Chapter 211

The Boss’s Office

Coming home is always an odd experience for me. And yes, I can finally say that this place, this little oasis out here in the middle of the desert is my home. My family is here, well half of it, for now. My friends are here, and most importantly all of my myriad of other side projects that I use to keep me busy are here.

“Hey Cass, welcome back,” Johnny says right after I arrive, taking the place of my Simulacrum who had been here effectively holding my spot.

“Hey, you’re getting better at this, tell me what did you notice?” I ask trying both to understand how I can improve, and also seeing where Johnny is at his level of development.

“Well, part of it is I think my bloodline being either really cognizant of other bloodline progenitors, especially progenitors that are a higher lineage ranking than my own. The other part is that your energy is just slightly more condensed.”

Hearing his explanation, I am both intrigued and filled with a myriad of possible test scenarios. I imagine dressing Mallory up in one of my avatars and seeing if he can in fact tell that it is Mallory within the avatar as she meets both criteria that he listed of being a progenitor and having a higher concentrated bloodline.

Apparently, I let my mind wonder down this train of thought for too long as something in my face gave me away, apparently.

“Um, what are you scheming now?” Johnny asked a note of concern in his voice.

“Me? Nothing,” I state almost defensively at this point.

“Okay,” Johnny says in that I totally don’t believe you, but I don’t want to argue with the boss on a Monday type of tone.

With that I am drawn to the fact that while I am now done with my construction project for repairing the airship, I might need to go about getting more resources allocated for classroom use.

This for me means I must go straight to one person.

Everyone else can go straight to the supply clerk and get a monthly allotment of specialty resources ordered on their behalf that will then be taken out of their guild wages. Unfortunately, due to not wanting to give a dime of my success to my future ex, I no longer have a wage.

Which is sad, as I saw how much Mallory valued me, and realized that I think after bonuses and everything, I was actually earning more than Mallory was there for a bit. Not that I saw any of that money, nor will I at this point as all of that money that I earned for the nearly eight months that I have been out here working to make this a bastion of magic, has now all been sent back to fund my apparently expensive hobbies and eccentric lifestyle.

With the fact that I know I must go to one person for all of my needs is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing in that I know the person and know they want nothing but the best for me, which ultimately means everyone here eventually gets a better lifestyle due to trickle-down magical economics.

Trickle-down magical economics, kind of like real trickle-down economics, but this system actually works. Or at least we have gotten it to work thus far.

The basis of trickle-down economics is the idea that by spending money on things you use that money to fund projects that pay people who do those projects and ultimately the money goes from the wealthy at the top to those less fortunate at the bottom.

With trickle-down magical economics you use mana, rather than currency. Unlike currency, which is a finite resource, mana is theoretically unlimited, especially with the fact that everyone can ultimately produce a tiny portion of magic forever.

This means that when I cast a spell, even after the spell is over, the mana from that spell remains. Then we get a bunch of highly talented students all gathered into one spot, and force them to continuously cast and use man, and we have more residual mana remaining. Not much at first, just tiny particles of energy that add up over time.

Added to this is the fact that the lands we chose to build upon were ancient territories run by past magical experts, and then covered in the Blight, which by all accounts seems to be a magical parasite of some kind that can go across species and across different mediums. The Blight, also releases residual mana particles that are then absorbed into the ground, making it so we are ultimately making a land more magical than that Rodent land, at least once we are done it will be.

“Oh, before you get too distracted,” Johnny begins, cutting me out of my theory of the magical trickle-down economics theory, which might mean something eventually, of that I am certain. But just before I can have my epiphany, Johnny hits me with the bombshell of all thought derailing bombshells. “I was told to tell you to find and talk to Mallory immediately.”

Hearing that, I can’t help but go into full panic mode.

Something about being told to go to the boss’s office immediately that always causes concerns.

“Did she say why?” I ask, trying to figure out what the problem is, so I can have a possible solution ready by the time I get there.

“Nope, just that it was urgent and that before this week got too far along, you needed to be there.” Johnny stated.

With that I can only feel my body fidget slightly at the sudden surprise. I try to think about what I’ve done that could be considered bad, but then realize most of those were not caught yet. “I mean the Kujos would keep her from looking into that one…” I mutter randomly to myself.

“What about the Kujos?” Johnny asks, his Perception getting high enough that he can now hear me mumbling to myself.

“What? Oh, nothing. Completely unrelated to anything going on here.” I assure him.

“You know, that knowing you that is not too reassuring right?” He asks.

“What? Don’t worry it is nothing that can destroy, blow up, or otherwise completely destroy a certain portion of this place.” I try to say placatingly.

