Manifest

by Cody Whitfill

  Those around Gitch looked at him like he had lost his mind, some even tried to inch further away thinking him a lunatic. He didn’t care. They were coming, and this time he would be ready.

  The imps began flying faster, closing in on almost every side. This drew most of their attention, just not Gitch’s. He knew a distraction when he saw one. The real danger was up. Sure enough, he soon saw eight bulky masses free-falling directly above the clustered fairies.

  “INCOMING!” he shouted through his make-shift mask. It came out as muffled nonsense, but his pointing at least got the attention of those around him.

  “Spiders?” questioned a gold fairy to his left.

  “Those are full grown!” shouted another in despair.

  One of the high-leveled infiltration fairies shot a bolt of white flame at the closest spider which was quickly engulfed in flames as it lashed out wildly. Three fairies were caught in its trajectory, screaming as the fire quickly spread to their own bodies.

  The queen sniped a second spider with a silver beam of Dufflin-knows-what, and a green fairy threw her own trident at a third. The spiked blades struck just beneath its left mandible, but did not fell the beast. It tumbled along with the rest.

  They fell into their midst, instantly releasing thousands of psychedelic spores. In no way was he expecting chemical warfare in today’s battle, but there was also no doubting its effectiveness.

  The change among the fairy forces was almost instantaneous. He watched as all those around him suddenly stopped moving as their eyes fully dilated. A purple fairy soon began singing about having friends in low places, completely off key, while a half dozen others began dancing and clapping along ‘with’ the beat. Not one of them could keep time.

  Gitch heard a pair of fairies competing in a burping contest, each giggling uncontrollably during the other’s turn. He saw Boker staring intently at one of the imps across the way. His lips were moving silently, and Gitch waited for the fiery spell that was bound to issue forth. He was immensely grateful for another to be of sound mind as well, but it wasn’t until the red fairy shouted, “You think you’re better than me? Just blink, damn it!”, did he understand Boker’s true intentions. Gitch was surrounded by a sea of evil, stranded on an island of idiots.

  The imps were having a good time. He could hear their laughter as they pointed and mocked the silly fairies before them. That his enemies were sitting back and not attacking showed Gitch just how completely screwed the raiders were. There was only one thing left to do.

  He had an idea of a plan. Though it was a bit douchey, it just might work. He gathered five of his nearest squad mates and quickly gave them instructions. One of them started whistling halfway through and then just up and flew away. Four might work, Gitch thought skeptically. He told his new minions to follow him, and they set off in search of Queen Tibura.

  It didn’t take long to spot the shining white beacon of death. She was still hurling spell after spell at the enemy, but if Gitch didn’t know any better, they looked like healing spells. Gitch honestly expected her to be as crazed as the rest, though he had hoped she was powerful enough to resist.

  They would have reached her in just a matter of moments if not for Master Puk. He was also still casting, though his spells were aimed at the remaining fairies. He issued the same spell over and over, a spell Gitch was quite familiar with. It was a more advanced and awesome version of his own transmorph spell. A pink beam of light would shoot out from his fingertips and, more likely than not, hit one of their allied fairies mid-flight. He or she would inevitably be transformed into something akin to a pinecone and drop from the sky.

  Gitch and company did their dodging, ducking, dipping, diving, and some more dodging until they reached the queen proper. He was worried he would lose more of his followers on the way due to their newfound ADHD, but their only casualty was now a free-falling pinecone. Gitch supposed that could be considered a win, but he was concerned three fairies might not be enough.

  Congratulations! Flight has increased to level 8!

  Each additional mana point invested now increases your flight speed by 3.7 feet per second.

  Current Cap: 5 MPS

  Gitch swiped away the unexpected notification, dreading the next part of his plan. He cast his spell and slowly approached the queen from behind. He was almost within throwing distance when one of his faithful piped up loudly, “Are you sure this is legal?”

