Blood and Cupcakes

by Taj McCoy El

  -Mo

  Ugh.. his corny handle. It’s always Boom this or Boom that. Who does he think he is? An exploding superhero? She folded the letter into her in bag and asked if she could send a return letter.

  “Sure ye can, lassie, 1 silver.”

  “Really, Jensen? After everything you put me through yesterday?”

  “Sure as sunshine. Which, interestingly enough, brings me to this.”

  He dropped a small bag on the counter. It sounded like coins. “Here are yer winnings from the bets I took while ye were training yesterday.”

  She took the bag and a prompt showed her it was 4 gold, 27 silver, and 19 coppers / 2.30USD. She had over twenty-six times more money than she did two seconds ago. She was floored by it.

  “Some of those players were level 9 and had a bit more gold than brains. Now, since I’ve got a business to run, one silver for a letter to be sent.” He smiled in a most sincere manner.

  “You’re a crook, Jensen, but for some reason I like you.” She returned the smile and gave him the silver.

  “That’s just my natural aroma of charm,” he winked

  Mayah fanned her nose and they laughed. He promptly produced a quill and some paper. The quill wrote like a ballpoint pen, Interestingly enough. She penned a short note to her brother and gave it to Jensen.

  “He’ll receive it in an hour.”

  “Since I'm stuck in Majesta, what should I do to pass some free time?” she asked.

  “Wait... you’re stuck in the game?” Mayah turned to see Grax sitting on the counter again. ”How did that happen?”

  “Yup, there was some bug in the code and it screwed up my pod. Attactus has moved me to some lab where they can get me out. Guess I'm stuck here until they do.”

  “That’s kinda serious. Isn’t it?" Grax said doubtfully.

  “Yeah. My logout button is all greyed out.”

  “Wow, and pardon me if I seem a bit skeptical about your situation, but that totally sounds like something out of an old 2020 2D.”

  “What’s a 2D?” asked Jensen.

  “A 2D was what they called films projected on screens,” Grax explained to Jensen before returning his attention to Mayah.

  “You’re really stuck in game?”

  “Yep, for a little while longer. They should be able to get me into a new pod and fix the link. There was something about a signal piggybacking onto mine. I wonder what caused it?” Her face darkened in thought then suddenly brightened. “Well, while I'm here I might as well enjoy myself.”

  “I see why Jensen told me to keep an eye on you,” Grax said.

  “Aye, ye clawed lint ball. Ye’d do well to mind yer elders. And little sister, since yer hale and in the square and you’ve got a bit of change, why not explore the shops. Stop back around closing time.” He eyed Grax. “Both of you.”

  Grax froze, looking like a mouse caught in a trap. He turned to Jensen over his shoulder and said with a weak smile, “Sure thing.”

  “And take this little reminder with you.” He handed Mayah a small piece of paper.

  Event Invite

  Jensen the Information Broker would like to invite you to meet him at the tavern this evening. Do you accept?

  Y/N?

  She accepted and then said her goodbyes. Grax hopped off of the counter and followed her into the marketplace. Mayah wanted to check out a bookstore. Knowledge is power! She always studied the lore of the game because frankly, it always helped. She and Grax walked across the square looking at all of the wares the vendors had for sale. Daggers lay next to armor and food. It seemed that everyone was selling everything. There were a few vegetable and bread vendors, but the assortment at most stands seemed totally random.

  She found what she was looking for right of off the square—a narrow little shop with bookshelves piled up along both walls and one right down the middle. It looked dusty and dark. It had a cloth awning to keep bins of books out of the sun. Its banner read “Verbum Vitae.”

  A Saracen-looking fellow with a plain black fez walked to the front of the store. His dark olive skin looked like it was polished with oil, his hair and pointed beard glistened in the light from the street. He wore a long, black suede vest over a knee length kurta with the sleeves rolled up and held in place with a strap that buttoned above the roll. Underneath the kurta he wore long, flowing black pants with black embroidery around the ankles. On his feet, he wore what her mother called “Moses sandals.” His hands were lightly clasped, one on top of the other, in the center of his chest.

