June 24, 493 U.C.
A glass surface lay before me, illuminating my face. The desk wasn’t the most comfortable thing, but I didn’t care. I huffed, sending my chore list flying.
- Awakening Potions x50
- Healing Potions x100
- Enchanted Swords x12
- Enchanted Glaives x12
- Enchanted Axes x12
- Enchanted Knives x12
- Enchanted Armor x32
- Meat 1000+ kg
Research:
- Mana Absorption Rate Improvement.
- Enchanted Gun
- Additional Spells and Enchantments.
“Get up,” Dad said from the door. “We have a lot to do.”
I did not move. “This is impossible. You know that it’s impossible. I’ve told you that a thousand times. It’s too much, Dad.” I huffed the paper off my desk, sending it fluttering to the floor.
Dad, who was being completely unreasonable, sighed. “Don’t start. We are all busy, preparing. Push it. You’re behind!”
“Dad,” I whined.
“Finish the swords. Then we’re having a training session.”
I jerked my head and turned towards him. “Dad, please.”
“Don’t make it two hours,” Dad snapped back, anger flowing out with the words.
Not wanting more training, I turned back to the swords. Grabbing a sword, I began feeding mana inside of it. I carefully shaped it into a spellform. Then I repeated it with the sealing spell. It drained about three percent of my mana. Looking at the weapon, I fed in magic to verify that its durability could be enhanced. It began glowing softly.
“Next,” Dad said, micromanaging my work.
I placed it on a shelf and grabbed the next. This process repeated over and over and over. My mana dropped with each instance. By the time I got through twelve, a third of my mana was gone.
“Training,” Dad said with an angry look.
I swallowed and turned. “Please, Dad?”
“It’s good to practice. And I’m tired of the complaining. We have a mission. You know that. Now!” he barked.
I contemplated just leaving. That would be so easy. Then what? We'd have no family or friends. Job... The fae are still hunting you. You can't have them kill those two. I hung my head and followed him into the nearby room. Grabbing two wooden swords from the wall, I turned and walked into the center. Then I pulled off my socks.
Dad strapped on body armor and grabbed his sword. “Do not waste mana. You know the rules.”
I took a defensive stance. Then Dad’s blades shot forward.
I deflected the strikes, lashed out, and hit his knee pad. Then I spun and brought down my blades. He blocked both. Dancing to the side, I parried his thrust and stabbed forward. His blade knocked mine aside with far more force than normal. His practice blade slammed into my ribs.
“One, one,” Dad said while pulling back his blade.
I forced my pain aside and charged, thrusting the blade forward. My blade bounced off his armor. Then I dodged to the side to avoid the next strike. His other blade swung towards my leg. I parried and slashed for his shoulder with my other. He knocked it away.
Stepping back, I circled. His blade shot forward. I stepped aside and feigned thrusting. Then I knocked his recovered thrust aside. The wood clacked as it hit. He rotated and swung one in a feint. I ignored it and parried his other. Then he thrust. I dodged, spun, and swung.
He let the strike hit his shoulder, smashing his own into my stomach. I flew backward, tumbling across the floor and hitting the wall with a thud.
Shaking away the dizziness, I stood and took a defensive stance. He charged. Spinning away, I lashed out once more, knocking him back. His blade lashed out. I hopped over it. Then the other blade slammed into my shoulder with a thud. My eyes watered as it hit.
“Focus!” Dad barked, swinging again.
I blocked and took a defensive posture. Going for attacks wasn’t worth it. They’d left me with three bruises already. I began a focus on parries and dodging while I spun to avoid attacks, my feet moving nimbly to try to keep up.
After a few more strikes, we began to fall into a rhythm. He’d thrust; I’d dodge. He’d slash; I’d parry. Then I would feign attacks while maintaining a defense.
“You will land another strike in two minutes, or you will get another hour,” Dad said with a frown as he realized.
I continued my defensive circling, blocking an attack. He overextended. I lashed out and hit his armguard. That became the goal, just enough to keep him at bay.
He feinted. I misread. The strike caught my arm, lancing pain up through it.
“Focus! Read it!” Dad barked.
I tried. The pain slowly built through the fight. My eyes watered. I tried to shove aside the boredom and pain that was training. It didn’t really work. I can’t recall our every move. I simply recall the pain and frustration as the clock on the wall betrayed me. Every second seemed to take longer and longer. Time moved at a glacial pace.
After an eternity, I was sweating, tired, and covered in fresh bruises.
Dad frowned and shook his head. “You need to focus. How else are you going to kill those cats?”
“They don’t fight like that,” I muttered, glaring at him.
