by Tao Wong
“What would do that?” Alexa asked softly, her foot barely shifting when we passed the house. Both of us stared at the simple, cream-colored building with light-brown highlights and a simple brick rooftop infested with solar panels. I wondered if the panels were to hide their usage of electricity… if they needed to use electricity. Or perhaps they were environmentalists? Supernatural, gangster environmentalists. A mind-boggling thought. Other than that, with the white curtains drawn, we could see nothing of note. Even the garage was closed, with no vehicles to give further hints.
“Looks normal,” I muttered.
“Other than the magical disturbance?” Alexa said sarcastically, turning her attention back toward the road. “I think if we park up that hill, we could get a view of this house.” Alexa jerked her head, indicating the hill directly in front of us.
“Sounds good,” I said and started looking up directions on my phone. “And yes, normal except the magical disturbance. Pretty sure it’s the Leprechaun’s Foot.”
“I really hate that name.”
Thirty minutes and two wrong turns later, we found ourselves at a small, gravel shoulder on the hill. Alexa, of course, had a pair of binoculars in the car, which we took turns using to watch the house. Unfortunately, watching the building from a distance currently provided us very little information.
“How’d the investigation on the developer go?” I asked to break the silence.
“Slow.” Alexa sighed. “But I’m nearly a hundred percent certain he’s a blind.”
“Blind?”
“Ah. You call them mundanes. Norms. Muggles,” Alexa said.
“Isn’t that copyrighted?”
“Who’s going to tell her?” Alexa smirked, and I chuckled softly.
“So he’s just being an ass?”
“Pretty much,” Alexa said with a sigh. “I dug into the fines and notices the orphanage was given. They aren’t exactly wrong. The rules and regulations the orphanage is in breach of are just updates on existing code. Normally, they wouldn’t be applied till the orphanage needed to apply for a new license or did some work, but—”
“But it doesn’t mean they aren’t necessary,” I said slowly. “And because it’s an orphanage, it’d be harder to say: ‘We don’t need to bring these things up to code.’”
“Exactly,” Alexa said. “I don’t really know what we can do there. I’ve contacted a few lawyers, hopefully some of them will help us slow down the fines. That might be the best we can do about the developer. Unless we can find some dirt on him, and beyond a penchant for bribing bureaucrats to do their job, I’ve got nothing.”
“Which leaves the fact that the contractors won’t go back into the storage room because it’s haunted, and you’ve got a series of failing rituals to contend with.”
“Yes.”
“Fine. That’s next on the list then,” I said with some resignation. Now, I really wished this was more like one of my stupid, linear computer RPGs. Most of those games involved running around and beating up the latest beholder or messing with the evil warlock. They didn’t involve figuring out how to thwart the evil merchant from buying the orphanage that was annoying him. Or, well, it did, but I’d just blast him with a fireball in a game and call it a day.
Somehow, premeditated murder did not seem as fun in reality. With that sobering thought, I fell silent as the pair of us watched the house. Perhaps some brilliant idea would occur to us later.
“I should have brought a book,” I muttered a few hours later.
“We’re supposed to be watching the building,” Alexa said softly.
“For what?” I asked. “I mean, they joke about how stakeouts suck, but really…”
“They do?”
“They really do.” I shifted in my seat to settle my back. “I mean, what are we supposed to be doing here? Watching a house to see what? Who comes out and drives away? I swear, I could find a spell for this…”
“Mages and your spells,” Alexa said.
“Come on, you can’t say you’re enjoying this,” I said.
“Enjoy? No. But it is necessary. This is how you gather information.”
“Maybe this is how you gather information, but I’m a mage,” I said firmly. “I’m going to figure out a smarter way of doing this.”
“Go ahead,” Alexa said, getting impatient.
I nodded firmly and then fell silent, going over my character sheet and spell list to start.
