February 27, 492 U.C.
They say that silence is golden. After nearly a month with Dad, I agreed with it. With a long sigh, I walked up to Dad’s room with a tray in hand.
I knocked and said a silent prayer for patience while considering another trip to the wilds. “Doing alright, Dad?” I asked. “I have breakfast.”
“No,” Dad snarled. “I have a ball of damn hellfire in my chest. I’d rather be in hell! I think Satan must have used Vuln as the model!”
“Sorry,” I said and handed him the tray.
Dad’s eyes were bloodshot. He had a beard growing, and a foul smell emanated from him.
“When did you last shower?” I asked and slapped my hands over my mouth.
“Fuck off, Casey!” Dad bellowed. “If you make one more smart-ass remark, I’ll force you to train for a month! Now, clean the house!” He slammed the door.
I darted back to the kitchen.
“He shouldn’t yell at you like that,” Ela said with a frown.
“He’s just struggling,” I said. “And don’t go annoying me by popping it up again.”
“There are other options, you know. I promise that you won’t be hurt!”
“No, Ela. I can’t do that.”
“Ugh!” Ela groaned. “What’s with your Dad anyway?”
“He’s just in a mood after killing a fish. I need to clean.”
I then spent several eternities cleaning. It was difficult. I kept getting distracted, and I couldn’t even sing as I worked. So, I scrubbed and scrubbed in quiet.
Time slowly ticked by. When I was finally finished, I debated what to do next. I was tempted to go try to make some friends or to explore more ruins. Deciding on the latter, a ring filled the air.
I walked over to the television and saw a familiar face. An older man with thinning gray hair, a round face, and a mustache was on the display. I grinned. “Hi, Grandpa!”
“Hello. Is Mike there?”
“Yes. How are you?” I asked, studying his suit. He was always in a suit, and he was always quite stiff. That day was no exception because he didn’t answer my question.
“Get him, please.”
At least I knew he wasn’t an imposter. I headed over to Dad’s room. I knocked. “Dad, Grandpa’s on the phone.”
“What does he want?” Dad groused.
“I’m not sure. Want me to tell him to try again later?”
“No. I’ll get it.” Dad let out an audible groan.
I wandered back to my room and started playing a video game. Then I got a call on my desk. “Grandpa?” I asked in surprise as I answered.
“How did the potion turn out?”
I looked over and studied it. “It seems to be working. I had to add some mana using some creative methods. I should warn you that I won’t be able to bulk-produce them since I have to go find mana-rich materials.”
“We have additional supplies for you.”
“Do you want to brew them this early?” I asked.
Grandpa paused for a moment. “Yes. But we have another matter; there is someone that I believe has magic. We’d like you to verify. Then we’ll use the potion.”
I nodded. “Where?”
“Wear your disguise. Meet me at my home. Your alias is Viper.” Grandpa reached forward.
I waved. “See you soon.” The video feed ended. I rapidly removed the ocular computer and picked up my new amulet. I put it on and shifted to a girl with big eyes and bleached blonde hair. Darting to the closet, I put on a purple and black dress with tights and gloves. Finishing it with some sneakers, I grabbed the potion and used Time Stop.
Surrounded by silence, I willed myself to my grandfather’s spacious home. It was four stories tall and elaborate. There were windows everywhere. The door was polished oak with an ornate, ancient knocker. He had a large lawn with trees. Honestly, I wondered what it would be like to live in a mansion like this. With a look of awe, I grabbed the knocker and clunked it repeatedly. Cool! I continued clunking the strange thing.
The door swung open, revealing my grandfather and some stiff fellow.
“No curtsy?” The stiff, entitled fellow smacked my hand away from the knocker.
I rolled my eyes at Lord Fancypants. Then I glanced back at the knocker and considered another round.
“Come inside, Viper,” Grandpa said. “We have a friend of a friend who may be ready.”
I walked into the home and followed Grandpa, glancing around at the fancy place. There was a chandelier above that bounced off pictures and the polished tile floor. I rapidly searched the pictures, finding my dad, but not myself.
