by Tj Dixon
“Whatever. It’s not like I really mind you forcing us. This is the second time you could have made us, well me anyway, your slave. I just hate empty words.” Sor sighs as she signs the contract and passes the other one to Emi.
“What if I don’t sign this?” Emi asks and Sor’s eyes go wide.
“Emi…?” Sor asks in utter shock.
“Just kidding.” Emi laughs and signs it.
“Just to be sure, but do you both really have no idea where Midori is?” I ask.
“Sorry, but I really have no idea where they are.” Sor tells me and again I can tell from her aura that she is telling the truth.
“Sorry, but neither have I.” Emi tells me apologetically.
“Do you have any way of finding her?” I ask Sor.
“If you show me where she was last seen and if she ported I can trace the port, but if she didn’t port I can’t help.” Sor tells me.
“I think she was last seen in class 3C. Hopefully she ported.” I tell Sor who ports straight away. I port outside 3C and Emi follows my port a moment later. Sor looks at me with a frown.
“I know where she ported to, but she didn’t get there. Give me a minute and I’ll find out where she ended up.” Sor tells me and closes her eyes. It is clearly a strain even for Sor. It is closer to two minutes when she opens her eyes.
“Utopia Camerona.” Sor tells me, which makes me gulp.
“How did she end up there?” I ask in shock.
“Her port was intercepted.”
“Any idea who by?” I ask, fearing the answer.
“Given the location it seems likely it was either the mayor, or someone allied with her.” Sor tells me.
“Let’s get our power back and then follow the port.” I tell Sor who nods.
“Could we leave Emi behind though?” Sor asks, sounding worried.
“Yes, we’ll take Lucy and Sakura.” I tell her. That gives us some of our best mages, but leaves us with a small team that can remain hidden if the port doesn’t take us directly into combat.
“I’ll take power from Emi, but what about you?” Sor asks.
“Elucia.”
“And who is Sakura?” Sor asks.
“A fairy.” I reply and Sor shakes her head in amusement.
“And you didn’t think to have her trace the port?” Sor asks.
“No.” I admit and wonder why they didn’t suggest it. Sor then kisses Emi and I sense the power flow from Emi’s aura to Sor’s. “Wait here. I’ll be back right away.”
I then port to the classroom, where everyone is waiting. Or at least that’s where I was trying to port. I gasp as I realise I am in a dark flame lit room staring an unfamiliar mage in the eye. She is an old woman with grey hair and grey eyes. There are younger mages all around me. Their appearance is that of typical Contractians.
“Did we get the wrong one again?” The woman asks more to herself than to anyone else.
“What did you do with my friend?” I ask her angrily.
“The girl was your friend?”
“What do mean by ‘was’ my friend?” I ask fearfully.
“Oh, don’t worry, she’s still alive. She’s probably sleeping in her cell right now. If you want, you can even share a cell.”
“What were you trying to summon?”
“Like I’m going to tell you.” She laughs. All of a sudden I sense dimensional magic like nothing I’ve felt before. Everyone in the room collapses, other than me.
“Idiots.” Sor sighs and I turn. I didn’t sense her until she spoke, even though she used such a powerful magic.
“Do you know who they are?” I ask.
“No idea, but they were clearly trying to summon a demon, given the circle you are standing in. To get two humans by accident is utter incompetence. Midori isn’t far. I’ll port both of you back and then take these idiots to the town jail.” Sor tells me.
“Thank you. Without my power, I was really worried there until you showed up.”
“Like I could miss that your port had been intercepted. It just took a bit of time to trace the intercept.” Sor explains with a shrug. Then she ports me back to my room. Midori is sitting on the floor.
“Peter?” Midori asks in shock. “You saved me?”
“Actually Sor did.” I tell her.
“You won your match, right?” Midori asks as she slowly stands.
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to see it. They overpowered me. I hope I wasn’t a distraction in your final match.” Midori tells me, clearly embarrassed.
