Transcendental Misappropriation (Book One of the Pentacle Series)

by Roharp17

  A note from Roharp17

  Edited by SkrmnMrgsm

  Chapter 35

  A few weeks later, Danny awoke in his new room one morning and realized he hadn’t visited his sanctuary in a while. Since leveling his primary skills so high, gaining new levels seemed to happen less often. Entering his sanctuary, he looked to the attribute triangle and noticed there had been some slight movement in intelligence and agility recently. Over in his bookshelves he found three new books for “Elven (spoken)” had appeared on the “Speech” bookshelf. Having a native speaker teach you a language was always helpful. Thanks to training with Jade, his “Sneak” was now level five. Taking care of Phantom helped him reach level three in “Cooking” and gain three new books for “Animal Husbandry.” Treating Leaf raised his “First Aid” to level six, gave him two new books called “Surgery”, and another new book called “Caregiving”. Confused, Danny assumed from looking at the knowledge within them that Caregiving had to do with taking care of the patient and Surgery was for using knowledge to treat internal damage.

  Moving into his mana room he found “Air Affinity” and “Mana Manipulation” reached level seven, and “Life Affinity” level six. The experience from their first mission was turning out to be a huge boon for him.

  Moving out into the hallway, he was about to go back to look at some of the new books in the first room when he noticed a strange flickering coming from the crystal room. Frowning, Danny hesitated a moment before going toward the newest room. Before he had even made it to the doorway he noticed that the crystal previously holding his dual concentration in the form of his old body, Cranny, was missing. Fragments of crystal were scattered all over the floor. Looking back down the hallway, Danny suddenly felt like he had just stepped into one of those low budget horror films.

  The strange flickering light seemed to come from one side of the room as it reflected off all the crystal fragments. Moving into the room proper, Danny found what could only be described as a building security station set up on one side of the room. The plain room even morphed on that side to have generic carpet flooring, mauve colored walls, and popcorn ceiling. Danny grimaced at the visually-offensive addition. A dozen monitors were arrayed along the far wall and sitting at a desk beneath them was Cranny. He now wore a security uniform and was typing away at an 80’s desktop computer. Next to him was a half-eaten donut on a plate and a steaming cup of coffee.

  Danny looked around and seemed to hesitate to interrupt his former self. Cranny seeming to finally notice his presence stopped typing and turned around with a big smile, “Danny! Thank you for finally letting me out, it was getting really cramped in there. Oh, and I got a new job, but the pay stinks. Gotta start somewhere though…”

  Danny didn’t respond at first, but was finally able to form a coherent sentence, “Wha…?”

  ...Well, sort of.

  “You finally let go and allowed the other half of your dual consciousness - that’s me - to handle things on my own. Now I get to monitor your surroundings and respond to external threats. These monitors in the middle show me what you can see through your eyes.

  The ones on this side show me what comes up on the air and earth scans. I use those now on a regular basis. I don’t use earth scan as much unless we figure out something really useful for it to detect. But hey, if you don’t use it you lose it, am I right?

  Then over on the other side are your vitals and general condition. I wish I could use the mana eyes but that would get in the way of your ability to function, so that one’s up to you to use.”

  Danny looked over the monitors for a moment before he really focused on what he was seeing. “Are my eyes open right now?”

  Cranny looked up, “Yep, I block your perception of them and barely open them every now and then when you are asleep. Can’t keep them open too much or they can’t rest. Oh, want to see me make them blink?”

  Cranny reached over and tapped a key on a console that stretched along part of the desk. Danny watched as his barely open eyes blinked over and over.

  Cranny focused on the controls, “See, I can even send out messages in Morse code. Please… send… help… can’t… get… out... Ha! Just kidding, we don’t know Morse code!”

  Danny sighed and considered leaving right then, but asked another question instead, “So, were you the one that sent the vines and branches to grab me a few days ago when I suddenly fell?”

  Cranny nodded seriously, “Yes, I have access here to all your abilities and spells. If it looks like you are in trouble and can’t properly focus for some reason, I will step in. You thought the dual consciousness was meant for dual casting, but this was its intended purpose. Your own mind was fighting for control with itself as this was a new experience for you. Took you long enough…”

  Danny wanted to lay ground rules, “This is good, but I don’t want you eating up all my mana…”

  Cranny interrupted him, “We are the same person, and I know what you’re going to say. In fact it’s written on the monitor below your vitals right there, see. Don’t worry, I will manage things fine from here, so you go play.”

  Danny looked one last time at the monitors and saw his eyes were barely open again and Ivy walked into his bedroom. She paused when she saw he was sitting up, but relaxed when she realized he was meditating.

  A smile appeared on her face and she went and sat down in front of him on the bed. She apparently couldn’t tell his eyes were barely open, even from this distance. She craned her head and inspected his face from one side to the other. Her hand reached out towards the top of his head as if she was going to run it through his hair, but stopped herself.

