Chapter Thirteen - Fae Theory

Jaricko couldn’t believe his luck.

It had all started when he found the [Pocket Watch] fae the night after the System descended upon Earth. The time-manipulating magic had already saved his life and the life of Jack and Timothy once. Jaricko didn’t doubt it would save him time and time again.

He had used it to turn the tables on an arachnid and gather enough essence to boost his Body up a rank. The increase in his physicality had been vital in the battle afterward. Without the speed and strength the boost have given him, he would have been left a corpse on the ground. All he needed to turn the spiders into bonfires was a simple brush of the torch against their flammable hairs.

Fire.

That’s what would propel Jaricko through the ranks. The mountain forest arachnids were easy prey, as long as one didn’t get too close and also wielded their bane. A gun was enough to penetrate through their skulls, only taking a single bullet to get around forty essence per kill. A single spider was almost enough to level up to the second rank in any attribute.

If the [Pocket Watch] fae was Jaricko’s guardian angel, the [Flickering Fire Combustion] fae would be his weapon.

Finding the second mystical power had been born of a gut instinct. He hadn’t had much to go on to determine how or where fae could be found. For all intents and purposes, the magical spirit-like bodies were almost imperceptible aside from their telltale marks of colorful sparks.

The idea behind a fae had first formed in Jaricko’s mind when he had examined the ancient clock that held the time-traveling ability. It had been worn, aged, and seemed as if it had lived through countless stories. It had likely kept track of countless minutes, hours, and years. It had listened to the stories of previous campers and been changed for it.

The belief that all it took was history to manifest a fae was destroyed when Timothy found the [Mountain Forest Arachnid Clawed Dagger] fae. Jaricko was extremely doubtful that the single claw had experienced more history than the clock since the arrival of the System.

But, Jaricko thought deeper into it. Maybe it was a combination of history and something else? Concepts? Emotion? Pure silly luck?

Jaricko hated the idea of luck, except when it happened to him, so he refused to believe that was the main driving force of the fae.

Concepts and emotions though? That had merit. The clock had been a concept for time for years. Hundreds of people must have gazed at that clock, counting down the minutes until the day they could leave the summer camp.

It did make Jaricko wonder what sort of fae might have manifested from Big Ben in London if his theory was true. Or even the Statue of Liberty.

The claw dagger was still an outlier in Jaricko’s admittedly small test. He could chalk it up to System shenanigans and the bastardized version of a loot drop. The fae had seemed unusually specific towards the monster it had been a part of.

The newest fae lent some credence to Jaricko’s original theory of concepts, history, and emotion being the cause of the fae. The University bus had undoubtedly carried thousands of passengers over the years. It had spectated football games, conferences, and other momentous events ripe with heightened emotions. The energy of that latent power must have manifested in the engine and created the [Flickering Fire Combustion] fae.

Jaricko wasn’t sure exactly why the bus had formed the fire aspected fae instead of something else themed around transportation, but he wasn’t complaining. The magical ability would serve a great purpose in the upcoming journey to leave the forest.

The teenager finally concentrated on the description of the fae, wanting to get a concrete read on the ability instead of the instinctive knowledge that came with it.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Flickering Fire Combustion Fae [Red - Tier 0] [Spirit]

Medium Capacity cost, [5 - Mind (1)] second cast time. Summon a small flammable cloud of gas on a chosen area within 20ft. Every second the cloud of gas is conjured it has a 10% multiplied by the user’s Spirit (1) of exploding into flames. The cloud of gas remains for a number of seconds equal to the user’s combined attribute rank (8) or until activation.

It wasn’t slinging fireballs like so many people had hoped to do when they were children, but Jaricko would gladly accept it. The low chance for the fire combustion to activate left him mildly worried, but he figured that if it didn’t explode he could always cast it again. This particular fae lent itself to striking first, and hoping it activated before the enemy realized what was happening.

It took Jaricko a good while to realize that he had been rubbing his hands together and giggling to himself under the bus, completely alone. He had been so caught up in the euphoria of discovering a new fae that he hadn’t even considered what others would think of if they happened to see him.

He crawled out from under the bus and glanced at the sleeping Jasmine. The girl was completely oblivious to the world and was snoring in rhythm with the rise and fall of her chest. Jaricko looked up at the sky and judged that it was a little past noon, the rumble in his gut told him it was time for lunch.

