Marcus ‘Nosejob’ Grimaldi
With a sputtering breath, Marcus was ripped out of his meditation by a chiming sound, coupled with illusory confetti raining down on him that only he could see.
Silence notifications.
He tried and failed to fall back into the sparse bit of comfort that his newest skill provided him. It had been a week since Giovanni had one of the thralls bite his nose off, and it was only his relatively high constitution score that was keeping ghoul rot from setting in. He could feel the scabbing skin crack and tug as his face involuntarily scrunched at the memory.
The words of his “employer” still rang in his ears like red-hot bells chiming in the acrid winds of whatever the closest hell was.
“Of course I have had the exit spell all along, idiot. What, you think all those machines were already broken before I got here? Nobody gets out without my express approval” Giovanni had sneered.
And when Marcus had threatened to tell the others, he received his newest nickname.
No worse than “cockroach eyes”. But perhaps “toymaker” was just his way of buttering me up to get me to take the class advancement he wanted me to. He sure loves putting his underlings in their places. Everyone except Lisha, of course. Geez, what’s taking so long? They’re really putting the screws on this kid, huh?
No sooner than he had thought it, he caught sight of the two deadliest people in Hart’s Casino leaving the hole in the wall they had just created mere minutes ago. They began quietly talking to each other, but Marcus’s perception was high enough that he had heard every word.
“Lish, you’re absolutely positive that this kid isn’t who the witches are looking for, right? I simply cannot have any more goddess-damned paladins raining on my parade.” Giovanni spat.
“They’re looking for a girl. He’s about the right age, but the similarities end there. She's supposed to be some kind of life-weaver, and she’s traveling with a dungeon monster. I’d say there’s a slim to no chance that she ends up here. My sources say that she’s headed towards the coast, probably gonna try and take a boat out of Ataraxia.” Lisha whispered.
The toned mercenary woman leaned up against the side of the coffee shop, looking deep into Giovanni’s eyes. Giovanni was picking at one of his newest piercings- either a nervous tick, or just tormenting the spirit trapped inside.
Joleeca has got to be right. They’re totally an item.
“NOSEJOB!” Giovanni spat.
Grimacing, Marcus ran over to answer the rude summons.
“Sir?” Marcus asked, looking down at Giovanni’s boots to avoid eye-contact.
“Hey kiddo. Hope your face is feeling better. You know how it is, right? But anyways- I need you to brainwash this kid. He’s fighty, but I don’t think he’s ready for the pit. Nobody wants to pay to see some schoolboy get beat up- well actually there’s probably a few people who would, but that’s not really what I’m going for- anyways. We’re probably gonna force him to kill a few people first, get him a new class or something.” Giovanni said.
Giovanni lifted Marcus’ chin, looking him dead in the eyes. Marcus felt the need to look away out of habit.
“Aww, kiddo. I’m not still mad at you. I know you’d never try to mess with my head. You already know how that would go. Sometimes, we just need to all remember how this whole thing works, right? Listen, next time a healing class gets trapped here, I’ll see if they can’t fix up your ugly mug if you keep up the good work. Maybe.” Giovanni whispered.
“W-will do.” Marcus stuttered. His voice still sounded foreign to him, as it had since the bite.
“Eww, you’re leaking goo!! Shoo!” Giovanni sneered, pointing and making a comical brushing motion.
Marcus put a rag to his face, noting the blood intermixed with the snot on the cloth.
Bastard and his curses. Hot one second, cold the next. Mark your days, Giovanni.
He walked over to the coffee shop, stepping inside. A few of the mutant rats were picking through the kid’s backpack. One had gotten into some ink, and was trying to wipe its paws off on one of its siblings. Whatever the ink was made of seemed to be potent stuff, as no matter how hard the poor thing wiped, the black only seemed to spread.
Marcus activated his skill.
“Get in formation behind me.” He spoke. His eyes glowed with the signature pink, purple and orange swirling ripple of his class’s magic. [Mesmerist- Domination specialty] wasn’t what he originally intended on taking, but the boss wanted a way to keep people in line outside of just scaring their pants off.
The rats all obeyed. Marcus looked down at his newest victim, who was kneeling and bound with a piece of cloth that looked like it was ripped off of his own shirt.
“Names Marcus. You might want to clench your jaw for this.” he said.
“What are you going to do to me?” the boy asked, with far more mettle than Marcus was expecting. He was clearly looking straight at the hole in Marcus’ face, which was a bad idea.
Marcus slapped him hard. Gio recoiled.
“Listen, kid. You’re Giovanni’s property now. Whoever you were, whatever you wanted… it doesn’t matter anymore. The sooner you figure that out, the less you’ll suffer. Take it from me. Look me in the eyes.” Marcus commanded.
His eyes snapped forwards, and then locked there as [Mermerist’s Eye-trap] activated.
“Stand up.” Marcus ordered. The boy complied. Marcus thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye, but he couldn’t look away, lest he risk breaking eye-contact and deactivating his skill.
“Listen closely. You’re going to bark like a little doggy to let me know that you’re ready to answer all of my questions and do exactly what you’re told. Okay?” He said.
He felt the enchantment building, preparing the binding magic through his class interface. The familiar colors swirled in front of him, as he watched the progress bar gradually fill. Only a few more seconds of eye contact and his magic would be complete.
Marcus heard a projectile whizz through the air near his ear to his left, and moved out of the way, without breaking eye-contact.
“Cute, but no cigar.” Marcus quipped. He didn’t know how the kid had managed to try attacking him, but it wasn’t going to make any difference.
