The Gate Traveler-Chapter 55B5 - : Shopping List from Hell (and Several Other Dimensions)

Once my core started absorbing the loose stones, I wished I had demolished the palace sooner. Nibbling at the walls before had been a slow and tedious process—pressing the core against each stone, waiting for it to be absorbed enough to be released from the mortar joints before moving on to the next. It forced me into awkward progress, circling the walls, picking them apart one agonizing piece at a time.

Loose stones were a different story. I tossed my core onto a pile, and it sucked them in like a vacuum cleaner on overdrive. If I listened hard enough, I swear I could almost hear it burp.

I’d done the same thing when the core devoured that abandoned castle we’d found. Back then, I placed the core in strategic spots to bring the place down, then fed it the loose stones. I rubbed my face, exhaling in frustration. Yeah, when the mage cleared out, that should have been my next move.

Bummer.

The palace's front stood barely ten meters from the street, with most of the grounds stretching to the sides and at the back. Across the way, in two mansions? Little castles? Whatever they were, people crowded the windows and even stood on the roofs, watching from both buildings.

I tried to picture the scene from their perspective and chuckled. The core was invisible initially, but the moment it left my hand, it became a floating, glowing gold basketball. It drifted into the air (thanks to my Telekinesis), hovered for a second, then plunged into a pile of stones—poof, gone. Then up it went again, only to dive into another pile, making the rocks vanish one after the other.

What must they be thinking? A cursed site? A hungry ghost? I almost wished I could hear the theories they'd come up with.

In less than two hours, I had cleared all the piles of loose stones. Now came the longer task, though I hoped it would go faster. Initially, after the core had devoured the entire palace interior, including the dungeon floor, I’d assumed I had reached the lowest level and that the safes were dug up in the hill itself. But I realized I was wrong when I connected to the earth the night before to take down the walls.

The palace’s foundation extended five or six meters below ground, not just as a base, but as an integral support system for everything from the dungeon up. The two underground stone safes weren’t dug up into the hill—they were embedded within the foundation, encased by the reinforced stone that dispersed the palace’s weight.

The entire structure rested on massive stone blocks, larger than those used for the palace walls. To stabilize the bottom floor, or possibly the entire structure, the builders laid a bed of gravel over these blocks, followed by layers of compacted earth, and finally, the first stones of the dungeon floor. That gravel and earth had initially thrown me off, making me think I’d reached the bottom when I hadn't.

I had no idea why they had built it this way, and I wasn’t about to dig through engineering books to find out. What mattered was that I had a lot more stone to work with than I’d initially thought. The foundation spanned several thousand square meters, reaching a depth of five to six meters. Even with the sheer size of the wall Roda was building, this much stone would add at least a few meters to its height.

I spent a few more hours hovering over the foundation, lying on my back, watching the sky, and rolling my core around it, feeding it stone. Unfortunately, my method of destabilizing a structure was useless here. The stones were encased in earth, locked in place. Nothing was bringing them down.

Second bummer.

For the next two weeks, I spent my days in the library and my nights feeding my core the foundations. I left Rima in charge of the clinic so she could earn levels, only stopping by in the afternoons to check if there were any cases she couldn’t handle. So far, she’d handled everything like a trooper, and I couldn’t help but feel proud—like a parent.

In my library, I kept paying the mana cost to learn the language for every book I hadn’t unlocked yet. After reviewing over fifty books from the “magical” section—the ones written on parchment—I still didn’t find anything on healing. But I did come across some other fascinating subjects.

One book covered the fundamentals of rune reinforcement, explaining how specific patterns could strengthen a spell’s durability. Another focused on mana flow optimization, breaking down how to structure magic circuits for maximum efficiency. I handed both to Mahya and got a stink eye for my thoughtful service. A thick tome on elemental bindings explained how runes could tether spells to objects—I set that one aside to drop on her later when she inevitably annoyed me.

