《Twisting Fate Rewrite》


 Chapter 001

    The world where we live is just one of many, the full number of worlds that exist is not known at least to mortals. Some of these other worlds are physical as are our own but there are also places of forces and ideas where the physical body does not matter. Some are peaceful others wish nothing more to consume our world to strengthen theirs. ¨C A passage from Introduction to the Planes, by Roldolf Grunsier


    <hr>


    Adrian


    <hr>


    I close my book as the bell rings signaling the end of class. Unlike the other students who take a minute to pack up their books and the homework that we we¡¯re working on, I simply grab my book bag and sling it over my shoulder. I finished early, every single one of the questions was just regurgitating the reading and it doesn¡¯t take that long to write down details you remember.


    The hallways are beginning to fill but I manage to get a good thirty maybe forty second head start on the lunch line so that¡¯ll give me plenty of choices for a table; not that I''ll be taking a different table than the one I usually do. Today is Monday so I grab a tray of nachos, a side of fries and the chocolate skim milk since the administration decided that whole milk has too many calories and makes kids fat.


    The lunch lady says nothing as I pass my ID badge under the scanner. Some money is deducted from my account and I continue on to take my seat at a table next to the door for the court yard.


    I could have gone outside but the doors are locked this week as punishment for the idiots that decided to start a fight over who gets one of the two tables last week. Instead I get to sit at one made of plywood and laminate.


    Tomas is the next to arrive, as he skips the line all together by bringing his lunch. Something I¡¯m considering more and more since what I consider better choices on the menu have been eliminated this year.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t get how you manage to arrive before me every day¡± Tomas says as he sits down and unzips his blue lunch box.


    I turn to my short spectacled friend, ¡°long legs and dodging the crowds. My secret hasn¡¯t changed.¡±


    I take a bite of the nachos and the cheap unhealthy synthetic cheese that covers them as I notice Bryan standing in line on the other side of the room.


    ¡°Did you finish the book yet then?¡± Tomas asks as he rolls his eyes to my answer for the question he asks about once a week.


    ¡°Yeah, family car trips have a lot of down time¡± I answer as I pull out the book I borrowed from him, one of three books in my book bag not related to school work.


    He puts it in his own backpack before unwrapping a sandwich. I end up finishing about half of my nachos and dump my fries in the pooling cheese and now soggy chips and pick up the provided spork and begin to mix them all together.


    ¡°How did the game go?¡± I ask knowing I missed our weekly session.


    ¡°Poorly but it was just a one-shot dungeon crawl to be something to do. Your character just spent the time reading through the spell book you stole last week.¡±


    ¡°Sounds about right. Any deaths?¡±


    ¡°No but after paying for temple services it ended up a net loss.¡±


    Bryan sets his tray down as I scoop the last of the remnants of my nachos up for consumption. This meal just isn¡¯t as filling without the whole milk. I¡¯m still hungry but it¡¯s manageable, maybe it¡¯s really a scheme to get us to buy more of the add on items.


    ¡°Catching him up on the misadventure he missed?¡± Bryan says as he begins to eat.


    ¡°Yeah, but it is expected when the party doesn¡¯t have its rouge or caster¡± Tomas answers.


    ¡°That¡¯s the risks of gestalt characters, smaller parties but each character is more important¡± I comment.


    ¡°So how was your family trip over the break?¡± Bryan asks.


    ¡°Grandpa had me help him out with his puzzles again¡± I lie as I always have to. I can¡¯t go out and say he made me practice magic for three days straight.


    ¡°That sucks¡± Tomas comments.


    ¡°Not too much, I did get to listen to more of his stories¡± I say as my pocket buzzes.


    I pull out my cellphone, I usually don¡¯t get messages during school or very often at all actually. I flip the old piece of junk open to see that it¡¯s my grandfather.


    ¡°Something interesting?¡± Tomas asks in his curiosity.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know, I have to read it first.¡±


    Adrian, something terrible is about to happen. Try to get to you younger brothers they¡¯ll keep you safe. I¡¯ve placed some weapons on the desk if you need them.


    I¡¯m not sure what to think about this. Grandpa wouldn¡¯t send me anything unless it was important and had to do with magic. I still feel a little irked that he is telling me to run off to be protected by my little brothers. I¡¯m the oldest, I¡¯m the one that is supposed to be reliable if anything goes wrong. I still don¡¯t understand how they are so much better than me at magic, I am doing very well except for the Spatial Sphere.


    ¡°It¡¯s my grandpa, more of his usual cryptic messages¡± I answer in a half truth.


    ¡°Need any help?¡± Bryan asks.


    ¡°No, I¡¯ve heard this riddle before. Anyways, whose house will game night be Friday?¡±


    ¡°My mom is on her clean up all the sin in her house again. My books are safe under a pile of old bibles but unless you want to be called to repentance for playing a demon¡¯s game. . .¡±


    ¡°You mother is crazy, nice old lady but crazy. I¡¯ll host¡± Tomas interjects as Bryan trails off.


    Mrs. Grace is nice but she gets overzealous a bit too easily. In a week or two it¡¯ll be over but until then I don¡¯t want to risk her ¡®accidently¡¯ spilling coffee or otherwise ruining any of our gaming supplies.


    The bell rings but something else draws my attention. A flash of off colored lighting and a crack of thunder even though there is hardly a cloud in the sky. The combined chaos of hundreds of teenagers all talking at once goes silent for a moment before it begins anew, louder than before. A few seconds pass as I pick up my book bag and dump the tray in the nearest trash can.


    ¡°What is that?¡± Tomas asks pointing at the court yard.


    I turn and immediately frown, an unnatural purplish fog is building up before another crack of thunder. A starved midget walks out in tattered leather holding what looks like a malformed axe. There are screams as the creature charges at us in feral hunger as he slams into the glass door, cracking it but the malnourished creature does not seem to have the weight to break through all at once.


    ¡°Are you seeing this?" Bryan asks pointing at the creature as more begin to step out of the fog, soon they begin to join their forerunners in attacking the glass.


    ¡°Yes, we need to get out of here now¡± I say while sticking a hand into my book bag.


    Space bends to my will as I grab an object not in my bag, a loaded pistol from a desk in my grandfather¡¯s basement in Colorado. I can¡¯t do this in front of others since others questioning magic makes it unstable but if they don¡¯t notice or accept it there are no problems. Unfortunately, magic is not known to many.


    I let go and drop it into my bag before doing the same again. I am going to need every advantage I can get if this is going to continue on the direction.


    ¡°Get back¡± yells the security guard as he draws his gun, the old former soldier getting ready to cover the students as they retreat.


    ¡°Move towards the language hallway¡± I tell Bryan and Tomas.


    ¡°No external windows, better defenses, right?¡± Bryan asks but neither Tomas or me answer him.


    The midgets break through the glass and begin to charge the nearest person, shouting in their strange tongue and in a strange calmness he begins to clear his magazine. None of us stay to see what become of the man though as the numbers of enemies swell his bullets no doubt become scarce.


    I can hear other windows breaking as we three move swiftly through the halls. A smell of filth and something else I do not find familiar. Screams of pain and panic echo through the halls, before we reach the halls I had hoped to be able to defend ourselves in a few of the midgets enter the hallway. Covered in blood and less famished than the few I saw while fleeing from the cafeteria.


    The creatures begin to charge at us and I pull one of the two pistols from my book bag and fire at the nearest of them. Bryan and Tomas jump back and I hear a ¡°shit¡± though I¡¯m not sure from which one of them.


    The little monster gets a hole in its chest while the next nearest screams in fear for a moment before it runs at me. I fire again barely managing to before the creature reached me in these close quarters.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.¡°Where did you get that?¡± Bryan asks.


    ¡°It¡¯s not the time to ask questions¡± I say while passing that gun to him.


    My heartbeat begins to slow back down with the immediate danger having passed. I begin to move faster than before but do not break into a run. Panic will get me killed, I can¡¯t give in the building fear. Being scared gets you killed, I take a deep breath as I pull out the other pistol as I continue towards the inner halls of the language department.


    ¡°Can I get one?¡± Tomas asks.


    ¡°I only have two and Bryan is a better shot than you¡± I answer while ignoring the sounds of loud chewing from the windowed rooms.


    We turn the corner to the hallway, there are only two ways in and out and none of the rooms have windows. The easily defended hall already has a barricade made of desks, at least some one is thinking of how to protect ourselves.


    We approach the barricade and I motion Bryan to conceal the gun I passed him as I place mine back in my bag. I should not need it against the other students and teachers but it will cause a problem if they see the weapons. I should not have them, and I am sure someone will throw a fit if they are seen.


    ¡°Let them through¡± a female voice I recognize shouts out.


    No one moves to do anything as we climb over the overturned desks and chairs. Once over Abagail runs up to Bryan and asks how he is. I tune out that conversation as Tomas begins a different conversation with me.


    ¡°What are those things?¡±


    ¡°Something that should not be here. Small, violent but otherwise we do not know enough to know just what they are¡± I answer.


    ¡°They look almost like goblins, ugly midgets with elongated ears and pointed teeth. They have crude weapons too.¡±


    ¡°Goblins don¡¯t exist though. None of this should be happening.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but they¡¯re here and not all of us can be hallucinating the same thing at once.¡±


    ¡°Something is still wrong.¡±


    Tomas shrugs and our conversation is ended by the shrieks and yells of the probably goblins. I turn to the barricade closest to me, a few of the athletes have some sports equipment and Mr. Gibbons are standing at the ready to meet them.


    I look past them towards the dozen or so onrushing creatures there are several with differing equipment, a few of them have bows rather than axes, clubs or rusted blades. A single goblin is in cloth rather than the leather and occasional scraps of chain. The clothed goblin seems to be leading as he speaks to the others who cease their charge.


    Should I shoot him? Killing the leader will raise my chances of survival. Unfortunately, I do not have a clear shot. I could hit some of the archers, is that worth the risk of exposing myself?


    A flame forms before the clothed goblin and I find myself smiling. So, he is a caster like me but he just did something really stupid. Doing something this obvious is the very thing you should never do.


    The fire hits the line of desks and not all of the students manage to take cover before it hits. A few people scream as they are rapidly burned alive. I run to the left to take cover after a stray arrow passes through the flames. Bryan, Tomas and Abagail being closer to the other side of the hall head in that direction.


    Both Bryan and me draw our pistols and I take aim at whatever comes next. The flames quickly die and while some smoke remains I can see the goblins on the other side. While I don¡¯t have a clear sight of any of the goblins I can tell that they are charging.


    A gunshot rings out as the first form passes through the smoke, as there are only three firearms on campus it is Bryan who shot it. He doesn¡¯t have enough to deal with all of them though, I take aim at the next creature to break the smoke.


    It collapses and I can hear people behind me panicking, I empty the magazine before ducking into the room. I glance at Bryan to see that he has done the same, retreating into the room for its better defensive position. Some of our shots miss and the pistol I¡¯ve loaned Bryan is now empty but there is nothing I can do about that right now.


    I close the door behind me and glace over the room, I¡¯m the only person here. A lucky coincidence for me. Space bends once more to my will as I retrieve a small box of 9mm ammunition. I load the magazine as quickly as I can, pinching my finger in the process.


    Something hits the door, an attempt to open it but the door opens outwards not inwards. I glance out the window, there are two goblins hitting the door with their dull axes. I notice two archers by the side of the clothed goblin in the hall and my thoughts stop.


    How is this possible? He did something impossible in front of so many. That should have killed him, reality should have punished and killed him for what he did. Dozens of people watched him do an impossibility, how does he still live? Why is the little monster uninjured?


    I don¡¯t have a very clear shot but when those goblins do manage to break down the door my chances will be lower. I take aim but the two archers I can see are in the way, I take a breath. If I can take them out fast enough I¡¯ll have a clear shot at that mage. I can¡¯t leave him around, no one else here will be able to deal with him as I can.


    My first two shots fly true but the clothed goblin is out of my sight before I can get a chance at him. The goblins at the door however have managed to break most of their way through the door, it will only hold for a few more strikes. I can however hear something with a cadence, though neither the language or the words themselves make sense to my mind.


    I quickly move back from the door and get ready to get a pot shot at the two as they breach the door. I flip a desk to use as cover from any archers should there be more. The door breaks and I now have five of the nine bullets left in the magazine and the two goblins die in the doorway.


    Two more goblins pour through the door, wearing scraps of chain and they seem slightly taller than the previous two. The first dies quickly enough to a bullet as it passes through the doorway but the second gets out of my line of fire before I get a clean shot.


    He does however reveal to me the clothed goblin however it is surrounded by small golden specs of light. I quickly pull the trigger, I don¡¯t need a lethal shot if he is in pain he shouldn¡¯t be able to concentrate enough to do any more magic. My first shot does nothing as the golden specs flash and the projectile does nothing. Another impossibility, how is he getting away with this? Even if I don¡¯t think such things as impossible those lights would have been seen before entering this room.


    I fire a second time and receive no more than what I think is a laugh from the goblin. I¡¯ve only two shots left and am trapped in melee with the first goblin. His dull blade, barely more than a club strikes my arm and I am thankful for tetanus shot and a goblin¡¯s weak physical strength as that is what keeps the wound from being too bad but I¡¯m going to need to bandage it. I let loose a yell in pain but I don¡¯t feel as much pain as I should, shock or an adrenaline rush.


    I find myself holding the pistol with only my right arm and let the last two shots out into the goblin in the hopes to kill him. The goblin drops his sword and falls to the ground but my time spent on dealing with him keeps me from doing anything with the clothed goblin. That goblin utters the last syllable of another spell and a stream if fire spreads from his hand towards me.


    I duck behind the desk, glad that I have some cover. The mage goblin continues to hold his blast of fire and I maintain my cover. His magic makes no sense, he shouldn¡¯t be able to ignore reality''s retaliation like this.


    He should have been destroyed or at least hurt by a backlash by now. I need to take him out myself and the gun won¡¯t work against that shield of glowing specs. Another thing I can¡¯t understand, how is he using two spells at once?


    I need a non-physical attack. I could try fire, there is enough for me to try to hijack control of it but I don¡¯t know if I can actually steal fire from this thing''s magic. Not any electrical wires close enough either, this is dumb but I can only hope the explosion works.


    I toss the partial box of ammunition from my book bag at the goblin. He shifts his fire to try to burn my attack but all that does is cause an explosion. My ears are set ringing but the goblin''s fire has stopped.


    I rush from my cover and tackle the creature, passing right through his shield of glowing lights I am wrestling a dagger from him using my size and strength as it panics. I stab just under its left breast; a spray of blood tells me my guess is right and the goblin quickly dies over the next few seconds.

 Chapter 002

    Mana based magic is divided into the most sub groups as it is the most plentifully practiced magic but others exist such as Psionics and even Reality Control.


    <hr>


    Bryan


    <hr>


    After emptying the magazine of the pistol Adrian passed me I retreat back and close the door behind me. The goblins have Archers and if I can¡¯t benefit from ranged combat I need to prevent them from getting to.


    ¡°I need another weapon¡± I say knowing Tomas would have been looking for one.


    There are others in the room aside from him and Abagail but they have decided to cower in the corner.


    I frown at the broken table leg he passes me but I suppose I can always trade it for a weapon from these creatures. Having no reason to wait on the goblins to break the door down I kick it open slightly and stab the first goblin with the splintering piece of wood in my hands.


    It slips in between the rips and I grab the rusted metal rod from the little monsters hands. The next goblin reaches a similar fate by Tomas''s hands though he does not manage to grab the weapon fast enough to reach to the third and fourth.


    I see a clothed goblin chanting and can only regret my ranged weapon is empty as I block an axe meant for Tomas after knocking out the goblin that attacked me by the benefit of my greater reach.


    Golden specs of undulating light form an oval like sphere around him as he walks towards the room Adrian took as cover.


    Blood spills as Tomas and me make sure to keep the goblin¡¯s stuck at the doorway in a bottle neck but our line is broken just as an explosion rings out from the room where Adrian is no doubt fighting the robed goblin.


    There are three more in the hall, all of which come at Tomas and me, my arms are getting tired but we can¡¯t stop yet. Not yet, not while my friends are in danger.


    <hr>


    Adrian


    <hr>


    I slowly push myself off of the goblin mage, my heart pounding but beginning to slow down as the fight has ended. With that the pain of my left arm begins to rise and I think I have some bruises elsewhere but I¡¯ve no idea how they came to be.


    Blood continues to trickle down my left arm in a small but steady stream an inch or so deep cut that I have to do something about now. I reach out with both my right hand and will towards the dwindling fires on the wooden desks of the room and a tongue of flame comes to me. I press it against the cut for just long enough to stop the bleeding grateful my sense of pain is not quite back yet even as I grunt out words that would get me in a lot of trouble.


    The tongue of flame dissipates once I stop holding in my will having nothing to sustain it in the air. I look through the goblin¡¯s possessions finding a small book in a language I don¡¯t understand, three vials of strange liquid and the dagger I killed him with which doesn¡¯t seem to have any rust on it unlike the other weapons I¡¯ve seen.


    All of them go into my book bag. I struggle a bit to stand up feeling light headed and after giving up try another magic. I barely manage to pull another carton of 9mm bullets from my desk in the basement of my grandfather''s house.


    I spend a minute reloading my pistol making sure to have one in the chamber and a full magazine before I pull myself up and walk to the door. A few stray goblins are fleeing, their attack has been held off but I don¡¯t know for how long.


    There are a few teachers looking into the hall from their rooms but I ignore them as I cross the hall into the room Bryan took cover.


    Both he and Tomas are standing breathing heavily just within the doorway. Abagail is checking Bryan for injuries but he doesn¡¯t have any.


    ¡°Are you alight?¡± I ask my two friends.


    ¡°Just tired¡± Bryan answers having more breath than Tomas as he returns the pistol to me.


    I put it in my bag to reload in a minute. Some of the cowards in the corner begin to get up but the heavy footsteps of an overweight adult come up behind me.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be taking that¡± a woman¡¯s voice days as she reaches into my bag.


    I turn and step away fast enough to keep the firearm only to have the fat female vice principal begin her angry judging toned lecture.


    ¡°Young man, you are already going to be expelled. Do you really think not turning that weapon over is a good idea?¡± she speaks with some venom on the word weapon, as if it is the real problem in the world.


