by Dixon, TJ
Without being able to trace the port all we can be sure of is that the boy left by magic, and since he didn’t seem to know any magic himself it seems almost certain that he was abducted. If he had been a noble’s child, or the daughter of a wealthy merchant, then the city guard might have been willing to send a talented mage to track him down. For the son of a mother who is barely able to pay her rent there is no way they will help.
It seems an impossible problem to solve, but knowing the loss of losing family I don’t want to give up. As I am a slave I don’t actually have to follow the class plan. Professor Schwarz seemed a little annoyed when I told her that I was not going to be accompanying the class today but she seemed to accept it.
“Hello Natalie.” I greet the boy’s mother as I arrive to continue the investigation.
“Thank you.” She says emotionally with teary eyes.
“I can only do what I can do.” I say wincing at the heavy expectation in her voice. “I will need to share your thoughts again to reassert the image of your son in my mind. So please think of Brian again.”
Once I have shared her thoughts and have the image of her son in my mind there is nothing more to do here. My investigation today will take place further afield. It is pointless to hope that I will just bump into the boy. He is most likely living as somebody’s slave.
There are rumours of people, especially young boys, being taken from the streets and their homes just like Brian was. My investigation must focus there. If I can catch someone being abducted by magic they may lead me to the rest of the victims. It could be coincidence but if that is the case then it is truly hopeless.
I use magic to hide my presence completely and wander the streets. Especially back alleys and anywhere that seems vulnerable. Hiding from everyone else’s senses I keep my own wide open for anything magical or out of the ordinary.
I don’t really expect to find anything so easily. If the culprit is targeting poor children then they may not expect any mages to come looking for them, but given how widespread the rumours are it seems naively optimistic to assume they will be that careless. What else can I do though?
The morning turns to afternoon and afternoon to evening. I am hungry and tired but I am not going to stop my search for such petty reasons. It is getting dark when I notice an adult port into a nearby house. They could just be a mage coming home but this is a very poor part of town. Most mages would live somewhere a bit nicer than this neighbourhood. I can’t just barge into the home and randomly accuse them, but I focus my senses on them. Sure enough moments later they port away with a child.
It takes every last bit of my dimensional senses to trace the port, but somehow I manage it. I inscribe the destination into my mind. Of course I have no idea where the physical location actually is but I can now follow the port. It is possible the culprit is just a lone mage, but I believe that about as much as I believe in gold coins growing on trees.
I port back to our room at the inn. I don’t want to give the mother false hope so until I have found her child I don’t plan to return unless it is to tell her I was unsuccessful at the end of our trip. I should know better but I am now filled with what may well turn out to be false hope myself. I truly believe that following that port will take me to her son, or at least lead me to him. How many people can there be abducting children in this city?
I have to wait a while but eventually everyone else returns to the room. They are tired but only physically. They haven’t used magic all day so they are willing to go with me right away. I share the location with Rin and hide everyone’s presence.
Rin ports us. I had expected the port to lead to a dark warehouse or dungeon. Somewhere gloomy and secret. I don’t know why but it never struck me that we would find ourselves at the bottom of a mage tower. They are very popular in Portalis because space is so limited, so it makes perfect sense. It isn’t so perfect for us though.
Mage towers are impossible to port within unless you have the permission of the owner. That means we can’t port straight to the top of the tower or even back to our room at the inn. They are also generally filled with traps and magical guards. This tower has golden and silver statues of warriors that are undoubtedly enchanted. The floor, roof, walls and stairs are all formed of white marble.
“Those statues are formed of magically summoned gold and silver.” Yu Kii says and I gasp in shock. There are four mages in recorded history able to summon gold and very few even able to summon silver. Of those four one died over a hundred years ago. One is in charge of the Royal Guard and one leads the old guard. The other died less than a year ago. She was of course the Queen.
“Is this the home of the leader of the Old Guard?” Rin asks. Given our location it would make perfect sense. She does live in Portalis whereas the leader of the Royal Guard obviously lives in the palace with the Queen.
“No.” Emma says.
“How do you know?” Rin asks.
“She doesn’t live in a mage tower. My aunt told me about her home. She lives in a ship in the sky. She takes it with her on campaign. A tower would be impossible to take with her so she chose the ship instead.” Emma replies.
“Maybe she summoned the statues for whoever does live here.” I suggest.
“That’s impossible too. She is able to summon gold but the last time she did so was hundreds of years ago. I’m not sure why but it sounds like there is a good reason she refuses to do so. Even I can tell these statues were created recently.” Emma says. It is true. I’d say they have existed no more than a month.
“They were created just under two weeks ago.” Yu Kii says. As always her sense for anything related to earth magic is flawless.
“While you naughty children are busy guessing who I am, why don’t you play with my toys?” A melodic voice says. The moment it does so the statues come alive. Golden and silver weapons raised they charge at us. I prepare to raise a stone wall between us and them but before I can do so they have all fallen to the ground in molten lumps. Then the voice says with a laugh. “Not bad.”
