It took Oliver over an hour to tell his friends almost everything- while he trusted his friends, he wasn't sure they were ready to learn about the strange, world destroying entities he had fought in the abandoned school. Hell, he wasn't really sure he was ready to know about those things, though the system seemed to disagree. Or the person behind it, if there was one...
“I mean, it sounds cool as hell.” Gary spoke into the silence that fell after Oliver's story. “But seriously, man... I can believe that you killed some racist assholes. I can even believe that you took out Carl and his dad... Because fuck those guys, right? And it wouldn't really surprise any of us that you are capable of killing people that deserve it...”
A glance around showed Ed nodding along with his words, though Marty simply had a thoughtful look on his face.
“But... Magic? Fighting a vampire? Visiting other planets?” Gary chuckled softly as he reclined on the slide nearby. “Honestly, you had us going for a minute. But if you think we'll fall for a such a shit joke... Then you must be nuts!”
While Ed and Gary simply laughed it off, Oliver met Marty's eyes. While the three of them were regularly called the 'Three Stooges'... Marty wasn't as much of a joker. And he definitely wasn't stupid...
“I don't think Oli is lying, guys.”
His words brought the other two up short for a moment, before they both scoffed loudly.
“Dude, seriously? Magic and monsters and fucking aliens? And you believe that!?” Ed shook his head in disbelief.
Marty shrugged, indifferent to their skepticism. “Has Oli ever pulled a prank on us before? Or on anyone? And, if he was just fucking with us... Don't you think he would have come up with something a little less crazy sounding?”
“And...” Tyrone chimed in from where he had been standing silently the entire time. “I hate- well, no, I actually love that I get to point out you guys being dumb... Remember the vampire part? Where Oli was trying to save someone? And by that I mean saving me?”
The pair stared dumbly at their large friend for a moment before Ed spoke up again. “Bro, you can't be serious! Even if that shit really happened, he said you were blindfolded the entire time. So, what? You identified a vampire by her smell or something?”
As Ed and Gary chuckled and shared a fist-bump at his retort, Tyrone just shook his head at them. “Ok, let's ignore the fact that a tiny woman- and I do mean tiny, like five foot nothing and maybe ninety pounds, kicked my ass and kidnapped me. No, I couldn't see her.” He glared at Ed as the man opened his mouth with another retort. “But I didn't need to to know that. She picked me up and carried me around like a sack of potatoes. Even blindfolded I could feel how skinny she was by the way her tiny ass shoulder dug into my stomach.”
“But lets ignore that it is impossible for someone a third of my size to haul me around like that.” He said reasonably, waving his hand as though brushing the statement away. “And lets focus on the part where Oliver took me through a portal. That was after untying me and removing the blindfold, remember?”
“Are you saying the portal thing was real?” Gary said as he sat up, then quickly turned his gaze to Oliver. “Ok, prove it then. Do the portal thing again.”
Oliver could only sigh and shake his head. “I can't. That was a magical trinket with limited uses. I used the last one to escape from the Koman- the hostile aliens I told you about.”
“Right, right. A 'magical trinket' with limited uses.” Ed's voice was thick with sarcasm. “Totally reasonable. Not at all a convenient excuse. I mean, I hate to doubt you, but... That was a pretty crazy story, man. As much as we trust you, you can't just throw out stuff like 'magic' and 'aliens' and expect us to not be skeptical.”
At that, even Marty gave a slight nod. While he trusted his friend... it did sound a bit far-fetched.
A small, smug smile played across Oliver's face for a moment as he met their eyes. “Ok. You want proof?” Despite their skepticism, all three nodded instantly. A small chuckle escaped his lips as he turned to Gary. “So, what snacks did you bring along?”
Confusion flashed across all three faces, and, after a second, Gary grabbed his backpack with a chuckle. “Bro knows that I bring the snacks. I even grabbed your favorite!”
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With a flick of his wrist, Gary tossed a small can Oliver's way. Snagging it out of the air, he turned it around to read the label, and his heart warmed- not just because it was his favorite, but because his friends still thought to bring him something like that... and that they even knew what his favorite snack was. “Sea salt caramel cashews... I never told you they were my favorite.”
“Bro, you asked for them at every game night. You think we don't pay attention?” Gary scoffed even as he pulled out a bag of chips for himself.