    ¡°Leave me alone, you¡¯re not getting it.¡±


    ¡°Now listen here school poli. . .¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care. If you want to confiscate weapons bother the murderous little midgets.¡±


    I ignore her further words and enter one location her rules won¡¯t let her bother me, the boy¡¯s bathroom. What the hell is wrong with that woman? Goblins are murdering and I think eating people and she thinks she needs to confiscate weapons.


    I enter one if the two stalls to have a place to sit, I need a moment to think and I pull out my second pistol and the partial box of ammo. I probably only have two more of these on that desk. I don¡¯t have the ammo to deal with more than two maybe three encounters with these goblins.


    I begin to reload the magazine and make sure to have one in the chamber. It¡¯s dangerous but the extra shot will be needed. Even if my larger concern is the magic that goblin used. It broke the rules I know, he should have been punished for going against what the observers thought as real. Did grandpa lie to me about that rule?


    I¡¯ve never tested doing the impossible in front of others, just pulling stuff I forgot out of a bag and knowing what I am going to get out of games of chance. I¡¯ll need to test it but how? If it is true and I do something big I could die by the backlash, something small with few people to disbelieve.


    ¡°Adrian, I hear you have something to give to me¡± a male voice says as the speaker enters the bathroom.


    Great now I need to deal with Joe. Damn football elitist, I had actually hoped he was one of those burned by the goblin mage. The idiot thinks because he is on the football team and has a rich dad he deserves anything he wants.


    I slide the gun back into my bag and get up. Should I use him as my test subject? I don¡¯t think there is anyone else in here but even if there is it should only be one or two. The toilet flushes automatically as I open the stall door.


    Unfortunately, it opens inwards and gives a clear opening to the jock who is in better physical shape than me. I am grabbed by the shirt as he says, ¡°give me the guns.¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°No¡± I respond as I knee him in the gut.


    He was however ready for that and while hurt does not let go.


    ¡°Where is it, Adrian? You might be able to get away with shooting those midgets but I¡¯m not going to let you do anything but what I want.¡±


    The door to the bathroom opens and Bryan walks in. As soon as he sees what is going on I manage to slip my arm into my book bag. Joe grabs my left arm right where the burned cut is and pain shoots down my arm as the warm trickle of spilling blood resumes but I got to where I need to be.


    I touch one of the pistol and bend space to my will and physically push it. It disappears from my grasp to be right in front of Bryan. Even in surprise he grabs it.


    ¡°Let him go Joe or I¡¯ll shoot you¡± Bryan threatens as a splitting headache forms in my mind.


    "Don¡¯t be. . .¡± Joe starts to say as he turns towards Bryan.


    He notices the gun and immediately releases me. I slide down against the stall, the weakness from my lightheadedness returning in full while coupled with a headache.


    Joe runs out of the bathroom while Bryan begins to look at my reopened wound. He pulls out a small pocket knife and cuts a strip of cloth from my other sleeve.


    ¡°I''m going to wash and bandage this. Come over to the sinks.¡±


    I nod as he helps me up. Good news Joe has been dealt with for now and I know that rule of magic is real. Unfortunately, I feel terrible. I got punished for breaking what others think is real.


    Bryan rises my upper arm before tying the strip of cloth to hold the cut closed.


    ¡°How did that gun appear in front of me?¡± Bryan asks.


    Do I tell him the truth? Would I even be believed?


    ¡°I put it there.¡±


    ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°Magic like that goblin throwing fire.¡±


    ¡°What? But magic isn¡¯t real.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s why I never told you.¡±


    Bryan does nothing for a moment, ¡°what do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Magic has rules, you get punished by them when you break one. Don¡¯t go against what others think is real is one of them.¡±


    Neither of us say a word for over a minute as Bryan finishes dressing the cut and burn on my arm.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get Tomas and Abagail and wait in the room you fought in. We need to make a plan¡± Bryan says and I nod.


    ¡°Give me a moment, I¡¯ll be a minute.¡±


    I drink some water from the sink before rinsing my face and looking in the mirror. I see my dark brown hair and hazel eyes as I meet my own gaze while I think for a few seconds.


    I can¡¯t stay here at the school, even if I don¡¯t run into any more problems with Joe and the others there are not enough supplies or weapons here. We need weapons and food, something nearby if this isn¡¯t an isolated incident.


    I walk out into the hallway, ignoring the muttering words of the other students and enter the room Bryan mentioned. Bryan, Tomas and Abagail sit on the floor, whatever conversation they had before stops as I enter. I sit down next to them.


    ¡°How long have you been a wizard?¡± Tomas asks in a complete lack of tact.


    Bryan told them then, I can¡¯t really blame him but I¡¯m unsure if this will be good or bad.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a wizard.¡±


    ¡°But you always play as a wizard, why would you play one if you were something else?¡±


    ¡°For fun. Now we have more important things to talk about than me knowing some magic.¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯re a . . .¡± Tomas begins before Bryan interrupts.


    ¡°He''s right Tomas, we can talk about this when we¡¯re safe. You want to move to somewhere else don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, there isn¡¯t enough food for all of us here and we don¡¯t have enough weapons to hold the position for long.¡±


    ¡°How much is left?¡±


    ¡°A carton and a half. We need somewhere with more ammunition and guns. Something for melee too if we can.¡±


    ¡°You sound like you have an idea¡± Abagail interjects.


    ¡°Outdoor World, it¡¯ll have what we need and it is closer than any of our homes.¡±


    ¡°What about our families and the other students?¡±


    ¡°If we can¡¯t get to them because if we can¡¯t defend ourselves we can¡¯t help them¡± Tomas answers the first of her two questions.


    ¡°Many of the other students are panicked, dead or plain not helpful. I¡¯ve already been attacked by one over the few weapons we do have¡± I answer the second.


    ¡°But we should help them¡± Abagail counters.


    ¡°Helping others isn¡¯t worth dying over.¡±


    ¡°But. . .¡±


    ¡°Abagail, he''s right. If we get ourselves killed then we can¡¯t help anyone¡± Bryan interrupts her.


    ¡°Anyways, why there?¡± Tomas asks.


    ¡°It¡¯s a hunting goods store along with other things. There will be both weapons and some food¡± Bryan answers.


    ¡°It¡¯s also closer than any of our homes¡± I add.


    ¡°Should we let anyone know?¡± Abagail asks.


    ¡°No one here, they¡¯ll just cause problems¡± I answer while pulling out my phone.


    I flip it open to see that I no longer have a signal.


    ¡°We already checked that¡± Bryan tells me.


    ¡°I thought it was weird that I wasn¡¯t getting panicked calls. It also means that these creatures are not an isolated incident.¡±


    ¡°When will we leave?¡± Tomas asks.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see any point in sticking around, so now¡± I answer while standing up.


    Bryan and Tomas nod before getting up but Abagail hesitates for a moment before following us.


    As we enter the hall I see that some of the other students have gotten in the way between us and the parking lot. Joe is among them, as well as the jocks who didn¡¯t try to defend everyone.


    ¡°What do you want?¡± I ask with annoyance.


    ¡°You¡¯re not leaving until you give us those guns¡± one of the jocks whose name I don¡¯t know answers.


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t stop us from taking it from you.¡±


    ¡°Maybe not but I can make sure to spend every bullet before you pry it out of my hands. Many of you will die and you¡¯ll get nothing.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t, that''d be murder¡± one of the girls shouts back at me.


    ¡°Self-defense, even if someone does come after me for it you started the fight first. All I have to do is repeat ¡®I feared for my life and defended myself.¡¯ Let us go¡± I say emotionlessly as I shove my emotions down and bottle them up.


    No one moves or speaks for nearly a minute before the one of the jocks move out of the way and the others begin to follow his example. We begin to pass through them, both Bryan and me keeping our hand on the two pistols. If anything does happen we will be ready, it won¡¯t be enough but we will be ready.


    I breathe a quiet sigh of relief once we are past them. The hallway we enter after taking a right turn is bloody but no corpses are present. I glance into a room as we walk by; broken windows and chairs, blood spilled over the ground but no corpses or goblins. Where did they go? How can all of the corpses already be gone? Only those near the language department¡¯s classrooms are still there. That they are all missing has to be because of the goblins but why would they even clean up the dead? During their attack makes even less sense to me, why would you waste the time and manpower to do such a thing during a fight?


    We pass by the cafeteria all the food that was out in the open is now gone, blood is as most of the school scattered around but that is not one of the two things that catch my eye. The purple cloud is gone and the security officer¡¯s pistol lies tossed aside on the ground. I walk over to it and pick up the gun, it seems to have been messed with as if someone had tried to make it work and then abandoned it in frustration.


    ¡°Where is everyone?¡± Abagail asks, with some sickness from what we all see.


    ¡°No idea¡± I answer, not sure if it will be a good thing to figure it out or not.


    Whatever reason they have to collect our corpses will not be one that we will like.


    ¡°We need to keep moving before someone changes their mind about coming after us¡± Bryan reminds me after I look around for a moment.


    I nod and place the we continue onwards down the hall until the sounds of talking are heard. Everyone but Abagail immediately stop. Abagail bumps into Tomas and she falls to the ground. The voices go silent, until a goblin taking a bite out of some meat on a bone looks out from one of the classrooms. It looks larger and far more muscular than those I saw before.


    It shouts something and others of these larger goblins come out of the nearby rooms. They shout in something in their feral and simplistic tongue. Both Bryan and me draw and fire out pistols, the nearest goblin falls as easily as its smaller counterparts to bullets but that does not stop the other goblins from advancing as the first.


    I take aim again and again as I empty the magazine, not every goblin falls on the first shot on a gun and by the time it is empty three goblins remain. Bryan takes the first one to reach us as he has neither the time to switch weapons or weapons to switch to.


    I draw the goblin mage''s dagger and can only hope that I still maintain the advantage of physical fitness over these larger healthier goblins. I take a step back to dodge a swing of a club before moving into close range. Daggers are good for being inside the reach of an opponent¡¯s weapon and that is what I have to do.


    Bryan begins to choke his opponent as I try to shank mine. The third goblin goes to attack Bryan who is left open by the ongoing grapple before Tomas and Abagail double team him. My attack misses and a club strikes my arm, I drop the dagger as my arm goes numb.


    My foe smiles cruelly and I can see fragments of bone between its teeth as I am forced to smell his rotting breath. I repeat Bryan¡¯s action in slamming my shoulder into the smaller creature to knock him to the ground and begin to grapple the little monster but I do not have the same level of physical ability my friend does.


    The goblin is on the ground but he keeps me from effectively choking him. My arms slowly begin the feel sore as I ignore the painful grip of the goblin near my wrists, the nails slowly digging into my skin.


    I don¡¯t notice just how the other two goblins die but Tomas ends my foe''s life with a dagger to the throat as I hold him pinned. Warm blood flows over my hands before I let go of my partial hold only when the goblin¡¯s grip on my arms ends.

 Chapter 003

    Reality Control or Weaving is the only magic known to be used by the Ravnos family. Creation of energy out of nothing, even breaking the rules that all other magic is governed by are possible to the Ravnos. However, they are limited by disbelief. If their magic is questioned even when it does not fall apart the caster gets attacked by reality itself. Each Ravnos also has a different understanding to how their power works though each agrees on dividing it into spheres or concepts used to bend reality to their will.


    <hr>


    Adrian


    <hr>


    I roll off the goblin onto its back not caring about the blood pooling on the floor. My heart pounding before it begins to slowly once more. I really need to improve my fitness, I don¡¯t have the strength for melee. Bryan doesn¡¯t either but his hobbies are more physically active than mine or Tomas¡¯s.


    Abagail is the first one of us to look into the rooms where the goblins came from and she immediately pukes. All of us have been queasy since the start of this but whatever is in there must be worse.


    I glance into one of the rooms. Scattered scraps of cloth are everywhere, bone fragments and partially eaten bodies lie around the room. Most of the body parts are just lying around but some of the intestines have been strung up as some sort of decorations, some of the bones from the partially eaten corpses have joined them.


    The contents of my stomach join Abagail¡¯s on the floor, by the sounds I hear mine wasn¡¯t the only one to join.


    After a minute, we recover from our disgust and Abagail is the first to say anything after we have past those rooms and are almost to the parking lot.


    ¡°That was disgusting, how can they do stuff like that?¡±


    None of us answer her even though that very question echoes through my mind. Why would they do something like this? The decorations could be cultural but that does not explain their increase in strength and size. Why would they do something like this? Why cannibalism?


    Actually, is it even cannibalism? Humans are not the same race as them. Still why eat other sentient life? That is if they even are sentient.


    This line of thinking isn¡¯t going to help, they are hostile and trying to kill and eat me. I shouldn¡¯t bother thinking about this, it won¡¯t help me survive. I don¡¯t need to know why they are doing stuff like this, the why won¡¯t matter if it happens to me.


    I pull out the partial box of ammunition and toss it to Bryan, ¡°reload, it might be the last time we get to before running out.¡±


    I pull the other still full carton and begin to refill my own as we approach the parking lot¡¯s door. After a moment Bryan says, ¡°I¡¯ll need some more from that box.¡±


    I nod and toss it to him having already finished. I just happen to know my way around guns better than my friend even if no one ever told me the names of the parts.


    ¡°What about the other one?¡± Tomas asks.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s serviceable¡± I say as I pull it back out and place it in Tomas¡¯s open hand.


    ¡°It might be fine after it gets cleaned¡± Bryan comments as Tomas looks over it.


    ¡°There¡¯ll be cleaning kits at Outdoor World. Who¡¯s car will we take?¡± I add.


    ¡°My truck is bigger than your car but people will have to ride in the tail bed.¡±


    That will work, we can shoot at anything in the way too. I nod, ¡°give Tomas the pistol while you¡¯re driving. He may not be a good shot but it¡¯s better than nothing.¡±


    ¡°I know how to use guns¡± Abagail interrupts.


    ¡°Self defense classes?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Sorry Tomas, that¡¯s better than you.¡±


    Tomas frowns as Abagail gets the gun rather than him but we all continue towards Bryan¡¯s truck. Many of the vehicles have has their windows broken into but my car and Bryan¡¯s truck are untouched.


    I do however see a piece of paper under my window wiper which I grab before climbing into the tail bed of Bryan¡¯s truck.


    I open up the paper before anyone bothers to ask about it.


    Thanks for the advice.


    ¡°Anything important?¡± Tomas asks.


    ¡°Not right now. Just the reason why our vehicles are the only ones here not broken into¡± I answer.


    The truck starts up, Bryan knows the way and it isn¡¯t far. Just down the road and turn right and follow that for a few miles.


    Of course we, or at least I ignore the plumes of smoke rising from various places in the distance while sirens of alarms going off prevent us from hearing much of anything once we are away from the school.


    I continue to scan our surroundings as we slowly proceed. Minutes pass as Bryan ignores traffic signals and goes around abandoned cars. Abagail was looking out the window for part of it before she just stopped. I guess she doesn''t want to think about those that were in the houses before whatever created all the spilled blood.


    I see something that sets off a mental alarm. A ten foot tall humanoid dressed in leather skins crudely sewn together smashes it¡¯s club on a car that had a person inside. The ugly and hairy but not furred giant is in our path.


    ¡°Shit¡± I hear from Tomas and can only agree with the statement.


    The truck comes to a stop, the giant has not quite yet noticed us but I doubt that we will get away without alerting him.


    ¡°Do we need to take that thing out?¡± Bryan asks from his rolled down window.


    ¡°Unfortunately, yes¡± I answer while steadying myself against the roof so I can rapidly fire with minimal loss of accuracy.


    The giant pulls off part of the roof of the car he just smashed and licks his lips. Another creature that will try to eat me, great.


    I take aim at the torso, the distance is a little far to accurately hit with a handgun even if I start cheating with some magic and if I manage to hit the heart or lungs we may just survive. I don¡¯t think that much else aside from a vital spot will do much with this caliber.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    I pour my will into feeling every detail I can about the space between me and my target. I can instantly tell far more information that I should; the exact distance and angle between us, the curvature of the land, the speed and velocity of every movement the giant is making relative to me, and even it¡¯s size and proportions.


    Along with this detailed information I feel where the bullet should land and how far each shot will displace the next. I take aim and begin to unload, before the fist bullet hits I¡¯ve already started pulling the trigger for the next, adjusting my grip to account for our changing movements. Spatial Aim is what my grandfather called this magic and it isn¡¯t perfect, I don¡¯t know how to do all of it. Other Spheres of magic are included that I don¡¯t have the required understanding to use are involved in his version but for this large brute whose reaction is to charge at me, mine is enough.


    All nine of my shots enter into the giant''s chest. Blood trickles out of the puncture wounds but the damage was not enough to kill the brute before it reaches us.


    I jump from the tail bed, ¡°ditch the truck¡± I shout to my friends in the few seconds it took the beast to charge us. Abagail panics and struggles with her door for a moment before she clears the truck before the giant¡¯s club lands on the hood, silencing the engine forever.


    Tomas let¡¯s loose a yell of pain, he must have landed wrong but there is no time for me to be sure. I have to do something, Abagail begins to fire the gun she holds and the giant turns to her.


    I do the only thing I can think of and steal the gun from her via my magic before firing it rapidly.


    Seven bullets leave the barrel as the giant turns to me. He spits up some blood and I know the lungs must have been pictured but that won¡¯t save me from being in melee with something far bigger than me.


    The last bullet leaves, an eighteenth hole is added to the giant. Still the giant reaches towards me, I notice Bryan dragging Tomas away from the corner of my eye.


    Then I do something really stupid. I touch the battery of Bryan¡¯s truck with my reality bending will and pull out a spark. Gas ignites just as the giant picks me up and begins to squeeze me with his two arms. I feel my bones crack and all air leaves my lungs before the giant roars in the pain of burning fire.


    All I can do is focus on pushing the fire away form me as I am dropped to the ground and surrounded in a pocket of calm amidst a torrent of flames. I do not burn but the heat sears my skin and my polyester shirt melts.


    My concentration breaks just as the flames run out of gasoline to burn. A charred but still breathing giant lies on the ground next to me before I hear Tomas shout and my headache from before gets worse.


    I groan and after a minute feel myself being dragged away from the giant as Bryan no doubt checks me for injuries as he applies first aid.


    I feel stinging pain as bits of formerly molten polyester are pulled from my skin.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± I hear the question that has likely been repeated several times.


    ¡°No¡± I manage to say.


    ¡°You look alright, besides we are almost there¡± Bryan says.


