by Tao Wong
“Coming.” Even without looking around, I could hear the smile in her voice.
Epilogue
Of course it wasn’t that easy. Once we got back, I had to explain the new situation to my other watcher. Caleb was less than impressed with my various explanations and the fact that I overdrew my mana, again. In fact, after some testing, he relegated me to a two-month period of convalescence and book study. It seemed my constant abuse of my body had damaged my mana channels.
As for Caleb’s thoughts on Alexa? The mage did not deign to inform me.
Alexa, on the other hand, had a more arduous time of it. She had a number of belongings still at the camp which had been returned to us. In turn, Alexa returned a number of smaller items I had never noticed her owning till then, including a surprising number of explosives. Interestingly enough, the Templars allowed her to keep her spear and armor. As a mostly secret organization, none of her materials had designs on them, so they did not require cleansing.
Perhaps the greatest shock of all for the ex-initiate was the closure of her bank account and the return of a small portion of funds within it. Once I was back on my feet, I helped Alexa run a number of “adult” errands including opening a bank account and applying for a credit card. As a former ward of the Templars, she had never needed to do either herself.
Without the salary and funds provided by the Templars, Alexa quickly began running the various quests on the board that she could handle while I convalesced. If I didn’t know better, I would have said she was distracting herself from the abrupt change in her. But I did, and late-night sobs from her room indicated that, newfound serenity or not, Alexa still had much to work through.
As for myself? The longer I existed in this strange new world, the more I realized how simplistic my earlier perceptions on it had been. There were deep currents, not only among the organizations that existed here but within those currents. A single misstep could pull me under. As it stood, I knew the Templars were waiting. And now, I could not help but wonder, who else?
Book 3
A Jinn’s Wish
Chapter 1
Magic was wonderful, amazing, and awe-inspiring. It could destroy buildings, find lost keys, and raise a sunken ship with equal ease. Magic’s only limits were the boundaries of life and the imagination and skill of its user. And even the first was arguable.
“So why is it I’m still doing dishes by hand?” I grumbled as I finished washing the bubbles from the last plate then dropped it onto the drying rack with a tinkle of glass. The small kitchen I was in held the remnants of our breakfast—store-bought frozen waffles and real maple syrup—the delectable smells lingering in the air. Cream walls and ten-year-old appliances surround me while I finish cleaning up and I wish once again there was enough money—and space—to put in a dishwasher.
“Careful. Don’t chip them!” The black-haired, olive-skinned beauty I’d directed my question to didn’t even look up from her video game. Some awe-inspiring, open box RPG world. More research according to Lily, but I knew it was more of an addiction. More of her way of adjusting to a world that had changed in the last fifty years of captivity in her ring.
Oh, yeah. Lily’s a jinn, and until I’d released her four years ago, she’d been stuck in her ring in an abandoned briefcase. How one of the world’s most powerful artifacts had found itself in an abandoned briefcase—untouched, unopened, and unknown for decades—was a mystery I had yet to solve. If someone knew—and I was sure someone did—they’d refused to tell me.
“I’d just Repair them. I got that spell down pat.”
“Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.” Lily’s tongue stuck out for a second as a stray lock of hair fell over an eye. She scrunched up her face as she focused on a platform hop between a swaying bridge and a cliff, releasing a breath of relief as she managed it. A quick flick of her finger put the game on hold. A glance showed her continuing to transition between hyper gates on her other computer. “You’ve grown to rely on magic too much. Magic’s an infinitely adjustable tool, but sometimes, using your hands is better. Knowing when to stop relying on magic is just as important.”
I sniffed, shaking my head. “What’s the point of having magic if you aren’t using it?”
“To brush your teeth?”
“I was working on my fine control!”
“Getting yourself a cup of water in the middle of the night?”
“It was…” My voice dropped as I winced slightly. “Cold. My bed was warm.”
“And you used four different spells to get yourself that cup.”
