After a thankfully uneventful walk, Allen arrived back at his apartment. He almost immediately dropped onto his bed. However, before he allowed himself to sleep. He opened his Status to find a window that had not been there before.
Grade E Item: Vinea Craft Card Description:
It was a window for the Craft Card he had empowered with the Mandrake stone and given the name Vinea to activate it. There was even a spot for him to put in details about it. He wondered if it was because the Craft Card had never been used before by anyone else.
"Hmm, since it might be useful for future reference. I'll go ahead and fill in the blank."
***
The next day, Allen was walking down the street from his apartment. He was planning to meet up with Nera at Trinkets & Treasures. While en route there, he passed by the same construction site he had seen earlier where a building was made using cutting-edge reformation technology. There were some people there still working on smaller stuff in and outside the building like electrical wiring and placing windows.
“Yo! Mind if I grab one of your sandwiches!?” Allen heard one of the workers shout and looked over to see a burly guy wearing a green bandanna with crossbones on it yelling loudly at a young man with black hair and thick orange goggles sitting down on a bench with a lunch box beside him. The other man did not seem bothered by this though and just pulled out a sandwich for his co-worker and then one for himself.
The man with the green bandanna then sat down and started talking about trivial stuff all on his own. They appeared to be on a lunch break which made sense since it was around noon currently. Allen turned his head forward again and continued walking to his destination.
***
During that same day, Allen was walking down the street from his apartment. He was planning to meet up with Nera at Trinkets & Treasures. While en route there, he passed by the same construction site he had seen earlier where a building was made using cutting-edge reformation technology. There were some people there still working on smaller stuff in and outside the building like electrical wiring and placing windows.
“Yo! Mind if I grab one of your sandwiches!?” Allen heard one of the workers shout and looked over to see a burly guy wearing a green bandanna with crossbones on it yelling loudly at a young man with black hair and thick orange goggles sitting down on a bench with a lunch box beside him. The other man did not seem bothered by this though and just pulled out a sandwich for his co-worker and then one for himself.
The man with the green bandanna then sat down and started talking about trivial stuff all on his own. They appeared to be on a lunch break which made sense since it was around noon currently. Allen turned his head forward again and continued walking to his destination.
When he arrived at Trinkets & Treasures, he saw Nera was already there leaning by the front door. The store she was leaning against was an average-sized two-story building made of beige brick with a sign over the entrance that read out the name of the store, each letter in the sign being made of a different material ranging from aluminum to bronze.
“You’re two minutes from being late," Nera reprimanded.
“Which is still two minutes early.” Allen fired back.
“Plus, you didn’t have to wait for me to get here to go inside.”
“Nah, I’d rather you act as an annoyance lightning rod instead," Nera stated and walked into the store ahead of him as he followed. Inside, Wit was screwing in some bolts on a weird-looking contraption next to the counter while Owlette was laying on top of it wearing a form-fitting red jumpsuit that looked straight out of some kind of sci-fi show that did not leave much to Allen’s imagination with the black lines along the sides of it accentuating her curvaceous figure. She also seemed to be watching some sort of space opera drearily on her phone.
From her bronze skin and hair to her mechanical eyes and extravagant outfit, she stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the rustic establishment. Allen did not let the automaton’s presence distract him much and brought up what they were here for.
“There’s something we want you to check out.” Allen told Wit before saying, "Also, thanks for the Craft Cards you gave me."
“Oh, you managed to make use of them? And what would you like me to check out, young lad?” Wit asked without looking up from his tinkering.
“It’s this, some kind of magical weapon but we don’t know what kind.” Nera unzipped one of the pockets of her tracksuit and pulled out her small ribbon baton.
“Dear Da Vinci, why did you not start with that!?” Wit exclaimed after catching a glimpse of the weapon from looking down. He threw his screwdriver and gadget behind him haphazardly.
“Go on then, continue.” The tinkerer urged anxiously.
“Well, while running that errand for you the other day. We ran into a crazy powerful Crafter who attacked us and an entire city block, emphasis on the crazy. We were able to stall him for a while but couldn’t eventually and just as I thought we were goners, Nera pulls that out of nowhere and it turned into a massive magical scythe.” Allen conveyed the size change by spreading out his hands.
“Oh really?”
“That’s true as hard as it is to believe after having this for so long. It’s never done anything like that before.” Nera affirmed.
“What was weirder is that I don’t think it even left a scratch on him, but he still left immediately after he was hit by the blade. You got any ideas what it could be, Nitwit?”
