064, 2/2

With a Handy Aura, a rough plan, a quick trip to the market, and a stop by Spice Lady Ratchet’s store, Erick had all the pieces to start dinner. He had three hours to go till dinner, and more than enough food to make; he might not even make it, dinner might be late.

He started with dessert first. Lemon bundt cakes soon filled a table, while iced cookies filled four baskets. Two of the cakes were destined for other people, but those cookies were for Jane and the household.

Dinner would, of course, prominently feature potatoes. So Erick got right on that. Sliced, fried, then set aside until he could fry them again right before go-time, the potatoes were easy to make. Chicken came next. It was carved into popcorn sized pieces and breaded and fried, with spices so pungent, Erick had to conjure gloves and a face mask to stop his skin from burning.

When Rats woke up, Erick sent him out for beer. The redscale man smiled and gladly accepted this wonderful new responsibility. He would get the best beer, and it would only cost a few hundred gold. That was okay, money would not be tight for tonight’s service. Erick also told him to buy some fancy breads, too. Rats nodded; he knew just the place.

Erick roasted all sorts of vegetables, from carrots to corn, and not-eggplant and not-zucchini. He even managed to make a passable Ranch dressing with the spices Ratchet sold him, and sour cream he had made the day before. It was slightly different Ranch than how Erick remembered, but when Teressa woke up and tried it, she thought it was wonderful.

Jane showed up half an hour before sunset, walking home with Rats, both of them carrying kegs and bags of food.

Erick had decided to make pizza, too. Buffalo fried chicken pizza. The two-foot wide pizza came out of the oven, perfectly melted and singed, just as Jane tapped the first keg.

As the sun set over western Spur, and the sky turned cold, as winds flowed from the north, Erick laid out dinner for his daughter, and everyone else in the household. It was a nice, calm event. Erick burned his mouth trying out the spicy fried chicken, though he was not alone in that regard. The only one able to stomach the powerful spice was Jane, who absolutely loved it. Kiri almost managed to eat a whole fried tender, but rushed for the milk one bite to the end. Jane laughed, while Teressa and Rats chuckled. Poi ate his non-spicy chicken, smiling as he watched. The pizza was an absolute hit. The Ranch went fast, too; Erick had to make more of that, so he did.

Erick felt a joy, in this moment, in this time.

After dinner, Jane made coftea, while Erick sliced up cakes and set out cookies. Dessert was nice, too. Teressa spoke of the places she had seen and the monsters she had killed, while Rats talked of the people who had come through Spur. Poi spoke of history and facts, while Kiri talked of magic. Jane would go hunt Flame Essences tomorrow, but before she went, Erick had presents to give.

It had only taken him twenty minutes, scattered throughout the afternoon cooking, to go to his tower and actually enchant the blanks he already had, and now, he was going to give them to his people; if they wanted them. Erick excused himself from the kitchen table, and went to his tower to collect the presents.

Erick came back to the kitchen. Dirty plates and half eaten cakes laid scattered across the dark wooden table, while warm mugs of coftea steamed into the air, and people spoke of other places and different times. Nothing had changed between him leaving and coming back, but now, Erick carried ten rings in his pockets, and they felt heavy.

Poi was the first to go silent, and look up to him. Kiri looked up next. Conversation ceased.

Erick said, “I made rings for everyone. But these are special. If anyone ever finds out you have something like this, you might become a target, but we’re already targets. So…”

Kiri breathed in, sharply. Teressa and Rats frowned. More silence.

Jane said, “I think it’s a good idea. You all could do with some more defenses.”

Poi asked, “What are they?”

Erick pulled out his ten rings, and Handy Aura’d them out. The rings floated on unseen hands, to sit beside their designated people. The rings were unassuming things; a silver, plain sphere, set in a thin band of iron. There were no flourishes upon the jewelry, but everyone stared at them like they were priceless, or dangerous, or interesting.

Jane put hers on, first. Left ring finger, right ring finger, and done. She tilted her head, then sat calmly, saying, “That’s some good quality.”