Beyond that, I found books on pure magic theory—one outlined the differences between raw mana and refined spellcasting, while another explored the effects of ambient mana on spell potency. I set those aside to peruse later. Sure, I decided to rely on intuition in my future development, but I wasn’t arrogant enough to think I couldn’t learn something new.

A particularly dense text detailed the properties of magical materials, explaining why certain stones and metals held enchantments better than others. There was an entire book dedicated to potion stabilization, with an emphasis on preventing magical brews from becoming volatile. I handed that one to Al and was rewarded with an extra-toothy smile.

After ten days, a mild headache developed, gradually worsening in small increments each day. After two weeks, it was unbearable—the sunlight felt like needles stabbing into my eyes and drilling into my skull. I had to take a break from my “language absorption.” Annoyingly, none of my spells had any effect on the pain.

To make things worse, the headache made falling asleep nearly impossible, creating a vicious cycle that only intensified the pain. By the end of the two weeks, I was irritable, short-tempered, and one misplaced word away from snapping at anyone who so much as looked at me wrong. Desperate, I converted an Ability Point into five Intelligence points, hoping for some kind of relief. It didn’t help—just added frustration to the mix, making me even more irritable from the failure.

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I lay sprawled on the couch in the living room, a wet cloth draped over my forehead, cool against the pounding headache. The world was blessedly quiet—until Mahya barged in like a one-woman storm.

"You need a vacation," she declared, her voice far too loud for my current state.

I grunted, barely mustering the energy to respond.

"Don't grunt at me like a caveman," she shot back, hands on her hips. "You need a break, and I have the best idea ever."

I doubted that. I grunted again.

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Somehow, she interpreted that correctly. With a dismissive wave, she plowed ahead. "Yes, it is brilliant. I'm a genius, after all. We and Sanctuary need things we can’t get in this world, and with your flying speed, you can grab them fast. So, I made a shopping list."

I lifted my head just enough to stare at her, unimpressed.

She rolled her eyes. "Don't look at me like that. You overdid it by learning too many languages at once. Your brain needs time to rest and adjust. Flying around, shopping, and collecting supplies is the perfect form of therapy."

I let my head fall back against the couch, closed my eyes, and pretended she wasn’t there.

That, of course, did nothing to deter her.

"They need more of those building spells—and any others you can find in Lumis. Also, other spells." She paced as she talked, ticking off points on her fingers. "Don’t bother looking in Liliatas; the selection in Lumis is way better. Oh! And I need one of those weird self-driving carts we saw in Lishuan. Not sure if you can buy it, so maybe pilfer it from some asshole. It shouldn’t be hard to find one.

I cracked an eye open. Was she seriously planning a shopping trip via theft?

She kept going. "They also need an extensive selection of tools. Yeah, we have a lot from Earth, but not everything. Blacksmithing, for example. And get paper. They use that weird thread-made stuff, and it takes forever to make a single page. I know you have a huge stash from Earth, but it’s a bad idea to give that away—it’s too advanced and might raise questions. Better to grab a cruder version from another world. Also, pick up some literature on how to make paper from plants or trees. Spirits know the one thing this world has in abundance is trees."

By this point, I was just staring at her. "You want me to fly all the way to the Gate to Lumis?" My voice rose, and I immediately regretted it. The spike of pain in my skull made me wince.

Mahya shrugged, completely unfazed. "At your top speed? It shouldn’t take more than a couple of days."

I groaned. This wasn’t a vacation—it was a never-ending chore list disguised as a trip.

She patted my head and handed me a list. "Use the coins we got from Almatai. It’s only right we spend some of them to help." She trailed off, her expression turning distant for a moment. Then, with a quick shake of her head, she added, "But don’t use all of them—it’s our loot."

I glanced down at the list. Extensive didn’t even cover it.

Besides everything she’d already listed, she wanted fabrics, looms, and anything related to textile production—including seeds for fabric-making plants. Her requests didn’t stop there. Fishing gear, pottery, glassmaking tools, dyes, and tanning agents all made the cut. Then, there was an entire section of miscellaneous items—things like sewing needles and cheesemaking equipment—that spanned two full pages.

