I think it was the shivering that woke me up.
My room didn't have a window, so I couldn't tell if it was morning. I couldn't fall back asleep though, it was way too cold in there. I decided that the first thing I was going to do this morning was to buy some decent clothes. My feet felt like ice, and my teeth were chattering. It wasn't this cold yesterday when I woke up in the dwarf woman's house, so why now?
I supposed that I should get up, go brush my teeth, shower... the whole deal. Especially since I hadn't yesterday. I felt really gross, and probably still smelled like hay. A shower would really hit the spot, I thought.
Wait a moment.
I had no toothbrush or toothpaste, and I had no clue where to go to shower. I had no comb or brush for my hair, and I didn't have any makeup. I had nothing to help with hygiene or appearances whatsoever. If sighing mentally was possible, I definitely just had. Do showers even exist in a time period like this? Is it just baths? I didn't think I was mentally prepared for a public bath. I hoped with all my heart if they were public, they had separate rooms for men and women.
Still shivering, I dangled my legs over the side of the bed then slid down a bit to put my shoes on. The dwarven woman I'd met yesterday had put some sort of animal fur on the inside, and putting my feet back into its silky goodness felt like heaven. They were still cold, but I could feel them warming.
I got to my feet and nervously checked my pocket. Whew. I still had all of my... one, two, three, four silver coins and five ten-copper coins. I was ready to go downstairs and greet the day. Hopefully not too many people, though.
A few minutes later, I was in the lobby of the Goat's Tail Inn, sitting at a table and waiting for my food.
I'd taken the liberty of asking the blonde lady I'd spoken to last night where to go to bathe. She told me there was a cheap place a few blocks down in the Gren section of the city. I had no idea where that was, and I think she could tell, but she said nothing. I did learn, though, that her name was May. Maybe it was spelled Mei, I didn't know, okay? I had overheard one of the kitchen boys calling for her.
My stomach growled. Some nice, hot food sounded really good right about now. I usually didn't go out for breakfast at home, I'd just eat a cheese sandwich or something easy like that. I wasn't very picky when it came to my food, though, and I never had much of a problem with it. I patiently waited, fidgeting with a ten-copper coin in the hand I wasn't resting my head on.
It was then, as I was about to start what should have been a fairly typical day in the world of Vis, that the first of many unfortunate occurrences during my time in Vis took place.
Someone walked up to my table, and I got excited for a moment, expecting it to be one of the kitchen boys coming out with my food. I turned my head just in time to watch three very muscular men pull out the other three stools from under the table I was sitting at and just sit there, practically cornering me. My seat was up against a wall, so when these three bald muscleheads sat down next to me, I really did get scared. They were all smiling, which creeped me out and made me shrink back in my seat.
The first one, the one who had sat right next to me, spoke after a few seconds of the three of them just staring at me. "Hey, you," he said. "what are you doing sitting at our table?" He grinned.
This was the type of situation I was least prepared for. I was terrified, but I didn't want to just give in to them/ "I-It's my table." I said, trying to sound confident. "You three can go sit somewhere else." I narrowed my eyes at them, still shaking slightly, this time not from the cold.
The second one, whose only distinguishing feature from the other two was his barely-grown mustache, didn't seem to like my answer. "Huh?" He asked, his face scrunching up in distaste. "Where the fuck does a poor little bitch like you get off speaking to the famous Altori Brothers like that?"
I was still not used to people being outright hostile to me, and I felt a knot grow in my throat. I tried to keep it up, hoping that the inn owners would do something about it. Nobody in the room did anything, though, most who had noticed just watched with mild interest. I didn't blame them for not confronting these three buff dudes, but I could really use some damned help. I fired back. "Where d-do you three chrome-dome b-bastards get off sitting at my table and calling it yours?" I gave my fiercest glare.
The first one laughed. Let's call him Altori #1. "Look at her! She dares to call us bastards, but she's shaking like a wet dwarf in winter." The other two laughed with him.
I clenched my fists. Should I use magic? No, that would give them an excuse to hit me. What do I do? I looked around for help, but none came.
Something else did come, though. One of the kitchen boys came to stand beside our table. "Your food."
I looked up at him with pleading eyes, but he just smiled like I had made a stupid joke. He handed out four bowls of what seemed to be a type of grits, or hot cereal, and a mug of some type of liquid to each of us. The three men all thanked him and he left. I was about to ignore them and start wolfing down the hot, aromatic food in front of me, when Altori #3 grabbed my bowl, tipped his head back, and downed all of the contents. I watched in shock as all of my long-awaited food disappeared down the throat of the huge man.
