The Gate Traveler-Chapter 52B5 - : Weapons, People, and Stone - A Night’s Work

A crowd waited for me when I returned to my clinic after my day off. Well, not exactly a crowd—only four people—but they felt like a crowd. Roda stood stiffly, arms crossed, her gaze sharp as ever. Lady Myrtus clutched the folds of her dress, lips pressed into a thin line. The two prisoners from the dungeon—Topash and Rom—shifted their weight, tension radiating from them. Their presence wasn’t overwhelming in numbers, but in intensity. They weren’t here for treatment. That much was clear.

“Hello, ladies and gentlemen,” I said, stepping inside. “How can I help you?”

They exchanged glances. Topash gave Roda a slight nod. Her jaw tightened, and she exhaled before gesturing toward the next room.

Inside, I leaned against the table, arms folded. “Well?”

She took a deep breath, rolling her shoulders. “I considered your offer to help relocate the city, and it is a good idea. Truth be told, it is the only logical idea.” Her fingers drummed against her hip, betraying the energy simmering beneath her controlled tone. “I wanted to talk with you about how to go about it, but I was surprised to see you had other visitors.” She waved a hand toward the clinic door. “So, talk with them first, and then come to my office to discuss our project.”

“The first step should be renovating the ruined keep,” I said. “For that to happen, you must decide on the people who will get the building spells. I can ask Mahya to fly them to the location. The stages after that will need a more detailed plan.”

Roda paced the room length, her fingers grazing the edge of a shelf as she walked. Her gaze drifted somewhere far away, caught up in logistics and calculations. “Yes, you’re right,” she said, nodding to herself. “I have the start of the list. Not all nine people yet, but five. Five I implicitly trust to use them for everyone’s benefit.”

“Five is a good start. When would you like Mahya to transport them?

She stopped pacing and turned to face me fully. “Tomorrow morning?”

“Okay. I also think you should go with them.”

Her head jerked toward me, eyes narrowing. “Why?”

“With the building spells, the renovation will go fast. The next project should be the wall, and you need to decide on its placement."

Her brows furrowed, and she exhaled slowly. “Yes. I already considered that. The problem is collecting and transferring enough stone for such a project.”

“I can help with that.”

Her expression tightened, and she threw her hands up. “You can’t solve all our problems!”

I shrugged. “I assure you I won’t. But if it’s something I can help with, I will."

Roda studied me, her face unreadable in a way I hadn’t seen in days. Silence stretched between us. After a beat, she gave a brief nod. “Thank you.” Her voice was quieter now. “I’ll talk with Mahya about the logistics.” She inclined her head toward the door. “You have people waiting for you.”

The other three visitors waited for me in the clinic room, their tension thick enough to cut. Rima also arrived, hesitating in the doorway before pressing herself against the wall. Her wide eyes darted between them, lips slightly parted in apprehension.

“Good morning, Rima.” I kept my tone even. “Do we have patients waiting?”

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She shook her head, the movement quick and uncertain.

I gestured toward the table. “Have a seat,” I said to my guests, watching as they hesitated before taking a seat.

Reaching into my Storage, I pulled out a pot of tea, cups, and a plate of cookies, setting them down with deliberate care.

Rima still lingered by the wall, her fingers twitching slightly at her sides. The others threw her cautious glances.

Turning to her, I kept my voice gentle. “Please wait for me outside.”

She blinked, then swallowed, her gaze flicked to the seated group before she nodded stiffly and slipped out.

I joined them at the table and took a seat. “Yes?”

They busied themselves with the tea and cookies, though none of them seemed particularly interested in eating. Hands wrapped around cups, fingers tapping absently against the porcelain—deliberate distractions while they arranged their thoughts.

Finally, Lady Myrtus inhaled sharply and spoke. “You have a way in and out of Almatai.”

I nodded, but said nothing, letting the silence stretch.

They exchanged glances, a flicker of unspoken agreement passing between them. Then, as if afraid she might lose her nerve, Lady Myrtus rushed ahead, her words nearly tripping over each other. “There are more people we want to rescue from the city. We don’t even mind if you make us unconscious again. Those are good people who can help Sanctuary, and we need to get them out.”