Class: Mage
Level 22 (29% Experience)
Known Spells: Light Sphere, Force Spear, Force Shield, Force Fingers, Alter Temperature, Gong, Gust, Heal, Healing Ward, Link, Track, Fix, Ward, Glamour, Illusion, Summon, Iceball, Fireball, Scry
I chuckled when I noted I’d leveled up. I vaguely recalled there had been that notification while I had been working on the map yesterday, but I’d been a touch busy. And obsessed. I would admit to a little obsession. Still, as I eyed the spells, I blinked at the latest. Huh…
And huh.
I half-closed my eyes and concentrated, pulling at the spell in my mind. It came to the forefront of my thoughts with a flash, a piece of knowledge that had always been there just waiting for me to focus on it. I’d considered it a coincidence that the spell I desperately needed was right here, at my fingertips—except for the fact that, of course, I had a GM who was watching over all this. I’d bet Lily had made sure to gift this spell to me because she knew what I’d need.
Scry. A simple enough spell at the lowest levels of mastery. It actually was a compound spell like Fireball or Iceball. It built upon known spells, streamlined via specific formulas that made the spell more powerful but more restrictive. In this case, the Scry spell was built upon Link, Track, and Illusion. The Track portion basically guided the spell to the location you were looking for, Link linked the spell component you were using to an appropriate target within the location, and Illusion displayed the location. It was a triple-compound spell, one that was no more difficult to do than creating my map but more strenuous since I wasn’t just linking to a conceptual city but an actual space. As such, the requirements for refinement and fidelity were higher.
Still, the Scry spell was exactly what I needed. Firstly though, I’d need a linking material—an appropriate medium. The most common items were mirrors, crystal balls, and bowls of water. Each would link to a mirror, glass, or water in the surroundings, which meant none were particularly better than the other in general. Though, from the knowledge forced into me, some were clearer than others.
Thankfully, I was in a car, so finding a mirror was a simple matter. Alexa shot me a glance when I adjusted the rearview mirror, but I decided to ignore her for the moment. Since this was the first time I was casting the spell, I figured I’d better test it out before discussing it. Wouldn’t want it to fizzle out.
My fingers moved, and my mouth chanted as my mind ran through the newly provided spell formula and mana flowed through my body and out my fingertips. My perception lurched as mana flowed out of me, carrying me out of my body as the spell nearly completed. The sudden change—even if I knew subconsciously that it was about to happen—was too much for me and the spell broke, shattering around me and sending shards of free-floating mana running through me. I grunted, shuddering, and closed my eyes.
Damn it. I hadn’t expected to fail at the start.
“Henry?”
“Testing a new spell,” I said once I got my breath back. I leaned back for a few moments, letting my body slowly calm and the pain subside while I went over the details of the spell again. This time, I wouldn’t let myself fail. Even if the out-of-body experience was weird.
Once again, I cast the spell and felt my mana leave me. I exhaled slowly and closed my eyes, feeling the lurch once more as my senses left my body. This time though, I was prepared for the feeling and continued to chant the spell, guiding my temporary self to the location. It really was just my senses, and even then, it wasn’t the entirety of them. It was a vertigo-inducing moment, and by
the time I had mostly adjusted, I’d covered the hundreds of yards to the house. I even overshot my location and had to retreat, adjusting the spell formulas of the Scry spell on the fly.
Sensing in this state was at the most crude, rudimentary stage. I could not see, hear, or smell anything, but I could sense where various mirrors and objects close enough to a reflective surface were. I could even sense, to an extent, the level of appropriateness for me to Link my spell. At a higher level, I would even be able to Link multiple items at the same time, but for now, I picked the highest appropriate Link item and sent my body back to the car. A fraction of a second later, I opened my eyes.
Scry Cast
Synchronicity 31%
Link 78%
Blinking away the notification, I turned to look at the rearview mirror, which now showed a new reflection. My smile held for a fraction of a second before I huffed out loud, while Alexa sniggered slightly at the image shown.
