August 24, 493 U.C.

Water trickled down the semi-transparent surface overhead. It trickled into a yard as I walked out into the humid air. A light breeze rolled through, bringing the smell of the forest. Turning away from the subdivision, I headed up the street, passing the houses. “It smells so good after the rain,” I said happily.

Daniele giggled. “Yes. It does. Ready for another day?”

“Yes. Think we’ll get an escort?” I was tempted to sprint. Instead, I began moving at a very brisk walk.

“Maybe - slow down!”

“No way.” I giggled. Then my plan was ruined. Daron came walking out.

“Hello, ladies.”

“Hi, Daron. How’re things?” Daniele asked.

“Well enough. We need to keep an eye on that one.” Daron pointed at me. “Anything to report?”

I stuck my tongue out at him and tried to drag Daniele forward.

Daniele giggled. “She’s feeling all speedy today.”

“Oh?” Daron asked with wide eyes. A smile spread across his face. He clearly was reading into things. “Care to elaborate?”

I considered trying to get Daniele to move it. “I’m trying to avoid this interrogation. You all are picking on me. It’s bullying. I’m reporting you for it too! Don’t think that I won’t.” I wagged a finger at him, shifting it over to target the fae too.

“Just admit it, Casey,” Daron said. “We’ll get you registered and moved to a better family. Hell, we’d take you. It’s best for everyone.”

“I’m not her, weirdo,” I retorted.

“That’s treason. Perhaps it’s jail time for you.” Daron smirked.

“Bring it on! I will defame you across the globe!”

“Don’t even tempt me.”

I sighed loudly. “Don’t you gentlemen have girls to woo and mana to magic?”

“Mana to magic?” Zriulth asked with a crooked brow.

“Yes. That’s how you magic, right? You fling mana around?” I flung my arm dramatically and waved it around.

“No.”

“Daron! Wait up!” a girl called and raced up. “You are fast. If you wait a second, some others can join.” She glared at us.

“That’s my cue.” I rapidly began moving forward.

The two fae matched speed. Both smirked. I stuck my tongue out at them.

“You know that our magic allows us to move faster, right?” Zriulth asked.

“Ah ha!” I proclaimed. “You are the Platinum Princess; admit it!”

“No. She has a haste spell as a base spell. We have our own, but they have a higher cost and smaller boost. That’s why she’s so fast,” Zriulth said while he walked next to me. His lithe form was nearly a head taller.

Am I going to get that tall? I wondered and blushed when he saw me staring. I looked away. “What kind of magic do you two have?”

“I can’t answer that,” Zriulth said.

“Lame,” I replied and turned my focus to the large buildings ahead.

“I bet he’s super strong,” Scarlet said as she bumped into him. “I heard that they are over level ten!”

“That’s classified,” Zriulth said.

“Did you find the criminal?” Scarlet asked. “I tried to find her online last night.”

“Not yet.” Zriulth gave me the side-eye.

“If you do, will you use that knowledge to awaken more of us?” Scarlet batted her eyes at him.

Zriulth sighed. “That’s not my decision.”

“I bet you have the sway to help convince them for a few though.”

“Nope.”

“You’re such a liar,” Scarlet swatted him playfully.

I kept walking, wishing that we’d taken the back alley. A glance at Spen’ze made me giggle. He was rolling his eyes and looked like he was thinking the same thing.

“What’s funny?” Scarlet asked with a frown.

I smiled at her. “Just a joke on my computer.”

She shot me a dirty look. “Run ahead.”

“Roger that.” I turned my quick walk into a jog.

The school wasn’t that far. I raced forward while Daniele chatted with Daron. Zipping around a corner, I dashed up the road, leaving the gathering swarm behind. Darting around the scooters, I raced up the steps and entered the school.

I made it through the airlock and headed towards class. That’s better. Maybe I can do that tomorrow.

Raptor: Rescue

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Moving quickly down the hall, I shook my pursuers by going into the girls’ bathroom. I ignored the mirror, dashing into a stall. Then I used Time Stop, swapped appearances, and appeared on Starb.

I cast the spell again to reveal things. The sun was shining above. A breeze was waving the grass around. The plains were nice except for the horrific scene in front of me.

The large fanged cats were stalking. One was mid-pounce. Another had knocked some man to the ground and was trying for his throat. Blood covered one of them. It was a mess that was already close to ending.

With no desire to give the cats another microsecond, I cast a teleport spell at the two about to die. The spell hung there in a web. They were about to take an instant trip to a barracks hospital. Then I appeared and sent the others rapidly while trying to fend off the horrible pack.

I ducked and dodged while teleporting out the others. The horrible pack locked onto me and came charging forward. The striped cats were moving fast even with me using haste. Wanting no part of it, I launched myself in the air, teleported the final two home, and appeared back in the bathroom.

Me: Tell them to stay away until we can clear that pack. It’s brutal. And it’s not clear. I’ll make preparations to fix that, but I am not prepared to kill that pack yet. They cannot go out there!

With a long breath, I walked out of the bathroom and found my escorts standing there.