  Cranny turned to him and smiled, “Since I was released, I have seen the three of them all come in every night to check on you. I don’t know if it’s because your new room is out here by itself, or if they did it before as well. I think they do a rotation, but Jade sometimes checks on you on the same night as the others. She’s sweet… for a stalker.”

  Danny was blown away by this revelation. His heart-rate increased and a fast beeping sounded from his vitals monitor before Cranny casually reached over and pressed a button to silence it.

  Ivy’s mouth started moving and Danny thought he heard something, before Cranny turned a dial on one of the two speakers right beside his computer. He could suddenly hear her loud and clear.

  “…tiful. I don’t know what I am going to do with you, Danny Creek. You drive me crazy one moment then do the impossible the next… I wish they would let us take you into the city to train, so I could have an excuse to take you out and do something fun. I guess I will have to wait just a little bit longer…”

  Ivy started to lean in towards his face and closed her eyes.

  “Wait, how many times have I been kissed in my sleep!”

  Cranny had a bag in his lap and was about to eat a fistful of popcorn, “This has never happened since I have been watching. Shhh, it’s about to get to the good part.”

  Danny couldn’t control his reaction and ejected himself from the sanctuary with a jerk. Ivy must have noticed his reaction, paused, and quickly opened her eyes. Smiling she played off what she was about to do by laughing and announcing, “Surprise, Meadows wants our team to meet her and some others in the dining room.”

  Danny noticed a blush on her face as she turned and quickly left the room. His left hand involuntarily reached out and pinched his leg.

  Realizing what happened Danny fiercely whispered, “Owww, don’t do that, this is my body!”

  Ivy leaned her head back into his room, “Sorry, were you calling after me?”

  Danny forced a smile and gripped his left hand with his right, “No, I have to do some stuff and I will be there shortly.”

  “Alright,” Ivy nodded and left.

  Danny just sat there staring at the doorway to his room.

  A note from Roharp17

  Edited by SkrmnMrgsm

  Chapter 36

  Danny was standing with his team in th
e dining hall. A number of other shadows were waiting there as well. It wasn't during a meal time so no one else was there. Instructor Meadow walked in and unceremoniously turned to face them, "Congratulations teams, you are now officially no longer trainees, but apprentice Shadows. When you have successfully completed enough missions you will be advanced to a journeyman shadow, and given a name. You will no longer bunk in the trainee dorms. While here, you will stay in the assigned rooms that all shadows stay in. You will be working alongside an experienced shadow until your team reaches the rank of journeyman. With that out of the way, I have some more news to share with you.

  As of this morning, the military has begun mobilizing to address a goblin threat discovered on the eastern ranges of the dwarven mountains. Additional troops will be stationed at the towns and villages nearest to this latest threat. The elven ambassador has assured us her people can be ready to mobilize quickly and will be with us in this fight. Since issuing military orders is outside the dwarven ambassador's authority, she has sent word to her people for their response. It is likely that your missions will revolve around addressing the goblin threat. I will now hand out your next assignments. Report to your assigned senior shadow, at the location listed, as soon as possible. You are dismissed."

  With that, Instructor Meadow left the room. New trainees could be heard through the open door going through their morning drills.

  Ivy looked at the paper and smiled, turning to Jade, "Looks like we are going to get to spend some time with your family."

  Jade's eyes lit up and she smiled.

  Ivy read the rest of their orders, "We are to wait for them in the town of Crossbark. There is a map included. Looks like it is on the edge of the Great forest along the main path to through to the elven forest. Let's meet up here for lunch with our things, then head out. I don't want to keep shadow Basalt waiting."

  Shortly after the meeting Danny peeked into Instructor Meadow's office through her open door, "Instructor Meadow, you asked to see me?"

  Looking up from some papers she had been busily writing on her desk, Meadows waved him in and gestured towards the vacant chairs in front of her desk.

  She finished writing something down and looked across her desks at him, "Danny, thank you for coming in. How are you doing?"

  Smiling, Danny replied, "Good, and you?"

  Meadows smirked, "I would be better if your first mission didn't result in a mountain of paperwork and more headaches than I care to mention."

  "My apologies, I will try to be less conspicuous in the future."

  Meadows barked a laugh, "I would appreciate that. Now, onto why I brought you here. You are the last person in our graduating shadows for me to speak with. This is because I had to wait for some final approvals and decision to be made before meeting with you.

  As you know our organization is a known entity to the public, but we don't go around openly broadcasting who our members are. The black uniform you wear is to be worn only when here at the headquarters. I will talk about that more in a bit. Once you step outside of the walls, you are not to mention anything about us, even in private conversation to your shadow."

  Danny looked confused, "But what about Leaf?"

  Meadows sighed, "Yes, seeing our uniforms, he might have suspected who we were. What was even more unfortunate was that he saw your... special abilities. Plans have been moved forward and others tossed aside. I wish we had had more time to train you in the more… urbane skills of our order.

