Winds of Magic Chapter 14

 

Chapter 14

I woke up to the sound of something shattering. Throwing off my covers, I got dressed in order to investigate. I walked through my house until I came to the source of the sound. Rei was in her backyard, adjacent to mine, and was practicing her destructive magic.

“Up this late?” I said, walking through the gate that separated our backyards.

“Same to you,” said Rei.

“I just woke up,” I said. “You training?”

“I am,” said Rei. “I want to be the best. I’m going to get onto the team as a starter as soon as possible.”

“Don’t bother the neighbors,” I said.

“I won’t,” said Rei.

I typed a few things into my casting device. It took about two minutes to charge and then threw up a sound proof barrier surrounding the backyard.

“Now you can work in peace,” I said. I sat down in a lawn chair and took a breath of the fine night time air. I watched Rei crack pillars of ice for over an hour and then returned to bed, leaving her to her training.

I needed my sleep, anyways. I had a lot of work to do the next day.

When I woke up it was light outside, but my alarm clock had not gone off yet. I got out of bed and checked the backyard. Rei wasn’t there. I went over to her front door and knocked. Rei appeared after a few minutes and let me in.

I donned an apron. “My turn,” I said. I put together a breakfast of over easy eggs, hash brown, and pancakes. Rei and I had a deal. When both of our sets of parents were gone, I cooked one meal and she cooked the next, switching between us. It was an arrangement that suited us.

When we were done we got ready for school and headed to campus. The walkways were sparsely populated, as the first classes of the day had not yet started. We both went to the curling clubhouse beneath Battle Tower. Rei split to go to the team’s room while I arrived in the auxiliary clubhouse. I was the last of the members to arrive.

“Right on time,” said Alice. “Have you figured out how to decode the book I gave you?”

“I haven’t started,” I said. “If you don’t mind I’d like to start now. I’m sure you don’t really need my help elsewhere.”

“Go ahead,” said Alice. I took the book from my backpack and placed it on a table in the corner. “I think this book is a grimoire.”

“Well, that’s not surprising, is it?” said Alice. “How can you tell?”

“Instinct,” I said. “I’ve dealt with grimoires before.”

“Wow,” said Alice. “I wouldn’t have expected. Did you see them in your line of work?”

“Of course,” I said. I opened the book on the table. The spine cracked as I moved it. The pages were not made of paper but of parchment, which had survived the years a lot better than paper would have.

“When is this book from?” I asked.

“I have no idea,” said Alice. “I tried looking it up online but couldn’t find anything. There are also no identifiers inside that would tell us when it was written.”

“I think it’s a recent book,” I said.

“Even though it’s been written on parchment?” said Alice.

“Exactly,” I said. “This parchment doesn’t look like it was made during the preindustrial era.”

“How can you tell?” said Alice.

“There’s one way to find out,” I said. I took out my casting device. “This may take a while,” I said. I loaded a program for carbon dating using magic. It took about fifteen minutes, and another half hour for the analysis to complete. In the meantime I assisted with the small day to day tasks of running a curling team.

When the analysis was done, I checked it. As I has suspected, the book was only fifty years old. For a grimoire, it was super young. Most grimoires that were worth anything had been written several hundred years ago. But something told me that this book held a secret that would change a lot of things. Creating a single crystal superalloy not protected by governments would upend the market.

And that’s exactly what I planned on doing. I flipped through the pages, trying my best to analyze the jargon. When I had finished my inspection I put together a serum described in the book’s first chapter. It was easy enough to create with the materials we had in the clubhouse—it was a workshop dedicated to materials science, after all.

I had a precursor to a superalloy in a jar in my hands. It bubbled with a thick green viscousness that made it seem magical. Well, it was magical. I placed the vial down. The grimoire snapped shut with a surprising clap. I tried prying it back open, but couldn’t.

“Maybe we triggered a trap?” said Alice. She tried opening it as well but to no avail.

“I don’t know,” I said. I slid the book back into my backpack. “This is the second object I’ve found that has locked itself.”

“Second?” said Alice.

“I was going to ask,” I said. “Have you ever played a magic VR game?”

“Yeah, a couple of them,” said Alice. “My brother is really into that kind of thing.”

“This may sound funny,” I said, “But are you willing to risk your life for a friend?”

“Of course,” said Alice. “Why are you asking?”

“Because I found a manifested dungeon where you die for real when you lose.”

“Oh, I’ve heard of those,” said Alice. “Though I never thought you would be the one to find me one.”

“Are you in?” I said. “You may die. I can’t understate that fact.”

“What’s the reward?” asked Alice.

“Eden,” I said. “Or at least information about it.”

“I’ve heard rumors about that,” said Alice. “It’s something a bunch of crackpots are trying to do to the world. Like the rapture.”

“Yeah, that,” I said. “If you can help me, we can figure out what’s going on.”

“I’m in,” said Alice. “My life has been pretty boring as of late. I can do with some excitement. Until the tournament gets close, of course. Then I’ll have to double down.” She looked at the rest of the club members. “We’re going out for a while. Keep working on the second layer granite construct.”

Alice and I walked out of the room. Alice had her hands in her pockets. “Adventure is kind of sexy,” she said. She chuckled. “Anyone else joining us?”

“Yeah, hopefully,” I said. I took out my phone and texted Rei.

“Bring Jade and Tetra to the cafeteria as soon as you can.”

“Be there in ten minutes,” said Rei.

Alice and I arrived in the cafeteria and sat down at one of the larger tables. Since it wasn’t meal time, the room was pretty empty.

“Tell me more about this dungeon,” said Alice, leaning forward on her palms.

“Well, it appears that whoever designed it didn’t want to hide information so much as gatekeep it. I can’t think of any other situation where they would allow random people access to their files without breaking the encryption.”

“If my hunch is correct,” said Alice, “I would think that whoever designed the dungeon system wanted to find good fighters and magicians.”

“I think so too,” I said. “I think they’re testing people to see if they are worthy of receiving whatever is inside that flash drive.”

Rei came through the door with Jade and Tetra. “I’m here,” she said, sitting down across from me. Jade and Tetra also sat down.

“What’s the story?” said Rei.

“We’re going to try beating a VR dungeon crawler that protects the flash drive I found underneath that lake. I believe it will lead us to Tally and what those cultists are trying to do.” I paused. “And the kicker is that if we die in the game we will die in real life.”

“Yikes,” said Rei. “But if it leads to us finding and freeing Tally, then it would be worth it. Jade? Tetra? What do you think?”

“I’m with you,” said Tetra. “But besides that, I’m starving, and my cook has taken the day off. Do you mind if I get something to eat? I will treat you all as well.”

We grabbed a meal and returned to our seats. I chose sushi and Rei picked a sandwich that was pre-wrapped. Tetra ate daintily with her hand in front of her lips. “Tally is my friend, as well as Jades,” she said. “I will do anything to return her to us and her family. She has been missing for far too long.” She took a bite of her pasta. “And I do not want her to be sacrificed to an ancient bloodthirsty god. Who knows what will happen to her soul if she is consumed in a ritual like that?”

“We’ll get to her before that happens,” I said. I looked at Rei and she nodded. “We’re in this together.” I looked at Alice. “Oh, and I don’t believe I have introduced you to Alice yet.”

Alice waved. “Hi. I’m the vice captain of the curling auxiliary corps.”

“Jade,” said Jade.

“Tetra Pearlash, at your service,” said Tetra.

“It’s nice to meet you,” said Alice. “I thank you for being York’s friends.”

“No need for thanks,” said Tetra. “York is a very easy guy to be around.”

Rei finished her food. “I think we should go there now,” she said. “We’re all free for the next hour or so. Can you tell us more about how we are supposed to fight in this dungeon?”

“Sure,” I said. “Apparently you’re given a class and weapons just like in a traditional virtual RPG. You can even level up. Some of the monsters are pretty scary though. The smell especially.”

“It’s all to save Tally,” said Tetra. “Jade?”

“I’ll help as much as I can,” said Jade. “I don’t know how much use I will be, though.”

“Aw, don’t be modest,” said Tetra. “Even as a Second your skills are invaluable.”

“Thanks,” said Jade.

I looked around at the party. “Are we ready to go?” I said.

“Then let’s go,” said Alice.

We traveled to the computer lab and I hooked up the flash drive. In an explosion of light all five of us were transported to the same starting room I had been taken to yesterday. There were two doors this time, and one of them had “level 2” written on it.

“This way,” I said.

“Wait, let me choose my class,” said Rei.

I waited as the party chose their weapons and their class. When they were done I approached the door leading to the second level. We entered and came onto a volcanic plateau that stretched far into the distance. Kangaroo-like monsters wandered back and forth across the scorched landscape. I held up a hand. “Since you guys are lower level than I am, maybe we should do some grinding.”

“Exactly what I was thinking,” said Rei.

Grinding, in a situation where levels were important, was the method of beating lots of small monsters to gain experience points from them before fighting the big bad guys. This allowed one to have a leg up on the boss monsters when they did arrive.

We decided to kill at least a dozen of the kangaroo monsters before we attempted to head deeper into the dungeon. I leveled up twice during the process. It was difficult to face the kangaroo monsters as if it were real life, but I couldn’t die now, facing off against mooks who didn’t even have names.

We killed about two dozen of the creatures and, when I deemed that we were ready, we headed deeper into the dungeon proper.

Winds of Magic Chapter 13

 

Chapter 13

I had heard of environments like this before. Magically powered, they existed as an extension of the real world. I had even heard of environments like this being used for a virtual reality experience. But I had never heard of something like this being used as a password to unlock a file.