“Seriously?” I asked.

Spen’ze chuckled. “We can’t be too careful.”

“It’s creepy,” I said, turning and heading down the hall.

“Just admit it, Casey.”

“Admit what? That I want to be a magic girl? Yes, please!” I smiled up at them.

“Nice try. You know something,” Zriulth said as he followed.

I sighed and headed for class with my escorts following. Several students ran up to try to chat. Spen’ze used me as a barrier, darting up alongside me.

Spen’ze smirked. “Talk to Casey. She’ll get you magic.”

“Yeah! I get to decide!” I said to get revenge. “Spen’ze says yes and yes and yes!”

“No! Casey will do it.”

“I am organizing his schedule.” I beamed.

“You’re fired,” Spen’ze said with a sigh.

I veered off, entering the classroom. I took a seat at the desk and saved a seat for Daniele. Then I let out a breath of contentment. I didn’t share this one with them.

I pulled up the internet and started browsing, doing a bit of that through all of my classes that morning.

~~~

I took a bite of my sandwich at lunch. It was good; it made me want to mess with some of the native plants I had found. One tasted like spicy mustard. The other was like alfalfa sprouts. I took another bite as the swarm buzzed into the room.

“Want to go to the dance with me?” some girl asked.

“That’s in two months,” Zriulth replied.

“Yes, but sometimes it’s better to ask early.”

“Human customs are strange.”

“Do you have footage of your fight? I bet it was amazing!”

“I’m sure that Spence could do it too!” another girl added. The voices grew louder.

“What spells do you have?” someone asked.

“I cannot reveal that,” Zriulth said practically from behind me.

I forced myself not to groan as I realized he was heading straight for me.

“What about you Spence? Are you super high level?” someone asked.

I glanced up as Spen’ze sat next to me. It looked like he’d cut his blue hair. “Howdy, Spen’ze. Bug sandwich?” I held mine out.

“Are you really eating bugs?” His face contorted in disgust.

I laughed. It was fun to get that expression.

“You should sit with us, Spence!” someone announced.

“No. You go ahead. I’m sure that Zri had quite the story to tell.” Spen’ze chuckled.

“No, I don’t.” Zriulth took a seat next to Daniele.

“What brings you two here?” I asked.

“A break. You joke about it, but you don’t beg us for things.” Zriulth scowled at the following entourage. Several students flushed.

“I will now!” I said happily. “Do you have a better version of Tinuk? What about Selt?”

“I’m unfamiliar.”

I gestured. “That’s the root plant. Looks like this. That’s Tinuk. And Selt is this leafy stuff on my sandwich.”

“Which also has some bug,” Spen’ze added.

“And you can taste them?” Zriulth asked.

That was when I realized my next mistake. This was going to be a terrible year. I really needed to just stay quiet. “I wanted to know what they taste like. That’s why I need some without all the mana.”

“Right.” Zriulth turned. “Did you check her records?” he asked in Faiin.

“Yes. She had the exam in June. She failed it. But it was flagged as possibly erroneous. They removed her lockout.”

“I flagged her for monitoring.”

“Good.”

I forced myself not to react. That was one of too many mistakes. I cursed my inner jokester and vowed secrecy from Dad. Then I just began stuffing my mouth to try to stop further mistakes.

“What is your favorite vegetable?” Sepn’ze asked.

I saw their trap. I chewed slowly and then swallowed. “Broccoli. Or Peas. I love peas. Carrots are alright. Lettuce is always good. And I do love onions in things. We grow some in our garden. Do you guys have a garden? Actually, where are you even staying? Guardian command?”

“That’s classified for the moment.”

“Do you have diplomatic immunity? Let’s do crimes! Which ones can we do?” I asked with a giggle.

“Is there something wrong with her?” Zriulth asked Daniele.

Daniele shook her head. “She’s messing with you.”

“I see. We looked up your records. Both of you.”

“So?” I asked.

“I just had to say it.” Zriulth looked up as a bolder girl took a seat next to him. In almost an instant, a group pounced.

Spotting my chance, I left a gap. Spen’ze got swarmed too. That was perfect. I made a note to do that instead. I was already raising too many flags. Luckily, I avoided the fae for the remainder of the day. Then I worked on the endless list of chores.

Current Level 11 Current XP 5.88% Current Max Mana 8665.94 Regen per minute 13.13 Reputation 7000

Tier Skill Cost Tier 11 User Time Dilation (Haste)

- User experiences 256 seconds for 1 earth second.

- Force transference limited to 25%. 1 mana per earth second. Tier 7 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, cleans, and organizes items inside based on your will. 32 mana Tier 7 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.

- Recast to gain vision. 200 mana to cast.

Variable cost to move items in and out. Tier 7 Teleport.

- Teleports the caster or a willing creature.

- You may cast this on a willing or unwilling creature if they are within fifty 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 2 Familiar Manifestation. 20 mana to cast. Tier 1 Free casting

- Cast any spell you can replicate. Variable cost. Penalty of 8x mana.