  The elves have requested to meet you. The elves have always been exceptional at earth and water magics, but their proudest achievements are in nature magic. Just having a human with nature magic alone would interest them, but you being so young has them all but demanding your presence. Then Leaf saw you at least using fire and ice... Fortunately for Leaf, those in charge decided he was worth more alive than silent."

  Meadows got up and went over to a small table next to her desk. The table held a tray with a decanter and couple of glasses. Pouring herself a drink, she downed it, before turning back to Danny.

  "Danny, I don't know what the elves will want from you. You will need to be on your guard at all times. Listen to your superiors in the other shadow. Our relationship with the elves is of the utmost importance, especially at times like these. We hope showing your abilities to them will help close the gap between our two nations even further."

  Meadows sat back down at her desk and, in her distraction, placed her empty glass on top of the papers she had been writing. Running a hand through her short hair, she finally looked Danny in the eyes, "I have been asked to relay a personal message to you from the Umbra... ‘Make sure you come back. If not for your shadow, then at least do it for your family.’”

  Danny rocked back as if physically slapped. All he could do is sit there wide-eyed, as he processed what he had just heard.

  Meadows looked down and nodded her head slowly. Pulling out a drawer, Meadows slapped down onto the desk a duster with an alternating pattern of red, grey, and white colors.

  “Congratulations on your appointment to wizard Creek. You chose these elements in the academy and you will have to stick with them. Wizards with three affinities are rare. So don’t let anyone, in the public or military, see you use a spell other than from these three affinities. Away from prying eyes and then once you reach the elves, you can do as you please.”

  Standing, Danny grabbed the duster off the desk and turned to leave.

  “Danny…” Meadows' voice called out behind him.

  Seeing him stop and look back at her, Meadows looked like she wanted to say more, a lot more. After a few moments, she frowned, “Good luck, Danny.”

  Danny stared at her for a few seconds then left silently.

  They made good time south through the edge of the Great Forest. Phantom ranged alongside them, running off to chase after something, only to return to Danny's side later. Having known Danny for over five years now, the girls easily picked up on Danny’s strange mood. They each tried to cheer him up and find out what was wrong, but couldn’t get anything out of him. Danny figured what he was told was meant to stay with him, or else.

  It took two days for them to reach the small town of Crossbark, named so because it was the last village on the main road, separating the rest of the human lands from the Great Forest.

  The town was surrounded by a large stone wall. Danny could tell it was a major trade hub for merchants traveling to and from the elven lands. Brooke informed him that elves didn't come often to the human lands but welcomed human traders into their borders. The town looked prosperous but on high alert. Danny's group was stopped at the entrance by military personnel, before being allowed in the city. The soldiers posted there asked Danny a lot of questions. He was worried as they were all about his background, and thought they might expect who he worked for. Finally Ivy rushed them along, explaining that they were late for a meeting. He was confused as to why the military was stopping humans, especially wizards. Maybe it was just to instill a sense of security.

  They made their way to an inn that was listed in their orders. The inn itself was nothing fancy, but also not a hole-in-the-wall. The ground floor housed a tavern and the two floors above that held the rooms for rent. As they entered the inn there were only a few patrons in the tavern. They all stopped and stared, like something out of a bad western movie. They didn't seem threatening, just curious. Maybe they were wondering why a group of young people would be coming in to the tavern.

  The woman behind the bar greeted them as they entered, introducing herself as the owner. They inquired after a room with two beds, baths, and meals. Nodding, the woman haggled with Ivy briefly over the price and they made their way upstairs. Danny said he would be fine paying for a room of his own. He received a monthly wage from the Order, and had developed quite the savings over the years. The girls wouldn't hear anything about it. He tried to argue again, but they said it wasn't safe to be alone anywhere in these border towns.

  They asked about a
group waiting for them and was told no one matching that description had arrived, so they went upstairs and dropped off their things. Locking the door, they left to visit the town’s marketplace.

  The marketplace was packed. Stalls were crammed in every available place and stores lined the outskirts. There seemed to be no order to what type of stall went where. Everyone was either talking, or yelling to be heard above the talking.

  As he was walking next to Brooke, people in the crowd kept brushing up against Danny, and he couldn’t figure out why. He had a death-grip on his coin purse, as he had only read about these kinds of situations. Strangely, no one was running into the girls. Without anyone saying anything, the girls took up positions around him. Danny couldn’t help but feel emasculated.

  They visited a few weapon and armor vendors, but nothing in their price range could match the equipment they received from the Order. The girls started looking at clothing and Danny felt a strong case of déjà vu. A memory of him as a child, holding his mother’s purse while she looked through racks of clothing. Then another memory, him as an adult, holding his girlfriend’s purse while she looked through racks of under…clothing. Danny looked down and smiled. At least this world didn’t require purse holding.