September 4, 493 U.C.
Like an escaping rotk, I dashed out of my cage, shooting out into the street. The smell of rain hung in the air. Dark clouds sat above. I twirled in my glee to be free. “Sweet, sweet, freedom.”
Daniele giggled. “I never thought that I’d avoid fae and nobles.”
“I can’t deal with it. If I get called bitch again, I’m screaming in their face.”
“That’s the truth.” Daniele smiled and followed me up the side street. “I really hope that I get it.”
I winked at her. “Don’t worry about that. Seriously.”
“Casey?” Daniele stared at me. “Does that mean what I think it does?”
I nodded. “Yes. But don’t tell. You’ll get magic. I can’t join you in fae land though.”
“You should,” Daniele said.
“They’ll kill me, Daniele. I mean that. I know it. They will kill me and probably string me up like in those ancient westerns.”
Ela glared at me. “They won’t!”
Daniele blanched. “That’s scary.”
“Exactly.”
“Can I meet your familiar?”
“Maybe later. I can’t trust her out here. She knows too much.”
Daniele giggled. “I want to meet her.”
“We’ll bite that bullet after school or something. Ela is trouble,” I said, shaking my head.
“Mean!” Ela shouted. “Summon me! I want to talk! And you need to listen to me for once, Casey.”
“No!”
“Casey, we need to talk...”
I ignored her and walked up the streets, avoiding the swarm. A flock of birds swooped overhead, fleeing from something. Like the moment before a storm, a cold douse of humidity hit.
“Is it going to rain?” Daniele asked.
“Probably. It rained all of last night. It smells amazing.” I took a long sniff. The smell from the forest was strong. I looked over to see a friend who was considering sprinting.
“Do you do many quests?” Daniele asked.
“Some. I also keep having to save people who get too overzealous. Have you heard from your brother?”
“Nope. He’s busy with school. We’ve texted, but he’s busy a lot.”
“He’s a guardian.” I grinned. “Plushie!”
Daniele rolled her eyes. “He’s not.”
“He is.”
“You’re terrible.”
“That’s true. I am a villain.”
“You are the worst villain,” Daniele said. “Why’d you rob that bank?”
I flushed. “To make a point. It’s stupid. I’m not doing it again. Stealing a pizza is one thing, but I still feel bad about it.”
“They did get amazing publicity. The bank is running ads about it.”
“Yeah, but I don’t like doing that. A free pizza is just fun. I win. They win. It’s nice.”
Daniele turned and grinned at me. “I would love to go shopping with Platinum. People would freak.”
“And call the cops.”
“She has fans.” Daniele giggled. “The princess songs helped a ton.”
“I couldn’t stop myself.” I giggled. We strode up a few more streets. The school and a large group came into view.
I grabbed Daniele’s hand and pulled her into an alley, avoiding the swarm. Like their name, they buzzed and chirped on their way towards the building. The two of us stayed low.
“What if we’re late?” Daniele asked.
“Please.” I started laughing.
Daniele giggled. “I didn’t think about that. Can you cast it on me?”
“I could get you there. We have all the time in the world.”
“That’s really strange to think about.”
“Yes. Time is a funny thing.” I grinned as the noise dropped. “Let’s go.”
We emerged and headed up to the school. Walking inside, I was greeted with a familiar face. “Ryan! How are you?”
“Good. Have a good weekend?” Ryan asked, pushing his hair back.
“Yep. You?”
“Yeah. I practiced some things and got ready for guardian club.”
“Fun.”
I walked into class and frowned. My seat was stolen. I glared at the guilty parties.
Spen’ze smiled at me. “I saved you a seat.”
“We need a block of three,” I demanded.
Spen’ze chuckled. “Nope. We were here first.”
“Evil.” I took one of the few seats left and crossed my legs.
“Late this morning?” Spen’ze asked.
“Yes.”
“And we didn’t see you. Why’s that?”
“Because you were surrounded by your entourage. That reminds me. We need magic, all of us. So, pay up.” I batted my eyes at him.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Spen’ze groaned. “Please don’t, Casey. I thought you were a sane one.”
“Nope! Spen’ze, please!” I shot him a beaming smile.
Raptor: Rescue operation.
I forced myself not to groan as time came to a halt. This was going to be pricey. I dumped out a drone and swapped amulets. Then I willed myself elsewhere. Like a strange vortex, reality swirled around me. I appeared near the tower entrance and didn’t bother checking for vision. This was going to be a nightmare. The tower had restrictions on teleportation. With an eight-kilometer radius, the thing was large, and I had to search it.
Engaging haste, I appeared and shot into the tower. A black hallway stretched out before me. Light radiated from the ceiling, revealing strange walking fish things. They were like massive tadpoles that had legs. One had its mouth open, revealing fangs like a piranha.
Then the smell hit me, nearly knocking me back out of the tower. They smelled like a fish factory that had broken down on the hottest day of the year. I forced myself not to vomit as I walked towards the disgusting things.
The first one I hit exploded and made the smell way worse. I leapt back to try to avoid the horribleness. That was when I regretted not keeping a nose plug in my pocket dimension. It was added to the list.
“Casey? Why are you in the tower?” Ela asked.
“Rescuing people.”
“Make them register!”
“No can do,” I said. “I’m so tempted to summon you. Then you can suffer with me.”
Ela looked completely shocked. “Why?”