  “Hello, kind lady, my name is Ibn Daw. What can I help you with today? I have books on adventure, herbalism, creature guides, or anything you can think of.” His hands were like birds in flight winging by titles and gesturing to other areas of the store. When he was finished talking, they landed together in the center of his chest where they had started.

  “Hello, kind sir,” Mayah emulated his greeting, “I was wondering, do you have any books on magic?”

  “Well of course I do, but you can only buy one book at your level.”

  He caught her off guard. “How can you tell what level I am?” she probed to find a hint of this skill.

  “I have seen veeeery… many things young lady.” He started to lean in closer to her, staring into her eyes. His voice lowered to almost a whisper, “And these eyes have learned to see into the depths of things and know what they truly are.”

  Mayah was stuck in his eyes; she felt like she couldn’t breathe. Her heart started to pound. It was like she was caught in some sort of trance wondering what was going to happen next. His face took on a dark and solemn cast. Mayah stiffened.

  He moved closer. “Do you really want to know how I can see your level?”

  She nodded an affirmative.

  He moved even closer. “It’s because….”

  She swallowed.

  “Because…” he said in a whisper, leaning in closer.

  She could feel the heat from his stare.

  With a flourish of arms that looked like they could pull apart the skies, he said in very congenial tone, “Because I have never seen you in my store before so that means you are new in the village and therefore a low-level paladin, yes?” he said the last with a cheerful smile, his hands again clasped at his chest.

  “Whoa…” Grax broke the spell.

  Mayah stood jaw slack and abashed.

  Ibn Daw chuckled deep from his belly “That was priceless! And for a penny pincher like me that compliment is well worth it. Did you see the look in her eyes?” he said to Grax.

  Grax was holding a paw over his mouth, trying not to laugh.

  “All frozen like a mouse before a cobra.” Ibn Daw wiped a tear from his eye.

  Mayah frowned, realizing that she had just reacted to a programmed NPC’s prank. The fact that she was the butt of it made it her a little angry.

  “I believe that if I am properly reading the lack of amusement on your face, my assumption was correct.” He had assumed the previous dark, mysterious demeanor.

  Her frown stayed in place.

  “Oh, come now.” He waved a hand at her and smiled. “You have come for magic books and I have them. It was a friendly jest. Perhaps in bad taste, yes. Aaaah, don’t be so angry. Anger will lead you to the dark side.”

  “What?” She couldn’t believe her ears.

  “Something I heard a Paladin say. It sounded a very wise thing to these ears, and so I have remembered it.”

  Mayah quickly realized that the NPCs were learning from the paladins. Changing them. Changing Majesta. How powerful were the AI’s at Attactus?

  “Please, kind sir,” she kind of hissed the final word, “where are these books on magic?”

  “Right this way,” he motioned, walking through the bins towards the passage on the left of the center bookshelf.

  “A little information about magic. You can get one magic skill at level 1 another at level 5, and again at level 10. After that, it is one new magic skill for every ten levels. So
, come back when you’re level 5 and I give you another. What kind of magic do you think you might like? A nice fireball? Maybe an Area of Effect (AOE) like Earthgrab? Never underestimate the importance of a light spell. Ah! Here we are this is the section you want.”

  It was a small side room in the depths of the store. A light hung from the ceiling and illuminated four smaller bookshelves. Those were surrounded by bookshelves built onto all of the walls. One of those was covered in glass doors.

  “What are those books?” Mayah asked, pointing at the case.

  “Those are Class Skill books. At level ten you can pick a class that will give you a boost in certain regards to your leveling.” He must have seen the hungry look in Mayah’s eyes as he quickly said, “Everyone learns more about that once they reach level 9.”

  Mayah picked up a book from a nearby shelf, making to look through it when a hand closed over hers. Ibn Daw looked down into her eyes and said, “Only read the cover, you understand? If you open the book, you buy it. I cannot erase what will happen to you, so choose wisely, yes?”

