September 18, 493 U.C.

The wind gusted above the plastic corridor, creating a low hum. I hummed along with it as I walked.

“Are you doing better?” Daniele asked, looking at my long sleeves.

“It’s just chilly.” I gestured up at the wind. A leaf fluttered by to emphasize my point. Then we stepped out of the airlock to find some waiting people.

“Found you,” Spen’ze said with a smirk.

I waved and kept walking, heading up towards the school while the wind tossed my hair around.

“Is she alright, Daniele? Why’s she wearing long sleeves again?” Zriulth asked.

“It’s chilly!” I replied. They’ll be healed tomorrow.

Daniele frowned and bumped me. “Are you alright, Casey? You don’t look great.”

“It’s that time of the month,” I lied. Fae biology is a bit different. Maybe that would happen in the future. It hadn’t happened yet. Either way, I had an excuse, and I was using it.

“What does that mean?” Zriulth asked. Then he turned as Daron whispered. That shut the three up.

I kept walking while the breeze played with my hair. I passed several homes before a raindrop hit. I was tempted to just stay in it. Instead, I picked up the pace, matching Daniele.

Daniele frowned as she looked at the clouds. “Are you alright?”

“It was a crummy weekend. I need a break.” I sighed. Job had tried to send more texts. I was ignoring them. While it was immature, I felt like my only real backup plan was gone. If I lost Dad? Well, that left me with very few options.

Daniele sensed my inner angst. “Sorry.” She dropped back and started talking to Daron.

Lacking the desire for small talk, I moved swiftly through the streets, turning my jog into a sprint as the sound of falling water surrounded me. The smell and feeling came moments later.

“Help!” Ela yelled. A quest popped up.

Quest: Rescue. Some hikers are out in the woods, being stalked by something. Please remove the threat.

Level: 11 Mana: 10017

Time ground to a halt as I nodded to myself. The reputation reward was terrible, but I didn’t care. This would help me feel a bit better about myself. At least I would be putting some good back into the world. I dumped out a holo-drone. Then I soared off to earth while swapping amulets and attire.

My target was some rainforest in South America. It wasn’t bad. I was used to rainforests; they surrounded Vuln. I appeared and began looking for the group through the trees. I found them along with the mutated jaguars. That got a massive groan from me. No wonder it made its way to me.

I didn’t want anything to do with speedy cats with absurd claws. Examining the still life, I studied the slinking creatures that were nearly the size of a cow. God, they are out of control.

With no desire for a fair fight, I opted to cheat. I lit up enchantments and chucked wooden knives at all of them. Then I grabbed hatchets and resumed time.

In a surge, daggers smashed into fur. Splinters exploded into the air. Blood trickled down their fur. Several of the cats staggered.

I used Haste and swung, driving my hatchet into its spine. It slammed into the ground as I dashed to the next target. The large cat turned in slow motion, struggling to keep up. I smashed its skull with the hatchet, breaking bone and sending it straight to the ground.

Spinning, I kicked another in the ribs, smashing bones with a sickening crunch. Rotating back, I teleported to avoid one of the pouncing cats. Its tail waggled slowly as it flew into the trees.

I turned and smashed one with a hatchet, smashing skin and bone. Rotating, I began rapid executions. They didn’t have enough speed to counter me.

As the last died, I raced up to the people with backpacks and dropped Haste. “Want a lift back?” I asked.

They didn’t understand me at all. I frowned.

“Ela? Can you translate?”

“Yes!”

I summoned her and let her do it. They all nodded. I sent the group to the closest city, dropped the Ela spell, froze time, swapped back, and then appeared on Vuln.

“ – Casey?”

Panic flashed through me. I’d missed something. “What was that, Spen’ze? Sorry.”

“I said that we’re sorry about how it all started,” Spen’ze said as he closed the gap.

I let out a breath of relief. “Thanks. I get it.”

Quest Complete: Rescue. Reward: 100 reputation. (8150 total). Galactic Quest: Earth defense! In order to aid others, you must first be able to aid yourselves. Contribution: 1353. Time Remaining: 57 Earth days.

“You know that we aren’t the bad guys, right?” Spen’ze asked.

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“Did I say you were?”

“Daniele mentioned you visit certain sites that say horrible things about us.”

Blushing, I turned away and looked back up the street. “Well, something is happening. And I know you are trying to get more control here.”