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But, maybe that wasn’t what was happening here. The kid lunged to his side with newly unbound hands, grabbing for his gear. He picked up something and fiddled through it, all while still being locked into a staring contest with Marcus.
Marcus tried to lurch forward and stop whatever he was doing, but was standing too far away. A wall of mirrors erupted in front of the kid, causing him to look himself straight in the eyes.
“Attack” Marcus said, commanding the rats.
They all bolted towards the mirror, but quickly stopped dead in their tracks. Marcus watched as the reflection of his own eyes shattered into hundreds of copies. Each locking onto one of the many rats, and even the guards who had just ran in from the walkway. He felt his own magic click into place.
A strangled noise came from one of the rats. It sounded like it may have been choking on something. Then another, and another. Soon, all of the rats were making little sneezing sounds, or maybe…
“Arf!” said one of the guards.
“Hey Marcus, almost done in there? Giovanni said he was going to go to- BARK!” said another guard, walking into the room as another shard of mirror split off in his direction.
Marcus felt it building in him, but tried to resist. He felt it swelling, and swelling. Like a gas bubble waiting to be let out. Soon, he couldn’t bear it anymore.
“Woof.” Marcus said defeatedly.
He felt a wave of ecstasy roll over him. He felt the sudden urge to giggle, as his anxieties melted away. His shoulders relaxed, and he sat down on the ground, folding his legs until he was cross-legged. He looked up at the form of the boy.
“What just happened?” Gio asked.
“It’s an anti-synergy that happens when your hostile ocular magic gets reflected. I think the old class book I read that one time called it “Gorgon’s Downfall” or something.” Marcus answered, smiling cheerily.
“Oh…thanks?” Gio said.
“You’re very welcome. So what do you want us to do?” Marcus asked.
“I’m sorry?” Gio said.
“Bark like a dog, answer all questions, do exactly as you’re told. You reflected my magic back at us-cool spell by the way-so… go for it.” Marcus explained, feeling proud of himself.
Gio had a surprised expression on his face.
“You seem rather casual about this.” Gio said.
“Well, I have a lot of skills against mind control effects… but I also have skills to combat those same skills. I guess I put too much effort into the latter, so here we are. My magic is pretty great- so you’ve got us at your command for the next few minutes until Giovanni and Lisha come back and kill us all.” Marcus said.
Marcus looked over to the side, and saw a bent serving tray, where a copy of the boy in front of him was motioning emphatically in the reflection.
“Hey sir, your… plate is trying to get your attention.” Marcus said.
Gio looked over to the tray, holding it in his hands for a moment. He then peeked out the side of the massive hole, exclaiming loudly at whatever he saw there.
“Uhh… I’m gonna try to cast a spell now. I guess… go try to distract your boss? Cause some mayhem so I can get away.” Gio said.
“Gotcha. Well, enjoy whatever life you have left! I’m gonna go try to distract Giovanni!” Marcus said cheerfully.
Gio grabbed his ink-stained backpack, the tatters of his shirt, and his spellbook. He held the dinner tray in one hand, and the spellbook in the other. Marcus watched with rapt fascination as the boy and his reflection both disappeared.
“Oh well, that’s weird. Let's go break some shit.” Marcus said.
Before his gaggle of mind-controlled friends could get very far, they all stopped in their tracks.
He felt it before he heard it or saw the message. He snapped back around to the coffee shop, peering in through the wreckage. His eyes went straight to the bent silver serving plate that had clattered to the floor mere moments ago.
Two pinholes, like the burning ends of a cigarette, were looking back at him. Instead of the distinct cherry red though, he saw what felt like endless colors, all burning into his retinas at the same time. A jagged line began to form from the left side of the tray, slowly carving itself a lopsided smile beneath the two pinpricks.
Marcus felt the metallic voices inside his body. The jagged, broken symbols of his system were presenting new colors to him, which gave him a little bit of a headache even through his euphoric state.
“Youre… not the kid.” Marcus said, frowning.
Marcus felt a new wave of pleasure roll over him. It rolled from his toes all the way to the middle of his forehead, like a sea of tiny pinpricks on his skin. His mind wandered… everywhere. He thought about the food supply that Giovanni kept hidden in one of the cashier cages. He instantly realized that he could think of no less than 57 different kinds of cake he could make from the ingredients there. He loved cake. He also thought about how much fun it would be to go find all of the rats that weren’t caught in the spell and make them be go-go dancers in the planters in the teleport room. He suddenly realized that he could probably figure out how to set fire to a large portion of the casino with strategically placed explosives. He watched the rest of his companions skitter off.
One guard found a can of whipped cream in the cafe that had to have been easily 50 years or more out of expiration date, laughing as he emptied its contents into the barrel of his service weapon and began shooting patterns in the ceiling tiles.
Marcus felt a warm, comforting feeling in his face. He buckled down to all fours, as the feeling became too intense for him.
He watched himself in the scuffed tile as his nose began to regrow. His eyes looked like little comical five-pointed stars of pink and orange, as he smiled to himself and began to laugh.
His system rang out with a chorus of voices. Some sounded familiar, like the system he had grown up with. Others sounded foreign. Voices like thundering clouds, crashing waves and distant fire.
Rewards: -MAJOR BOON -CLASS ADVANCEMENT- CHAOS BLESSED -FORBIDDEN ARCANA: ‘THE SPELL FLOWER’ Failure penalty: Permanent transfiguration into a statue of a ladle made of lavender scented beeswax, time limit: three hours.>