I had in my hands a single iron sword, no armor. I was in my street clothes. In the distance I could sense beings of immense power. This “game” was nothing to snuff at. I could really die if I wasn’t careful.

I followed a small path out of the main gate and headed towards the center of the new world. Whatever was out there, I had to overcome it in order to get where I wanted to go. The file hidden behind this booby trap was most likely worth the effort. Whoever had hidden it here had meant for it to be found.

I stopped. A magical presence made itself known to me, behind a bush to my side. I turned to face it and brandished my sword. The bushes shifted. A small rabbit bounced out from behind them. It looked harmless enough, but I had to be careful. I approached it.

“Hey, friend,” I said.

The rabbit opened its mouth and a gigantic row of teeth peeled out from under its lips. It charged me. The thing smelled of rotten flesh and dead offal.

Unable to cast a magic spell fast enough, I hacked in the general direction of the rabbit monster. My sword made contact and split the rabbit in two. Gore splattered me. The smell worsened.

A trumpet sounded and a blaze of light surrounded me. I was lifted up into the sky and a bright wall surrounded me.

“You have leveled up,” said the voice of a woman. A menu appeared in front of me. It showed a variety of standard RPG stats. I chose to put all my level up points into the magic ability “fire blast.” When I extended my hand a spiral of fire spewed out from my palm and rotated through the air.

“Cool,” I said. I held my hand out again and fired off a ball of flame. A singed spot was left on the wall.

Another prompt appeared in front of me and I touched it. The game returned me to the place where I had killed the rabbit. There was no sign of its remains or of the blood that had spurted out of it.

I shook my head and continued along the path. After about a hundred feet three rabbits stood in the middle of the road. Having seen the previous one, I was expecting the worst.

“Come at me,” I said, swinging my sword through the air.

The three rabbits charged. I slashed one in half as it passed me, but the second rammed straight into my chest. Its enveloping teeth spread out over my neck. I wrestled with it, pinning it against the ground.

The rabbit’s teeth came scarily close to my neck. Its drool dripped onto my skin, smelling of terrible maggot-ridden flesh. “Fireball!” I said, casting the spell I had just learned. The rabbit lit up with yellow flame and tumbled away, screeching. The third rabbit backed away from me, eyeing me with its beady little red dot eyes. It grimaced, showing a bit of those nasty teeth, and then turned to run away.

I crept forward, waiting for an ambush, but there was none. I was able to travel along the path for quite a bit before I came to a clearing. On the far end, a gigantic goat was sitting on a wooden throne. It stood up, its feet shaking the ground as it moved. In its hands it held a double-handed battle axe the size of a car. Was I really supposed to face this guy alone?

The goat monster approached me, swinging its axe side to side. I backed away.

“Firebolt!” I yelled, casting the spell. The ball shot toward the goat monster and fizzled against its fur.

Maybe I wasn’t supposed to defeat this thing. Maybe I was supposed to run past it.

I got ready to sprint. With a huge burst of speed, I ran directly towards the monster. The monster slammed its axe into the ground a second past the moment I was there. Dirt splattered everywhere. I rolled between its legs and sprinted for the door next to the throne. I then slammed into it, breaking it down and leaving the battle area.

I walked into an empty room. An angel with a halo of light sat on a tree stump. Her hair was long and crimson, and she wore a beautiful white dress.

“I see you have made it,” said the angel. “Brave hero, I will now unlock the first layer of the Elysian Box.”

“Elysian?” I said, and then I was sitting in the library in front of the lab computer. On the screen was a text fille.

“Eden. What is it?” read the file. “It is the culmination of human ingenuity. It is the place from before the fall of man. If Eden were to be created again, all humanity would celebrate before the culling.”

That was it. I imagined that I would have to keep beating levels of the dungeon to find out more. But what really worried me was the mention of a “culling.” If that meant what I thought it did, we were in for some strange and dangerous things in the future. I logged off and unplugged the flash drive, slipping it into my pocket. It was time to check in on the curling auxiliary team. I went across campus and entered the club room.

Alice was sleeping on a couch covered in newspapers and paint splotches. She did not wake up when I entered the room.

I walked up to her and sat down next to her head. She stayed asleep. I waited for a minute more, enjoying the silence. Then I shook her shoulder.

“Wake up,” I said.

Alice stirred, sitting up, revealing a pressure mark on her cheek. I grinned.

“What?” said Alice.

“Your face,” I said.

Alice took out her smartphone and looked at herself. “Ew. How long was I out?”

“You were asleep when I got here,” I said.

Alice sighed. “The rest of the crew has the day off,” she said. “Did you get the message?”

“Um,” I said. I checked my history. Yes, I did receive the message. I had just been too preoccupied to notice it.

Alice stood up. “Well, since we’re here we might as well work on something. I was wondering. Do you think you’d be able to create a single-crystal superalloy?”

“That’s the holy grail of materials science,” I said. “There’s no way I’d be able to do that.”

Alice rooted around in a bin and pulled out a dusty volume. “Not if this book has anything to say about it,” she said. “This is an ancient tome I managed to acquire not too long ago. If you can decipher what it says we may be able to unlock the secrets to a superalloy.”

“Do you know how valuable that would be?” I said. “Only major world governments know how to create the stuff. If a bunch of college kids manage to outsmart the government, with all its resources, there is no telling what would happen.”

Alice placed the book on an empty table. “Take a look at it anyways,” she said. “See what you can figure out. It didn’t cost me any more than ten bucks.”

“Where did you find it?” I said.

“An old antiques shop near campus,” said Alice. “Nothing special. I think whoever sold it to them didn’t know what they had in their possession.”

“You’ve already looked through it,” I said.

“Sure,” said Alice. “But I only understood half of it. I assumed you, being Reguis Alnum, would be able to parse the jargon.”

“Well you found the right person I guess,” I said. I took the book and turned it in my hand. It was thick, leatherbound, and with a title that read Gifts of a Mechanical Nature. I looked at it under the light. The leather was well-worn and covered with several stains.  I held it against my chest. “I’ll deal with this when I get back home,” I said.

“That’s right,” said Alice. “You don’t live in the dorms.”

“Speaking of which, I think it’s about time for me to go to my last night class and then get home.”

“Sure thing,” said Alice. “And next time you catch me sleeping here, please wake me up faster. I find it embarrassing that I was asleep with a club member in the room.”

I chuckled. “Well. See you then.”

“Bye,” said Alice.

I took my last class of the day and returned home. When I arrived at the door, something smelled good. I opened the door and entered the house. Rei was in the kitchen cooking dinner.

“Smells good,” I said.

Rei waved a ladle at me. “You need to be more careful,” she said. “I have a bad feeling about your involvement with the Forthier’s Club case.”

I sighed, sitting down at the table. “Don’t worry. I won’t make any stupid mistakes.”

“And besides,” said Rei, “You have enough work piled on you without that stupid case.”

I shrugged. “You never know. I could be saving the world. But first. Have you ever heard of something called Eden?”

“You mean from the Bible?” said Rei. “No, I don’t particularly believe +

in that.”

“I wasn’t asking about the biblical Eden,” I said. “I was asking about the name of, well, something that the cultists we fought before were trying to bring about.”

“Nope,” said Rei. “No idea what you’re talking about. You’ll have to educate me.”

“Well, the cultists we fought on the Pearlash estate were trying to awaken an ancient god, right?”

“Yeah,” said Rei, bringing food to the table. A delicious chicken pot pie. She really was a good cook. She set the food down and took a seat. “They were trying to prevent something or other. A bunch of bunk.”

“Who knows, really,” I said. “But here’s the thing. That flash drive I found underneath the lake. I opened it and it was booby trapped.”

“Seriously? Did you get hurt?”

“No, thankfully, but I did get put into a pretty bad situation,” I said. “I was forced to fight inside of a virtual reality dungeon where I would have died in real life had I failed.”

“Wow,” said Rei. “How does that work?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “All I know is that I managed to escape.”

Rei served herself some food. “Then you’re fine,” she said.

“The thing is,” I said, “I am planning on going back there. I’m going to need some help though. I believe that the system will let multiple people in at the same time.”

“And you want me to be there with you?” said Rei.

“Of course,” I said. “You’re the best combat mage the world has ever seen.”

“You flatter me,” said Rei. “But whatever. I smell adventure, and I am not one to let that by me.” She grinned. “I’ll fight this battle with you.”

“I’ll need your assistance bringing Tetra and Jade in on this, as well as any number of the student council members.”

Rei took a bite of food. “I’ll do my best,” she said. “I mean, even if it’s a world where you really can die, there’s an element of fun to that whole thing.”

“Well, I’m not planning on doing it because it’s fun,” I said. “I just want to know what Eden is and why it involves a culling.”

“And I’m with you,” said Rei. She pointed her fork at me. “Don’t do anything stupid. Don’t go back there until you know who’s coming with you.”

“Deal,” I said, and served myself some food.

Winds of Magic Chapter 12

 

Chapter 12

I returned to the student council room. Illya was waiting for me.

“So what did you find out?” she said.

“Brilliance is actually kind of fun,” I said. “But yeah. They’re who we think they are. I think I also found Tally.”

“They just let you in?” said Illya.

“Their security didn’t seem as strong as we thought it would be,” I said. “I think they have a sponsor who is pulling off all of the major stunts.”

“Did you find any way we can leverage our assets to investigate this club?” asked Illya.

I shook my head. “At best they’re underlings working beneath an invisible figure to carry out his will. If we end up catching them then the master will simply hide the evidence and hire new underlings.”

