March 23, 492 U.C.

A light breeze rolled through Vuln. Rain drizzled from above, spattering as it hit the garden. I let out a content breath and then shut the window. Better not do it any longer.

Turning back to my studies, I sighed. It was time for English. It forced me to learn all sorts of nonsensical rules; rules that could be performed by a computer. With a sigh, I laid my head on my desk, jerking it up as the door opened.

Dad poked his head inside. “I feel like I’m ready for the potion. What do you think?”

“Can you feel it inside of you?” I asked, vaulting up and heading over. Then I put my hand on him and probed with my magic. The little orb that I made was gone. It was hard to tell if it was working.

“I can feel it,” Dad said.

“Can you flex it like a muscle?”

“No, but that may come later.”

I nodded. “That’s true. I don’t know if you are or aren’t.” I probed him with my magic, trying to find anything.

“Could you break into guardian command now?”

I shook my head. “I won’t be able to break through the wards. They are better than me. And they are much stronger. I’ll get caught.”

“Then I think it’s time. I need you to watch over me.”

I nodded nervously. “Now?”

“Yes. You know the standard response if someone stops by.”

“I do. Let me know when you are ready.” I decided to go make food.

Swinging into the kitchen, I heated pans and set a raptor steak to sizzling. I added some vegetables while licking my lips.

Minutes ticked by while Dad chatted with someone. I turned off the heat and pulled the pan, placing it aside and grabbing a plate.

“Casey, I’m ready,” Dad called.

I walked to my dad’s room. He was in the med-pod. I reached over, uncorked the awakening potion, and then helped him drink it.

Pain flashed across his face. I winced. Watching him suffer wasn’t fun. Mana can be cruel. He went still. I turned to the panel and turned on the monitoring. His vitals popped up. He seemed stable. That was the good news. I set it up to alert if anything pressing happened.

Then my stomach grumbled. I meandered back to the kitchen to retrieve my food. I made it through the meal when the doorbell rang. A familiar face popped up on the monitor, and I opened the door.

A stocky man with a graying goatee straightened his suit. Then he looked at me. “Hello, Casey.”

I grinned at him. “Hi, Uncle David. Come on in. He’s in the pod.”

“I expected.” David walked inside. “What’s for dinner?”

“Oh. Want some? It’s fresh, fair warning.”

David groaned. “Let’s get this over with. Yes, please.”

I nodded and went to cook another portion for him. Dad would be mad if I made him do it himself. I finished and placed the food in front of him. Then I wandered to my room to play some games while my uncle cursed the food.

With an eye roll, I sat down only to have the phone ring. “Hi, Grandpa.”

“We have some ready for the first step at my home,” Grandpa said.

“Viper guise?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“How many fish?”

“We need a dozen.”

“Got it. Anything else?” I asked. “I assume that David can watch Dad? He just took the potion.”

Grandpa nodded. “That’s fine.”

“Be there soon. Love -” I turned and got ready.

After changing my outfit and appearance, I teleported, appearing near a lake and splashing water all over myself. Darn it! I used Time Stop. Then I began pulling weak fish into my subspace with me. They flopped on the floor, hitting me with more water.

No, I didn’t feel great about this method of fishing. But capturing live fish is a pain; in order to keep the mana cost down, I grabbed the weakest ones, staying within the range of Time Stop that let me see clearly.

After gathering fish, I appeared near Grandpa’s house and resumed time. Then I realized my mistake. I powered down my ocular computer and knocked.

The door swung open. “Come inside, Viper,” Grandpa said stiffly.

I scowled and followed him through the halls while searching for my picture. Failing the quest yet again, I walked into a room with a fountain and a familiar face. Pinocchio was back.

“Viper!”

“Hello.” Then I debated asking his name. Is that allowed? I wondered.

Pinocchio grinned. “Good to see you. I’m ready this time!”

“Great! I’m sure it’ll go well. This will hurt a bit.” I looked at the group.

“What do we need to do?” a woman asked.

“Kill a fish. I’ll do the rest. It will hurt. I’m sorry about that.”

“I’m ready!” Pinocchio said with a grin.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I pulled out a fish, knife, and biobag. “Sure.”

To my surprise, he happily stabbed it. I put it in the bag. Then I enchanted him while a horrible sound rang through my ears. His wailing ripped through space and time, nearly shattering my eardrums. With his swan song ending, Pinocchio crumpled. Engaging haste, I snatched him so that he didn’t hit the floor.

Grandpa frowned. “I did not expect that severity.”

I hefted him back upwards. “I assume he wasn’t heavily acclimated. Do we have a medpod?”

“Yes. One moment. Are the rest ready?” Grandpa asked.

“I’m not sure. I have jerky.”

“How much acclimation is needed?” a man asked with a frown.

I turned to him. “Can you eat a meal of fresh Vuln?”

“Yes.”

“Then you’ll be fine. It will still hurt. But you can do it.”

Grandpa wheeled in a medpod. Then we hoisted the teen into it. He began toggling through things and nodded. “He’ll be fine in an hour or so.”

“Then I’d like to go,” the man said. He stood. I moved forward to repeat the process…

Now, in the name of honesty and brevity, I don’t remember it all. I remember a lot of people screaming and passing out. I also remember Grandpa being upset about the blood on his floor. He made me clean it.