  She nodded

  “All spells are 1 gold for first time buyers. More, next time,” he trailed off, walking towards the front of his shop.

  She noticed that Grax was looking forlorn and a little bored.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “I wish I could get a spell.” His tail drooped a little.

  “Why can’t you?”

  “I don’t have any gold yet.”

  “Sucks that you laughed at me.”

  “Aww… c’mon. I mean, it really was funny.”

  After thinking about it, Mayah did think it was kind of funny. She held back her chuckle and said, “It was creepy.” Grax wouldn’t know about her run-ins with creepy guys in the past 12 hours. She also realized she was still a little touchy over it.

  “Okay, it was kind of funny,” she finally admitted.

  “Told ya so.” He smiled, his fangs bared in a humorous and kind of scary way that passes for a cat’s smile.

  “So, what kind of spell would you want?”

  “I want a size manipulation spell.”

  “A what now?”

  “A size manipulation spell. It would let me get out of some tight corners. I could grow to be the size of a lion with a bit of practice. You do realize that even as a cat, I’m as strong as you, don’t you?”

  That means that if he hit me, it wouldn’t be cat-sized damage, it would be player level damage. He has stealth attacks already. And the other players ignore him because they think he’s a cat. He’s a genius.

  She looked at Grax and smiled. “I’ll buy you a magic book.” It was worth it to see a cat’s jaw hit the floor.

  “Well, if your gonna do that I'll show you something as well.” He stood up on his hind legs, made a little show out of giving her a thumbs up, and walked over to the bookshelf grabbing titles to examine like a little, furry human.

  ”Oh my god, you are so cute!!!!!”

  Fear jumped into his eyes,” Fluff, You’re REALLY a little girl???”

  “I’m gonna pet you!” she squealed.

  “Don't touch me,” he said menacingly. He started to back away. “Don’t….” He raised a fuzzy, clawed finger at her.

  Mayah’s eyes went as wide as dinner plates. “KA-WAAAAAAAAAAAiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii…….!!!!” she screamed, grabbing Grax as he turned to flee. She nuzzled him up to her face and rocked him back and forth. He resignedly relaxed and said, “Okay that’s enough.”

  Mayah however, didn’t hear a word of what he said.

  …..

  An hour later, Mayah found a book on runes and one about enchanting. “It’s between these two for me, what about you?”

  “Looks like they don’t have it. Since that’s the case, I want this. It’s called Shadow Step, it lets you walk in someone’s shadow unseen as long as you’re unheard or until your mana runs out. It could prove very useful.”

  “That sounds like a great choice. Let’s go find Ibn Daw. I need to ask him some questions.”

  From behind the counter at the front of the store, Ibn Daw looked up a little surprised. “Ah, you are still here? You must have been choosing wisely. More of you paladins would do well to listen when people speak. So, what do we have?” He reached out to take the books from Mayah. “Let’s see—runes and enchantment. Two very good magics to work with.” He stroked his beard thoughtfully. “Were I you, I would take enchantments. Runes is a magical language so you can copy spells, read and decipher the effect of a magic circle, and charge small runes. But I do not think it’s a good choice for a beginner such as yourself. Yes, I would definitely go with enchantment, were I you. Makes things combine in funny ways. Not funny like joke, but like giving a sword the essence of grass. Is weird and tricky but can be very useful. It would allow you to enchant runes onto something, see?”

  This couldn’t be so simple, could it? She had seen many things she would like to try mixing together. She paid for the book using Skinflint and saved herself 5 silvers.

  When she tried to pay for Grax’s book, Ibn Daw corrected her folly.

  “I can only sell you...” He jabbed a finger at her. “One book, but it might have worked if you had not played your cards so early. You should save that little Skinflint jewel for the end of negotiations, not the beginning. Also ...maybe try saying it inside of your head.”

  Facepalm.

