July 31, 491 U.C.

A nice, soft breeze rolled through Valta, bringing in the forest's smell. The sun shone brightly, lighting rooftops covered with solar panels. And the terraformer sent out a small torrent of oxygen, slowly altering the atmosphere. In short, it was a glorious day in the city, and I was stuck in a room with carcasses and blood.

I carefully skinned the raptor. “Where’d you get this?”

Job pointed to a mistake. “There are some hunters here. They hunt using drones. Of course, if they get real mana creatures, they lose drones. - Sharpen it again.”

Using rapid strokes, I sharpened it on a rod. “Why do it then?”

“Guardians like it. There is a nice premium. Since you have to catch fish the old-fashioned way, most don’t do it.”

I giggled. “The killing.”

Job paused and studied her. “Yes. Is that how you did it?”

“No. That’s complicated. And it’s why I can’t contact them.” Slicing downward, I carefully removed the rest. Then I spun and grinned.

“Better… How?”

“Didn’t Dad talk to you? I figured he did.”

Job examined the carcass. “Break down the rest. Precise, clean cuts. Get used to the blade. And I’ll talk to your father. He mentioned some things. He didn’t mention this.”

I wiped my large knife clean. Then I resumed butchery duty. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was helping me get some practice. Time ticked by while I worked. Job kept coming in and out as the door chimed.

“How are you?” Stacey called as she walked in.

I spun away from the carcass. “Hi, Stacey!”

“Don’t work too hard. You’re young.”

“I need it for college though.” That was my de facto lie and half-truth. You can’t exactly tell people that you are working to overthrow your overlords.

Stacey chuckled. “You’re too young to be thinking about that.”

“Maybe.” I peered out at her. She was holding a cookie. Bolting to the nearby sink, I washed up and zipped up to her, coming to a screeching halt that rang through the shop.

“Slow down!” Job barked from outside.

I took the cookie. “Thanks!”

Stacey chuckled. “Anytime. Why don’t you help out front?”

“She needs to practice,” Job called.

“No, she doesn’t. She’s twelve!” Stacey yelled back. “Come on, Casey.”

I followed her with a smile. Yes, I should have stayed to practice. But I wanted a cookie break. So, I followed her up to the shop, waving at Job.

Job chuckled. “I guess I got outvoted. We can talk more tomorrow.” He headed into the back.

I bit into the amazing peanut butter cookie. It was still soft and warm. The temptation to shove the entire thing into my mouth grew. Instead, I ate slowly.

Stacey watched me. “How is it? I changed some things.”

I swallowed my bite. “Amazing! You can add it to the board.”

Stacey chuckled. “I don’t know if it has the impact it once did.” She looked over to her display.

I giggled. Similar statements from me dotted it. “It’s still true.”

“Thanks.”

“Are your kids coming to visit?” I asked and took another bite.

“That got canceled, sadly. Portal fees were a bit high. We’ll visit them over the holidays.” Stacey straightened things and sighed.

“Doing alright?” I asked quietly.

“Vuln is cheap, but it’s a struggle. We're thinking of moving,” Stacey said softly.

“I understand,” I said quietly.

Stacey spun; her ponytail swung as she walked over and hugged me. “Don’t worry. We’ll still visit if we do.”

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

I hugged her back. A chime rang, and the board displayed an order. I zipped over and began packing a basket for a drone. Placing in a few packages of meat and some bread, I carefully packed it and held it out.

Stacey took it and strapped it on. The drone whirred out of the little exit. “Is your dad home today?”

I looked at the clock. “Yes, I gotta go!”

“Bye!” Stacey chuckled again.

I waved and shot through the door, zipping down the streets. At the midway point, I leapt over a massive pothole. What the heck? I peered into it while a drone whirred overhead.

“The guardians are handling it,” the police drone said. “Please avoid and move along.”

I turned and ran home. Skidding up to the house, I carefully opened the door. Tiptoeing, I snuck through the front room and down the hall, slipping into my room.

Then I took a seat at my desk and pulled out my chemistry kit. For those still wondering, the plan had a lot of steps. The first was all about giving magic to others. I needed to be able to make a new, better potion that didn’t turn humans into fae but still gave magic. That meant I needed to learn potions.

