Mageblood

by Christopher Johns

  “People?!” She rolled her eyes and shut my door calmly. That worried me. “Those are NPCs, Seth. Non. Player. Characters. They’re AI algorithms meant to simulate real people. They aren’t real.”

  “No? Then what’s the big deal about some non-player character kissing me on the cheek?” She frowned, and I continued. “Yes, Sondra and I knew about Alex, and we had a private conversation. We have our own secrets, Mo, and that one isn’t for me to share. And you know that I’m not perfect, but I can’t leave someone in need. It’s not my nature. Fake or real.”

  “And that puts more pressure on the rest of us!” She smacked the arm of my couch. “We’re all doing our best, Seth, but we need each other to do that effectively.”

  “And I called on who I had to call on, Sondra was in a prime place to come to my aid.” I sat down on the beanbag chair, then stood back up. “I did my best. Okay? I’ve been doing my best. Is that not enough for you?”

  “I know you have.” She sighed heavily. She looked worn down. Tired and almost haunted. “It’s a lot on all of us. It’s a game. It’s just a game. But it feels so real, and I can’t help but feel like there’s something so…”

  She closed her eyes and frowned, using her hands to motion in the air.

  “So familiar about it,” I finished for her, moving closer, knowing she needed me. Tears fell from her closed eyes.

  “I see so many things that my dad would have loved to make.” Her breath hitched, and she sniffed. “I close my eyes, and I can hear him talking about a city made of stone so dense it was like the earth had borne it from her stony womb. Of people trading and talking in the streets. I see some of the races that we had dreamt about—Gage? He’s one my father would have loved, Seth.”

  I drew her into a hug, holding her close and resting my chin on her head. “Look, I can’t change what I did, and I can’t promise I won’t do something as dumb again. But it did pay off. And why on earth are you even here? Why aren’t you leading the charge on getting our gear ready?”

  “I took the time to get our orders in, and with the funds we got, we could afford uncommon gear, but we figured we would save money and use my discount to get good common items to fight with.” She hugged me tightly around my waist, tears dotting my shirt. “The others are working on basic gear, but we can worry on that later.”

  She patted her eyes dry, then looked up at me, puffy cheeks and sparkling green eyes filling my sight. “Why would you bring up someone kissing you on the cheek, Seth?”

  My cheeks burned and I decided that since she was here and we were being honest, I should come clean. Al had been right, Sondra too.

  “Alex told me that he had thought seeing that had upset you. You did seem angry.” I sighed as I sat her on the couch with myself next to her. “You know, we constantly joke with each other about relationships, but I need to know. Are we okay?”

  She floundered a bit, trying to come up with words to thoughts that were racing in her mind, the same thing happening in me. My heart leaping in my ribs as she struggled to find words.

  “I… yes, Seth, of course, we’re okay.” Her cheeks reddened. “What would make you think we aren’t?”

  “I never said that.” I blurted almost as soon as she finished her sentence. “I meant, are we okay as we are now? Do you want… more from me?”

  “Whose idiotic thoughts are those I need to beat out of your thick head?” She scoffed, rolling her eyes, but it was there. That hesitation she had when she was lying or trying to cover up for something.

  “I’m serious, Mona.” My whole body burned at that moment, and her proximity was like sitting next to an open flame. “I’ve been noticing you more lately, and part of me thinks I’ve finally gone off my rocker seeing auras outside the game. Part of me wonders if this is a natural progression. Part of me wonders if this question will ruin what we have forever.”

  “Three parts dumb and the rest useless?” She tried to tease, but she was building a wall up, something she rarely ever did. I could see her looking at me strangely, weirder than she ever had, and it hurt.

  Like she was seeing a stranger for the first time. And here I was looking at her in almost the exact same way. Did I have a right to claim I knew her better than anyone if I had thrown this at her feet, and she had kicked it aside?

  “Ha-ha.” I looked away, wondering why it almost hurt more that she wouldn’t give me a straight answer. Now that this wormhole was open, what would come out of it other than the strange look?

