake like a racer fish. I dove in right after. Cold water wrapped around me, sharp enough to wake every nerve. For a second, I forgot about the race and just enjoyed the rush of speed as my strokes pulled me forward.

Well, I knew traits were no joke, but still …

The lake was enormous, yet the farther I swam, the lighter my body felt. It was the strangest mix of burn and ease, like every stroke had a quiet boost behind it. The stat gains were paying off big time, turning what should've been a brutal crossing into something almost effortless. Water hissed past my ears, bubbles streamed along my arms, and the far shore kept growing closer even though it should've been impossible. At some point, the sheer thrill of moving that fast took over. I pushed harder, laughing inside my head because the Guidance kept breaking every rule I grew up with.

We crossed the lake in about forty minutes. I couldn't believe it and didn't even mind that Mahya won, reaching the other side about five minutes before me. She popped out of the water like a triumphant seal and threw both arms up. Al came last, about three minutes after me, clutching his side and muttering about unnecessary physical exertion.

Rue dog paddled somewhere behind us, ears folded flat and expression full of determination, but halfway through, he gave up on the race and flew away to terrorize the antelopes with unicorn horns.

I dropped onto my back on the grass, heaving and laughing. It had been a long time since I'd pushed my body—flying didn't count—and the feeling of progress and might was exhilarating.

Once I caught my breath, I turned sideways to look at Mahya and Al. "You know, Lis told me once that I should push my body every time I raise my traits to test my new limits and abilities, but I never actually did it. This is the first time I went all out, and it's amazing." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"With your Body power orb, you should do it more often," Al said.

I sighed and let my shoulders sink into the ground. "Yeah, I know. I just never get to it."

"I thought the earth element was supposed to balance your flightiness," Mahya said, leaning back on her hands.

"Hey," I protested.

She gave me a pointed look. "Don't act so offended. I'm not being mean, just pointing out a fact. You're all over the place and can't stick to one thing for too long."

I sat up and crossed my arms. "No, I'm not."

"Really?" she asked. "Think of all the things you started and dropped halfway."

I dropped back onto the grass with a huff.

She patted my head. "Don't worry. We love you anyway."

I stuck my tongue out at her, which only made her laugh.

We stayed quiet for a few minutes, letting the breeze cool us down.

Mahya jumped to her feet. "Race you back!"

"I will refrain," Al said and dropped back to lie on the grass.

I pushed myself up, too. It was a good opportunity to push myself.

For the rest of the day, we held swimming competitions across the lake. Mahya won every time, but I didn't mind. The exhilaration of swimming that fast made up for everything. At some point, Al timed us with a stopwatch, flying after us on his sword. My estimate had been correct. Mahya crossed the lake in thirty-seven minutes. I did it in forty-one the first time he timed us and dropped it to thirty-nine by the last run, which was our eighteenth or nineteenth race of the day. Between races, we tore into food like starving animals. By evening, every muscle in my body trembled from the exertion, and even Heal Muscle didn't help. Even so, it was worth it. It had been a long time since I laughed so much out of sheer elation.

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Mahya apparently decided to be our coach. The next morning, which, thank the Spirits, I woke up with no muscle pain, she suggested, "Let's have a running competition along the lakes and rivers. Skills allowed, but no flying."

I groaned, stretched my legs, and forced a grin. "Fine. Let's go."

We picked a long stretch that curved around four of the lakes and the connecting rivers. The terrain changed every few minutes. One moment, we were on soft grass, then packed dirt, then rocky patches, then roots that stuck up like nature's attempt at murder.

Mahya took off first. She vaulted over a fallen log with Jump and landed lightly on her feet. Then she shot forward in a blur as she used Dash for a heartbeat before slowing again, laughing over her shoulder.

Al followed with long, effortless strides. His legs were ridiculous. Every few steps, he jumped over something with a smooth arc that looked way too graceful for someone his height.

I tried Jump once. My skill level didn't align with the idea, and I ended up flopping on a boulder like a wet towel. Wonderful. So I changed tactics and veered toward the water. The lake glittered in the morning sun, and I reached for it with my water affinity. The surface firmed under my foot just enough that it held.

I took another step. The water stiffened again.

A grin spread across my face.

I ran on the lake itself, the surface rippling under my feet. Each time my foot hit the surface, I made the water kick me upward, giving me a light, springy bounce into the next stride. It felt like flying disguised as running. Behind me, Rue barked with excitement. Then he didn't even pretend to play fair. He lifted off and glided over the rocks before dropping back down next to me on the water.

"Cheater!" I yelled.

"Rue win. Rue best," he said, proudly bounding ahead.

Mahya laughed so hard she stumbled when she heard him. "He is not even trying to hide it!"

"You are all cheating," I shouted. "Mahya is using skills, and Al's legs should count as skills."

"Mahya said skills are allowed," Al called back.

"With your legs," I yelled. "It's like racing a giraffe."

"Your excuses are very creative," Mahya shouted, using Jump to leap over a boulder.

We kept going like that for over an hour. Mahya and Al sprinted along the shore, weaving between trees, clearing roots and rocks, and splashing through every stream that crossed their path. I stayed on the water, running parallel to them, the river and lake edges curving like a natural track. Every time I glanced left, I saw Mahya vault over something with ridiculous ease, and Al's long legs eat distance like it was nothing.

