October 6, 493 U.C.

Ela danced into view with a giddy smile on her face that evening. “They promised, Casey! No changing people without consent. If someone agrees, that’s their choice. And Eluna says, ‘Thank you for helping.’”

Quest Completed - Aid with Criminal Investigation. Reward: 7000 reputation.

“Can you tell me what they did?” I asked.

“Nothing. They are monitoring them now. The police are getting wiretaps.” Ela took a seat on my desk, happily looking up at me. “Can we talk to command now?”

“Nope,” I replied with a frown. Just like that? What’s the catch? “What mistake did they make with me?”

Ela grimaced and looked at the table. “They don’t want me to say. They want you to figure it out because they said that you need to know the truth, and you don’t trust them enough for them to say.”

“Not exactly helping their cause,” I replied with a sigh.

Ela shook her head. “I know. But you’ll see. I did get authorization for something. I promise it won’t be traced.”

“What?”

“The shop.”

I frowned. It’ll be traced… but I can teleport. A giddy grin spread across my face. “Alright, I authorize the shop if you don’t track it or give my name or anything.”

“You’ll have to give location permission when you order.”

“Deal.” I grinned and did a little dance in my chair. Then a little icon appeared on my ocular computer. I opened it.

Like a video game pay-to-win shop, it stood there in all its glory. There was a section dedicated to weapons, armor, outfit customization, potions, enchantments, and far more.

“I can also let you stream and set up a page, but they’d be able to see where you are,” Ela added as she gestured to the top menu.

“One second.” I quickly glanced through the shop and then clicked the discounted page. There was only one item, a book. For the low, low price of 500 reputation, I could have a book on scrying spells.

My mouth dropped in surprise. They did this on purpose. Why?… They want me to help spy on them. That caused my suspicions to surge. However, I needed to do it anyway.

Swapping amulets, I teleported to California, just across the street from Guardian Command. Then I ordered it and waited for it to appear. The seconds seemed to drag on and on, just like the traffic below.

“Casey?” Ela asked nervously. “Can a fae deliver it? They just want to see you and say ‘hi.’ They were wondering if they could see the real you.”

Panic shot through me at the thought. I thought about teleporting away. “No, Ela! They’ll probably toss me into prison, interrogate, and kill me!”

Ela sat there sadly and then nodded. The package appeared moments later. Reaching out, I grabbed it, took the book out, and froze time.

Once safely outside of reality, I began searching for trackers and failed to find any.

With a shrug, I sat down and began reading and memorizing the complex patterns that would allow me to see and even listen in on a different location. It was utterly fascinating, and I spent a long while reading it.

When I finally looked up, I returned home and sat in my chair, swapping the amulet once again. Then I began casting the spell, targeting the smoker. He seemed less vigilant.

My vision shifted. It was like looking through his eyes, and he was smoking. I stared at the stupid cigarette and wanted to scream. He raised it and took a long drag. I tried to focus on the surrounding things.

He was near some building on earth. It was a rundown mess. I continued watching the most boring television show on the planet. He wasn’t even talking. All he did was smoke the cigarette.

After a few eternities and several drags, I wanted to scream. So, I gave up and returned to my homework, opting to try again in five minutes.

Ela came walking out into view. She sat there sadly. “I wish you’d trust them. They’d never hurt you, and you should know that.”

“Why?” I asked while rapidly finishing a math problem.

“Because you’re a fae too. You know that. And they aren’t going to hurt another fae that got caught up in this mess.”

I swallowed and stared at her. That made too much sense. “Why are they really making more fae?” I asked.

Ela went quiet. “They are trying to ensure humanity survives.”

I shook my head. No one is that altruistic. I considered my own group which made similar claims but seemed to be full of problems. No. They aren’t better. “Why else?”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Ela let out a long breath. “I trust you, so I’ll tell you. Please don’t tell anyone else.”

I nodded. I was finally getting an answer. “Deal.”

“Because they are almost extinct. There are far worse things out there.” Ela gestured up towards the stars.

“So, they are in a war? And we’re… we’re just recruits? Soldiers that they’re making from their DNA?” Disgust flashed across my face. “That’s sick.”