  I stood up, needing to be away from her for a moment, and checked my watch. Another fifteen minutes and I could get back in.

  “You should head home.” Even to me, my voice sounded like a croak. “By the time you get there and log in, it’ll be long enough that I can join you all and we can start streaming shortly after.”

  “I’m sorry I yelled.” Her voice was off, I turned to see her wiping her face. “It’s been years since I yelled at you like that. We never fight, and you were doing your best, what the hell is going on with us?”

  “Couldn’t say, but hey—I’ll always have your back, Mo.” I heard her stand and walk toward me, but I turned back and hit her with a grin reserved almost only for her. Fake as it felt on my face, I tried.

  It was better this way. No secrets. I’d come clean and I’d walk away that way, too. Besides, this just proved that we were too much like family to have any true interest in each other, right? Sure, she had dodged the question, but that was just to protect me from the rejection. It had to be. Good ol’ Mona. Always thinking of me.

  She looked a little lost for words, and I couldn’t tell what she was thinking at that moment. “Come here and give me a hug before you go.”

  She took a steadying breath and came toward me; I held my arms out and blinked once as a fist connected with my abdomen.

  “Ouch!” I groaned, doubling over from the sucker punch. “What the hell, Mona?”

  “That was for making me worry.” Her hands grabbed a handful of my hair, and she hefted my head up until she could look into my eyes. “You and I are family, Seth. And my love for you is unending—but the weird stuff in my life always comes from family, and I don’t need that from you too. Okay?”

  “But did you have to hit me so hard?” I whined, my stomach spasming a little painfully as I chuckled.

  “I only ever hit people who annoy me.” She grinned, no hesitance this time. “I love you, you big idiot. And I’ll always have your back, too. Now, let’s get our crap together and entertain some people while we own this game. Okay?”

  “Let’s.” I grinned and gave her a bear hug before she left.

  Time to get serious.

  ***

  “Welcome back to our new criminal tank.” Albarth clapped sarcastically as I stepped inside the courtyard.

  When I respawned, Trickle had been there to splash me with water in greeting.

  “Welcome back!” Her giggling followed me out of the square, and by the time I made it to the royal practice grounds that made up the courtyard, I was dry once more.

  “Yeah, yeah.” I rolled my eyes and fought the urge to throw a snowball at him with my magic. “How’s prep going?”

  “Better than well.” He jerked his chin behind me, and I turned to find a freshly healed Lord Foster.

  “Master Kyvir, a word?” His stern, pinched mien looked more a product of his actual features than the bruising and beating.

  I stepped over to the side of the gate with him to where his family stood. “Hey, everyone. I’m glad that you all seem to be doing well.”

  “And it is, in no small way, thanks to you.” Tethin bowed her head. “And as a show of our appreciation, we would like to offer you not just our words, but our secret as well.”

  I stilled. “Secret?”

  “Yes.” Lord Foster reached into his blouse sleeve and pulled out a small tube-like canister of vellum, it was black and inscribed with strange symbols flowing along the side.

  “What is it?” I came
back to myself, my hand almost touching it before I pulled my hand away.

  “Something that could have made my family very wealthy,” Tethin stated calmly, running her hands through her sons’ hair. “It is an heirloom that secured the prophecy as more than just a prophecy. What is contained in that is Aether.”

  “Aether?” I waved my hands to the world around us. “From what I understand, it’s all around us. How can that thing contain something abundant?”

  “Not normal Aether—aspected Aether.” Lord Foster thumped the container and pressed it toward me. “We knew that since the wanderers had arrived, we might be able to sell this for a steep price and live with funds bordering the royal family for a long, long time.”

  “Why not use it yourself?” It seemed absurd that they should offer it to a stranger.

  “It is only useful to the wanderers whose bodies can adapt to a myriad of different Aether types.” Tethin closed her eyes, frowning as if trying to remember something. “Each being may have some attachment to the Aether of this world, but the wanderers can adjust their new bodies to many types. If they can find them or unlock them.”