“They’re a bit better than mine, but only by a few points.”

Jane said, “A few points adds up a lot.”

“Well. Yeah,” Erick agreed.

Rats took off his old rings and put on his new ones. He shivered. A moment passed, as he read the air, blinking. His mouth dropped open. He almost said something, but he chose to remain silent.

Poi, Kiri, and Teressa quickly put theirs on.

Erick watched, as eyes lit up, and brows furrowed, and Poi glared daggers at absolutely everyone except Erick. Poi’s look was one that declared that questions would remain questions.

Poi looked up to Erick, and said, “Thank you. These will do nicely.”

Kiri chuckled. “Oh my gods— I don’t want to know how. But I want to know. You know?”

Rats said, “Best not to.”

“Yes.” Teressa said, “Don’t poke around at this, Kiri.” She looked at the rings on her fingers, and said, “I’m not even sure we should have these.”

Rats said, “This solves so many problems for me. I’m using them.”

Kiri said, “Me too.”

“Me three.” Teressa said, “But… There is a danger, here.”

Jane said, “Danger is everywhere. Rats almost died the other day.”

Poi said, “The argument is a valid one to have. But we are using these rings. They solve a lot of problems for me, too.”

Kiri glanced up to Erick with a hunger in her eyes, but she looked away, to the rings on her fingers, and said nothing.

Jane looked to Kiri, then to Erick, smirking, as she asked, “How’d your [Death Spiral Fire], go, Dad?”

Erick exaggerated a frown at his daughter, as he glanced to Kiri.

“What!” Jane asked, all falsely innocent.

Erick decided to pull the bandage off quickly. “I did not get it—”

Kiri sighed out a happy, silent chuckle.

“—but I got something very similar—”

Kiri held her breath.

“—and something that is good enough to use in the place of [Death Spiral Fire].”

Kiri deflated, but quickly regained her composure.

Erick pulled out the box for [Endless Plasma Wrap] and handed it to Jane, across the table. At Kiri’s barely concealed look of supreme want, he handed her a copy, too. Kiri’s eyes went wide, as her breath hitched.

Jane took the spell, and spoke for the group, “Three times Willpower damage until the target dies. 1101 mana. Close range, though that’s not a big deal with Ophiel.” She dismissed the spell. “That’s a wyrm-killer!”

Kiri smiled softly, as she read the spell. She said, “It will serve.”

Erick changed the subject. “Anyone have any idea how [Teleport] works? I couldn’t get anything past the basic spell.”

Kiri kept her soft smile; remaining silent.

Poi said, “I have no idea.”

Teressa and Rats both shrugged, each of them touching the rings on their fingers.

Kiri said, “Uh! Yeah. It’s difficult to get [Teleport Object]. Proper training will help.”

“[Prismatic Ward] didn’t get made well, either.” Erick sat down and carved himself another slice of lemon cake, saying, “I did the rhyme and everything, but I think it was too simple. That spell is seven moving parts, all at once.”

Kiri asked, “How bad was it?”

“It was better than the Script version, for sure. But it was only 3 times Variable, and an unchanging area. Medium sized.”

Kiri paled, guttering out a long, drawn out, “Haaaa.”

Jane laughed loud.

Erick ignored Jane, saying, “So, Kiri. I was thinking to try a few Particle spells, and see about having you make them, and me copying them. Would you be interested in this?”

“Yes!” Kiri said, instantly.

Jane laughed again.

While dessert rolled on, and they spoke of magic, Erick went ahead and bought the rest of the spells necessary for Oceanside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He’d have to work on leveling those tomorrow, along with all the rest of the spells, as well as take another shot at [Prismatic Ward].

 

– – – –

 

Jane left in the morning, with a pack of lemon cookies and a lot of leftover chicken, and a large stone jar of the pepper spices Ratchet had made her. Erick’s rings were dull things on her fingers, while her eyes were bright brown, and full of joy. They spoke of talking every other night, or at least when they could; though Erick’s night would end up being hours ahead of Jane’s, and Jane might actually go out of range. [Telepathy] covered a vast, vast distance, but it wasn’t world-wide.