I felt tears start to well up in my eyes, making me even angrier. Why was I so weak? "Y-you..." I started to say, my teeth clenched. Rage flared inside of me like a campfire that had been doused in gasoline.
"Ohoho! She's mad now!" Altori #2 exclaimed, almost gleefully.
"You fucking bastards." I said, making a fist so tight I could barely feel it. I tried to swallow my anger as much as possible, and stood up to leave, barely supressing the urge to punch one of them. I was an adult, not a kid. I wouldn't be goaded into physical violence. When I tried to pass Altori #1, though, one thick arm blocked my way like a fallen tree on a road.
"Come on now, it was all in good fun!" the man said, still smiling like he didn't understand what could possibly be the problem. "Take a seat! Let's have a little talk." He leaned closer, whispering. "Sit back down, right fucking now, or we can't guarantee your safety when you leave the inn."
Terror and anger clashed in my heart. How did I get out of this?
I had two non-combat spells that I could use on these guys without causing damage to the inn. Menace and Switch. Maybe Drizzle, but a rain cloud wouldn't do me much good here.
I could easily get out of this with a Switch aimed at someone else in the room. But I didn't want to put someone else in the same situation. A Menace might not work because their intelligence might be too high, though, looking at them, it was doubtful. What could I do?
Something whispered in my ear. A male voice, deep and disgusted, in a whisper. "Just slap the fucker."
The sudden noise so close to my ear made me jump, but without a single thought further, smacking him was exactly what I did. My hand stung from the impact against his tough head, but the satisfying crack! was worth the temporary pain. So was the look on his face as I hit it, and those of his brothers when they realized what I'd just done.
I think I saw May cringe out of the corner of my eye.
I quickly learned why, because the massive man I'd just slapped let out a bellow of rage, his face bright red with anger. His huge hands shot towards me and had picked me clean off the ground before I could even flinch. My stomach lurched as he used all of his might to throw me across the room.
If you've ever been thrown nearly ten feet by another human being, you'll know what I'm talking about when I say time slows down. All of a sudden, my mind just seemed to work faster. I could see all of the surprised faces of the people in the inn, as they watched this poor woman sail through the air. Meanwhile, my thought process was something like the word 'shit' over and over. I was almost halfway through my trip through the air when I realized something.
A smile crept onto my face in that split second, as I made a decision that would drastically affect not only my life, but his too.
My mind went into overdrive, focusing on only one thought.
Switch!
I'd turned to look at the one who'd thrown me, and cast the Spatial spell, using one hundred and ninety mana in the process. I'd felt the shifting of mana within me before, but such a large amount was foreign to me. It felt as if my guts had just been sharply jolted to the right. Despite that, though, it didn't really hurt.
The Switch activated, and all of a sudden, I was standing back by the table I was supposed to eat breakfast at, beside the two Altori brothers. Just in time to see Altori #1 land head first on the hard wooden floor, his massive body shoving his skull even harder into the floor. I felt a sense of joy, of "That's what you get!" for a moment.
That was until I heard an absolutely sickening crunch come from his body, which fell limp onto the floor. I watched in horror as his falling form revealed that his neck was twisted, his head sharply tilted at an unnatural angle.
I'd broken his neck.
Your target's neck has been broken. HP -467
Congratulations! You have defeated Level 20 Human Berserker.
Level up! Level increased to 2. +5 INT, +5 WIS
Level up! Level increased to 3. +5 INT, +5 WIS
Level up! Level increased to 4. +5 INT, +5 WIS
You did not directly kill this individual, so experience is reduced by 20%.
Because of the considerable gap in levels between you and your target, experience has been increased by 10%.
Illusion Spell Gained: Basic Object
Conjuration Spell Gained: Rope Bind
Nature Spell Gained: Call Treefolk
Beware! You have killed a citizen of Redfalls in a public place. The guards will be after you!
I'd just killed a man. Barely sparing a single thought about it, I'd made him fall and break his neck. He was dead because of me. No matter how many times I rephrased it in my head, I still couldn't get it to sink in. The overwhelming fear and guilt, though, were deep-rooted by now.
Multiple screams came from the inn's guests. The two Altoris rushed to their dead brother's side. Someone rushed out the door, presumably to call the guards. The kitchen boys poked their heads out of the doors to see what was going on. May was trying to calm everyone down.
Through it all, I just stood there in a daze. I watched the two brothers, their tearful faces stricken by grief, pleading their fallen brother to wake up. The reality of the situation didn't hit me until a few minutes later, when both of my arms were roughly grabbed by armored city guards, and I was dragged out of the Inn. Even then, though, I barely noticed until later on. My arrest was met with zero resistance.