So, I took a seat and resumed my practice, carefully measuring and pouring materials. I could over-hype this, but I won’t. Chemists know what I mean. Failed potions are largely boring. They just sit there. However, if you add the right ingredients, you can make them into something exciting.

Hearing my dad walk down the hall, I did just that, adding potassium chlorate and sugar just before he walked in.

“Stop lighting them on fire,” Dad said with a sigh as he walked inside.

“It was a valid experiment.” It wasn’t.

“It wasn’t.” Dad sighed. “Where were you?”

“Training with Job.”

He deliberated that. “Work on the potions now, please.”

“I am.” I turned back and reread the notes. Okay. I think that was closer. I just need stronger herbs. Maybe they have some at the community center. “I need fresh herbs.”

“I’ll pick them up for tomorrow’s practice. Anything else?”

I shrugged. He turned and walked out. Turning back, I began cleaning it all up, which wasn’t very exciting. An invasion siren blared.

“Don’t even think about it,” Dad yelled from down the hall.

I sighed and took my supplies to the kitchen sink. Then I began cleaning.

Ela fluttered out, landing on the spigot. “Casey! There’s a guardian here who wants to talk to you!”

“Pass!”

“Come on!”

Quest Report to the Guardians! Rewards 100 Reputation

Shop access!

Lots of friends!

Plushies!

Candy!

I giggled. “Seriously? Like someone trying to lure me into a van? Nice try!”

“Do it! Do it!…”

While the devil chanted, I carefully rinsed and set the beakers aside. A boom blasted through the air as the ground shook, nearly sending them all to the floor.

“Ela? What the heck is that?”

“Don’t go over there right now. Fanged Fury has got it.”

I smiled. “AI! Fanged Fury stream!”

The image popped up in the corner of my contacts. Then I got to watch him in action.

~~~

The building next to the pothole came into view. Fanged Fury, who looked to be roughly seventeen, stood there for a moment. With long black hair, sharp canines, and long ears, he looked like an actor in a teen vampire movie. With a glaive in hand, he dashed forward and leapt, swinging his blade through the massive grub thing that was three meters in diameter.

Green fluid began leaking from it. Landing on top, he began stabbing it repeatedly. Fluid sprayed out. The grub slammed into the ground, sending Fury flying.

Fang landed on the ground. Racing forward, he launched into the air. The grub tried to eat him, opening a massive maw with strange suckers. Fury slashed into it on his way past; goo splattered onto the ground.

Honestly, I was glad that I had no part in the mess. The large grub was surprisingly quick, lunging for Fury. Fury seemed to speed up. He dashed forward and hammered his glaive into the bug, sending out gouts of the fluid and making it thrash.

Fury vaulted back while drones whirred in. They unloaded into the wound, sending a torrent of metal into it. A burst of ooze flooded out. The grub thrashed, slamming the ground.

Lights shook. The noise echoed through the kitchen. Then the grub went still as a burst of green erupted, spraying out into the streets.

Gross.

“Report to him!” Ela said with a grin.

Ignoring her, I continued watching the stream. Fury winked at the camera, shot a jaunty salute, and posed. “And that’s how we do it, folks! Rest assured that we’re here to keep you safe!”

A stream of emojis and donations flooded through the stream. I could make so much money.

Ela somehow sensed my weakness. She fluttered forward. “You could stream too! And you could get a plushie from him! Come on, let’s go.”

Her little avatar began spastically trying to get me to go to the door. Instead, I carefully dried my chemistry supplies and took them back to my room.

Errantly, I glanced at the stream and wondered what that would be like. Then I closed it. You can’t, Casey. They’ll kill you. I walked over to the mirror and took off my amulet. Looking at my appearance, I tried to remember what I looked like before I got magic. I remembered the platinum hair, short nose, and ears. The rest remained elusive; maybe this was how I always looked.

Putting my amulet back on, I headed to my room. Then I sat down and began studying.

Current Level 3 Current XP 15.54% Current Max Mana 28.97 Regen per minute 0.16 Growth Time (Days) 1.74 Potential Mana 1.2 Reputation 250

Tier Skill Cost Tier 2 User Time Dilation (Haste)

- User experiences 4 seconds for 1 earth second. - Costs .25 mana per earth second. Tier 1 Pocket Dimension

- 4 cubic meter pocket space 8 mana Tier 1 Enchanting Varies Tier 1 Potions Varies