by Tao Wong
Gust Cast
Synchronicity 84%
Alter Temperature Cast
Synchronicity 67%
Spell Combination Success 32%
I said chilling because my spell was not powerful enough to freeze them. I swore, the combined spells I had attempted barely doing more than making the crows think it was a nice autumn day. But the gust itself at least sent most of them flying away from us, giving Alexa another shot at reducing their numbers. Most did not mean all, however. One particular bird managed to wing its way toward me, claws tearing at my hastily raised arm. Pain registered as skin parted under razor-sharp claws, skin and cloth doing little to defend me.
My concentration wavered when I was injured, but training with Caleb and Alexa over these months had some effect. I held the spell together, varying the push of mana into it to alter the strength of the breeze it generated. This shifted the crows erratically, forcing them to battle to stay on target while Alexa had her spear flickering through the air, cutting and sweeping at the birds. Soon enough, the ground was littered with injured avian creatures, forcing the pair of us to back off rather than have our feet pecked to death. Occasionally, I’d bat a too-aggressive crow aside—or attempt to—with my trusty backpack.
For a few passes, our strategy worked. Then, a badly timed gust brought a crow that had been about to miss me directly in line with my face. Panicking, I threw a punch, spearing my own hand on its claws but protecting my face. The pain and surprise made my spell fail while the bird’s weight tore its body from my arm.
“Alexa!” I snarled as I kicked the grounded crow away. A flash of darkness in the corner of my eye had me throwing myself all the way to the ground to avoid another pair of crows. Alexa barely reacted to my shout, caught in the middle of a swarm of feathers. I snarled as I stood, taking things into my own hands, my trusty backpack already discarded by my feet. My fingers flicked and twisted as I used my left hand, suddenly glad Caleb had insisted I practice with both hands. Even then, the spell formed badly, the ball of flame nearly missing the bird that was a few feet from my face.
Fireball Cast
Synchronicity 43%
11 points of damage done to Mystic Crow
Literally blown off course by the spell, the crow writhed as flames licked at its body, the flash fire having caught a few of its feathers aflame. Another bird winged its way toward me, and my hasty dodge barely brought me out of range while a wing clipped my injured shoulder. As pain filled my body, I spotted a towering oak tree a short distance away.
“Tree!” I shouted to Alexa, taking off in a zigzag rush during the short break. Many crows had banked, attempting to gain altitude and speed. To give Alexa time, I turned and cast a series of Mana Darts, my left hand working smoother as I manipulated the shorter spell formula. The invisible projectiles slammed into her harassers, giving Alexa a brief moment of respite, which she used to run with me.
Under the more solid defense of the oak tree and with the ability to put our backs to it, we made our stand again, bleeding and battered. We quickly turned to relying on my Mana Darts to harass the creatures and blast them off branches when they landed while Alexa finished the birds. A few bloody and painful minutes later, we stood victorious but injured.
“That. Was. Not. Easy,” I complained, stopping at each word to draw a breath. My chest heaved and sweat covered my body, running into open wounds and sending the stinging sensation through overburdened nerves. I whimpered but still focused on searching for any crows that might be late to the party.
“It was supposed to be,” Alexa said, poking the last of the corpses. When she turned toward me, her eyes widened. “Your hand!”
“My head,” I added and allowed Alexa to grab my arm to prod and push at my hand. I winced as she focused on the injury, a low glow filling her body and sweeping over my arm. Soon, the ache that had begun to press on me began to fade away, and the torn skin, muscles, and tendons fixed themselves under her care. I grinned slightly, grateful for her ability. The movement of my head made me wince as the mana headache returned with a vengeance. Even her healing could not fix that.
Damn, but Caleb was going to give me shit about overextending myself again.