  Gitch halted to a stop, never taking his eyes off the queen. He hissed back, “Would it matter if it wasn’t?”

  “No, not really.”

  “Then no! Now shush and be ready.”

  He resumed his slow pace forward as he placed one of the glowing balls in his right hand. When he judged the distance safe enough, he lined up his shot and threw the first Trilit ball right into the center of Tibura’s tiny back. She let out a squeak, but then went limp as she hurtled towards the lake below.

  Congratulations! Trilit has increased to level 3!

  Stun duration per ball amended to 2 minutes, minus 26 seconds per rank of positive alignment

  Damage per ball increased to 20, plus 3 additional damage per rank of negative alignment

  Gitch was already on his way when he caught her around the waist.

  “NOW!” he shouted with all of his might. This was either going to work wonderfully or tear a hole in the fabric of reality. Hopefully each of his three stooges’ luck stat was higher than his. The three obedient fairies dove straight down at the throng of confused imp onlookers.

  Gitch watched with satisfaction as the imps refrained from attacking the trio. Completely assured of their victory, they let them come ever closer, thinking this was just part of their silly fairy game. That made the resulting magical explosion all the merrier.

  He wasn’t sure how many imps perished in the blast, but it was a lot. Gitch rushed through the newly created hole, taking a quick look to make sure no magical abominations were created from the sudden release of three fairies worth of mana. Seeing as no Todd-sized imp was chasing after him, he let out a triumphant giggle.

  You have slain level 5 Imp Warrior

  Experience points received: 18 (44)

  You have slain level 2 Imp Scout

  Experience points received: 2 (8)

  You have slain level 5 Imp Warrior

  Experience points received: 18 (44)

  You have slain level 8 Imp Warrior

  Experience points received: 33 (76)

  You have slain level 4 Imp Warrior

  Experience points received: 12 (34)

  You have slain level 9 Imp Warrior

  Experience points received: 42 (87)

  You have slain level 4 Imp Scout

  Experience points received: 12 (34)

  You have slain level 10 Imp Captain

  Experience points received: 100 (250)

  You have slain...

  Gitch smiled an evil smile as the cascade of slayer notifications appeared before him, unable to keep track of how many imps had been caught in the blast. His smile grew even wider upon reading the very last notification.

  HARK! You have manifested to level 7! Continue on this journey to realize the furthest depths of your true self!

  You have gained 1 attribute point to distribute.

  Health increased from 138 to 161

  Mana increased from 522 to 609

  Stamina increased from 340 to 397

  He thought back on his instructions for those three brave, stupid fairies. Back when he had gathered them together, he told each of them of the importance of holding in as much mana as possible, expending just enough to stay airborne. The imps were a lonely race after all, and if they just received some genuine fairy hospitality, then maybe they could all put this battle-thing behind them. Of course, it was those imp leaders in the back that needed to be shown the way of the Fae, so they would need to push past as many of the imps as possible before releasing their mana and showering them all with a special ‘fairy blessing
’.

  He didn’t get any additional diplomacy experience for convincing his little minions to follow his devious little scheme, but no matter. It had worked better than expected, given the additional time taken to avoid Señor Pinkie. They were each able to store a sizable amount of mana and when released, built on each other to create a fireball even Kraz would have been proud of. He hoped the imp escaped, but didn’t have time to check.

  Gitch heard the cries of pain and outrage behind him as the imp hordes converged on the fairy cluster, wiping out all those that remained. The slaughter was brutal, but short lived.

  Quest Update: Pink Magic

  Master Puk has fallen in battle. Seek out another to train you in the ways of alteration magic

  Reward:

  Variable

  “Well, frick.”

  Within seconds, only two fairies were left in the air, and one of them was unconscious. He didn’t like his chances, seeing that there were thousands of super pissed off imps hot on his tail, but he wasn’t about to give up.

  He threw off the band wrapped around his face so he could once again see and breath properly. The spores had long since dissipated, and he didn’t need anything to hinder his retreat. It would take a miracle to escape back to the woods, queen in tow, but he had one more ace up his torn sleeve.

