{Records requested. Query = “Claire Wright.”}
{Error synchronizing results... Resolved.}
{Beginning report…}
December 21, 9:10 AM
Cloud Sector, Plane: Earth
Claire walked down the sidewalk to the convenience store on the corner, her hands clenching and unclenching around her spellbook. It felt lighter in her arms than it should have, no doubt due to the whole spell part of the object. No complaints… she didn’t want to drag around a literal tome everywhere, so this oddity was welcomed.
The streets were oddly quiet. A few cars zipped down the double-wide street, all outbound, Claire noticed, but there wasn’t too much foot traffic. Still asleep, maybe? Saturday mornings aren’t generally that busy, but still.
Things got more confusing as she saw a man appear. He turned the corner from the next street up, sprinting with a fearful expression on his face. Seeing her, he slowed down slightly before stopping in front of her, breathing heavily as his hand held on to the roof of a nearby car.
“I… You gotta get out of here before you get hurt, girl.” He said, looking Claire up and down.
“What?” She replied, taking a step away from the stranger. “What’s going on?”
“There were two guys fighting about who was first in the line.” He let out, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. “All this,” he gestured to the air, “is making people feel a hell of a lot stupider.”
Claire pulled her spellbook a bit closer to her. “And?” She prodded.
“The clerk tried to interfere. Guy standing in the back stabbed him before he could let out a few more words. Other guy drew on him too.” He looked back in the direction he’d came. “Still going at it now, in the street.”
Well, shit. There goes my plan of heading to the store before the world goes to shit. Looks like it’s going to go to shit a lot faster. Claire scanned the man, who thankfully hadn’t gotten closer to her, seeing a leather sheath with what looked like knife handles sticking out, cuts through his jacket and pants, and a dark spot coming from near his shoulder. “Are you hurt?” She asked, her expression softening.
“Bastard got me with his sword.” He grimaced. “He got me, I mean. Sorry, miss.”
Claire raised her eyebrows, simultaneously opening up her spellbook. “How old do you think I am, twelve?” She moved off of the sidewalk, sitting on the stone steps before one of the houses’ front doors and gesturing at one of the other steps. “Look, I really need to get something from that store, and I can heal you if you’re willing to help me out.”
He looked at her, doing a double take at her spellbook. “You’re not a priest.” Moving his head had seemed to shift something near his shoulder, though, and he grunted in pain.
“You wanna do this or not? I can patch that up… probably… if you help me out with the store.” Plus, I need someone less squishy than a wizard to team up with, if the world goes to shit. Until I can find my friends.
“Fine.” He moved over, sitting down on the stone, knives clinking as he sat.
“You’ll be fine. Don’t worry.” Claire said as she leafed through her spellbook. Scooching over slightly so she could reach his shoulder, she cast the spell, reading the invocation from the book. “[Minor Healing.]”
He shrugged his shoulder around, tilting his head so he could get a better of the wound. Rather, former wound. He looked at Claire with a mix of emotions playing over his face. “It… worked.” He blinked. “Better than any doctor’s done, that’s for sure!”
She didn’t respond.
Spell leveled!
Due to casting Minor Healing successfully for the first time, its level has increased! 0 → 1 Lvl. 1 Minor Healing
- You chant and channel energy through your hands, and heal the target equal to the energy expended. Efficiency is determined by Spirit and Cleric levels. Components: Verbal, Somatic.
Having finished reading the pretty boring level up, she withdrew her hand from his shoulder and closed her spellbook with a flick. Suddenly regretting healing the stranger, she stood up quickly. “Let’s get this over with.”
“What’s the deal?” He asked, jogging to catch up to her. “Wait up, uh, I don’t even know your name.”
Shrugging, she walked forward until she was on the intersection where the man had run from originally. “Claire. And, it’s a wizard thing. Don’t worry about it.”
Claire did not like what she saw. There were several cars with giant dents in them, cracked windshields, and the door to the store— her target— was lying splintered in the middle of the sidewalk. And there were two guys with giant swords going at each other in the street.