  So, even if your gift and magic type are chosen based on biology and certain myriad other factors that the game’s AI used to divvy our power, you could still unlock other types? That was awesome.

  Though, that could lead to people being rather broken. “What’s the drawback?”

  “His Highness’s initial assumption that you were cunning was not far off from the mark, as usual.” Foster’s thin lips quirked into a smirk. “Your Aether pool is consumed by the magic. Think of it like having a pond, and when you only have one type of magic at your disposal, the whole of it can be used to the fullest.”

  He bent down, taking a dagger from his sleeve and began to illustrate his words by drawing a circle.

  “Having access to more types of magic cuts the Aether by half.” He slashed the circle in two making a flame on one side and a mountain on another. “Half the Aether you have can be used for one type of magic, and the other for the other. What is your current Aether pool at? Uh, how many bars do you have?”

  I held up seven fingers, attempting to understand the meaning of what he explained.

  “I see, so you would have three ice bars, and another three of the other type of magic.” He drew out a small bar beneath it, making four slashes to separate the five bars. “The seventh and final bar is what we would refer to as the gray bar.”

  Before I could ask, Tethin explained, “It is a bar where the Aether mixes and can be used for either type of magic.”

  “So, having a gray bar isn’t a bad thing?” I was hopeful for that not to be a bad thing.

  “Not particularly, but it is a weaker, diluted source,” Foster interrupted my thoughts of having a constant gray bar if I could manage it. “Since it isn’t dedicated, the Aether pollution caused by mixing types can dilute the strength of the spell, sometimes even warping it altogether.”

  That put a damper on things. “But having more magic could be nice. Monami only has one type of magic, and it’s metal, so maybe we could give it to her.”

  “No.” Tethin stopped me with a hand on my chest. “We give this to you, and only you. To show the depth of what your sacrifice meant to us.”

  I took a deep breath, then exhaled. “As you wish.”

  I gratefully accepted the container and looked to Lord Foster, who mimicked opening it toward his face, then he stepped back.

  I found the cap to the vellum case with my fingers, the soft material giving to my grasp as the cap twisted out of the way and almost flying out of the way as a gray vapor burst out of it.

  The volume of the gaseous Aether surprised me, had it been compressed? I caught a glance of the vellum case, and it occurred to me that it had been sealed.

  Whatever it was flowed around me, coming into contact with my skin, then it picked up speed as it whirled and whirled touching, then passing through me. It lifted into the blue sky, casting a slight shadow as it passed above me, then slammed into me all at once.

  The force of it tossed me onto my back, my vision flickered, then solidified into a message.

  Aether obtained

  Aether type obtained – Summoning

  Summoning?

  “What type of Aether was it?” I blinked at the question from Tethin and sat up.

  I looked at my Aether pool and three of the bars on the right side of it glowed deep purple.

  “Summoning, is what it said, but how am I supposed to unlock that?” They looked uncertain, very much so. “Is that bad?”

  “It’s not bad, but we don’t know anyone who can summon anything, but Armenes may know something.” Tethin reached down and shoved her eldest son forward. “You remember where his office is? With how much you like to sneak in and bother him.”

  The boy looked slightly embarrassed, but nodded. “I can take him, momma.”

  “Thank you, Darin.” Lord Foster tussled the boy’s hair and took the youngest boy up into his arms before looking at me. “Young Kyvir, we are in your debt still, and we will see you and your friends cared for how we can. I do hope that you will call us friends from here on. Darin, as soon as you complete your task, to the back yard, boy. I will teach you and your brother the sword from this day forth. And I shall see that master Ori has work making weapons for us. He is, after all, the best smith in the city.”

  I nodded at them all, their smiles genuine as they turned to be on their way, Darin took my hand and tugged. “Follow me, Mister Kyvir!”

  “Call me Kyvir, Darin,” I admonished him lightly with a feigned serious tone. “Let’s go!”