“No excuses. I can’t have you dying out there. Now, I need to get things done. Send me to your grandfathers. Work on your chores.”
I nodded and used Teleport on him. Looking up, I massaged my shoulder and took a long shower, venting my frustrations by giving myself another mediocre pep talk.
Walking out, I changed and raided the fridge. It didn’t have much. In the end, I made a raptor steak salad, swallowing it without really tasting it. I brooded while I did it, embracing far too much angst.
Finishing the meal, I stood and put the plate away. Then I looked at the door and considered a break. I've earned a break, and I need a friend. She seemed nice too! The devil on my shoulder won. I embraced my inner angst and walked outside, heading down the lane. With each step, my anxiety grew. This was brash. It was risky. Stopping, I forced myself to knock.
The door swung open about fifteen seconds later, revealing Daniele. “Hi, Casey.”
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“Hi, Daniele. How are you?” I asked, swallowing down my anxiety. Living in solitude hadn't helped my social skills.
“Fine. How about you?” Daniele smiled at me.
“Okay. - Umm. - This is sort of awkward. - My dad is in a mood. Can I visit?” I asked, hoping that I didn’t sound as pathetic to her as I did in my head. My heart began thundering in my skull as my cheeks turned red.
“Oh. I’m not sure.” Daniele spun around.
I cursed my brashness. This was a mistake. The temptation to mimic a fleeing deer grew with every extremely long second.
“Dad, can Casey visit?” Daniele called.
“Sure. I want to meet her,” a voice boomed out.
Daniele moved to the side. “All set.”
I let out a breath of relief while trying to calm down. Then I walked inside. “Thanks, Dr. Drake.”
“You’re welcome.” A towering man walked up. He had tattoos on his massive arms. That guy is built. Still, he had a kind face. He reminded me of Job.
“That’s where she got the curls and height!” I said with a smile.
He chuckled. “Yes. I’m Larry Drake, Mr. Drake, or Dr. Drake at work. It’s nice to meet you. Which school year?”
“I’ll be in ninth grade.”
“Then you’ll be classmates. That’s good. How are you faring with the mana?”
“It’s fine. We’ve been here for four years.”
“Wow. That’s a long time. Any siblings?” Dr. Drake asked.
“Nope. Just me and my dad. I think my cousin is going to visit at some point.” I glanced around the walls. They had their medical plaques up. There were pictures. And there was a boy that I hadn’t seen before.
“Who’s that?” I gestured to the tall boy, who looked a few years older.
“My brother, Ian,” Daniele said with a smile.
“Why isn’t he here?”
“Prep school for university,” Larry replied. “Is your dad open to visitors?”
“He does contract work, so he’s gone a bit, but probably?”
Dr. Drake’s eyes locked onto the yellow bruise on my arm. Then he looked at the blue one on my shoulder. I wished I’d worn long sleeves instead of a tank top while my face reddened.
“And the mood?” He quirked a brow.
“Nothing like that,” I said quickly. “He’s just dealing with some work stuff. I was tired of overhearing all the calls. The bruises are just from some overzealous dueling. I’m training in case I get magic.”
“I see. Feel free to visit.”
“Thanks.” I turned and looked through their kitchen. “You are growing a garden! I can help. I have a green thumb.”
Daniele giggled. “I might have to ask you about that.”
“Sure. We have one too. It does end up with mana though.”
“That’s fine,” Larry said with a smile. “Any idea about the rumored self-awakened?”
“Platinum?” I asked. “I saw her once a long time ago. I don’t know if she’s here anymore. I didn’t chat or anything. She was racing to something.”
Dr. Drake nodded. “Do you think the fae have been lying?”
“Yes! I do.”
“We haven’t! Stop saying that!” Ela stuck out her tongue and popped up text.
Quest: Guardian Contact – Contact and register with the guardians. Reward: 5000 Reputation.
Larry chuckled. “I’m not sure. They don’t seem malicious.”
“That’s fair, but all guardians are becoming fae,” I said.
Larry nodded and didn't really have an argument to it. No one did. There was way too much evidence that the guardians weren't human anymore.
“Why come here to acclimate?” I asked him.
“Mana is spreading. We thought it best to prepare now. I’ll leave you two to it. Have some fun.” Larry headed down the hall.
I turned back to Daniele with a smile.
“I’m glad you are nearby,” Daniele said. “We can go to school together. I was wondering if we were close. You look young.”
I flushed as I looked down. This disguise made me look young. In fairness, my real self looked young.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Daniele said quickly.
I continued blushing, my cheeks glowing like molten metal. “It’s alright. Thanks.”