“Hmm…” The brown-haired man leaned closer then pulled out a small monocular from his faded yellow jacket and peered through it with his green eye to examine the mysterious item.
“Well...he called that scythe the Dream Reflector, right? If that's the case, I have a theory on what its power could be.”
"And what is that theory?" Nera prodded while tapping her arm impatiently.
Wit glanced over his shelves and seemed to ponder his thoughts deeply before saying, "It's only my speculation based on my experiences, but scythe may have the ability to steal dreams and use them reverse causality."
"Reverse causilty? Are you talking about when everything rewound to right before our last attacks? You're not convincing me we actually went back in time," Allen inferred the meaning of Wit's words with a raised eyebrow.
"No, I'm not doing that," Wit assured. "I'm referring to cause and effect. That scythe forcibly counteracts a cause in order to erase its effects. It sets you back to a state before an event, such as your entrails getting torn out."
The morbid description made Allen wince.
"So, it's not time reversal but using magic to place everything back to where it was before..." Nera gathered. "What do dreams have to do with it and how am I supposed to activate that power again?"
"Glad to see you taking an interest in the arcane for once, Nera." Wit jested. "For your first question, it should be obvious to anyone familiar with Mirages how dreams play a role."
Nera's mouth hung agape. "It can replicate a Mirage's ability to make everything like a dream by using the 'dream' of someone else..."
"Correct, as for your second question, I can't tell what was the exact trigger but I'm sure you'll figure it out if you keep experimenting with it."
'Using the power of Erno's dream, huh? Is that why his magic disappeared the second time around?'
Nera spoke from right next to Allen. "Speaking of experimenting, can you cloak yourself in mystic energy to look at it?”
Allen nodded and proceeded to draw out the mystic energy from the crystal of his harmonica that was still wrapped under his bandages. He then covered himself in a wispy mist of aura that allowed him to now view the scythe’s blade which had the words “quit” written on it in bold violet letters.
“Ok, I can see it now.”
“Alright, I need something to test it out.” Immediately, Owlette chucked one of Wit’s gadgets that was lying on the counter in the air, and without wasting a moment, Nera ran the scythe straight through it with Wit looking on in horror. Fortunately for his emotional stability, the scythe passed through it like a ghost’s incorporeal hand and the gadget fell down on the floor relatively unharmed.
Wit breathed a sigh of relief and hastily picked up the device and stored it securely in one of his pockets.
“Do you know how hard it is to make a good bottle opener? Next time, use something less valuable as a test dummy such as one of Owlette’s figurines.” Wit uttered, slightly showing some annoyance but covering it up mostly with a smile.
“Pfft.’, was all Owelette said in reply.
“No hit again. You’re right I guess but I still don’t know how to activate this thing.”
“Since it steals dreams, whatever that is, it probably won't work on inanimate objects.” Allen theorized.
“That could be right but unless you want to volunteer. We don’t really have a way to see if that’s true or not. Actually, maybe specters would be suitable guinea pigs.” With a bloodthirsty grin, she slashed the air in front of her with the back of the scythe in long wide arcs and Allen backed far away to make sure he was not hit.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Hey! Watch where you’re swinging that thing!”
“Alright Squirrel boy, don’t climb up a tree or anything.” Nera stopped in her tracks. She shifted the scythe back into a ribbon baton and put it away. She then started walking out of the store. The young woman ran her hand over the various knick-knacks and tool supplies strewn on the shelves as she went along.
“If that’s all you can tell me then I’m off, I got other stuff to do today. I’ll just have to figure out what my new toy can do on my own." Nera reached the front door and left the store without another word, the blinding white light of the noon sun momentarily filled the dreary building before shrinking down to a sliver of light on Allen that completely disappeared as the door closed fully.
“Hmph, that lass is always rather troublesome, isn’t she? No respect for fine craftsmanship, I am going to go put this somewhere safe.” Wit stated, patting the pocket with the misshapen bottle opener, and walked away from Allen and further into the store behind the counter leaving Allen alone with Owlette. He stood there awkwardly for several moments.
“What’s up? You look like a Kronalian trying to speak through their mandibles.”
“Uhh, that’s from Helmeted Driver: Space Combatant, right?”
When she heard this, Owlette suddenly got off her back into a criss-cross position with stars in her eyes.
“You watched that show too!? I’ve hardly met anyone who’s seen it since it’s an old ’80s show.”
“Yeah, I actually watched reruns of it when I was a kid. The CGI models of the mechas are really outdated but they’re fairly good for the time they came out.”
