Siphon (A Touch of Power Book 1)
Page 21
Camille laughed, then pulled out her pocket watch. “Unfortunately, we have to go. We still have tutoring tonight.” Tisha groaned, and Jade nodded in understanding.
“That’s fine. I had a wonderful time with you two today. Be safe, okay?” She hugged each of them as they bid reluctant goodbyes and left. She turned to Stephen. “Are you staying on campus? I was going to head down to the library and get some reading in before it gets too late. By the way, are you the dark magic teacher? Can I see your classroom?”
Stephen narrowed his eyes at her, considering something. Finally, he asked, “How did you know I have dark magic?” Her eyes widened momentarily in panic as she glanced at the ground to try and disguise it. Crap, crap, CRAP! What do I say!?
“Oh, Eric mentioned you were the teacher when he was setting up my schedule. Was he not supposed to tell me?” Yeah, blame it all on Eric… I think he actually did say something about Stephen being one of my teachers… I can pull this off, totally. Her tone was a little guilty, as if she’d been let in on a secret she wasn’t supposed to, but Stephen’s eyes had gone back to normal when she peeked up at him.
“I see. Sure, I can show you my classroom. With how strong your light magic is, I wasn’t sure you’d be interested in dark magic. Usually they’re non-compatible.” He waited as she closed and locked the room, having shoved a bit of food in her constant companion, the bag. How many first projects did she have now? Couldn’t everything just be done already?
She just followed him, saying simply, “I want to learn everything, and I think I can, so why shouldn’t I?”
He snickered. “Why shouldn’t you, indeed. I suppose that’s as good a reason as any.” They had only walked down three doors when he stopped, pulling out his own key to open it. She followed him inside with a grin, peering around. There were about ten desks spread out, but most of the windows outside had dark curtains covering them. Only one was letting in light. She unconsciously took a step closer to Stephen. He peered at her curiously. “Are you afraid of the dark?”
With a grimace, she told him the truth. “It’s not my favorite thing ever, so I might be a little bit afraid. Where I spent my life, there was no true darkness. The hospital was always lit up, so even if the lights were off in my room, light seeped beneath the doors or came from the machines keeping me alive. The street lamps also let in light from the window. It was never really truly dark for me, so it’s just a little unnerving. Maybe being able to control the darkness will help me with that.”
He nodded and said simply, “Maybe. Why don’t we get you to the library?” He ushered her out of the room, closing the door behind him. She smiled and accepted his offered arm once he was done. She could tell he’d wanted her to like his element, and he was trying to gauge if she’d stick with it. Still, her spidey senses were telling her that there was something more, but she couldn’t figure out what she was missing.
They stopped on the first floor by his office so he could drop off his figurine, which was next to what appeared to be a staff lounge. A few people had spotted them and called him over, so she was brought along.
“And who might this young lady be?” A white-haired older gentleman asked as he bent over her hand. His demeanor was stately, but he also seemed to be emanating a comforting aura of vitality. It was like a refreshing wave of warmth that seeped into her bones, and if comfort had a smell, she’d say that’s what he smelled like.
Stephen responded smoothly, “This is Lady Jade, a traveler. You’ll probably see her around a lot, as she’s been given the blood magic room for her workshop, and she’s in every single one of the magic classes for her level.” He figured if he let most of them know now, word would spread and no one would hassle her.
“A pleasure to meet a student with such aptitude, miss Jade. I’m Duke Whitby, the instructor for life magic. I’ll look forward to having you in my class.”
She subsequently met Count Leroy, the etiquette teacher, who was slightly miffed when he realized she wasn’t taking his class because it overlapped with the magic classes. “Etiquette will help in all aspects of your life; you should seriously reconsider.” She had nodded solemnly to mollify him, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, but knowing he wouldn’t let her go unless he thought she had come around to his point of view. His severely parted and flattened hair reminded her of a strict butler who would whack you with a ruler if you slumped.
However, her nod didn’t seem to be enough to get him off her case, so she smiled and responded, “Of course, manners are the basic building blocks of a civil society. However, I’ve already been signed up for my current schedule, so it would be considered bad manners to cancel on the teachers who are expecting me in their classes.”
Finally seeming appeased, he’d moved off and others had moved in. Most seemed to be in their 40’s to 50’s and of higher rank. She could see why Stephen, Eric, and Jarom were considered the youngest ones in their position. When she’d finally greeted all seventeen professors and assistants who’d been in the room, which included a few more who’d dropped by after hearing there was an unusual student to meet–courtesy of what was apparently a very active gossip mill–she and Stephen finally made their escape.
Jade frowned when she noticed the sun was setting. That had taken way more time than she’d hoped for, but it was going to be excellent for her growth tonight, so she supposed it was worth it. She’d taken meticulous note of what each of them taught, given that she wanted to take only the best from them.
