by Tao Wong
Hours later, I finished the twelfth pendant and felt a crack in my back when I stretched. I tossed the enchanted device to Alexa while I took a look at the snaking sunlight from the high windows.
“This is going too slow,” I said to Alexa when she got back.
“Agreed. There’s nearly fifty children, and you’ve only got twelve done,” Alexa tapped her lips. “Suggestions?”
“Money. I can’t be the only one to have come up with the idea of aura-reinforcing enchantments. If we go shopping with the d… donated money, we should be able to find something,” I said. “Or you will.”
“What are you going to do?” Alexa asked with a frown.
“There’s a fence that needs fixing. At the least, I should see if it’s possible,” I said.
“Pretty sure it isn’t.” Alexa pointed to me. “You nearly fainted doing just this room.”
I hesitated but turned away from that rather uncomfortable truth. I was sure Caleb could fix this entire thing with a wave of his hands, but the damn mage had made his view on the matter entirely too clear. As it stood, I had a slim chance of putting up a ritual large enough to block the corrupted mana. For that matter… “Crap.”
“Language, Henry!”
“Sorry.” I bobbed my head at the glaring pair of nuns nearby while I spotted one precocious little kid mouthing my swear word. “But I realized there’s no way I’m going to be able to fix the ritual either. Not, well, not as it stands.”
“Because you don’t have the mana.”
“Right,” I said.
Alexa frowned even more at my admission, looking first at me and then around at the children. “That’s not acceptable, Henry. Start thinking. I’m going to go shopping.”
“It…” I shut up as I watched the blonde initiate stalk off, tension radiating from every step. After a moment, I sighed and sat on my chair, propping my head on one arm as I turned my thoughts on how to power a building-wide ritual enough to fix it and then fix the ritual below. All the while not really understanding either.
Chapter 14
“Is this going to work?” Alexa asked as she stared at my most recent experiment. I looked at the staff members of the orphanage I could see, a steel chain held in their hands as they circled the large stone building and the small, fenced-off grounds that encompassed the orphanage.
“Maybe?” I said with little confidence. “Theoretically, it should work. The chain works. I can draw the mana I need from those who grip the chain so long as they’re willing, but it’s a lot of mana.”
“It’s not dangerous, right?”
“Not majorly so,” I said. “I’ve set up the runes to disperse the buildup if we fail. It costs more mana, but the buildup is significant enough that it makes sense.”
Alexa sighed while the abbess who had been watching quietly nodded her agreement for me to continue. The abbess herself was staying out of the ring, for reasons left unexplained to me. Probably a lack of confidence in my work. I’d be insulted if I wasn’t making it all up on the go. Thankfully, magic—or at least magic as I practiced it—was flexible. There might be more efficient ways of doing something, but if you had the right tools to start, you could patch things together.
In this case, it was just a much, much, much larger version of the room ritual. Except, this time around, I was containing the mana rather than letting it out. It did raise a few concerning issues, like what would happen to the continual buildup, but in the short-term, at least the neighborhood could get back to its usual state.
“Ready?” I called out. I walked forward when I received confirmation, laying a hand on the chain myself while I began the process of completing the enchantment around the fence. I was using a mixture of enchantments and empowerment on the fence. The initial enchantments had been inscribed—discretely—around the fence at intervals. I enchanted and reinforced each of those glyphs, creating anchor points for the ritual. I would then empower the remainder of the spell, giving it temporary life while we worked on fixing the source.
The enchanted-and-empowered spell was a perfect blend of strength and flexibility. Rather than draining all of us attempting to affix a permanent ritual in place, the mostly empowered ritual would give us the effects without the drain. Also, it was definitely less eye-catching since empowered runes were not visible to the naked eye.