“See why I was running?” The man said, catching up. “I’m Lucas, by the way.”
“Mm,” Claire said. “I’m just going to walk on the side and hope they don’t see me. Follow.”
Shrugging, the man agreed. Walking side by side now, she noticed Lucas reach into his belt to pull out two of the larger knives from his sheath. Mirroring him, she opened up her spellbook also.
They entered the store without a hitch. “Cashier must be in the back,” Claire said, seeing nobody at the counter. Looking back, she saw Lucas leaning against the door frame, twirling a knife in his hand. Seeing that he didn’t respond, she filled up her bag with bottled water, canned food and some utilities, like rope and a lighter before walking back to the front of the store.
Setting her bag down, she noticed a spot of red on the counter. Blood? She stood up on her tiptoes, getting a glance at the floor behind. There was a girl lying face down, a million tiny cuts all over her skin, even below her shredded company polo. Something was sticking out of her back.
The black handle of a knife.
Whirling around, shocked, time seemed to slow as she saw a grinning Lucas throw three black knives at her. It was him?!
Clutching on to her spellbook, she breathed out an incantation.
“[Shield]!”
An opaque magical shield sprung up between Claire and the knives, which clattered against the shield uselessly. Feeling her mana drain with each impact, she put her palm up in a ‘stop’ motion, and pushed it at Lucas, willing her barrier to move similarly.
As he stumbled backwards into the sidewalk, time seemed to go back to its original speed. Realizing the danger, Claire casted a [Blade Ward], her shaking hands forming the spell just barely before Lucas could steady himself.
Still grinning creepily as he wiped dust off of his shoulder— the one she had healed— he locked eyes with her. His voice had none of his earlier warmth or emotion, making the laugh that cane next something that chilled her to the bone. “I always like it when they fight back a little.”
“That… that was you,” Claire let out, lifting her spellbook up. She rifled through the spells she had available, blade ward, mind spike, and spark, thinking what would work to get herself safe.
Lucas bent down and recovered one of the knives from the ground, only taking his eyes away from hers for a moment. “Uh huh,” he replied, aiming another knife. “I can tell you’re going to be more fun, though. Claire.” He said her name slowly, teasing out every syllable. "What a beautiful name.”
Cursing her decision to leave the apartment without practicing more spells, she read out the incantation for a [Spark] from her spellbook. A tiny shimmer of fire appeared at her fingertip, shooting forward and implanting itself into Lucas’ chest. Grunting in pain, he hurled his knife while drawing a larger dagger from another sheath. It sailed through the air before meeting Claire’s ward, which shattered after deflecting the weapon.
She turned and ran, fingers moving less jerkily now, already casting another [Blade Ward]. Before she could, though, two things struck her lower back in quick succession. Her defensive spell came up, and Claire reached down to feel the impact point with her hand. It came back red.
Stolen story; please report.
Lucas, holding a dagger now, rushed towards the [Blade Ward], slashing at the spell with the weapon and throwing angry fists at it with his left hand. As the runes began to dim, Claire began forming the runes for a [Mind Spike] in her head. Not knowing what to expect, she released the spell, which left her own mind reeling as it felt like something had eated a corner away from it.
Her consciousness brushed Lucas’, and in her head she could see a psychic spike drive itself into his. Reeling, the man let out a roar of pain, dropping to his knees as Claire, having recovered already, took this opportunity to dash into another aisle, hoping to escape.
He did not let her.
As she ran, an intense pain shocked her from where the knife had hit her earlier. Poison? Falling to the ground, spellbook still in hand, Claire’s mind flashed to the girl behind the counter with Lucas’ knife in her back. All of those tiny cuts… from a knife coated with poison made to inflict only pain? She shuddered.
Claire’s ward also shuddered as the man… no, monster… jumped on top of her, dagger in hand. The spell only slowed his momentum as he fell straight on top of her. He pried the spellbook out of Claire’s grasp, pushing it out of her reach.