Right. Highest appropriateness meant another mirror. And where were most mirrors? In bedrooms and bathrooms. Staring at the blurry, white-tiled interior of an empty bathroom, I huffed in annoyance again. Well, at least the spell worked.
“Is this how it’s normally done?” Alexa asked a half hour later after I’d cast and recast Scry, trying to find a good location to spy on those within. Thus far, we’d peeked into empty bedrooms, an empty closet, and an empty kitchen. Right now though, I had to wait for my mana to regenerate.
“No,” I said, shaking my head as I prodded the information in my mind. “There are ways to lock onto multiple surfaces, then complete the spell. Then it’s just a matter of flicking through them till you find the appropriate location.”
“Why aren’t you doing that?”
“Beginner here, remember? I’m having a hard enough time locking down a single location at this distance, never mind multiple. And the amount of mana required increases too, as well as the complexity of the actual spell formula.” I shook my head at the thought. “Give me a bit, and I’ll be able to lock down two, but for now, one and done is where we’re at.”
“Huh,” Alexa said simply and then leaned back in her chair. A moment later, she leaned forward and grabbed her binoculars, staring ahead.
“What?” I frowned, looking at the house. It did not take me long to realize what had attracted Alexa’s attention. A minivan had driven up. Unfortunately, it was one of those multi-door white minivans beloved by housewives, soccer moms, and large families everywhere. In other words, utterly useless at this distance for providing additional information. A short while later, it entered the newly opened garage.
“Can you…?”
“Already on it,” I said, nodding in confirmation as I started casting Scry again. It would drop me below the 10 percent bar I’d set for myself but not too far. All it meant was I’d be eating more painkillers for the next few hours. But… “Got it. One van mirror coming up.”
The mirror flickered and shifted, a new image appearing. I grimaced, making a mental note to find a bigger mirror to cart around next time since this image, drawn from the side mirror, was slightly truncated to fit everything in. With a flicker of my hand, I shifted the mirror around as distorted words came through the newly formed mirror.
“What are you doing here?” A deep, husky male voice came through first, a four-pack-a-day smoker with a cold who somehow still managed to create a feeling of dread over the communicator.
“I’m here to pick up the next shipment,” a high female voice answered him. For a second, there was a flash of pale skin and an orange blouse before it was gone. I frowned, shifting the image around as I attempted to see more.
“Stop…” Alexa hissed a moment before I stopped the shifting image myself. In it, we caught our first glimpse, a female in an orange, ruffled blouse with a sneer on her lips and brown hair.
“Sold out already?” The male voice spoke again. From what I could tell, he was probably standing directly behind the mirror.
“Can’t keep it on the streets. My man wants at least twice our last order,” the woman said and grinned. She reached into the car, her tight pants pulling firm for a second in the image when she leaned within. I had to pause to admire the sight, a low whistle coming the other man, making me think the enviable, large, and tight posterior was being admired by more than myself.
When the lady stood straight again, this time I noted a slight grin as she exited. A bulky brown envelope was held in hand, one that she tossed over. “Same price, yes?”
The other voice chuckled. “Not going to bargain?”
“Not if you keep the exclusivity.”
“Wait here.” A moment later, the click of a closing door was heard. In the meantime, the young lady leaned against the now-closed van door, offering us an admirable if not particularly informative view. My fingers shifted side to side as I attempted to find a better angle and got nothing.
“Is she supernatural?” Alexa asked me as we watched.
“Can’t tell. It’s a good illusion if she is,” I said tightly while holding the connection open. Well, glamour and illusion combined. Glamours tricked the mind; illusions tricked reality. Combined, they kept supernaturals hidden—though most of their disguises were largely glamour with the smallest amounts of illusion possible to allow supernaturals to pass common recording devices. However, the young lady in our mirror looked perfectly normal, which indicated she was either using a powerful illusion spell or wasn’t using one at all.