“What do you suggest we do?” said Illya. “Rei has proposed that we perform a surprise inspection, but since the club has been scrubbed from our records it’s not under our jurisdiction anymore.”

“How about we go to the police?” I said.

“They wouldn’t believe us, and even if they did they wouldn’t do anything. It’s too conspiratorial. We need some solid proof.”

“I was there,” I said. “I saw the magic circle. Isn’t that proof enough?”

“We need something like a confession or an artifact that points directly to their schemes,” said Illya.

“I have a bit of rapport with them,” I said. “I declined their invitation to join their club, but if I acted as if I changed my mind I could infiltrate them.”

“No,” said Illya. “Infiltration should be left to the professionals. I think I need to contact my uncle to see what he thinks about all this.” Illya took out her phone and dialed a number. “Uncle? Yes, yes. I think we have some information about Forthier’s Club and their schemes. Flash drive? Yes, of course. Oh, yes, you can tell us when you get here. See you then. Bye.” She hung up. “My uncle will be here in an hour. Do you have time? There’s some mundane accounting that needs to be done.”

“I will need time to work as the captain of the curling auxiliary team,” I said.

“I understand,” said Illya. “Tetra has already done most of the heavy lifting for us. She really does know her stuff, which is what I’d expect of the daughter of a magnate.”

“Then why don’t you put her in charge?” I said.

“Tetra does not have the qualities of a leader like you do,” said Illya. “You’re special. I don’t know exactly why I think that way, but I do.”

I spent the rest of the time before Detective Laymon arrived doing calculations and accounting.

An hour after the phone call Detective Laymon arrived in the student council room. He sat down backwards in a chair and sighed.

“Look, Illya,” he said. “I appreciate you calling me to tell me new things, but there’s a process to this.”

“What did you find?” said Illya.

“There’s a shadowy figure behind several of the world’s biggest corporations that is backing clubs like Forthier’s Club all over America. Each one of the clubs has a goal to do a specific thing but, when put together, do more than the sum of their parts.”

“And?” said Illya.

“I’m no longer working on my own,” said Detective Laymon. “The MIB is on the case.”

“Magical Investigatory Board?” said Illya. “Really. So this is a greater conspiracy.”

“Exactly,” said Detective Laymon. “I’m now working with a ton more bureaucracy.” He took out the flash drive I had found at the bottom of the lake. “I’ve sent copies of this everywhere. The thing is, whoever designed this device’s encryption is either a genius or an advanced AI.”

“And we can rule out AI,” I said.

“We can’t, actually,” said Detective Laymon.

“What about the artifage?” I said.

Detective Laymon shook his head. “No. We believe that at least two fully functional AI escaped the artifage—” Detective Laymon’s face went pale.

“Uh, we weren’t supposed to hear that, were we?” said Illya.

Detective Laymon’s forehead beaded with sweat. “Do not tell anyone. Ever. This stays here between us.”

“I won’t put you in jeopardy,” said Illya. “In any case, is it plausible that this escaped AI designed the encryption on the flash drive?”

“I believe that to be true,” said Detective Laymon. “And I believe the creator of the flash drive is looking to create Eden.”

“Eden?” I asked.

“I’m sorry. Eden is the manifestation of magical energy that flows through the phlogiston. If it manifests itself here on Earth, than the availability of magic will greatly increase.”

“Why is that bad?” said Illya.

“It’s bad because it will fundamentally alter the fabric of our society,” said Detective Laymon.

“What does this have to do with Forthier’s Club and Almog?”

“We do not yet know,” said Detective Laymon. He flicked the flash drive. “If we crack this we may learn something new.”

“I know a friend who can help you crack that drive,” I said.

“Who is that?” said Detective Laymon.

“Regius Alnum,” I said. “I know him. I can hand over the drive to him and he can take a crack at it.”

Detective Laymon raised an eyebrow. “How is a kid like you so connected?” he asked.

“Don’t ask,” I said. “It’s just something that happened. Regius Alnum doesn’t like dealing with people he doesn’t know. I’ll have to take the drive back and hand it off to him when I next see him.”

“I trust you,” said Detective Laymon. He handed me the drive. “You were the one who found it first.”

I was, of course, going to analyze the drive myself, being the Regius Alnum who I was referring to. The only reason why I didn’t analyze it when I first had it was, frankly, to keep myself from bearing the brunt of a booby trap. The police and MIB had better facilities for dealing with that kind of stuff.

“Any more information?” said Detective Laymon.

“I managed to infiltrate Forthier’s Club,” I said. “Relatively easily. However, Illya suggested that I not be the one to do any undercover activity. I also found Tally and her sepulcheria.”

“Good,” said Detective Laymon. “That will help our investigation greatly. We do have several young officers who can pass as students and get into the club if you really can infiltrate them like you say you can. I’ll introduce you to an MIB undercover operative and you can work from there.”

Detective Laymon stood up. “I’ll be going now. I have other business to attend to. Please, don’t do anything stupid like attempt to infiltrate this club on your own.”

I stood up as well. “If I want to hand this over to Regius Alnum I’ll have to get going too.” I followed Detective Laymon out of the building.

We walked beside each other for a moment. “You’re not the most powerful spellcaster I’ve ever seen,” said Detective Laymon, “But there’s something strange about you. Like there’s a piece of you that has much more ability than anyone thinks.”

“Haha, you know me,” I said. “I do know a lot about structural magic and Siege Code.”

“Right, which is the whole reason why you’re here even with your practical exam scores. That’s not it. There’s an undefinable quality about you that, well, I’m having trouble defining.”

“Which is the definition of undefinable,” I said.

Detective Laymon sighed. “I’m going this way. Kid, if you ever want to talk, here’s my business card.” He handed me a card.

“Thanks,” I said.

We split up and I went to the library to use their public computer terminals. If the flash drive happened to have a hidden magical virus that the police and MIB hadn’t discovered, I’d like it to not destroy my very valuable computer setup back home.

I logged onto my student account and went to work setting up my environments. When I was ready I plugged the device in.

Nothing happened. The device didn’t even register. I unplugged it and plugged it back in.

There was a quick flicker of activity. I did some looking around for analysis tools online and downloaded the best one I could find. I then did some Siege Programming and coded an interface with the specific flash drive.

Then it registered. I knew that I was on to something that would take a lot of work and a lot of thought.

I cracked the first layer of security without much problem. Then I ran into the thing that the MIB hadn’t been able to decode. It was a double harmonic resonating data drive spiller. I looked up its exact function on a website dedicated to hacking and tried to use a code sword to break it.

I accidentally unleashed a hellish virus onto the school network.

“Oh, shit,” I said. I quickly worked damage control. The virus had grabbed hold of an admin account and was trying to unlock it. I needed to shut it down before it did any real damage. If I ended up frying the school’s network there was no telling the trouble I would be in.

I coded frantically for several minutes until I managed to contain the virus. I then looked at it, carefully, inside of an emulated sandbox.

The virus was genius. I had to give its creator that. This virus was, almost, sentient, and would be an iffy proposition considering the laws against AI.

I killed it with a programming sliver and then returned to the flash drive with a new respect for whoever had created its software. I went deeper into the device’s folders and found a lot of random data that didn’t make a lot of sense. There were folders all over the place with encrypted information and dead ends and things that probably mattered but were impossible to pin down.

I finally found a tool that was powerful enough to decrypt the first layer of encryption.

All it revealed was a single text file.

“Welcome to the dungeon,” it read. “This flash drive is protected by DUNGEON-IC software. In order to decode documents on this device, you must defeat the dungeons in order. Each dungeon has a number of puzzles and enemies for you to defeat. As you defeat these monsters, you will become more powerful and level up your character.”

What was this? A game that one played to unlock a flash drive? Why would someone install something like this if they actually wanted to hide the files?

It wasn’t anything I could figure out at the moment. Instead I opened an application underneath the text file that was called “startup.”

The world shimmered and then I was standing in an empty black space. A single signpost rose out of the place’s seeming center. Approaching the post, I held out my hand.

“Welcome, player,” said a voice above my head. “If you want to escape, you’re going to need to beat the first level. If you die here, your physical body will die as well.” The voice chuckled. “Have fun.”

A sword appeared in my grasp and a door materialized on the other side of the emptiness. I approached the door. Before entering I stopped. The door was made of solid oak wood and looked very sturdy. I reached towards the door handle and opened it.

A world of green stretched out before me. Rising above the trees was a gigantic volcano. Dinosaurs held their long necks to the sky. Something roared.

I knew exactly what I was getting in to. This, was a game of life and death.

Winds of Magic Chapter 10

 

Chapter 10

“Forthier’s Club is an organization that somehow managed to get onto the campus registry without going through the student council,” said Illya. “Most likely because it was commissioned by a big donor. They are a club who are dedicated towards researching ancient eldritch god-abominations. We were told that their research is purely look-see, not actual ceremonies. However, that does not seem to be the case.”

“So they have Tally?” I said.

“Tally?” said Illya.

“She’s Jade’s friend,” said Rei. “She was captured in a sepulcheria to be the maiden sacrifice to awaken a god named Almog.”

“Right,” said Illya. “That helps. But in any case, the moment we began an investigation into the club, they disappeared. All mention of them in our records was scrubbed.”

“A deletion?” said Rei. “Did they get everything?”

“All of it,” said Illya. “It’s as if they neve existed. I’m worried that this means their plans are advancing.”

“What do you suspect they plan to do?” I asked.