Failing my quest to find my picture, I followed Grandpa into a room. It was equally nice, with a hardwood desk, immaculate white carpet, bookshelves, chairs, and a boy sitting on a couch. As I don’t have his name, I shall call him Pinocchio.
I tried and failed to sense any mana from him. With a frown, I waved my hand in the air. I couldn’t feel the mana in it either.
“She’s Viper?” Pinocchio asked. “Pitiful.”
Grandpa turned towards me. “Viper, please.”
I moved forward and touched his shoulder. “I can’t find anything in him. We could try it, but I do not promise anything. I could get some fresh Vuln meat and produce. I have some of that.”
“I’m not eating that!” Pinocchio protested.
Grandpa frowned. “What exactly have you done to prepare?”
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Pinocchio glared at me. “I’ve tasted the food. And I had some exposure when we visited Vuln for a few days.”
I went and took a seat on one of the white chairs. This seemed a poor idea and a waste of my mana. It’d take me hours to get enough to go back.
“Call his father,” Grandpa said with a frown. “I’m not wasting expensive potions on those without real preparations.”
“We could test. Viper, you mentioned native food?” Fancypants asked.
“Sure. Here’s some jerky.” I tossed a bag to Pinocchio. Then I ate some, enjoying the spicy, smokey flavor.
Seeing me eat it, Pinocchio took a piece. Then he coughed, shooting the jerky across the room. “I want hers,” he whispered.
I zipped and tossed him my bag. “Your funeral.”
The boy ate another piece with watering eyes. Then he chucked it across the room, sending pieces tumbling out onto the carpet. With a furious glare, I picked it up, throwing away the pieces that had escaped.
“I’ll contact his father,” Fancypants said with a sigh.
Grandpa sighed and walked towards a screen. “Tell him that we aren’t going to endlessly supply potions.”
The two began talking to some man on the screen. It was all cloak and dagger, hence the codenames that I’ve made up. Growing bored with it, I resumed eating the jerky, savoring each piece.
“What’s wrong with you?” Pinocchio asked.
I grinned. “I have magic. Once you get it, this isn’t bad. And you will burn way more calories.”
Pinocchio rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right.”
I used haste and stood. Pulling out lipstick, I smeared it on my lips and kissed his cheeks. I grinned at the purple smears. Then I dropped the spell and skipped back to my chair.
“What the hell?” Pinocchio said as he nearly toppled over.
Grandpa turned and laughed. “You brought that on yourself.”
“Then why does she still look human?” Pinocchio turned back to me in confusion. “Why?”
I reached into my bag. “Nope. I’m not here to give that information.” I pulled out a book and started reading it.
“Wait – Are you Platinum?” Pinocchio asked.
I paused and concocted a lie, hoping to use this to my advantage. “No. We did meet. That’s how I got her powers.”
“You can take powers?” Pinocchio leapt from his seat.
The more I considered it, the better it sounded. I could sell it if I could figure out how to free-cast. I grinned and nodded at him.
Pinocchio’s grin grew. Greed spread across his face. “What other ones do you have?”
Are they sure about giving it to this guy? I mused on that and then realized he was waiting. “I’m not here to answer questions about me.”
Pinocchio shot towards the screen and joined the conversation, begging someone for magic. Trusting Grandpa, I pulled out my book and read.
After a minute, Grandpa hung up the call and walked towards me. “Viper, the potion please.”
I got up and handed it to him.
Grandpa studied it. “Please stay in case we need magical aid.”
“He needs to med-pod,” I said. “It will hurt him. This will be worse than killing something.”
Pinocchio paled. “Are you serious?”
I nodded with a grim look. “Yes. You need mana to get magic. That means you need mana inside you. If you can’t kill something, you can’t survive this. That is not an exaggeration. The potion is worse than killing. It might kill you.”
Pinocchio suddenly second-guessed his choice. “Maybe I should try that first.”