“Don’t worry. I’m just glad you’re safe.” I tell Midori.
“Thank you, Peter.” Midori says and all of a sudden she hugs me tightly.
“Interrupting anything, am I?” Sor asks with a mocking laugh. Midori pulls away from me and looks embarrassed.
“Sorry.” Midori says looking at the ground with a slight blush.
“There’s no need to be sorry, Midori. Sor, thank you for your help. Did you take them to the jail already?”
“Of course.” Sor shrugs. “They’ll be interrogated and if they committed a crime they’ll be punished.”
“If?” I ask confused.
“If they were working for the queen then incompetence is their only crime. That, and annoying me.” Sor tells me as if it is common sense that annoying her is a crime and abducting two students from the academy might not be. Even if they took us by mistake they didn’t let us go when they realised their mistake. “So what now?”
“We port to 2A and introduce you to the rest of the club, as well as letting them know Midori is safely back.”
“Do I have to act all friendly with everyone?” Sor asks, sounding annoyed.
“Just try not to be rude.” I tell her. “You don’t have to be friends with everyone, but you’ll find it easier if you are. Everyone is going to have to work together, so it’s easier if you get on with each other.”
“I’ll try not to be rude then, but pretending to be friends is too much of a bother if I don’t have to.” Sor tells me as if the idea of actually becoming friends is unthinkable.
I am soon chatting with everyone in the classroom and enjoying the food and drink that the club has made. In the end it turns out that almost everyone is too nervous to actually talk to Sor and Emi. Sor has a bit of a reputation and it is well earned. To my surprise though, Yu Kii does make the effort to talk to Sor, despite being constantly addressed as ‘rude girl’. Cherry and Sherry also make the effort, but thanks to Sor’s cold manner they quickly move on. The only other person who makes the effort is Midori, but despite being clearly grateful to Sor, she still spends most of the time following me around.
Epilogue (Peter)
I would much rather skip the rewards ceremony and the trip to Portalis, but I of course have no such option. Now the tournament is over I need to get everyone in the club ready for the war. I’ve seen some of what the enemy are capable of now. Of course my club members are very capable too, but... All I can do is prepare everyone as best I can and do my best to keep them safe once we join the war.
Before I was so focused on the tournament that I had no time to really think about it, and before then it seemed such a long way away, but now the thought of taking everyone into battle seems really scary. I took some of the club into battle in the tournament of course, but that’s not the same thing. Although the possibility of being killed existed, nobody was really trying to kill us.
It would be worth focusing on the bounty hunts and not just the training. Training can only take you so far. Real experience is essential. I suppose I’ll need to plan for my dates with Midori and Cherry too, but after that I will need to focus on preparing the club for the scary future that awaits us.
To Be Continued in War of Contractia Book 5 – Peter and the Heart of Alchemy
Table of Contents
Author’s Foreword
Prologue (Grunti)
Chapter 1 (Peter)
Chapter 2 (Multiple)
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Chapter 3 (Multiple)
Chapter 4 (Multiple)
Chapter 5 (Multiple)
Chapter 6 (Multiple)
Chapter 7 (Multiple)
Chapter 8 (Multiple)
Chapter 9 (Multiple)
Chapter 10 (Multiple)
Chapter 11 (Multiple)
Chapter 12 (Multiple)
Chapter 13 (Multiple)
Chapter 14 (Multiple)
Chapter 15 (Multiple)
Chapter 16 (Multiple)
Chapter 17 (Ash Snow)
Chapter 18 (Peter)
Chapter 19 (Peter)
Chapter 20 (Peter)
Chapter 21 (Peter)
Chapter 22 (Peter)
Chapter 23 (Multiple)
Chapter 24 (Multiple)
Chapter 25 (Multiple)
Chapter 26 (Peter)
Chapter 27 (Multiple)
Chapter 28 (Multiple)
Chapter 29 (Multiple)
Chapter 30 (Multiple) – Final Chapter
Epilogue (Peter)