September 30, 493 U.C.

I stared at the lab that I was supposed to be using. It sat there uninterestingly, just like it had for the past week. Then I glanced at the picture of Dad and me that I’d put on the desk. In the frame’s reflection, I could see my new escort. That was Dad’s security because he felt I wasn’t repentant enough. I was under house arrest for the week. It made me depressed. My magic made it worse. I could travel anywhere on a thought. Now, I was stuck with a babysitter.

So, I sat in a stupor, pretending to work on an impossible project. Then my phone buzzed, jolting me from it.

Daniele: Still feeling under the weather?

Me: Yes. Can you get homework for me?

Daniele: Yes. Are you alright?

Me: I’m fine.

Daniele: Literally the words used to say you aren’t. We can figure this out, Casey.

Me: It’ll be alright.

Daniele: And you’re grounded for another month?

Me: Yes. Don’t read into that.

Daniele: We love you and miss you. Ryan wants to bring soup.

Me: Sorry, grounded.

Daniele: Be safe. We look forward to chatting.

It was difficult. I didn’t know if Dad was checking or not. He probably was. I frowned and messaged Ryan.

Me: Hi, Ryan. How are you?

Ryan: We miss you. Does it stop hurting?

Me: Talk to Daniele. But it takes a while to get used to mana. You’ll get there.

Ryan: Are you coming back? The fae are back. They are asking about you.

Me: I’ll be back next week.

“How’s the project coming?” my new escort asked. He was some brown-haired dude that looked to be in his thirties or forties. He was built like a bodybuilder and got on my nerves.

I ignored his question. “Did I earn a name yet?”

“No. Focus. We need it.”

I ignored that too. Instead, I locked my computer, stood up, and headed for the kitchen. It was snack time.

My lumbering escort followed me. “You need to focus instead of eating.”

“You know that I can kill you in less time than it takes for you to snap your fingers, right? Be careful being that level of obnoxious.” I opened the fridge and began looting.

“Please. You’re too soft-hearted.”

“We’ll find out how long that lasts together. Too bad only one of us will remember the answer.” I quickly made a sandwich and walked back to my room. Then I frowned at the lab equipment. Pretending to do things on it was the height of boredom.

“Work,” Bossy said.

I spun and huffed. “I’m thinking! Good god, man. Stop micro-managing me.”

“You know that I have to report this. I’m logging all idle time.”

“And I’m logging your idle time!”

“This counts as idle time.”

“Yeah. Well, I don’t care,” I lied and slumped in my seat. The whole thing sucked. I pretended to write down notes. Then I pretended to make something for the next ten minutes.

As the time passed, I looked at my mess. It smelt foul. I was tempted to chuck it at Bossy. Don’t do that. You’ll be stuck with the smell. That thought stopped my idea. Instead, I used the picture to spy on him.

The guy was zoned out. He likely was watching something on his ocular computer. I left the failed task behind and started texting again.

Me: I’m so bored. Can we weaponize glitter? I need to get revenge.

Ryan: We both know the answer to that.

Me: I miss you guys. And I want to go shopping. Too bad I’m out of money again.

Ryan: That sounds fun. There is a way to fix that…

Me: Can’t do that.

Ryan: I’ll protect you!

Me: Thanks, but I can’t.

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“Back to work!” Bossy barked.

“I am working. You know that I have a sleep spell now?” I asked.

“If you use it, it’ll be logged.”

“I don’t even care.”

“You’re lying. Now get to work before I have to page him.”

I groaned, letting my warbling cry of frustration ring through the air. In an attempt to relieve more of my frustration, I continued it. Bossy became as deranged as the dinosaurs.

“Stop that!” Bossy yelled.

I stopped and huffed. Then I began working on my homework. It took another fifteen minutes before Bossy got distracted again.

I pulled up the news. Not much had changed. The nobles were squabbling over resources. Some were posturing with drones and artillery again. Starb was a mess. The fae were working on their city.

