March 27, 492 U.C.

I smiled and swirled the purple and black dress. It had only been a few days since Dad had gotten magic. It already seemed to be paying off. He stood before me, a veritable Santa Clause.

I took the bag and peered inside. “Makeup?”

“Yes,” Dad replied with a nod. “You know that we will eventually become villains. Consider it the rest of your disguise, but don’t go causing scenes just yet.”

“I’m not doing that.” I smiled at him. My grin grew as I took the phone. “Really? One that doesn’t need wifi and can call?”

“Yes. You need it. Speaking of which, let’s get this over with.” Dad walked over to the screen and powered it on. Then he called a number labeled Raptor.

I nearly rolled my eyes at the name. Go figure. No wonder he said I had to be Viper. Ugly old snake. Blech. Then someone popped onto the screen. He was wearing a mask. So, I pretended he was a real raptor, which made it way more interesting.

The raptor chirped and opened its mouth. “Hello, Viper. I’m the leader of the organization. I’m programmed into the phone,” he said in a robotic voice.

I frowned and forced my mental image into one of a robotic raptor! Then I smiled at him. “Hello.”

“I’ll be issuing orders along with Mike, who has the codename of Bear,” Raptor said.

I looked over at my father, Mike. He nodded at me. So, I turned back. “Yes, sir.”

“For now, focus on the following. We need to prepare to awaken others. Have you explained it, Bear?”

“Yes,” Dad replied. “We’ll get you the potions and prepare others. We need to set up a location for awakenings. Long term, we’ll also need magic weapons. I’m hoping some others can aid with that.”

I nodded and quickly became bored as the boring Raptor resumed the same spiel as Dad. The two began working back and forth, repeating the importance of staying discreet and planning for next year. I nodded my head and wished that I had my ocular computer in.

After a few zillion years or a few minutes of lying clock time, I interrupted them. “Can I meet the others?”

“Maybe in the future,” Raptor said with a robotic huff. “Raptor, signing off.”

The screen powered down. I spun and then was pulled back.

“Make lunch. Then you need to get another food shipment. You said that food would be enough for me to level at the start?”

“Yes, until about level three or four,” I replied and headed for the stove.

Dad followed. He took a seat at the table while I diced vegetables. My blade clunked against the cutting board as I blazed down the vegetables. Hitting the pan with a little oil, I started a stir fry.

“I saw you zone out,” Dad said, looking up.

“I’ve heard the spiel.” Then a smile spread across my face. I turned towards Dad. “And I can go to school this year,” I said happily.

With a flick of my arm, I sent the stir fry flying. Catching it, I put it back on the stove. Maybe I can get my computer now. Ela might be done screaming at me.

“We’ll see,” Dad said with a grunt.

I spun. “Dad, you promised. I got you magic!” Honestly, I was excited about it. I should go study. Tossing lunch again, I turned back.

“We’ll see, Casey. You know how risky it is. They will kill you.”

“Dad, please,” I begged.

“We’ll see.”

With a sigh, I dipped up the food and set it on the table. “Dad, could you tell me the story of when you met Mom?” I took a bite.

“Get meat. I need to make some calls,” Dad replied and walked away with the plate.

With a huff, I rapidly ate, wishing I had more than the few stories that I’d managed to weasel out of him. Hardly tasting the food, I shoveled it down. Then I headed to my room and took a seat.

Grabbing the ocular computer contacts, I slipped them in and waited. “Ela, please stop screaming.”

Ela fluttered out. “Casey, please. Please just let me tell them. I’ll get it sorted for you.”

“They’ll kill me, Ela.” I let out a long breath. With the reminder fresh in my mind, I got ready to go hunting. Ela went quiet and vanished again. I’m not sure what she was doing. Maybe she was trying to get advice on things.

I grabbed the last of my gear and teleported out towards the plains. Using haste, I darted through the green carpet that tickled my chest. Large dinosaurs towered around me, munching on the grass. Like some massive remake of a popular movie, there were dinosaurs everywhere. Most of the herbivores had gathered together for safety.

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I skirted around them, searching for any interesting predators. Walking towards some hills, I found a group of kobolds. Named after the fantasy race, the bipedal lizards almost seem sentient. Several have tried speaking with them. Some tried to raise them as pets. It did not go well, ending with a few dead people.

Still, there were a lot of rumors about them and the fae. I studied one, sighed, and went to find something that didn’t look so sentient.

Walking away, I summoned Ela. She popped out and zipped up, fluttering her wings.

“Hi, Ela.”

“Casey, please?” Ela begged instantly and flashed up the same quest.