Water-running kept me competitive, but Mahya slowly pulled ahead. When the shore opened into a long, clean stretch that let Al unleash those absurd legs of his, he overtook me as well.

We pushed hard for the last stretch of the route, the finish marked by a big flat rock jutting out from the far shore of the final lake. Rue flew the rest of the way to the rock, but since he was disqualified, we ignored that. Of the real competitors, Mahya reached it first and slapped both hands against the stone with a triumphant yell. Al arrived about a minute later, chest heaving, but grinning like he'd won something. I came in after him, skidding across the water near the rock and glaring at both of them while the lake dripped off me.

"I blame your legs," I told Al, pointing at them.

Mahya bent over laughing. "Sore loser."

"Absolutely," Al added, straightening with a smug little sniff.

Rue landed beside me, chest puffed out. "Rue first."

"No. No, you were disqualified," I said, flicking water at him. "Flying is cheating."

"Not cheating. Flight is skill," he argued.

Mahya dropped to the ground, wheezing with laughter. Al shook his head as if we were misbehaving children. Rue wagged his tail so hard his whole body wiggled, sending waves of satisfaction down our bond. It was clear that, as far as he was concerned, he had won, and that was that.

It was ridiculous and messy and perfect, and I hadn't felt that kind of joy in a long time. It was the kind of fun that made me feel like a kid again, carefree and loud and too busy laughing to think about anything else.

We held more races, both swimming and running, and a few times we ended up in a glorious paintball fight. They lasted for hours and used an ungodly amount of paintballs. Al kept complaining in a very reserved and proper way that we were wasting supplies needed for potions. He muttered things like, "This is highly imprudent," and "I would greatly appreciate it if we refrained from expending essential materials on frivolity," yet even while lecturing us, he couldn't stop smiling and shooting paintballs. Paint splattered across tree trunks, rocks, and unlucky bushes. We avoided the rivers since none of us wanted to pollute the pristine water.

Rue, for some reason, enjoyed being painted in every color of the rainbow and strutted around proudly with blotches all over his fur. He only cast Clean on himself right before going into the house. He tried to trot inside looking like a walking abstract painting, but I wasn't having it. I blocked the doorway more than once while he stared at me with the most offended expression a dog could manage.

Sadly, despite pushing myself to the limit almost every day, my mana didn't rise like Lis promised. After some deliberation, I decided it didn't matter. Yes, it would've been great if it rose, absolutely, but this intense workout let me learn the real abilities and limits of my body with the new stats, and the sky wasn't even the limit. I was a bona fide badass who could swim faster than a speedboat and run faster than a racing car. And the mana? It would rise one day.

The whole time by the lakes felt like revisiting a wild, happy childhood filled with laughing, racing, slipping, splashing, and a ridiculous amount of paint. By the end, the entire shoreline looked like a multicolored art installation, as if the shore had decided to celebrate with us.

After about five weeks on the lakes, a big storm front visited us. It wasn't as bad as the tropical storms on the islands, but it was still brutal, with howling wind and a wall of rain that blocked even my heightened Perception. The wind hit first, catching us out on the boat in the middle of a lake. The water changed in minutes from a flat sheet of glass to a raging sea with rolling waves that tossed us around.

Not wanting to take chances, Mahya stored the boat, we flew to shore, and I opened my house. The storm raged for two days before calming into an annoying drizzle that stuck around for another three. While locked inside, we talked about it and decided it was time to move on.

A river continued from the last lake toward the sea on the other side of the continent, cutting a curving path between towering cliffs. Since the whole stretch was problematic for driving, we chose the balloon this time. We could have flown straight toward the Gate, cutting across everything, but the view was too perfect to rush. From above, it looked like someone had carved a deep, winding canyon straight through a forest of red trees. On both sides, the cliffs rose in massive stone walls, their tops covered in vibrant foliage that looked almost unreal from the air.

We drifted above the canyon for a long while, following the river and watching the turquoise water churn against the rock as it narrowed and widened again. Every bend revealed a new pocket of scenery. Dense red forest stretched to the horizon. Sharp mountain spires reached into dark clouds. Quiet beaches appeared at the base of the cliffs, and we landed on a few of them to spend the night and the occasional day.

Past the cliffs, the landscape shifted again. The red forest slowly thinned until it vanished entirely, replaced by a barren expanse of cracked stone. Then came the craters. Immense, sprawling circles in the ground, each kilometers across. Some were full of pale sand, others with still pools of water. We counted at least a dozen as we drifted over them, arranged almost like giant footprints left by something that had stomped across the land ages ago.

Beyond the last crater, the world opened into a vast desert. Sand as far as the eye could see, pale gold under the sun. Ridges of wind-shaped dunes curled along the horizon, rippling like frozen waves. There was no point using the balloon here. The wind was too unpredictable, changing direction every few minutes.

We landed, took out the jeep, and continued across the desert on wheels. We made plenty of stops along the way. Sometimes in the shade of isolated rock formations. Once, to chase a group of long-legged creatures that sprinted faster than our bikes and the ATV. And three different times at small oases hiding between dunes.

The Gate anchors were set into a rock formation right at the edge of the desert.

Traveler's Gate #48569512Destination: KafjadoowhingaloppergloiasnidafStatus: IntegratedMana Level: 51Craft Level: VariesThreat level: Moderate

We exchanged looks, all of us grinning so wide our cheeks were in real danger.