Casino Crasher

  “Going out again, Cornelius. ” My sister said, in a barbed tone. She stood by the entrance of my room. The skinny girl tried to look imposing, but failed to.

  However, Ashlyn using my full name was not a good sign. Which was odd since I was sure I hadn’t done anything to warrant any sort of hostility from her. 

  “Something wrong?” I asked. 

“You’ve been going out every Saturday, for the past three months.” She said crossing her arms. “Normally, I wouldn’t care. In fact I’d be happy. Finally coming out of your shell and leaving your reclusive life behind. But, you still haven’t made any new friends. You're still hanging out in the library by yourself. So I can’t help but wonder where my little brother is going off every Saturday.”

“Look I’m not doing anything crazy, if that's what you're worried about.” I told her, trying to reign in my irritation towards her. “And for the love of my sanity. Stop stalking me.” I understand, if the situation was reversed I’d be worried too. But did she really have to play mother hen, she was only a year older than me. Worried was one thing but following me around was another. 

Seriously, what the hell. 

“Where are you going?” Ashlyn demanded, clearly ignoring me. 

“Casino.” I said tersely. I had no intention of telling her anymore. Though if I did I’d be here all day or maybe she’d just leave in fit of rage. 

“Casino. Really. At least come up with something more believable.” 

I shrugged, walking past her. Hoping she wouldn’t rat me out to mom. Last thing I wanted was an interrogation from my mom then my dad. I didn’t want any restrictions placed on me. 

With the possible threat of parents looming over me. I quickly grabbed my bike from the garage and started pedaling towards Hotel Royal. The casino hotel was fairly popular for being so close to the airport. 

The hotel was about eight miles from me, and would normally take over thirty minutes to get there. But, with the help of magic I was able to cut that time in half. 

I used my magic to reinforce my body, picking up speed. But made sure not to push the bike too much. So the bike wouldn’t break on me. 

From my understanding, the augmenting magic specifically enhanced: strength, durability, and endurance. With a minor enhancement in everything else. 

As I pedaled my bike harder to run yellow lights, the cold harsh wind blew against me. I was grateful that one perk of this magic was being able to endure any type of weather. Honestly, magic was a huge boon to my life. Partly, because I loathed the cold. 

It was around eleven in the morning when I arrived at the casino. Brightly showed on the giant neon sign were the king of hearts, queen of diamonds, jack of spades and ace of clover. I always found casinos to look overly grand. As if everyone’s trying to one up each other, in the tackiest way.

 I parked my bike at the rack, then used my magic to alter my appearance. Making myself look older. I added gray to my blonde hair and a touch off wrinkles next to my eyes. I also added two inches to my height. Rounding my height out to six feet. I wanted to go for a thirty year old version of myself.

In my humble opinion, I think I was pretty good at handling magic, for someone who’s only been practicing a year. Then again I had no context on where I stood in terms of magical competency, since as far as I knew, I was the only mage around. 

Which led me to believe, either mages were extremely rare, or I was the first of my kind. Hopefully it wasn’t the latter. I had no intention of creating a dynasty or a cult. Plus it sounded arrogant. 

I entered the casino without any issue. The scent of old cigarettes assaulted my nose. No matter how many times I came here, the smell was something I just couldn’t get used to. I was glad the sounds of slot machines and conversations didn’t bother me so much anymore.

I walked through the dimly lit casino until I found the craps table. My purpose here wasn’t really to gamble, it was just a bonus. Plus playing craps helped kill time. 

I never won more than five hundred dollars, only because I didn’t want to seem suspicious. Call it a healthy dose of paranoia taught to me by Hollywood.

By now, I think I had four grand saved up from my trips here. Didn’t have any plans for it. Could be useful in future though.

I placed my bet on ten and was handed a pair of red dice. A logo of a gold crown was printed inside the dice. 

My hand radiated blue energy, as I pushed the magic to animate the dices within the red cubes. I didn’t need to hide what I was doing, no one could see magical energy. I could fire a lightning bolt and everyone within the casino would have any idea it was me who fired it. All they’d see is the damages caused by the bolt of lightning. Magic was just weird that way. 

