Jet was standing in line at the mall. A game he had been waiting for was finally coming out. Sore from standing in line all night, but excited. Jet never really was big on games, but after his parents died, he found that he could escape the world in them. He had a full-body VR suit at home. They were still trying full dive VR but just ended up killing a lot of people.
As the store door came open, a stream of people started running in. Jet pushed and shoved people, he would get this game. As he got to the shelf, grabbing one of the last games still there. Grey Disaster was the game. The biggest open world ever supposedly. A fifty TB game. That is why you had to buy this game in town. The base game was in the cartridge he held. He turned to rush over to the counter, but he ran right into someone. They both fell when they collided.
"I'm so sorry." Jet said. Looking at the girl he had fallen on.
Jet quickly got up and helped her up. He looked at her. She had bright blue eyes and black hair. What an odd mix, he thought, looking at her. She was looking at the game in his hand.
"If you are genuinely sorry, you will let me have that game. After all, you knocked me down, and the rest got grabbed." She said, giving a bright smile.
Jet stood there staring at her. He thought there was no way she could've even got the game in time.
"I will have to say no. You couldn't have gotten one in time anyway." He said, looking at her.
"Fine." She said, storming off.
Jet went up to the register and bought the game. As he headed out of the mall, he saw that girl again. She was sitting on a bench looking down at the floor. Jet just sighed and walked over to her.
"Hey." Jet said.
"What came over to brag about getting the game," she said hotly, glaring at him.
"No, I was going to say you could come over to my house and take turns on the game." Jet said, then turned and walked away. He wanted nothing to do with this girl.
"Wait, wait, wait," she said, repeatedly chasing him down. "Do you mean it I can play it at your house?"
"Sure." He mumbled out.
"My name is Amanda. What's yours?" Amanda asked.
"I'm Jetsford." Jet said, looking at the overexcited girl.
Jet woke up realizing he was dreaming. That had been where he first met Amanda, he was thirteen at the time. He stood up, looking around. He had woken up early. Maybe he missed Amanda more than he had thought. From what he could guess, he had been in this world for at least four months now. According to Rick, they were nearly to Hope. Since he woke up early, he started his workouts and got breakfast around.
Jet looked at the fire. Nobody kept it up. Without thinking, he snapped a finger, and the fire came right back to life. The soldiers that were awake just stared. They couldn't believe how easy magic was for him. A soldier pulled something from his pocket a red stick. Rick had Jet doing sneaking training. All the soldiers carried blue sticks. Jet was to steal them and not get caught. If caught, he had to clean that soldier's armor. If he put a red stick in their pocket, they did the dishes. Of course, if he got caught putting the red stick in a soldier's pocket, he had to run around the carriage and troops for an hour, even if they were moving.
"Hey kid, where are you from?" Coal asked.
Coal is the captain of the guards. He didn't ever talk to Jet. It was like Rick said, nobody of importance ever spoke to disciples. Of course, Jet liked talking to the soldiers.
"No clue." Jet said.
Coal just raised an eyebrow at him. He looked Jet up and down. He couldn't tell where Jet was from, and his features didn't quite match theirs.
"Rick found me bleeding and dying in a forest. My memories are just a jumble. All I have is a name and a mess of memories." Jet said.
Rick and Jet had talked about what he should say if asked about his past. There were mages out there that stole or changed memories even though it is illegal in this kingdom. So they used that excuse.
"You have no memories of your past?" asked Coal.
"No. My memories are just a jumbled mess." Jet said.
Coal put his hand on his beard, deep in thought. Jet was a little curious about what was going through his mind. Jet just kept cooking. Hopefully, Coal would not ask too many questions.
"Considering the magic I have seen you use, you are more than likely from a great house. Since you have mana manipulation, which is highly difficult to learn, it usually takes almost a lifetime to learn." Coal said
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Everyone was staring at Jet now. This was not going well. Now people were going to think he was important.
"We will find out soon enough. Be in Hope tonight." Rick said, getting up.
"True, but there is a small problem. If any house learns he has mana manipulation, all of them will claim him." Coal said
"Jet, you said you remember your name. Do you remember a house name?" Coal asked
"I remember a name, not even sure if it is mine." Jet said, thinking it was a good thing he prepared for this conversation now.
"I see. Rick, what was he wearing when you found him. Maybe give a clue as to what house he is from." Coal said, looking Jet up and down.
"He didn't have anything on when I found him. Jet had been badly chewed up by a wolf when I got there. I fixed him up, and well, as Jet said, he has a jumble of memories." Rick said.
Jet was flushed red after hearing that. He was not expecting the naked part. To take his mind off the conversation, he looked around to distract himself. After looking around, he finished up with making breakfast.
Jet's head popped back up quickly. He stared at some bushes and trees nearby. Something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it. The shadows were off. Jet looked around again. There were a few off shadows. He started pouring out his magic to shift earth around everyone.