“Just three!” I protested. Scry to shift my point of view so I could see the cup from downstairs. Levitate to move the cup. And Light because I hadn’t bothered to switch on the lights.
“You forgot your Force Fingers.”
To turn on the tap, of course. I’d forgotten about that. A few years ago, splitting my focus to cast four spells, even four cantrip level spells like this, would have been impossible. I’d made great strides, but maybe I had gotten a little lazy. But… “It’s not as if magic is addictive. Or doing harm to my body to wield.”
Lily huffed and crossed her arms. “I told you before, it’s a matter of mental flexibility. If all you can see is how to use magic, you stop seeing any solutions except for a magical fix. If you want to become the strongest, you can’t be limited—even by your own thoughts.”
My lips curled up, a sneer forming as I instinctively fought against her recommendation. That I had fought and lost this argument already was part of the reason why I felt rather petty about this entire thing. I understood her point, probably even agreed with it to some extent. But it was a conceptual idea, one that had no real bearing on me at the moment. The kind of research and spell creation she was speaking about was for the Archmages, individuals who, if I used my own little cheat System, would be in the high hundreds. As for me, I was a measly Level 63.
Seeing that she had won, Lily turned back to her game. Before I could decide on my next step, rapid knocks came on my door. As I threw open the door, I was surprised to see Shane, a deep frown creasing his short, bearded stature. It’d been ages since I’d seen him—not since I’d managed to put a tracking enchantment on Charlie’s collar, allowing Shane to track his cat. It was one of my better enchantments, especially since it drew its power source from the ambient Mana of the world.
“What’s wrong?”
“There’s… well. Better to show you.”
“Charlie okay?” I said as I grabbed my coat off its hook.
Shane bobbed his head and stepped out. I followed the taciturn dwarf as he headed down the street. As we walked, I noticed how Shane kept turning his head, deep-set eyes growing deeper as he spotted our watchers.
“Don’t worry about them,” I said. “They’re keeping an eye out for me.”
“How many?”
“Five? No. Six groups now.” I let out a huff of exasperation. Among them, the Mage Council, the Knights Templar, the Uttara Mīmāṃsā, and the FBI watched us from the various houses lining the street. I was somewhat amused that the majority of this street, and a portion of the neighborhood, had become supernatural central. “Forgot about the Druids. They’re the latest.”
“Druids?” Shane twitched, hunching lower. I wondered what the story was there.
I shook my head. “Don’t worry about it. It’s a long time before they’ll do anything. In fact, this is probably the safest street in the city.”
Shane grunted in acknowledgement.
I was no longer surprised by the details your generic supernatural denizen knew about my situation. One thing I’d learnt about the supernatural world was they gossiped worse than a group of mahjong players. Seriously, you’d think it was a superpower among the supernatural. But if you considered that even the biggest supernatural population was only the size of a small town, the gossip made sense. When there wasn’t much in terms of laws and bureaucracy to fall upon, reputat
ion and knowledge became the currency everyone banked on.
“Safer…” Shane fell silent.
I couldn’t help but notice his body language, the way he hunched in a little, the way he kept sending glances towards me. Running around playing troubleshooter has meant that I’ve had to learn to read people a little better. It’s surprising how much body language stays the same, even across supernatural barriers. But that might be a result of everyone forced to interact with one another constantly.
Eventually, we left my neighborhood and headed not for his, but another nearby street. There, the buildings were a mix of ground-floor retail and two-story apartment complexes, keeping the street vibrant and busy. At least, during the weekends. Weekdays, like today, things were a little quieter, though not quiet. Bisecting Spruce Street were numerous alleyways, and it was down one of those alleys Shane took me.
As we walked down the dumpster-filled alley, I couldn’t help but look around. Sad to say, my life had changed significantly enough that wandering down strange alleys and looking for trouble wasn’t that uncommon. From goblins living in the trash to devil rats, alleyways and garbage dumpsters were a thing.