I pulled up our political leader’s page. He had another rant about the fae and the need to preserve humanity. In fairness, I agreed with that. I began searching for conditions in his territory. They were better than I thought. Did I mess this up? Should I just trust him? I mulled over it while trying another search.

“Work,” Bossy barked.

“Want some jerky?” I asked.

“Work.”

With the temptation to throw a ball at his head, I turned back to my completed studies while continuing my debate. I should just sneak a visit. I resolved to do that while putting in my contacts.

Ela fluttered out. “You should turn yourself in.”

I frowned and considered it. Maybe it's for the best. Will they kill me? What about Dad?

Ela pulled her hair up into a bun. “Please, Casey? I promise you won’t be hurt.”

“You can really promise that?”

“Yes! And I could get you into the new fae school! It’ll start in January. Daniele will totally go! Go with her! Come on! I can meet Ama! It’ll be fun!” Ela grinned up at me with her large puppy eyes.

I began debating it. Then I shook my head. Either way, I wouldn't work. If this was a giant mistake, I had to clean it up. With a grimace, I decided now was the time to start spying on my dad and the group.

“Casey! Look!” Ela danced around and made a holographic image of it. “Doesn’t it look amazing? It’ll be filled with magic and tech. There is a swimming pool! And there is a dueling area…”

Honestly, it looked amazing, and strengthened my resolve to figure everything out.

“Progress report,” Dad said, jolting me from my quandary.

I spun and sighed. “This isn’t working. I don’t understand potion making anywhere close to well enough for this.”

“Meat run then… Where’d you get that picture?” Dad asked with a frown.

“I bought it before all of this. I have one for you and one for Grandma and Grandpa too. It’s a birthday present for him.” I smiled and handed his to him.

“I see.” Dad looked at the picture. Then he looked up. “It’s not going to remove the punishment.”

“I know that, but everyone has pictures. We should too.” I smiled at the picture.

“Get the food,” Dad ordered. “I expect you back in fifteen minutes.”

And with that, my moment crumpled once more. I groaned audibly.

“Food now,” Dad barked.

I launched up from the chair and teleported out into the wilds just to get a break from the house. A grassland stretched out in front of me. Dinosaurs were grazing everywhere. I wasn’t interested in most of the herbivores. I began singing as loudly as possible. The herbivores stampeded away. Moments later, the carnivores were drawn to the noise.

With a deranged look, one that looked like a Dilophosaurus came running up with the rest of its pack. It seemed to have some mana. That was good news for me. I used haste and began rapid executions. Then I sent the carcasses on their way. Teleporting once more, I appeared on some cliffs near the ocean and began dispatching the flyers nearby. They were a great source of mana.

It was largely uneventful and took me less than four minutes in real-time. That was depressing when you considered what was waiting for me back at home. I decided to spend some time restocking the fish at the awakening locations.

After stocking several, I checked the clock and stole a moment to take a look at the fae city. It was disappointing. It looked like a massive construction site. If you’ve walked through one, you know what I’m talking about. There was equipment everywhere. Foundations were laid. A wall was being built. Some buildings were too. One fae woman seemed to be in the middle of constructing a building with some spell. She had bricks floating all around her. It was cool.

Grabbing a piece of paper, I also scratched out a message.

Hi Daniele,

I’m fine. Really. Dad’s just being a pill. I’m so bored right now. I can’t get into the why. You can contact me. But send it over my email or internet number. I know that Dad can’t see that.

Miss you,

Casey

That made me feel better. I placed it on her desk. Then I returned home and groaned at the horrible potion making kit in front of me, sending my wail blaring through the house. I was tempted to smash it.

“Casey!” Dad yelled.

I shut up and feigned working once more. The rest of the week was largely spent doing that. I did try to get some spying time, but I had almost nothing to go on. I needed a meeting, so I largely just waited for that.

Current Level 11 Current XP 67.70% Current Max Mana 13729.63 Regen per minute 20.80 Reputation 12600

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.