---
I'm a monster, I told myself. Was what he did to me really so bad that I had to kill him?
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No, I retorted inside of my head. You had no idea that would happen. If you hadn't you may have been the one with a broken neck.
Did you see his brother's faces? The way they cried? How can I justify that? I should have just sat back down and listened to what he wanted. If it was going to be that bad, I could have gone to the guards. What was I thinking? It's only my third day here and already, I've... I stopped myself there. I'd been having mental debates inside my head for a while now, still trying to justify my own actions.
What had I done?
I buried my face in my hands. This wasn't supposed to happen. I wasn't supposed to go to jail for murder. They weren't supposed to take all of my money away. I wasn't supposed to be put on trial tomorrow, determining whether or not I'd be executed. It wasn't supposed to be this way.
Yet here I was, pitying myself all alone in a prison cell. The hunger gnawed at my stomach no longer mattered to me. I just wanted to be somewhere else. Anywhere else. Even that cave with the damned goblins would be better, as long as I didn't have to sit here and think about what I'd done.
That's right, I could just forget about what happened. Maybe I could learn a spell that would wipe it from my memory. That way, I wouldn't have to deal with this guilt. I buried my face further into my hands.
"Hey, you!" came a voice from my right. I turned to see an eye looking through a hole in the dirty, mossy prison wall. "What's got ya so down? Someone take your birthday away?" Cackling rang out through my little cell, making my head start to ache.
"Fuck off," I muttered to the person, who I assumed to be a woman. I'd really had quite the potty mouth lately, now that I thought about it.
That made her cackle even louder. "I heard about what ya did. Killed big ol' Andre Altori. But you an' me, kid, we might get let off easy." I could practically hear the grin on her face growing.
"How so?" I asked, sniffling.
"Well, kid, y'see, the judge at our trials tomorrow is a bit of an oddball," she said. "I hear he's got a soft spot for damsels in distress, like you an' me. Especially the ones who can use magic." She cackled once again, making my head throb with pain.
"How did you know I can use magic?" I asked, defensive. "What did you even do, anyway?"
"Ya're the talk of the town, sweetheart! Ya even got a bounty on your head just in case you make it out of here." She paused. "And as for what I did, well..." She snickered a little. "I used my magic to kill a buncha dwarves," she said, laughing louder. "Always hated the little buggers. One Rage spell on the one with the biggest hammer, and he kills more than twelve other ones before the rest even notice!" She was really cracking up.
I was, to say the least, disgusted.
This woman made my crime seem like child's play. She was certainly no damsel in distress. She'd purposely made someone kill many of their kinsmen, just on the basis of their race. It did make me feel a little bit better, but I made a mental note to steer clear of this chick.
Soon, she had finished her laughing fit. She got all quiet. "So," she whispered. "Why'd ya kill Andre? Did he do what he does with all the girls?"
I felt a spike of anger rise inside of me. "What do you mean?"
She snickered. "Ya don't know? Well, I'll let you in on a little secret."
I shifted uncomfortably. I had a bad feeling about this.
The woman was almost whispering. "He and his brothers find a girl they like, threaten her, then force her to come with them on an 'adventure'," she began. "They take her to some dungeon, clear out the monsters using her as bait. When it's all clear, I hear they take turns with her while the other two keep watch, then kill her and report to the authorities that she died to monsters or some lame excuse like that." She laughed harder. "I bet I could come up with way better ones than that."
I felt like throwing up. How incredibly close was that? If I had chosen to listen to him, I may have had to listen to his demands, and eventually...
The iron gate to my cell slammed open. A guard stood in the doorway, spear in hand. "Your trial has been moved up, prisoner," he said gruffly. "You can go the easy way, or the hard way." I looked up at him, and for a moment thought about using Switch to trap him in the cell and try to escape. I didn't think I could use it without feeling the guilt from last time, even if the glowing metal band around my neck didn't prevent me from casting spells.
I decided to go the easy way. I stood up and let him lead me out of the prison. As I went, I heard the woman's voice call after me. "Good luck, kid! Tell my late Aunt Mildred I said hey for me when you get that cute little noggin chopped off!" Her cackling followed me all the way out of the dungeon.
When I arrived at the courtroom, I was surprised at how much it took after courtrooms from Earth. This one was all shiny and fancy, with pillars of marble and decorations made of gold. Besides that, though, there were stands for the jury, the witnesses, and for the plaintiff and defendant. Most importantly, there were three elevated marble desks, with the middle one holding the judge. All three seat-holders there were very old and looked at me with piercing eyes. In fact, when I was marched to the stand, everyone's eyes were on me. I could feel my knees start to shake underneath the stand.