“What a disappointing performance. A squire should have barely broken a sweat over such a simple request.” The voice berating us came from a goateed, muscular man in a simple outdoor jacket and jeans ensemble. If not for the glowing, probably enchanted sword that hung on his hip, I would have thought he was a normal human. Come to think of it, he probably is a normal human—just one with training and a church backing him.
“My apologies, Templar Ignis,” Alexa replied, turning slightly to offer him a half bow. She did not let go of my hand during this period though, her healing faith magic still stitching me together. Whether it was due to the lack of complete obeisance or the use of magic, I saw the Templar’s eyes narrow.
“I am here to inform you about your trial regulations,” Ignis said.
“That was fast,” Alexa said, eyes wide.
“Is this how you speak to a Templar, Initiate? You have not been away from the camp that long, have you?” Again, the Templar’s voice came with a snap.
“My apologies, Templar Ignis,” Alexa replied, bowing again. Her fingers around my hand clenched slightly as she did so, the flow of magic stuttering for a second.
“Better. Due to the circumstances of your situation, it has been decided your trial should be modified as you were informed. You and your sorcerer will both participate in the trial. To make it fairer, you will have a broader list of requirements to fulfill.” Ignis reached a hand into his jacket, and he pulled an envelope out, then tossed it toward Alexa. It landed on the ground gently, part of it staining with blood immediately.
I found myself flashing Ignis a toothy grin, as his provocation did not result in Alexa letting go of my hand.
“You have two weeks.”
“Thank you, Templar,” Alexa said and bowed once more.
“Hey!” I called out. When Ignis turned toward me, I continued. “What makes you think I’m going along with this?”
“You will not aid your friend?”
“You mean the person you sent to guard me without my say-so? The one who has orders to take my head if I look like I might end up going over to the dark side, ring be damned?” I asked. I stared straight at Ignis when I said the second part, but I watched Alexa from the corner of my eyes while doing so, seeing the slight flinch and feeling a sudden increase in pressure on my hand. So. I was right.
“What do you want, sorcerer?”
“Mage. And I get paid for completing quests,” I said, pointing to the birds around us. “Two weeks at my usual rate sounds just about right.”
Ignis stared at me, his lip curling upward in a sneer. After a moment, he jerkily nodded and turned away. I couldn’t help but flash a smile. When Ignis had walked away far enough, I hissed at Alexa. “You can stop squeezing so hard.”
“Oh!” Alexa blushed slightly in embarrassment, releasing her death grip on my arm.
I growled as the magic slowly tapered off. I pulled my hand back, flexing it slightly, and marveled at the crusty wound. It looked like it had undergone weeks of healing in minutes, hints of new flesh showing under the scabbed-over wound.
“Don’t do that!” Alexa said, smacking my picking fingers and making me wince. Unlike my own general healing spell, hers was more directed, which meant the major damage I had taken was healed over, but the rest of my body still ached from the myriad of cuts. With a grimace, I walked to my bag and returned with the first-aid kit to start working on our minor wounds. Iodine, antibiotic cream, and gauze… lots of gauze.
“So, he was nice,” I said softly once we had the majority of our wounds taken care of and wrapped. Both of us had some form of additional healing speed—mine from Lily, and Alexa’s… well, Alexa’s from her faith in God, I guess, but it would do us no good to bleed out beforehand. Or,
you know, get pulled over by the police for bleeding everywhere.
“Templar Ignis is extremely strict,” Alexa said neutrally.
“Still watching us, eh?” I shook my head. Still, there were some advantages to them watching. Among other things, the wards helped ensure that our fight in a semi-popular park in the early hours of the morning had not drawn attention.
“Most likely,” Alexa said. “Come, we should rest.”
“And then we’ll talk about how I’ve been shanghaied into this?” I asked as we limped back toward her car. Our bags dangled from our hands, the letter firmly stored in one of them.
“Well, you have been paid to do it,” Alexa said snippily.
“Angry?” I asked. After a few paces of silence, I continued. “I’d have done it without the payment, but it is nice getting paid, no?”