“Well, maybe sometimes you aren't a complete dumbass after all.” Oliver teased with a soft laugh as he opened the can. “Ok, fair warning... Don't freak out. I'm going to introduce you guys to the alien I brought back with me.”
Seeing a touch of anticipation and curiosity in their faces, Oliver turned his gaze to the tree branches above... And gently shook the can of nuts. “Hey, Henrietta! I got that snack I promised!”
With a screech of joy, the neon missile came flying out of the trees to land on Oliver's shoulder. Eyes locked onto the small can of delicious smelling treats, Henrietta paid no attention tot he shocked gasps of the group.
Or the thump of Gary falling off the slide.
“Bro! What the fuck is that!?”
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“Seriously... You go to alien planets and bring back a fucking squirrel? Why not some hot alien babe!? Didn't you say that Cindus chick was kinda cute?” Ed groaned in disbelief.
“Dude, she was a lizard person! And an alien!” Gary exclaimed, staring at Ed.
Marty simply chuckled at the two. “Hey, I've seen the Skyrim mods you installed. You've got no room to talk.” As Gary sputtered indignantly, Marty turned to look at the squirrel that was eagerly chomping away at the sweet snack. “Besides, Henrietta is cool. And she's Oli's familiar. How badass is that?”
The two agreed, though a bit reluctantly- more due to Oliver being a sort of space traveling wizard than anything else. After a moment passed, Marty shifted his gaze to Oliver with a surprising intensity. “I know I'm not the only one that wants to know, Oli... What do we have to do to get magic?”
He paused, glancing at the pair arguing beside him. “Ok, what do I have to do to get magic? Because I'm not so sure we can trust these two not to blow shit up.”
“Hey!”
“What the hell, man!”
“You really want to know?” Oliver asked with a bemused smile, his gaze panning across his friends- even Tyrone was leaning in eagerly, though he already had some idea. “Ok. It's not much, really.”
“If you want a Rank one spell, which is the weakest available as far as I know...” He paused for a second, letting the anticipation build. He knew it was a bit mean to tease them with this, but they needed to understand exactly how much it would cost. “Well, I think about a hundred thousand dollars would cover one spell tome, depending on what the spell does. Some are cheaper or more expensive, due to how useful or how rare they are...”
Seeing their expressions fall, he knew he needed to finish setting their expectations. He didn't want to discourage them, but they did need to know how difficult it would be for them- it wasn't like they had a system to help them cheat... or help them make a lot of money. “Then you would need to study the tome. The amount of time required varies, but for a Rank one spell... I think three months at a minimum. Longer if its a difficult spell. Or if you lack talent.”
“And that is assuming you have the talent to even learn it and unlock the mana in your body. I had the system to help me with all of that, so I don't actually know how difficult it is.” He shrugged apologetically. “Sorry guys. I honestly don't even know if it is possible for you to learn; and I damn sure have no clue how to teach you.”
The three of them all groaned in disappointment, and even Tyrone looked a bit disheartened at the news.
“Aww, come on man!” Ed whined softly. “Can't you just hook us up with the tome so we can try? You've got that whole 'get rich quick' thing going with the system- OW! The fuck!”
Ed cut off suddenly as Gary punched him in the arm, shaking his head at his friend's whining. “Bro, not cool. Oli may be able to make the money easy, but its kinda fucked up to ask him to shell it out just like that. And that's not even taking into account that if we got magic and did some stupid shit... Wouldn't that bring the kind of attention that he's been trying to avoid? You think that people wouldn't look into our friends if one of us started throwing fireballs or some shit?”
“I mean... Probably. Shit. Yeah, my bad Oli...” Ed sighed softly, hanging his head.
“I never said I wouldn't hook you guys up in some way. I just said that getting you magic would be expensive and may not work.” Oliver pointed out quickly, a small smile on his face as their excitement was rekindled.
A small, glass vial appeared in his hand suddenly, filled with pale red liquid. “I haven't gotten things together yet, but I'm planning on putting together some single use items for each of you... Like this. It's a Potion of Minor Healing. While it won't fix everything, it'll patch you up better than a visit to the hospital. You're each getting one; just remember that they are for emergencies only.”
“Seriously guys. For. Emergencies. I don't want this shit getting out and bringing trouble down, but I also don't want one of you getting killed because I kept it from you.”
“Speaking of which... You mind if I pick your brain on a few things Marty? I'm pretty sure you know more about the fantasy stuff than the rest of us combined, and I'm hoping to make use of that.”