Quest: Guardian Contact – Meet with the guardians. Reward: 5,000 Reputation.

“No, Ela. Stop that.” I continued my search, jogging through the area. “What did the fae do to the kobolds? Turn them dumb?” I froze as I looked at the ruins.

“They didn’t,” Ela said. “Stop being mean!”

“Then who was here, Ela? Who was here?”

“I can tell you that if you do the quest.”

“Nice try.” I dodged down into the ruins, searching for anything noteworthy. Crumbling stone structures with stairs were baked into the hill. Running into a small group of feathered dinosaurs that would likely eat me, I began killing them, stashing bodies into my pocket dimension.

Ela landed on my head and sighed. “Casey!” she groaned.

“Ela. Stop. I get it; we both lose. You got stuck with me. And I got stuck with a bounty. I have a ten thousand credit reward just for existing!” I sighed and continued my grisly work, filling up my pocket dimension.

Ela went quiet again. Honestly, I wished that we had a better relationship. What a mess. Trying not to think about it, I moved through the ruins, searching for any relics or any sign of anything else.

Like some ghost town that had been purged, I walked through the empty area, entering the few buildings that remained.

Leaning down, I gently pushed aside the rubble, trying to find anything at all. Carefully prying the rubble up, I found a stone that was too smooth. It looked like it might have been a hammer once. I sighed and walked back out, dispatching a few lizards.

Finishing that, I teleported to a warehouse. After putting on a rubber apron and boots, I began placing carcasses on hooks as Ela appeared.

Ela frowned. “Casey? What is this?”

“Meat. Why?” I asked, hanging up another heavy carcass while using my spell to boost my strength. Spinning, I grabbed another.

Ela didn’t answer. She went quiet again. “Can I go? I need to think.”

“Bye, Ela.” I swallowed and ended the spell. That hurt. More than I thought. Alone, I continued my work, trying to force the nagging thoughts that surged upward. I didn’t have any friends left in Vuln. My mom had died saving my life. Everything about me was just a mess.

Trying to keep the darker thoughts at bay, I began humming songs to try to cheer up. My humming echoed around the cement room. Blood dripped onto the floor as I hung up another large lizard. The brown and green scales shimmered as the light hit them. Slitting down its belly, I ensured things were draining.

Turning, I stowed another and another. Time moved at a glacial pace as I shivered in the cold room. It’ll be alright. We’ll get rid of them, and then I can be normal. My pep talk didn’t really work. Time seemed to stretch as I slowly gutted the carcasses.

My hands became covered in blood and gore. My will to remain positive faltered. Tears ran down my cheeks. Miss you, Mom. I hope you are having a better life now. At least Death seems to exist. Hopefully, I can meet you someday. I wish that I knew more about you. They erased everything, and Dad doesn’t like talking about it.

I spent a bit more time just trying to catch her up on things. With my jaw quivering, I pulled out the last batch of guts, drenching my apron and boots with blood. Carrying it forward, I dumped it into the processor. It would handle it.

Turning back, I went to skin things. My humming faltered as I worked. I was left with the sound of my boots and dripping blood. After a few hours, I headed to the wall and washed up, stowing the apron and boots.

With a growing desire to talk to anyone, I wiped my eyes. Then I took a deep breath and teleported, appearing in front of a white, wood door. With a nervous smile, I knocked. The apartment was in a ten-story building. It wasn’t overly fancy either.

The door swung open, revealing Stacey. “Hello, Casey. Decide to visit?”

I nodded, failing to talk.

“Come inside,” Stacey scooted me in.

“Thanks.” I glanced around the decorated room. Then I followed her to the couch and took a seat. “How have you been?”

“Fine. Job is out working on the shop,” Stacey said with a smile as she raided her cupboard. She walked back and handed me a brownie.

I took it and nibbled it. It was nice seeing them again. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Does your dad know you are here?”

“No,” I whispered.

“I see. Well, you visit when you want.” Stacey chuckled.

“How do you like it on earth? Do you still mask?”

“Only if the scrubbers go down. They have cleaned up most of it now. How’s Vuln?”

I finished off the brownie, licking my fingers. “It’s the same.”

“School this year?”

“Dad says we’ll see.” I sighed. “That means I need to beg a lot.”

“Good luck. Want to come to the shop with me?”

“Yes!” I jumped off the light gray sofa. Then I followed her towards the door, planning to enjoy the time before I teleported back to the chores.

Current Level 7 Current XP 63.71% Current Max Mana 830.22 Regen per minute 1.98 Growth Time (Days) 2.74 Potential Mana 56.87 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.