“Bah,” Alexa said softly, drumming her fingers on the wheel. A few minutes later, the door opened.
“About time,” the woman said, standing. For a second, she left our field of vision, rustling and crinkling the only sound reaching us. “This looks more than double.”
“Just a little extra, for our favorite customer.”
“Your only customer,” the woman said, a hint of aggression in her voice. The speaker just grunted in reply. A few moments later, we saw her back in our field of vision again, pulling the door open to drop a couple of brown paper bags inside.
I grunted and, as the two started exchanging goodbyes, released the spell. When Alexa turned to look at me, she noticed me breathing deeply, with sweat staining my brow, and rubbing my sore temples.
“You okay?”
“Fine. Just couldn’t hold it any longer,” I replied. “Give me a few hours. Once my mana’s back, we can Scry it again.”
“Okay,” Alexa said simply. After a second’s consideration, she started the car.
“I can’t Track her…” I said, squinting at the house.
“I know. I was thinking we hadn’t had lunch.” Alexa offered me a half smile. “With your spell, we should get you fed and then come back to look again.”
“Okay.” I was sure there was something off about leaving the place unwatched, but considering she was doing this in consideration of my headache, I was not going to complain. And anyway, my spell was probably going to get us more information than sitting there, watching.
A couple hours and one plate of curried pineapple rice later, we were back at the same hill. This time around, with nearly half the likely locations already investigated, I decided I’d check out the basement level. A part of me had considered just jumping the Scry to that floor to begin with, but going below ground level actually pulled a lot more mana than staying above it. Even though the basement was technically hollowed out, the draw on my mana was still much higher than I’d care to use to start. Thus, the earlier testing.
Unfortunately, after casting the spell, I realized the biggest problem with a spell targeted to a basement that is reliant on sight: If no one turns on the lights, all you were seeing was darkness as well.
“Nothing?”
“You tell me,” I said grumpily. For a brief moment, I considered if it’d be possible to cast a Light spell within the basement. It was theoretically possible. I had the spatial coordinates and even a way to see where I was casting. However, theory ran up against reality really fast. Not only wo
uld it be incredibly draining on my limited mana, it would also potentially alert our prey of our presence.
“Next?”
“Yup.” I killed the spell before moving onward.
Eventually, by process of elimination, we located our targets. They were upstairs, three individuals seated watching TV in the second floor living room. Now that we had them in view, we took our time staring at the trio. Sprawled as they were on their chairs with discarded remnants of various takeout joints and snack foods, they looked almost normal. A pair of Hispanic-looking men and a shorter, Vietnamese-looking gentleman were sprawled, idly watching the idiot box. I frowned, wanting to know which had been the speaker, but all three were silent, content to damage their minds with the drivel of afternoon TV. It was a very domestic scene if you ignored the weapons in easy reach of the three: a pair of handguns and a shotgun, with a machete also laid beside them.
“How long can you hold this?” Alexa asked softly.
“Now that it’s established?” I considered, judging my mana. “Twenty minutes safely. If I meditate and focus on drawing in more mana, maybe thirty. But I’d be useless for anything—”
“Do it,” Alexa said firmly. “I’ll watch and take notes. At the least, I want to know who their leader is.”
“All right,” I said in agreement while Alexa pulled a sketchbook from her supplies within the car. She immediately started sketching while I closed my eyes and focused. My breathing deepened as I reached and opened myself at the same time, allowing the mana that surrounded us to absorb into my body even as more mana flooded out while I channeled my spell. Time lost meaning as I held the two opposing concepts in mind, focused as they were within my body.
“Time,” I said softly after a while. I received a grunted agreement from Alexa, so I cut the flow of power. The spell flickered, running for a few moments more on the stored power before it wound down. As I opened my eyes, I frowned as a crunch of gravel occurred a moment later, making me turn to look at a police car rolling to a stop next to us.