The Gate Traveler

The next day, I began packing up my camp, my eyes lingering on the surrounding beauty. The sparkling lake, the majestic waterfall cascading down the cliffs, and the lush greenery made me wish I could capture the moment forever. I reached for my camera and remembered another thing I had forgotten. My plan was to develop the film and print the photos to see if the camera worked in this fantasy land—I might have been hasty leaving Earth.

Deciding to use the film, I set up my darkroom tent, eager to capture the ethereal beauty around me. I snapped photos of the lake, the waterfall, and the towering cliffs. I even scaled the side of the waterfall to a ledge for some aerial shots. Pushing my kayak into the lake's center, I took pictures as mementos of my daring waterfall jump. As a private joke, I stuck the paddle in one tree and took photos of it. After setting up my camp again, I placed a bottle of wine and a wineglass on the table and took another photograph. That was the last shot in the film.

Setting up the darkroom tent, I carefully prepared to develop the film, feeling both excited and anxious about the results. The process was intricate and required meticulous attention to detail. I started by mixing the chemical baths for developing, stopping, and fixing the film. Each step had to be timed perfectly to avoid ruining the negatives.

For color prints, I needed to use an enlarger to project the image from the negatives onto photographic paper. However, without an electrical light source, I faced the challenge of directing the sunlight just right. I improvised by positioning a series of mirrors outside the tent to reflect and focus the sunlight through a small window I had crafted in the tent's fabric. It was a delicate setup, requiring constant adjustments to ensure the light was neither too dim nor too intense.

The first few pictures were disasters. The sunlight was too harsh, overexposing the images and washing out the colors. I cursed under my breath, adjusting the mirrors and trying again. The next attempt was better but still far from perfect—this time, the light was too weak, leaving the images underexposed and murky. I felt frustration bubbling up, but I took a deep breath and made further adjustments.

After what felt like an eternity of trial and error, I finally got the balance just right. The sunlight was directed evenly, and the images began to emerge clearly on the photographic paper. I watched in awe as the scenes of the magical world materialized before my eyes. The vibrant colors of the lake, the cascading waterfall, and the towering cliffs were captured beautifully. I even managed to get a perfect aerial shot from the ledge of the waterfall and a serene picture of my kayak floating in the lake's center.

My heart raced with excitement as I hung the prints to dry. The sense of accomplishment was overwhelming. I had done it! Taking photographs in a magical world was possible! I couldn't contain my joy and started playfully shaking my butt in a little victory dance. But then I immediately stopped, feeling self-conscious. Even though I was by myself, the habit of maintaining composure was hard to shake.

As I gazed at the drying photographs, a sense of pride washed over me. Each image was a testament to my perseverance and creativity. The final photograph, a still life of a bottle of wine and a wineglass on the table, was a fitting end to the roll of film. It was the perfect memento of this surreal adventure, a blend of the ordinary and the extraordinary.

It was late afternoon when I finished, so I stayed another day.

The following day, I packed everything for the last time, took out my kayak, and began paddling out of the grotto. The river on the other side was wider and shallower, with a slower current. It suited me just fine. I continued traveling on the river for a few hours until I reached a large rock outcropping. The river curved around it and turned almost 60 degrees. Not wanting to turn back, I headed north on foot.

The northward path had a forest, but it wasn't as dense as before. The trees were shorter with a smaller canopy, but, unfortunately, there was more underbrush; I even had to use my machete. After fighting my way through an area with dense bushes, I came out to a clearing and came face to face with a wolf. It looked different from wolves on Earth. It was thin and extra long, with matted fur and a sinister glint in its eyes. Its growl was a low, menacing rumble, revealing rows of giant, razor-sharp teeth that seemed too large for its gaunt frame.

I took a cautious step back, and the wolf pounced on me. On instinct, I grabbed its front legs and threw it hard. It shot into a tree, and I heard a crack; I didn't know if the tree cracked or the wolf. Whining softly and bleeding, it lay in a crumpled heap on the ground. It looked so pitiful, and I felt guilty. It attacked me, but I had encroached on its territory. I also noticed that it was very thin, almost emaciated.

I decided to heal it and approached slowly. When I reached out with my hand, it tried to bite me. I slapped its muzzle.

"Stop that!"

It started whining again.

"Sorry for hitting you. No biting!"

I Diagnosed it, and it was in awful shape. Both of its front shoulders were dislocated. It had four broken ribs and was experiencing internal and external bleeding. Also, its hind leg had suffered severe damage. It had broken in the past in two places and healed incorrectly, resulting in torn muscles and a significant amount of scar tissue.

I healed the bleeding first and started to heal one rib. It tried to bite me again, but less enthusiastically. I didn't want to slap it again with all this damage, so I got an idea. I summoned a sock, grabbed its head, and put it on its muzzle. It didn't look happy.

"It's your fault for trying to bite me."

One by one, I healed the ribs. It was pretty obvious how easy it was. I didn't have to force anything; no pushing or concentration. It was so smooth. I popped its shoulders in and sent a healing wave through its body. Much better. I took off the sock, and it licked my hand. I scratched it behind the ear.

