"Home sweet home, right bud?" Olya nudged me as we inspected the map.
"Hell no, man!" I refuted, "I don't wanna go back to Meridia! What if we come across mom and dad? That'd be so awkward that I might die!"
"Whoa, didn't take you to be so opposed to it..." He looked a bit stunned, "But hey, I get you're still kinda mad at your folks for taking the camel way back when, but you gotta be at least a little excited to go back to your home country, right?"
Truthfully, I'd rather die than go back there. Now obviously, I don't really mind the country or the people there in general, but we have at the very least four people we absolutely must avoid - My parents, and Shaid's parents. Cause if you think about it, right, if we come across my family, they're never gonna let me and Olya leave. But that's nothing when we compare it to meeting Shaid's parents, because then I'd have to explain the entire situation to them about why their son isn't with us currently.
"Yeah, telling someone their son is in a coma on the north pole getting treated by a horny doctor would surely be difficult to explain..." I pondered to myself.
"Oh, that's why you're so against it." Olya chuckled, "But well, it's not like the Tower of Currents is that close to your hometown, is it? As long as we've got even a sliver of luck on our side, we'll be in and out just as quickly as we were with the Tria Prisma."
"Mnn, fair point..." I thought about it, "But just in case, how 'bout you whip out the Book and give us a stealth gadget?"
"Oooh, like a Light Refractor?" He asked.
"The fuck's a light retractor?" I turned the question right back at him.
"No, not retractor, refractor!" He corrected me, "It's another thing from one of my light novels. Basically, it's not exactly a gadget, per se, but an ability."
"And how will it help us with stealth?" I heard him out.
"I'm getting there, hold on." He told me not to rush him, "So in the story, the main character collects these magical orbs that grant him cool powers, right? Basically, one of those powers is the light refractor, which, as the name implies, refracts the light that bounces off your body, making you essentially invisible. But, there's a catch."
"There's always gotta be a catch with these things..." I rolled my Eyes, "Can't any of those abilities in those stories just come without a cost? I mean, they are called powers, after all, so why make them limited?"
"Because it's easier to write a compelling and relatable story if the character actually has to think up a roundabout way of defeating the enemy than just erasing them from existence with their abilities." He let slip a pretty heavy industry secret, "If the main character's abilities were truly as unstoppable as they're usually described, then you wouldn't really ever be on edge when reading the fight scenes, cause you'd always know "Eh, he'll just win anyways with Judgment Cut, who cares?", so you make it so the ability has a cool down or something like that."
"Huh." I then got back on topic, "Anyways, what's this ability's setback, then? Also a cooldown?"
"Nah, it works indefinitely." He pointed his index finger down, "But only when you're crouched."
Oh, is that all? Damn, I thought it would've been more dire than just having to crouch a bit, but if it's just that, then we're golden!
"Then what are you waiting for?" I patted him on the back, "Write it in!"
"Augh, okay, hold on, geez!" He began opening the safe, "By the way, I'll only make one for you, okay? For someone like me, that's only a curse."
"What? Oh come on, weakass..." I clicked my tongue, "Well, I guess no one really knows who you are in Meridia, so I guess you don't need it. That being said, you're missin' out big time in my opinion."
"I'd like to hear you say that again after your knees start to crackle and pop." He smirked as he wrote the magical orb into existence, it's aura glowing brightly in front of me, "There. Touch that and you'll get the ability."
"Cool!" I went in without even questioning it.
The orb, which I had originally expected to have a somewhat glassy texture and feel to it, had surprisingly dissipated the very moment I had touched it. As if melting in my very hand, fusing with it as the "power" melted into me, I had felt myself getting stronger. Not physically stronger, mind you, but stronger as in more capable. Thus, I looked to Olya and nodded after he gave me the all clear before crouching down, and...!
"So, did it work?" I asked.
"Yep, scarily well, too." He looked around, "I bet you could sneak past me without issue like that even... Schnell?"
"Boo!" I suddenly got up from my crouching position right in front of his face, giving him the jumpscare of a lifetime.
"Guha!?" He fell on the floor, clenching his chest as he berated me, "You fucking piece a' shiet cocksucker! That scared me half to fucking death!"
"Great to hear!" I smiled, "Means I can use it offensively as well! Bahaha!"
After that, I kept pranking everyone in the lair before they all got sick of my jumpscares and actually forced the two of us to go to the next World Wonder as soon as possible. Those asshats...! I was just having a bit of fun, and they get offended already? Well fine, we'll go to the stupid Tower of Currents, but when we get back, oh ho ho... They're gonna wish they never rushed us!
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"Alright, we're here." Olya sighed, "You can stop crouching now, the coast is clear."
"Oh." I opened my Eyes slightly before getting up.