Instead of going to the library since it was so late, Stephen walked her back to The Green Dragon. She didn’t even try to touch anyone, even though she hadn’t touched anyone on the streets all day. She didn’t need to. Four academy students, the royal family of eight, fourteen shopkeepers, including two knights, the three guards at the school gate, the three knights and a baronet who’d helped them move her things, and seventeen professors. No, she didn’t feel the need to try and touch anyone else today.
“Sleep well, Jade” Stephen gave her a small hug as he pushed her inside.
She glanced back at him as she entered, saying serenely. “Oh, I’ll sleep so well, I’ll feel like a whole new person tomorrow.” Changes were coming. Massive changes.
In anticipation of that, she cheerfully greeted Raphael, Jessica, and Kaylee. Instead of waiting for the hunger pains to hit her in the middle of the night, she just ate another gigantic meal then and there, still taking more to her room so she wouldn’t have to raid the kitchen. She bid them goodnight before going up to her room to get ready for bed.
Finally laying down in excitement, she went through all of her notifications, matching them to her mental notes of who she’d touched that day. She made her decisions, then clicked on them all at once mentally.
It was a pain unlike any other night. She’d believed she would pass out almost immediately, but the sheer agony wouldn’t even let her pass out peacefully. Her jaw was locked shut to stop herself from screaming bloody murder. It felt like she was being burned from the inside out. After around three minutes, her body could no longer take the pain, and she finally welcomed the blackness.
Her last thought was simple.
I think I finally overloaded the system...
Chapter Twenty-Six – Consequences
Day Four
Jade felt like she’d been hit by a truck again, only worse. Like maybe she’d been smashed by two trucks instead. Her whole body was still in pain when she woke up, and she barely had the energy to reach over and pull the bag she’d put next to her bed closer. Reaching in, she slowly began to eat the bread she pulled out. Each movement was excruciating, and she felt tears sliding down her face in protest. The salty water mixed with her bread because she didn’t have the energy to move it away from her face.
All she knew was that she was never going to do that again. Her body was protesting, and she didn’t even dare heal herself because of what Mike had told her. He could heal the pain, but it would probably come at the cost of stunting h
er growth. Plus, that would probably take more energy, which she wasn’t sure was a great idea right now either. So she slowly curled up around her pillow and cried, trying to muffle the soft sobs she could no longer hold in. Every sob only seemed to amplify the pain though, making her body spasm periodically.
She closed her eyes, wondering if she’d broken herself, and her body wasn’t going to get better anymore. Completely exhausted, she slowly drifted back off into a fitful sleep.
She woke a few more times, only able to eat a little bread before her energy gave out each time until she could no longer make herself reach for food. She no longer sobbed, having given it up as pointlessly aggravating her condition. Tears still silently streamed down, but she didn’t have the presence of mind to try and keep the water in. For the first time since she’d come to this world, she felt completely helpless, her body so overstressed that she couldn’t move a muscle.
When Kaylee knocked on her door a few hours later like she had yesterday, Jade couldn’t even bring herself to formulate a response. She just stared at the ceiling and mentally clicked on a box that was blinking red instead of the customary blue.
Warning: You have siphoned more than your body can currently accommodate. Time spent adapting has been doubled.
Warning: Your body lacks the energy to complete the siphon changes.
Well, that explained why she was still in pain. It also explained why it was so hard to move her muscles. If she didn’t have the ATP to power her cells, she’d get rigor mortis. It seemed the magic had made it so she wasn’t quite to that point yet, and the little amount of food she’d managed to eat was probably helping...but she was in trouble. If she didn’t get help soon, she figured she was actually close to dying because her body was eating energy faster than she could make it. She heard Kaylee knocking louder, but she couldn’t call out and her door was locked.
Mentally, she screamed at Kaylee. “Help me!” Her body spasmed in pain, seemingly in response to her cry. She felt even weaker than before. She closed her eyes, unable to hold them open any longer.
“Something is wrong! We need to get in there, right now!” She could vaguely hear Kaylee’s frantic yells. She could hear pounding footsteps and then a key was scraping across the lock. Oh good, someone has a spare… Her mind was all that was functioning properly right now, and even that now felt like she was slogging through a mire.
The door burst open and she could hear the footsteps of several people rushing in. She heard Kaylee’s gasp of shock. “She’s so pale! Is she even breathing?”
Raphael yelled at someone at the door, “Go fetch a healer, NOW!”
She didn’t need a healer; she needed food. With as much effort as she could muster, she tried to speak. “Enn…” She couldn’t even finish one stupid word before she started coughing, trying to get more air into her lungs.
“She’s alive! Get her some water!”
What seemed like eons later, but was probably only half a minute, she heard Jessica crooning softly as she supported Jade’s head. “Try and swallow this, please.” She heard the even quieter mutter that came after, “Please, please be okay…” Still, she felt the cold water dripping into her mouth, moistening the bone-dry cavity. Unable to swallow, she just savored the water. It would help, she knew. Not much, but at least a little. She continued to slowly take in the water Jessica gave her gratefully. It would stop her from dying for the moment, at least. Hopefully.