“I do not know,” said Illya. “But I have a hunch. I believe they may be trying to awaken the god you just mentioned. Almog.”

“Malcom and Galmor were trying the same thing,” said Rei.

“You remember their names?” said Illya.

“Of course,” said Rei. “They tried to kill us.”

“In any case,” said Illya, “We have to stop them. They should still be somewhere on campus. Rei, since you’re the sheriff, you need to coordinate a search for their hideout.”

“What if they’re not still on campus?” said Rei.

“Rockwell is built on a powerful ley line,” said Illya. “If they were to awaken an eldritch god then this would be the best place to do it.”

“Okay,” said Rei, standing up. “I’m going to go do some work.” She nodded at Jade. “Please, don’t hurry to finish.”

She smiled at me and then turned around, leaving the cafeteria.

Jade finished her meal and stood up as well. “I’m going to class,” she said.

It was just me and Illya. Illya tapped her fingers on the table with an annoyed look on her face. “You became captain of the curling auxiliary team,” she said. “How are you going to balance that with your work on the student council?”

“I have no problems with a heavy workload,” I said. “I’m used to doing a lot of things at once.”

“Well, I’ll believe your assessment of your own ability,” said Illya. “But I have to ask. How did you win a Kamigeki against a First-rated third year?”

“He was doing stims,” I said. “My cancellation spell just happened to resonate and cause brain knock.”

“No, I’m not asking about what happened to him,” said Illya. “I’m asking about the spell you used. What do you mean, cancellation spell? I’ve never seen a casting device capable of shooting one off so fast. Usually you’re required to cast an analysis spell first. That’s why no one ever uses them, especially not those who scored so low on the casting speed portion of the practical exam.”

I sighed. There was nothing I could do except explain my methods. “I developed a passive analysis enchantment attached to my casting device,” I said.

“You?” said Illya. “Developed a game-changing enchantment on your own?”

“I had a bit of help, but yes.”

“Do you know how much people will pay for something like that?” said Illya.

“I did sell it to Mephistus,” I said.

“The military contractor?” said Illya. “Hum. You’re more connected than I gave you credit for. I knew you had some cards up your sleeve, but this? Wow.”

I shrugged. “It’s just something I do. I’m a Siege programmer on the side.”

“And I knew that,” said Illya. “But what you’ve done is special.” She pursed her lips. “I should have known that something was off about your evaluation.”

“The practical exam takes measurements of output, casting speed, and durability. On all of those counts, I do not do well.”

“Then they should change it,” said Illya. “I sense something about you that can’t be described.”

I turned away. “Don’t. I have some things that need to be kept secret.”

Illya put her hand on my arm. “I’m not looking to pry.”

We were silent for a while. Then Illya spoke again. “In any case, we have to work out how to track Fortheir’s Club. Rei is on the beat but we have to back her up.” She stood up. “We’re going to do some snooping.”

I stood up as well, offering to take away Illya’s plate. She hadn’t eaten much and I ended up throwing away almost an entire meal.

“About this Tally,” said Illya, walking beside me as we left the cafeteria. “What do you know about her?”

“I don’t know anthing,” I said. “She’s Jade’s friend. I just agreed to help look for her.”

“We’ll look into her first,” said Illya. We took a turn towards the student council room.

Roy approached from a different direction. “Ah, the triumphant returns,” he said, joining us. “Congratulations on winning your first Kamigeki.”

“You heard?” I said.

“It’s all over social media,” said Roy. He turned to Illya. “What’s on the agenda?”

“We’re going to look into the kidnapping of someone who we believe to be a maiden sacrifice for the resurrection of Almog,” said Illya.

“Almog?” said Roy. “I don’t recognize the name.”

“I’ve researched him a bit,” said Illya, “And I know he’s a minor eldritch deity that caused an A-class magic disaster twenty years ago.”

“Ah, during the war?” said Roy.

“Exactly,” said Illya. She paused. “I think the library contains newspapers and articles from that time. We’ll have to look into those as well.”

We entered the student council building and settled in the office. Illya opened up her console and began doing general searches.

I sat down across from her and started my own research. Tally Sea was a high school junior who had gone missing two weeks ago. She was reported to have been involved with the cultist incident on the Pearlash estate, but had not been recovered. Police were holding out a reward for anyone who could lead to her recovery. What we knew would probably help the police.

“I think we should come with this to the proper authorities,” I said.

“I agree,” said Illya. She typed something into her console. “My uncle is a detective with the magic investigations bureau. I’ll arrange a meeting at the school police office.” She continued typing. “He wants to meet us in an hour,” she said.

“Then we’ll be there,” I said. I did a search on a website that indexed eldritch deities. It was more of a wiki, but at the very least it was a start. The article was a stub.  

“Almog. Minor blood god of diluvian ancestry. Power level is rank five. In 2054 caused a class A disaster in the Portman City area. Noted for being the first of its genus to be sealed with the Hybrid Protocol.”

I clicked the cross link for “hybrid protocol.”

“Hybrid Protocol. A method for the sealing of lesser deities and greater devils and demons that was introduced by Harriot Singh in 2047. Has been used hundreds of times. Harriot has been awarded the Christianson Prize for his work on the subject.”

The article continued on about the history and technicalities of the protocol. There was nothing on how to break a being from the seal.

“It’s obvious that Forthier’s Club has discovered a way to break the seal of a god trapped by Hybrid Protocol,” I said.

“Ah, you’re on the same track I am,” said Illya. “I believe the Hybrid Protocol has been broken once before.”

“I wasn’t able to find that,” I said.

“I have some clearance as the student council president,” said Illya. She sent me a link.

The news article was dated January 5^th, 2054.

“Almog awakened! Half the city has been iced!”

The article continued to detail the rampage of the god, as well as how he was finally captured by brave magic warriors. At the end, there was a tiny but consequential addition. “He may be safe for now under the Hybrid Protocol, but it has been broken before. We may just have to wait and see.”

There was nothing else. No sources. Nothing to indicate it was more than just vapid hot air spouted by a reporter.

“That’s it?” I said.

“Yep,” said Illya.

We spent the next hour on a fruitless search for information. When it was time, we stood up and left the student council room to head to the police building. Roy stayed behind to work on other student council business.

We entered the police building and were greeted by a familiar face. Detective Laymon.

“Hello, uncle,” said Illya.

“You again,” said Detective Laymon, a curt smile on his face.

“You’ve met?” said Illya.

“At the Pearlash estate. When we arrested those two cultists.”

“Ah, I see,” said Illya. “Well then, that saves the need for an introduction. We’ve found some evidence that you didn’t arrest all the people involved.”

“Do tell,” said Detective Laymon.

“We discovered a hidden club here on campus known as Forthier’s Club,” said Illya.

“And we think they may be trying to awaken Almog,” I said.

Detective Laymon took off his hat and wiped his forehead. “Good heavens,” he said. “I’ve had work for days regarding those Almog cultists.” He paused. “I’d appreciate any new information.”

“About Tally Sea,” I said. “What do you know?”

“We’ve had an offer for information to the tip line for a week now and haven’t gotten any closer to finding her or the sepulcheria,” said Detective Laymon. He sat down. “But that’s not the big development. The big development is that our interrogations of the multiple suspects has revealed that this is probably an organization. Probably what you just referred to as Forthier’s Club.”

“Can we work together?” said Illya. “This is a matter that also concerns the student council.”

“Of course,” said Detective Laymon. “At the very least, we can share information.” He paused. “However, if you do find out that they have an evil secret lair, please leave the storming of the castle to the professionals.” He looked at me with narrowed eyes. “Please.”

I sighed. “Yeah. It wasn’t my idea to get involved like that in the fist place.” I paused for a minute. “Hey,” I said. I took off my backpack and rummaged through it. The flash drive. It was still there. I showed it to Detective Laymon. “I found this under a lake. It had a resonating frequency that was very close to what I felt when I was near the cultists.”

Detective Laymon gingerly took hold of the flash drive. “Thanks,” he said, turning it over. “I’ll have my team analyze it.” He slid it into his pocket and turned to look at Illya. “Anything else I need to know?” he said.

Illya shook her head. “I already sent you all the information in a debrief email. I don’t want to waste any more of your time.”

“Then we’ll be in contact,” said Detective Laymon.

Illya nodded and then turned around. “Come with me,” she said.

Detective Laymon tipped his hat as we left the building.

Illya led me to hidden-away place on campus that was hemmed in by a building, a small garden of placid shrubbery where no one could see.

“I need to ask you something,” she said. “What is your relation to Jade?”

“Why do you ask?” I said.

“Because it’s through her that you got involved with all this cult nonsense,” said Illya. “I feel she holds you in a different regard than you hold her.”

“I’m not very good at telling people’s emotions,” I said. “If you want to know, ask Jade herself.”

Illya sighed, turning away. “I hired you for a reason. Now that reason is showing itself. Rockwell is corrupt, York. Things beyond this stupid Forthier’s Club are happening and I want to be the person to stop it, or at least unmask the horrors hidden within this academy.”

I stepped forward. “I’ll help,” I said. “I promise I’ll do what I can.”

“Thanks, York,” said Illya. She turned around and kissed me on the cheek, pulling away shyly. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Winds of Magic Chapter 8

Chapter 8

We arrived at Battle Tower. Rei approached the front desk.

“I’m looking to join the curling team,” she said.

“Auditions are being held next week,” said the person behind the desk, without looking up from her computer. “I can pre-register you for it if you would like. Today is the last day for sign ups.”

“Please,” said Rei. “List me as Rei Ward, with York Dune as my auxiliary.”