Rick had stopped talking. He could feel Jet's magic pouring out. Then him and Coal started looking around,
"The shadows are wrong." Jet said in a whisper.
Rick looked around and didn't see anything wrong. He looked at the shadows around them. The trees and bushes shadows looked acceptable to him. But he remembered Jet came from a world with one sun. Maybe Jet was wrong about the shadows. Rick was about to say something when he saw it. The wind was not moving the shadows.
"Were in an illusion and a damn good one," Rick said quickly.
Coal took off running to the carriage. Rick prepared himself for a battle. Jet had his sword out immediately. Then he cast his spell, and the earth shook violently. Spikes started coming out of the ground all around them. Jet thinking walls would not help here now if this were an illusion, then most likely, people were already around them.
When the illusion broke, there were dozens of people around them. Half the soldiers were dead with knives in their hearts. Others were up and fighting, and Jet had just earth spiked both sides of the fight.
"Jet get to the carriage. It's on fire hurry and put it out." Rick yelled as he was already fighting.
Jet turned and ran towards the carriage. Sure enough, it was on fire. Coal was almost there already. Jet trusted Rick and ran without looking back. As he ran, he gathered more magic. A cloud started forming over the carriage. It began to rain, and water blades shot out of the clouds at the bandits. Screams rang out as Jet showed no mercy.
Not seeing the girl that was supposed to be in the carriage, he took a quick look around. Then saw the twelve year old girl being hauled off by a group of men. She looked scared and was squirming in one of the mens grip, until he put a knife to her throat.
Coal was busy and didn't notice the girl. He was still struggling with other mages to get to the carriage. They were outnumbered five to one. An arrow flew by Jet's face, leaving a cut. However, he didn't take his eyes off the girl. Jet ran to catch up with them.
They didn't notice him as he ran up to the four of them. His sword plundged through the man on rights chest. The other three turned to look at him.
"Kill him. We don't got time for this." the man holding the girl said as he turned and rushed off.
Jet dodged a fireball and earth spike. He sent two fireballs right back at them. He ducked a sword swing that almost decapitated him. While also dodging another fireball.
His mind started to race. 'What can I do? It's two against one. I can barely keep up with these two.' One guy stayed back; casting while he fought the other. Jet parried while at the same time jumping out of the way of fireballs. He heard the girl cry out.
What was he doing? Why was he risking everything? Why was he even here? Jet saw the man getting away. 'That poor little girl, what am I thinking. I have to save her.' That is all that went through his head.
Jet dodged a sword swing. At the same time, he kicked the man on the ankle. As he tumbled forward, Jet sliced his throat. Then stepped to the side, dodging another fireball. With a flick of Jet's wrist, a wind blade sliced off the other man's head. He could feel the adrenaline wash through his body. Jet grabbed his bow and cocked an arrow. Then poured magic into the arrow, wind to make it fly straight, and fire to make it deadly. Once his magic took hold, he shot, it whistled through the air. It hit the man in the back of his head, the tip of the arrow entered, then his head exploded.
Jet watched as the man fell to the ground. Then he went flying forwards, and pain shot through his shoulder. Jet was on the ground now. He looked at his shoulder. An arrow piercing out of it. Jet heard a bowstring, then a whistle. He rolled out of the way as another arrow landed where he had been. Pain shot through his arm. Rolling had broken the arrow on both sides. Desperate, he made an earthen wall to block the path of the arrows.
Jet took a long breath, then looked for Rick. Rick was busy, magic flying around him as he fought. Coal was about the same.
"Man thought I had it rough. I don't think they thought of me as much of a threat." Jet said while gritting his teeth.
Jet looked over to check on the girl. The man had fallen on her, and she couldn't move. He tried to get up, then fell back down.
"Damn it all. I am all out of magic. And I got a fucking arrow in my shoulder." Jet cursed allowed.
Jet got up and started staggering his way to the girl. Hoping the archer was not paying attention to him. It felt like hours as he walked to her. The sounds of battle still going in the distance. Jet fell to his knees to help the girl. As he reached a handout, she screamed.
"No, don't hurt. Let me go." the girl screamed, tears streaking her face.
"I'm not here to hurt you. My name is Jetsford." Jet said, as calmly as he could. He didn't want the girl panicking too much.
She nodded to him as he moved the body. The girl was covered in blood.
"Are you hurt?" He asked, looking at her up and down.
"It's the headless man's blood." she squeaked out.
"That would be my fault then. Now let's hide. Can't protect you in the open." Jet said.
He grabbed her hand, then stumbled to a good size tree to hide behind. As soon as he got to it, he collapsed.
"Sir, are you alright?" She asked, shaking him.
"I will be just fine." Jet lied.
Jet got to a sitting position and looked at his shoulder. There was blood running down his shirt and pants. He ripped his shirt off, then tried to tie it around the wound. It didn't work. One arm didn't move anymore. His vision getting dark around the edges. 'At least I saved this girl. I would've liked to see a little more of this world.' Jet thought as the world went black.