I sighed and let my head fall back against the couch. "Few days, huh?"

Mahya kissed my forehead. "You're the best!" she chirped, then waltzed out, as if she hadn't just sentenced me to weeks of interdimensional errands.

Five minutes later, Al appeared, holding a list so thick it could double as a novella. Without a preamble, he handed it over.

"I am grateful for your willingness to shop," he said smoothly, as if I’d volunteered for this. "My apprentices require plants from the Alchemy Emporium. I prefer not to use flora sourced from the high-mana world—their value is too great, and their potency is unsuitable for my apprentices' current level of study."

I flipped through the pages. Five. Five entire pages. My headache throbbed in silent protest.

The entire list was written in Lumisian, and besides the endless herbs, it included alchemy equipment and 5,000 vials. Five thousand. Vials.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Are you opening a shop or bottling an ocean?”

Al, completely unfazed, replied, “I need more vials, and they will need them as well.”

I exhaled slowly, rubbing my temples. “So, let me get this straight. Mahya wants me to steal a cart, buy a library’s worth of spells, and stock an entire town from scratch. And now you want me to go herb shopping?”

Al nodded, his expression as serene as ever. “Correct.”

I groaned again.

After Al left, Rue waltzed in, tail wagging.

“No!” I groaned, throwing up a hand in protest—then immediately regretted it as a sharp spike of pain shot through my skull.

Rue ignored me entirely. His giant tongue swiped across my cheek in a slobbery assault. “John bring Rue pies from Lumis,” he declared, tail thumping against the floor. “And say hello to badger friend.”

I didn’t even have the energy to protest anymore. But the horror didn’t end there.

Mahya returned, arms crossed, as if she were about to drop another bomb on me.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you. Give me back the RV so I can stick a core into it.”

I frowned. “Why? I’m not going to drive it.”

“No, but since you’re leaving the house, you’ll need a safe place to sleep. Without the core, the lightning protection won’t work.”

I blinked. “I’m leaving the house?”

She gave me the look.

Right. I was leaving the house.

Thinking about it, she had a point. Alone, I didn’t need the house, and they needed it more. I could see the logic.

While I was still processing, she said something else.

“What?” I asked, snapping back to reality.

“I said, on your way back, pop over to the dead world and stock up on sand.”

I stared at her. “Oh, sure. Why not? Let’s add interdimensional sand collection to the ever-growing list of errands.”

She patted my shoulder. “Need help getting up to give me the RV?”

“I’m not an invalid,” I griped.

“Could’ve fooled me,” she muttered.

My death glare was immediate and intended to be menacing, but she remained completely unaffected. The only thing it accomplished was making my headache worse.

After Mahya finished installing the core into the RV, I dragged myself to Roda’s office.

She barely glanced up before narrowing her eyes. “You don’t look very good.”

I waved a hand dismissively. “Just a headache, and spells don’t help.”

Her brow furrowed. “A healing spell doesn’t work?”

“It’s not physical,” I said, rubbing my temples. “Pushed myself too hard magically.”

She crossed her arms. “Then go rest.”

“I’m fine. It’ll pass on its own.” Leaning against the desk, I tried not to look as exhausted as I felt. “I came for a different reason. I’m heading out on a supply run—gathering things from other places—and wanted to see if you need anything specific.”

She tilted her head. “Like what?”

“Mahya gave me a list, but I wanted to see if you needed anything else.”

She considered that for a moment. “Can I see the list?”

I shook my head. “It’s in a language you don’t know. Just tell me what you need.”

Her fingers tapped lightly against the desk, hesitation clear on her face.

I sighed. “What?”

She let out a slow breath. “Honestly? We need just about everything.”

I nodded, pushing off the desk. “I’ll see what I can do.”

She studied me for a long moment, as if trying to decide whether I was serious or just insane. But in the end, she didn’t argue. By this point, everyone had accepted that we could pull off absurd things.