“We don’t allow players to choose their auxiliaries—”

Rei slammed her fist down on the table. “You’ll do it this time.” She looked at me, appearing surprised at her own ferocity. “Um, yeah. I just really think York here will benefit the team.”

“He’s a Third,” said the receptionist.

“So?” said Rei. “He’s part of the student council. Surely that counts for something?”

The receptionist sighed. “I’ll register Mr. Dune with the auxiliary audition happening adjacent to the team auditions,” she said. “That’s the best I can do.”

“I appreciate it,” said Rei. She turned to me. “Do you want to take a look at the curling ring?”

“That would be on the fiftieth floor,” said the receptionist. “No one is there at the moment but the door should be unlocked.”

“Thanks,” said Rei. She led me to the elevator, which we took up. We were there in under a minute. The doors opened onto an auditorium half the size of Peter’s Hall, which meant that it was still miles larger than any regular one. This one seemed to be suited for a boxing match. Where the ring should have been was an empty swimming-pool shaped box about the size of an Olympic pool. On each end were diving board-like protrusions that contained electronics. The whole place gave a “Yu-Gi-Oh” dual system vibe.

The six pillars for each side would be erected in front of the players. Right now the depression was empty.

Rei walked down to the ring and took a stroll around the deep pool.

“How does it feel?” I said.

“Good,” said Rei, calling up to me. “It’s amazing. I feel like the queen of the world down here.” She examined the ring for a while longer and then returned to the exit.

I nodded at her and we took the elevator back down to the ground floor.

When we were in the hallway on the first floor a First who was probably in his third or fourth year of school was standing in the hallway.

“You,” he said, pointing to Rei. “You’re that upstart who scored super high on the practical exam.”

“Upstart?” said Rei. “What’s with that choice of words. Are you a geezer who is aging out of his game?”

This appeared to enrage the student to the point where his cheeks went red. “No,” he said. “I don’t think that. Just know that I’m watching you. I know you think you’re better than the rest of us. Just wait. You’ll do horribly during the audition. Types like you who are more bark than bite always do.”

“You know nothing about her,” I said, stepping in between Rei and the student. “I won’t let you insult her.”

“Yeah?” said the student. “You. Me. A Kamigeki. Now.”

I sighed. “Are you sure?” I said.

The student gritted his teeth. “Now. If you don’t I’ll knock you over right now, teach you a lesson.”

I shrugged. “Okay. Let’s go schedule a Kamigeki. What’s going to be on the line?”

“If I win, you two won’t get a chance to join the curling team,” said the student.

“And if I win?” I said.

“You won’t.”

“If I do anyways?” I said.

“I’ll give you my position as head of the auxiliary core.” The student scoffed. “Not like a peon like you would know how to handle such a prestigious post.”

I walked past the student.

“Your name,” said the student. “So I can register our Kamigeki.”

“York Dune,” I said. “Yours?”

“Jerrod.”

“Last name?”

“Why the hell would I tell you?” said Jerrod.

I put my arm on Rei’s shoulder and ushered her away.

“Three o’clock this afternoon,” said Jerrod. “Be there. In the ring.”

It was currently one pm. I turned around and looked at Jerrod. “I’ll be there,” I said.

“You don’t have to,” said Rei, once we were out of earshot. “I know you’ll win, but I also know that you might hurt him beyond repair.”

I sighed. “It was his choice. If he were a competent magician, he would have realized I wasn’t who he thought I was.”

“Head of the auxiliary core,” said Rei, elbowing me. “Nice title for you.”

“I haven’t won yet,” I said. We were silent until we reached the courtyard. Rei sat down on a bench.

Tetra walked past. She stopped when she saw us.

“Hello,” she said. “How did the application to join the curling team go?”

“I’ve been challenged to a Kamigeki,” I said.

Tetra looked stone-faced. “Do they realize you’ll trounce them?”

“Huh?” said Rei. “You know York’s power level?”

“Yeah,” said Tetra. “During the raid on the cultists’ site, you were the one who held back enough power to rip the entire building to shreds. That’s why I worked so hard to end the battle fast.”

I chuckled. “Good of you to notice that,” I said.

“But your practical exam results don’t show any of that power,” said Tetra. “I’ve always wondered why.”

“Because York’s power can’t be measured by the standardized test,” said Rei. “It’s been that way for as long as we can remember. His power just evaporates whenever he needs to prove it exists.”

“I’ve heard of stories like that,” said Tetra. “But no worries. I believe you will win, York.” She flipped her curled hair. “In any case, I must get to my next class.”

I nodded and Tetra walked away. I turned to Rei.

“So,” I said. “About the audition. Do you know what’s going to happen?”

“Not exactly,” said Rei. “But I’m hopeful.”

We didn’t say anything for several minutes. Even though I knew that I had the ability to win the Kamigeki, I also knew that things could go wrong at any moment and I could lose, or even worse, be injured in the fight.

It was time for Rei to get to class. She would skip as soon as the Kamigeki started, but for now she had to maintain her grades as much as possible. I went to the campus gym and practiced with a punching bag for the rest of the time before the battle.

When it was time for the battle I entered Battle Tower and rode the elevator to the seventieth floor. This part of the building was in aether space and so did not exist inside the real world. Sort of like how video game houses always look smaller on the outside than the inside.

The Kamigeki stadium was smaller than I thought it would be. Seating for about a hundred people surrounded a ten meter by ten meter square. When I stepped onto the platform, a magical wall rose out of the edges and surrounded me. Before they got too high Jerrod jumped onto the platform.

He cracked his knuckles and began typing at his casting device. A klaxon blared and the game started.

I held out my casting device and, using the data I could see emitting from Jarrod’s device, created a cancellation wave that would nullify the attack. The specific wave that I used was a low-energy and low activation cost spell, which would accommodate my inability to produce relevant power at this speed. I could unleash the “cry” but that would, as Tetra had noticed before, do a lot more damage than necessary in this case.

Jerrod’s casting device fizzled. He looked surprised for a moment and then his eyes rolled back into his head.

“Um,” I said, as soon as he hit the floor.

The klaxon blared again.

“That wasn’t supposed to happen,” I said. Then I had the epiphany. “Hey,” I said, as the judges lowered the shield. “Test him for magical steroids.”

“Why would we do that?” said a judge, approaching me.

“Just do it,” I said.

The judge looked as if he were considering it, and then shook his head. “We need a warrant to test for illicit substances.”

“Just figure out a way to do it.”

The judge looked frazzled. “In all my days as a Kamigeki judge I’ve never seen a knockout this fast.”

“I’m telling you,” I said. “My interference spell tangled with his magical enhancements and caused brain knock.”

“We’ll take a look,” said the judge, turning away.

The surveying professor, whose job it was to record the results, approached me.

“Good lord,” he said, clearly surprised. “That was quick. I had expected the exact opposite.” He paused. “I guess you are now the captain of the auxiliary corps for the curling team.”

“It was happenstance that I won this fast,” I said. “And I still don’t know exactly what my new job will entail.”

“If you’re as good a student as I’ve heard,” said the professor, “Then you will have no problem leading the auxiliary core.”

Rei appeared from the entrance to the ring’s seating. “Did I miss it?” she said. She looked at me. “Wow. That was quick.”

I gave her the thumbs-up.

“York Dune has won this match,” said a judge, approaching me. He held up my hand. There were no people to cheer, but I felt the pride that came with my victory. It was Jerrod’s fault, after all, for doing illegal magical stimulants. Like I had explained to the judge, my interference spell interacted with the drug’s enchantments and caused an effect called “brain knock” where the affected person’s consciousness disappeared for a moment, blinking in and out of existence. The result was a clean knockout and days of headaches and pains once he woke up.

His fault. He probably expected to make mince meat of me with his enhanced magical abilities.

I walked up to where Rei was standing.

“Looks like you’re in charge now,” she said, her hands on her hips. “You can choose who you get to work for. Obviously it’s going to be me.”

“Of course,” I said, putting my hand on her shoulder. “And I’ll make you the top curling player in the nation, at least at the collegiate level.”

Rei grinned and then turned around. “Let’s blow this place.”

“You said it,” I said, and then we walked out of the room and took the elevator to the ground floor. When I arrived a girl who looked straight out of the Wizard of Oz—the old one—was leaning against the wall.

“You think just because you won the title of captain of the auxiliary team that you can just walk all over us?”

“I haven’t done anything with the title yet,” I said.

“To be honest, Jerrod wasn’t the best captain. He was too proud and he did stimulants. But how can you, a first year Third, be any better?”

I stopped and faced her. “For one,” I said, “I’m not going to topple the current power structure. You’re on the auxiliary team, I can see?”

“I’m the vice captain,” said the girl. “Alice. I hate to admit it, but the Kamigeki is law. You’re the captain now, at least until the next election cycle.”

“I hope I’ll present myself to you as an asset to the team,” I said, bowing.

“Hm,” said Alice. “You’re humbler than I took you for.”

Rei grinned. “He’s not at all like Jerrod,” she said. “I know that.”

Alice sighed. “Follow me. I’ll get you to meet the rest of the auxiliaries as well as the main players.”

I followed Alice, Rei behind me, and we walked to an annex of Battle Tower.

Winds of Magic Chapter 7

 

Chapter 7

School started in the fall like it always did. Rei and I commuted from our next-door houses and for the first couple of weeks performed all the perfunctory actions associated with the first weeks of college. One day a week after the first day I was approached by a very beautiful girl dressed in a modest long dress that was lined with lace. She had black hair down to her hips and bright blue eyes. She stopped me.