Rune after rune layered the wall as I walked, one hand on the chain and the other outstretched to the fence. A part of me knew how weird this looked—a twenty-year-old Asian man wandering the circle of a building, hand outstretched while a bunch of nuns stood around holding a metallic chain with pained looks on their faces. I was just glad the polluted mana kept passersby out of the streets, leaving few witnesses. Of course, it only needed one with a mobile phone…
But I did what I could. And hoped everything else fell into place.
What surprised me the most was how clear and abundant the mana I drew from the staff was. While I knew they had a lot from my Mana Sight, knowing and interacting with it were entirely different things. There was also an openness to the draw, to the gifting, that I had never experienced before. I made a mental note to talk to Lily about this later as it made the entire day so much easier to work from.
In a short span of time, I completed the ritual. The final lurch of it kicking in drew mana from me and the ladies quite harshly, but with the shared draw, I found it somewhat easier to handle than the first rit. I still found myself slumped to the ground at the end, exhaustion and a headache wracking my body, but at least I wasn’t spitting out blood.
“Come on, let’s get you back,” Alexa said softly, one hand reaching under my armpit to lift me up.
“Can’t. Got to get more pendants…”
“They’ll sleep in the gym for now,” Alexa said, dragging me reluctantly along. “You need to rest.”
“But—”
“Do you want to blow up another artifact because you were too tired?”
“It was just a few wooden blocks,” I muttered disconsolately, but I did let her put me in the car. It was only when she was shaking my shoulder to wake me after we’d arrived when I realized how tired I was. With bleary eyes and a thumping headache, I didn’t even make it up the stairs, instead flopping straight onto the living room couch.
I woke to the smell of coffee the next morning. The hiss of cooking bacon and the aroma of freshly made coffee and toasted bread had me stumbling toward the kitchen table. As I sat, I realized with a shock how hungry I truly was and attacked the toasted bread ravenously. Strawberry jam and peanut butter were slathered on with wild abandon even as a cup of coffee was thumped next to me. Only when the black hole in my stomach had faded away did I look up.
“Feeling better?” Lily asked, head propped on her shoulder. At my assent, she wrinkled her nose before she grinned and waved a hand at me. “Congratulations.”
Level Up!
You are now a Level 23 Mage.
You have acquired a new spell - Cleanse
You have acquired a new spell—Increase Resistance
You have acquired a new spell—Enchanted Runes
Rituals Skill increased
“Trying a new format?” I asked, mentally dismissing the notifications. Surprisingly, my head didn’t throb at all from the new knowledge, though I noted I suddenly had a slew of new information in my brain. Presumably, Lily had deposited this information while I was asleep and only just now unlocked them.
“What do you think?”
“It could do without the unicorns, rainbows, and fireworks,” I said, fishing one of the pieces of bacon from what was added to the plate and then juggling it from hand to hand. “Hot, hot, hot!”
“Then wait, you idiot.” Alexa rolled her eyes as she returned to the grease-laden pan to add eggs.
“What’s with the breakfast? Not that I’m complaining,” I said.
“Lily mentioned you’d need more energy today. After the experience and mana drain,” Alexa said. “Also… thanks.”
/> “You’re welcome.” I finished chewing my bacon and swallowed it. “For what?”
“Helping. You didn’t need to. Especially the fence,” Alexa said.
“The job’s to keep them running. Having the orphanage close down because everyone on the block is freaking out is probably not a great idea,” I said, then paused. “Huh. Or not.”
“I don’t like that look.”
“I do,” Lily said with her head propped up on her hand and a mischievous grin playing on her lips.
“Well, they’ve got a problem with too-high prices and people wanting them out, right? Because the neighborhood is desirable?” I said. When I got nods, I shrugged. “If we let the mana leak out…”
Alexa hummed slightly in thought and turned back toward the pan to flip the eggs. I let her think about it for a moment while I continued to stuff my face.
“No. That’d be wrong,” Alexa said finally. “We can’t destroy other people’s livelihoods just because it’s more convenient for us.”
“Heee…” I said, leaning back. “Fine. So what’s the plan for today?”
