August 31, 493 U.C.

Like the dark clouds outside that were a constant presence, pain seemed to be a constant in my life. I carefully walked to the door of the house the next morning, trying to avoid jostling my ribs.

Walking out the front door, I emerged into the shared corridor and waited, praying that Daniele would be quick.

Spotting her, I waved and dashed towards the exit.

“Casey?” Daniele asked as she sprinted into the airlock.

“Sorry. I’m avoiding our interrogators. I need to hurry.” I tapped my foot while waiting for it to open.

“Are you alright? Why are you wearing long sleeves today?” Daniele asked.

“I’m fine. I wanted to wear it.” I stepped out and winced as I picked up the pace again.

“You keep wincing… oh.” Daniele examined at my side.

“Just leave it, please,” I murmured

“How bad is it?” Daniele asked softly.

I turned to meet her gaze for a moment. “I broke two. Bones take days even with magic. That’s the sad truth. And they hurt.” I kept jogging.

“Sorry. Your arms were fine yesterday. Did you hurt them too? Why the hoodie?” Daniele asked.

I sighed. “Protection and to try to hide it.”

“Okay… And the running?”

“Avoiding the fae. I’m tired of the comments, and Spen’ze tried testing my ribs. It hurts so much. You can hang back if you want.” I booked it up the concrete streets.

“Are you alright, Casey?” Ela asked as she fluttered out.

“Leave it.”

“I know what happened. You know that you can trust me, right?”

“It was just training. You have to take it seriously. Stop bothering me.” I powered it off. I was in enough pain without having Ela nag me.

Daniele kept pace, but her frown kept growing as she looked over at me. I pushed the water from my eyes.

“And you are alright?” Daniele asked. “Doctor-patient confidentiality is a thing. They could look at your ribs. We won’t report it or anything.”

I shook my head. “It’s fine.”

“Please, Casey. Just let my parents look.”

“It's fine. We have a medpod. I used it to ensure they are aligned.” I raced by a corner store that was selling food and various other things. A few ads played in the windows.

“Casey,” Daniele whispered. “We should talk to someone. Maybe Eluna’s your mom? What if they kidnapped you? We could talk to them.”

I gave her a baffled look. “How does that make sense? A fae let her kid get taken by a human and didn't put notifications everywhere? The only way that could be true is if she just abandoned me. In that case, it just proves the point.” I continued shaking my head. It wasn't possible; the fae would have rioted and broken every law searching for me.

Daniele blushed. “Oh. Good point. So, your appearance? You think it’s because of the treatment?”

I nodded. “Yes. Eluna designed the first guardians. I probably look like her because they used her DNA in the potion. Yes, that’s an ingredient.” I peered around a corner and saw the mob. Groaning, I booked it up the next street while she went quiet for a minute.

Daniele gave up as she failed to come up with a response. “Want to come over tonight? You could bring your plushie?”

“I’ll see if Dad will let me. He probably won’t.”

“Casey!” Spen’ze yelled. I pretended not to hear it while jogging.

We spent the rest in quiet. Rain began to patter onto the streets, which sped up everyone. Wincing, I joined them on the rapid trek to the school.

Walking into the airlock, a siren rang through the air. The fae can get it if it happens again.

“Will we get another invasion?” Daniele asked.

“Probably. The fae can handle it.”

I turned and walked down the halls. Then I waved at another freshman. “Hi, Ryan.”

“Hello. Where are the fae?”

“Coming. I’m avoiding them on principle and need to be fast.” I headed down the hall and walked into class. It was safer in here. Then another alarm sounded.

Time came to a halt. A small smirk spread across my face. It was likely a mistake, but I was about to steal their kills and get some Viper distance. I floated over. There was a group of konodos climbing over the wall. I began throwing wooden knives that I’d enchanted. Then I set up and dropped a holo-drone that looked like Viper.

Appearing back in class, I released the spell. “So, Ryan, how are you doing?”

“Fine. Homework was a real pain. How -”

Time came to a halt. I collected my things, the carcasses, and crystals. Then I went back. It was the ideal option. All of that happened while I was talking.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“ – about you?”

“Same. There was a lot of it.” I yawned. The siren died.

“The fae were fast. That’s impressive,” Ryan said with a smile.

“Yep.”

“Do you think I could get them to give me magic?”

“I want in!” Sun-young said with a grin. “How do we do it?”

“No idea,” I replied. “Leave me out of it. They’re already tormenting me enough.”

Several began conspiring. I snuck a snack while browsing the news.

Magic Registration Passed! All magic users are required to register with the local nobility.

I frowned at the article. That’s not a surprise. It was inevitable. At least Dad got the part he wanted. With that thought, I scrolled down to see anything else. There was some chatter about the rise of supervillains.

Students began streaming in along with the professor. I closed the news.