  He bolted across the yard, and I followed along easily enough. He must have been eager to begin his training with as swiftly as he dodged and whipped his body between people training still in the yard.

  I followed along, but sent a whisper to the others, —Hey guys, I’m going to speak with Armenes real fast about a type of magical reward I just got. Be right with you.—

  Nothing came back from them for a moment, then Sundar replied, —I was there earlier, be nice!—

  I rolled my eyes and sped on behind Darin. The training soldiers grunted at him, one of them almost hitting him with a pike in surprise. A decently placed elbow to the wood on my part spared Darin a wound and the guard his life.

  The man blustered and sputtered a quickly fading apology while we raced away.

  “Keep clear of the people swinging weapons, kid!” I shouted at him and he ducked his head once before speeding toward the castle door.

  “Think ye slick, lad?!” Called the eldest guard, a large man with a thick brown mustache and receding hairline. He was burly and well built. “Reckon yer off ta the mage again?”

  “Yes, sir!” Darin called excitedly.

  “Well, don’t ye be puttin’ funny things in his soup no more, aye?” He pointed a massive finger toward the boy, his armor rattling with the motion. “Ye do, an’ kith o’ the royals or not, I’ll be tannin’ yer hide.”

  “I’ll keep him out of trouble, sir.” I offered helpfully, but the guard caught both of us easily as we tried to flit through him and his partner.

  “You died once for a mistake, boy, best leave it to his conscience.” The guard winked at me before I could think to take offense, then whispered. “Do mind the lad, aye? Has quick hands an’ a wicked mischievous streak.”

  I snorted then noticed that the child was already sprinting into the building as the guard pointed to him. “See?”

  I grunted affirmation and took off after him. He led me to the end of the hall, passing the door to the courtroom and then we hung a right and stopped in front of a solitary brown door. It looked like the broom closet.

  He opened the door to a dark room that hid a thin set of stairs leading up.

  “This leads up to his study and quarters, follow it straight up and knock, his helper will open the door.” He turned to go, then stopped. “Will you be okay on your own?”

&n
bsp; “There a dragon up there?” I asked with raised eyebrows.

  He smiled. “Just the old man, Kyvir. And thanks again for saving us.”

  “You be sure to learn well and take care of your family when you get strong enough.” I held my hand out to him so that he could shake it. “And putting things in a wizard’s soup is not a good way to stay alive long enough to do that.”

  He grinned and took off back in the direction we had come from before I climbed the stairs. I shook my head and resolved myself to the climb up toward my needed information.

  I slapped a spider sliding down a web toward my shoulder.

  3 dmg to spider

  Spider died, no EXP

  That was interesting, I snorted to myself and began my trek up the stairs, the gentle curve up only beginning to cause a dizzy tilt after a few minutes. The climb had to have been designed to disorient and keep people from fighting up it.

  After what seemed like forever in that godforsaken hole, I finally came to a slight window. The view from it was upside down, and the vertigo that set my mind to reeling was unreal. The sky was down, and the land was up with birds doing loops and loops, sending my stomach into fits of pre-vomit flips. I slammed my eyes shut and focused on the fresh air coming in to attempt settling myself, then moved on upward once more.

  After what felt like an even longer trek, I found myself back in the room that I had just left.

  “What in the…” I turned, and the stairs were there, in the small cubby exactly as they had been.

  I frowned, then snapped, “If I have to spend the rest of my day climbing these damned stairs.” I felt my anger flare until a light splayed across my back and flung my shadow to the wall before me.

  “If you would please, lower your voice, sir.” A growling tone grated from the light behind me.

  I whipped around to see a younger man, then I realized he wasn’t a man at all—he was a dwarf!

  “Quit looking at me all moonstruck, young man,” his voice had a more-cultured lilt to it that was nice, but his scowl said a lot. His beard was blond and trimmed on the sides so that the bottom was longer in a single braid down his chest. He wasn’t as well-muscled as Felix or some of the other dwarves I had seen when I had first come to the game, but he was still brawny in his green robe.