In this case, I was the defendant, and the brothers Altori were the plaintiff. They had a good-looking, well-dressed man standing next to them at the stand beside mine, quietly explaining things to them. Did I get someone to defend me? Or... or would I have to do it myself?
I shuddered at the thought. I could barely think right. I'd just been crying for the last couple of hours, and now that i'd thought about it, everyone could probably see that. Talk about embarrassing,
The courtroom was filled with the general hubbub of people speaking, many of them occasionally throwing a glance my way. It was soon silenced by a mighty banging of the judge's gavel.
"Order!" he cried. "Order in the court!"
Everyone quieted down, and prepared to begin the trial.
The judge cleared his throat. "I am Judge Plainstein, the one in charge of this hearing, None will speak unless asked to. Understood?" He looked back and forth to see no complaints. "Excellent. Now, let us begin. The plaintiff claims Miss Green here should be executed for murder. The defendant claims...?" He looked towards me. Maybe he had nothing written down for me?
"S-self defense, sir." I said, very shakily.
The judge nodded. "I see. Now, I'd like to hear each f your recollections of what happened that day, starting with you, Mrs. Green."
I told Judge Plainstein that I had just stayed my first night at the Goat's Tail Inn, and explained what happened. I told him that using Switch was a measure of self defense, and that if I hadn't, I may have been the one who died to his throw.
The judge adjusted his glasses. "What you're telling me is that you cast a Spatial spell in mid-air to switch places with your attacker."
I nodded nervously. It was the truth. "Yes, sir."
He gave a big, toothy smile. "Incredible! Spatial Magic is one of the hardest magic types to cast, especially if you can't focus. You did it in mid-air and saved your own life. If you're telling the truth, you're a talented young lady, Miss Green."
I blushed and scratched the back of my neck, looking away. "T-thank you, Your Honor," I said, almost forgetting to add the title on the end again.
He nodded approvingly and turned towards the two brothers and their attorney. The latter stepped up to the stand in front of them and began to speak.
He cleared his throat. "It is my belief," he began, "that what happened to Mr. Altori was no accident." The attorney pointed a finger at me. "I believe, and I have evidence to support this, that Miss Green not only used Switch, but also some form of spatial magic to snap Andre's neck."
The crowd gasped. My heartbeat accelerated. Was this guy actually making stuff up to defend a scumbag like the one I'd accidentally killed?
"I have proof of this. First," he said. "I'd like to call up a witness, Mister Kor, to display a mem-view for all of us here today."
A short, dark-skinned man with curly black hair walked up to the stage, and placed his hand on a large purple crystal that was attached to the judge's stand. What the hell was a mem-view? Well, I suppose it was kind of obvious.
Mr. Kor's mouth opened wide and his head leaned back as a large puff of purple smoke came out from his mouth. It formed a big circle in the center of the room, and a first-person view of the incident came into view.
Mr.Kor had been sitting near the back, enjoying his meal when all of a sudden he hears something out of the ordinary. His head turns just in time to see me slap Andre, and it pauses there.
The attorney spoke again. "I have reason to believe that a delay-type spatial magic spell was applied to Andre's neck at this time. Please continue watching."
It skipped over the part where he threw me, annoyingly, and cut to where I suddenly disappeared and was replaced with Andre's massive form. It showed what happened in slow motion. As Andre careened towards the floor, his face filled with utter shock, his head began to twist back towards the direction he'd threw me from. Back towards I was.
When he landed head-first, it was this action that caused his neck to be snapped. Was this guy trying to say I forcibly snapped his neck with magic?
The judge nodded. "I see. That is a reasonable accusation, considering Miss Green is a spatial magic user." He turned to me. "Can you disprove this, Emma Green?" His eyes almost seemed hopeful.
I nodded. "Yes, Your Honor, I believe I can." I was feeling more confident now. I could do this. "I believe that him turning his head back towards that direction was p-probably pretty natural," I said, "considering he had j-just been teleported from there." I managed to stammer out.
The attorney tried to interrupt but was quickly waved off by the judge. I continued. "And, er, this is a bit embarrassing to admit as a combat-type class, but my class is Magician. Not only do I not have any such spell, my class obtains a skill that does not allow its user to directly deal damage to humanoid creatures with magical attacks." I said, feeling proud of myself.
Judge Plainstein opened his eyes wide. "A Magician, hmm? I haven't heard of one in decades." He seemed to let it sink in for a few seconds. "If that's true, and you really have no such spell, perhaps you would allow us to run an Analyze on you for proof?" he asked.
