October 7, 493 U.C.
I straightened my skirt and walked out into the Vuln air. I glanced at my ocular computer. “Ela?”
“Spying is so hard!” Ela shouted back through my earpiece. “They have wards everywhere. And people are everywhere. Casey! There are so many people!”
I giggled and felt a bit better. At least I’m not the only one that’s bad at it. Walking forward, I looked at our destination. We were on a field trip to the museum.
Daniele bumped into me. “You good?”
“Fine. Just laughing at something online.” I looked up. The sun’s rays were streaming through a break in the clouds, lighting it up. Spinning, I smiled at Ryan.
“Field trip!” Ryan said cheerily as we all walked towards a large building next to Guardian Command.
“It’s just a museum,” someone said with a sigh.
I could agree with the sentiment, but it was a nice break from class. I looked over and failed to find the two fae. Must be busy… Probably hunting me? Are they hunting me? I wasn’t sure what they were doing.
I got pushed as someone broke our little crew.
“So, Daniele, what are you doing this weekend? Have you got your guardian badge?” Tara asked.
“I’m busy,” Daniele said with a scowl. She huffed and moved between Ryan and me.
I giggled. It was mean of me, but I couldn’t help it. Several moved back to chat with their future guardian. Her popularity had boomed. I reached over and pulled a curly black hair off her blouse. Then I dropped it on the ground.
“Thanks,” Daniele murmured and then groaned. “No, I don’t have secret access, people. Stop asking! Ask Daron! He’s a noble!”
“He’s not here,” Ryan said with a giggle. The sun broke through the clouds, glinting off the windows and lighting up the damp concrete.
“Poor, poor, Daniele,” I replied with another giggle.
Daniele scowled and elbowed me.
“What happened to the fae, Casey? You were their favorite,” Tara said as she walked next to me.
I shrugged. “Haven’t the foggiest.”
“They’re helping at command,” Ela said in my ear. “Eluna and others are busy dealing with the aberration.”
That shocked me. I nearly tripped over my feet. “It’s not dead?”
“They are very difficult to kill. They’ll get rid of it, but those two are at command today. Do you need them? I could summon them.”
“No!”
“And you don’t have magic?” Tara asked. “I heard them say your name. And you could have been faking it with Daron…” She trailed off and then looked at me wide-eyed.
Sensing the oncoming scream, I clamped my hand over her mouth. “I’m not a guardian!” I hissed. “Stop doing that! And don’t you dare scream!”
Daniele and Ryan promptly burst into giggles, letting me have it. I scowled at them while letting go of the fiend next to me.
“You are too. I can tell,” Tara said with a grin. “Come shopping. Bring Daniele… Oh my god! Is Ryan one too?”
I facepalmed loudly. Daniele burst into giggles again.
“No,” Ryan said, blushing furiously.
Great. I befriended the honest people. I sighed and walked up the concrete steps, entering the museum’s airlock.
It took about four trips to get everyone through it. I walked into the carpeted museum and studied the different exhibits, trying to shake the group that was now following the three of us.
“Welcome everyone!” a curator said happily as she straightened her name tag. “I’m Curator Kristine Rogers. I’ll be walking you through some of the history today. Now, who can tell me when Vuln was first discovered?”
I tuned out like every other student, choosing to study some nearby exhibits. The first spaceship on Vuln. The first teleporter. The history of mana. Contact with the fae. I read through them.
“… Casey?” the curator asked.
My face turned red as I spun. “Sorry, Miss Rogers.”
Kristine laughed. “Can you tell us the ramifications of the first teleporter on Vuln?”
“They were desperate for supplies, so they opened the wormhole. The containment failed. Mana spread everywhere. They tried to stop it by quarantining. Mana doesn’t work that way. Then we had first contact with the fae who came to help.”
“Correct. That was a massive shift for humanity. We’re still dealing with it. Questions?”
I raised my hand and figured that I might as well try it. “Why do the guardians change when they get magic?”
“Good question. It causes genetic mutation. Command does it in a way that is far more healthy. That leads us to our next exhibit. Mana and the nature of magic.” Kristine led us into the next room.
I took a look at several exhibits. All of them mentioned the mutations caused. In fairness, I’d seen several of them. I tried to find out if any humans had taken a darker path.
I turned and began searching, finding an article about a dozen supposed deaths and the presumed lost arcs which some attributed to mana. “Ela! Are humans able to get magic without the fae?”
I waited, hoping for a direct answer instead of digging.
“Yes, but not as much,” Ela said. “And it would take too long… It’s a whole thing, Casey. If you want the research, just meet with them. They’ve agreed to share it with you. But this is for the best, for both species.”
I frowned and looked at the exhibit. So, the fae aren’t altruistic either. They’re desperate. And they’re trying to get me to come to them… Realization slammed into me. Too many things made sense. While I wasn’t sure that I trusted them, they probably wanted me to join without a fuss. Part of me considered it. I just have to make sure they won't kill me first. I turned back to the curator and raised my hand.
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Kristine finished her thought. “Casey?”
“Do we have anything about the galactic group?” I asked.
“That is very exciting, isn’t it? I can’t wait to get an exhibit. When the first quest is completed, we will learn more. That is what the fae have instructed. A few leaders are pushing for earlier meetings.” Kristine beamed and looked out for other questions.