“I know, exactly! It was ahead of its time, a revolutionary show for the mecha genre that pioneered the use of CGI in mecha designs.” Owlette gushed, showing off the unbridled enthusiasm of a fan of a niche pastime.
“I guess that’s true. I did notice a lot more shows came out like that after its release but don’t you think it could’ve been because of…” Allen stopped talking when he remembered what he actually stayed to discuss.
‘Crap, I almost got swept into her place talking about mecha.’, at the same time as he was thinking this, his eyes drifted to Owlette’s partially exposed cleavage from her barely zipped-up jumpsuit and he quickly averted his eyes in embarrassment. Regaining his composure, he began to speak with Owlette still beaming at him, eager to talk more about the genre they were both interested in.
“Sorry, what actually I wanted to talk to you about are those…people we saw in the Luminaire, the Marionettes,” Allen said this and the automaton’s eyes seemed to visibly dim with disinterest.
“You really want to talk about that, why?” She asked in a disgruntled tone.
“Well, you both seem to have artificial bodies, are you one yourself?”
“Eh? Do you think I’m one of them? We both have artificial bodies, yes, but while the bodies you saw were created independent of the minds attached to them, my body and mind were made as a complete whole together.” Owlette declared.
“So you’re not a…” Allen thought carefully about the word at the tip of his tongue before uttering it out and Owlette was sure she knew what it was he was going to say.
“Zombie.”
“Human.”
They both spoke in unison with Owlette being surprised that she was wrong about her prediction and subsequently bursting out in laughter while clutching her stomach. She even swiped turquoise tears of mirth out of her eyes.
“Woah, that’s a new one. Never been doubted if I was a zombie before, maybe a golem. What makes you say that, boy?”
“You really didn’t have to laugh that hard. It’s just that those Marionettes looked like humans but didn’t act like one, more like lifeless drones. But honestly, the memory of witnessing what I thought were their mangled corpses still unsettles me. ”
“And you were hoping I could tell you how to discern between Marionettes and “real people” so you would prioritize the latter’s safety and wouldn’t have to worry so much about seeing the former get butchered.” Owlette bluntly replied and Allen sharply inhaled.
“Bingo, got that one right. I thought I was losing my touch.” Seeing that Allen was struggling to find words she continued.
“Don’t sweat it, it’s okay for you to think that way. You two are trying to be monster hunters, anything that helps you make the tough calls that will come is a plus.” Owlette assured.
Allen rested back against one of the shelves, loosening up some of the tension he had, and sighed, “I didn’t think you’d be that frank about it but it’s the truth. If it’s worth the risk, I’ll save both regular people and Marionettes. However, if a situation occurs where it looks like I can only protect one of them happens, saving the ones that can’t pull themselves together after being ripped to shreds is the objectively best option.” Allen calmly stated.
‘A pragmatic realistic, that’s nice. I’ve met a lot of humans with more noble aspirations that ended up falling short. Anyway, it’s simple to tell the difference between me and Marionettes once you get the hang of sensing aura. We’re both Catalysts so are aura's of that nature which is distinct from those of Crafters.”
‘She’s just some item someone made? Seeing her sitting there and talking to me so normally makes it hard to believe.’, Allen pondered and an image of a mechanical framework of gears and wires whirring under the automaton’s bronze skin suddenly popped into his head.
“I see, thanks for the info. I’ll be sure to put it to good use.” Allen said and started to turn to leave.
“No problem, come back sometime when you want to talk about something actually interesting. Also, people’s bodies and minds may be made by the world with different circumstances but your soul is crafted by yourself. With the task you’re undertaking, crafting your soul with “fear”, “doubt, “uncertainty” as the main materials will surely cause it to break.” Owlette hauntingly warned. She then laid back on the counter lazily to the sound of the store’s doorbell going off as Allen silently left the building.
***
Later that day, around four o'clock, Allen was taking a nap.
“Psst! Get up.”
Allen woke up from his slumber to see three people in the front of the room. Two of them were young women, one with brown hair and a spiral ponytail wearing a shirt with a floral print on it, the other had long blue hair in a black tank top. The one beside those two was a tall young man with black hair with blonde highlights.
Allen rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he listened to Dezigner’s director, Mr. Joel Howard, continue speaking. He was a rather tall man at one-hundred and eighty-eight centimeters with black hair and wore a plain collared gray shirt with what looked to be splotches of paint on it. He seemed to usually have these on his clothes so Allen was not sure if this was unintentional or a fashion statement. Regardless, he was focused and stern when it came to his position as the group’s director.