“Want to see my room?” Daniele asked.
“Sure.” I followed her down the hall. It was a similar layout to our own. Though it appeared they’d used the sparring area for an office.
Walking into the room. I was met with a flood of pink mixed with posters of various magic girls. The theme extended everywhere. There were several plushies on the shelf. Her screen saver on her desk had a group of guardians.
“Someone is a fan.” I glanced around in awe of it.
“I’d do anything to be a magic girl!” Daniele said with a grin. “I could get healing! Then I could be like my parents with magic!”
“I can totally see you as a pink.”
“Do you collect?” Daniele gestured to the plushies. “I have a few squads.”
“I just have two of them. Maybe I’ll get some more at some point.”
“Oh. I hope you aren’t against them or anything. Who do you have?” Daniele asked nervously. She was blushing.
“I have Jaqueline. She signed it and gave it to me.”
“Seriously? How?”
“I was fishing. Then she fished with me.” I giggled.
Daniele grinned. “That’s awesome. Which other one?”
“A familiar plushie, the fairy doll.”
An eerie quiet fell over the room. Daniele’s expression shifted to sheer amazement. I prepared myself for the oncoming sound.
“You have a familiar plushie?” She bellowed in my ear. Then she let out a window-shattering squeal. “Can I see it?”
“It’s at home,” I lied. “But when you visit, sure.”
“What happened? Tell me everything!” Daniele grinned at me with wild eyes as she took a seat.
I sat on her little couch and giggled. “It was a gift – from family,” I lied.
“I wonder how they got it. You have to get a guardian to give it to you. They are selective about it too. I want one so bad!”
“I can get you one for her!” Ela proclaimed unhelpfully.
“Hush!”
“No way! I’m enjoying girl time! Let’s do our nails!”
“You are terrible!”
“WHITE! - NO! - SILVER!”
“No!”
“SUMMON ME!”
Ignoring Ela’s madness, I turned back to Daniele. “I’ll see if I can find out. Sadly, I haven’t talked with any guardians in years.”
“Me neither. But we can try at the next convention!”
“Yeah!” I giggled and let out a breath of contentment. “Thanks for letting me come over. I needed this.”
“You’re welcome – Hi, Mom. Casey’s visiting.”
I waved as she poked her head in. She waved back.
“Did something exciting happen?” Denise asked with a smile.
Daniele nodded like a bobblehead. “She has a familiar plushie!”
“Oh dear. Good luck, Casey.” Denise rapidly retreated.
I giggled. “Your parents are funny.”
“They are fun.” Daniele studied me. “What about you? Are you doing alright? What happened to your leg?”
I looked down and cursed my shortsightedness further. “I’m just a clutz. And I was training. It’s fine. Thanks, though.”
“Want to do nails?” Daniele asked.
“Sure. Dad doesn’t like doing things like this with me for some reason.” I burst into giggles. She did the same while pulling out some polish. The two of us chatted and giggled while messing around for a few hours. It was such a nice break. Then I looked at the clock and forced myself out the door.
Current Level 10 Current XP 82.87% Current Max Mana 7482.27 Regen per minute 12.47 Reputation 1000
Tier Skill Cost Tier 10 User Time Dilation (Haste)
- User experiences 256 seconds for 1 earth second.
- Force transference limited to 12.5%. 2 mana per earth second. Tier 6 Pocket Dimension
- 128 cubic meters of pocket space.
- Rapid stash and rapid draw.
- You may tether objects to your pocket space.
- Your pocket space preserves items inside. 32 mana Tier 6 Time Stop
- Caster leaves spacetime. They may remove and place things back in spacetime.
- You may control the flow of time in the demiplane.
- You may summon in willing living creatures.
- This automatically triggers if you take significant damage. 200 mana to cast.
Variable cost to move items in and out. Tier 6 Teleport.
- Teleports the caster or a willing creature.
- You may cast this on an unwilling creature if they are within ten meters.
- You may teleport inside an object, causing the matter to push outward.
200 mana for the caster.
400 mana for a willing creature.
1000 mana for an unwilling creature with no resistance.
- Short range casts cost less mana.
Tier 3 Attire Swap
- Locked to a single outfit. Current outfit set to Magical Girl Uniform.
- Attire cleaned on swap.
- Attire repaired on swap. 20 mana. Tier 3 Enhanced Body
-Caster’s body is enhanced by a factor of eight. 2 mana per caster second. Tier 2 Enchanting.
- Enchantments last twice as long. Variable cost. Tier 2 Potions.
- Potions last twice as long. 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.