His knife’s edge ran slowly down from her collarbone to her shoulder, and Claire screamed.
She desperately tried to form the runes for a Mind Spike in her head, but lost focus completely when the dagger made a similar cut from the base of her neck to her armpit.
“Shut up.” Lucas tore out the strip of cloth between his cuts, bunching it together. Setting the dagger on the ground, he forced Claire’s jaw open and pushed it inside.
She took this opportunity to push the terrible, terrible knife away, but her plan backfired as the spinning blade slashed along the top of her thigh. A wave of pain hit her, and her whole body tensed. Lucas was thrown up a few inches, but when he crashed back down, he knocked the breath out of her. His other hand snaked around her neck, and a wave of terror hit her as it constricted.
Her world went dark before she could confirm the [Mind Spike] she was trying to cast had been successful.
{Continuing report…}
December 21, 9:16 AM
Cloud Sector, Plane: Earth
The sea had receded in Daoist Clearstar’s soulscape. But where it had been, nine intricate blue-white pillars had appeared in a circle. Each were exactly the same as the others, and the runescript running up and down the pillars glowed faintly. The sea had begun to move, forming a whirlpool centered around the center of the nine pillars.
This is where she would focus her efforts for the rest of Foundation stage. The runes would automatically convert the misty chi into liquid, expanding her sea as long as she had energy to spare, so all that would be needed now would be the forming of a device that could compress the liquid chi into a crystalline solid form which she would mold and turn into her Cultivator’s Core.
But that was the Fourth realm, and Clearstar had only one Gate open. About time we rectify that.
A slight shift in her perspective led to the appearance of the Gates. One above each of her pillars, but that was irrelevant. Right now, only one was lit, meaning that she could only fully access the first Gate. Two others were dim, meaning that she met the requirements to attempt an opening.
Clearstar directed two tendrils of chi, which pierced the entranceway of the two dim Gates simultaneously. A moment later, she was face to face with the immortal.
“Look.” He says. “I don’t want to spend more time that I need to.”
“Of course,” replies Clearstar. “I think the first few weeks after integration are the most entertaining.”
The immortal laughs. “Not for the mortals down there.”
“I suppose not. How’s, ah, she doing?”
“About to get killed. Just like last time, I suppose, if your earlier story is true.”
“Yeah, I expected as much. Well, I’m sure things will end up fine.”
The immortal laughs again. “I’m in much better mood now. The lack of chi earlier was… not pleasant.”
“Agreed!” Clearstar gestures with her hand. “May we talk business?”
“Ah, business. I suppose so. The mark and the Gates, no?”
“Yes, honored immortal.”
“We’ll keep the mark there, for now.” He sees Clearstar’s frown before her muscles can even execute it. “Toned down, of course. Just to make sure you don’t make contact before the natives have a Gate opened by themselves.”
“Naturally.” Clearstar waits for him to continue.
“And the Gates… I don’t think that will be a problem at all. Now that you have more than a few motes of chi, the Guardians won’t stand a chance.”
Clearstar smiles and snaps her fingers, forming an illusion of sparkles appearing. “Entirely true, honored immortal.”
“Let’s not waste either of our energies, then.”
“That’s more than I could have wished for.”
Clearstar appears where she was, in her soulscape, with three bright Gates.
It would have been annoying to need to explore the Realms just to open these Gates. Once she reached Core, though, Clearstar doubted that the immortal would let her skip the delve. Smiling outwardly, she cleared her mind, and returned to cultivation. The ocean of chi pulsed with her breathing, and the misty winds swirled in tune with her thoughts.
{Continuing report…}
December 21, 9:17 AM
Cloud Sector, Plane: Earth
Claire opened her eyes, thankfully not dead. Her mana had replenished a fair bit while she was unconscious, but she was still crushed underneath Lucas’ unmoving body. She struggled a bit to free her arms, but the hand that had held them didn’t resist as she pulled. His other hand, still wrapped around her neck, was harder to pull off, but she managed to pry his fingers loose.