“Gold and silver may be pretty but they are weak against earth magic.” Yu Kii says with a shrug as we all stare at her. I thought I was good at earth magic but I am left stunned by the ease with which she defeated those statues.
“If you take too long to climb my tower I’ll start killing the boys.” The melodic voice says but this time it has a much harsher edge to it.
“The stairs are trapped.” Yu Kii says. “Asuna, could you pierce the roof over there. That is the only safe way to get to the next level.”
I am not used to Yu Kii taking the lead but she sounds confident and it seems she is in her element right now. I pierce the roof with a stone spear. I then turn the spear into makeshift stairs.
“I’m not sure what is in the room above but I don’t think it is earth magic.” Yu Kii says.
“It’s ice magic. Very powerful too. An earth shield around the area we come up would be wise.” Rin says after a moment.
“I’ll do it.” I say and create one. Then we climb the stairs. As we reach the top my earth shield takes a battering from ice spears. I have to strengthen it but after a couple of hundred in about five second the ice spears stop.
“The stairs don’t have any earth magic traps, but what about other elements?” Yu Kii says.
“Wind magic this time.” Emma says. “We should probably go through the roof again.”
“There’s magical shielding this time.” I tell her shaking my head.
“Then we’ll need an earth shield all around us including below and above. It shouldn’t need to be as strong as the one you just created.” Emma says.
“Hermes, could you do this one?” I ask. I don’t want to exhaust my power before we reach the top.
“Sure.” Hermes says a little nervously. Her shield is fine though, and we are soon in the next room. As soon as we enter we are attacked by fire magic. Rin creates an ice shield that easily resists the flames until after a few seconds they stop.
“It’s earth magic again on the stairs.” Yu Kii says.
“The roof is shielded again.” I tell her.
“It will use too much power to block the attacks but if we fly through them quickly enough we should be able to avoid them. Hopefully.” Yu Kii says. I gulp but we don’t have time to stand around discussing it. We all look at Emma who buries her head in her hands.
“Don’t blame me if we get killed.” She says. She is our best wind mage here, but she isn’t even close to the same level as Peter or Cherry. “Where can we stand safely?”
“Here.” Yu Kii says at the bottom of the stairs.
“I wish Peter were here.” Emma says and then throws us all up the stairs with wind magic. We barely avoid the dark metal blades and stone shards. Given their strength I see why Yu Kii didn’t think it wise to try blocking them.
As we enter the top we leave behind the well-lit rooms and are suddenly in a dark room perhaps similar to what I imagined before. From the ceiling hang probably close to a hundred metal cages. In almost every cage is a terrified looking young boy. They are all wearing cheap clothes, mostly night clothing. Like I thought, they all seem to be from poor families.
“There is still room for all of you.” The melodic voice says and I turn my attention to her. She is about my age so around fifteen and looks like a typical Contractian with blonde hair, blue eyes and pale skin. Her trousers and shirt are made from a silver silk like material. Even a non-mage would get the impression her clothes are enchanted but as an earth mage I can sense their power screaming out at me. With those clothes even an amateur could wield powerful magic, but a skilled mage could work miracles. Perhaps even summon gold.
“What do you plan to do with those boys?” Yu Kii asks and her voice is shaking, but with anger not fear. There is no way Yu Kii doesn’t understand the power of those clothes. Her earth senses are way too good for that.
“They will be sacrifices to summon the Great Demon Baal of the Seventh Abyss. They are only boys so they aren’t going to be missed. Adding the five of you to the sacrifice should please Baal though, and guarantee the ritual’s success.” The girl says.
“I am sorry but it is not Baal who shall be summoned here.” Yu Kii says and then to my shock she throws her own clothes off with magic.
They are ruined, literally shredded, but no sooner are they gone than new clothes have taken their place. It is so quick that I would wonder whether she was wearing them the whole time, but they are filled with magic so strong that I could not have missed them. The new clothes are like a dress but with a white layer on top and a red layer beneath. The red layer you can see where there are patterned diamond holes in the white layer as well as the sleeves which are missing from the white layer.
Yu Kii summons an earth shield around herself and then begins to both sing and dance. The song is filled with magic but so is the dance. I can’t see the dance but even the sound is enough to feel its magic. The enemy is initially taken by surprise but she quickly recovers and blasts fire at Yu Kii. Rin shields it with an ice wall but she strains under the sheer pressure of the fire. I add to her ice with my own.
Suddenly a gentle white light and a cold mist fill the room. For the first time we can see the walls and ceiling clearly. The flames go out instantly. The enemy for the first time seems afraid. She clutches her hands over her ears and falling to her knees her eyes go wide.
“No! Don’t come any closer! Stop!” She screams. Then she collapses. I cautiously approach her and confirm that she is unconscious. The tower’s port block is down now too. It isn’t a very good one if it collapses the moment she loses consciousness.
“Could you port her to the city guard? I’m porting back to our room to get changed. I’ll meet you there.” Yu Kii says still within the earth shield.
“Ok.” I say. Questions can wait. If that girl wakes up before she is arrested it could be a problem. A big problem in fact.