  She gave Grax a gold coin and he finished paying. They took the books from the counter and opened the pages together. She started out reading the first few words. Suddenly, the book began reading her. It began building new doors in the shadows of her mind faster and faster. But then all of the information in the book seemed to slam the doors open and flow into her mind. The pages, cast in a golden halo, turned themselves even faster. She began to understand this magic she had just acquired. As she looked at the last word in the book, the back cover slammed shut and the book turned to dust and disappeared. It felt like hours while only seconds had passed.

  Both she and Grax stood there, stunned. Her head felt a little tighter, as If someone tried to use her skull as a balloon. The level of discomfort was on par with needing to pop your ears while changing altitude. She tried wiggling her jaw a bit when Ibn Daw said, “It will pass momentarily.” He smiled at them, obviously understanding how they felt.

  As she perused her new knowledge a plan came to her mind—she was going to do an enchanter’s build with strong attack capabilities. I'm so gonna pwn these noobs. “Do you have any skill books on sewing?”

  She thanked Ibn Daw for the sewing book with a 5 silver handshake and walked out of the bookstore with a head full of new knowledge.

  “That was trippy. You wanna go try these out?” she asked the cat.

  “Yes indeed-ey,” he said happily.

  They found an empty corner further away from the hustle and bustle of the square. Grax said, “Let me go first.” He closed his eyes. With the sun at her back, he walked forward and slid into Mayah’s shadow and disappeared. Vanished, gone into thin air. She looked around for him and couldn’t find a trace of him. Maybe I really am losing my mind. She heard him giggling and he suddenly appeared in front of her with a snort of laughter.

  “Hahahahhaha… couldn’t hold it in any longer. You should’a seen your face…. Eyes all big…” He rolled on the ground and tried to stop laughing, but he was having a hard time of it.

  Fine… She was going to check out her magic.

  Enchantment Level 1 (novice)

  Infuse an object with your mana to create a new item by altering its base structures. Properties and qualities of enchanted objects will vary with amount of mana used and quality of object. At low levels, enchantment will use random mana types. At higher levels, you will be able to use mana from external sources. Objects created with mana from external sources may retain some of the traits of the external source.

  Cost 100MP

  100% chance that failed enchantment will destroy any objects inv
olved.

  She found a nail lying around on the ground and activated enchantment.

  Name: Rusty nail

  Grade: Rubbish

  Material: Iron

  Durability: 1/7

  Do you wish to enchant this rusty nail?

  Y/N?

  She thought yes and her mana bar started to drop as the nail glowed blue. Grax watched attentively. Heat and light came pouring off the nail. The light grew suddenly brighter, and in a burst of heat and stinging pain the nail exploded.

  “Aahhh… Flarfingstuff!!!!” Mayah lost 3HP and her hand stung like a buzzer. “Not gonna do that without better gear next time.” She pressed her hand between her thighs, trying to will the pain to subside. I’ve felt quite a lot of pain recently. Pain above the 30% threshold that minors accounts should have by law. Maybe it has something to do with the fried circuitry? I should really ask about that.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah, it just bit me a little,” she repeated the phrase her father often said. She shook her hand by her side trying to fling the pain out of her hand. “I’m gonna need some equipment.”

  They walked on and found the magical and general supply store where they bought a basic enchanter’s kit. It had sturdy leather gloves, a welder’s helmet, and a thick leather apron. After haggling down to 75 silver, she activated Skinflint, in her head this time, dropping it to about 71 silver.

  Next was a fabric shop named Tissu, where all types of dress, casual, and work outfits were displayed in the window. Sewing machines and bolts of fabric lined the bottom of the window. The bell that hung above the door jingled at their arrival.

  “Well, look at you! All ready to go to the ball,” a woman in a smart skirt suit with a Victorian bustle said from behind a glass counter.

  “Welcome to Tissu.” She made a flourish to accentuate the store around them. “I am Claire Maam,” she said it like “mom” but stretched out, “but everyone just calls me Maam.” This time it sounded like Ma’am as in “yes Ma’am, no Ma’am.”