“AH! FIRE! BURNING EVERYWHERE! OH HELL NO, HELP, AAAAA!”

On the screen, one could see young Tav running around the living room for a moment, before picking a barely used extinguisher from behind a closet’s door and spraying it wrong at the growing fire on her floor.

Blanco stared, amused, as the little baby steps this Bastard Mage was taking into The Art. The flames of Tav’s first (or well, maybe second) spell were beautiful, healthy, full of emotion… He saw potential on the Bastard, at least a little bit. Potential for greatness, but also potential for a lot of mayhem.

Out of mere mockery he took a picture of the moment where the panicked Tav took her books off the table, trying to protect them from the flames she failed to extinguish.

“They have to see this.” The vampire said with a wide, wicked smile. “Let’s see… send!”

The creature chuckled, visibly entertained as he sent the picture to the two mages he confided in, just to see if he got any reactions from them.

To nobody’s surprise, Giovanni immediately chastised him for laughing at other people’s misfortune.

Meanwhile, Mustafá sent him no answer… huh, not even going to humor him this time, huh? Fine, he didn’t need her. Giovanni’s righteous indignation was enough for him to smile and chuckle a bit more.

Maybe the woman was busy or something. He didn’t really care.

The old man sent him a message, even!

Ventotto: That better not be Tav killing herself, Blanco! I told you to watch her!

[] : And I am watching her and it is hilarious.

[] : :3

Ventotto: Do something!

[] : Ah she has that covered, old man. No need to fret.

[] : 8)

[] : Oh by the way she totally has forbidden knowledge on her hands

Ventotto: qué.

[] : Yeah. She holding a book, old, leathery.

[] : It’s FULL of runes.

Ventotto: How full.

[] : I didn’t see a single word written in there, only runes in long rows.

[] : :o

Ventotto: … it’s written in the Language of the Gods…

[] : Can I spook her now?

[] : >:)

Ventotto: Not yet. I have a feeling…

Ventotto: I’ve seen this, in a dream.

[] : Oh you and your dreams!

Ventotto: I’m serious! Just, make sure she’s safe.

[] : Yeah yeah, I will.

[] : >:(

Blanco stretched his arms lazily and simply laid back for a moment with a yawn. ‘Look after her’, yeah right. It’s a Bastard Mage! She barely knows how to read the runes.

What’s the worst that could happen now?

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fire! The books! My computer! MY HOUSE! I have no idea why the extinguisher isn’t working but, it just isn't! The fire burns right through the chemical powder, somewhat bothered but always roaring back up with enough time!

In a panic, I decide that mundane methods will NOT save me right now. So, I try to remember. Do I know any other trick!?

“You don’t know the word for ‘snuff’ or anything. You’re doomed. This is it.”

Saints damn it all! I can feel tears escaping me as the fire just grows, and grows, like a pillar of flames bursting from the piece of paper. If this really is inextinguishable by regular means then the whole building is doomed too! Urgh!

But then, something hits me.

Don’t I know the word for ‘No’?

I immediately point at the flames, yelling.

“JO!”

I try pronounce it like “Hoh”. Nothing happens.

Maybe I am pronouncing it wrong!? I try again, this time pointing at the paper on the floor.

“JO!”

Nothing. It still burns. I pull my hair and try not to just break down sobbing as I think.

And then, it hits me again. Maybe just yelling ‘No’ is not enough! Lucia said I had to write the thing! I can’t really write on the circle without burning my hands. So maybe…

I quickly put my books down, grab a piece of paper and scribble a combination, then I seal it in a circle. Not a full circle though, just like the words in the book.

image [https://i.ibb.co/m9RS02X/Screenshot-1.png]

Begging for this to work, I hold the paper with my hand, point it facing the fire and breathe in to yell.

“JOGOLTHOI!”

The paper on my hand shines in octarine light immediately… and the fire is snuffed out in an instant. All that’s left is a slowly rising spire of smoke.

I stare at what I’ve done for a moment… I messed up, yeah, but I was able to control it! Sorta! A smile begins creeping on my face. I did it? I really did it!

“Quick, open the windows!”

Oh, right! I run over to the windows and open them, letting the smoke out of the living room with a sigh. People will complain about this, and it will be annoying… but that didn’t take away my merit…

But now, more questions come to my mind. I still remember, and insist on remembering, that the meaning of ‘Golthoi’ is not only ‘Ignite’, it also means ‘Turn on’! And this is important… because maybe I can use it in more creative ways, then?

“Or maybe you shouldn’t, and maybe you should read a bit more before risking it…?”

“I hate to say it but I agree with her. Restrain yourself, damn it.”

Not yet… There are things I wish to try. Still holding the paper in my hand, I point at the lit lightbulb on the room. If I focus on the message I want to send, point my finger at it and then pronounce the spell as if it was an order.

“JOGOLTHOI!”

Click.

The light was off.