    I slowly stand up, ¡°Tomas?¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you do that at the start of the fight?¡± Tomas asks with both enthusiasm and strategic concern.


    ¡°Do what?¡± I say with a slight cringe from my growing headache.


    ¡°Fireball, you could have just killed the giant before it got to the truck.¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t fireball, I just used the battery to ignite the gas and then tried to keep the flames away from me.¡±


    The excitement instantly leaves Tomas''s face as we start walking, Tomas with a limp.


    Near fifteen minutes pass before we leave the neighborhood and can see the parking lot of Outdoor World. There are only a few cars in the lot, the building itself is dark as if it were closed.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t there be people here?¡± Abagail asks.


    ¡°We lucked out, maybe the paper on the front door will tell us why¡± Bryan answers her.


    We cross half of the barren parking lot before we hear some familiar sounds. Chewing sounds and voices that sound similar to those we heard at the school.


    Bryan readies the loaned pistol before glancing around the minivan.


    ¡°Three, they¡¯re eating a man¡± he whispers as he takes aim.


    I pull the dagger stolen from the corpse of the goblin mage. The last of the bullets are in that pistol and I¡¯ll need it if I¡¯m to manage anything against the goblins when they reach melee.


    A gunshot echoes out, after the second Bryan whispers a swear word I don¡¯t quite catch as two goblins round the front of the car.


    At this range the next two shots take out the nearer goblin but the pistol shows itself to be empty. The goblin rushes towards us, Bryan moves to make sure he takes the hit from the rusted metal in the monster''s hand.


    Tomas and me move to flank and Bryan, using his size and weight advantage forces the goblin into a grapple. Tomas moves to join while I wait for an opening.


    My friends manage to pin the goblin and I move in with my blade slitting its throat. Seconds later it stops moving.


    ¡°We can treat me inside¡± Bryan says as he starts walking towards the front door.


    Once we are closer I see that a fallen purse is forcing the door ajar but the only evidence of whoever the woman was is this purse and a bloody streak on the asphalt. The paper hanging on the door has the simple words of ¡°Closed for Inventory¡± on it.


    I open the door, arriving slightly before everyone else. The purse in hand I say, ¡°Abagail, can you take a look at Bryan¡¯s shoulder and then see what food you can find? Bryan you¡¯re with me looking for weapons once Abagail is bandages you up. Tomas, you have food.¡±


    Each of them nod, accepting the assigned roles. Bryan, Tomas and me beginning to default into the roles we so often have during our games.


    I enter after them; boats and fishing equipment is to my right, clothing straight ahead while a food court is up a large staircase and the hunting section is to my left. Large glass windows cover the southern walls of the store where we entered from but they are currently covered by blinds.


    Before I go to the hunting section I walk into the clothes, most of them are going to covered with logos for brands that sell hunting, fishing and wildlife stuff but I don¡¯t care about that. I need a new shirt.


    Our collective search and gathering does not take long with how the store is already organized even if it is near dusk once we finish going through the store.


    Overall we find a dozen pistols, a half dozen revolvers, nine compound bows, seven hunting rifles, nearly a hundred knives, six cases of .22 rounds, two cases of .308, just over a case of 9mm, a partial case of .45 for the revolvers, several magazines, and two speed loaders for the revolvers, a few accessories for the firearms such as a suppressor and bayonets, two hundred arrows, a half dozen crossbows and two hundred bolts. Outside of weapons there are a few dozen cases of various sodas, probably a hundred pounds of trail mix, a similar volume of jerky and more bottled water than I¡¯ve everbothered to count; far more than we can carry, not even counting items like tents, camp stoves and other items that we will need only a few of.


    ¡°We can worry about the food later after making sure we can keep this place safe. Always stay armed¡± I say as we begin to pull weapons and ammunition for ourselves.


    ¡°I moved the mini fridges from the cashier¡¯s to form a wall to give cover from anyone trying to enter the camping section from the front¡± Bryan says.


    I nod, that will be helpful.


    ¡°Good, the only other way in is through the food court and a set of stairs. I''d want to block it off but we should use up the food from their freezers before it goes bad.¡±


    ¡°Can you start teaching me magic yet?¡± Tomas asks breaking completely away from our conversation.


    ¡°No, I can¡¯t teach you magic. And we have more important things to discuss right now¡± I answer.


    ¡°Discuss what? You''ll be party leader with Bryan as second in command. We¡¯ll set up watch shifts through the night and make plans on whose house to head to in the morning if we don¡¯t end up attacked in the night.¡±


    ¡°That is pretty much what we would end up deciding¡± Bryan comments in support of these decisions.


    ¡°Do you have any problems with this?¡± I ask Abagail.


    ¡°No, but are the watches really necessary? The doors are all locked¡± she answers.


    All of us nod our heads.


    ¡°See all solved. Now that there isn¡¯t anything else, tell me about magic¡± Tomas says and I sigh before answering.


    ¡°I can¡¯t teach you magic, at least as far as my family¡¯s magic goes it can¡¯t be taught from scratch. You have to just know the basics. I don¡¯t know everything about it but no power comes without price and limitations.


    I can do things that shouldn¡¯t be possible but if others question it I get punished. Reality doesn¡¯t like it when you break other people¡¯s perceptions of it.¡±


    ¡°Well, what can you do?¡±


    ¡°Some of what I can do is teleport small objects, manipulate fire and electricity, there¡¯s a lot more that can be done but I¡¯m not skilled enough to always get it right. Anyways, who will be taking first watch?¡±


    ¡°I''ll do it¡± Bryan answers me.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take midnight then. Tomas, you''ll take third and Abagail can have dawn.¡±


    No objections were spoken so with a yawn I move for the sleeping bags someone brought over to our pile of stuff. The weapons were split mostly the same for everyone. A rifle, two pistols, a knife, a machete and some spare magazines for everyone. I also set aside a bow, some arrows and suppressors for myself while Tomas did the same for the suppressors and Bryan took some extra knives.

 Chapter 004

    Mana based magic is divisible into two groups: Channeling and Weaving or Raw Magic. The common descriptors of Arcane and Divine magic are subcategories of Channeling, or magic that connecter to the Aether Field that the gods set up to make magic easier for mortals. Almost all magic is in some way connected to the Aether, even the natural magic of many races. Mana Weaving or Raw Magic is less restrictive than Channeling and allows the caster greater freedom though she must provide all of the energy.


    <hr>


    Adrian


    <hr>


    I find myself in a grey void, nothing in any direction. I am standing on nothing? I¡¯m not falling, no wind, my breath makes no noise nor can I feel it. What is this place?


    Somehow, I now know, this is a dream space of some sort. It is not mine, the gods of some place called Althr¨¢ made this. There is nothing here, a fragment of an astral realm. Only one person will ever be in a fragment at a time. But why do I now know this? Why did these ¡®gods¡¯ make this place? Why am I here?


    Suddenly a burst of information floods my mind. I fall to my knees gripping my head. This place answers certain kinds of questions, guides some sort of boon. I¡¯m not sure, a proper noun of some sort the concept of whatever this place guides, is foreign to me. The gods of Althr¨¢ made this place to guide, no aid the denizens of their world against something. A taint?


    Another piece of information stabs into my mind. I cringe for a moment; my guess was right the gods of Althr¨¢ give aid to fight against the invasion of demonic entities. Fragmented and evil spirits, driven mad and corrupted. Back to the previous questions, I¡¯m here to be aided to be told something? What am I to be told? Why not just tell me instead of this waiting until I guess the question I need the answer to?


    I collapse to the floor, my mind ripping at the influx of information. I cry out a silent scream into this grey void. Some time passes before I pick myself back up. Too much information at once hurts the mind and soul? The realm is taxed from many new people entering it? A pinprick crashes though my thoughts, yes, my guesses are right. This realm allows one to have near perfect introspection, one can easily tell the amount of improvement you have. It has other functions as well, granting knowledge, skill, power but not freely. You must earn it with your actions outside of this realm. Fighting against those who are enemies, but no definition of enemy is given.


    How do I use introspection? As grandpa taught or another manner here? Ah, here I can just ask and this realm will tell me about myself. Must I think to ask about each detail individually, or can it be compounded to some sort of display? A question appears in my thoughts display how? So, this realm is sentient? Is conversation possible? The realm is a mental construct, a program of sorts, but it is possible. How? Helping it learn, or wake my own guide?


    What guide? I grab my head as more knowledge bursts into my mind, echoing over my thoughts. My family, we warp reality not with mana as others do but our mind and a second soul. Mine is asleep, weak because of how ''thick'' reality is on Earth. As much as I want to know about that I¡¯m sure that¡¯ll knock me to the floor again. It, the other piece of me, will wake in time as I warp reality more. How do I help you learn then?


    Willing it to be so, fine converse and learn to adapt to what I need in this realm.


    [What did you mean by display?]


    Direct thought projection, I don¡¯t know how to do that. How can I respond?


    [Speak aloud.]


    ¡°A display, such as a character sheet. Some sort of interface, like a computer or tabletop game.¡±


    [What are these things?]


    ¡°Can you look at my mind if I think of them?¡±


    [Yes, but only if you allow it. Only questions can we hear otherwise.]


    ¡°Then look¡± I draw upon the games I¡¯ve played. Having my experiences of RPGs flash though the surface of my thoughts.


    [I think I understand. None of us have ever thought of a standardized display. This is new, it is a good idea. Can I show the other parts of myself this concept?]


    ¡°Sure, but why do you ask?¡±


    [We wish to implement this, what do you want for it?]


    ¡°Help me and my friends survive.¡±


    [We will already do that, it is our purpose. Name another thing.]


    ¡°What do you mean by thing?¡±


    [Knowledge, Skill, and Power. Name what you will if it is not too great a cost we will give it.]


    ¡°Can you integrate and add the things you were shown within my examples of character sheets to you?¡±


    [Yes, but that is not a payment to you. That would be you paying us more, ideas and concepts such as those only help us fulfill our purpose.]


    ¡°Are there are limits to how far you help normally?¡±


    [Yes. Once what you would standardize as a level reaches a certain point we can aid no more. We also only aid a being in a single aspect of themselves.]


    ¡°Perfect, take and implement what you can. Remove as many of your restrictions to aid on me as you are able.¡±


    [We accept, but some restrictions are for your protection. Some powers cannot mix, we should not help you gain a power that conflicts with what you already possess.]


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. Can you interact with me outside of this dream state?¡±


    [We are too heavily burdened by new beings such as yourself, but in time we will recover and be able to.]


    ¡°No rush, what do you need me to do to allow you to see what you need to in my mind for this?¡±


    [Permission.]


    ¡°You are permitted to look through my memories related to this subject; given that no harm comes to myself from the search and that I am not inconvenienced while you do so.¡±


    [We will look, it will take some time should you stay conscious as we look. But the concept of character sheets can be added immediately. We will now proceed. . . What may I help you with as you are here?]


    ¡°Show me a character sheet of myself.¡±


    [Reveal Stat block, Gain Class: Dragon Knight: Void, DK: V 2 (20SP), EP15, Magus 2 (+40SP), Accumulated SP:175, Gain Title: Reality Weaver, . . .]


    [Feat Performed: Kill multiple tainted creatures (+5EP)]


    [Feat Performed: Submit Improvements to ???: Gain Trait: Free Multiclassing]


    [Adrian Human male, STR 10, DEX 15, CON 11, INT 16, WIS 15, CHA 13, APR 14


    Class: Magus 2, DK: V 2, Age 17 HP: 20 MP: 6 EP20 SP324


    Skills: Ranged 4, Firearms 4, Archery 1, Melee 1, Perception 2, Evasion 1, Arcana 14, Nature 5, Physics 4, Mathematics 5, Religion 2, Tactics 3, Technology 2, Chemistry 3, Planes 3, Handle Animal 2, Empathy 2 Driving 3, Computers 3, Cooking 3, Sewing 2, Leatherwork 1, Drawing 2, Carving 2,


    Traits: Perfect Recall, Free Multiclassing, Reality Weaver,Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    Language: English, Spanish, Portuguese,


    Magic: Reality Control 2, Space 2, Fate 1, Life 1, Death 1, Mind 1, Primal 1, Soul 0, Planar 0, Time 1, Transmutation 1, Telekinetic 0, Fire 2, Lightning 2, Light 1, Darkness 0]


    Well, not that neat but workable. ¡°Still improving on the concept, I guess?¡±


    [Affirmative]


    ¡°What¡¯s with the ¡®???¡¯?¡±


    [We lack an identification.]


    ¡°You should get one at some point. What are these EP and SP? And why are there Spheres with values of 0 while other Spheres that I know exist are not displayed?¡±


    [EP are points? spent to improve your base body, or bloodline abilities. Classes such as Dragon Knight are connected with them. In addition, after a body is fully matured EP can no longer be used on the body itself. SP are spent on things other than your base body. Spheres of your magic are displayed based on proficiency, a 0 means you are not completely oblivious to the concept, a partial incomplete rudimentary understanding.]


    ¡°Explain.¡±


    [Example: Magnetism, you know of its existence but are oblivious to any way to warp it with your power. Darkness, you are aware enough to touch on it via Light though not directly. You are closer to being able to manipulate Darkness than Magnetism.]


    ¡°How do I spend EP and SP?¡±


    [Asking]


    I slap my forehead, of course everything works here by questions.


    ¡°What am I able to buy with my current EP?¡±


    [ Keen Senses (-15EP): Augments your awareness to your senses, more likely to notice a sensation without active effort.]


    ¡°And what are other options not yet available?¡±


    [Barring abilities that are not viable:


    Darkvision 30 Infravision 30 Keen Senses 15


    BlindSense 50 ManaSight 75 Echolocation 40


    Lifesight 75 Ultravision 30 [] Sense 45


    Inc STAT (+2) 10M [Elem] Infusion 50 [Elem] Touched 50


    Draconic <x> 75 Winged 75 [] Breathing 50


    Demonic 75 Celestial 75 Scales 30


    AltForm 100 BreathWeap 50 Mana Infusion 75


    Mana Touched 100 [Special] Infusion 75 [Special] Touched 75


    Basic descriptions sent to your memory.]


    A twinge of pain in my mind as I now know what these powers entail, I defiantly want to wait. Even though the descriptions didn''t give me mechanics on any of them the names are self explanatory. Aside from that the brackets are to show that there are a list of things under them.


    ¡°And what of SP, what are the costs of things with it?¡±


    [To purchase something, a basic formula is followed:


    Skill Costs: Lang 30, normal 2R*3 STAT: 2R*10


    Sphere Cost: 5*2(R+X), X is a modifier based on sphere difficulty and R is the rank at which you are at. Reality Control costs: 10*2R]


    ¡°I want to purchase an increase to my Reality Control, and Sphere: Life.¡±


    [Purchase: Life 2 (-80SP), Reality Control 3 (-80SP)]


    A flood of information enters my mind flashing images of the mysteries of life. Cells dividing, growing and replicating to replace damaged cells. The flow of energy within living beings, the symbol I associate with life force grows slightly clearer to me as my perception shifts slightly. My head throbs as the understanding grow deeper, and I feel my power rise; as if it is now easier for me to bend and shape the world around me. This place is great, I feel as though I was able to spend months focused on studying in but a moment.


    [Safety Protocol: Approaching Enemies: Ejecting Adrian Ravnos


    Please survive, we are also removing the restriction on the number of visits one can have in their sleep within 24 hours.]


    The grey void slips away from my vision. Along with it another thought passes through my mind, damn I wanted to keep trading in SP.


    <hr>


    Bryan


    <hr>


    I walk over to railing of the second floor, while there are no windows in this part of the store I can look at the main entrance and the only ways to where we are resting.


    Adrian, Tomas have gone to sleep though only Adrian immediately passed out. I look over the injuries my friends hold, Adrian may be trying to hide the fact that he is in pain but I know how much those first-degree burns must hurt even without the likely infected cut on his left arm and the shallow breathing from a cracked ribs or two.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Abagail asks as she moves to stand beside me.


    ¡°You should sleep¡± I say to avoid her question.


    ¡°I can¡¯t sleep yet; I¡¯m too worried.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing we can do about anything but ourselves.¡±


    She frowns, ¡°that doesn¡¯t make it any better.¡±


    ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t but you need to sleep if you¡¯re going to be able to much of anything tomorrow.¡±


    She sighs, ¡°you need to talk to someone too, don¡¯t just blame yourself for their injuries.¡±


    I don¡¯t immediately respond. My guilt must be showing on my face, I have bruises but everyone but Abagail is in worse shape than me. Adrian literally put himself through a fireball to protect us. I don¡¯t want him to have to do stuff like that again.


    I need to be stronger, all of us do so we don¡¯t have to risk ourselves like that again. I also know that Adrian¡¯s magic hurt him more than he lets on. Power comes at a price and I don¡¯t know what price he paid to save us.


    I hear breaking glass and Adrian bolts upright, while saying ¡°Get everyone up!¡±


    <hr>


    Kythia


    <hr>


    A wave of mana stronger than I have ever felt before, one that no one with even the least bit of magical potential could have missed passes over me and I shiver along with Lysan, Talia and the three elves who follow them.


    ¡°What was that?¡± I ask.


    ¡°They couldn¡¯t have¡± Lysan mutters while the other four elves look around confused.


    The world shakes and everything blurs for a moment. I feel myself falling for a moment before landing on a strange black stone which looks unnatural. Strange unnatural sounds and smells assault my senses as I look around. The elves that I run with are here amidst buildings of strange smooth stone, the shining metal of well-crafted blades and armor, and hardened air that shines like water catching the light of the sun.


    ¡°Where are we?¡± asks Talia.


    I nor any of the elves have an answer. There is only one thing that I can conclude about where we are, it is no place in Althr¨¢. I have never seen or heard of a place that is anything close to what I see here.


    I growl as the scent of nearby tainted goblinoids reaches my nose.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Talia asks, she knows that something as always wrong when I act so.


    ¡°Goblins and orcs¡± I answer.


    ¡°How? There is no way they could be the owners of a place like this.¡±


    ¡°That wave of mana, I think it is at fault¡± Lysan answers.


    ¡°¡±How?¡± I ask.


    ¡°We came here after it passed over us. It probably did the same to them as it did to us.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±asks one of the elves whose name I have never cared to learn.


    ¡°We weren¡¯t the target of whatever that spell was to begin with. They may have been dragged along just as we were.¡±


    Screams of terror reach my ear, those of people who should never have been let near the tainted. Where are the combatants, the defenders of this strange city?