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“So to be clear it is dangerous, but not at an apocalyptic level just more of a super villain blowing up a bank scale?” Johnny asks.

I am about to respond, but then realize he is just joking. “Oh, haha, I get it. Everyone is afraid I will turn to the dark side.”

“No, I’m not worried about you going over to the dark side.”

“Oh, and not saying that you should, but what exactly is your rationale for this?” I ask, needing to hear some much needed words of confidence. Something along the lines of you are so good and pure that we would never expect you to fall. It would be a lie, but a much appreciated one on a Monday morning before work, where I have to go to the boss’s office.

At least that was what I hoped for. What I got was an entirely different response.

“It’s the fact that you don’t eat or drink.” Johnny states, clearly denoting how I only sustain myself via Spirit Sustenance, a diet that I have been on for so long now that when I sweat, I apparently sweat pure mana. Or something very close to highly concentrated mana for most people. Idly I wonder if I could bottle my blood, sweat, and tears as a type of high end mana potion. Then quickly dismiss that idea as the idea of lifting up my arms to catch my sweat into a bottle is just too much for me.

“What?” I ask, partially to Johnny’s comments and partially to make sure I didn’t miss anything in our exchange so far. Then he hits me with what he considers to be a punchline.

“Yeah, this way you are immune to the number one lure of the dark side.”

“What?” I ask once more, before he hits me with what he thinks is a punchline, apparently.

“Yeah, this way when they offer you cookies, I know you won’t be tempted.” Johnny states, his face smiling slightly as he is just waiting for the punchline to stick.

Shaking my head, I just try to exhale, then hit him with taking care of the morning workout before I join the day.

“I hope you are willing to practice your Qi techniques more than your joke delivery.” I state.

With that Johnny just visibly deflates slightly at that, as his excitement at trying to get a laugh out of me has clearly dwindled.

Seeing him deflate like that, I can’t help but let out an, “ahh, don’t feel bad.”

With that I reach out a hand and let a bit of gold and silver Qi fill the tips of my fingers as I touch his face.

With that, I see that the energy from my body has an almost immediate effect on him, as he seems to visibly relax from my touch.

“Thank you,” Johnny states, after letting out a slight breath of tension.

“Don’t worry about it, besides lots of people are bad at telling jokes.” I state, then smiling slightly to myself as I see the look of recognition fill his face, I Teleport away, making sure to get the last laugh.

Poof.

“Now that’s how you tell a punchline.” I state to myself, as I appear right outside of Mallory’s office.

Blur.

There is an object moving quickly from the seat behind Mallory’s desk to the door. Had this been anywhere else, I would have Teleported away, as the monster coming was clearly on a different physical level than I could ever hope to match. Not unless I stopped time or used some other trump card. Fortunately, I know it is Mallory charging right towards me which gives me a bunch of options.

The fact that she is barreling right at me, indicates that she desperately wants to catch me before I go away. Meaning whatever she has to tell me is vitally important. The fact that she didn’t stay behind her desk as a form of power play lets me realize that my chief concern, namely I was going to be yelled at for something I did and Mallory just found out about it was not going to happen.

The reason being, that if I had messed up, Mallory of course would make me come to her where she would continue to have all the power throughout the entire process. Since she was up and trying to catch me meant, that I was likely going to be tasked with doing something else, something that was likely important and most likely needed to be done correct the first time and with haste.

I realize all of this in a second, and for that reason alone, I decided to have a bit more fun with Mallory.

Poof.

Just before Mallory manages to open her ornate double wooden doors without breaking them, I Teleport away from where I had been standing a few seconds ago.

Where am I? Simple, I am now right behind Mallory, sitting in her very seat that she just vacated.

As I sit down in the chair, I find it to be exceedingly comfortable, almost as if I am sitting on a heated cloud. Just sitting here, I let out a breath and realize that here I am slaving away all the time, while Mallory gets a comfortable cloud throne to sit in.

Mallory for her part swings open the door, that despite her holding back it is clear she almost rips the door off its hinges. Then she proceeds to scan the lobby area.

“I could have sworn I just heard her,” Mallory mutters to herself as she scans the area.

At this point, I decide to chime in. “Are you looking for someone?”

With that Mallory straightens up, her posture going from ready to attack, to her highly dignified bearing. Straightening herself to her full height, I can’t help but notice the slight changes that have overtaken her. She has always been tall, well when you are the size of a slightly maturing middle schooler you tend to notice tall people. But Mallory has always been tall, even compare to other males around her level. Yet, even with this obvious heigh advantage, she seems to be just a bit taller. That’s when I ask.

“Have you grown taller?”

“Have you shrunk? You look like a booster seat there.” Mallory quips.