When it was finally over, I headed home with a breath of relief, only to hear my cursing uncle. Grabbing headphones, I tried to drown it all out.

~~~

I looked out at the ocean on Vuln a week later. It was beautiful. The sun was bouncing off the water. The smell of surf and sand washed by. I breathed it in, savoring every moment. It would have been amazing if it weren’t for the intruders, but they were better than my cursing uncle. I’d already listened to enough of that from Dad.

The wilds were my solace from it; sadly, the wilds weren’t without problems. Using haste, I spun and punched the raptor that wanted me for a meal. It staggered backward while my wrist hurt. It was a sacrifice to make in the name of getting stronger and entertaining myself away from the house of cursing. I punched it a few more times for good measure. Then I stabbed it and raced through the rest, sending spurts of blood raining onto the ground.

I looted and then looked at the ruins. The people of Vuln had vanished. My growing belief was that the fae had lived here at some point. Sadly, real artifacts were impossible to find. That was part of the reason for my belief that they were fae.

With a sigh, I left the ruins that were bereft of anything meaningful. Looking down into a valley, I could see herds of dinosaurs. It was cool. People would have paid a fortune for the picture. I recorded it. They were munching on plants.

Ela fluttered out. “It is pretty.”

“Yes. Did the fae live here?”

“I can’t answer that. Unless…”

“Sorry, Ela.” Wait… Dibs! I raced down the hill.

There was a towering dinosaur with massive teeth; it looked sort of like a T-Rex. I wanted to kill the glowing creature.

Racing downward, I leapt and carried forward unnaturally as gravity failed to keep up. Landing on its neck, I began chopping into its head with an axe.

It tried to shake me off as blood trickled down its neck. Sadly, the slow-moving shaking was very slow. I continued chopping into flesh and bone, splattering myself.

After an eternity of chopping, it began to topple. I got out of the way and dropped Haste. A massive torrent of mana flooded into me.

Happy with my progress, I teleported home to talk to Dad. I shall not repeat the language coming from my churlish uncle.

“There you are,” Dad said as I walked in.

“Dad? How are you feeling?” I asked as I studied him. He looked somewhat fae. His ears were a little pointier. His nose was a little smaller. His teeth looked very fae; those were far sharper.

Dad sighed. “Casey, help your uncle with meals. You know that.”

“Sorry,” I muttered. He deserved it, but I refrained from sharing my opinion.

“I’m starving.” Dad’s stomach grumbled. “Please help.”

I nodded, following him to the kitchen. Pulling out pans, I put them on the stove. “Did you dream about a familiar?”

“The fairy?” Dad asked. “Yes.”

“That’s good news then. It means you have magic.”

“Casey!” Ela yelled as she fluttered to life. Her hands clenched into fists. “How did he get magic?”

“Don’t start that! I didn’t do anything illegal or bad.”

“Casey, no!” Ela yelled at me. “You can’t do this! Please don’t do this!”

“No. And I’m not turning myself in!”

“Please, Casey, please! I promise that we won’t hurt you!”

“Nope. They will kill me.”

Ela continued her interrogation. “How did you get fae blood? Human blood will not work.”

“Not important.”

“Casey! Please! Please, just talk to the fae! Trust me!” Ela shouted, flitting up towards my face.

“No, Ela. We’ve been over this so much. She killed my mom. She will kill me.”

“She didn’t! I told you that she didn’t! She saved your life.”

“Because she didn’t know it was me!” I said.

“Trust me, Casey. You need to turn yourself in…”

I contemplated taking out my ocular computer since she began going at it. Shaking my head, I looked back at the stove.

“He was very confused. I just ignored him,” Dad said.

“I think it worked. Try some jerky.” I handed it to him.

Dad ate it. “Not nearly as bad as before. It is burning some, though.”

“Well, I think it worked to some extent. I’d recommend testing it in the sparring room.”

“I’ll do that.” Dad walked away.

I reached into the fridge and grabbed an assortment of food. Then I heard him let out a happy grunt. I assumed that was good news.

Dad walked back in. “Strength. Do you have another potion?”

“Want to try your blood in it?” I asked.

“Yes.”

I nodded and powered off my ocular computer. Following him to my room, I pulled one out of the cabinet. I gestured to him. He bled into a beaker. I carefully added it and then added a mana crystal. It began to glow.

“Did it work?” Dad asked, studying it.

“It’s glowing, but it’s losing mana fast. I can feel that. And it’s not very bright. I don’t know if that is bad.”

“How long before it’s gone?”

I studied. “No idea. I’m unsure if it’s linear or not.” I shrugged. “It did work, but I don’t know the ramifications. It has less mana in it. That’s for sure.”

“Good to know.” Dad turned and headed for the kitchen. I stowed the potion and followed him to the kitchen.

“Tell me that this shit works,” my uncle complained.

“It does,” Dad said with a smile. “Tell them to get ready. Today marks the day that we move forward. Today is the day that we begin preparations. We will spread magic through mankind. We will overthrow our oppressors. Like a storm, we will wash away our corrupt rulers…”

I began cooking while he went off. I knew exactly what it meant, a whole lot of work. Phase two was all about spreading magic. It was a lot of work. I didn’t realize how much.

Current Level 7 Current XP 52.40% Current Max Mana 772.29 Regen per minute 1.84 Growth Time (Days) 2.74 Potential Mana 35.27 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.