“Mushrooms.”
I ended up making a face at her words but nodded. It’d been a few days since Corey had dropped by, which was a bit of a concern. I mean, by now, he’d have run the mana batteries out, so he should have come by to deposit our share of the mushrooms. Since he hadn’t—“Where to?”
“I have his home information.”
“Great,” I said and then speared another piece of toast. We would get right on it. After breakfast and my lessons.
Autumn was always a strange time. Everything was dying, sort of, getting ready for a winter. There were leaves on the ground, brown grass everywhere, and gutters overflowing. Yet, outside of the city, the signs of life could still be seen: the occasional darting squirrel, crows and hares scampering across a highway, and a weirdness to the mana flow, an ageing to it that made casting spells that require more concentration easier. I spent most of the drive exploring that sensation, pulling at the world’s mana and dispersing the accumulation after running it through basic spell constructs.
“We should be there soon,” Alexa said, and I nodded. I was surprised at how far out Corey lived. Or perhaps, I shouldn’t have been. Staying next to a national park meant easy access to the woods, where herbs and other supernatural materials might be found. Alexa had picked me up right after I finished with Caleb, which meant we’d been able to skip rush-hour traffic for the most part. Still, the entire drive had taken a couple hours.
“Great.” I shifted in my chair once more and dispersed the mana I held, absently checking my body for how much I was at. It was probably around 80 percent of my full, though that new full level I knew had once again increased. A quick check against my mana bar showed I was right, which made me smirk.
A turn and we were off the country road and entering a small side road. Within seconds, a large residential building appeared before our eyes. If it was a little more opulent and a little less rundown and practical, it could have been called a mansion. As it stood, it just looked like a very large, practical building. Perhaps even more surprising were the numerous plots of farmed land, each of which were separated by ramshackle fencing. I peered at the plants within, vaguely thinking I knew some of them, but I decided not to push it. After all, I knew my limits, and herbology was definitely one of them.
Perhaps just as surprising were the large number of individuals moving around the plot of land. There were at least a dozen kids rushing around, naked as the day they were born. Four feet tall and thin and grey, the mini-trolls acted just like human kids. Well, except for the one who was eating a centipede raw. As interesting were the four trolls, three women and a young male, who were working the fields, weeding, watering, and turning over the ground. When we pulled up, they stared until we exited the vehicle.
“Hi there,” I said, raising my hand and offering them a smile.
“This is private property. Didn’t you read the sign?” An older troll female walked up. I squinted slightly, letting the glamour she used come into focus and noted the middle-aged brunette who came into focus before I let my gaze sharpen again.
“We did, but we’re actually looking for Corey,” I said. A younger female troll’s face twisted at the mention of Corey’s name, concern quickly buried. Or at least, I hoped it was concern.
“He’s not here. Please leave.”
“Do you know where he might be?” I asked, pushing my luck.
“We don’t know. We’ll let him know you’re looking for him when he’s back,” the matron said again.
“You don’t even know who we are,” I said, crossing my arms. “And he can’t be harvesting any more mushrooms without more mana batteries.”
“You’re the mage?” The matron’s tone went from coolly polite to completely unfriendly in a flash. She crossed her arms even as the younger female suddenly looked full of hope. “Leave then, Mage. You should know the courtesies required. You have been requested to leave numerous times already.”
I found myself growling slightly at her words, leaning forward as I realized something was being hidden. Before I could say anything further, Alexa spoke up.
“Our apologies. We were but concerned. We’ll leave now,” she said. Without a further word, she got into the car and turned the engine on, leaving me staring at her. The initiate waved for me to step in when I looked at her, forcing me to choose between being abandoned or getting more information.
“What was all that about?” I growled when I sat inside.
“Courtesies and rules. We’re in their home. If we continue to push things, we’ll ruin our reputation,” Alexa said.
I snarled. “They know something.”
