TravelingDreamer

Side Story 13 - A Journey Long-Awaited

Lis hugged Mahya and told her quietly, "Take care of John; he'll be lost for a while."

"Don't worry, he's my friend too."

"Also, take care of yourself and keep learning and progressing, but don't do stupid things anymore. Think before you act."

"I promise, Sensei," she replied with a smile.

Lis smiled as well and said, "You decided to adopt the name, eh?"

"On Earth...

Chapter 102: A Fun Day in the Sun

According to my calculations, our voyage from Arno Atoll to Hawaii should have taken three or three and a half days at the most, but no one told the ocean that, so it was unaware of the fact and did as it pleased.

In the initial two days, the wind kept changing direction. At first, I tried tacking, but it was impossible. As I turned right to get some of the wind, it changed direction to t...

Chapter 101: Fog and Mysteries

About an hour after we sailed from Guam, a fog started. Initially, the fog appeared as scattered pockets with areas of more visibility. But gradually, the fog became thicker and thicker until it seemed as if we were sailing through milk. The wind completely stopped, and a creepy silence enveloped the surroundings. I was at the helm, and it was a strange experience—gradually, everything became...

Chapter 100: Chichi-Jima & Guam

Steering was boooriiing!

I tried to keep reading while steering the helm, but it was impossible. Although I could split my mind, I couldn't split my eyes. Trying to come up with something else to occupy myself with, I remembered my Storage. In Shimoor, I used to sort through it occasionally to organize my stored items, but I haven't done so in recent years. With all the shopping I did in ...

Chapter 99: Lofty Considerations

When I woke up, something felt different, but it took me a minute to figure out what; I didn't feel the engine's vibration. When I went to the saloon, I glanced out the window and saw that we were in a marina, which completely confused me. I saw Mahiya sitting on the front deck of the boat, approached her and asked, "Where are we?"

"Yakushima."

"How? I can't possibly have slept for ...

Chapter 98: First Day of Sailing

It felt like déjà vu, but in a weird, backward way. Mahya and I retraced our steps from two days ago and arrived at the same spot where we had previously stored the boat. It took almost five hours before there were no boats or ships around, but finally, the river was clear. I was SO glad Rue stayed with Alfonsen in Shanghai. Just imagining Rue in the dinghy for five hours made m...

Chapter 97: Perfect Baby

We were on the other side of the Gate for eight days, and ten days passed on Earth—the skip wasn't bad.

When I presented Alfonsen with the plants I had collected, his eyes widened in awe. "Where did you find these magnificent specimens?" He asked, his voice full of admiration.

"Beyond the Gate. Can you use them?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! They are amazing."

"I'...

Chapter 96: Mana Sense

At breakfast, Mahya said to me quietly, “Cast Privacy, please.” After I did, she continued, “I think we should stay here for a few days. Fusing all the crystals will take time and mana, and we can regenerate on the other side of the gate.”

“You are welcome to stay and use the Gate, but I have no intention of going there.”

“Why?”

“Because on the other side, th...

Chapter 95: Smelly ROUSes

While standing by the Gate in the morning, Mahya exclaimed, "Shit, we forgot Lis's advice about getting better armor. John, would you mind lending me armor again?"

I handed her the armor she had previously used and asked Alfonsen, "Do you have armor?"

He replied with a "yes" and retrieved a leather armor adorned with small metal plates in strategic areas, along with the largest shie...

Classical Gardens Of Suzhou

Chapter 94: Three Gates Cluster

I wanted to store the boat, but there were people around all the time, so finally, we locked the boat tight, paid extra at the marina for additional security, and took a taxi to the outskirts of Shanghai.

Opting for a more adventurous mode of transport, we took out our bikes and set off, Rue bounding alongside us. I reassured him, "We'll find a more spacious trailer for you, buddy," he ex...

Chapter 93: Lessons from Dragons

The morning we planned to leave Shanghai, I had a great surprise waiting for me—a message from Lis.

___________________________

TR. LM

"Inventor, Versailles, Hungry, Clueless"

Hello, my dear friends. I hope you are well.

First and foremost, the Dragon Realm is terrifying. Don't you dare come here before ALL your Traits are over 200 and your ste...

2024-06-06 19:54:17 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 92: Boat Overhaul

Authors note

I uploaded two picture collections to the Traveler's Photo Album collection and even figured out how to do it without spamming your e-mail.

So, if you like the scrap-book, head over there to see.

_-------------------------

Startled, I woke up to Rue's voice shouting in my mind, "No! Bad! Mahya! Bad!"

I groaned,...

Chapter 91: To Each Their Own

On our first day in Zhenjiang, Mahya first dragged us to a baby wipes factory and bought a ton of wipes. No, I'm not exaggerating; she bought one ton of baby wipes.