Marveled by my sudden power over electronics, I run over to write another ‘On’ rune on a paper and point at the lightbulb, begging to the Saints that it wouldn’t simply burst into flames.

“GOLTHOI!”

Click.

The light was on.

My smile was back on, trembling and hurting my face from how wide it was.

“Do NOT try this on the computer!”

Yeah no, absolutely not. I suspect turning off my computer suddenly would not do anything good to it…

But I have to go and tell someone about it!

Now that the smoke has cleared, I close the window and run back to my computer, ignoring the burnt stain on the floor to immediately start typing.

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: I DID IT! O.O

Jeepers creepers man: hmmm? what did you do?

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: I have learned MAGIC! My power is LIMITLESS!! O.o

GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: I guess that means things are going well huh? lol

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: I can turn lights on and off with my mind!

Jeepers creepers man: wait what?

GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: I thought you couldn’t do that

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Huh? o.o

Jeepers creepers man: magic and technology don’t really get along well

GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: yeah, careful there! you can’t really know when something will explode!

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: I will be careful! n.n

I can’t help but feel that these people are exaggerating a little bit, but I have seen many shows in which the nervous and eager apprentice starts doubting their superiors and then chaos ensues.

So I better refrain from that and instead focus on what they have to say… for now, at least.

“That hubris will be the end of us all, you know?”

Oh sillyness! What’s the worst that could happen now?

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The alchemist was bored. Bored out of her mind. Floating gently around Universe Gamma, all while watching Socrates and Plato frolic about in their enclosure, wasn’t as exciting as it had been in the past. She loved her crabs all the same, even if she would never admit it to anyone (not even herself), but to be honest, it simply didn’t stimulate her! Nor did the silly tasks the Brotherhood sent her way.

Solving riddles, making calculations, performing commission spellsmithing for them… it was frustratingly boring.

And then, there was the damn Second Sacrifice coming. She had been knocking her head on the wall that was that conundrum for years now, and even if she had made a few interesting advances in the past, right now she was stuck. Trying to get unstuck was terribly frustrating, too…

So really, she was just sulking.

Mustafá was getting ready to actually let the day pass and simply go to sleep, when suddenly her phone vibrated. A message? Who even had her number? The alchemist rolled her eyes and opened the old device, checking the screen only to see a picture of some fool crying in panic over a fire.

Blanco often sent her the most bizarre things while he was awake, so she wasn’t fully surprised. It didn’t make it less annoying though.

She was more than ready to just disregard the message and simply erase the picture, when suddenly something in the background bothered her. Something familiar.

Moved by instinct she connected the phone to her computer, and immediately zoomed as much as she could on the books this fool was carrying. An old notebook, an awfully bound tacky book… and then, a leather bound tome. One carrying the very same patterns she had seen not too long before, in a vision.

The alchemist stared long and deep at the image before her until she was fully convinced that this was, indeed, the very same tome. But how! How did it end up in the hands of a bastard!?

This had to be corrected, post haste. That book had to be the key to what Humiko was trying to tell her, to the Second Sacrifice, to everything! She had to grab it quickly, before any members of the Brotherhood could find it and burn it.

Ignoring her disdain for the damn Forum, Mustafá sat at her computer and with one hand began directing the keyboard and the mouse … while the other summoned forth one of her many tomes and searched through the pages for the correct glyph.

There was a very specific reason why she always asked for people’s emails, and it wasn’t just because of protocol. She needed a way to contact them directly, a way to create a connection between her computer and theirs. With some luck, this Tav would still be by her computer.

“And… send.”

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: I mean, if you don’t see the gay undertones in Meduka, I am not sure how to help you man -w-

ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: RIGHT!? xD

ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: People are coping so hard trying to say ‘NOOOO MEDUKA AND HAMERU ARE JUST FRIENDSSSSS’

ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: Come on people, it’s 2012! Grow up a little =u=

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Amen sister -u-

Jeepers creepers man: you kids these days and your animes

Jeepers creepers man: well not that I can talk much, back in my day we were SUPER into comic books

Jeepers creepers man: and GIRL let me tell you how wacky those got

ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: Pink kryptonite, everyone?

Jeepers creepers man: we don’t talk about the pink kryptonite, this is a sanctified house

GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: I swear man every day these conversations get harder to follow

ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: This is SUPER NORMIE SHIT tho, Gal-kun~ o3o

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Yeeeah get with the program Gal-kun~ o3o

GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: oh saints no there’s two of them now

Now this was more comfortable. I can’t believe how much I missed talking about random shit with people! The fact that they are mages doesn’t really change a thing now, does it? They are still a bunch of dorks. For the first time in a while, I am legitimately smiling while typing. It’s refreshing!

And then, the messenger notified me that someone just sent me a friend request.

Who the hell?

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Hey guys, anyone knows ‘[email protected]’ ? o.o

ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: Not a clue! O.o

GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: isn’t that 82?