“Would you? It’s something you’d do for a friend,” Alexa said, turning to look at me, her blue eyes troubled. “I’m just your guard, aren’t I?”
“Guard and friend,” I said, shrugging blithely. “You can be both.”
“Can I?” Alexa breathed her words out, her voice troubled. But this time, I did not answer her. After all, I’d said what I said. The rest, she would have to decide.
After a time, I raised my voice and said, “It’s a murder. A murder of crows.”
Chapter 4
“I’m not sure I should be letting Alexa choose your quests any longer,” Lily said after I’d caught a quick shower and nap. Thankfully, the painkillers and nap had taken the edge off my headache. Now it just felt like a day-old caffeine headache. The three of us were now back in our sparsely furnished living room, clean and looking better off. Still, healing required food, and thus we were holding this meeting over the remnants of three large pizzas. Hawaiian for me, a meat lover’s for Alexa, and a custom seafood, vegetable, and salami mix for Lily.
I laughed softly and shifted gingerly in my chair, my injured arm gently cradled in the other. “We are still getting the experience rewards, right?”
“And the money,” Alexa confirmed while Lily sighed and waved her hand.
Quest complete! You successfully murdered the murder of Mystic Crows.
187 XP
PS: Not all subjugation quests have to be finished with violence.
I laughed at Lily’s note but had to admit the jinn had a point. Then again, Alexa had not been particularly interested in talking. Still, while being a murderhobo was all well and good in roleplaying games, running around killing everything you saw and stealing from every unlocked door was a good way to end up in jail in the real world.
“Well, the next few we don’t have much choice on,” I said, glancing at the blood-stained envelope and the pieces of paper that it once held. Lily sniffed at my words, glaring at the paper. After a moment, new notifications flashed in front of me.
New Quest Accepted – Help Alexa Complete Her Squire Trials (Chained Quest)
This is a chained quest. You must complete the sub-quests to complete the major quest.
Sub-quests:
- Investigate and deal with the sudden influx of Leprechaun’s Foot
- Collect fifty specimens of Spotted Wynn Mushrooms
- Deal with the issues plaguing the Brixton Orphanage
“Is this normal?” I asked quietly, staring at the three tasks. Considering what she had said, I expected something a little bloodier. And rote. Other than the Wynn Mushrooms, most of these looked rather specific to our city.
“No,” Alexa said simply. “Normally it’s more to deal with a haunting or killing a few undead. Maybe travel to Africa and kill a few shifters.”
“Wait, you kill shifters?” I asked, disapproval in my voice. “I thought—”
“They were civilized? Most are, but there are roaming mercenary groups of shifters in Africa who offer their services to various warlords. And who don’t bother asking the populace their thoughts when they recruit new members.” Alexa’s face darkened. “You’d be surprised how many charitable Christian missions include a class of initiates on their class test.”
“I… see.” I prodded at my own feelings, trying to decide how I felt about sending a bunch of teenagers out on a kill mission, and I found I truly had very little objections. It didn’t seem that different from the government doing the same. At least in this case, they were going after known assholes. Or so I hoped.
“Guess we’re special,” I said, rubbing my chin. “Which one do you think we should tackle first?”
“Why don’t we split it?” Alexa said, tapping the air in front of her before realizing I could not see what she saw. Being part of my party, Lily had shared a stripped-down version of my notification screen with Alexa. The party screen and Alexa’s health gauge were two of the things that the wish benefitted the initiate directly on. “I’ll visit the orphanage, and you talk to El about where you can find Wynn Mushrooms.”
“El probably would know if anyone does,” I said, agreeing with Alexa. El was my pixie friend, a used clothing shopkeeper I had known before the change. The pixie’s other, less public job was buying and selling alchemical and enchantment ingredients for the supernatural population. “But it won’t take me very long to finish with El. So why don’t I meet you at the orphanage? That way you can meet with them first anyway.”
