Orrin studied the small black book in his hand.
Twin Book of Sending. Relic.
Other than her insistence that he clear the book after using it, Anabella hadn’t hinted that the item was a Relic. Madi had once pushed him to take the Create Relic skill from his Administrator power list. The rare and permanent magic items cost enough that even her father, one of the leaders of Dey, would be bankrupted if he purchased one.
And Anabella gave one to me without a second thought. How rich is Odrana? Orrin thought as he turned the book over. Nothing was written on either cover. Orrin wouldn’t be able to differentiate this one from a hundred versions available at stores throughout Dey.
For now, Orrin put the Relic in his pocket but didn’t store it away in his dimensional storage. If Anabella asked to see it, he couldn’t show off his trump card this early.
He pulled up the list about Maeve, Finley, and Rhys. Rubbing a thumb along the edge of Maeve’s folder, Orrin considered what he was about to do.
Anabella was calculating. She was cold. She talked about how everything she did was for the greater good of the people of Odrana and also the rest of Asmea but Orrin had watched enough documentaries and anime to know the leaders who spouted those things were after one thing only: power. If he was able to gain the trust of these three, Anabella would use them through him. He didn’t know exactly how she would ask him to do it, but Orrin would be expected to betray their trust.
Orrin’s one friend growing up was Daniel. Even when he’d become more popular and should have dropped Orrin as a friend, Daniel had carved time out for him. He’d defended him from bullies and pranks. He wasn’t perfect and they’d fought multiple times over stupid things like who would win in a fight between Superman and Batman but Daniel would never betray Orrin. Orrin had never been put in that position of power over Daniel. He never had been tested like Daniel had and facing this situation made him appreciate what his friend had gone through for the past decade.
Orrin flipped open the binder and began to read. If I become friends with any of these people, I won’t let Anabella use them. I’ll figure out how to come out on top.
A few hours before dinner, the storm outside was still raging. Orrin heard a noise at his door and looked up from the papers he’d been memorizing.
“Hello?”
A fist hammered on the door harder.
“Sorry, one second,” Orrin stood and made his way around the small table he’d been given as a desk. “I didn’t even realize these doors were locked. What do you nee-”
Orrin’s hand was on the door handle when the entire door was shoved open, smashing into his nose. His hands went up to cover the pain as he landed hard on his butt. Blinking through the flashes of lightning through the window, he stared in confusion at the guard in his room.
“Jann? What are you doing here?” Orrin tried to ask but the mumbled noises that he heard escape his mouth only further demonstrated that his nose was broken.
“Lord Sanerris sends his regards. You’re too dangerous to be left alive any longer.” Jann, the short guard who had brought him to Anabella’s prison home answered. Orrin didn’t see the knife in his hand until it entered his side.
Damage taken!
HP 85/140
“What?” Orrin stared at the knife in his side. [Side Steps] hadn’t triggered. He hadn’t noticed the weapon and [Way of the Water] hadn’t helped him. The pain slapped the breath from his lungs a moment later. “What?” he repeated.
“That’s for my brother,” Jann ripped the dagger out of Orrin and raised it above his head. “This is for trying to kill Lord Sanerris.”
As the knife moved through the air, Orrin reacted. He was on his back, bleeding from a stab wound into his lung but his training with Styx kicked in. He swung his arm into the downstrike of the dagger, taking a deep cut but deflecting the killing blow.
Damage taken!
HP 63/140
Orrin threw a wild punch, not backed by his fighting skill. For a few scrambling seconds, he forgot about [Way of the Water]. He forgot about magic. The adrenaline coursing through his body at being attacked kept him moving through the pain and he flailed like a child under the trained guard. Jann was stronger and kept him pinned down.
“Don’t fight it, boy,” Jann slugged Orrin across the face and reached for the dagger that had been knocked from his grip. “Nobody is coming to help you.”
Orrin finally let a thought into his mind and used several skills and spells in rapid succession. [Mind Bastion] closed off the pain to a dull roar as his body’s adrenaline began to sag behind. [Heal Small Wounds] clotted his two stab wounds and stabilized the bleeding enough for the moment. He twisted his body with [Way of the Water], using Rain to avoid the last few attempts of Jann to hold him down. Orrin reached for his inversed stat spells but the cold logic of [Mind Bastion] reminded him of the newly created spells from [Merge].
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[Decrease Strength]
[Decrease Strength]
[Decrease Strength]
[Decrease Strength]
[Decrease Strength]
Orrin hit Jann with five rapid casts of [Decrease Strength], watching the man’s confusion as he slumped over top of the kid he’d been sent to kill.
Orrin pushed his way out from under Jann and ran into the hallway. He bounced into something hard and unyielding. For the second time in as many minutes, Orrin found himself clutching his nose while on his ass.
“What is going on?” Anabella’s voice came from a long way away.
Orrin saw the cudgel of a second guard moving through the air. He was a fool to think Lord Sanerris would send only one person to murder him. He didn’t care why the asshole had changed his mind. Orrin felt something rising up within him. [Mind Bastion] disengaged itself as a hatred and rage that he’d kept pushed down for too many days pushed at the cage bars like a hungry tiger.