Oceanside was on an island country, south east of the Greensoil Republic, near the equator, while Jane would be traipsing all across continental Glaquin, as well as a final pass through the islands of Nergal, on the southern hemisphere.

Erick could barely get a [Telepathy] signal from here to Oceanside; he would have enough trouble providing the rains for the farms. Talking across double that distance was just unfeasible. At least with Erick’s basic tier 1 [Telepathy], anyway.

Jane was prepared for a long journey. Months, maybe. But she would be back in Spur, sooner or later. Spur was home, and her father was here, after all.

Erick cried as he hugged Jane beside the garden of their house, one final time. Wind rustled the lemon trees, and the vines and the corn stalks.

“I love you, Dad.”

“I love you, too, Jane.” Erick hugged her tight, asking, “You got a map, right? You know where you’re going?”

“I have a plan.” She said, “I know where I’m going.”

“I know you do.” He said, “I love you.”

Jane giggled, saying, “I love you, too, Dad.” She pulled away, then wiped away a tear of her own. She blinked up at the sunlight, shining across the roof. “Kiri can not have my tower.”

Erick laughed. “Okay.”

“I’m serious about this, now.” Jane smiled. “I’ll see you later, Dad.”

“Later.”

Jane blipped dark blue, and she was gone. The air was empty. Wind blew through the space that had just held his daughter, while she, herself, was a thousand kilometers away, and likely already blipping again, headed north, back to the Wyrmridge Mountains. Firemaw Mountain was her goal; to work on her [Fire Body], before she tackled the unicorn.

Erick stared at the air where his daughter had been.

Then he went back inside, to his tower. He stared at the ceiling, where the model of the Solar System hung. He stared for a while. Thinking, and not thinking. When he was done with that, ten or twenty minutes later, he got to making diamonds. Liquid had one more order of 50 rings left to fulfill, while Odaali and Cyril had 50 coming to them, too.

Erick sent Ophiel out to rain on the farms at the appropriate time, while he continued to toil in his tower. Diamond dust flew from jewelry lathes, and layered against Erick’s skin, and his face mask. Exalted rain funneled through gutters, into a cistern. Maskwards layered over pools of platinum water, as Ultramarine, Cyan, Cinnabar, and Crimson, sunk into spherical gems, to be sealed inside, under layers of platinum-laced diamond.

Artifacts were born, five, ten at a time.

Liquid got her order in the middle of the afternoon. At the same time, Erick delivered two lemon cakes to High Priest Darenka. She loved them.

Cyril, and Odaali, would have to wait till the morning for their shipment, because not only did Erick have no way to contact them, but Poi said they were not accepting anything from him. Well fuck that! Erick made a promise, and they were going to accept their items, dammit.

Erick would have pursued that conversation more, but at that moment, Al showed up at Erick’s front door, half an hour till sunset, wearing nicer clothes than normal.

 

– – – –

 

Al was a 9 foot tall hunk of orcol man, with brown-green skin, short black hair, deep black eyes, and light scars that crisscrossed much of his face. The scars were barely noticeable in normal light, though from his time in the bath house, Erick knew those scars covered a lot of the man’s body. But he was fully clothed, right now, and wearing an impeccable gangster-sultan’s loose, black and gold suit, over his massive muscular frame; Erick was completely unprepared for such a sight.

The sun glinted through the solid, flat [Crystalline Air] that surrounded the house, separating Al from Erick, who stood in the doorway, wearing a diamond dust covered tunic and breeches, looking rather destitute. He brushed sparkles out of his hair, and realized he needed a haircut. Shaving was hard enough—

“Good evening, Erick.” Al asked, “May I call upon you tonight, for a night on the town?”

Erick stood, stunned.

Al cleared his throat, adding, “This is not a date. I don’t date.”

Erick broke out in a laugh, while Al’s face turned darker and his arms loosened on his sides. He frowned, as his open hands clenched.