“Hey,” I shoot back, but then looking around, I see that she might be right. In order to work effectively from this chair I would likely need a booster seat to be effective at utilizing this table. Especially with everything important being so far away. Fortunately, I have Telekinesis, which I use to grab all the items from around the table, raise them up and have them all begin performing different tasks independently.

I sign off on the final fund transfers, the loan agreements from the guild for more resources for my classes, and a few other forms that are clearly for me to sign. Which I know is at least part of why I was called to come here.

Only once I am done, do I stop to see that Mallory is just standing there in wide-mouthed amazement.

“What?” I just signed the forms that were clearly for me. I state, making sure she knows I didn’t overstep my boundaries.

“No, I realize that, it’s just that you somehow even manage to make bureaucracy look easy.” Mallory states, a note of awe to her voice.

At that I pause, and cut off where I think this is going to go. “No.”

“No?”

“Yeah, just no. I am not going to be some bureaucrat,” I begin, but then pause and bounce slightly in the comfy chair. “Though I don’t think I would mind if I got one of these chairs.”

“Would you even sit down in a chair? I didn’t know you knew how to relax even that much.” Mallory states.

“Hey.” I begin, but then thinking about her comment, I realize she might be mostly correct. There is no way I could sit down for too long. Even now that the joke is over, and my purpose for sitting here is done, I find that my legs and feet are almost twitching and kicking on their own. “Yeah, maybe it would be better to give this type of seat to Gwen or someone else who could appreciate it fully. Though it is nice.”

With that I easily swim out from under the table, pushing my weightless body upwards as I begin flapping my wings out and over Mallory’s table.

As I get up from the seat, Mallory moves over to retake her place, where she sits down with a form of regal grace that has to be a skill. For a moment I wonder if I have that skill? Then I wonder if I should ask her what skill it is that she is using, but before I can get too far into this train of thoughts, Mallory begins speaking.

“So are you ready for this week?” Mallory asks a bit of nervous tension in her voice.

At that, I pause, and think about everything. “If this is about my class this morning, don’t worry Johnny has them doing the morning stretches and warm ups.”

“No, not that,” Mallory begins, but then catches herself. “Well, yes, you do need to worry about your classes, but I was wondering if you were ready for everything else that would happen this week.”

With the word else, Mallory twists her head in that gesture that means there is something deeper to be concerned about, but she doesn’t want to state it directly.

“What?” I ask, as I realize there are a lot of other elses, though my else, my future ex-husband coming back that won’t be for another ten days or so. But this else seems like she means something more immediate, which is why I am now having a hard time catching up to what exactly she is hinting at.

“The wedding!” Mallory hisses.

“Oh, that else,” I begin as I let out a breath of relief as I thought I forgot something important. “That is this weekend right?” I ask.

“It is on Sunday.” Mallory states emphatically.

“Okay, good, I’m tracking.”

“You’re tracking? You’re tracking. That’s it? You aren’t doing anything to prepare?” Mallory asks.

“What do you want me to do? Find a way to stop time?” I ask. But then, I pause and realize that I am already close with my Qi power of Celerity, but is there a way to stop time, or at the very least slow it down so much that time as we understand it as a whole stops?

“No, stop that, whatever it is you are thinking about right now. You need to stop.” Mallory states, pulling me from my thoughts.

“What?”

“You just had that look like you were going to try to break something fundamentally important to the world and I just wanted to stop it right there.” Mallory states, clear apprehension in her voice. She isn’t lying, but she isn’t being entirely truthful either.

Hearing that, I pause as I realize that I have had multiple thoughts within her presence, but there is almost never a time when she gets this flustered from my thinking. In fact, normally she encourages me to think. That’s when I realize, “you got a quest trying to get me to stop?”

At that Mallory looks a bit sheepish, but then ultimately nods in agreement.

Hearing that, I pause for a moment then realize what the system was trying to tell me all along. “So, you’re saying that I was close to being correct?”

“What? No, I was just told to get you to stop at any cost.” Mallory noted.

“So, a cost, meaning we can barter? I stop my thoughts on creating Time Stopping magic, and you reward me for my lack of efforts?” I asked, realizing that I might need to restock my engineering crafting supplies and this might be the opportunity that I needed to do so without taking out another fake loan.

“Time stopping magic? Can that even happen?” Mallory asks.

“Apparently I was close enough, that or the world didn’t want me to take any chances.” I respond.

There is a slight look of hesitation on Mallory’s face, before she gets down to business.

“What did you have in mind?”

With that question, I smile brightly as I realize maybe being summoned to the boss’s office wasn’t all that bad.

“Actually…”