“It smells horrible!”
“Pass!” Ela stuck out her tongue.
I chopped another in half, ran forward, and felled another. This process continued as I mowed down the disgusting creatures while searching. The maze quickly shifted from polished black stone to a fish-splattered nightmare. I couldn’t imagine anyone entering in the wake of destruction behind me.
It took me eight minutes to find them. That was far too long for my liking, even if it had only been two and a half seconds.
Walking forward to see the gunk-spattered group, I cursed. Dropping Haste was going to cost me a ton. I walked into the mess, chopped down the creatures, poured potions in two throats, and then teleported them all back to the entrance.
The bleeding woman went first, then a man, and then their son. Once the group of three was back at the start, I bolted back for the door, following the trail of bodies I’d left behind. Then I raced out of the stone structure, froze time, and swapped amulets with a long breath.
“Sup, Casey? Got any pizza?” Death asked as he appeared.
“Sorry. I’ll get you when I get some spare mana and time. How’s reaping?”
“I killed some shithead. They were getting on my nerves. So, they had a heart attack.” Death chuckled. Amusement shone on his face.
“What’d they do?” I asked as I wiped my face and shoes.
“Tried to weasel out of dying one too many times by using prophecy. After the fourth time, I just cashed in.”
“You’re strange, you know that?” I asked.
“Yes. Call me when something fun happens or when you get food. Get me something good.” Death chuckled and vanished.
I swapped necklaces. Then I appeared back in my chair and glanced at my desk.
“ – Casey,” Spen’ze said.
Shit! I batted my eyes and played with a curl. “Can I have magic?”
“Stop,” Spen’ze groaned.
“Fine, but only because I’m feeling nice today.”
Spen’ze wrinkled his nose. “Does it smell like fish in here?”
Like standing in a pillar of flame, my body lit up. My face turned bright red. I grabbed some lotion. Today was not my day.
Spen’ze sniffed me which set my cheeks ablaze. Then I heard him chanting something while he traced his finger in the air. A burst of magic hit me, coating me with a flowery smell. I sniffed at the flowery smell that at least sort of masked the horrible smell. “Thanks,” I murmured, turning to look at him. “Early morning fishing trip.”
Spen’ze quirked a brow and then seemed to zone out for some reason. I grabbed my phone.
Me: Got them. They owe me their lives and a billion credits!
I looked up as the teacher walked in and began the lesson. As the class progressed, my scent cover slowly faded. With my cheeks blazing, I shot out of the class as the bell rang, dashing into the bathroom for a momentary scrub before facing the rest of the agonizing morning.
~~~
Watching the agonizing clock, I bolted to the bathroom as soon as the lunch bell rang. Then I teleported home for a real shower. Finishing the shower, I teleported back and then frowned. It was still too noticeable for my captors.
I stopped time and ate my lunch, tossing some jerky to Death. Then I resumed time and dashed to the library to avoid further embarrassment. Daniele joined me ten minutes later.
“Casey?” Daniele whispered.
“Sorry. Rescue.” I turned red again.
“Oh. Sorry.”
“Thanks.” I shook my head.
“Can I just meet her for a second?” Daniele asked and took a seat.
“Yes, yes, yes!” Ela said with a grin.
“Promise to behave?”
“Yes!”
I used the spell. She appeared in front of me with the Platinum outfit. Then she flew over and stood on Daniele’s shoulder.
Daniele’s grin was utterly massive. She looked like this was the happiest moment in her life. “Hi, Ela,” she said softly.
Ela beamed back. “Hi, Daniele. Nice to meet you.”
I turned back to my book as the two started chatting, munching on more jerky as I did.
“I like your outfit,” Daniele said.
“Thanks! Casey won’t let me wear it around the house.” Ela scowled at me while Daniele giggled.
I sighed and tried to ignore them. I’d made it through five pages before I realized it was way too quiet. A glance up revealed why. The two were whispering. “Ela?”
“What?” Ela gave me an innocent smile.
“What are you saying?” I asked.
“Nothing!”
“Liar. Time to go.” I dismissed her.
“Aw,” Daniele said with a nervous smile.
“What did you talk about, Daniele? Don’t believe a word of it.”
“Nothing,” Daniele lied.
“Tell me, please.” I gave her a sad look.
“Alright. But don’t get mad.” Daniele moved close and began whispering. “She said that she was worried about you. That I should help you. And that you wouldn’t let her say much.”
“What did you tell her?” I asked.
Daniele flushed. “Nothing.”
“Daniele…”
Daniele looked at the floor. “I just mentioned the bruises and asked if you were alright. She couldn’t tell me.”
“Are you lying?” I asked. She’s as bad at it as I am.
“Yes.”
I sighed. “Please don’t betray me, Daniele.”
“I’m not. We’re just worried about you, Casey.” Daniele gave me a sad smile. “And I’d love to have you with me.”
“I wish I could, but they’ll kill me, and we need this. Humanity needs this.”
Daniele nodded. “I get it.” Then she seemed to zone out. She was probably thinking.
I started reading my book. Then I dragged Daniele elsewhere to avoid the fae stalkers. The rest of lunch and school passed at a glacial pace. When I finally got home, I spent another fifteen minutes in the shower, trying to get rid of the putrid smell.
Current Level 11 Current XP 11.77% Current Max Mana 9148.23 Regen per minute 13.86 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.