Her hands clenched in her lap, shoulders taut as if bracing for an argument. The others watched me, their expressions a mix of hope and barely restrained urgency.

I leaned back slightly, fingers tapping against the edge of my cup. “And how do you suggest I locate them?”

Rom exhaled through his nose, shifting in his seat. “You don’t.” His voice was steady, but there was a tightness around his mouth, a tension that hadn’t been there before. “Get us into the city after dark. We’ll decide on a meeting location, and you meet us there before sunrise with the people we want to rescue.”

His fingers curled around his cup, knuckles whitening for a moment before he forced them to relax. The others stayed silent, their gazes locked on me, waiting.

I thought about it for a while, rubbing my thumb along the rim of my cup. The plan wasn’t impossible, but it had complications.

“I can get you in and out. That’s not a problem.” I let that assurance settle for a moment before adding, “But you’ll be asleep—and so will your friends.” My gaze flicked between them, measuring their reactions. “Also, I need to speak with the alchemist. I don’t think putting you to sleep for eight hours is the answer. I need something with a shorter duration.”

Lady Myrtus leaned forward, her fingers tightening around the edge of the table. “How long will it take?”

I exhaled. “I don’t know. He’s not here today.” Pushing back slightly, I ran a hand through my hair. “I need to go ask him, and then I’ll have a more concrete answer.”

Their expressions remained unreadable, but the tension in the room loosened, shoulders easing, hands unclenching.

Lady Myrtus tilted her head. “When should we return?”

I pushed back my chair. “Give me an hour.”

She nodded, rising. The others followed, their movements lighter than before.

I found Al in his lab, hunched over a bubbling flask. The sharp scent of herbs and something metallic was thick in the air. He didn’t look up as I stepped inside, focused on the swirling liquid.

“Do you have recipes for various sleeping potions, or only the one we’re using?” I asked.

He finally glanced up, brow raised. “Why?”

“I’m taking some people into Almatai to gather more people to rescue. I need something to put them to sleep for a short while to protect the house's secret. Eight hours is just too long.”

His fingers paused over a vial before he snorted. “You didn’t care about it before.”

“Yes, and I learned my lesson with Cloud. Nobody will find out about it again.”

He studied me for a beat, then sighed and pulled a book and a handful of scrolls from his Storage. Spreading them out over his cluttered workspace, he flipped through pages, occasionally muttering under his breath.

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After a while, he tapped a section of text. "I can create a potion that they can drink, which lasts for an hour. The listed side effect is a headache.” His eyes flicked up to me. "Another option is an airborne version, similar to the one we have. Also an hour, with no side effects, but you’ll need to spray them with it.”

“I'll go with the airborne version and find a way to spray it.”

He didn’t ask why—just spread the scroll wider, already sorting ingredients into neat piles.

“When will it be ready?” I asked.

“Two days.” He didn’t look up, already measuring powders with precise movements. “It needs to sit between stages.”

I turned to leave when a sharp curse rang out behind me.

Glancing back, I caught Al scowling at his flask as thick foam bubbled over the rim, hissing as it spilled onto the table. His glare snapped to me, eyes narrowed in pure annoyance.

I took the hint and vacated the premises—fast.

The rest of the day passed with little excitement. I tracked down Lady Myrtus, gave her the updated timetable, and we settled on a meeting right before the gates closed, on the evening of the second day. After that, I dropped the building spell scrolls with Roda, leaving her to handle the logistics with Mahya.

I split the rest of my time between treating occasional patients and working with Rima. She still kept a wall up, refusing to let me fully in, which meant I couldn’t take control of her mana yet. But we kept at it. When she ran out of mana, I shifted gears, walking her through the basics of preventive medicine—cleanliness, vitamins, cutting back on alcohol, eating well, staying active, getting enough sleep, staying hydrated, and avoiding contaminated water and food.

When I got home that evening, Al was still in his lab, and Mahya was leaning over a worktable, sketching a blueprint. One of the alchemy gadgets we’d picked up in the cultivators’ world lay half-disassembled beside her, its intricate components neatly arranged.