“York Dune,” she said, as if she already knew me.

“Hello,” I said.

She pointed to me aggressively. “I heard you scored highest on the written entrance exam. I won’t mince words. Join the student council.”

“This is a bit sudden,” I said.

“What other group will take you?” said the student council president. “You scored dead last in practicals. But I understand your value. You can be of great help to the student council.” She extended her hand. “The name’s Illya.”

“You already know my name,” I said, shaking her hand.

“Come with me,” said Illya.

“I promised I’d meet with a friend in half an hour,” I said.

“You’ll have time for that,” said Illya. Her badge indicated that she was a First. Of course she would be. She was the student council president, after all. “Come on.”

I followed her towards the student council government building, Flower Hall. As we walked, Illya spoke.

“I heard you and some friends foiled an attempt to awaken an A-class monster.”

“Yeah, I didn’t really do anything,” I said. “I was just there.”

“You were part of what happened. Don’t deny your involvement.”

I sighed. “Why do you want me, of all people, to join the student council?”

“Because I see a future in you,” said Illya. “I see that you will become someone special in the years to come. I want to be a part of that story.”

Could she possibly know about my work? I didn’t think so, but it might be trouble if she did.

I pushed the thought away and followed her into the student council building and then into their operational headquarters.

A bulky man with a badge that indicated he was a First stood up as soon as we entered. He had crop-cut hair and a thick chin that jutted out from under his mouth. His eyes were remarkably strong and his gaze was powerful.

“Why is a Third here?” he said.

Illya sat down at the head of a round meeting table. “This is York,” she said. “He’s going to be our treasurer.”

“Wait, you didn’t say anything about me joining you,” I said.

The bulky student waved at me. “Exactly!” he said. “It’s a break with tradition to let a Third onto the student council!”

Illya tapped her fingers on the table. “It’s my decision, whether or not either of you want to accept it.”

“I thought this was a college where student choice was respected,” I said.

“Do you want to argue about it?” said Illya.

The burly student waved at me. “He’s a Third!” he said. “What can he contribute?”

Illya frowned, her eyes glinting. “He scored ten points higher than anyone ever has on the entrance exam.”

The burly student seemed to consider this. “I don’t like it,” he said, “And neither will the student body.”

“Roy,” said Illya, “You have to understand. I’m looking to host a council that doesn’t look at superficial things like rank, but instead chooses its members based on merit and ability.” She looked at me. “Your childhood friend’s name is Rei, and she scored second on the practical exam, correct?”

“Um, yes,” I said.

“Bring her with you next time.”

“But,” I said, but was stopped mid-sentence.

“No. I get what I want when it comes to this. You’re going to be our treasurer and there’s nothing you can do about it, outside of a Kemigeki.”

Roy looked taken aback. “You’re suggesting a Third first year challenge you to a Kamigeki?”

“I don’t expect it to happen, but yes, that’s what we will call a worst-case scenario.”

“I won’t go that far,” I said. “Just give me a moment to think about it.”

“Good,” said Illya. “You can go. You said you have a meeting with your childhood friend?”

“Thanks,” I said. I turned away and left the building. I thought about the offer the entire walk to the cafeteria.

Rei was sitting and eating a plate of French fries. “Sit,” she said.

I sat down next to her.

“I’m going to join the curling team,” she said. “And I want you to be my auxiliary.”

“I don’t know if I can—”

“I know you can,” said Rei. “I know you better than you know yourself. You’re smart enough to win games.”

I sighed. “Okay. I’ll do it. For you. But if it gets too demanding I may have to bow out. I have a job, after all.”

“What, your blog?” said Rei. “What’s so great about it? Why don’t you give it up?”

“I’m sorry, I can’t.”

Rei looked apologetic. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I just got a bit worked up.”

“It’s fine,” I said. It really didn’t bother me. I was always deflecting her inquiries into my job. I still didn’t really know the reason for the secrecy but it was hardwired into my contracts so I couldn’t do anything about it.

“I’m not entirely sure what being an auxiliary would entail,” I said. I knew a lot about a lot of things, but magic sports really wasn’t my specialty.

“You’ll be formulating pillars and designing Siege Code for me to cast,” said Rei.

“Okay, I understand,” I said. “I’ll work with you.”

“I knew you would!” said Rei. She took my hand and held it. “We’re going to get onto the main team. Together.”

“Anyways, how are your classes going?” I said, without letting go of her hand.

“They’re going well,” said Rei. “It’s mostly been introductions and syllabuses.”

“Same here,” I said.

I let go of Rei’s hand and stood up to got some food from the food court, and then I headed back to where Rei was sitting. When I returned I found Tetra and Jade sitting at the table. Tetra was, as always, eating a gourmet meal. Jade had a simple sandwich.

“Hey!” said Tetra, upon my arrival. “I heard you got scouted by the student council.”

“How did you hear about that?” I said.

“I’ve been trying to get onto the council myself,” said Tetra. “I don’t know why they would let a Third onto the council, but if it had to be anyone I think you’re the best one to do it.” She covered her mouth as she chewed, and then swallowed. “In any case, I hope our friendship will allow you to put in a good word for me with the president.”

I nodded. “I will,” I said. I turned to Rei. “The president also requested you.”

Rei frowned. “But what if I don’t want to?” she said.

“Illya seems like the kind of person who will get what she wants no matter what other people think.”

Rei sighed. “Okay. But I have a condition.”

“I’m not the one you need to present that to,” I said.

Rei stood up, clearing her plate. “Let me put this away and I’ll come with you to the student council room.” She paused, turning to Tetra and Jade. They, as well, were almost finished with their meals.

“Tetra,” said Rei. “Come with me. Jade too if she wants.”

Tetra snapped her fingers and a butler appeared, taking away her plate, as well as Jade’s. She stood up and cleaned her hands off with an alcohol wipe. “Very well,” she said.

Jade nodded.

The four of us returned to the student council room. At the door, I heard people talking.

“What do you mean you won’t budge?” said a voice. “I refuse to let a Third be on this council.”

“I’m the president,” said Illya. “And you will do as I ask or I will be forced to bring you to a Kamigeki.”

“You know I can’t win that,” said the voice.

I chose that moment to push my way into the room. Illya and the student stopped.

The student who had been arguing was a First, about an inch shorter than me, wearing a blazer and modern suit. His eyes burned with intensity.

“This is Jack,” said Illya, pointing to the student. “He’s the student council secretary.” She paused. “I see you brought Rei,” she said. “As well as Ms. Pearlash.” She bowed.

Tetra curtsied back. “I am glad to be here,” she said.

Rei pointed to Tetra. “If you want me on the council, you’re going to have to take her too.”

“No problem,” said Illya. “There are plenty of jobs that need to be done.” She looked Tetra over with a discerning gaze. “You do look to be as capable as your bloodline would indicate. I think you’d do best helping York with the treasury business.”

“You’ve already decided his job?” said Jack, his eyes narrowed.

“Yes,” said Illya. “Anyone can do the job of treasurer. I simply want York around because I know he will be able to solve the problem.”

“Which problem?” asked Jack.

“The. Problem.” said Illya.

Jack sighed. “That one. I don’t even think it’s a problem if you’d ask me.”

“We need equality at this school,” said Illya. “And he’s the one who can make it happen.”

I sat down at the table. “I’d like to start my job,” I said.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting you to start until tomorrow,” said Illya.

I shook my head. “I’m going to need to look over your finances.”

Tetra sat down next to me. “Indeed. We’re going to audit you. You’re the ones who requested this.”

“Sure,” said Illya, sitting down at the head of the table. She held up her hands. “That’s why I scouted you.”

I spent the next hour going over paperwork regarding the school’s student-sponsored expenses. At Rockwell, the student council was given a budget that they distributed to clubs, events, and anything else a student council could do.

I began to notice small discrepancies in the figures after half an hour. I searched for their origin and finally traced them to a possible source of embezzlement. It was an account called “Forthier’s Club” that was draining small bits of money from at least fifty sources. It was very well hidden.

“Are you seeing this?” I said, presenting the documents to Tetra.

Tetra looked them over. “Indeed,” she said. “Your hunch is correct. I, too, have seen something going on with this Forthier’s Club.”

“What’s Forthier’s Club?” I asked Illya.

She looked up from her work. “Excuse me?” she said. “I do not recognize the name.” She looked at Jack.

Jack shook his head. So did Roy, who had entered the room a while ago.

“The documentation points to Forthier’s Club being a hybrid fraternity.” Tetra showed Illya some documents. “They’re the guarantor on a number of transactions that seem suspicious. There’s a serious discrepancy in the numbers, and this club seems to be the source.”

“Let me look over the documents,” said Illya. She took the papers and downloaded the electronic documents to her tablet. It took her ten minutes of silence to look them over. “Yes, I see it,” she said. “I don’t remember our club advisory board approving a club with this name.”

“So what do you think?” said Rei.

“I think you’re going to have to do your job,” said Illya, to Rei.

“Excuse me?” said Rei. “You haven’t told me what my job will be yet.”

“You’re going to be the campus sheriff,” said Illya. “Rockwell is a magic academy, and as such many magicians have powers that would become troublesome if misused. Our previous sheriff graduated last year and we’ve been looking for a replacement.”

“So you want me to police the campus?” said Rei. “I don’t know if I’m up to the task. I also plan on joining the curling team with York as my auxiliary.”

“Don’t worry,” said Illya. “The sheriff doesn’t actually spend that much time doing campus police work. That’s what the searchers are for.”