    ¡°We may be able to receive the hospitality of these people if we aid them in their defense¡±the elven male says.


    I doubt that is what will happen, we have appeared out of nowhere accompanied by the tainted. Talia will have similar thoughts to my own but they will be hostile if we do not help.


    ¡°Where are the nearest tainted?¡± Talia asks while looking at me.


    I do not answer but pull the slightly curved blade of black metal that was once my mother¡¯s. The nearest are some goblins and orcs in front of us. I cannot name the direction as the night sky is not the same as the one I know.


    I whisper the words my mother taught me as I draw forth and shape my mana to build the needed bridge into the Aether, and instant later the power of the world joins my own in fueling a tiny trace of crimson flames along the edge of my blade. Then I break into a run, Talia leads this not pack and she wants us to fight the tainted.


    The elves follow behind me as they always do. Talia may be a skilled warrior but the two women and the man are not and Lysan who is both mage and healer follows at the back.


    I turn towards the smell of the filth of tainted as I pass a building with strange walls, partially invisible and partially fine metal. I notice that there is an open field made of the strange black stone I landed on minutes ago with many tainted.


    They have broken the strange invisible part of a wall to the huge building, the smaller goblins entering before the larger orcs as they so often use as a tactic.


    The elves slow slightly, trying to cover Lysan and Talia. They will claim that it is for their ladies'' protection but I still think them cowards. Both of the elven twins chant spells to shape their mana and bring forth power.


    A flaming arrow flies past me into the small horde of creatures in front of me, exploding and unfortunately orcs are hardy; more will be needed to kill them.


    They do not panic or even seem afraid unlike most of the lesser tainted that we run into. Instead they cheer as if we were simple villagers to be killed and eaten. The nearest orc meets my charge and our weapons cross. My blade bites into the poorly maintained garbage he wields and I take the moment to use another magic.


    Bolts of black energy form around my left hand as I take it off my blade''s handle to invoke the last part of the spells components. I speak the name of my spell and gesture to a target, ¡°Dark Missile¡±.


    It may not kill an orc outright, but the negative energy will weaken its life force and diminish the advantage they have in their numbers. Talia and the three elven cowards release a similar spell of reddish bolts of energy. The orc falls but there are still many of them.


    Strange sounds come from within the building, like explosions but there is no flashes of fire or waves of heat coming from the building''s interior.


    The orc in melee with me makes the mistake of overextending assuming that his approaching allies will cover him. It does not and a sliced belly will soon see the orc dead. They do not have a shaman or witch doctor among them so rather than a finishing blow I step back to engage the four approaching orcs away from their dying ally, the crimson flames growing larger as they feast on the blood stuck on the blade.


    I take another step backwards to dodge the first lunge of the orcs while working on completing the requirements for a third spell, simpler than my earlier ones Frost Fingers.


    The wave of cold doing some damage but more importantly, causing the orcs to be even stiffer than normal.

 Chapter 005

    Psionics are a magic that is difficult to understand. It is not based on mana yet it is not inexhaustible like Reality Control. The mind generates power and psions have minds that produce many times the normal amount of this mental energy. They take this energy and use it to manipulate and create other forces. They are difficult to defend against but are also more specialized than most other spellcasters.


    <hr>


    Adrian


    <hr>


    I open my eyes and after a second bolt upright, sounds of breaking glass echo through the empty store.


    ¡°Get everyone up¡± I semi shout at Bryan, even if that strange dream was a lie that breaking glass was not.


    I grab a loaded rifle as I move myself to the rails that bar those who are not paying attention from walking off the edge of this second floor. I look out through the scope, I can see movement but the darkness is too much for me to see much.


    ¡°Turn on the lights¡± I say hoping someone is already on their way to the breaker box.


    The lights turn on in a blinding flash but where I am inconvenienced, the small creatures that were moving around the lower floor hissed and scream as they cover their eyes.


    Goblins, or something very close. The skin color is a bit different, these midgets are all red instead of the green and red from the school. I take advantage of their momentary blindness and shoot the one closest to the stairs up into the food court.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I hear from Tomas, more an overly loud grumpy grumble than anything else.


    ¡°Goblins, grab a gun and take a position¡± I shout just loud enough for him to still hear over the sound of a second bullet leaving the barrel of my rifle.


    Two for two but since they¡¯ve started running around I won¡¯t be able to keep that up.


    ¡°Tomas cover the stairs up to us. Abagail, get ready to take my spot, once enough of them reach the food court I¡¯m going to move to block them¡± I shout out while Bryan begins to take out some of the goblins with me.


    It is not long before I finish my first magazine of twenty-five rounds, a little over half that amount hitting one goblin or another as I cheat with my flawed version of Spatial Aim.


    Several goblins have gotten past us, I set the rifle down as it isn¡¯t going to be as useful in the closer quarters that I¡¯ll be fighting in as I deal with the goblins that''ve slipped past us. I draw a pistol and nod to Abagail.


    She abandons the hallway towards the food court as I enter that same hall. I screw in the suppressor for the pistol wondering if it¡¯ll even help. It won¡¯t be silent but with the gunfire in the building and the noise they themselves are making the goblins may not notice me right away.


    The hall is empty, the only other thing they connect to are some offices for the employees. I don¡¯t check any of those doors as they are closed and I assume that they are locked and contain nothing of value to the current situation.


    I open the door slightly, several goblins are searching through the grill. They are sniffing around the currently cold grates of the stove and the door for the refrigerator. Talking to each other in their guttural tongue.


    They¡¯re occupied searching, what would they be looking for? Weapon? No, they are armed. Food? Must be, but I don¡¯t understand why they would look for a meal right now.


    Still, I¡¯ll take the opportunity to get a surprise round or two. I aim for the head of the largest one as he goes through the dirty skillet and plates, just behind the counter.


    A softer quieter boom is heard, barley noticeable with the background noise of Bryan and Abagail doing that they can to limit how many I¡¯ll have to deal with here. The goblin gets a hole in his head and I would have been free to do this again if it weren¡¯t for the clatter of the skillet hitting the tile floor and the shatter of a plate.


    The goblins all begin to look around, they¡¯ll notice me in a few seconds. I have to make the most out of this. I shoot again only making sure that I¡¯ll hit one of the goblins.


    The bullet goes through a shoulder. Not a kill but it¡¯ll help me when he tries to get into melee. Judging by how the goblins shout and start running towards me, they found me.


    I rush to hit as many as I can before they get to me. Three fall dead before the pistol is empty. I can only hope that it doesn¡¯t damage the internal components of the firearm as I drop it to pull another in my left hand and a knife in my right.


    I take a quick count, there are four more goblins. I got half of them before any reached the door. The closest goblin to me lunges with a crude spear, I manage to dodge and then slam closed the door with my shoulder, trapping the spear.


    The door is still ajar, I quickly take aim at where I guess the goblin still is and fire.


    The reward of a goblin¡¯s scream tells me my ploy worked but I won¡¯t know how well until I move from the door. They¡¯ll get to me at that point but I¡¯m not going to be able to do much of anything until I do so. I just don¡¯t know where they are at this point. Only that the goblin I just shot is no longer holding the spear since it has pivoted with the weight of the spearhead pulling it down to an angle the goblin could not be maintaining.


    I take a few quick steps backwards, always facing the door so I can get another free shot when it opens. The spear clatters to the ground and three goblins pour through the door. I don¡¯t even aim and put two holes in the first one through. The other two hold another spear and a rusted knife.


    They approach together, more cautious than their dead and dying kin. I am unsure which is more dangerous, the risk of being skewered by the spear or to taking a knife stab or two.


    I take a quick step forward, inside of the spears reach and press the pistol in my left hand to the face of the goblin. He tries to bite me but before he manages to I fire, twice since the first shot didn¡¯t pass through the brain but rather the monster¡¯s cheek. The knife wielding goblin I try to fend off with the combat knife in my right hand but unsurprisingly it is a better fighter than me. I miss in my poor attempt to parry and also miss the goblin.


    Pain, more than I¡¯ve ever felt at once before comes from my gut. I drop the knife and grab at the pain just in time to realize it¡¯s a knife. The fucking monster got me.


    The dagger moves slightly and I swear, my grip being the only thing that keeps the goblin from doing more. Press the gun in my left hand into the goblin¡¯s side and fire.


    I don¡¯t stop firing. This bastard has to pay for hurting me.


    *Click*


    *Click*


    *Click*


    Out of ammo, I slowly move myself to the floor and lean against the wall. Wincing as I continue to breathe. I look down at my hand and the blade almost disemboweling me.


    Shit, I¡¯m dead if I don¡¯t fix this. It isn¡¯t something I can just burn closed either. I really didn¡¯t want to have to test out what that strange dream showed me like this but I have nothing else to survive on.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    I close my eyes and focus. My will asserting itself over the tiny piece of the universe that is my body. I don¡¯t know exactly how to fix what''s wrong but the hole is wrong, the cut on my left arm is wrong and the light burns are wrong. I focus on my life force and how it is slipping away as blood flows outwards.


    I grab onto it and bolster it, commanding it to cease diminishing but it only slows. I then push it, making it flow through my body faster as the dream showed me. A tingling feeling comes from my skin for a moment and the pain of the knife becomes sharper and I lose focus for a moment; my warping coming to an abrupt end.


    I open my eyes to see the light burns disappearing, the trickle of blood slowing down around my injury. I stop, I can¡¯t heal myself with the knife still in me.


    Should I just yank it out? No, it¡¯s harder to focus when I¡¯m in pain. I hold my breath and grasp at nothing, pushing my will onto space. The blade vanishes from my gut but does not appear in my hand as I was trying to do but falls from a location in between the two on to the ground.


    The trickle becomes a stream and I hold the gap closed with both hands, returning to my healing warp. The pain slowly recedes, I¡¯m going to live through this.


    My stomach growls just before I hear the door open and get slammed into the wall. My head bolts upwards, two goblins and a larger over six and a half foot version are looking right at me.


    I abandon healing to arm myself. A revolver appearing in my arms just as the larger goblin''s weapon reaches me, a spear; right into my shoulder. I pull the trigger in panic, not even remembering if it is loaded or not. The much larger caliber blowing a hole in the side of the creature while at the same time causing me to drop it due to my poor grip.


    Just before it hits to floor I return it to my hand more a reflex to grab a weapon than actual planning. The shorter legs of the goblins causes them to only now arrive to melee range and the one on my right meets the same fate as its larger kin.


    The remaining goblin screams in fear but I can barely hear it as my ears are ringing from the echoes in this confined space. It starts to flee towards the way from which it came but I shoot the third of six shots in this gun, missing anything vital but blowing a hole in its leg. The goblin collapses with blood pouring from the barely connected limb.


    It shouldn¡¯t live long like that, but I can¡¯t have it interfering with my self healing. I shoot again, killing my now stationary target before setting the gun down.


    I can feel the spearhead in my shoulder, I may not be pinned to the wall but it almost passed through me. My bones are holding it in place but there is no way I can pull this out on my own. My sense of pain isn¡¯t doing anything which is a really bad sign. Fuck, I should never have let them get into melee.


    I can¡¯t teleport something this big, I don¡¯t know how to exercise that much control over space. Something else, break the shaft and then teleport it out of me. I fumble through my pockets and pull out a small lighter. I need something to start with.


    The small flame of this ninety-nine cent lighter appears and I grab it and force it to grow. Hotter and larger, and move it to consume the wood roughly six inches above my shoulder.


    The wood quickly catches fire and within a minute there is a crack, the spear shifting slightly as the majority of the shaft breaks off under it¡¯s own weight.


    The wood stays burning even after I release the flames from my will. Once more I grasp the air warping space to remove an object from me and this time I succeed.


    Blood begins to pour out once more even if it is from a different injury. I barely get started with the healing before an interruption appears. Another goblin, shouting at finding me injured and prone.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have time for this¡± I mutter while gesturing with my hand as my will once more grabs ahold of the fire. The dwindling flame at the broken end of the spear flares up and grows into a small wave the encases much of the goblin''s body. It does not live long.


    I return to healing myself, each moment growing hungrier and quickly patch myself back together. A small barely noticeable scar on my left shoulder just above the collarbone and another where the goblin almost gutted me. I think I can erase them later but for now they are here.


    I quickly pick up the three firearms and reload the pistols and send the revolver back to where I stashed it. After which I enter the food court. As there are only two restaurants, a burger grill and a small steakhouse, it does not take me long to glance and see if there are any goblins. Finding none I move to the stairs, the gunfire stops just before I look down at the main entrance.


    Over three dozen corpses are lain out but I don¡¯t see any living goblins. At least none within the building, outside there are still maybe a dozen fighting against another group. I glance over to Bryan and Abagail, they are alert and watching though Bryan is reloading a rifle magazine and may be stuck on that for a few minutes.


    I slowly move down the stairs, worried about being ambushed. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll get away with healing myself in front of others. My worries are unfounded and I reach the front windows without issue and take a closer look at the conflict outside.


    Four individuals, are fighting with the larger goblins. The tallest is holding a slightly curved sword, maybe a saber, covered in deep scarlet red flames parrying and cutting the nearest enemies. The other three are nowhere near the size of their ally who stands almost as tall as the larger goblinoids, but they move with more grace and occasionally colored lights will join their blades in striking their enemies. Magic of some sort, is it like that goblin mage''s that could ignore at least one of the rules mine follows?


    Two of the shorter three have an odd shape to their armor, the top being larger than the bottom. Females? Their tallest ally''s armor is similarly shaped though less lithe. They seem to be struggling with the remains of the goblinoids even though many litter the ground of the parking lot. Should I help them? I want to know of their magic but there is risk in getting involved.


    If I just watch some of them should still survive but they would not want to talk. They are attacking my attackers though, and these monsters wouldn¡¯t have attacked us if they were already fighting someone else so these not goblinoids probably came to help, even if they are dressed in chainmail.


    I take aim and target the nearest creature that doesn¡¯t have one of the four humanoids directly behind it. I fire and confirm a hit but the brute doesn¡¯t fall as the goblins do. It keeps fighting and I put to more bullets in the thing before it begins to slow.


    One of the humanoids finally takes a heavy hit by one of his opponents and leaves an opening taken advantage of by another foe. The tallest human decapitates a goblinoid before releasing a wave of dark green fire over another. Even as she takes a hit from a third wielding a club.


    The lithe females work together but are mostly defending as the tallest human is slowly taking the creatures down. I¡¯m going to have to do more, they are clearly good fighters but they¡¯re exhausted. Do I risk it all? I¡¯ll have to, I want to know about their magic and maybe they can help my friends and me survive.


    I stand and empty the rest of the pistol''s magazine into the hairy brute that just killed one of their companions. That got the attention of a few and I quickly switch to the other pistol as they charge.


    I unload at the faster of the three moving towards me. It seems to ignore the wounds as I inflict them, 9mm just doesn¡¯t seem like enough to deal with this larger goblinoid. It reaches the broken window I was using as cover before it falls.


    The other two are close behind but I don¡¯t have a loaded gun left, at least not one on me or small enough for me to draw it via a teleport. I pull the lighter from my pocket, I can¡¯t deal with these things in melee I¡¯ll have to do more magic.


    It sparks and lights up just in time for me to step away from an axe''s arc. I blow into the flame and do something impossible in front of at least Bryan and Abagail. My breath catches fire and while not immediately lethal to my target¡¯s they do catch fire as I will it. I rush backwards, hoping to keep away long enough for the fire or gunfire from Bryan and Abagail to kill them.


    The two monsters scream in anger and rage rather than the pain of being burned alive and I run towards the stairs, only getting to the before Bryan and Abagail begin firing on the two. The lower caliber of these hunting rifles is a problem but the larger quantity of bullets offsets it and one of the two fall to the ground.


    I pull the fire off him and add it to the flames consuming the other. A few more shots ring out from the balcony like second floor before Bryan and Abagail run out of ammo. The brute reaches me and swings with his club, a crunch sounds out from my right arm as I raised it to bock.


    My throat feels sore and my concentration on the fire broke even though the creature remains burning. I fall back into the stairs, and try to do anything to lashing out against the creature but other than burning him I have nothing available.


    Another gunshot rings out through the store and the large goblinoid falls forward. A shot through the head. I push myself up and look towards Bryan, more specifically the pistol at him side. I need it and I¡¯ll not be able to reload my own with how my arm currently is.


    It appears in my left hand as I once more repeat the stupid but necessary decision of moving to the broken window. Now there are only four enemies left. I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll be able to spare the men to go after me


    I smile and take my time aiming, as soon as I have a clear shot I take it. Putting a hole through a lung. This causes him to flinch and the tallest human takes the opportunity to cut down her foe. That there are only three leaves me with few openings I can take advantage of at this distance.


    I exit the building, and move to change the angle I am shooting from while closing the distance. My next shot kills by sending a bullet through a head. Another falls to the tallest human and the shorter two take down the remaining one in a few more seconds as it panics over the death of all its allies.

 Chapter 006

    Mana Channeling can be separated into Arcane and Divine. Divine magic goes further into gaining help from the gods beyond use of the Aether. Divine casters call upon god(s), or other similar beings like spirits, to aid them in shaping the connection to the Aether and powering their spells and either serve them in the mortal realm, or hold unusual favor, in some fashion. Arcane magic is everything else, and there are many subdivisions: Elementalism,Schools of Magic, Sorcery, Melodious and Mysticism are the five most prominent versions of Arcane magic.


    <hr>


    Kythia


    <hr>


    The young male who clearly aided us with a strange magic stands before us. The strangely shaped metal wand lowered, a sign he is willing to talk rather than fight. He is tall for one not of the packs, roughly my own height with dark hair and an odd shade of brown in his eyes. He does not have the muscles of a warrior but has the stature to become one if he needed to.


    Strange words come from his mouth, not a tongue I have ever heard.


    ¡°I am Talia, who are you?¡± Talia asks as she lowers her sword.


    The young man says another phrase in his strange tongue but none of us understand it. He is however not attacking us, so we may get the shelter that Talia had hoped for even if it cost the lives of the last of her servants.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think this man is hostile¡± I say to the elven twins.


    ¡°He is clearly a mage of some sort, the strange wand he used early created small but effective injuries from a distance and that Fan of Flames confirms it¡± responds Talia.


    ¡°He is dressed as the other natives we have seen¡± Lysan states.