Al said, “I am sorry for the imposition.” Al turned to walk—

Erick quickly said, “Sorry! Not laughing at you. Just— Yes! I want to go on a non-date.” He patted himself down, adding, “I am quite underdressed, though.”

Al froze. He turned back to Erick, his face bright, as his eyebrows went up and his dark eyes sparkled. He stood straighter, stating, “Apologies. I… I have not done this… in a long time.” He tentatively asked, “Your… Your flirting, was real, yes?”

“Yes,” Erick said with a smile. He moved aside from the door, mentally pushing at the [Crystalline Air], giving Al permission to enter, saying, “Come on in. I. Uh. I need to get ready?”

Al looked over the [Solid Ward] around the house, then touched the surface. The solid air parted at his touch. Al pushed through, breaking the [Ward] into fractals across his entire body, as he stepped into the house. He overshadowed Erick by at least two feet. Erick smiled to look up at the man, as Al’s face flushed. The tall man looked away, smiling.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Erick stepped back, again, asking, “What’s the plan for tonight?”

Al glanced back to the [Solid Ward], touching it again, eliciting cracked air around his finger.

“Oh yeah!” Erick said, “I never showed you this, did I?” Erick pulled out the spell and handed it to Al.

Al briefly read over the spell, and smiled to say, “You are a lot more prepared for the trials of this world than you were when you first arrived upon my own doorstep.” He dismissed the blue box. “I am greatly pleased by this.”

“I am too.” Erick said, “Jane’s still worried, though. I sent her off today. She’s out gathering forms for Polymage. Oh! I did make this spell that burns a thing till it dies. It’s not [Death Spiral Fire], but it’s close. Still working on the rest of the standard archmage-repertoire, though.”

Al smiled wide, his lower fangs peeking out. He laughed, happy, saying, “This is good! Are you trying for that pesky mana sense skill, yet?”

“Just got [Detect Magic] the other day, and Kiri says that will help develop the skill, but I’ve yet to actually sit down and attempt such a thing.”

“It is a difficult skill.” Al smiled, saying, “But this is good! We shall celebrate!”

Erick smiled, softly, repeating, “What’s the plan for tonight?” He pulled at his clothes, scattering diamond dust, adding, “How much better should I dress?”

Al said, “I would be honored if you would accompany me to see the opening fights.”

Erick didn’t know if he heard that correctly. “The fights?”

Al paused. “Did you not know they were happening?”

“I have been kinda… occupied. Lately.”

Al smiled. He said, “In three to five days, the underground river will drop to a trickle, and water will have to be manually pulled up from below. This is when we hold the fights.” Al said, “Blood is spilled in friendly combat, to bless the lands and in prayer that the water will come again. Whoever has the most points by the time the water drops, wins. The fights this week promise to be the largest fights in a hundred years.” He added, “That’s the rumor, anyway.” He frowned at Erick, asking, “Did you really not know of them?”

Erick looked back toward Teressa, standing on the edge of the room in her monolithic grey [Conjure Armor]. She stood firm, without her helmet. She looked resigned; maybe slightly sad.

He asked her, “There are fights?”

“Yes, sir.” Teressa said, “I talked about it while you were making that dinner for Jane, and this morning, but it seems your mind was in another place.”

“Sorry. Yeah.” Erick agreed, “Probably.”

Teressa simply nodded.

Erick asked, “I guess I’m going to them. Wouldn’t you want to go, too, Teressa? Or, Poi, can be the guard? And you can just go to the the fights. You didn’t ask me for the night off, did you? Or… did you ask Poi?” Erick looked around. “Where is Poi, anyway?”

Teressa brightened, but she settled down, saying, “It’s me and Rats here, tonight. Poi is off doing whatever. We can go with you, though. Uh.” She said, “If you wish.”

Al readily said, “Yes! Yes. Let us all go!” He whispered to Erick, “This is not a date.”

Erick grinned. “I’ll go get ready.”