I rolled the pair of dice, they hit the table, bouncing a few times. While the pair tumbled, I commanded one of the dice to land on six and the other to land on four. Just like that I won, and like always it was a hollow victory. 

I won and lost in a repetitive cycle, until I killed enough time. I ended up walking away with five hundred dollars in chips, then cashed out at the window, where a creepy guy kept licking lips.

It was two and finally time to head towards the hotel bar. I greeted the bartender, Marcus. Like a champ he already had my drink ready. 

“Appreciate the service, Marcus.” I said, holding up the canada dry towards him. 

“Clock work bro. You're always here around the same time.” 

“Guess I'm a creature of habit.” I laughed off. 

“So how much did you win today?” He asked while wiping the counter. 

“Few hundred.”

“You're pretty consistent at winning. Got a secret?” 

“Yeah magic.” 

He laughed. “Next time, I’ll gamble with you. Maybe some of that magic will rub off on me.”

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

“Probably.” 

I nursed my drink, and decided that today would be the last. My sister was suspicious of me and somehow Marcus noticed I’ve been consistently profiting. He was a nice guy, but I didn’t take his observation as a good sign. My trips here would have to stop. Anymore and I’ll probably end up in trouble. 

The only reason I started this adventure was because of my curiosity caused by magical dreams. I kept having persistent, detailed dreams of Hotel Royal for some reason. As if I needed to be here.

So even if my dreams kept hounding me to come here, I was going to ignore them. 

I pulled my cell phone from my pocket and checked the time. The screen of my Razor displayed 4:20. 

“Forty more minutes.” I told myself. Had to be home before six. 

“Nel, you mind doing me a favor” Marcus asked. “Someone left their bag and card key here. You mind delivering to 308.” 

“Me?” I said, pointing to myself in disbelief. “Isn’t that a job for someone from the hotel staff.” 

“Yeah… But they’re being a bunch of lazy assholes. I called someone an hour ago, and no one came. If I leave my post, I'll have my ass chewed out. Plus I’ll also get my ass chewed out if the manager finds out I kept a customer's bag here. I lose either way. Come on do me a solid.”

“Alright, I’ll help. But if I get in trouble you better clear it up.” 

“Thanks man. Next time whatever you want. On the house.” 

“It's cool. Don’t worry about it.” I had some time to waste, so a favor was within my means. Plus I could make a game out of it, and possibly discover why I needed to be here.

Marcus handed me the laptop bag and room key; thus starting my quest. 

First I needed to know where the room was located, so I asked one of the staff members for aid. She gave me directions to 308, which forced me to use the vile elevator. I didn’t like elevators, they were horror boxes after all, but the quest required me to use one. 

I waited until the terrible metal doors slid open. Inside the capsule torture, someone farted like an ingrate. The smell was horrid, like their body was slowly dying; and the smell of death fused with their bowels to produce a stench so powerful and potent; it could scare the devil. 

I managed to escape with my life somehow. If I had an HP bar, it would be in the red. This was one of the many reasons why elevators were terrible. Something always happened inside them. 

After the arduous ascension, I decided to take a moment to recover. I wasn’t the only one, there were a few others who were also inflicted with the vicious poison, spewed from the great anus.

“You filthy motherfucker! I hope you shit blood tonight!” Screamed the woman next to me, while the evil Lord of Miasma walked away laughing. I couldn’t believe I was nearly defeated. 

A great mage such as myself was nearly brought to my knees. Tragedy. 

I bet Hermione never had to deal with farts. Or Gandolf. 

With my strength renewed I trudged onward. Until, I arrived at the heavy looking door that read 308. My short quest was coming to an end.

 I gave the door a hearty knock. Then I noticed the do not disturb sign on the door handle but didn’t think much of the sign since it was too late, at least until I heard faint moans from the room. 

“Who is it?” A deep voice sounded through the door. Guy sounded really annoyed, guess I’d be too if I was in the middle of it. 

“Sorry to disturb you, sir.” I apologized. “I’m just here to return your belongings. You left your laptop bag at the bar. If you want I can come back later.” 