    "Do we have any means to communicate with him?" Talia asks.


    ¡°I have enough mana for a translation spell, but I won¡¯t have anything left afterwards.¡±


    ¡°Do it, target the man so we can all hear him¡± responds Talia.


    <hr>


    Adrian


    <hr>


    I lower the pistol and keep a small distance away from the three. Making sure not to be in a hostile stance but readied to defend myself if need be as I ask, ¡°who are you? Are you friend or foe?¡±


    ¡°Amin naa talia ya naa lle?¡± answers one of the shorter two holding a thin blade at her side in a similar fashion as much own.


    ¡°I don¡¯t speak your language¡± I state while lowering my weapon further.


    The three lower their own weapons further as they quickly speak to one another. A moment later they each pull off their helmets, revealing vibrant red hair on the shorter two and white? No, silver hair on the taller. One of the shorter two places her small mace on a hook of the belt around her waist and lifts up a necklace with a depiction of a tree surrounded by other plants and steps towards me.


    I notice her oddly red orange eyes and pointed ears as she speaks again in a language that I do not understand, this time though it has a cadence to it. A flow like she is reciting something rather than trying to talk to me. Her necklace glows a soft blue green before she speaks again in the tongue the other red haired girl spoke but this time I somehow understand.


    ¡°My name is Lysan, can you understand me?¡±


    ¡°I can, I suppose you¡¯re not going to get in a fight with me then? How is it I can understand you? Magic?¡±


    ¡°Only if you give us good reason to, I am Kythia. Talia is the one who greeted you at the end of our fight against the tainted. And yes it is magic that let¡¯s you understand us. Are you not a mage yourself?¡± answers the tallest of the three. Silver hair and golden eyes, colors that shouldn¡¯t exist on humans but she look human in every other way.


    ¡°I am Adrian, and yes but your magic seems different than mine. You are not from Earth. I guess you are from the same place as these orcs?¡±


    The three of them all grab their weapons. ¡°Retract you insult or die¡± they say in unison. Shit.


    ¡°I mean no offense, neither you nor they or even anything that has happened in the last half a day should be here. I just want to piece together what is happening. These creatures never walked this world as far as I know¡± I quickly say and they move back to their previous positions before I continue to speak.


    ¡°Anyway, how about we move into the building behind me, and turn off these lights; the light will draw more to us at night and we can talk inside.¡±


    I turn around and begin to walk to the entrance of the store, after I take a few steps I turn back as the three had not begun to follow. ¡°Are you coming?¡±


    ¡°Are you offering hospitality?¡± asks the tallest of the three, what was her name? It started with a k, Kithix? No, that¡¯s not it. At least the other two had names that are easier to remember.


    ¡°Sure, some food and a place to sleep for the night. You¡¯ll have to help with the watch shifts though.¡±


    The three of them look at each other for a moment before nodding to each other. They then speak in unison once more. ¡°We graciously accept you offer of hospitality Lord Adrian.¡±


    They then start to follow behind me to the entrance of Outdoor World. Well, they come from somewhere with a feudalist or nobility system.


    ¡°How long will the spell that is allowing us to communicate last?¡± I ask as we all walk to the entrance.


    ¡°The duration is about an hour for me¡± answers Talia? No, Talia has the sword. Lysan was the one with a mace rather than a blade.


    ¡°Do any of you know why these creatures are rampaging?¡±


    ¡°They are demon tainted. They always are trying to kill anything that is not them. How do you not know this?¡± answers Talia.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen or heard of one actually existing before today¡± I respond as we pass through the front entrance, flipping off the exterior lights.


    Bryan interrupts the conversation, ¡°how do you understand them? If they are friendly Tomas is going to freak out when he sees them. Friendlies?¡±


    I point at Lysan, ¡°yes. She cast some form of magic. I¡¯ll be able to understand them for about an hour.¡±


    ¡°As much as I want to talk, its past midnight and I don¡¯t want to be too tired if another attack happens in the morning, it¡¯s your watch¡± Bryan says before turning away and walking towards the sleeping bags.


    Abagail adds in ¡°I¡¯ll lay out some more sleeping bags before resting, Tomas will probably come bother you once he finishes checking the camping section for any stragglers.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    I nod and Abagail then turns around and heads towards the camping section. I turn off the exterior and most of the interior lights before I lead the trio to the food court and turn on one of the grills I didn¡¯t spill goblin guts all over. As the grill heats up I start to drag the goblin bodies away from the food; a difficult talk for only having one hand at the moment. I need to get someone to set my arm so I can try healing it.


    ¡°This does not seem to be a home. Is this a market place of some sort?¡± asks Karen? No still not the right name.


    ¡°It¡¯s a store, I don¡¯t own it but I think the owner will have died from these attacks. Will meat and bread be an acceptable meal for the three of you?¡± I ask


    ¡°The twins would prefer more bread and vegetables but they¡¯ll have to deal with it.¡±


    ¡°What spell did that wand of yours use to injure the tainted?¡± asks Lysan.


    ¡°What wand?¡± I ask confused, I didn¡¯t use any sort of wand.


    ¡°The metal thing you kept pointing at the tainted.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a weapon not a wand, there is no magic to it.¡±


    ¡°No, that has to have magic. There is no way for it to be just a weapon.¡±


    ¡°There is no magic to the weapon itself, how can I explain it? Think of it as a smaller crossbow that shoots tiny bolts faster than sound.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe you. Only magic could do something like that.¡±


    ¡°I show you three how tomorrow then. Can any of you help me with my arm?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a healer, but I¡¯m out of mana and am not strong enough to mend bone.¡±


    Mana? So they are using a different type of magic. She says it like it¡¯s a resource, definitely not how I do magic but close to fantasy stuff I¡¯ve read. Can I even use it?


    ¡°No I mean to set the bones in place. I don¡¯t want to heal them crooked.¡±


    Kaitlyn, no that wasn¡¯t it either, walks over to me and says ¡°I can set the bone, but you can heal broken bones? How then did these tainted manage to hurt you?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t actually know if I can repair my bones. Also, I only know enough to heal myself, I don¡¯t know how to heal others.¡±


    She spends the next few minutes setting my arm. I then start focusing on fixing the damage, the pain slowly increases in my arm as the nerves begin to respond again. After about five minutes the pain subsides and I can freely move my arm again.


    ¡°Looks like it worked.¡± I begin to cook a few burgers, I put four on the grill as I feel famished myself. A side effect of self-healing? I have been just accelerating the regenerative process the body naturally goes through, so probably.


    ¡°How did you do that without a chant or foci?¡± asks Lysan.


    ¡°Those just make magic easier, I think they just help you focus and less likely to botch.¡±


    ¡°But healing can only be done by the gods, and they demand you present their symbol to do so.¡±


    ¡°Why, could a mage not draw positive energy and transplant it into the injured? Or how about transmutation to seal a wound and shape body back to its proper condition? You could also invert blood magic to turn mana to life force and then inject it.¡±


    Katherin, nope that wasn¡¯t it either, looks at me with great interest. ¡°Explain the blood magic one further, transmutation fades over time and calling positive energy lacks a place to call it from unless you are calling upon the gods or are an Elementalist.¡±


    ¡°I only know the theory behind most magic so I can¡¯t demonstrate. But the idea behind blood magic is to draw life force out of blood and then convert that to mana. While just running the conversion process backwards probably will not work there should be a way to get that working. I assume that a necromancer could figure out the how as they specialize in manipulating life and death, then replace the mana to negative energy conversion in something like Negative Energy Burst with this mana to life force and it should then heal.¡±


    ¡°Your idea seems solid if one could invert blood magic. You say you don¡¯t know blood magic so how did you heal yourself?¡±


    ¡°Accelerating the natural healing process.¡± The patties on the grill need flipped, I do so as we continue. ¡°Do any of you know why you are now here?¡±


    The three look at each other before Lysan speaks up. ¡°All we know is that we arrived here after a mana wave from a really powerful spell passed over us. It must have been some sort of mass teleport. . .¡±


    ¡°When did you arrive here?¡± I ask interrupting. Could they be related to the goblins that rampaged through my school? No, they were fighting goblinoids when I found them.


    ¡°Just after dusk, is that important?¡±


    ¡°Maybe, but please continue.¡±


    ¡°After arriving in this strange land we rushed towards the nearest group of tainted. We saw that this place was a city and didn¡¯t want to get confused as part of those that were killing the people of this place.¡±


    ¡°You keep referencing these tainted, what do you mean by that?¡±


    ¡°The tainted are those who have either inherited the demonic taint from their ancestors, or have accepted the demons into themselves.¡±


    ¡°And what does the taint do?¡±


    ¡°It twists and mutates the mind and body of the infected. The green skinned orcs outside are an example of one of the things that the taint can twist a man into. Though they are the result of offspring of their tainted ancestor. They have no humanity, they are no longer people but monsters.¡±


    ¡°And this demonic influence comes from a different world than your own?¡±


    ¡°Yes, centuries ago three of the kingdoms of our world fought to rule over each other. It became a war of annihilation, all three of them turned to demonology to survive and strike against each other. In the end the demons had tainted the rulers of all three kingdoms turning them into puppets. Their puppets manipulated all three kingdoms into performing the same ritual, a sacrifice of most of their bodies and souls to possession to smite and destroy any who were not of their nation.


    With this, the demons had invaded, being hired to consume the world as they wished. The tainted reproduce and grow faster than those who are not.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing there was not much left of civilization.¡±


    ¡°There wasn¡¯t, the strong rule as dictators, and each day the hordes of the tainted grow as our own weaken.¡±


    I assemble some burgers with the now cooked meat before passing one to each of the girls. ¡°I suppose that is most of what you know is going on?¡±


    ¡°That is all that we are sure of¡± answers Talia.


    At this point I hear a gunshot, I get up and run over to the camping section. I see Abagail holding a pistol standing near a still bleeding goblin corpse. Tomas is covered in blood, I rush to see to his wounds pulling the corpse of the goblin off him.


    ¡°He¡¯s dead. I found him with his throat cut, bleeding out¡± Bryan answers the question I wanted to know.


    A check his pulse, nothing. He isn¡¯t breathing and it looks like someone sawed at his neck. Tears form in my eyes. Why, did this have to happen. I can ignore the death of those I don¡¯t know, those I don¡¯t care to know. Why is it that my friend had to die? After a few moments, I hear another gunshot, Abagail is still in sight. Bryan must be looking for any more sneaking bastards.


    Whatever, he can handle any stragglers left. How can I see to Tomas¡¯s burial? Cry and think, that is what my watch will be tonight. The trio of guests, walks over, Kyle, no still wrong, speaks something but I wasn¡¯t paying much attention.


    I wipe the still falling tears from my face before I say "my friend just died, I¡¯m no longer in the mood to talk. You can choose any sleeping bag to use for the night.¡±


    ¡°Sleeping bag?¡±


    ¡°The bulky cloth tube things.¡±


    They leave, and I return to my solemn sitting. Bryan and Abagail sat nearby for a while before drifting off to sleep. Damn this bullshit, all fun and games till my friend dies over it.


    <hr>


    Bryan


    <hr>


    After finishing the sweep for goblins that cost my friend his life, I lay awake in the sleeping bag. Every time I close my eyes I see Tomas, in his last moments bleeding out. Terrified of dying, but neither of us able to do anything to stop it. And when it isn¡¯t Tomas¡¯s death I see the injuries Adrian takes and the pain he tries to hide both from me and himself.


    I need power, I don¡¯t want to see another die because I couldn¡¯t stop it. Tears fall from my face as I keep them hidden from everyone else. I feel someone rubbing my back but I do nothing, my friend died because I am not strong enough, because I can¡¯t do much more than point and shoot a gun.


    I need to be stronger, even now Adrian is protecting us. Saying nothing of the injuries he took in this battle or the price he paid to recover. He lost weight, became thinner and weaker but alive even as the holes in his shirt say he took hits that should have stopped him if not killed him.


    There must be something I can do to get the strength to stand up and help. I can¡¯t let my friends continue to die.


    Eventually, I drift off to a dreamless grey expanse. A dream that means nothing before it ends and a nightmare begins. I watch Tomas die again but he is in my arms instead.


    ¡°Why?¡± is on his lips but he can¡¯t say the words himself. I just cry with my dead friend in my arms. Nothing, there is nothing I can do as I currently am.


    The dream repeats over and over with minor changes until I bolt upright at the break of dawn as the sun¡¯s light reaches me.


    Abagail stands at the railing and I can only curse my restless sleep as I get up. There is nothing to do about it though as I know I won¡¯t get any more sleep.


    ¡°Can you take over the watch? I¡¯ll prepare some of the food that is still good¡± Abagail asks and I nod, but hesitate before saying something else.


    ¡°I¡¯ll start moving the corpses outside and into a pile. I¡¯ll still be able to see if anything is coming while I do so.¡±


    She nods and I go walk over to the guests Adrian welcomed, I hope to get some of their help since they are up.

 Chapter 007

    The strangest of arcane magic is mysticism, which functions by forming a spirit out of your mana and continuing to do so any time you have excess magical power. After this you call upon this artificial being as divine casters do real spirits and gods. At first the artificial spirit is little more than a pool to store mana for later use but as time passes and the pool grows it begins to develop intelligence which it will lose if too much of the accumulated mana is spent.


    <hr>


    Adrian


    <hr>


    One can only cry so much; my friend is dead because I went to help fight. If I had stayed near the food court I would have caught the two goblins that snuck through. Some leader I am, getting my friends killed just so I could fight some of these smelly bastards. Maybe this is why people drink when their life sucks. Alcohol makes you not care, that won¡¯t help though.


    My tears have dried, I have no more tears left today. I¡¯ll spend tomorrow digging a hole for Tomas, the yard of some house nearby will have to do. I¡¯m going to kill any thing that threatens my friends, I¡¯m not going to let another die.


    After a while Abagail walks up and stands overlooking the entrance to the store. Its been a few hours I guess my watch is over. I walk over to where the sleeping bags have been laid down.


    After a few minutes my fatigue claims me and I drift to sleep.


    I am in a grey void again. This dream space thing again.


    ¡°Show me a character sheet of myself.¡± I may as well see if anything changed. Nothing happens, why didn¡¯t that work? It worked last time, speak to converse.


    A thought pops into my mind. This void resets to a default each time. That¡¯s stupid it should hold whatever settings you left it on. Lets see, it can only hear questions in my thoughts. Will you resume the settings present at the end of my last visit here?


    [Yes]


    ¡°Great show me the character sheet of myself again, display any changes that occurred separately.¡±


    [Gain: Fight 5 (+25SP, +1 Attribute), DK: V 3 (+10SP, +50EP), Evasion 2 (+2SP), Sword 1 (+1SP), Dagger 1 (+1SP), Kill: Multiple Tainted Creature (+15EP)]


    [


    Adrian Human male, STR 14 DEX 17, CON 13, INT 18, WIS 17, CHA 15, APR 16


    Class: Fight 5, Magus 2, DK: V 3, STAT (+1)


    Age 17 HP: 106 MP: 18 EP85 SP114


    Skills: Ranged 2, Firearms 2, Archery 1, Melee 2, Sword 1, Dagger 1,


    Perception 2, Evasion 2


    Arcana 7, Nature 5, Physics 4, Mathematics 5, Religion 2, Tactics 3, Technology 2, Chemistry 3, Planes 3,


    Handle Animal 2, Empathy 2


    Driving 3, Computers 3,


    Cooking 3, Sewing 2, Leatherwork 1, Drawing 2, Carving 2,


    Traits: Perfect Recall, Free Multiclassing, Reality Weaver,


    Language: English, Spanish, Portuguese,


    Magic: Arcane Might 3,


    Space 2, Fate 1, Life 2, Death 1, Mind 1, Primal 1, Soul 0, Planar 0, Time 1


    Matter: Manipulation 1, Telekinetic 0 Energy: Fire 2, Lightning 2, Light 1, Darkness 0,


    ]


    Well, the sheet is somewhat better. I need to learn to heal more but that¡¯ll cost too much, i just don''t have the hundred and sixty SP. I gained the fighter class? I feel the answer of yes pop into my mind. Stupid realm, answering rhetorical questions.


    ¡°What is DK:V?¡±


    [Dragon Knight Void variant.]


    ¡°Why do I have that?¡±


    [One of your ancestors was one. The class is hereditary.]


    ¡°What is it about?¡±


    [Waking up the power of the dragon inside of you.]


    ¡°Which entails?¡±


    [You will become more draconic until you awaken the ability to shift between the two forms.]


    That sounds good, void dragon. I haven¡¯t read about those in any of my games or books.


    ¡°I assume Magus is the type of mage I am.¡±


    [No, but it is the closest to what you are. We do not know a better name to call it.]


    ¡°Show me what I can afford with my EP¡±


    [


    Darkvision 30 Infravision 30 Keen Senses 15


    BlindSense 50 ManaSight 75 Echolocation 40


    []Sense 45


    Inc STAT (+2) 10M [Elem] Infusion 50 [Elem] Touched 50


    Lesser Draconic <x> 75 Winged 75 [] Breathing 50


    Lesser Demonic 75 Lesser Celestial 75 Scales 30


    Breath Weapon 50 Mana Infusion 75


    [Special] Infusion 75 [Special] Touched 75


    ]


    ¡°I am assuming that I need to take draconic choses to continue in the Dragon Knight stuff.¡±


    [Affirmative]


    "Will this prevent me from picking up the other options?"


    [Yes]


    I frown, but I have an entire class centered on the draconic path so the net amount I can get should be higher. Celestial was the other one I was considering but since they are the same cost they should be roughly equal.


    It isn''t worth not getting to use this Dragon Knight class to take a different path.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll take the Lesser Draconic option.¡±


    [You only have the option of void, as you are already part of that lineage. Are you ok with that?]


    ¡°Sure¡± even if I¡¯ve never heard of them I doubt that any dragon type is overly weak. Well except for maybe white. ¡°What do the different types change?¡±


    [The secondary abilities that will become available afterwards. It also affects the restrictions on other paths that could have been taken.]


    Ok, makes sense. I guess then red dragons couldn¡¯t grab some sort of cold option. What is the opposite of void? Hmm, no answer appeared whatever this realm is does not know.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    I look at the number of EP drop to thirteen. That isn''t right, eighty five minus seventy five should be ten.


    "Why did it cost less than the full amount?"