“Welcome everyone. I imagine the fae will be a few minutes late. But let’s get started. We’ll resume our study…”

He began his lecture. The fae walked in a few minutes later. Both shot me a look. I gave them my most angelic expression. It clearly wasn’t me. I had been here talking through it.

They took seats that Daron had reserved. I focused on the lesson, which was largely a review of trig at the moment.

After the class passed, I bolted for my next one. I was looking forward to English class. The fae weren’t in it. The rest of the morning passed easily enough. I managed to sit in a position to keep the pain low. The soothing sound of the rain filled the classrooms. All in all, I enjoyed it.

As the lunch bell rang, I followed Daniele and joined them in the line.

“Buying lunch?” Daniele asked in surprise.

“Nope. Just hanging with you. I’m hoping to avoid the table.”

“You should,” a junior girl said with a scowl.

“Go win them over,” I replied with a note of venom.

“We’re going to. You two are ugly freshmen.” She scoffed and then checked her makeup.

Daniele rolled her eyes. “That’s getting so old,” she whispered.

I moved closer to Daniele to try to hide as the flock hit. “And it has only been two weeks. Time betrays you like that.”

“You can cut up here!” several said loudly.

I looked over at the food. It looked good. Though most would argue. They had fried rotk, potato wedges, and peas. There were also tube meals for those who didn’t want it.

“Is your food mana heavy?” Ryan asked.

“Yes. You don’t want it if your goal is to avoid it.” I left out how mana heavy. The taste had grown on me, and it helped me advance.

Ryan groaned. “It burns.”

“You’ll get used to it,” I said.

“I hope so. Is that true?” he asked, skirting away from the storm.

I nodded. “I’ll admit that it takes time. And it will still taste like mana. That will never go away.”

“Do the fae taste it?”

“No idea. That’s a good question.” I turned and looked up at the counter.

A lady behind the counter was punching in orders on some machine. The tray popped out a few moments later. It was efficient.

“How much is it?” I asked.

“It’s five credits,” Ryan replied. “They have low-income options.”

Sun-young chuckled. “I think they are looking for you.” She gestured with her eyes.

“Probably. They’re mean.” I didn’t look. They probably were, and I needed a break.

“Why are they doing it?”

I shrugged.

“It’s strange. If it makes you feel safer, they are sitting now.”

I’ll admit that made me smile. Daniele walked forward and ordered her food. I followed her to a table with a smile, using her as a rib shield. Then we started eating.

“How is it?” I asked.

Daniele looked up with red cheeks and watering eyes. “I can’t taste anything. It’s just fire.”

“Sorry. You’ll get used to it.”

“We’ll see.” Daniele sighed and took another bite. Then another tray joined us. Zriulth slid in next to me.

I groaned. “Leave us alone.”

“That’s quite mean,” Zriulth said, taking a seat.

“It sure is. I’m tired of the girls bitching at me. Just go flirt with them. Leave us in peace.” To my surprise, Spen'ze looked a bit hurt by that. I blushed and looked at the table while Zri sighed loudly at the entourage.

“We just wanted a reprieve.” Zriulth scowled at several that followed. “Stop begging!” he barked.

I could understand that. Still, this wasn’t my vision for school. The fae had ruined it.

Spen’ze took a seat across from me. “Are you avoiding us?”

“Yes. I’m tired of the insults and your elbow.” I looked up.

“Sorry. I wish they'd stop, and sorry for the elbow. Is your side tender or something?” He asked while inching his hand forward.

I slapped his hand away. “You know that is inappropriate. I’m reporting you to the office.”

Spen’ze quirked a brow. “I heard Platinum took a stinger to her side. You could just tell us.”

“She’s not Platinum or Viper!” Lucy said with a scowl. “I heard that she was in class when Viper dealt with the incursion.”

“She was?” Zriulth asked.

“Yes. She was talking to Ryan at the exact same time. She’s just a local ditz with ties to some old mob family,” Lucy said with a huff.

“We’re not criminals,” I protested with a scowl and ignored the fact that I needed to commit another robbery this weekend. Instead, I began inhaling my food so that I could flee to the library.

“Daniele is too,” another added with a glare.

Daniele scowled back. “You are all mean.”

I jumped up and moved to another table, hoping that the fae would give up.

Daniele joined me moments later. “That’s getting old.”

“I know. I’m excited to visit though. Let’s finish and go to the library.” I began eating my salad as quickly as possible. From there, we fled. At least the rest of the day was fae-free. Sadly, Dad wasn’t willing to let me go to Daniele’s. He made me do a zillion chores instead.

Current Level 11 Current XP 9.69% Current Max Mana 8977.93 Regen per minute 13.60 Reputation 12000

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 cleans, preserves, 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 2 Free casting

- Cast any spell you can replicate.

- Slotted Spell. Use half the normal cost of the spell to store a single spell for future use. Cast the spell for the remaining cost. Variable cost. Penalty of 8x mana.