“These are temporary transfers to our group. The building for their group, Myriad Emporium, unfortunately, burnt down in a sudden fire earlier this week, so they will be working here until it can be rebuilt. However, they’ll be mostly working in one of our extra rooms while we focus on our current project. Be sure to treat them with respect and civility as fellow members of Diagram.” Mr. Howard announced.
With this out of the way, the three newcomers promptly left the art studio room that Dezigners primarily used for artistry and meetings. The room was around eight hundred square feet with egg-white walls, ceilings, floors, and large windows to allow an ample amount of sunlight in on one side of the room while the other had numerous canvases leaning across it.
Currently, there were six small tables strewn over the art studio where the thirty-five members of Dezigners took their seats.
“Look alert, Allen. You were about to miss the most important overview of our current project." Ethan Ellis, a friend of Allen’s who was also in Dezigners warned. He had short black hair, wore blue jeans, and had a sky-blue shirt with the image of Mt. Helena on it.
“Oh yeah, thanks.” They sat towards the back of the studio room and Allen often used this vantage point to take occasional naps during meetings. When this happened, he found he could usually catch up to what was going on by asking a few questions from other people or looking at an itinerary. However, he had heard a little about this event and was worried he would not be able to do the same as easily with this one.
“Alright, rise to attention, everyone! I’ll be going over the necessary tasks we need to perform for the upcoming Sun Mirror Festival!”, Mr. Howard declared and turned on the screen of the electronic board next to him.
“The Sun Mirror Festival is a summer celebration of the development of the revolutionary agriculture drone that Atelier City developed that allows for the storage of solar power during the day to provide sunlight to crops during the night. Due to its significant impact on farming, the city has placed a lot of importance on the festival that commemorates its finalization. “ He continued to explain the festival then went to get a canvas and begin demonstrating the kind of art pieces they would make for it. While he was directing his attention on this, Ethan brought up something to Allen.
“You know, receiving a lot of praise for our contribution to this could boost our standings by a lot.”
“Definitely, if all the fuss there is about it is true. This could be what gets us an apprenticeship.” Allen agreed.
There were twenty-seven art groups within Atelier City belonging to the public works organization, Diagram, that all vied for attention from the city’s main benefactor, Hieronymus Conglomerate. Many of the new residents of Atelier City who came after the city was officially open to the wider populace were here on a conditional one-year term in which they had to join one of the city’s art groups.
Not only that, but by the end of the year, they had to obtain an internship at Hieronymus Conglomerate or one of its subsidiaries such as Hyper Collage Mixed Media, Starway Records, or Holo-Zero Digital Arts in order to be able to become a permanent resident. The number one path to accomplish this was by being part of a high-standing art group and performing greatly in it.
“We better buckle down and put some real effort into this.” Allen continued halfheartedly.
“Especially you," Ethan snidely remarked.
“What do you mean by that?”
“It’s just a wonder you were even able to make it into Atelier with your crap drawing skills. I really thought you had to have some sort of talent in art to get in but I guess I was wrong.” Ethan bluntly stated.
“Shut up. I’m just that exceptional.” The words bit harder than Allen would have liked to admit because of how true they were. Even Ethan was a gifted artist who drew landscapes very well. The design on his shirt was something he made himself.
“Seriously, you need to step it up if you want to get an internship. You haven’t spent all your time gaming instead of practicing with you? We haven’t even gotten to have a gaming session lately. You even ditched our plan to go to the arcade out of nowhere the other day.”
“Yeah, I’ve been doing a lot of practice.” Allen actually had been practicing in various ways. For one, he was developing his ability to control the ebb and flow of magical energy from the mandrake specter stone and the harmonica’s mana crystal.
He also found out from Nera that specter stones and mana crystals could refill themselves with ambient mystic energy in their surroundings over time and Allen measured that it took about six hours for the ones he had in his possession to do so. Along with that, he had been reading the Layman’s Necronomicon and drawing sketches of various images that appeared in it so he was practicing in that aspect as well.
Allen flipped through his notebook to show the sketches, and the other young man stopped him at one. It was a page where Allen drew a sketch of the mandrake specter he saw the day he met Nera. The drawn beast was illuminated by moonlight coming from the top right corner of the page.
“Woah, a lot of these actually look fairly decent, especially that one. You really improved your linework and use of shadows. You actually managed to have the shadows align really well with light from the moon. Well, it’s good you’re not slacking off then. We only have a year after all.” Ethan reminded.
“Yeah, only a year…" Allen leaned back and sighed drearily, thinking back to the additional time limit he had of four months to find a way to stop from becoming a specter, a sense of dread washing over him all over again.