    [You skill in the Sphere of Life makes you slightly easier to change.]


    Interesting, there should be a way for me to abuse this if I have the luxury of stockpiling. But will I have the opportunity to do so? I don¡¯t have enough SP to raise Life further. So, I can¡¯t advance healing further or try to power game my way to more evective EP. What should I get?


    [Gaining a language is always good. If you are struggling in a fight perhaps a combat skill with a weapon or Death.]


    ¡°What is the language those three were speaking to me in?¡±


    [Elvish]


    ¡°I¡¯ll take Elvish and . . . Death then¡±


    [What aspect do you want to use the Attribute point?]


    ¡°Constitution¡±


    [There is no more we can help you with. We will stay connected to assimilate knowledge as you dream.]


    The grey void blurs, how can it do that? There aren¡¯t any objects to blur. I fall unconscious.


    <hr>


    I wake up in a plain cell of grey cinderblocks with a concrete floor. I sit up on the plain hard mattress confused, this is not where I went to sleep.


    ¡°Finally decided to wake up?¡± a voice ask in clear dislike.


    ¡°Yes, why am I here?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Why? You have the audacity to ask why. Do you not remember what you did?¡±


    ¡°What I did?¡± I ask in confusion.


    ¡°You murdered dozens if not hundreds of people¡± a second voice calls out before a third says, ¡°silence. Do not talk with the prisoner. We wouldn¡¯t want him to go free because of a mistrial.¡±


    I frown, this does not make sense to me. Murder and dozens if not hundreds of people? Why would I even do such a thing?


    Two police officers reach the door of my cell and pull it open, behind them a third officer stands in the gap between them. He stands with a pair of cuffs but there is only hate or maybe disgust in his eyes for me, just as it is for the other officers.


    ¡°Stand up and turn around, you are about to be brought to trial¡± the man says.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not doing anything until I talk to my lawyer¡± I say.


    The officer grabs my right arm and in a swift series of motions pulls me up off of the cot before turning me around to cuff my arms behind me before I am sure what is going on.


    ¡°Your lawyer is waiting at the courthouse. Please misbehave, I would love to report that you made an escape attempt¡± he whispers in my ear, quiet enough to make sure that the camera that is no doubt nearby cannot pick up his voice.


    I keep my mouth shut as I am half dragged half walk to a police car from a back door of the station.


    <hr>


    I sit down at the defendants table where a man in a worn suit that looks like it has not been to the dry cleaners a few too many times. It seems that the trial had started without me and I am forced to simple sit without speaking.


    ¡°I call to the stand Tomas Green¡± a man in a much better-looking suit says.


    Tomas? But I thought he died from a goblin that I didn¡¯t manage to get. That he died because I was too weak. That I am a failure that even with my powers could not keep my friend alive. Something isn¡¯t right here.


    I look up as Tomas takes a seat, he must have taken the whole swearing on the bible to tell the truth.


    ¡°Tomas, I would like you to tell us what Adrian did three days ago¡± the prosecutor says.


    ¡°I do not want to. I don¡¯t have to answer questions that I . . .¡± Tomas starts before he is cut off.


    ¡°The fifth amendment only applies to self-incrimination. If you do not answer the questions you are admitting guilt to being involved in the massacre of your friend¡± the judge interrupts.


    Tomas bites his tongue and there is a moment of conflict and hesitation before he begins, ¡°Adrian Ravnos is the one who began. . .¡±


    I stop listening as the sting of betrayal hits me. My friend is throwing me under the bus to save his own hide; but is that any better than me who left him behind to satisfy my own curiosity. I let him die because of my own foolishness.


    Wait this doesn¡¯t make sense, it doesn¡¯t make sense for me to feel guilt over getting Tomas killed if he stands in front of me but I definitely saw him die. Yet he is right in front of me, but why are they all talking about me massacring a bunch of. . .


    <hr>


    Cold anger clouds my thoughts as I fall into some sort of memory. The weak pathetic people at this school keep looking down on me. The administration always taking the side of the jocks when I retaliate to their bullying. Always they take the side of athletes, the rich boys whose dads have the money and time to be part of the extracurricular activities.


    Two days ago, Jim decided to get into another fight with me after I refused to play some game of his. The entire thing got caught on tape but still they threaten me with expulsion for my repeat offenses against an outstanding member of society. That there is going to be a serious investigation by the police as well. Last night my mother got a call that there are several tapes of me injuring Jim and his flunkies but not once do the videos show the start.


    If I am going to be fucked over by either Jim using me as a plaything or by my life being destroyed in false accusations I should at least get the satisfaction of making all these assholes pay. I¡¯m done getting walked over. All I have to look forwards to in life now is juvie, jail and the following life of crime such a path will force upon me so what is the point in playing by the rules anymore?


    I walk in the front door, two pistols and a few extra magazines on me. Not enough to take out the police and swat team that¡¯ll come after me but if I hit the security guard first they¡¯ll be enough to take out those that have decided to ruin any chance I have at having the kind of life I want.


    I would have cut the phone and power lines but too many people have cell phones for that to matter. I turn left as the only approved gun on campus would be in the cafeteria. No one gives me a second look and I luck out that the officer takes a trip to the nearest bathroom. I follow him in and enter the stall next to his.


    Before yesterday I would have felt guilty about this as he had defended me in the past but the only way that the security footage would only show the parts that support Jim¡¯s stories are if he was involved in screwing me over. I pull out the pistol that has a suppressor attached from my bookbag, it won¡¯t be silent but with all the chatter in the cafeteria and the lack of anyone else in the room the authorities won¡¯t get called until after I do something else.


    I hear the sounds of diarrhea and the position of his feet gives me the position and I take aim. I fire four times through the cheap thin fiberglass of the barrier between us. There is a gurgling sound from the other stall and I move in case he begins to return fire in the short time he still has in this world.


    I quickly move out of his possible range of sight and wait a bit over a minute to make sure that he is either dead or too weak to shoot me. I crawl under the stall door to make sure that his weapon won¡¯t end up being used by another student against me.


    I try to suppress the feelings of queasiness that surfaces as I see the blood covered corpse and remove the sidearm from him. I don¡¯t have anywhere I can hide the body better than where it is at but I won¡¯t need that much time to hit the administration and Jim. Thursdays always have a faculty meeting but not everyone there is on my hit list. I need to isolate the movements of others if I can. Should I give a ¡®tip¡¯ about an unknown trespasser to try to get everyone to hide in whatever room they are now in.


    No, it¡¯ll set off alarms and I can¡¯t count on everyone actually doing it. Hit the faculty and call my own drill? That should work though I may have to wait for classes to start to actually get it to work. Will anyone notice Officer Davis in the hour it¡¯ll take? Maybe, he doesn¡¯t actually do much but someone could always wonder in here. . .


    Wait, the janitorial closet locks and he¡¯ll have a key to it. I grab it and open the small closet that is used to store toilet paper and a few cleaning supplies, nothing that will be needed in the next hour. I retrieve the mop to clean up the spilt blood but there shouldn¡¯t be too much since his heart has already stopped.


    I am lucky enough not to be interrupted in the short ten minutes it takes me to make the preparations to conceal what I have done until it is too late for the others. I wait longer in the bathroom until after the bell has rung for the start of classes for the day. Administration first and then those that will lock themselves in rooms, preventing their own escape. . .


    <hr>


    I continue to sit lost in my thoughts as the trial continues, others being called up but never me. My attorney also makes no attempt to defend me in any way. When he is called on he simply responds that he has no question for the witnesses nor does he call upon any to defend me.


    Only when the judges gavel hits his podium does my strange trance end. It makes no sense but I am sentenced to a psychiatric ward rather than prison or death row. I don¡¯t speak or resist as I am taken to whatever facility that was named.


    Something is wrong with my memories, I remember the things that they accuse me of but I also know that I was fleeing from an invasion of goblins. I was fighting for my life against that enemy. I killed a lot of them with both magic and gunfire but I don¡¯t think I would do this. Not for the reasons in these memories.


    Several things don¡¯t make sense between my two sets of memories, why didn¡¯t I used magic at all during my assassination of all these people. I use it all the time but never once during that few hours. I spend almost all summer and break learning magic at my grandfathers but I don¡¯t use it at all here. I should have at least have done something like call ammunition to me. Why didn¡¯t I?


    But it also doesn¡¯t make sense for goblins to show up out of nowhere and start eating people. Both of the sets of memories can¡¯t be real. I¡¯m not even sure which one I want to be real, getting my friends killed and fighting for my life or being a murderer, whose friends betrayed him. Neither is a world that I would want to be a part of. Why can¡¯t it be one that I get to play games and have fun.


    What is even going on?


    I am brought to a room and placed in a chair to restrain my movements. I don¡¯t want to be here. I don¡¯t want to be stuck here in a prison. Can I get out of here with my magic? A burst of electricity through the lightbulbs to start a fire? Fake my death and hide? Will that be any better than being stuck in here?


    I try to pull a knife from the kitchen at home through Translocation Grasp but for the first time in many years I do not feel the world bend to my will nor do I feel the weight of my desired target. Why didn¡¯t it work? I¡¯ve never heard of anything that could stop Ravnos magic from working. Have the world retaliate sure but for it to not work at all isn¡¯t something that grandpa ever mentioned.


    A nurse and a doctor in a white coat enter the room as whoever it was that put me in this chair leaves the room. The doctor says something but I don¡¯t hear it as I focus on performing magic. The last thing I see is a young woman in a nurse¡¯s outfit as I am put under some sort of sedative and black out.

 Chapter 008

    Elementalism is a form of Arcane Magic that focuses on the use of environmental mana and mutating personal mana until it has the traits of a particular element. Elementalists slowly turn into a creature of their chosen element as they grow in power. A few manage to control two elements though never diametrically opposed ones.


    <hr>


    Lysan


    <hr>


    The man who granted us hospitality lies asleep, it''s past dawn and the rays of the sun are falling on him but he just keeps sleeping. I guess he doesn¡¯t want to return to the hell his world has turned into. I spoke with my sister last night after the spell to let him understand us wore off. Something doesn¡¯t add up, he said it was a weapon he used to kill the green skins, but he is clearly a mage.


    He has strange ideas about magic. Foci and chants are just aids, no that can¡¯t be right. They allow us to access the power of the divines. The Aether cannot be accessed without the required aids. That is a rule for its use. Well, my teacher once showed me a silent cast but explained that the chant was just in her mind rather than said aloud. Is that what he meant? Kythia is excited to try his idea for reversed blood magic and stayed up all night trying to get it to work. If he didn¡¯t heal himself in front of me without a focus, chant or even a somatic component I wouldn¡¯t even think about his theories, they are far beyond anything that I¡¯ve studied but I also never did get to finish my studies. . .


    My sister is still asleep, she needs her rest. Warriors have a greater need of rest after a fight. Lord Adrian rolls over in his sleep and I hear bones popping. The woman who set out our strange bedding yesterday walks over and says something, she is perhaps the only human girl I have ever seen that is shorter than an elf of an equivalent age. I don¡¯t understand their language but seeing my confused look she motions something about eating and then points to my sister and Kythia. Is she offering food?


    She starts to walk towards that place Lord Adrian cooked that weird meal yesterday. I get up to follow, her lord promised hospitality, she will not harm us. My guess was correct; the woman brought me to the place where her lord prepared a meal last night. She motions me to cook some of the meat in that frost room. It doesn¡¯t seem as cold as it was yesterday, does it need recharged with mana? The glass balls that gave light yesterday are dim, was their enchantment suppressed or did it run out? Would it be rude if I check their enchantment?


    I wish I had more mana so I could talk with these people. Lord Adrian seems nice, I wonder why he offered hospitality and then cooked it himself for women he just met? Is he desperate for a wife? Or are the traditions of this land different? Their clothes and buildings certainly are.


    Lord Adrian¡¯s servant and I finish cooking this strange meal. Its tasty I admit but why do they spend so much on spices for two such meals in a row? Kythia seems delighted with this strange meat inside of bread food. An effect from her magic or heritage? No, the other three humans seem to enjoy the food as well.


    Also, why did his servant bring me to help cook? Does she think I am my sister¡¯s servant? So many questions, even more when I see the servant giving one of the meals to the male servant. Lord Adrian treats his followers so well, how come he only seems to have these two?


    ¡°Are you done thinking of why I like meat?¡± Kythia asks.


    ¡°How did you know?¡±


    ¡°You are always thinking too much, act more like your sister Talia. She doesn¡¯t worry so much of why somethings just are.¡±


    ¡°No, my sister¡¯s overthinking has saved us quite a bit in the past" sister interjects.


    Thanks sister, I worry if I think too much. Maybe that is what Kythia means? ¡°What do you think we should do sister?¡±


    ¡°Lord Adrian seems very kind to his followers. He cried most of the night when one of them died. The offer yesterday is worth considering, even though food and a place to sleep seems little, it is better than those nobles from Althaen offered.¡±


    Kythia nods, ¡°he also shared a great piece of lore with us. He already thinks us as part of his house or he never would have told us about alternate ways to heal.¡±


    ¡°You stayed up all night over that, did you get it to work?¡±


    ¡°I think so, I got mana to turn into something that let me close some cuts. It wasn¡¯t very efficient but it does work.¡±


    I sit there surprised, that crazy idea on reverse blood magic worked! But he said that it was just a theory of his, if Kythia got it working overnight then shouldn¡¯t Lord Adrian also know how to do it? Unless he isn¡¯t a mage? No, he has to be one I saw the fire and how he healed himself; he is a mage. He clearly understands arcane theory so why did he say he doesn¡¯t know how to do it himself?


    ¡°Any idea how he could know these things without being able to cast them himself sister?¡± Talia asks breaking my thoughts.


    ¡°The only way I can think of is if he doesn¡¯t use mana for whatever type of magic he wields.¡±


    ¡°You mean like monks, and their qi?¡± asks Kythia.


    ¡°Maybe, but even that has mana in it. He is a mage that is not limited by having to use mana. He has to be using something. The mana of this land seemed really weak when we arrived maybe his sect learned to cope without it?¡±


    ¡°That is just silly, mages are mages because they have mana inside of them.¡±


    ¡°What about those that gain the blessing of their element. One of the other students of my master does not need to use mana to control fire. It could be like that.¡±


    ¡°Then he is blessed by lightning and what life? That¡¯s silly I¡¯ve never heard of anyone managing to get multiple blessings. It¡¯s just magic with an alternative power source. Or maybe he really just never learned the basics of blood magic.¡±


    Talia interrupts the two of us, ¡°regardless of what Lord Adrian uses to power his spells should we follow him? The last of our family died on the battlefront or were guards who died last night. We need to attach ourselves to a house or some other noble will take us slaves. I think Lord Adrian will treat us well.¡±


    I hesitate for a moment, we don¡¯t know enough about this lord. Kythia nods agreeing with my sister. I slowly nod as well agreeing to follow their decision, I hope that we will be treated well.


    <hr>


    Bryan


    <hr>


    Abagail wakes me up, and then passes me a burger that one of the elf? girls was holding. Adrian was right they aren¡¯t our enemies. I turn to look for him, he is sleeping still. I guess running to kill those orc monsters was tiring, or maybe it has to do with the magic he hid for years?


    Seriously though, fire manipulation and teleporting objects? He also suddenly stopped having a broken arm while he was cooking, yet he could not do anything while Tomas was dying. Just how does his magic work?


    I set my partially eaten burger down, and grab a water from the pile of drinks we made yesterday. Adrian really tore himself up last night after Tomas¡¯s dead, I cried too but we don¡¯t have time to really mourn. I¡¯m surprised Adrian didn¡¯t start digging a hole for Tomas last night, like he did when he found his dog dead.


    My eyes are watering, dammit I have to hold myself together. Adrian killed more of the monsters out of our group; he did all that could be done I should have been closer to Tomas, not have sent him alone to guard those stairs.


    ¡°Are you ok?¡± Abagail asks.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°No, my friend is dead and the world has gone to shit.¡±


    ¡°I know, but we can cry when we are safe.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but that doesn¡¯t mean I have to pretend everything is ok.¡±


    ¡°Bryan, I had a weird dream before a nightmare yesterday.¡±


    ¡°So, did I some grey blob no idea what I was doing there before it faded away after a few minutes. What was yours?¡±


    ¡°The same, was I seeing things when Adrian got a gun out of nowhere?¡±


    ¡°No, I think the fire doing strange things was him too.¡±


    ¡°None of this is possible, this can¡¯t be real. Is Adrian a wizard or something like Tomas thought, or have we both gone crazy?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, he said one of the elf looking girls cast a spell yesterday and I¡¯ve seen him do a few weird things recently. He did say that he wasn¡¯t a wizard though. All we can do is ask him after he wakes up.¡±


    ¡°He deserves his sleep, but it doesn¡¯t look like he is enjoying it.¡±


    I sigh and nod my head in agreement. This morning sucks, I guess I should get rid of the corpses before they spread disease to us. But maybe that doesn¡¯t matter anymore, Adrian healed his own broken arm so what is a disease to him?


    Still, even if I did know the limits to Adrian¡¯s magic I can¡¯t leave everything up to him. I have to do all that I can to make sure not to drag down the group. I stand up and brush off the few breadcrumbs from the burger as I say, ¡°I¡¯m going to work on cleaning up the bodies. I think we may be staying here for another day or two and . . .¡±


    ¡°they¡¯ll start stinking soon.¡±


    <hr>


    Adrian


    <hr>


    The damn nightmare dream finally breaks, and I bolt to sitting upright. I look at the clock. 10:12 there is no way I should have slept that long, dammit something definitely was wrong with that dream. Or did I pass out from the drugs from that nurse? I hope this is real, I don¡¯t want to wake up to that nightmare of a life.


    The corpses are gone, someone must have dragged them outside. My stomach growls, I feel famished, I pick up the burger next to me and see Tomas¡¯s dead body a few feet away. Damn, not even this possibly drug induced dream is pleasant. No, this is real the other is the dream. Or is it? No, can¡¯t follow that train of thought, bad, dangerous how can I return here if it was real. Should my mind even be this messed up from that dream?


    I feel tears come to my eyes as I eat the cold burger. At least here my friends still care about me, another reason why this is the real reality. The other has to be fake, the choice between the two is easy. I¡¯m not going back there. This world is better.