My increased alertness was the reason I sensed the shift in Shane’s demeanor. I was looking his way when he turned and plunged a knife into my chest, going straight for my heart. I shifted aside enough to avoid sudden death, but not enough to stop him from putting a bleeding hole into my lungs and tearing open a portion of my chest. A reflexive Mana Bolt punched Shane back, sending him stumbling into the wall. As if the attack was a sign, the dwarf rippled, his body elongating and lengthening even as his skin lost color and his beard shed.
“Doppelganger,” I snarled.
My Force Shield caught his lunge, turning the blade. Not that the not-Shane gave me enough time to catch my breath before he stabbed at me while I clutched my wound. Only the training and the numerous near-death experiences I’d had allowed me to keep my focus on my spell. Well, that and the cheat spells Lily had stuck in my mind, allowing me to call them forth at a snap. Even so, it was all I could do to hold him off with one hand and keep my wound closed with the other.
“Time to die, warlock.” The doppelganger kept attacking with one hand, but I was surprised to see him pull out an all-too-mundane grenade with the other. He stopped long enough to pull the pin on the grenade.
I was grateful for his mistake, as adjusting an existing shield was easier than casting a new one. The math, the change in the ritual runes in my mind expanded the Force Shield and curved it, making it a semi-solid, concave shield that faced the monster. Then I shrank it as fast as I could around the doppelganger even as he lobbed the grenade at me.
The too-large eyes of the grey humanoid widened in surprise and fear as the grenade bounced back. He turned to run, an action that I mimicked in order to back off as fast as I could. I did my best to contain and redirect the fury of the explosion, guiding the shrapnel and fire at my opponent, but my shield could only hold so long. And then I was on my back, staring at the stars, my ears ringing from the noise, bleeding out.
As I lay there, I couldn’t help but wonder who had sent an assassin after me.
***
By the time my “guardians” arrived, I had managed to stop the bleeding with a Greater Heal spell. The accelerated healing spell started by clotting my wounds then slowly stitching the wounds closed as I held myself together. Of course, it left a big scar, but at this point, scarring was pretty much a given. Over the past few years, I had only managed to ensure that my face and neck were free of major scarring, allowing me to visit my family without serious questions. Well—except the one time I turned down a visit to the beach.
Greater Heal Cast
Synchronicity: 84%
A rather pitiful synchronicity rate, especially after so long, but I was still struggling with that spell. But unlike my normal heal spell, it had the advantage of fixing minor problems like a flooding lung.
“Wizard Tsien, do you require additional healing?” The Templar standing over me was giving me the stink-eye. He was in full tactical battle-gear, ranging from a Kevlar vest with multiple pockets, a couple of knives, a spiked stake with silver and wood, and of course, guns. Lots of guns. No sword, though the knife strapped to his thigh was big enough to be considered a short sword.
Ever since Alexa left the Templars, our brief interactions have been less than friendly.
“I’ll live.” I staggered to my feet, pressing at my wounds and looking at my bloody clothing. Thankfully, I’d remembered to bring my damn bag containing an extra set of clothes. Over the years, I’d had every kind of body fluid splashed, vomited, and thrown onto me. An extra set of clothes, carefully wrapped and sealed in an extra-large ziplock bag, was a minimum requirement for my lifestyle. Though getting stabbed by a friend was a new one. “Is Shane…?”
“Dead.” The reply came from the Druid walking over.
You’d think a Druid would be an old man with a long, white beard and a grey or green robe. Nope. The Druid set to guard me had a carefully manicured, villain-style goatee, long hair, and mascara. Add the leather jacket with the many little spikes on it and the black T-shirt underneath, and he’d fit right in a heavy metal concert.
“Not the doppelganger,” I said, shaking my head and refusing to look at the mangled remains a short distance away. “The real Shane.”
“Dead,” the Druid insisted. “We put out a call for his spirit once your friend went boom. Got a return signal, all strong and angry.”