"Why do you need so much?"

"I converted the Clean Spell to an engineering skill. I need something to clean with, and these wipes are great."

After shopping, we went sightseeing. The search I did on the phone reveal...

Chapter 90: Control vs. Channeling

I was sitting on the deck, enjoying the sunset, when Mahya approached me.

"Did you make the list that Lis advised you to make of everything you need to do?"

"No ... why do you ask?"

"I need you to add something when you finally make the list."

"What?"

"Some kind of wind magic. I bought the spell Wind Funnel to steer the balloon, but you shouldn't buy one—you'd be...

Chapter 89: Hot-Air Balloon

I had just spent a thousand mana to learn another book's language to find more information about familiars, when I heard Mahya cursing, "Stupid, archaic piece of junk!"

And when I heard Rue shouting in my mind, "Fix! Fix!" I went to investigate.

"What happened?"

"We were watching the Avengers movie, and the computer died."

Rue shouted telepathically, "Movie! Movie!"

Chapter 88: Tongling

I was channeling Restore into the boat's body when Mahya came to me and asked, "Did you check the archive today?"

"No, not yet."

"You should."

"A message from Lis?"

"No."

I opened the Archive and saw the message she was referring to.

_________________

Tr. RVF

"Frozen-Tail"

I need your help urgently. Someone captured ...

2024-06-03 11:39:28 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 87: To Stop and Enjoy Life

Authors Note

I had some requests to have a visual representation of the ritual John preformed with Stretch/Rue.

Finally, I managed to create something. So, if you're curious, head to chapter 52 and look at the bottom.

___________________________________________________

After dropping anchor near the Wu Gorge, I stood and scratched my head, trying to find a sol...

John's new toy, Rue approved

Chapter 86: Let's Continue

In the initial days following Lis's departure, Mahya and I felt sad and down at the hotel. To process my emotions, I played my guitar but didn't sing or learn new songs. He was my first real friend ever, and I had no experience with saying goodbye to friends. My wife's death broke me, and this goodbye brought up some painful memories. Our relationship was different, with a deep friendship inste...

Side Story 12: A Call for Help

When Rabban crossed the Gate, a metal cage dropped from above and locked him in. Despite his efforts to retrieve a weapon, he encountered difficulties accessing his Storage. Something was blocking his mana usage, and he sensed a field of some sort. Despite his attempts to access the Archive, he was unsuccessful, and his efforts to identify the cage on the wall were equally fruitless. In his des...

Chapter 85: Saying Goodbye

We used the E-foils to get to Yangshuo, and it was FUN!

We sped down the river at a high speed, frightening some fishermen. Rue nearly collided with a boat, which I believed was intentional to express his feelings towards them. Meanwhile, Alfonsen showed impressive athleticism by performing figure eights and double jumping. When I tried it, I fell into the water instead of staying on the ...

My Own Story About “Friends Are Awesome”

Hi everybody,

It’s not part of the story, so if you’re not interested, don’t read.

Last week, I experienced firsthand that “friends are awesome.”

For three years now, I have been working as a translation subcontractor for an Israeli start-up company for Internet advertising. Josh, a cool American guy, is in charge of all the translators.

Throughout my time wor...

Chapter 84 – The Final Stretch

I continued working with Lis, teaching him all my Healer spells. After each spell, Lis usually needed a day to regenerate before we would move on to the next spell. During his breaks, I continued to practice with stones and had five stone balls in my fruit basket—or maybe now it was my “stones basket”?

He had already learned Healing Touch, Neutralize Poison, and Regrow Flesh. We wer...

Chapter 83 – Spells and Mana

I was very excited to show everybody my stone ball; they were impressed and thoroughly examined it.

“Excellent, let’s try teaching spells,” said Lis excitedly, rubbing his hands.

We went outside, and Lis said, “Show me the parts of your personal information that have spells.”

I streamed mana into my profile, and it popped into visibility.

“Did I mention how e...

John's first stone creation

Chapter 82 – Mana Control

Lis managed to find a local who was willing to take us on his boat along the Li River in search of a suitable parking spot for our houses. Fortunately, he had studied Chinese for all his Tai Chi books, a skill we didn't prioritize as most people spoke English.

When Rue saw the boat, he yelled in our minds, "No! No! Boat!"

Lis looked at him, and I could see they were talking, but the...

Li River from Guilin to Yangshuo

Alfonsen Holerand Mirbit VII

Chapter 81 – A Journey is Ending

After Alfonsen finished with Human Rights, I had him read the Magna Carta, the Constitution of the United States, and the United States Bill of Rights. After he finished reading each document, we talked about it, I answered his questions and helped him understand how it applied to the system of government they had in their kingdom.

After that, I started giving him more philosophical artic...