Jeepers creepers man: yeah that’s 82.

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: 82? o.o

GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: yeah you know, one of the Admins, the one that isn’t Ventotto

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Ohhh! o.o She just added me…

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: … Am I in trouble!? QwQ

ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: REMEMBER THE PLAN TAVY-CHAN!! O0O!!!

ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: Canny-kun got you here! She doesn’t have the right to ask for ANYTHING else!

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Ok, ok T_T

GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: if she asks for specialization, you just tell her you’re an apprentice

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Alright, will do!! Here I go, I am accepting her! TwT!

Taking a deep breath, I tap the button to accept this woman’s friend request. It doesn’t take long for a message to pop on my desktop.

SilentObserver82: Greetings.

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Hello!

I have to bite down my hands to not put any emoticons. Behave like an adult, damn it!

SilentObserver82: I am speaking to ‘Tav’, yes?

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Yes, that is me! You must be ογδόντα, right?

SilentObserver82: Indeed.

SilentObserver82: I speak to you because I have come to the knowledge that you possess a specific book. Leatherbound, magicked.

Fuck.

She knows!? How!? How did she know!? Did somebody rat me out!? Unless…

Only now I notice the webcam is on.

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Are you spying on me!?!?!

SilentObserver82: That is irrelevant.

SilentObserver82: I assume this means you have the book I am talking about.

Shit.

I just admitted to that, didn’t I? No use hiding it now

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Yes.

SilentObserver82: I am prepared to pay a handsome sum if you give it to me.

I freeze. Paying me? So this CAN be resolved with words?

“That depends. Are you going to accept?”

… I mean…

“No one will judge you if you do. You can just pass this to someone more capable and that will be it.”

But what will I tell Pelafina?

“Fuck her.”

“Besides, you can just tell her you lost it. What will she do? Punish you for it? You’re a grown adult, she has no real sway over you.”

But, but. This has connected me with nice people, and given me a reason to get up in the morning. It’s… special, to me.

“Then you know what you have to say, right?”

“Be ready for the consequences, this woman clearly didn’t come here to be told no.”

I gulp, taking a deep breath before answering.

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Can I give it to you after I finish translating it?

SilentObserver82: No.

SilentObserver82: You are an incompetent Bastard Mage who barely understands the situation she’s in.

SilentObserver82: This is beyond you.

I can’t help but feeling a little… no, VERY insulted. Maybe I do still have some pride in me after all?

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: I have done some interesting progress already.

SilentObserver82: Translate a sentence.

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: No.

I answer by mere instinct, don’t even think about it! I mean, telling her would equate to revealing the spells I know, right? And Gato’s guide told me to never reveal stuff, I have to be mysterious!

“This is NOT the time for that.”

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: If you wont give me the time to do my job, then I am sorry but I will not sell.

SilentObserver82: Do you know what you are doing right now?

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: I don’t have to answer any of your questions.

SilentObserver82: Is this your final answer?

Why do I feel so threatened by this woman!?

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Yes.

SilentObserver82: …

SilentObserver82: Fine.

SilentObserver82: So be it.

I sigh. Perfect, now I will be banned or something. Sigh… at least I met a few people before it all. And all because of this damn book… I pick it up and read it again with a bitter smile.

“Are you really worth all this trouble, little girl?”

Rolling my eyes, I begin writing a message in the group chat:

“Well guys, 82 hates me now. I refused to sell her a book I have. Oh by the way, now that I’ll probably be banned, I can totally tell you about it! There’s this book I have that is written in the language of Magic itself. Yeah, it’s a language, I’ll be telling you all I—”

Suddenly, the screen goes dark. Completely and utterly black. Not even off, just black! I tap it a few times, feeling panic crawl up my spine, maybe this is what Gato was talking about!? I rub my face and get off my chair to just, try to think of a solution to this. But then, a green light begins shining on my screen. A dot, brightly octarine, slowly travels on my screen leaving a trail of colour on its path.

I soon realize: it is drawing a glyph.

“FUCK.”

Of course she can access my computer. The next step was all too easy to guess. I quickly pick the book up again and jump away from my computer, just in time to feel the hues of green, purple and gold burst from my screen. The force of the explosion is enough to push me back and leave me on the floor, but strangely enough nothing else in the room moves…

Someone is now standing on my chair. A cloaked figure of dark brown skin, petite and thin, probably much shorter than me! And I am not even that tall to begin with! Her black hair is tied in some lazy braids, partially hidden by an oversized white turban, a good combination to her white robes to be honest.

The way her eyes are shining with golden light is both interesting and terrifying to me…

“Greetings.” The woman says, bowing her head softly enough to not let her turban fall. “My name is Mustafá. You may know me as 82.” I keep my eyes glued to the woman as she speaks. I can’t even articulate a single word. “I am here for the book, and I will not leave without it. You may accept my terms and surrender, or face me and prove you’re capable of keeping the knowledge you hold.”