The door opened quickly and a large bald man grabbed me, throwing me inside the room. I almost fell before catching myself. I saw an unconscious woman tied to a chair gagged and beaten. She looked capital B bad. Made me feel dejected.

The T.V. was on max volume playing porn. I figured it was to mislead people outside and drown the sounds of torture. 

I don’t know who this fucker was, but he messed with the wrong mage.

“Drop the bag.” The muscled giant ordered. There was a knife in his hand, and he looked incredibly intimidating. But I was far more angry than scared. I knew my bravado came from wielding magic, without it I’d have pissed and shit myself scared.

“If you want it. Take it. Dickless.” 

That’s all it took for the juggernaut of beef to come charging at me. I immediately reinforced myself with magic. Backing away as he swiped his combat knife towards my face. At this point I realized how much a disadvantage I was. There wasn’t a lot of space to maneuver and I had no idea how to really fight, especially someone with a weapon. I wasn’t knife proof or bulletproof for that matter. The magic only enhanced what was already there; and what I had wasn’t much. 

This could be easily rectified if I trained but I didn’t like working out. Hate sweating. 

Muscles moved towards, with every step he took, I moved backwards. Dodging his slashs. For some reason he was taking his time. I think he probably thought he had me at checkmate. The only way out was behind him, and he was slowly pushing me back towards the other end of the room. So I could see why he thought that way. 

Too bad he was dealing with magic.

Muscles had a weapon, which gave him an unfair advantage. So I decided to even things out by forging a weapon of my own from magic. A neon blue bat materialized within my left hand. Then I raised the bat, readying myself, like a batter.  

My assailant paused briefly, giving me a quizzical look.

“You can’t see it. But I got a bat in my hands.” I smiled.

“Fucking crazies.” He rebuked. 

I stopped moving back and let him come within striking distance. He didn’t think anything of it and continued his murder walk.

Once Muscles was within batting distance, I wacked him in the arm hard. He wailed in pain. Clutching his broken knife arm.

“Surprised? Confused? Why? I told you I got a bat.” I gloated, mocking him for his lack of perception of magic. 

Pissed, Muscles threw a knife at my thigh with his other hand, while I was high off my premature victory. The blade sunk inside me about two inches.

“Fuck!” I screamed, more from surprise than pain. My fabricated bat faded from my lack of focus. Working three different magics at the same time was difficult. 

Muscles took the opening to tackle me onto the ground, he pulled the knife out my leg with his uninjured hand and stabbed downward towards my throat. 

By sheer luck I caught his arm before the knife sank into my throat. Not only was he strong but he was also quick, and really skilled. 

Muscles leaned down using his full weight to try and push the knife downward. But, I held firmly pushing against his forearm with both hands. Thanks to my magic giving strength, I stopped the knife from moving any further. 

I took the opportunity granted to me by the stalemate to unleash counterattack. I produced a bit of lightning around my hands, shocking him. He let out an odd cry before slumping. I pushed him to the side.

I made sure to only generate enough lightning to stun him. Though I still, I checked his pulse just in case. He was alive, which was great for my conscious. 

I began to heal my leg with magic, unfortunately healing wasn’t an instant recovery like in final fantasy. 

While my leg healed I limped towards the bed, removing the bed sheets to tie up Muscles When I finished he looked like a snug evil burrito. 

Finally I limped over to the victim. She was breathing slowly and painfully. I carefully began to untie her to avoid causing her anymore pain. As soon as I finished unbinding, I used my magic to heal her. Blue magical energy saturated her. She wouldn’t heal as fast as me, since I had a natural healing factor to help me out. 

I didn’t know how long I’d been healing her for, but enough time had passed where I could put proper weight on my right leg; and she was starting to look a lot better, most of her injuries towards her face had cleared up. So I decided to stop.

I turned off the T.V. and called the police. Told them I saw a large man drag a woman into his room against her will. 

After that I left. I didn’t know what shady shit I had walked into, but I wanted none of it. The police could sort it out. 

Bright side. Atleast, the stupidly vague dream prophecy was fulfilled; and I could finally start having normal teenage dreams again.

QUEST ABANDONED