“They do, but if we stay after being requested to leave so bluntly, it’d be tantamount to declaring war with them. Then where would we be?” Alexa said with a snort.
“Fine…” I crossed my arms, understanding her point if not particularly impressed with the results. “How are we going to find him now?”
Alexa smiled slightly and pointed to the glove compartment as she slowly backed us away from the house. Inside, I found a small vial, one that contained a dark-red, viscous liquid.
“That’s blood,” I said with a frown. “Corey’s?”
“Yes. Unlike you, I never trusted the troll to keep his word without some insurance,” Alexa said simply. “Are you able to track him?”
I frowned again, extending my senses within the blood. It was old, though the preservation runes set around the vial had slowed its degradation. Corey’s aura was still captured within, though within a few days, it’d be gone completely. I wonder what Alexa would have done then? Possibly just gotten another vial. I wanted to berate her for taking someone’s blood as insurance, considering how dangerous something like this could be in the wrong hands. Then again, here we were, using it. And realistically, the amount taken was so low, it would be difficult to cast a really dangerous spell.
“Yes,” I said. “Give me a few minutes. It’s weak.”
Alexa nodded, having the car in idle at the entrance to the road from the turnoff. I eyed our surroundings again before I fished in my backpack for the compass and drew a deep breath, getting ready to track our missing troll.
An hour later, we were rolling down a worn, potted country road. The singular sign indicating it was Private Property was hanging askew from a single, rusted nail. Obviously, between that, the road, and the peeling paint, it was clear the farm we were now traveling toward had been abandoned for some time. It still amazed me that buildings, especially ones so close to town, could be so easily be abandoned. Perhaps it said something of the sad state of humanity and our society that there’d be dozens of people on the streets and even more abandoned, discarded buildings like this within miles of each other.
“What do you think he’d be doing here?” I muttered, staring at the abandoned farm. Obviously, we weren’t the only trespassers here in the last few years, though
I had no intention of leaving my mark. I never did get the point of casual graffiti, not emotionally at least. Even if someone did want to leave a sign of their passing, they should at least do so in a manner that actually informed others of who they were because C.M. could be anyone.
“Probably looking for herbs,” Alexa said, eyeing the broken windows and the single, fluttering curtain. “House or barn first?”
“Neither,” I said as I glanced at the compass. It had shifted since we drew close, able to provide slightly better guidance, and was now pointing unerringly toward the small copse of trees behind the buildings. Once I explained the matter, Alexa pulled the car over and set up her spear. I, on the other hand, jittered, debating taking my backpack and loading it with more survival gear or not. In the end, I stuffed in more bottles of water, an emergency blanket, and some extra food. At Alexa’s half smile at my antics, I explained. “Mages are prepared for anything.”
“So are scouts, but we’re not staying the night,” Alexa said. “If it’s longer than an hour, we go back.”
“But—”
“I’m not wasting more than a day on a troll,” Alexa said forcefully. “We still have a ritual that’s breaking to deal with.”
“He has a family who is waiting for him!” I protested.
“His wives will make do. His son looks about old enough to take on the responsibilities of the family anyway,” Alexa countered as she headed into the forest. I fell into step with her, occasionally glancing at the compass and the ground. Not that I could track a herd of elephants through a glass store, but a man could hope.
“Wait. Wives?”
“Yes, didn’t you see them?” Alexa turned to glance at me. “Don’t tell me you mistook them for males. They’re not that different.”
“No, I knew they were women,” I said. “And none of the stories ever mentioned female satyrs!”
“Uh huh,” Alexa said.
“But wives?” I muttered, thinking about it. Well, I guess it made sense. Sort of. I mean, humans had multiple-wife cultures, so why shouldn’t monsters? For that matter, I shouldn’t be surprised if monsters didn’t even get married. They were, literally, monsters. Though supes might be a better term, since they weren’t actually monsters. Ugh. My head hurt sometimes figuring out terminology.