"By the way, I noticed you didn't scream at the top of your lungs this time around." He chuckled, "Looks like you got used to the portal throwing us around finally."
"Oh, I was never really scared of it." I dusted myself off, "I just did it for the laughs, but I knew that my invisibility would prove useless if I was still screamin'."
"Huh." He looked peeved, "Well, at least this time we don't have to go looking for the damned place. The Tower is, well, a tower, so it's right over yonder."
"Yeah, but we should still remain vigilant." I readied myself into a semi-crouching stance, "You never know what may be lurkin' around every corner, so I might have to hide behind you if worse comes to worst."
"That might work for a skinny guy like Shaid, but you're fucking bigger than me, you creatine cretin!" He yelled, "Fuckin' bozo... I'm fat, but you're built like a brick wall! Just crouch if you need to and don't go embarrassing the both of us!"
"Oh right. I guess I overestimated your stature." I kicked a nearby rock, sarcastically apologizing to him all the while.
"You're the worst." He clicked his tongue before walking off on his own towards the Tower.
"O-Oi!" I ran after him.
The Tower of Currents is said to have been made by none other than Allucius himself, the patron saint of Cardina. This God is said to even be feared by the other Gods, but little else is known about him other than short anecdotes. One story claims he's the one responsible for bringing Cardina enough water for it to prosper this much, and another claims he was the one who actually sculpted the initial landmass of the World before the Everdivision. Now I'm not really someone who believes in all these baseless folklore stories, so I wouldn't really advise anyone to take my words as facts. Still, I can at least agree with his sense of architecture, cause this Tower was always absolutely stunning!
"Oop!" I wasn't looking in front of me, enamored by the Tower's beauty, so I accidentally bumped into a young girl, "Sorry about that, this big bro's real clumsy!"
"Huh, well aren't you an apologetic one, mortal." She ominously stated, "I guess I'll spare your life this time. Rejoice!"
And so, she walked off just as grandiously as she had appeared before us. Honestly, I don't know what's more surprising - Her Purple hair mixed with that odd way of speaking, or the fact she actually spoke Entropic. Usually no one in this damned continent takes the time to fully learn the language, resorting to a somewhat mixed usage of it and their native Cardinic, not to mention all that ridiculous miming they throw in for good measure. But yeah, this girl is either a genius prodigy or a foreigner from Entropa, cause there's no way someone her age would speak that fluently.
"Purple hair... Is that common over here?" Olya looked back at her, "How interesting..."
"It's not. And also..." I gave him an irked expression, "What did we say about showin' interest in minors?"
"I didn't mean it like that, shiet!" He lightly shoved me as if I was the one with the dirty mind, "Geez man, those allegations are way too serious to joke about."
Well excuse me, prick! I wouldn't be making them if you didn't give us a reason to back when we first met! Ugh, I will admit though that he did completely lay off those drawings of his. To my knowledge, the only ones he has are some somewhat risque illustrations in his light novels, but whenever I ask him about them, he mostly seems more focused on the story rather than the childlike characters. Sigh, I guess he's right though, I shouldn't falsely accuse someone who's actively making an effort to rid himself of that, so I guess I should just leave it at that.
"Right..." I noticed by now we had already made it to the entrance, "Oh, looks like we're here. Touch on three, got it?"
"It doesn't have to be at the same time." He sighed as he put his hand out, "By the Gods, doing this in a crowded area sure is embarrassing..."
"Yeah yeah, shut up and count us down." I laughed as I incrementally inched my hand closer towards the cobblestone wall of the Tower.
"Right. Here we go, then..." He took a deep breath as he began the countdown, "Then, three, two...!"
"There he is, that's Schnell!" The one woman's voice I didn't wanna hear called out to me, "Honey, I told you it's him!"
"Holy shit, it is!" Her husband started running towards me, "Oi, where the hell is our boy, kid! Where's Shaid?!"
"Shit!" I ducked down immediately, turning invisible to hide myself from them, "Olya, play it cool!"
"Huh!? What's going on?" He whispered in a panic, "Who are these people, bud!?"
"Bad news, looks like we're the unluckiest shit stains on the toilet seat, man!" I hid behind the wall whilst remaining invisible, "Those are Shaid's parents, and worst of all, they saw me and know I'm around, so you're gonna have to act extra carefully if you want them to get off our case!"
"I ain't no actor, dammit!" He cursed me under his breath as Shaid's folks ran towards him, "Oh, can I help you?"
"Where is he!?" Shaid's dad didn't hesitate to lift him up by the collar, though thanks to Olya's weight, it wasn't by much, "Where is Schnell Douglas!?"
"Don't let him go, dear! I'm certain this man was with Schnell!" The mother looked equally as pissed.
"Dammit, bud..." Olya continued muttering under his breath at me, "What the hell, you said this guy's a cuck, so why's he so scary...!?"