Ela vaulted up from the seat. “Don’t you dare judge us, Casey!” she shouted. “The war is already here, and humanity is losing! How blind are you to not see that? Their colonies are dying! The magical creatures are getting stronger, and they aren’t keeping up! Do you think they’ll live if we didn’t help? That’s what the guardians are! You’ve almost died repeatedly! Don’t you dare judge us for helping!”

Ela’s eyes blazed as she looked at me. “You have no idea what we’ve sacrificed! The people we’ve lost to try to keep so many worlds afloat!” Tears began streaming down her face as she started crying.

I swallowed. “What?”

“Sorry,” Ela said as she wiped her eyes. She plopped back on my desk and started sobbing.

“Ela?” I probed again.

“My cousin died fighting them last week.” Ela vanished.

“I’m sorry, Ela. Forgive me. Do you want to talk about it?” I asked out into nothing while my guilt grew. I hadn’t exactly been nice to her.

Ela didn’t come back. Wiping away the water in my eyes, I turned back to my homework and slumped in my chair. They are desperate… But can I trust them? Honestly, I didn’t have good answers, so I opted to try my hand at scrying again.

I tuned in to Cigarette and followed him down some hall. Boredom began its unending war against my will within moments. He walked around, poked at his computer, checked some football games, and then was just as boring as possible.

Must be lying low. I prepared to kill the spell when I heard something. A strange voice echoed through the air.

“Open the door and gain power,” it hissed out, sending a shiver down my spine.

I looked and saw nothing.

Cigarette turned and looked right at it. I stared at some smoky thing that was floating there. It shifted from black to red. And I felt my spell rip apart.

I jerked backward and nearly fell over. What the fuck was that? Whatever it was, it couldn’t be worse than the fae. “Ela! Please! Help!!”

Ela appeared and wiped water from her eyes. “What?”

“There’s a guy that’s talking to smoke! He’s in some city where it’s raining. I think it’s on the west side of America? Report it, please!”

Ela went pale and vanished. I swallowed and hoped she’d come back. Turning focus, I tried the spell again, bouncing off of some force. He’s warded? That thought wasn’t pleasant. Sitting there, I waited and waited. Then Ela reappeared.

“Thank you. They’re searching,” Ela said while slumping on the desk.

“What was that thing?”

Ela looked up at me. “What we’re fighting. Aberrations.”

Horror flooded through me. They didn’t… Shit! I began rapidly trying to figure out who would be able to make potions too. I studied every person I’d given to magic, trying to frantically figure out who’d do that.

“That’s why you need to trust us, Casey. They aren’t good people,” Ela said as she watched.

I gulped and nodded. “Sorry, Ela. Are you doing okay?”

“Not really. It’s stressful. Everything is a mess.” Ela straightened her dress. She gave me a pained smile. “Please trust me.”

I studied the little fairy that I’d ignored so often. I didn’t even know she had a family. “Who are you? What are you? Are you a fae?”

Ela smiled softly. “No. I’m just me. We’re a race that requires magic to live. We bind with those who can help us get it. The fae are helping us. We help them.”

“You’re slaves?” I asked with disgust building on my face.

Ela shook her head. “I can just leave. There are other people. Many dropped their bonds with those from your group. I talked to them and thought about it.” Ela looked up at me again. “But there’s something about you that I like. Just trust me, Casey. I promise to look out for you.”

I’ll admit it, that broke my resistance. Considering the mess I’d made, she’d been the height of patience. So, I summoned her into reality and held my finger to my lips while gesturing.

Ela floated up to my ear and whispered. “You know, I could help you spy on them. I could go see what he’s saying. I promise not to tell anyone but you. And I promise not to lie to you about any of it. I promise not to use this against you in any way. I just tell you and nothing more.”

My mouth dropped open. That would help, a lot. I nodded. “Deal. I need to figure out if they are making those potions,” I whispered.

Ela nodded and vanished. I turned back to my homework and let my little spy get to work.

Current Level 11 Current XP 87.85% Current Max Mana 15380.63 Regen per minute 23.30 Reputation 19100

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.