    I finish my burger with a sigh, I hope that the weird Grey Dream crap worked again. It taught me to heal, so this elven language should be real to. Or is the Grey Dream what those girls were talking about when they said the tainted grow faster? As in the get stronger faster? Should I ask them about it? No, if it is connected to the tainted they try to kill me afterwards. But how can I explain it otherwise?


    I look around the store for a while looking for a shovel; there are none. Lets hope someone¡¯s garage has one. I pick up Tomas¡¯s body, he was always short but he seems a bit shorter now. Lighter too, blood loss or did I get stronger? He still isn¡¯t an easy load but I can move quickly enough while holding him.


    As I walk out the front door, I notice the trio of women pulling the corpses of humans and elves? out of the remnants of the battle yesterday. Bryan is working on the goblin and orc bodies though I think he will receive help soon.


    ¡°Adrian, you finally up¡± Bryan says as I approach him.


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for a shovel, any idea where one is?¡±


    ¡°The hardware store down the street will have one.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, I¡¯ll be back.¡±


    I walk down the street to the hardware store. Its front windows are broken and most of the shelves are on the floor, I guess something like what happened to us happened here last night. I grab a pointed shovel, too many rocks for a flat head to be useful. Time to honor my friend the only way I can now, a deep hole so nobody will disturb his rest.


    <hr>


    Kythia


    <hr>


    The elf sisters asked me to help them clean up the dead, I guess I¡¯ll help. I don¡¯t think that Adrian guy is really a lord. While the buildings around here are grand, far greater than anything I have ever seen before they are no castles. Maybe I am wrong and he is, I don¡¯t really care, he smells strong. If the servants are really servants, they are better treated than any servant I have ever seen. I think that his words of my friend just died were literal, the dead guy was his friend not a servant. I¡¯m not going to correct the sisters, I want to follow him.


    He clearly will fight for the life of his friends or charges, strong and kind to his allies. That¡¯s all I want from a leader, Talia is like that but she is not a leader, just like I cannot lead. Us women have our own authority but the men are right we get too emotional, gods know I¡¯ve lost myself in both rage and empathy more than once.


    I would still like to rule though, but I would get the three of us killed if any one of us died. Talia know she would too. She doesn¡¯t even want to lead; the elves were very strict about ones chosen role and she chose to be a warrior. Lysan is smart but hesitates too much when it¡¯s time to make a decision.


    Adrian walks out carrying the corpse of his dead friend. He speaks a bit with the male servant who is watching the other work. I think the servant gave Adrian directions and he walks toward another of the buildings. I watch him enter the building and come out with a shovel, I think its shape is weird. I¡¯m sure that he is too far for the sisters to see what he is doing. It¡¯s easy to guess though, dispose of the body, if it takes a long time it was burial, if there is smoke a fire, or if it''s fast he diched it.


    ¡°Want to take bets on what he is doing with his friend?¡±


    The two sisters give me a weird look, damn I wanted an easy favor. We are almost done with gathering our dead, just remove the equipment that can aid the living and burn the remains to keep the dead from rising. The sisters start stripping the armor of the dead women, there were only four and so they finish all the two women quickly.


    Lysan ends up stripping the equipment off of one of the men before her sister. She turns red embarrassed as she removes the unbroken armor over his waist. I smirk, should I tease her?


    ¡°Don¡¯t get excited by the dead girl.¡±


    She turns a much darker shade of red, and her sister starts to laugh. I grin looking right at her, she sees my grin and realizes I was messing with her. Innocent girl, I hope that Adrian actually will be able to keep us safe, the nobles that are too scared to claim me would ruin her. We finish taking what armor is still usable from the dead, and retrieved their weapons. Now to burn the dead.


    ¡°I¡¯ll start the fire, you can start with the green skins. They don¡¯t deserve it but I¡¯ll not let disease from their corpses get us.¡±


    The two sisters nod and go to aid the male human in piling up the tainted dead. I stand up near the pile of corpses, chanting the words to invoke fire and spread my fingers the thumbs touching. Fire bursts out of my hands in a short wave, I feel my mana drop a bit as it flows; the bodies are now burning they will be little more than ash in a few minutes.


    The male servant stared for a bit at the fire coming out of my hands. I dismiss my spell, I don¡¯t need to hold it any longer. Most of the corpses of the green skins are now stacked up, I turn to see Adrian digging a hole, I guess he really cared for his friend.


    We finish stacking the dead in a pile, I light this pile aflame as well. The male human stares at me again and I bare my teeth at him. He seems decent but he is too weak for me.


    The female servant comes out to us with some food and water, I liked the sweet cold bubbly water from last night more. Is there any more of it? I wish I could ask for some. I¡¯m sure Lysan will cast her translation spell again, I¡¯ll ask for it then.


    The male accepts his rations and begins to walk in the direction he gave Adrian earlier. The female follows.


    ¡°I think we should show support to our host.¡± The two sisters nod and we follow behind the two who left.


    Adrian looks up at the five of us but continues to dig, the corpse of his friend in the shade of a nearby building. The female finished eating first, and then walked over to the corpse. I think she is cleaning it up. When the male finished eating he walked over to Adrian and was passed the shovel.


    I sit and enjoy the meal in silence with the sisters. This is clearly some form of mourning, who was this friend to deserve such treatment after death? The sun slowly moves across the sky, the hole is already deep enough to hold the corpse. The hole is already ten hands wide and four deep, is that not enough?


    Both Adrian and the male are sitting, drinking water. I walk over to the shovel and pick it up, before I manage to start Adrian walked over to be and put his hand over where I am gripping the shovel and shakes his head. He takes the shovel from me and begins to dig, even though he just stopped.


    I step back and go sit next to the sisters. I mutter, mostly to myself ¡°why can the male help you dig but I cannot? Am I not worthy?¡±


    ¡°A man deserves to be buried by his friends and family. Bryan and me are the only ones he has here; we have to dig the hole.¡±


    I stop stunned. Adrian answered my question. I look at the sisters, they have blank stares. They are surprised. I thought that Adrian did not know the elvish tongue, I usually speak it as the sisters despise the only other language they know. How did he learn it so fast? Nobody taught him, I don¡¯t think that he duplicated Lysan¡¯s spell. I felt no mana, no ripple, how does he now know our tongue?


    The male, Bryan I guess is also surprised, and confused? He clearly doesn¡¯t know what Adrian said so it wasn¡¯t a translations spell.


    ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t know our language¡± says Lysan.


    Adrian doesn¡¯t respond, I guess they are not to speak in this funeral like service? I sit down and wait, after a short while the male swaps with Adrian. A man deserves to be buried by his friends and family, that doesn¡¯t seem specific. Does everyone here receive such great honors upon death?


    We sit the sun now halfway to dusk, the woman left and brought back more of those meat-inside-of-bread. Its tasty but why are we being served the same thing multiple times in a row. Are they trying to get rid of these rations? They surly cannot be traveled with.


    The hole is now 10 hands deep when the two stop taking turns digging, the only two sentences spoken were why I am not to dig. I don¡¯t think that the sisters will care anymore if Adrian isn¡¯t a lord. Any man that will go so far to honor his friend deserves to be a lord.


    Adrian and the other male carry their friend to the hole and place him in it, the female brings another of the odd shovels and gives it to the other male. The rest of us watch as the two put the dirt over the body of their dead friend. I see some sort of blackness in the dirt falling from Adrian¡¯s shovel, I don¡¯t know what he is doing, but that won¡¯t animate the dead so it must be some ward against it.

 Chapter 009

    Melodious is the version of Arcane Magic that the bards use. Some consider it to the bridge between the Schools of Magic and Sorcery though only by those that have not touched upon the two styles of the Arcane. Practitioners of this form of magic often claim that mana itself sings, that the world and everything in it can be affected through making chords with the Song as they call it. Many think that the ability to use Melodious Magic as a birth gift not unlike Sorcery because while there has been some success in teaching the simplest magics anything beyond that require a connection to the Song that does not seem to be something that is learnable.


    <hr>


    Rynald Sunchaser


    <hr>


    I sit in a tent with the other house heads, disappointed in the seeming weakness of the people.


    ¡°Give your report¡± I command the soldier, some noble of another house who just walked in.


    ¡°The gathering of natives has met little resistance save for in the more run-down sections of the city. No magi have been encountered though strange devices are prevalent, there craft and function beyond my understanding. . .¡±


    I nod as do the other house heads, hey like me have no doubt received more detailed reports from their household. Their strange thunder staves and wands seem to be the most dangerous weapon though they do not seem to be magical in nature.


    ¡°. . . The sorting of natives should be ready to begin as soon as the appraisal matrixes are finished. Two or three days at most which will give us enough time to fortify against the tainted that will follow us over time and gather the rest of the natives.¡±


    Not as quick as I would like but we cannot be too careful. This entire world is the domain of House Ravnos. A house stronger than all of the others put together. Still it has been a long time since the disjunction and they may have declined like all of us.


    ¡°We need a better way to communicate with the natives than constant use of Tongues and Comprehend Language. I propose creating spokesmen among the natives for us¡± Charlon Vithr¨¢ says.


    ¡°Get some young men with just enough intelligence to do it. We don¡¯t want to risk them going against our desires and it isn¡¯t as if we need their knowledge¡± I say as others nod at the suggestion.


    <hr>


    Tynald Sunchaser


    <hr>


    I frown as I enter into my grandfather¡¯s room shortly after he returned from the meeting of house heads. I always hate it when I am called to report at a moment¡¯s notice. It feels demeaning, I am to be the future master of the house and deserve more respect than this. I do no more than frown as anything more would damage my standing and thus ability to take the family head position.


    ¡°Tynald, good I have a job that I want you to do¡± my grandfather says.


    ¡°I have just returned from gathering the native peasants¡± I say, showing that I wish to rest rather than do this new task that is most likely as beneath me as the one I just did.


    ¡°Which is why you are the one I want to do this. You are the most familiar with the native peasantry. You should be able to find an individual amongst those that you rounded up to use as puppet to control the others.¡±


    ¡°Why, they are weak and not a single one of them is a challenge to us. We have been basically unopposed; these people have nothing that can oppose us and they . . .¡±


    ¡°We have not been in the world long enough to be sure of that. Someone kicked the houses from this world and for that reason alone we must be careful. We could interrogate for information and manage the ridiculous number of peasants but what is the reason that we have minor and subhouses?¡±


    ¡°To open up our own time for more important things. How is dealing with these barbaric peasants that do not even know of magic not something to . . .¡±


    ¡°It is the unknowns that are the most important thing for us to deal with. Would you risk letting those that serve you gaining enough power to place themselves above you?¡±


    ¡°I refuse to believe that these backwards people could hold such a secret.¡±


    ¡°Then go and continue to gather them with the horsemen since that is the only thing you seem to be worthy of doing.¡±


    I open my mouth but before my tongue makes a noise, grandfather says ¡°out you disappointment to the house.¡±


    <hr>


    Adrian


    <hr>


    My friend¡¯s grave is covered but we have no gravestone for him. He deserves better than this unmarked grave, I don¡¯t know why but the trio stayed and watched most of the digging and all of the burial. I don¡¯t know why but it feels good that they are here. Tomas died because I went to help them, I think they know it, at least they are grateful.


    The six of us walk back to Outdoor World. We don¡¯t speak until we get there. I need to see if Bryan or Abagail saw that grey void dream space or if it is just me. I feel better having buried my friend, nothing more can be done for him.


    ¡°I am going to talk to Bryan and Abagail, is there anything you want before I speak with them?¡±


    Kylee, no but closer, immediately responds ¡°some of that bubbly sweet water.¡±


    The elven sisters immediately nod in agreement. I guess they mean soda, I grab some and the six of us are sitting at tables in the food court.


    ¡°Bryan, Abagail, I¡¯m sure you have questions.¡±


    ¡°I have some, do you know what¡¯s going on? When did you learn elvish?¡± Bryan immediately spills out multiple questions.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what¡¯s going on. The trio of women think it is some sort of botched travel spell. They arrived here after some sort of wave shaped distortion passed over them. The goblins and orcs are things tainted by some kind of demonic taint. Otherwise I have no idea. I learned elvish in some sort of weird dream full of grey mists.¡±


    I can¡¯t speak all of the technical jargon, still that explanation should be enough to get the same rough idea that I have. Abagail speaks up ¡°we both had a weird dream of a grey space. What is it? How did it teach you elvish?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t explain what it is completely, I¡¯m not really sure. It says it is to help people survive and fight back against the demon taint. But it could also be a ploy by that taint. Anyways, it responds to questions that you think of while in it. So, think of something like ¡®how can I get this place to speak with me¡¯ and it will tell you how. You can ask it your own questions when you go to sleep. After you get that weird dream to talk ask it to show you a character sheet of yourself.¡±Stolen story; please report.


    They both look at me like I''m crazy. Well I am, but they don''t know that. Or am I crazy?


    "Don''t look at me like that, just do it and it will make sense."


    I wait a few seconds for them to nod. For them to accept what I just asked them to do. That strange dream gave me real help so maybe it can do the same for them. But there is also that other place, the conflicting memories that are confusing me, making me crazy. Are they also part of it?


    They still need the benefits and I can¡¯t be sure that their connected. It¡¯s also too late in the day to get somewhere better tonight and nighttime travel would be dangerous. More than daytime travel at least.


    ¡°Lets spend the night here again and use tomorrow to get ready for travel in the early morning and leave before noon. I think we could get some of the cars nearby and move somewhere better. Any ideas?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Military bases are probably still safe. But we need a defensible location where we can grow food.¡±


    I nod, the military would be safe, but they don¡¯t grow food on the base itself. They are a more extreme version of where we are now more guns, more defense and less food. ¡°The military would only be temporary they¡¯ll run out of food before we do here. We need a farm, something where we can grow food.¡±


    ¡°You look like you have a location in mind.¡±


    ¡°I do but it¡¯s too far to get to easily; my grandpa¡¯s cabins in the mountains of Colorado.¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t make it that far.¡±


    ¡°I know, family before our food problem though. Whose home is nearest?¡±


    I know Bryan lives across town, I myself am outside of town so I turn to Abagail. She should be nearest to her home.


    ¡°We passed my house on the way here.¡± Tears start to form in her eyes, shit. Bryan draws her into a hug, before he begins to talk.


    ¡°Her house had broken windows and blood trailing from the front door and one of the windows.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t know.¡± I didn''t even notice.


    There is silence for a few seconds.


    ¡°Bryan, you house is closer than mine, we¡¯ll stop by Tomas¡¯s as we head towards yours. I don¡¯t think that we will find what we hope for but perhaps we will get lucky.¡±


    Bryan nods, comforting Abagail. I didn¡¯t think we already passed by her house, great make everyone sad, didn¡¯t get enough of that with the funeral huh? I turn to the trio, now to see if they are staying with us or not.


    ¡°Thank you for honoring my friend. I said I would show you the weapon I used against the orcs, but I would like to talk first.¡±


    The three nod, ¡°my friends and me are planning to see if any of our family members are still alive. Then we are going to look for a stable source of food. There is safety in numbers and I want to know if you will travel with us.¡±


    The three have a confused look on their faces. Talia, I think I can¡¯t see if she is the one with the sword, responds to my inquiry.


    ¡°Did you not offer us hospitality Lord Adrian?¡±


    ¡°I gave you shelter and food, do you mean something different?¡±


    ¡°You offered us a place to stay in your house. Our families are dead, we are three women with no place to go. You offered us a place in your family¡¯s household.¡±


    Since when is giving someone help something like this? I gave them food and a roof for a night, does their word for hospitality have another connotation? No, I don¡¯t think so. A cultural circumstance?


    ¡°You¡¯re going to have to explain that to me. What do you mean I offered you a place in my family¡¯s house? You keep referring to me as Lord Adrian, do you mean it as a rank of nobility?¡±


    The three look shocked. I see fear and unease in their eyes. Did I get myself into a mess? Is this reality going to become less pleasant than the other? No, the other isn¡¯t real stop thinking of it. Is it even possible for it to be worse? Pay attention to these girls, not your crazy.


    ¡°You offered hospitality to someone of the opposite gender. You even cooked the food yourself. Was this not an offer of courtship? Of course, we call you lord, are you not a noble? How else do you have servants? You are a mage as well; all mages are nobles.¡±


    ¡°There are no nobles here. Monarchy and Feudalism are not practiced anymore.¡±


    I accidently asked all three of them out at the same time? They weren¡¯t mad about it either? No this can¡¯t be right. Maybe this is the dream? No, the other is, this is better anyways. How come they didn¡¯t get mad? Should I roll with it? Act like that offer was on purpose? What if they learn English? Or if someone else learns their language?


    Can¡¯t hide it. No, I shouldn¡¯t think like that. It¡¯s wrong to hide that. I have to correct them, what other customs are different? Wait they stayed after that, does that mean they were thinking about it?


    They are still talking, what did I miss when I spaced out?


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I got trapped in my thoughts. Our customs are different. Leaders are chosen by common consent; the others are following me because we agreed that I could best lead them.¡±


    ¡°So, you are a Lord, but because the others chose you to be?¡±


    ¡°No, there are no Lords, Kings, or anything of the like. We as a group discuss what we are going to do. But when there is not time to do so we have agreed that I will choose what to do.¡±


    ¡°But how can your people be governed if you all have to talk over each issue?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t, we discuss who should make such decisions in our place.¡±


    ¡°So, you do have Lords.¡±


    ¡°The function might be close, but they are not Lords. They have to follow the same laws as everyone else. There are no special privileges for leading.¡±


    ¡°So, you choose who will do the jobs of a Lord but they don¡¯t get special privileges?¡±


    ¡°The details don¡¯t matter. His title may be different and have lack privileges our nobles claim but he does the job of a Lord. The hospitality stands, the Althaen will recognize it¡± interrupts Kythia? Was I right this time? I won¡¯t know until one of the elf sisters says her name.


    ¡°What do you mean the Althaen will recognize it?¡±


    ¡°They are the nobles and royals of what remains.¡±


    ¡°I am not a Lord and don¡¯t care if some noble thinks I am.¡±


    Kylee, no that isn¡¯t it, smiles at my response. I don¡¯t think that they like these Althaen nobles. We got off topic though, what was it? Hospitality, that was it.


    ¡°Anyways, you said something about giving you food was courtship?¡±


    The trio nod, is it a mistake to tell them the misunderstanding?