Alexa’s lips pursed and for a moment. I wondered if she didn’t want me to visit the orphanage. After all, I was an evil sorcerer, at least to some strict interpretations. It’d bitten us in the ass a few times before.
“Okay,” Alexa said after a moment, seeming to have come to a decision. We continued to chat for a bit, Lily providing a little more background on the mushrooms, which—I was unhappy to learn—were not known to grow in clumps. In fact, the magical mushrooms grew and thrived in areas of intense emotion. As for Leprechaun’s Foot, either the jinn really knew nothing or felt it was better for us to learn about it ourselves. Myself, I was pretty sure it was the second option.
***
As usual, the window display at Nora’s, El’s shop, had changed again, filled with a tasteful and colorful ensemble of clothing on mannequins. The display mostly focused on women’s clothing, though I did see a particular hipster ensemble with a hat, skinny pants, and a fringed jean shirt that made my lips quirk. Then again, I was wearing a shirt that had Han Solo saying: “Make it so.” Perhaps critiquing other people’s fashion choices might not be my best move.
Inside Nora’s was the usual cluster of used clothing racks, carefully laid out to allow shoppers to browse in peace while allowing El to watch everyone. It even had a few safety mirrors set up, though only after my transformation did I notice they had been enchanted to strip away enchantments from the reflections. At least, for those who had the eyes to see.
El herself was busy at one corner of the counter, working through a pile of clothing brought in by one of her irregular “suppliers.” Like myself, before my wish, they had deposited an eclectic mix of clothing purchased at garage sales, other used stores, eBay, and storage auctions. Rather than bother El, I browsed the store myself until she was free.
“Henry,” El called. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw her nod at me, and for a second, I had a sense of vertigo. At first, she looked like the matronly older woman I had known for years, a hefty brunette who always had a kind smile and an ability to pay more than other stores. Then, the flame-haired, slim beauty appeared as I stared at the pixie head-on, her glamour falling away under my Mage Sight.
“Hey, El,” I greeted her, walking toward the counter.
“Here to buy or sell?” El asked.
“I could be asking for work,” I replied with a smile. In my earlier days, El had kindly provided me a series of jobs collecting various enchanted material from around the city. It was low-paying work, but it was work I could manage at my lower level. Since I’d gained Alexa’s help and leveled up, I’d been here much less often.
“I wish,” El said with a
smile. “You were one of my best suppliers, but sending a mage to collect Grimmark Gum might be overkill.”
“Probably,” I said, repressing my curiosity about what Grimmark Gum was. Getting into a discussion about it would eat up most of the afternoon. It was no surprise that with El’s extensive knowledge of materials she had done as well as she had in the mystical ingredient business. The sale of her used clothing basically acted as her cover and allowed her to launder her earnings.
“Actually, I need some advice. I’ve got to collect some spotted Wynn mushrooms,” I said, rubbing my nose. “Lily filled us in a bit on them, but I figured you might know…”
“Where to find it in the city?” El finished my sentence before she nodded slowly. “I know a few places, but the spotted Wynn are rare. How many do you need?”
“Fifty.”
“Fifty?” El squeaked slightly, shaking her head rapidly. “What are you trying to do? Lay the entire New York undead population to rest?”
“Pardon?” I asked. “Isn’t the mushroom for Mana recovery?”
“Wynn mushrooms are enhancers. Spotted Wynn are ten times more effective. Your Templar friends use it quite often in their censers when they do battle with the undead,” El said. “They use it to disrupt their attachment to this world, and against weaker undead, it can even send them directly back.”
“Oh.” I frowned. Huh. “How much do they use?”
“I’m not sure, but generally about half a mushroom is enough for a single censer. You’d be collecting enough for a hundred censers, and those burn for a good hour or so,” El replied.
“So, locations?” I asked after a moment. After all, it didn’t matter what I wanted. What I needed was fifty specimens.