“Because your nobles are terrible. No offense, Daron,” Spen’ze said as he matched the brisk walk. “We’re trying to keep you alive. There are far worse things out there.”

I nearly fell over as he admitted that. What? “Like what?”

“You don’t want to know,” Spen’ze said softly as he leaned closer. “We’ve lost entire planets. That can’t happen again.”

I met his eyes. He’s serious? Honestly, that confused me greatly. I hadn’t expected something like that. Then why kill Mom? I frowned and stewed on it while I walked.

“Why do you wear long sleeves?” Spen’ze asked.

I resumed my jog as another raindrop hit my head. “I felt like it.” I gestured at the clouds.

Spen’ze nodded. “Is there a way to get the other girls to stop?”

“No. You know why.”

“They won’t listen?” Spen’ze asked.

“They want magic. Everyone does. Truthfully, I’d act the same if I thought it would change things for me. I’m just smart enough to know that it won’t. I already failed the fishing thing,” I lied in a rare moment of skilled deception.

Spen’ze frowned. “I didn’t realize how badly humans wanted it.”

I met his gaze and nodded. “That’s what you missed; I think they’d do anything for magic. I assume all fae have it, so this doesn’t happen.” I frowned while thinking about my own words. The rebellion had the exact same problem; I stewed on the mess, failing to figure it out while jogging down the road.

“Why aren’t you begging then?” Spen’ze asked. “You think this way will work better?”

I shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. I’ve accepted that I don’t know the right way, so I’m doing what I want.”

Spen’ze went quiet again. I could understand. There was truth enough to that statement that even he wouldn’t see through it. He seemed to pull out of it, opening the door for me.

“Can I see your familiar?” I asked. I was curious. Though Ela would freak.

Spen’ze paused and then shook his head. “Sadly, we have a lot of restrictions on our magic use. I’d have to get authorization.” He jogged up and opened the door for us.

I walked inside. Can’t argue with that. Who knows what rules they have. Shaking my head to clear the mire of thoughts, I made it through the airlock, walked to class, and took a seat next to Ryan.

“Morning, Casey,” Ryan said quietly.

I sat next to her. “How are you doing?”

“Okay. How about you?” Ryan yawned and then sipped some tea.

“It’s a morning.”

Ryan frowned. “Anything I can do?”

“It’s fine. This will help. I just need a break.”

“From what?”

I giggled. “Dad.”

“Sorry,” Ryan said sympathetically.

I leaned back and rubbed my arm. Then I yawned and shook some water off my head.

Ryan toggled through the news and glanced back at me. “Looks like the guardians are fighting another hive.”

I frowned. “Those keep popping up. Earth is going to be in trouble if it keeps happening.”

“Want to come visit sometime?” Ryan asked with a nervous smile.

“I wish that I could.” Then I winked. “Maybe I can sneak out.”

“Don’t get into trouble though.”

“You’re right about that.” I looked over and watched students file in.

Zriulth took a spot next to me, studying me while processing the human biology lesson from Daniele. I crossed my arms and stuck my tongue out at him.

Zriulth chuckled. “Humans are interesting.”

“Does that happen to half-fae too?” I asked, due to my self-interests. “I don’t know their biology.”

Zriulth went quiet for too long. “We aren’t changing them,” he said with a sigh.

I met his gaze. “We took DNA samples. It was all over the news. They aren’t human anymore. In fact, I think they have fae DNA.”

“Do you have fae DNA?” Zriulth demanded as he realized where I was heading. “Because you shouldn’t.”

I reached for his hair with a giggle.

Spen’ze knocked my hand away. “Knock it off, Casey.”

I continued giggling.

“How’s the city coming?” Ryan asked.

Zriulth looked at her. “Fine. We’ll have it ready before the end of the year. There is some pushback from many nobles, but we’re trying to get treaties.”

“Was this approved by the Galactic Collective?” Ryan asked.

“Yes. They usually assign a race to oversee others. We were selected for that.”

Ryan grinned. “Have you met them?”

Zriulth nodded. “Members of the council? A few.”

Ryan’s eyes widened. “Wow.” She turned as the teacher came walking in.

Class started. I enjoyed my time away from home. It beat the endless chores by a massive margin.

Current Level 11 Current XP 23.30% Current Max Mana 10092.63 Regen per minute 15.29 Reputation 12100

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.