  Gitch shot straight down towards the water. As he neared the lake, Gitch began to see dozens of glowing dots from underneath its surface. They were nigh invisible unless you were staring straight at them or about to crash. Those beautiful blue fairies were already in position and ready to provide covering fire! Why they hung back from the fight in the air, he wasn’t entirely sure. It wasn’t like he could ask any of the recently deceased squad leaders. Well, he could, but he was a little busy to cast Last Rite at the moment. He leveled out just in time for his feet to skim the lake’s surface.

  As he skated across the water back to the safety of the tree line, Gitch heard shouts from behind him as the sluggish imps were unable to escape their impending doom. Shards of blue ice sprang out of the water, impaling each and every one of the imps without fail. From that distance, the blue fairies would be hard pressed to miss. They fired shot after shot into the flailing enemy, who were helpless to do anything about it. Some tried to get away, but they would fly into their neighbors and both would tumble into the lake.

  It didn’t take long for those imps higher up to see the destruction below and alter their course to cut off his escape. Of course, Gitch was a bit occupied to notice their change in tactics. Queen Tibura chose that exact moment to stir from her forced slumber.

  “What the-” she began, but stopped suddenly when he slapped her with one of his final two balls of Trilit. She was once again deadweight in his arms.

  “Sorry, couldn’t take the chance you were still crazy. Please don’t murder me,” he said wistfully in her ear.

  He was concerned with what her reaction might be to his stunning her, repeatedly, but it was only when he spotted another imp flock speeding towards him head-on that he really began to worry. His crappy luck finally reared its fugly head... Except it didn’t.

  Just when he was sure respawn was immanent, something small and cute leapt from the water, latching onto the face of the leading imp not six feet from him.

  “Yeah, baby shark!” Gitch exclaimed joyfully. They were saved, at least for now. Three separate imps were pierced by the horn of a narwhal, and another two were caught in the giant maw of the hippo. Dozens of tentacles issued forth, each finding an imp and pulling it down to a sucky death.

  Gitch nearly turned to help, but a giant tentacle waved him forward. The message was clear. Save the queen, we got this.

  It wasn’t in him to step away from a fight, but octo-dude was right. Saving the queen was the top priority right now. He gave them a wave and went back to flying towards the eastern edge of the lake. He felt his stamina waning, and he was concerned he might not be able to make it to the shore before passing out. It would be close.

  The blue and brown fairies caused enough of a distraction for Gitch and the queen to travel the rest of the way unhindered, but they still plunged into the water five feet from the shoreline. He would have no problem flying another few solo laps around the lake by himself. Gitch drew upon his mana to power his wings, but to carry a full-grown fairy over the last several minutes was more than his meager strength and endurance could handle. His stamina bar was completely empty, which regenerated much more slowly than his mana.

  The drowning bar appeared in front of him yet again, but there was nothing he could do. He wasn’t about to leave his queen to sink to the bottom. He would rather die and respawn, than abandon her. He closed his eyes, resigning himself to a watery grave.

  A giant hand gripped him around the waist and yanked him up out of the lake. Gitch coughed up a bunch of water and looked over at his gnome savior.

  “Oi! Ya gonna let five feet come between you and a good time, laddie? Yer lucky ol’ Dwik was here!”

  “Dwik! The queen! Did you get her too?” Gitch asked in concern.

  “Oh, she be down there too? Ya are a player! I respect yer skills, but now be hardly the time to be hookin’ up with royalty.”

  “Dwik!”

  “Alright! Alright! I’ll save yer girlfriend, but if Lily finds out, I wasn’t involved!” Dwik declared sternly. He stuck his left hand in the water until he felt something fairy-ish. He picked Queen Tibura up and brought her out of the water next to Gitch. Fully awake, the irate queen raised a pointed finger at Gitch.