    ¡°We have no such custom, that is truly only kindness. . .¡±


    They look disappointed? No, only K-something is disappointed. The elf sisters are something else, not relieved. Worried? Do they think I would abandon them now? Well maybe if they were ugly, or deadweight. They respected Tomas after his death, I want them to stay.


    ¡°. . . but that does not mean that I am going to ditch you. If you want to follow me as my friends, you are welcome to.¡±


    The trio look relieved, they didn¡¯t want to be left behind. Why do they even want to follow me? Talia and Kath, no that¡¯s not it, are better fighters than me. Lysan is a better mage, I can¡¯t cast any language translation spells. Who knows what else they can do.


    ¡°Why do you three want to follow me? Why were you all fine with the misunderstanding?¡±


    The sisters look at each other and frown, K, should I just think of her like that till I learn her name? speaks ¡°We are now houseless, if the nobles of Althaen find us we will be taken as concubines. Only a noble can say no to another noble. Since all of the men of our families are dead we must attach ourselves to someone or not be given a choice when we catch the eye of a noble. You are strong. You saved our lives when we met. You are kind to your followers. You gave the greatest honor possible to your dead. You offered hospitality, or protection. . .¡±


    ¡°The offer might have been on accident but you treated us far better than you had to. Your offer was bread and a place to sleep, but you gave us food better than any I have had in years. You took no advantage of any of us. How could we not want to follow you?¡± interrupts Talia.


    They make my actions seem so great, I did not mean to portray any of these things to them, but they want to follow me because of them.


    ¡°How did you learn to speak elvish so quickly? Is it a spell? Or did you ask the Grey Dream for it?¡±


    ¡°Grey dream?¡±


    ¡°The grey place you go to before moving onto sleep. I hope you didn¡¯t it is hard to get the Grey Dream to grant you something.¡±


    It is hard to get that grey void to give you something? You just need the points of the right type, wait I only know that because I made it create a display. They have never known it to do anything other than answer questions. My idea of a game display was new to the space. Should I tell them of my experience?

 Chapter 010

    Divinely assisted magic used by the followers of a god is often divided by Domains and Spheres rather than the Schools of Magic used by the Arcane. The general term for a division on the side of the mortal user is known as a Sphere while the deity¡¯s side is called a Domain. Each deity supplies a unique list of Spheres to their followers that match the Domains that they themselves have. While the gods do offer some generic Spheres, the power of them is never as great as those that more closely match their Domains.


    <hr>


    Adrian


    <hr>


    ¡°That grey void isn¡¯t as difficult to work with as you think¡± I say.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Lysan asks.


    ¡°You use it to answer questions like ¡®am I better at swords¡¯ or how many of a spell can I cast right?¡±


    ¡°That is what it is for, and when we are ready it gives helps us make the next step.¡±


    I sigh, ¡°how do you interact with it?¡±


    ¡°You meditate on what skills you worked on that day and if you are ready things become clearer.¡±


    ¡°There is a better way. . .¡±


    The three all look at me like that¡¯s ridiculous. They are about to start talking and I raise my hand a little bit. They immediately stop, and I continue ¡°. . . the grey void dream whatever it is responds to questions that you think of while in it.¡±


    ¡°That can¡¯t be right, we are taught what it can do as children before we are ever able to go in there ourselves.¡±


    ¡°And have you ever tried anything that you were not expressly told? I never had this Grey Dream before yesterday, but I got this Grey Dream to teach me. How did I do that, when no one ever told me about it?¡±


    Talia and Lysan close their mouths, K was just sitting there listening. I think she tried out my reverse blood magic idea; I should ask her how that went later. I wait a few seconds and K responds to my rhetorical questions.


    ¡°By thinking and asking yourself questions while in the Grey Dream?¡±


    She isn¡¯t sure. I nod, ¡°that¡¯s right. It responded to the questions within my thoughts. The Grey Dream is some sort of astral void. A plane of thought, were you interact with something. It says that it is a piece of something else made by the gods of Althr¨¢. I assume that is the name of your world?¡±


    They nod. ¡°I am not sure if everything that it told me is the truth. I am not a follower of whatever gods that exist in your world, but the grey void responded to my questions. At least some of them. I got the void to converse as we are now, it still caused more questions than it answered. But there is one thing that you can use.¡±


    The girls are leaning forwards now, I guess they really want to know. ¡°When you go to sleep tonight and enter this Grey Dream do two things. First think of a question along these lines, ¡®how can I get this dream state to converse with me¡¯. Next, I want you to ask for a character sheet about yourself. Ask questions afterwards to help you understand just what that is.¡±


    ¡°But how does that answer the question of how you learned elvish? How could you ask about that language without ever having looked at it?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll understand when you have done what I just told you. The grey space awards accomplishments, it does not care if you cash in on things that you were not working on.¡±


    Lysan opens her mouth, ¡°I will only answer a question about this after you have tried what I said.¡± Her mouth closes. The three of them are sitting there, they seem excited and skeptical. Well so would I, if I didn¡¯t see this myself I wouldn¡¯t believe it. But then maybe I¡¯m not a good example it took grandpa weeks to convince me I could do magic. I just thought it was really fun to shock people all the time with static.


    I turn to look at K, I going to have to just guess her name. I hope this goes right. The only one that didn¡¯t feel wrong was Kythia so I hope that is right.


    ¡°Kythia, . . .¡± she looks up, I should at least be close. ¡°. . . did you try out my ideas on healing from yesterday?¡±


    And she looks really excited, and starts to talk really fast.


    ¡°Ididanditwhileittookmeawhile. . .¡±


    ¡°Talk slower, start over.¡±


    She takes a deep breath, ¡°I did and it took me a while to figure out how to make the blood magic go in the opposite direction. I am sorry but I am not good at making my own spells could you show me how to do it. Would you teach me magic?¡±


    Wait she actually got it to work. I was expecting it to fail, that¡¯s just an excuse I make to have healing spells as a necromancer. She said something after that, she wanted me to teach her. I don¡¯t know how to do any magic with mana. I don¡¯t even know if I can, grandpa always told me our family doesn¡¯t use crap like mana.


    ¡°I can¡¯t teach you . . .¡± and she slumps down into the chair. ¡°. . . I don¡¯t know how to use mana; my magic is different.¡±


    ¡°I knew it!¡± shouts Lysan. Damn her voice can get loud and high pitched.


    ¡°I know a lot of theory about how magic should work, that¡¯s it. I don¡¯t know how to do that kind of magic myself, I don¡¯t even think that I could learn. I think that it might conflict with what I can do. I can explain my ideas to you but I will never be able to demonstrate the how to make it work.¡±


    Well, maybe if I learn to warp mana? It is a type of energy so it should be possible. No, I shouldn¡¯t try it. Mana is used to warp reality, why should I learn to use it to do what I already can directly? They don¡¯t suffer reality backlash though. . .


    ¡°What do you mean it might conflict with what you can do?¡±


    ¡°What you use mana to accomplish, I just directly manipulate. You use mana to produce or control fire, I just skip the mana step and play with fire.¡±


    ¡°Why would adding mana cause problems? Wouldn¡¯t that make it easier?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so, how can I explain it? . . .¡± What would even relate to them? ¡°Do you know of woodcarving?¡±


    The trio nods, good I might get my point across. ¡°What if someone gave you a different type of blade, something a different shape than you have ever seen. You can watch them carve the same thing as you but can¡¯t figure out why. With his tools, could you still carve?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t get it. How is woodcarving related?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not. if you and your sister switched weapons could either of you do as good of a job as before?¡±


    ¡°No, why would we switch?¡±


    ¡°But you understand what Talia can do with her sword right?¡±


    ¡°Well yes . . .¡±


    ¡°My magic is the same, I don¡¯t understand how to manipulate mana. What it should be able to do, yes but not how to do so myself. You understand what Talia can do with a sword but cannot do them yourself.¡±


    They still look confused. K, I¡¯m still not sure if Kythia is right, seems to be thinking about something.


    ¡°Do you mean like learning two conflicting sword styles?¡±


    Why didn¡¯t I think of such an explanation? Learning two ways of fighting can cause problems.


    ¡°That would be a good example.¡± K smiles, and says something in a language I don¡¯t understand to the sisters. They know another language that this one? The sisters don¡¯t seem to understand her either. Is she from a different place than the elf sisters? Probably she is human and they are elves.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Anyways, we will be heading out as early as we can tomorrow. Come with me, I¡¯ll show you how . . .¡± elvish doesn¡¯t have word for gun, I¡¯ll just say the English, ¡°firearms are used.¡±


    The four of us walk to the indoor shooting range at the back of the camping section. It¡¯s meant for bows but it will work. There are no counters like most shooting ranges, just a room with a table on one side and a few targets set up on the other. When we enter the room the elf sisters rush over to the table where Bryan and me laid out most of the weapons we found. Well, actually a few of each type of weapon. They both pick up one of the composite bows and are whispering to each other about metal bows.


    After a moment, they turn around the bows hugged tight to their chests, well the bow is pressed into their breasts. They seem less flat now, they weren¡¯t flat before but now I can tell they both have a nice rack under that loose armor. I look away and cough, they seem to want the bows. Their eyes look like a ten-year-old kids in a candy store.


    If I give them the bows will that be asking both of them out again? ¡°You can have them but I¡¯m showing all three of you how to use firearms first.¡± Their grins are so wide I now know they were just like ten-year-old kids in a candy store. They set their new bows over by the door. Should I show them the nanocarbon arrows now, or later? Later, I don¡¯t think I could stop them from playing with bows if I did it now.


    I pick up three pistols from the table and give one to each of the girls. ¡°That is called a pistol, I don¡¯t know the name for that exact version. It is the launcher for these.¡± I pick up one of the 9mm bullets from an opened box. No way we can bring all of the bullets tomorrow I guess I won¡¯t worry about ammo conservation tonight.


    I set the bullet back on the table and pull out one of the pistols on my belt. I need to replace that before we leave. I remove the magazine and pull out the top bullet, ¡°You have to load the ammunition into this small box like so.¡± I take the bullet in and out of the magazine a few times so they can see.


    ¡°And to ready the weapon the small box must be inserted like this. The rifle . . .¡± I point to one of them on the table, ¡°. . . also must be prepared the same way. You can fit up to fifteen shots into these boxes, other boxes and weapons may have a different number.¡±


    I pass each of the girls one of the magazines and a box of bullets. They figure out how to fill the magazines fast enough. ¡°The next part is shooting the weapon itself, these weapons are dangerous. Now without the small box in the weapon hold the gun like so.¡± The girls mimic my posture, I¡¯ll have to correct them when they get to actual shooting. That will be fun.


    ¡°The weapon will . . . release the attack when you squeeze the bit of metal with you finger inside of the metal loop. On the side of these there is a small switch here that can lock the metal bit in place to prevent accidental attacks. If you ever point these weapons at someone who you are not prepared to kill I will take these items away from you. A single shot can kill people.¡±


    I walk over to the line marking one hundred feet from the targets. ¡°Line up parallel to me and watch.¡± I focus on grandpa¡¯s Spatial Aim, ¡°These weapons are loud but watch how to use them. You aim by looking down the . . . top of the weapon. Line up the metal ball with the grove closer to you eye, the bullet will hit whatever is on the other side of the small ball. Not accounting for drop and wind.¡±


    I fire five shots into the center of the target, quarter sized. Well beyond what I can do without cheating. I hold my left hand out pulling the target paper through space. If I¡¯m going to show off in front of girls I might as well go all out, right? They look at where the target was before and back to me.


    I grin, they look impressed by how close the holes are. ¡°Now I¡¯ll help each of you on the proper way to aim this weapon and you will try. Who wants to try first?¡±


    K walks up to me, she turns her face to the targets. She is close to the right posture, I walk up behind her and correct her posture. ¡°Elbows locked, the weapons kick back. . .¡± and she is leaning back into me. I can feel her place a little weight against me, and I think she might be slightly taller than me. The armor is thin, I can feel her back rub against my waist.


    She fires the pistol and jumps back a bit. How fine is this armor if I can feel her under it? I push up against her, straitening her arms. ¡°You missed try again.¡± She grins a bit and wiggles in my grasp of her. That feels nice, is she doing that on purpose? She fires the gun again, and her back-end rubs against my crotch.


    Feeling my pants tighten I back away from her. She smirks, looking right at the growing bulge under my belt. My face reddens for a second before I get myself under control. She was doing it on purpose. Should I see how far she¡¯ll go? No, the elf twins are here. I shouldn¡¯t, I only met her yesterday. Maybe if she is still doing this in a few weeks . . .


    ¡°You seem to have the idea now, let¡¯s see how you do.¡±


    At the end, fourteen of her shots hit the target, only one of them near the bull¡¯s eye though. ¡°Good job for your first try.¡± I pass her some empty magazines and a few boxes, and she goes and sits down after pushing Lysan forward. I guess she is up next.


    I tell Lysan about the same thing that I said to K. Lysan seem much more nervous than K was. She is also at least six inches shorter than me so I got a good look down her shirt. Not quite as large as K¡¯s but they are still a nice pair. My pants tighten again, maybe I shouldn¡¯t ogle her like this?


    She panics from the recoil of the first shot, and presses he back right up against me. K says something in a language I don¡¯t understand, and Lysan turns beet red. Is it that I¡¯m pressed right against her back? Or whatever it was that K said?


    ¡°Kythia! Don¡¯t say stuff like that! What if he understands you!¡± Well Talia knows what she said. My guess was right about K¡¯s name. So much for half paying attention doesn¡¯t work. Talia turned a little red too, whatever Kythia said it must be dirty. Should I ask for a translation? Kythia is grinning at the two sisters, she will probably repeat what she said.


    I¡¯ll ask her later, after this. ¡°I have no idea what you just said. But guns are serious and we need to be serious when learning about them.¡±


    She puts on a pouty face, ¡°are you sure we can¡¯t play around even a little?¡± Ok, she is definitely trying to tempt me into her pants. She looks decent now, after who know how many days without a shower, so she is going to be hot when we find a place to clean up.


    ¡°Maybe when I show you how to aim the next gun.¡± If she isn¡¯t crazy I¡¯m going to take her up on her seduction. Got to wait, make sure she isn¡¯t crazy. Don¡¯t stick it in crazy. ¡°But it¡¯s not your turn to be helped it''s Lysan¡¯s¡±


    I turn back to Lysan and correct her posture again. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the weapon will only hurt what you point it at.¡± She tries again, and misses. She panicked a second time, her back rubbed against my waist. That feels good, how thin is their armor? She blushes a little more; yeah, she definitely knows what part of me she rubbed up against.


    I don¡¯t bring it up and neither does she. She is less startled on the third shot, or maybe she didn¡¯t want to fall on my crotch again? With her fourth attempt, she figured it out. I take my arms off her, and the rest of the bullets land in the inner half of the target.


    ¡°Good job, help Kythia with the ammo. Talia your turn.¡± I don¡¯t turn around, I¡¯m still excited. I only had about a minute after Lysan stopped panicking with each shot, and I spent it trying to figure out just how big she was under that chain shirt. Talia walks up and I guide her just as I did her sister.


    Hmm, I think they really are twins; every piece of them I¡¯ve seen has been identical. Talia makes the same mistake as her sister the first time. Kythia said something again, not sure what but Lysan is giving her an angry stare. Talia didn¡¯t turn as red though, she wasn¡¯t as distracted from me poking her as I helped her second attempt either.


    All of her shots after that were about as accurate as her sisters. They are really good, elves and ranged weapons I guess. Should I show them rifles or revolvers next? Rifles will need less explanation, ¡°The next firearm is meant to be more accurate, but can¡¯t be used when your target is close.¡±


    I pick up a rifle and a magazine to show them how to load it, ¡°like the pistol you have to insert a box of ammunition. You aim the weapon, in the same way; but some will have . . . metal tubes with glass for longer distances.¡±


    I walk over to the hundred feet mark, and once again fire using spatial aim. After ten shots I pass remove the magazine and pass them to Kythia. She takes aim, but the rifle but isn¡¯t against her shoulder. She locked her elbows.


    I reach around and correct her posture as before; and just as before she leaned back into me, rubbing a little against my crotch. My right forearm is pressed against her chest, the chain shirt scratches me a bit; she is soft underneath it. ¡°Firearms of this shape are to have an end resting against you shoulder, right between the bones.¡±


    After the shot, I let go of her. I need to calm down before I do something stupid. I don¡¯t pay attention as she uses the remaining fifteen rounds. After a minute, I have Kythia reload the magazine as I watch the other two try. They paid attention and didn¡¯t need correction on how to hold the rifle. They are almost as good as me when I¡¯m not cheating with magic.


    I point at one of the revolvers, and show how to load and unload it. ¡°I am not as familiar with these. I have never used one, but I think it is aimed the same as a pistol. You are free to try them out later.¡±


    I walk over to the bows, and pick one up; pointing at the hex key hole ¡°you can use this hole here to adjust the pull of the bow.¡± I point to the sights, ¡°these are to aid aim. They are supposed to be marking arrow drop over distance, but they are not set correctly.¡±


    I pull one of the boxes out from under the table, and open it so they can see the contents. Nanocarbon arrow shafts, fletched but the heads have not been screwed in. I pull out another box, this one is smaller and full of steel arrowheads. I assemble one of the arrows and pass it to one of the twins. I don¡¯t know which is who, they set down their weapons at some point.


    Whoever I didn¡¯t pass the arrow to is trying to take it from her sister. I was right to show them guns first. Assembling a second arrow, ¡°there are more than enough for both of you. Stop fighting over that one.¡± They stop fighting over it, and look down. Ashamed?


    ¡°You can have as many of these arrows as you can assemble and carry. You three may practice with the weapons in here, but don¡¯t open the larger boxes of the ammunition for the firearms. . .¡± Is there something else I should mention? ¡°. . . also, no fire or electricity near the ammunition. It will explode and hurt you. Don¡¯t stay up too late, we want to leave early tomorrow.¡±


    With that I walk out of the room. I hear giggles and whispers as I exit the door. Do they recognize expensive gifts as courtship? Whatever I can deal with that later, now I need to sleep. I have the midnight watch. How am I going to stop thinking about them?


    I walk to the clothing section, it¡¯s all sports teams and hunting jackets but I need a new belt. I¡¯ve also been in a tattered shirt since yesterday. I feel filthy, hopefully one of the houses still has water in its hot water heater. I grab a few shirts my size, and two belts before going back to the sleeping bags. I smell, shower search tomorrow as we travel too.