She heaved him off of her, albeit taking a few more attempts than she would have hoped, and stood up, pulling his makeshift gag out of her mouth as she did so. Her spellbook was thankfully undamaged, still lying on the ground where Lucas had pushed it. She picked it up, and as soon as her hands met the leather, a rush of system boxes appeared in her vision.
Spell Leveled!
Due to casting Minor Healing successfully for the first time, its level has increased! 0 → 1 Spell Leveled!
Due to casting Shield successfully for the first time, its level has increased! 0 → 1 Spell Leveled!
Due to casting Spark successfully for the first time, its level has increased! 0 → 1 Spell Leveled!
Due to casting Mind Spike successfully for the first time, its level has increased! 0 → 1 Spell Progressed.
Due to casting Mind Spike successfully, its proficiency has increased!
Cantrips (3/3)
Lvl. 1 Spark
- You conjure and project a mote of fire from an extended finger. Damage and range is determined by Intelligence and Wizard levels. Components: Verbal, Somatic.
Lvl. 10 Blade Ward - Flexible
- You extend your hands, tracing runic sigils in the air around you. Weapon attacks and ranged spell attacks are stopped by a runic barrier, its duration and strength being determined by Intelligence and Wizard levels. Components: Somatic.
Lvl. 1 Mind Spike
- You drive an invisible spike of energy into the mind of another creature you can see. Strength of the disorientation and damage is determined by Spirit and Intelligence. This may be contested by the target’s Wisdom. Components: N/A First Circle (2/2)
Lvl. 1 Shield
- You conjure an opaque magical shield that protects you. Shield response time, strength, and maneuverability are determined by Intelligence and Wizard levels. Components: Verbal.
Lvl. 1 Minor Healing
- You chant and channel energy through your hands, and heal the target equal to the energy expended. Efficiency is determined by Spirit and Cleric levels. Components: Verbal, Somatic.
Dismissing them, she resolved to practice her spells more as she turned to look at Lucas. His poison still stung her, but it was a million times better than the lancing bolts of pain she had felt when the poison was still fresh.
Her heart fell when her mind flashed over to the poor girl behind the counter. All the cuts across her body, the poison that seeped into her would have been agony. Claire had screamed like a baby when he made the first cut, and would have screamed more if she hadn’t been gagged just after. That girl had more cuts by an order of magnitude, at least.
Anger filled Claire as she looked at Lucas’ body. By the time she calmed down, his corpse was obscured by the smoke branching up from his scorched body, his flesh blackened and melted by her flood of magical flame.
Spell Progressed.
Due to casting Spark successfully, its proficiency has increased! ... Spell Progressed.
Due to casting Mind Spike successfully, its proficiency has increased! Spell Leveled!
Due to casting enough Sparks to make a flamethrower, its level has increased! 1 → 2
[Class leveled up!]
Wizard 1 → 2
Due to your abilities demonstrated in combat, you have learned new spells! Open Spell List?
Claire didn’t have the heart to look at her new spells. I killed someone today.
A part inside of her said that she would have to kill many more. The other pledged to never need to kill someone again. Stepping over the burning corpse, Claire poured her mana in her healing spell, patching up the cuts from Lucas’ poisoned dagger. As she went back to the main aisle, hoping to get out of the store with her bag— still on the counter, she noticed— as quickly as possible, she heard something that was the last thing she wanted.
The chimes tingled sweetly as a bearded man in a black jacket, who looked like he just took a bath in blood, stepped through the front door. His sword was held on top of his shoulder, and then he saw her. His eyes flashed and he seemed to grow even bigger than he was already. “Hello,” he said, in a voice that sounded to her just as evil as the warrior looked.
You have received a new Quest.
Claire stopped dead in her tracks, everything just catching up. Her breathing was erratic and heavy. “Please,” she begged, as the tears came. “I just want to go home.”
{Continue topic? … Denied.}
{Report complete.}