“Wait.” Rin says. I look at her questioningly. “I want those clothes. They’re the ideal of any alchemist.”
“So what do you want me to do?” I ask Rin dubiously.
“Those clothes should fit you. Swap clothes with her. That’s an order.” Rin says. I gulp. Peter told me to obey Rin so I really have no choice. Cursing at Rin I summon an earth wall around us and obey. Soon I am wearing those silver clothes and the girl is wearing my uniform. Emma, Rin and Hermes have freed lots of the boys now and it isn’t long before they are all ready to be ported.
I am the only one confident porting so many of us and it uses almost all my remaining power to do so. I am unable to make use of the clothing to help because there seems to be a block that only allows the owner to use their power. I port us outside the inn and Rin quickly gets the innkeeper to summon the city guard. The city guards who arrive are dumbfounded by the sight of close to a hundred poor and in some cases almost starved boys.
The guards quickly take the girl away but it takes longer for them to take the boys. The guards will find their parents who will soon be reunited with the boys. We return to our room but Yu Kii isn’t there. We are worried but there is nothing we can do other than wait. After a minute she ports in.
“Sorry, but I had to tell that boy’s mother the good news. I was so relieved we found him alive.” Yu Kii says.
“How do you know for sure he was one of those boys?” I ask worried she may have made a bad assumption.
“I sensed him. His spirit is connected to his mother’s spirit so they are very similar.” Yu Kii answers. She could identify the boy out of all those boys there without even having met him before? Despite her funny talk about spirits Yu Kii really is amazing.
(Yu Kii)
Knowing that those poor young boys have been returned to their mothers is a huge weight off of my mind. I couldn’t concentrate at all yesterday because I was so worried. Today I intend to focus on just enjoying the trip. It is obvious that is the purpose of the trip and I plan to make the most of it.
I am wearing my spare uniform since I destroyed my normal one. I’ll have to get another spare when we return. I am just lucky I can wash and dry it instantly with magic each night when I take it off. Otherwise it might have been a bit smelly by the end of the week. That would have been embarrassing. I am still embarrassed when I think back to yesterday.
“Yu Kii, pass the salt.” Rin says. I put my fork down and pass her the salt.
Even if it is a bit expensive the breakfast at this inn is rather special. Now I can eat it without distraction so I really am enjoying it this morning. The spiced Fire Bird steaks are really flavourful and the Fire Bird omelette is really sweet. There are even Fire Bird pancakes. They taste amazing when drizzled with fruit juice, sprinkled with sugar or even with a subtle enchantment. The mushrooms are all enchanted and are to die for. If I tried everything on the buffet I would double in weight, but I really enjoy what I do eat.
“Everyone be ready to leave in five minutes.” Professor Schwarz calls out. Other guests look at her in amusement but she doesn’t pay them any attention.
“We’d better head back to our room.” Rin says and quickly gulps down her enchanted milk. I quickly finish off my last Fire Bird steak and then rush after Rin. In my haste I bump into another girl on the way. It is Sor and she falls to the ground even though I only lightly knocked her.
“Rude girl, watch where you’re going!” She yells at me as she struggles to get up.
“I’m sorry!” I tell her and offer a helping hand but she just glares at it disdainfully. She has a hard time getting up but even so she seems determined to refuse my help. Once she is up she just walks off ignoring me.
“What’s her problem?” Rin mutters quietly once she is gone.
&nb
sp; “We’d better hurry or we’ll be late.” I tell Rin and so we hurry off again but with a bit more care to avoid any more unfortunate accidents.
In our room we quickly freshen up and grab the complimentary heat stones the inn provided. It is cold outside and they will keep us warm until they run out of power. We could in theory use fire magic to keep warm but this is much more convenient and using fire magic like that in the city streets is banned. There’s too much risk of accidentally hurting someone.
We get down to the main entrance just as Professor Schwarz says, “Anyone after this will be late now. You two just avoided being late Rin and Yu Kii. Lucky for you since anyone who is late will be cleaning the 3F classroom every day at lunchtime, without magic, for two weeks when we get back.”
She said the same thing yesterday, except it was 3H. I guess we don’t want to be late. Cleaning a room isn’t so bad, but at lunchtime the whole class will be there. I can feel their stares even just imagining it. Fortunately we got back in time and Hermes, Emma and Asuna are already here.
“Sor and Emi. It isn’t like you two to be late, but you’ll be cleaning 3F for two weeks when we get back.” Professor Schwarz says with a frown. Sor glares at me and Emi just winces. Professor Schwarz looks around as if counting students. “It seems everyone is here now. We will be walking to our first destination because it isn’t far. Everyone follow me.”
We all follow Professor Schwarz through the streets. The streets are busy already even though it is so early. Portalis is by far the largest and busiest place I have ever been to. I thought the temple was big but then I saw the academy and after that Utopia Camerona. Portalis easily dwarfs even Utopia Camerona.
We walk through the crowds and past shops and street stalls. Even simple street stalls sell goods I have never heard of and some of the shops are rather intimidating. To my horror there are even stalls and shops selling slaves. Most of the slaves are men or black, or both.