Disappointed, I turned back to the exhibits and then followed the group into the next room, which was dedicated to Vuln wildlife. Skeletons and stuffed creatures were everywhere. I didn’t say it out loud, but the raptor looked familiar. The konodo did too. I walked up to a tritop. Is that my hatchet wound? I mean, I don’t see why we wouldn’t sell the skin and skeleton, but still. Are these all from me?
Ryan bumped me and pointed at a Kiltr. She mimed claws. I nodded and pointed at my legs. Shock rolled across her face as she realized. She then proceeded to stare at me. I batted my eyes at her.
Growing bored with her staring, I swatted her blonde pontyail and walked over to the giltasaur. There was a skeleton that had a hologram around it. That has to be mine!
“How’d you get this?” Sun-young asked while standing under the massive skeleton.
“That was a donation from a local butcher shop. The Erikson family donated it. Maybe Casey knows?” Kristine asked.
People turned to me. I prepared to lie. I couldn’t exactly tell them that I’d lured it out with a siren song and then killed it with an axe.
I prepared my lie and smiled. “It got too close to the wall. An anonymous fae or guardian dealt with it. We picked up the corpse and harvested it. The bones were donated.”
“Which guardian?” Michael demanded.
I shrugged. “Ask my dad.”
Michael then studied me again. I rolled my eyes and turned to Daniele. She was staring too, her eyes bulging out of her sockets like a damn giltasaur.
Daniele continued staring while blood flooded my face. I turned in search of Ryan. She didn’t help it either, staring at me like I was a guardian on parade.
Several girls came elbowing their way back while I huffed and went to hide behind an exhibit.
“It is an impressive specimen,” Kristine said. “They are also terrifying. Their hide becomes armored. You need a guardian to bring them down. It’s a shame that the fae were unable to accompany.”
“Ask Daniele,” Michael said with a chuckle.
Daniele’s staring was interrupted. She began blushing furiously instead. “I don’t have it. I showed you the card.”
“Nice try, Guardian.”
Laughter spread through the room. I stuck my tongue out at her. She deserved it after the staring. She walked over to the rotk exhibit. I joined her, looking down at the little birds.
Ryan walked over and studied those. She pointed. “Lunch,” she whispered.
I giggled. They’d have them again. I was certain of that. Then phones everywhere went off. It was a cacophony of buzzing. I grabbed mine out of my pocket and blanched.
War on Starb. First drone strikes!
My breakfast began to rebel. I wanted to vomit. Dread ran its hands down my back, sending a shiver racing through me. No. God no.
I pulled up the video feed as my stomach churned in agony. A video of drones whirring through the streets of Starb played. Explosions and gunshots were going off as the drones attacked each other.
Daniele powered hers off and swallowed. “Oh God. He’s attacking?”
I forced myself to watch. This is my fault. I did this. A drone fired. Bullets rained down. A woman screamed, and I froze time.
I began debating what to do. I didn't want to get shot even with a fail safe, it'd hurt like mad. So, I took the easy way out.
Appearing on Starb, I began firing off lightning. The crackling electricity hung there as I targeted drone after drone.
When my mana was low, I returned to the museum and then resumed time. The video feed went white as lightning lit the sky. A hundred bolts crackled, blowing drones apart under the deluge.
“What the hell?” someone whispered.
“Viper? Did Viper do it?” someone asked.
I ignored it and kept watching the feed. While I had destroyed many, there were several more, firing at each other in a barrage of weaponry.
I looked up and felt the rising panic in the room. This was terrifying. We had been on the brink of war, and someone had pulled the trigger. I turned back to my phone and began searching for the reason why.
Finding an article, I quickly read. The claim was that someone was trying to steal the method to awaken. I shook my head as the doubt filled me. That was way too convenient.
I tuned back into the feed. A new wave of drones whirred forward. Then the anti-air triggered. A deluge of bullets broke the drones and sent them crashing toward the ground. Another wave of drones came flying forward. Then it became some fascinating drone war where they sat there shredding each other.
My phone buzzed. I looked down and just got mad.
Raptor: We need aid with the war. Target their guns and drones.
“Ela! Trace my phone! I need to know who this is!” I requested. Then I began typing.
Me: Fuck no. I don’t have an armor spell, and I’m not getting shot. You know they could kill me in about a second with laser weaponry. You do it.
“They’ll find you,” Ela said softly back. “Are you sure?”
Grateful that she hadn’t tricked me, I shook my head. “No. Is there another way?”
“I’ll try to see if I can figure it out,” Ela replied and went quiet.
I looked back at my phone and waited for a rebuke. He didn’t text back. I stuffed my phone back into my pocket. Then I looked out at the class.
Ryan shut her phone off with a shudder. She looked at me. “Casey?”
“I hope they stop,” I whispered and searched for any response from the fae, finding nothing.
“Well, let’s resume,” Kristine said, trying to pull attention back to her. “Let’s head to the next exhibit.”
I followed the group to the next exhibit, which covered the history of Earth. It had a few artifacts from the first wormhole device. It had a few other ones scattered around. I studied the tech that had pushed us out into the stars.
I paused in front of one about the moon base. That hadn’t gone well. It was a massive resource sink. I moved to the next; we attempted to terraform Mars. That hadn’t gone great either. Are they still trying to stabilize it? I grabbed my phone to look.
Then I blanched as I saw the news. The nobles were threatening far worse. I grimaced and killed my phone. I’ll deal with it after school.
Current Level 11 Current XP 90.96% Current Max Mana 15635.63 Regen per minute 23.69 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.