He fingered his dirty clothing while making his way over to the line that was making its way into the tiny dining hall. He saw Jack and Timothy near the end and joined them, earning a few glares from that who were even farther back.

“Any luck with the gas?” Timothy questioned with pursued lips. It seemed that he was still harboring frustration towards the amateur mechanic that had blocked his quest. Jaricko shook his head in the negative and motioned for them to remain quiet.

“No dice, but I did find something even better,” Jaricko glanced around and motioned toward the throng of people. The two young men followed his gaze and seemed to understand.

“I’ll tell you later when we’re alone,” Jaricko informed them. It wasn’t long before the trio was sitting at the end of a table inside the cabin. Privacy was sparse and the quiet atmosphere didn’t lend itself to concealment. People were muttering among their formed cliques, finding solidarity and strength in people they had met just yesterday.

To each their own.

“Any luck with Blake and Tatum?” Jaricko looked over at Jack and inquired. The gently giant cracked his knuckles and gave a reluctant shake of his head.

“They require time. They feel safe in the camp. They will soon realize their reality. We will welcome them when they do,” Jack intoned with finality. The man seemed bothered by the absence of Blake and Tatum. Jaricko didn't see them in the dining hall either.

Did he perhaps blame himself for their fear of the wild? Jaricko deposited that kernel of information somewhere safe. He never knew when that trait of Jack might come in handy.

“Of course, they’re part of our group,” Jaricko responded with more conviction than he felt. A dark insidious part of him suggested that he leave Jack and Timothy to hunt by himself, but the more sensible side smothered it down.

Jaricko was nowhere near strong enough to venture into the forest by his lonesome. Embarking out there would spell a certain death, even with his powerful fae. He would just have to accept reality and play the game. Act concerned enough to fit in but callous enough to seize enough strength.

A delicate dance.

“Are we still good for going back out after this?” Jaricko asked the others. Both gave an instant nod. Jack still needed enough essence to rank up his first attribute, and Timothy was eager to test out his new dagger fae.

The trio finished up the meal consisting of sliced meat sandwiches and left the dining hall. They had been the first ones to leave and had to endure the curious stares of the other students. Jaricko wasn’t arrogant enough to believe that he alone could think of a plan to gather essence. It was likely the campers had made the connection between their dirtied clothes and purposeful demeanors and guessed that they were out exploring.

Jaricko looked back at the cabin. It was very likely that someone else had also encountered a fae. He had already run into two in the camp in less than a day. With over thirty other individuals confined to the area, they were bound to discover more abilities.

Which was exactly why Jaricko wanted to get to the easy-to-find fae first. The teenager led his partners into cabin number four and shut the door behind them. He twisted the lock, which made the other two look at him curiously. The young man waved away their concern and then dipped his head underneath every bed to make sure that they were alone.

Jaricko would be damned if he didn’t make sure his idea wasn’t taken by another. He had to worry about himself before he could help others.

After ensuring they were alone, the young man told Jack and Timothy about finding the [Flickering Fire Combustion] fae. They stared at him with wide eyes that quickly narrowed in realization as he continued. He described his thought process behind the hunt, making sure to omit his prior experience with the [Pocket Watch] fae.

“So I thought, if a fae could form on a spider’s claw then where else could it appear? I couldn’t help but think that it wasn’t just a loot drop for the arachnids, but might instead have been tied to something else. My gut feeling got stronger when I saw the bus. Luck was with me and I found a fae hidden underneath the front of it,” Jaricko told his abridged story.

Timothy pursued his lips in contemplation, seeming unsure about the tale but unwilling to point it out. Jaricko had worried about the small boy catching onto something he missed, but he knew that Timothy’s hesitant nature would stop him from saying so.

Jack was simple in his thought process. Reasonable logic got through to him more than convoluted explanations. Mystical magical abilities hidden inside everyday objects? Count him in, even if his face didn't show it. All it took was a bit of luck and a sudden insight and he would be finding the next fae.

“What are we waiting for. We should be searching for fae around the camp now,” Jack declared with passion. It seemed even the bulky man could be swayed by the promise of magical abilities that weren't limited to strange-looking daggers.

“I agree, the only problem with that is that the fae starts to dissipate once they’ve been activated. We saw it happening with the dagger fae that Timothy picked up. The longer it took for him to absorb it, the more it started to lose its luster. They probably have a time limit of some source,” Jaricko hypothesized.

Timothy suddenly smiled. The light in his eyes gleamed from behind his glasses.

“I might just have a solution for that.”