  “YOU! IF YOU EVER-” she started before coming to an abrupt end. Gitch threw his last ball at her, hitting her square in the nose. He was fairly certain she was no longer crazy, but that might actually be worse for him at this point.

  Dwik stood open mouthed, looking from Gitch to the unconscious queen, and back to Gitch.

  “Does... that usually work?” he asked in awe. A wonder filled his eyes, and it looked to Gitch like he was about to ask a dozen more questions on how to pick up the ladies.

  “We are out of friggin time! You see that horde behind me? Each and every one of them is heading our way, and you want to talk about hooking up? Get us out of the water you wanna be caveman!” Gitch exclaimed.

  Dwik grumbled, but took off for the shore. After a few steps, Gitch calmed down a bit and said, “Dwik, knocking out a woman is definitely not a good way to start, continue with, or end a relationship. In fact, it’s pretty much never okay. I’ll explain all this later, alright?”

  “Yeah, alright, little man. Let’s just get back to the others,” Dwik sulked.

  It didn’t take long for the three of them to reach shore. He expected Dwik to stop once they reached land, but he kept running until they were behind a few trees. The gnome set them both down, though he was a bit gentler with the fairy queen. Gitch then saw Alpha and Goldie walk up too and was immensely glad for their company.

  “Does she yet live?” came a melodious voice to his right. Gitch turned to look for its source but saw nothing.

  “Yeah, I think she is fine now, just knocked out. She... um... might be a little grumpy when she wakes up. It would probably be better if I was not around her.”

  “Oh, I agree,” said the voice. “We were left behind to provide escort for the survivors of the battle. We have been watching and know of the passing of Master Puk and the alien forces. We will take Queen Tibura back to the glade to join her people. You will need to finish the mission here.”

  “Mission? We already got their attention and it seems like the whole imp army was drawn out! What more do you want?!?” Gitch asked in amazement. What more could he, a single fairy, accomplish?

  “We did not see the infiltration team enter the base. This was all for nothing if we do not capture that portal! You must enter their base, slay the rakatu, and take or destroy the portal. Do you accept, Brother Gitch?”

  Quest Received: A Fairy Sneaky Mission

  You have been tasked to infiltrate Gurthaz
Keep, slay the rakatu boss, and capture or destroy the portal. Good luck!

  Rewards:

  Variable

  Oh, was that all? Even the universe knew this was an impossible task. Gitch began laughing at the absurdity of it all. A specialized team of trained warriors with exceptional gear and at least six levels above his had been chosen to sneak into the base. They had all died. Even Kraznik, probably. He was one pink, low-level fairy. There was no Dufflin way he was going to make it in, let alone do all that other stuff.

  “Let’s say I agree. How would I get in?”

  “I will make you like us for a short while. The rest is up to you. Do you accept?” the voice asked again.

  “Who are you even?” Gitch asked, concern filling his voice.

  “I told you he was an idiot!” The voice sounded familiar. In fact, it sounded just like...

  “Ahhh crap!” he said under his breath. A grey fairy appeared in front of him, and then another, and another. All told, there were five of them, including their leader.

  “We are the grey!” the trainer said boldly.

  Gitch was not a fan of the plan. No that wasn’t quite right. There was no plan for him to be a fan of! Apparently, he would just turn invisible, which sounded pretty cool, and then sneak into a super dangerous lair, kill an untold number of evil imps, slay their mega boss, and capture an interdimensional pocket of space and time. This had to have been a Monday.

  “Fine, I guess I’ll do it,” he said like he was a toddler being force fed some icky new green food. He didn’t like it, but besides kicking, screaming, and banging his head on something hard, there wasn’t any getting out of this one. If he didn’t do it, they were all dead any way.

  “Yes you will, but do not fear. You will not be alone.” Gitch wanted to slap his cheeky cheek. Even their leader was a douche, but if he was offering to tag along, then he would play nice. The leader looked down at his fellow greys before singling one out in particular.