“We call the people who do the actual police work searchers,” said Roy.

Rei sighed. “Okay. I’ll do that. My first job is to look into Forthier’s Club.” She paused. “I’ll get to it as soon as possible. For now the deadline to apply for the curling team is today.” She turned to me. “York. Let’s go.”

I stood up. “If you will excuse me.”

We left the room to head to the Battle Tower.

Winds of Magic Chapter 6!

 

Chapter 6

The weeks passed without much fanfare. Then I got the letter. I had been accepted. I was now part of the Freshman class at Rockwell Magic Academy. My practical score had been dismal, but I had scored the highest of any of the test takers on the written exam.

But even so I was rated a “Third.” I did not know exactly what this meant, but I had no illusions about its connotation.

Rei, on the other hand, was listed as a “First.” She received a full scholarship, all expenses paid, and was the second-highest scorer on the practical exam. Her written exam results were nothing to scoff at either.

Rockwell was just within walking distance of our houses. The day of orientation arrived, and Rei woke me up early by knocking on my door.

I got dressed and went to the door. “Ready?” I said, once I opened it.

“Ready,” said Rei. We walked the fifteen minutes it took to get to the campus and arrived to see a great number of students who were gathered in the entrance square.

The academy was formed of silver and magic. Each building flowed through the air, hanging at strange, obtuse angles and sparkling with an electric brilliance. It resembled the “future land” models that one sees in pictures of what the fifties thought the future looked like. Not outdated, but a bit quaint in its sensibilities.

The biggest building was a fluted column that stood at least twenty stories tall, decorated with what appeared to be twinkling diamonds. That building rose out of the middle of the campus, surrounded by the other buildings, all of which complimented it.

There were over five hundred students arranged in the courtyard, with five sets of tables carrying nametags and attendance sheets.

Rei waved. She had spotted Tetra and Jade. Tetra waved back and approached us.

“Hum hum,” said Tetra, holding her hand luxuriously in front of her mouth. “I see you have both arrived.” She eyed me. “Mr. Miracle.”

That was Tetra’s nickname for me, as she considered my entrance into Rockwell to be a miracle. I couldn’t argue with the name as it appeared to be a term of endearment when coming from her. Her mind, as always, was a bit obtuse.

And so was Jade’s. She bowed, without saying anything. I saw the badge on her shirt.

“You’re a Second?” I said.

“And you’re a Third,” said Tetra, in place of Jade.

Tetra’s badge indicated that, like Rei, she was a First. Tetra, to her credit, did not boast about her placement rank. We looked at each other, and then Tetra chuckled. “Anyways, it’s time that we got signed in for orientation.” She paused. “I never did ask exactly what your major was.”

“Magical cyber engineering,” I said.

“Ooh, a tough one,” said Tetra. “I myself have joined the art conservatory.” She laughed. “And Jade is studying magic medicine.”

Jade nodded, though she did not speak.

I motioned towards Rei. “Rei is training to be a hyperspace engineer,” I said.

“Ah, hyperspace,” said Tetra. “Quite the strange subject.”

“Have you seen it before?” asked Rei.

“Once I saw it during a lab for my AP Spatial Manipulation class. It certainly gave me quite the surprise.”

“Yeah, hyperspace does that,” said Rei. “You get used to one kind and then they show you another and it boils your brain again.”

“Very few people can handle looking straight at hyperspace,” said a voice, approaching us.

It was a professor. She wore a mauve business suit and had on a name tag that identified her as “Dr. Simmons.” She couldn’t have been more than twenty-five years old. Quite a feat for a professor. She also held in her hand a poster with “Magical Engineering” written on it. She motioned towards the greeting tables. “I couldn’t help but hear that Rei Ward was in attendance.” She extended her hand. “Stacy Simmons. Dr. Stacy Simmons.”

Rei shook the professor’s hand. “Rei Ward,” she said, “Though I suppose my reputation precedes me.”

Dr. Simmons smiled. “Indeed. Your mastery of the hyperspace portion of the written exam was something to be seen.”

Rei laughed nervously. “Yeah, um, I spend a lot of time looking at it.”

“You don’t happen to be a natural, do you?” Dr Simmons paused. “Of course you are. No one who hasn’t delved deep into the hyperspace levels could answer like you did on the exam.”

A “natural” was someone who could see hyperspace without needing equipment. Rei was one of them. When she was a child, it really bothered her, but now that she had grown up she managed to keep control of it. Even so, some days the hyperspace took over her body and made her bedridden for a while. It hadn’t happened in some time but I was always standing by for an attack.

Not now though. Now we had to bathe in our success.

“Yes, I am a natural,” said Rei, a bit guarded. “Now, if you will excuse me.”

“Ah, one thing before you go,” said Dr. Simmons. “Say hello to Dr. Richardson when you can. He can help you in ways most professors can’t.”

We excused ourselves from Dr. Simmons and went to the sign in table. After waiting in line for a while we both received name tags that also displayed our chosen major. We were then told to gather around the Orientation Leaders who were holding the signs of our major.

I returned to Dr. Simmons, who appeared to be the only professor among the orientation leaders. I didn’t know what was going on there but I didn’t want to ask. About a hundred students gathered around her sign.

The groups split and began their tours of the campus. I got to see all the halls, each one unique in its twisting, graceful form. The windows reflected light as if encrusted with gems.

Hammard Hall was the location where most engineering students had their classes.

 We also saw the Battle Spire. That was the tall building at the center of the campus. It was, as its name implied, a tower for battling. Though it looked only twenty stories tall, it was actually over two hundred stories tall. City height limits kept the physical manifestation of the building short but, make no mistake, the place was huge.

“Battling is the foundation of Rockwell Academy,” said Dr. Simmons. “Believe it or not, our school is number two in our league when it comes to magic battles. Our team is called the Rockwell Angels.” She pumped her fist. “Go Angels!”

“Go angels!” echoed some of the more energetic students.

I, of course, couldn’t possibly compete in the magic “battle” system, given my poor practical results. But I wasn’t aiming to not be involved either. The field of “battling” was a great test bed for my inventions and programs. If I could worm my way into a position as a battle engineer, I could advance my projects at much quicker rates, and in the process help my school.

“There are three teams here at Rockwell,” said Dr. Simmons, standing on the steps of Battle Tower. “One. Curling. Two. Rockeye. Three. Bladestep.”

Curling was a magic sport where two magicians stood on opposite ends of a field containing twelve pillars. Each pillar was built beforehand with magic by the auxiliary team, and could be comprised of anything from bone to ice. The goal of the game was to destroy all your opponent’s pillars without letting yours get destroyed.

Rockeye was a game resembling magic paintball. Teams of three would run through terrain and fire off magic shots at enemies while hiding behind cover.

Bladestep was a game where one team created a trap-filled maze for the other team to traverse. The traversing team was equipped with magic shields. Scores were assigned based on how deep the team got into the maze before sustaining a “death,” where a player’s protective shielding was broken.

Dr. Simmons continued. “We also perform in the magic athlete’s festival each quarter. Training for that, as well, happens in Battle Tower.”

The magic athlete’s festival had ten sports, each one a test of skill for the player.

“And finally,” said Dr. Simmons, “We have Kamigeki, which translates to individual combat. Our school is one of the five in the nation that still upholds the values of Kamigeki. If you wish to challenge someone to a Kamige, you must put forth equal wagers and bring a judging panel of three teachers. A challenge made through Kamigeki is sacred. Do not take one on lightly. At worst, you may lose a limb or even die.”

A student raised her hand. “So you’re saying people can get seriously hurt like this?”

“Isn’t that what I just said?” said Dr. Simmons. “Without risk, the Kamige system doesn’t mean anything. Like I said, it’s sacred. Our school has been performing it for three hundred years.” She paused. “Now on to Peter’s Hall. We’ve been here long enough.”

I had been interested in Kamigeki since I had learned of Rockwell. This practice was a holdover from the days before magic casting devices made it so that more people could use magic. Before that, magicians were more marginalized in society. They used Kamigeki to solve disputes between themselves without the interference of a non-magic governing body. Now that there was an official magical regulations board, however, only select places still practiced it, all of them grandfathered in through the regulations against it.

We came to Peter’s Hall. It was a magnificent structure, even considering all the other crazy architecture on campus. Its flanged facets rotated through the rising cone of its silhouette. Multiple colors of window ran up along the angles and twisted magnanimously.

We entered through a grand crystal door. The inside was wide, huge, a hall like no other. The stage was small as seen from the entrance point. This auditorium looked like it could hold five thousand people.

“And this is the interior,” said Dr. Simmons, her voice echoing. “It was remodeled several years ago by the famous architect Joseph Siycamore.” She motioned. “If you’re successful here, you may get a chance to perform on that stage.” Dr. Simmons then took us out of the building and gave us a further tour of the campus. There was the Elephant Fountain and there was a piece of the Berlin Wall, as well as many modern art sculptures.

We finished our tour in the cafeteria, where the other groups were filing in as well.

I waved to Rei. She came over to me and tilted her head.

“I want to join the curling team,” she said, almost instantly. “I want you to be one of my auxiliaries.”

“A bit quick much?” said Tetra, approaching from the other direction. She snapped her fingers and five chefs in white kitchen garb came through the door pushing serving carts. The whole cafeteria turned to look.

Tetra motioned. “You can eat with me if you want.”

“Of course!” said Rei, before I could say anything. She lifted the cap off of one of the dishes. “Oh wow, lobster,” she said. “It’s been a while.”