“Viper? Could you get something for him to kill?” Grandpa asked.
I sighed. “Nope.”
Grandpa frowned. “Explain?”
“Do you know how much it costs to jump planets? It’s not cheap. I need three hours before I can make it to Vuln. So, I’d need half a day to make two more jumps.”
“We’ll set something up later,” Grandpa said. “My apologies.”
I watched them leave, errantly looking at the photos again. Maybe my picture’s in his office or something. The door opened and clunked shut. I pulled out my book, listening to footsteps.
Grandpa walked into the room. “How long do you need?”
“Two and a half more hours.”
“Leave when you can.”
Disappointment surged through me. “Grandpa!” I protested. “Can’t we talk or something? I never get to visit, and we never talk.”
“I’m quite busy today.” He walked off.
I sighed and began meditating, slipping off into my forest for another check. After all, I’d finally hit level seven.
~~~
Appearing in my grove, I waved at Ela and bolted to the trees.
“Casey!” Ela groaned. “Stop taking off your computer! And summon me!”
“I can’t right now.”
Ela groaned, flew over, and bonked me on the head repeatedly.
“Stop that.” I swatted at her.
“You’re being mean, Casey!” Ela landed on my head with a heavy plop.
I headed for my trees, stopping at Haste first.
Tier 5 User Time Dilation Select One: - Time dilation doubled. Cost doubled. Force transference reduced to half. - Cost halved. Force transference doubled. - Cost quartered.
Hit harder or faster? Faster! I grabbed the first one. Spinning, I flared my skirt and touched Teleport.
Tier 2 Teleport Select One: - Range removed. Mana cost quadrupled. - Mana cost reduced by up to 93.75% for closer range jumps. No reduction after a hundred and twenty-eight meters.
Ugh. I should remove the range. Then I could teleport people around. Opting for the greater good, I grabbed that one.
Spinning, I touched Time Stop.
Tier 2 Time Stop Select One: - Mana cost reduced by 50% to transfer things between the planes. - Demiplane may now experience controlled time. Cost doubled.
How am I going to use time in it? I guess I could patch up or heal. That’s useful. The cost is always good. I grabbed the cost reduction. Then I touched the others. My pocket dimension had doubled in size. The others hadn’t changed, but I noticed a new sapling. I bolted over to it.
Tier 1 Enhanced Body.
-Caster’s body is enhanced by a factor of two One mana per caster second.
I slipped back out of the place before Ela could yell at me again.
~~~
Looking around Grandpa’s room, I sighed. Then I began sneaking through the house in a game of find-my-picture. For any wondering, I lost that game and left the place filled with frustration.
Current Level 7 Current XP 2.12% Current Max Mana 514.86 Regen per minute 1.23 Growth Time (Days) 4.40 Potential Mana 33.16 Reputation 1000
Tier Skill Cost Tier 6 User Time Dilation (Haste)
- User experiences 64 seconds for 1 earth second.
- Force transference limited to 12.5%. 2 mana per earth second. Tier 3 Pocket Dimension
- 16 cubic meters of pocket space. 16 mana Tier 3 Time Stop
- Caster leaves spacetime. They may remove and place things back in spacetime.
- Time does not pass in the demiplane. 200 mana to cast.
Variable cost to move items in and out. Tier 3 Teleport.
- Teleports the caster or a willing creature. 200 mana for the caster.
400 mana for a willing creature. Tier 2 Attire Swap
- Locked to a single outfit. Current outfit set to Magical Girl Uniform.
- Attire cleaned on swap. 20 mana. Tier 1 Enhanced Body
-Caster’s body is enhanced by a factor of two. 1 mana per caster second. Tier 1 Enchanting. Variable cost. Tier 1 Potions. Variable cost. Tier 1 Free casting
- Cast any spell you can replicate. Variable cost. Penalty of 8x mana. Tier 1 Familiar Manifestation. 20 mana to cast. 1 mana for each additional minute.