“I need to close the house for about an hour or two,” I said. “Can you take a break from whatever you’re doing?”

Al didn’t even glance up. “I wanted to experience being inside the house when you close the core. This is a perfect opportunity.”

I frowned. “Aren’t you worried?”

That finally got his attention. He lifted his head just enough to give me an unimpressed look. “Why should I be? Everyone you transported that way was fine.”

I opened my mouth, then shut it. He had a point.

Before I could argue further, Mahya looked up, that familiar twinkle in her eyes.

“You too?” I asked.

She just smiled, the kind that meant she had an agenda. One she wouldn’t share, no matter how much I pressed.

I sighed. “Fine. Just don’t blame me if you regret it.”

Al smirked. “I never regret my scientific endeavors.”

Mahya tilted her head, amusement flickering in her gaze. “Neither do I.”

Great. They weren’t going anywhere.

Looking outside, the last sliver of sunset clung to the horizon, streaking the sky in fading golds and purples. It meant Rue would be home soon, relieved of his guard duty as the scavengers rushed back to the city before the gates closed.

Sure enough, twenty minutes later, he barreled through the door, all boundless energy and a wagging tail. His usual greeting commenced—an onslaught of face licking and full-body enthusiasm. With his size now, each swipe of his tongue covered half my face, and I had to fight valiantly against the slobber attack.

As always, I lost.

Only when he’d expelled every ounce of affection did he finally step back and announce, “Rue is very hungry.”

“Of course you are.” I set his food down, watching as he dug in with enthusiasm.

As he crunched through his meal, I asked, “I need to close the house to do something with the core. Mahya and Al are staying inside. Want to come with me outside or stay inside with them?”

He paused mid-chew, tilting his head in thought, ears twitching. A second later he swallowed and declared, “Rue stay in house with yummy food.”

Surprise—not.

I flew to the keep on the riverbank, hovering a few feet above the ground at the base of the hill. The night air was still, the water below reflecting faint moonlight as I gave the command to the core.

“Return all the stones you absorbed, except the ones you need to create the stone house.”

A cascade of massive stone blocks tumbled from the core, one after another, thudding against the earth. I darted in a zigzag pattern, guiding their descent to keep them from shattering on impact. The work dragged on for over an hour, the steady rhythm of falling stones filling the air.

Then, silence. The last block settled, dust curling in the moonlight.

And just as quickly, hunger clawed at me—not mine, but the core’s.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll feed you more stones,” I muttered. “But we need these.”

No response. The hunger didn’t fade.

I knew where to get more, but waiting two days with this irritating itch would drive me insane. It wasn’t unbearable, just a constant, insistent tug—like an unreachable scratch at the back of my mind.

Sighing, I let it absorb a few stones. The hunger dulled, not gone but manageable, a low hum instead of a shrill demand. At least now, I could function without it snagging my attention every few seconds.

When I got back to our building, I reopened the house. Rue sprawled across his beanbag, his legs twitching slightly in sleep and his tail draped over the side. Mahya and Al were still in his lab, deeply involved in whatever project had occupied them before I left.

“How did it feel?” I asked.

Al didn’t even glance up, waving a hand in my direction like I was an annoying fly. His other hand channeled mana into a large metal sphere perched on three short legs. Faint blue runes flickered across its surface, pulsing in time with his breath.

Mahya looked up from her work, scrunching her nose. “You’re back already?”

Well, I guessed it went fine. Shaking my head, I left them to it and headed to the kitchen to cook dinner.

The next day followed the usual routine—treating a few patients, another unsuccessful attempt at teaching Rima a spell, and a long discussion on the cardiovascular system. I used illustrations from my medical books, tracing the pathways with my finger as she frowned in concentration.

The only difference was Mahya taking off in the balloon with Roda and the builders. Before she left, I told her about the stones I’d deposited and asked her to pass the information on to Roda.

In the afternoon, Rue trotted in, tail wagging. “Al say Potion ready.”

About an hour before the gates were set to close, Al and Mahya showed up at the clinic.

“Do you need us to come with you?” Mahya asked.

I considered it for a moment. “Not really. It’s just a drop-off and pickup job.”