"An Analyze?" I asked, confused.
He nodded. "It allows us to see your Status, Skill List, and Spellbook. If what you say is true, and you have no other Spatial spells that would allow you to snap Mr. Aldori's neck, the plaintiff's claim will be disproved and all charges against you will be cleared. But if you do, or you lied about your class, there is not much I can do." He seemed apologetic.
I nodded. "I guess so... You can do an Analyze on me." I knew that Switch was my only spatial spell, and I was starting to feel so much better. At this rate, I really would get cleared of all my charges!
The judge nodded once more. "Scribes!" he called. "Analyze Miss Green and report to me her Class and Spellbook."
A pair of white-hooded figures filed into the room, holding a large scroll. The two came up to me, one on either side, and each placed their hand on the shoulder nearest to it. They then placed their other hands on the scroll and chanted a single word. "Analyze!" they said in unison.
All of a sudden, ink began to appear on the paper, drawing two boxes. One was my Status, which contained the information for my class, stats, and skills. The other was my Spellbook, which showed a complete list of my spells. I never got to see the finished scroll because it was brought up to the judge the second it was done. He scratched his chin, and said "Hmm..." then grinned very widely.
"I have determined that Miss Emma Green is innocent." he said, drawing many cheers and boos alike from the crowd. I felt tears welling up in the corners of my eyes. I was saved. I wasn't going to die today.
"However," he continued, silencing the crowd. "I understand many criminal groups will now wish her harm, and at her current level, she cannot defend herself. For her own safety, and taking into account her killing of a man in self-defense, Miss Green will be confined to the city for the duration of five years." Judge Plainstein decreed. "But she will not be on the streets. As an alumnus of and a part-time professor at our city's Arcane University, I reserve the right to send one young student of my choice to the school for five years on a full scholarship. I have seen Miss Emma's status, and she is beyond prodigal for her level in terms of stats and ability. Therefore, once again, I call the defendant, Miss Emma Green, innocent," He slammed the gavel down, and the trial was over.
My mouth dropped open. I couldn't tell if I was happy or sad. Happy that the judge was so generous, and that I wasn't getting executed, but sad that I had to go through five more years of school in this fantasy world,
I bowed my head. "Thank you, Your Honor..." I said, impossibly grateful.
He smiled at me. It seemed like everyone in this world was either very benevolent or downright evil. I looked over at the Altoris, who were glaring at me. I felt a surge of guilt rush through me and quickly looked away, back up towards the judge who had shown me such benevolence.
It was right then that got me thinking. I was a magician, a class almost perfectly set up to become a powerful user of spells, and now I'd been given a once-in-a-lifetime chance to attend a magic university on a full scholarship. I'd decided.
I would do my best this time around, and not mess around in school. I would learn magic to the best of my ability and make full use of the judge's generosity.
It was time to stop acting like a child and to get serious about completing my goal here on Vis. It was time to go to school.
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I'm going to start showing Emma's status screen at the end of a chapter. I'm going to redo the status screen so that skills show up in a different window (using a different table). Anyone else glad she finally gained some levels?
General Information: Present Info: Stats: (12) Name: Emma Green HP: 40/40 (1.1/min) STR: 5 Sex: Female MP: 470/470 (4.1/sec) DEX: 7 Race: Human Level: 4, 23% CON: 2 Age: 21 years Title: None INT: 57 Faction: N/A Class: Magician WIS: 78 LUC: 6
Passive Skills: Skill Level: Active Skills: Skill Level: Night Vision 1 Mana Manipulation 1 Cool-Headed 1 Sneak 1 Mana Efficiency 1 Elemental Mastery 1 Magic Pacifism N/A
Spellbook:
Spell Name: Description: Weak Fireball (30 MP) Launches a small ball of flame, igniting the target. Sandstorm (20 MP) Summons a large amount of sand to spray at a target. Gust (10 MP) Summons a rather strong gust of wind. Drizzle (30 MP) Summons a rain cloud that drops a considerable amount of water over time. Area can be increased or decreased. Menace (40 MP) Causes you to appear as a powerful monster that would scare low-level monsters away. Does not work on those with INT at least half your own. Switch (100+ MP) When used, this spell instantaneously switches your location with a target's and vice versa. Mana cost increases with the weight of the target. Rope Bind (40 MP) Conjure tough ropes that wrap tightly around your target. Call Treefolk (90 MP) Transforms nearby trees into mighty but slow creatures that will fight to protect you. Illusion: Basic Object (2 MP/sec) Makes it appear as though you are holding a small object. Can be applied to areas other than your hand, at an increased mana cost.