I swore and, having felt my body settle down a little more, began another Greater Heal. My guardians ignored my casting, paying more attention to the corpse and muttering to one another. I would have been grumpy about that, but they didn’t really care what state I was in when I reached Level 100 and freed myself from my wish to Lily. It would probably be even better if I was a completely broken wreck since they still needed to kill me. Which, you can guess, was why I was a little concerned that they may have let the doppelganger in on purpose.
“Did you sense him?” the Templar muttered to the Druid.
“No. Our spirits were distracted. There was another attack.” The Druid gestured around, shaking his head. “We only had a minor spirit watching the target.”
“Heat signature was correct. Dwarves and doppelgangers run hot, which is probably why they chose him,” the Templar said, running a hand through blond hair. “No magical resonance because it was a doppelganger.”
“Yes. We missed it too.” Caleb Hahn, Magus of the Second Circle and my mostly reluctant Magic teacher strode over, followed by two hangdog mages. I assumed those were the ones set to watch over me. Caleb turned, saw that I was done with my healing, and fixed me with a flat gaze. “They tried to open a sealed gate in an abandoned shopping mall. Thus my lateness.”
“I take it you’ve been having trouble?” My words were somewhat muffled since I was peeling off my shirt, showing off my no longer completely pale and skinny body to everyone. Due to the added training that Alexa had put me through, I was no longer the skinny gamer I’d been years ago. Call it a little bit of vanity, but I was proud of that. Of course, I’d be prouder if I didn’t have a dozen alarming scars that needed hiding.
“No more than usual for this year,” Caleb said, receiving glares from the other groups.
While the Druids and Templars might not like each other, they were both clear about their dislike of the Mage Council. It had a lot to do with the fact that of them all, Caleb had the best relationship with me—and the Council itself was warming to me. They’d begun to realize that a Level 100 Mage, fed spells and knowledge long considered lost, could be a boon to them.
Already, Caleb had advanced a circle just from working with me. Watching the way I worked spells, spells that had been lost to them, had improved Caleb’s knowledge at a rate that left many of his peers behind. Even if he was forced to share his knowledge, because of his position, he was still leading the pack.
>
As I finished pulling my new shirt over my body, I caught a glimpse of the shredded corpse. As if the stench had been waiting, I caught a whiff of the body and gagged a little. If I could have backed off farther, I would have. “Are you intending to deal with the body?”
“No.” The Templar was short and abrupt.
He looked at the body once more before he stomped off, soon followed by the Druid. After stuffing my sodden shirt into my bag and covering up the blood on my jeans, I glanced at the body. Better to get rid of the evidence. As I readied myself to cast an Acid Dissolution spell on the body, Caleb pushed down my hand.
“What?”
“The body will be dealt with by some of your shyer guardians,” Caleb answered.
“Who? How?” I frowned. I knew I had other watchers, but only the three I’d seen already had taken steps to actually talk to me. Repeated questions had, thus far, offered little additional knowledge.
“I am not sure, though I expect that the FBI will win this argument,” Caleb said.
“FBI?” I yelped, eyes widening. “Wait. X-Files?”
“I do not believe they have an actual designation,” Caleb said with a shrug. “Nor am I sure if they are actual FBI agents.”
“Then…?”
“It is clear they are from the government,” Caleb clarified.
Seeing that I was standing, he walked out of the alleyway, forcing me to hurry after him, as did the lower Mages. From a quick feel of their auras, I assumed they were around the sixth or so Circle—not too close to graduating but not green-nose recruits. That they offered me jealous and unhappy looks wasn’t unusual, but the looks were not particularly flattering on thirty-year-old men.
Repeated interactions with those in the lower ranks of the Mage Council had shown me that my name was mud. A lot of it was due to jealousy—not only did I get the personal tutelage of a Second Circle Magician, but I also had Lily inputting spells and knowledge that the Mages had taken decades to learn. I’d managed to achieve in a few years what they’d struggled with for decades, scraping and testing, experimenting. Add in the fact that I had a wider variety of instant-cast spells, and well…