Both looked satisfied with my answer. Mahya handed me my core, while Al placed a bottle in my hand and then a box filled with paintballs sloshing with a greenish-yellow liquid.

“This should be adequate,” he said, already turning away.

Without another word, they disappeared into their respective spaces to do only the Spirits knew what.

While waiting for my “passengers,” I pulled out the black sheet I had used before and tore it into strips. When they arrived, I led them through the crumbling streets to a random ruined building, its broken walls casting jagged shadows in the setting sun. Outside, I handed each of them a black strip. “Please cover your eyes.”

They hesitated, exchanging wary glances, but eventually complied.

As they tied the fabric around their heads, I silently commanded the core to open the house and link one of the storage halls to the main door—just in case.

“Where do you want me to drop you off in the city?” I asked.

“In the alley where you put my group to sleep,” said Lady Myrtus.

Once they stepped inside, I scattered a few paintballs across the floor, instructed the house to absorb them, and spray them with the sleeping potion once I was out.

When the door sealed behind me, I adjusted the core on my back, its weight settling in its backpack configuration, and shot into the sky, heading for Almatai.

The drop-off in the alley went smoothly—mostly. The only inconvenience was waiting for the potion’s effect to wear off.

As soon as they started stirring, I cast Healing Touch on each of them to speed up the waking-up process. No one complained, so either they felt fine, or they were too groggy to notice. Once they were steady on their feet, I led them out and sealed the house behind me before giving the all-clear to remove their blindfolds.

Murmurs rippled through the group as they realized not much time had passed. A few exchanged excited whispers, their eyes flicking between me and the alley like they were trying to puzzle something out. I ignored it. I was willing to reveal some things—but not everything.

“When do I pick you up?”

“At dawn,” said Topash.

I gave a nod and left, slipping around the corner before turning invisible. With a silent push of mana, I lifted off, heading for the castle. My core was hungry, and it had plenty of food waiting for it.

Around the castle, the night was alive with violence. Fierce fighting raged through the streets, the sharp clang of steel and the crackle of magic tearing through the air. Judging by the force behind the blows and the spells flying back and forth, all the combatants were class holders—and not low-level ones.

It made sense, sort of. By eliminating the king, we had left behind a power vacuum. Now, they were fighting to fill it. What made little sense was that a week had passed, and they were still fighting.

Waving the thought aside, I set out to fill a different vacuum.

Once the last fighter dropped, snoozing peacefully wherever they had fallen, I moved through the battlefield, collecting their weapons. Then I went looking for more.

By the time the dead of night rolled around—maybe three or four in the morning—my haul nearly matched what we had taken on the first visit to Almatai. There had been a lot of fighting and a lot of weapons. Mostly melee, but a few rifles, too.

Finally, when the streets fell silent and empty, I placed my core on the south tower—opposite the side facing the street—and gave it a pat. “Bon appétit.”

My core had “eaten” about half the tower by the time the first streaks of sunrise painted the horizon.

Satisfied, I flew back to the rendezvous point—only to find a much larger crowd than expected. Over fifty people stood waiting, shifting uneasily, whispering among themselves.

This group was far less cooperative about the blindfolds. What should have been a quick process turned into a half-hour argument. Some refused outright. Others grumbled but relented when the first light of dawn stretched across the city.

Two of the troublemakers, however, tested their luck. The moment they reached for their blindfolds, I shot them with the potions—unfortunately, catching a few of their neighbors in the process.

Sighing, I led the rest into the house and settled the affected ones. Then, I doused the troublemakers with the more potent potion, ensuring only they got hit. Once they were out cold, I repeated the exercise with the potion balls, ensuring everyone was properly under before sealing the house.

Back in Sanctuary, I carried the troublemakers out and set them on the street outside my clinic. They could wake up on their own time.

Then, I waited. As the others stirred, I closed the house and cast Healing Touch on them.

Once everyone was settled, I found Rue snoring softly behind the clinic. A few nudges later, he blinked awake with a lazy yawn.

With Rue in tow, I headed off to find Mahya and Al, who were still deep in whatever project had their attention.

“Home,” I said.

No one argued. We trudged back and collapsed into a well-earned sleep.