"Sorry for throwing you so hard; I was unaware of my new strength."

Upon diagnosing it again, I discovered it was healed, but even more emaciated. As if the healing had emptied it. It devoured a couple of steaks I summoned for it in one bite. I examined it again and sent a second wave of healing. Diagnosing it, I could feel the meat breaking in its stomach and getting absorbed. Two more steaks; now they broke slower. Okay, we were on the right track. I fed and healed it another three times, and it looked much better. It was still very thin, but its body filled out a little, and its fur looked healthier.

After summoning a bowl and giving it water, I sat there looking at it and started laughing. When I summoned the bowl, I didn't think of a specific bowl, just "a bowl." And now I was in the middle of the forest with a dirty, emaciated wolf drinking water from a crystal bowl with vine and grape motifs gilded with gold leaf.

I had to take a picture, or three.

The wolf finished drinking and licked my hand again. I petted it and scratched its ear. It was dirty with blood and debris, so I cast three cleaning spells on it. It looked like it had just returned from a pet grooming salon.

After feeding it more, I cast more heals. Its general physical condition improved steadily, but its hind leg remained unchanged. I'd need to re-break it and cut it open to connect the torn muscles, but there was a problem. My purchase solely consisted of medical equipment, with no drugs. Performing surgery on a conscious patient was not my intention; it would be torture, so I tried to think of a solution.

Maybe I'll put a plastic bag on its muzzle while monitoring it until it faints? No, it might wake up in the middle of the operation.

It was a mistake to rely too much on magic and not think in practical terms.

Oh, right, magic!

I checked the spell section of the abilities and found Anesthesia.

Yes!

After summoning a table, I covered it with a plastic sheet, cast Anesthesia on the wolf, and lifted it on the table. Using a scalpel, I cut it open and now had a problem; the Anesthesia was a channeled spell, not a onetime cast. So how do I control the blood consecutively with the Anesthesia and then heal everything?

I tried to control the blood flow while channeling Anesthesia but failed repeatedly. Frustrated, I stopped the Anesthesia and healed the wolf’s minor injuries before making another attempt. As the wolf peacefully slept on the makeshift surgical table, I experimented for two hours. My many attempts and failures led me to a breakthrough—I learned to "partition" my mind to maintain two simultaneous spells. It was incredibly taxing; I felt like my mind was "trembling" from the exertion, but I managed.

With newfound determination, I made an incision along the wolf's hind leg, exposing the improperly healed fractures. Using a medical chisel and mallet, I carefully re-broke the misaligned bone. The audible crack made me wince, but I quickly moved to control the bleeding. I attempted to create another partition in my mind to cast Heal Bone, but found it impossible to manage three spells at once. Prioritizing, I let go of the blood control spell, swiftly cast Heal Bone to realign and mend the fractures, and then reestablished control over the bleeding.

The absence of a hemostat to clamp the blood vessels was a glaring oversight—I had relied too heavily on my magic. I definitely left Earth too fast. Compensating for the blood loss, I used Healing Touch on the wolf after re-breaking and healing the other fracture.

Next, I focused on repairing the torn muscles. I excised the necrotic tissue, releasing my control over the blood to cast Heal Muscle. The muscle fibers began to regenerate, but the ends didn't connect. Concentrating intensely, I induced one end to grow towards the other until they finally fused. This precise "growing" process required complete focus and drained my energy significantly. I cast another Healing Touch on the wolf to replenish its blood volume and then proceeded to repair the remaining muscles, methodically removing scar tissue and healing each segment. The wolf lost a considerable amount of blood during my repeated attempts. I cast three more Healing Touches, stabilizing it but noticing it was dehydrated and had lost half of its new mass. Magic, it seemed, wasn't a panacea for everything—bummer.

I cast Purify to prevent infection, followed by three cleaning spells to ensure a sterile environment, and finally ceased the Anesthesia. I was lightheaded from the intense mental exertion.

The wolf woke up, almost fell off the table, and immediately went to drink. I gave it more food and water and cast another two Healing Touches. After the second, I almost fainted. I checked my mana: 30/4200.

4,200!? It was 3,000 before.

I didn't understand how my mana worked.

Still feeling woozy, I lay on my back and breathed in mana.

After a while, I felt better and opened my eyes. I was lying on my back, and the wolf was beside me with its head on my chest, which I was petting absently. I was starving, so I summoned an enormous meal of hamburgers, fries, and coleslaw salad. The wolf tried to stick its face in the takeaway box.

"No! This is mine. You got yours."

It looked at me with sad puppy dog eyes. I'm a weak, weak man—I gave it a sizeable piece of roast meat.

After casting the cleaning spell on myself twice to get all the blood off, I felt faint again.

Deciding to stay in the clearing to regenerate for a day or two, I pitched my tent, ignited a fire, and ate more. When I went into the tent to sleep, the wolf followed me in and tried to push me aside to get some of the mattress. I summoned a thick, fluffy duvet cover for it. It looked very pleased with itself, licked my face, and went to sleep.