“Take as you may,” said Tetra.

“Thanks,” I said, as I received a platter filled with sumptuous baked potatoes.

As the rest of the cafeteria watched, we sat down at a table near the edge and were waited on hand and foot by the chefs. Tetra spent the whole time talking about her major and the classes she was going to take and the artists she had studied and the actual works of theirs she had hanging in her house.

So we spent the rest of orientation.

Winds of Magic Chapter 5

 

Chapter 5

One week later I left the house and met up with Rei to take our written exams for Rockwell Magic Academy. They were known to be one of the toughest exams in the magic world, but I had been preparing for this moment for years.

We filed into a large lecture hall with at least a hundred other students, where we were placed at least six feet apart from each other. Even so the hall held us all with room to spare.

A professor began to hand out test booklets.

“Do not open them until I give you the go ahead,” said the professor, continuing to hand out the booklets. “You can find pencils underneath your desk.”

I didn’t need to look, as I had brought four of my own, all nicely sharpened. It was a good luck charm in some ways and a reassurance in others. I was a test-taker at heart and I needed to score high on this exam to compensate for my poor practical score.

The questions were on magic theory, including an amount on Siege Code. I flew through the questions and was the first one to turn in my exam.

I waited outside for Rei. She took another half hour, and was the fifth person to leave the room. When she walked out of the doorway, I greeted her.

“So?” I said. “How do you think you did?”

“Good enough,” said Rei. “Even if I didn’t do as good as I could have, my practical score should shore me up in the selection process.”

I sighed. “Well, you and me are both in this to win.”

“I’m looking to get a scholarship,” said Rei. She frowned. “Though I don’t know about your chances.”

“We’ve been over this,” I said. “I make enough money with my blog to support even an expensive school like Rockwell. I won’t have to take out loans.”

“How does your blog generate so much money?” said Rei.

“It’s best if you don’t ask,” I said.

I, of course, did not operate a popular and profitable blog. I was simply paid lots of money to do Siege Code and other development as Regius Alnum. Part of my contract, during high school, was to keep my identity a secret. I wasn’t that worried about being known to be a famous magical engineer, but the companies I worked for, and the government, seemed to want to keep my identity under wraps. I was smart enough not to dig too deep into that one. There had to be some sort of reason for it but I hadn’t asked and didn’t want to.

We walked together, silent, until we reached our two houses. Rei stopped at her door.

“See you tomorrow,” she said, hesitating for a moment.

“See you then,” I said, turning around and walking to my own door.

“Hey,” said Rei.

I turned to look at her. She paused.

“Good luck,” she said.

“Thanks,” I said. I opened my door and entered.

Now that I had some free time, I decided it would be productive to finish some of the work I had been contracted to do. Again, I was working on Project Canal, a government funded initiative to create tracking modules that were easier to use than the ones currently in production. I was on the Siege Code wing of the development and was senior design engineer. I had a lot of code to look through, compile, and debug before the project could be declared finished. I spent the rest of the night doing some of that.

I was alone in my house but I felt someone watching me. I turned around in my chair and looked at the doorway to my office.

A shadow stood in between the door frames.

“Agnis?” I said, tilting my head.

The shadow approached me. “York,” it said.

The shadow was an apparition named Agnis who worked for the government and occasionally came to me with requests. He was not a reaper, though he was of the same magical genus. His shadowy form had no boundaries and it was hard to see where his body ended and his aura began.

“What do you need from me?” I said.

“Don’t go to Rockwell,” Agnis said. “You don’t need to. You make twice as much money as any graduate from the academy.”

“It’s not about the money, Agnis,” I said. “There are things that I can learn there that I can’t anywhere else.”

“You intend to use your status as a student at Rockwell to access the Grimoires?” said Agnis.

“Yes,” I said. “Rockwell has three specific grimoires that I need to get my hands on.”

Agnis sighed, which was a deep sound that puffed through his shadowy form. “You do not need to know those things,” he said.

“Did you come here just to tell me that?” I asked.

Agnis shook his black, misty head. Smoke swirled around his neck. “I came here to warn you. You are going to find that being a student at Rockwell will be more difficult than you expect.”

“I’m prepared for academic difficulty,” I said.

“Not that,” said Agnis. “A different kind.”

“Then tell me about it,” I said.

Agnis shook his head again. “No. I can’t.” His form began to shimmer. “I need to go now.”

“Has Crystal said anything?” I said.

Agnis was about to disappear. “No,” he said, his voice fading. “She expects you to continue work no matter the circumstances.” And then he dissolved into mist.

I turned back to my computer. Agnis had a small amount of precognitive ability, and so I needed to take his warning more seriously than if it had come from someone else. Rockwell was dangerous? And the reapers. What did they want with me? I had the feeling that I was peeking into a deeper conspiracy.

I pushed those thoughts away and continued my work on the computer.

I noticed another presence behind me about ten minutes later. “Rei,” I said, without looking.

“York,” said Rei. I turned to look at her. She was in her underwear, but it was not something that surprised me.

“You need your devices calibrated?” I said. This was a normal routine between us that happened about twice a month. The only question I had was why she picked today.

Clothing had the effect of dampening psionic waves, but we did have to maintain a modicum of modesty. As such, Rei wore as little as possible to keep her pride intact while allowing for good readings.

I pressed a button on my console. The walls folded in and a padded operation table rose from the ground. The whole room turned into a medical theater.

Rei walked to the table and got onto it. I took off her dual casting devices and plugged them into my console. A stream of data flowed across the multiple screens. I did some typing and option selecting and then turned to Rei.

“You’ve been experiencing breakage?” I said, not really as a question.

“A little,” said Rei. She turned her head away.

“Hm,” I said. “It shouldn’t be that bad, according to my readouts.”

“I want to be in the best shape I can be,” said Rei. “I have a feeling I’ll need to precision soon.”

“Have you been visited by any apparitions?” I said.

Rei was silent for a good long while. “Maybe,” she said. “I just have the feeling that I’m going to need my casting ability at some point in the near future.”

I thought about it for a minute and then turned to my console. “Stay still,” I said, as I initiated the scanning process. I took out the handheld scanner and walked over to where Rei was laying. Using the device, I scanned her entire body, making sure to keep my motions regular so that I covered all of the necessary points.

“Hm,” I said. “You seem to have a little bit more energy coming from your second psionic node.”

“Ah,” said Rei. “I’ve been practicing heating things instead of just cooling them.”

“Well, it’s showing results,” I said. I continued to scan her. “Anyways, you don’t seem to be that off the mark.” I shut off the scanner. “Give me a moment.”

Rei sat up on the table and covered herself with her hands. She paused there, not doing anything.

“You should put your clothes back on,” I said.

“Okay,” said Rei, pausing for a moment. She then got off the table and took a step towards me. She appeared to think for a minute and then turned around and retrieved her clothes.

Today she was wearing a long white skirt with a lace covering and a frilled top. It wasn’t the most practical of outfits but I did think it suited her form well. She walked up behind me and watched as I coded into her devices the new calibrated data.

It took about fifteen minutes. When I was done I handed the devices back to her.

“It should hold for two weeks,” I said. “After that come back.” I pressed another button on my console and the exam room disappeared.

The room was, actually, not intended for my use. My father was a medical magic researcher and used this office to test the various magic beasts he acquired on his journeys. I had repurposed it for calibration of casting devices, but its original purpose was to provide information for my father’s research. My father was, in fact, one of the most famous xenobiology experts in the field. He and my mother both did great research that contributed a large amount to our knowledge of magic and how it interacted with living creatures.

Rei took her two casting devices and smiled at me before turning around and leaving the office. I returned to my work and spent the rest of the night trying to find a specific bug in the Project Canal code.

The next morning I woke up to the smell of breakfast. It was Rei, of course, and it was normal for her to cook breakfast for us in the morning.

I walked into the kitchen. I stopped.

“Tetra?” I said. “Jade?”

Tetra and Jade turned to look at me from where they were sitting at the table.

“Hello there,” said Tetra, with a slight grin.

“Rei invited us over,” said Jade, tilting her head.

“But you live on the other side of town,” I said.

“It is not often that I get to eat food cooked by a friend,” said Tetra.

Jade nodded.

“Okay, then,” I said. “The more the merrier, I guess.”

“Jade and I have our written exam today,” said Tetra. “It would do us well to start the day off with a wholesome meal.”

“Well,” I said, “Eating does send more blood from the brain to the stomach,” I said.

“Ah, posh,” said Tetra. She waved her hand dismissively. “I have always had good luck on exams after eating well.” She held out an empty bowl. “More please!”

“Coming right up,” said Rei, filling the bowl with rice and egg.

Tetra tucked in to her seconds. I sat down at the table and examined the two. Jade appeared to be off in her own world of thought. Tetra’s eyes, on the other hand, were surreptitiously examining every inch of our living and dining room.

“Quite quaint, isn’t it?” said Tetra, after a pause. “I never do understand the decoration habits of commoners.”

“We’re not in the fifteenth century,” I said, just meaning to poke at her.

“Ah,” said Tetra, “But social hierarchies still exist. And they are a good thing that must be respected. The rich improve the plight of the poor, of the masses, and so must receive their reward.”

“I don’t know if I’d buy that,” said Rei, handing me a bowl of rice. “I think being rich has its merits, but often times people don’t get rich by doing good things.”

“Pollycock,” said Tetra. She waved her spoon with a delicate touch. “Someone has to be on top.”

“We can have this argument later,” said Rei, sitting down to her own meal. “In the meantime, eat up.”

And so we began our day.