She heard someone else come into the room, and she wanted to smile when she heard his voice, but couldn’t make her lips move. “Move aside, let me see her.” Mike would take care of her, right? She felt his hand on her arm, the brief flash of warmth moving through her as she felt his magic. She could hear his sharp intake of breath because the room had gone silent in anticipation. He quickly ordered the others around. “Go, get some soup, broth, juice, anything she can drink that has substance.”
She heard several people scurrying to obey his orders as Jessica, who was still supporting her head and feeding her water, asked fearfully, “Doctor, what’s wrong with her?”
She could almost hear the frown in Mike’s voice as he spoke simply, “Her body is starving. Her muscles are undergoing a tremendous change, and her body didn’t have the energy to support it, but it kept trying. It looks like she was trying to eat something, but she didn’t have the energy to do even that because the rest of her body was eating it up so quickly. She’s severely dehydrated and almost in a state of starvation, but otherwise, she’s fine. Keep giving her the water until they bring something more substantial.”
She felt his hand on her wrist again, and then a warmth to her muscles. The pain lessened just a tiny bit, and she managed to croak, “What…?”
Mike seemed to understand as he spoke soothingly, “Shhh, just focus on drinking. I didn’t really heal you; I just gave you a bit of energy to tide you over.”
She heard footsteps rushing back into the room and felt Jessica take the cup away briefly before bringing it back with something that smelled like apple juice. As the sweet calories hit her tongue, she found that with Mike’s little injection of energy, she could at least swallow properly now. Much better than drowning.
“Is she okay?” Why did that sound like Will’s voice? What was he doing in her room?
“She’s going to be fine. However, I think it would be best if everyone else waited downstairs. Let’s give her some privacy while she recovers.” His stern tone seemed to remind everyone that they had barged into her room while she was ‘sleeping.’ She heard them complain, but start moving towards the door. She figured they had all left when she heard Mike say resolutely, “You too, Raphael.”
“I’m staying.” Raphael’s voice was firm, but Mike seemed to be set on kicking him out.
“And who’s going to keep that lot under control? She’s going to be fine. You’re needed more out there, though it would be best if you could procure more food that’s simple to eat. What we have here will help, but I have the feeling she’s going to need a lot more.”
Raphael finally grunted in agreement at that, and she heard him leave, closing the door behind him. Jessica was still holding her head and tipping apple juice down her throat, so she figured the other person in there was Kaylee, who from the sound of it, was getting the next dose of whatever ready.
When the cup was removed temporarily from her face, she croaked again, “Thanks…”
Jessica immediately shushed her, and she felt Mike pat her comfortingly again on the arm. Still, she felt his magic move through her once again, though this time he was just checking. He reassured her, “Don’t worry about it. Just work on getting better so you can reassure all the people downstairs before they wear holes in the floor with their pacing.”
“Mmmm.” That was all she said in response. She didn’t need to say more, though she was curious about who all would be pacing downstairs. She figured only a few of them were really worried about her; the rest were probably just curious or watching for entertainment.
Feeling a tiny bit better, she decided that she could multitask, since thinking didn’t interfere with her drinking down whatever they offered, and she didn’t need to open her eyes to pore over her profile. She mentally clicked on the little blue dot, examining the changes that were causing her so much pain.
Name: Jade Winward
Age: 18
Strength: 10.16
Dexterity: 11.21
Constitution: 10.14
Intelligence: 17.07
Magic: 12.89
Charisma: 11.12
Luck: 14.53
Special Abilities: Siphon
Skills: Acrobatics, Appraisal, Archery, Athletics, Blood Magic, Bluff, Compulsion Magic, Dark Magic, Deception, Diplomacy, Dodge, Earth Magic, Eating, Fire Magic, Glasscraft, Haggle, Healing Magic, Heat Resistance, Herbology, Illusion Magic, Information Gathering, Insight, Intimidate, Life Magic, Light Armor, Light Magic, Lightning Magic, Mathematics, Mental Fortitude, Metal Magic, Modeling, Nature Magic, N
avigation, Perception, Perseverance, Persuasion, Running, Sense Motive, Singing, Sleight of Hand, Small Blades, Speed Reading, Stealth, Tailoring, Unarmed Combat, Walking, Water Magic, Wind Magic
Acrobatics
Beginner 5
86%
Appraisal
Intermediate 1
56%
Archery
Beginner 6
85%
Athletics
Intermediate 3
86%
Blood Magic
Beginner 5
16%
Bluff
Intermediate 2
72%
Compulsion Magic
Beginner 1
50%
Dark Magic
Beginner 3
7%
Deception
Intermediate 1
3%
Diplomacy
Intermediate 4
47%
Dodge
Beginner 4
60%
Earth Magic
Beginner 9
28%
Eating
Beginner 10
3%
Fire Magic
Beginner 6
5%
Glasscraft
Beginner 3
53%
Haggle
Beginner 10
90%
Healing Magic
Beginner 10
98%
Heat Resistance
Beginner 2
60%
Herbology
Beginner 2
45%
Illusion Magic
Beginner 4
10%
Information Gathering
Intermediate 7