The guard’s eyes were shining behind his glasses and his lips were blue as the weapon… Huh? Those aren’t glasses. Why is he not moving?
“Orrin, are you alive? So much blood… no, bring me a health potion. Don’t just stand there, run.”
Orrin studied the ice sculpture. He’d thought it was a guard. When had Anabella put an ice statue outside his room and why was she yelling at him?
“He’s in shock,” Anabella’s voice was far away. “Don’t just leave him, bring him downstairs. No, put Orrin in my room. Send the [Locationist] to me as soon as he arrives. Go.”
Orrin felt a hand run through his hair and delicate fingers wipe blood from his face. Anabella’s eyes were wide with something between delight and frenzy as she moved Orrin’s head to stare up at her. “Don’t die on me yet.”
[Mind Bastion] turned itself back a few minutes later. Orrin wiped the blood from his broken nose and healed himself. He had to cycle an entire mana pool but the stab wound in his side closed over, his nose popped back into place with a skin-crawling crack, and the general haze that he was thinking was likely a concussion from being hit in the head by the door was clear.
He almost wished the concussion hadn’t gone away when he realized where he was. Anabella’s personal chambers. He was in her bed.
While the rest of the house was functional but spartan, Anabella’s room was covered with paintings, bookshelves, three desks with scattered papers, and a four-poster bed with an actual canopy draped over the top.
“Nice room,” Orrin muttered. Maybe the concussion isn’t fully gone. Orrin quickly cast another [Heal Small Wounds] on himself. “Did you kill the second guard or did I do that?”
Anabella was sitting at one of her desks, furiously scribbling on a piece of paper. “What? I froze him. You don’t have a spell like that do you?”
“It’s all a blur,” Orrin answered evasively. “Is Jann alive?”
“For the moment, he is.” Anabella finished writing and folded the paper into an envelope. She took a block of red wax and held it over a candle for a few seconds. A drop of the wax sealed the letter and she pressed her thumb into the hot dripping. “What was the spell you were gathering to cast on him? The one at the end before I arrived.”
Orrin shook his head in confusion. He’d felt power growing in him in the same way that he’d felt when fighting Samara, the whip-wielding right hand of the deposed Lord Wendlen. At the time, he hadn’t really known what was happening. He’d been given a prompt in his blue box and stolen Samara’s constitution points… permanently. It had only cost Orrin a few of his own constitution points.
No words in a blue box had appeared this time but Orrin had the feeling something would have happened if Anabella had been a few seconds slower with her spell.
“I can’t remember,” Orrin lied. “Everything happened so fast.”
Walking to the door, Anabella whispered something and Orrin heard footsteps running away. The letter was gone when Anabella turned back to Orrin. “Regardless, you survived. The first step of my plan proceeds unhindered.”
Orrin pushed himself into a sitting position. “Survived? You knew I was going to be… that someone was going to try—”
“To kill you, yes. Your friend the [Hero] is threatening to lead a group from Dey into the elven lands and push our troops back to the border. The only thing stopping him is reports of movement from the Demon Lord’s troops. My son sent me a letter to dispose of you quickly. He fears Daniel will learn you are alive and come to rescue you. He needs Daniel occupied with the Demon Lord for his plan to succeed.”
“What plan? Wait, are you going to kill me?” Orrin tried to process the information but he was still trying to get over the fact he’d nearly died… again.
“I told my son you were too interesting to kill days ago,” Anabella waved her hand and sat at the foot of the bed. “Our plan still holds. You’ll be at the school tonight. Follow my instructions. Don’t draw too much attention to yourself.”
Orrin scratched his side. The new skin over his ribs itched fiercely. “What are you going to do when he shows up to kill me himself? You should just let me go. I can help Daniel fight the Demon Lord and you can take over after Daniel kicks your son’s ass.”
“I do not want the [Hero] murdering my son.” Anabella’s voice chilled the air. “I will deal with Arvin. You left Jann alive. That gives me a body to work with. I can do the same to him as I’ve done for you. His appearance will look like you and if Arvin comes to check, I’ll make him scream like you would as well.”
Orrin shivered at what might happen to Jann. Sure, the guy had tried to kill him but… actually… yeah, he was fine with whatever happened to him. People kept trying to kill him. This wasn’t Earth. He needed to remember that and act a bit more ruthless. It was the only way that he would survive.
Noticing she was still watching him, Orrin gathered the courage to ask something he’d been curious about since the first day they’d met. “What kind of magic did you use to freeze that guy? Are you an [Ice Mage]?”
Anabella smiled. “That spell is a creation of mine. A long time ago, I was able to change the mana signature of a common spell to such an extreme the System rewarded me with it. It’s mana intensive but in a one-on-one situation, I’ve yet to find a better option. I’m not an [Ice Mage], although it isn’t a bad guess.”
Orrin waited but she didn’t elaborate more. “What do you mean you changed the mana signature of a spell?”
A knock on the door startled Orrin. Spells jumped to his mind and he readied for another fight.
“You’ll learn more about that in class,” Anabella said as she stood from the bed and smoothed out the wrinkles on her sleeves. “Your ride has arrived. Time to go to school.”