Miera Sundew is a young stifled elf who just awoke to the same thing everyone awakes to on their 12th birthday. Their class. However, with a too literal system in place, the term "Pinball Wizard" might have Miera casting spells more often than she gets to hit the arcades.
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Pinball Wizard (Original System Fantasy)
- Thread starter NotTheBaptist
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Chapter 1: Quarter Crunching Fun
New
NotTheBaptist
Getting out there.
- Joined
- May 25, 2026
- Messages
- 10
- Likes received
- 52
"12 is an important number. The most theologically important number, to be accurate. We measure our time in 2 divisions of 12, there are 12 months in a year, the first Priest of the System, Aclot, was said to have spent 12 days and 12 nights feeding the poor. And of course, the age when the System gifts its children with a Class, is at the start of their 12th year." - Liber Dominicus
"It's not fair!!" She wailed. She cried. She pounded her indignant fists against the dining room table.
"Now, sweetie, you knew this! You knew you were going to have to wait another four years to-" Miera threw a balloon at her father in impotent 12 year old rage.
"You didn't have to wait! Mum didn't have to wait! Why should I?!"
"Because this is a very important decision, Mimi, and we don't want you to make a decision you will end up regretting." Her mother rubbed her on the shoulder, soothingly. Absently, Miera dusted her shoulders free of glitter.
Miera's Mother was a case study in picking the right class. At the age of 12, Finniera Brambles had really, really wanted to be a cheerleader. At the age of 39, the [Level 7 Cheerleader] had no Skills which were applicable to her job as a clerk. Just the tendency to shed an absurd amount of body glitter in her day-to-day life.
"But Muuuuuuuummmmm-uh! I'm not like you, I'm not gonna realise I didn't want this for myself six years down the line!! I'm trustworthy!" She squeaked indignantly, hands on her hips. Her mother immediately countered the power pose with arms folded. The residual glitter didn't dampen the effect.
A thoroughly cowed Miera deflated under her mother's sharp gaze.
"Miera. Hun. Trust us. It will be better if you wait! You'll wake up in ten, maybe fifteen years and realise we were right for wanting you to pick a valuable Class, something that really helps you out in today's job market! Like… an architect! Or a builder, or or or a bricklayer! Or-"
A lot of Finniera's knowledge of what constituted a valuable job was acquired through work hubbub. See, Finniera worked as a clerk, but a clerk down at city hall. Meaning a lot of chitchat was about what was good for the city at the time. The city of Orange Logos was currently undergoing a very robust expansion program, meaning they were calling for all sorts of high level builders, loggers, architects, brick-layers, even the one on record [Cement-Mixer] to come to their city.
She had been, in her mind, subtly pitching the concept to her daughter, and felt like she was making real headway.
"For the one billionth time, I'm not becoming a builder!!! I'm not gonna get fat, and smelly and grow hair on my knuckles and wear a silly hat!! Why can't I pick something fun?!"
"Well, why bother thinking about the future?!" Her mother threw her hands up in the air. "Why not just pick the thing that interests you most right now and in 3 years time realise you got over it and it was just a phase! Like that-that… parlour game you play in the arcade! What's it called… Pinned balls!?"
Miera went quiet, puffing out her cheeks. She looked to one side, she looked at her dad, looking for support. He had eloped off to the kitchen. She looked back at her mother. Her expression had changed, all that concerned fury had given way to dread. She saw her mother's pointed ears droop in characteristic elf-sadness.
"No. Nonono, don't tell me-a pinball player?! You want to waste your one chance to really make it in this world on a child's game??"
"I-well, maybe!! Maybe I do! Maybe I DO want to, is that so bad?!"
Finniera took a deep breath. She stood up, she placed her hands primly over her stomach, and her ears slowly worked themselves back into the typical long, thin pointed pride that elves have. "…If you still want to in four years, that is fine… But irrelevant of if you want to now or not, you still cannot, young lady. You know what the New Great Holy Systemic Church says."
Miera made a face like someone farted. The religion angle. Ugh. "We don't even go to church!"
"That doesn't mean I'm letting you commit heresy, young lady! We may not be… devout! And the local chapter may be different to what your father and I were taught in the Glade of Suharliden, but that doesn't mean we aren't going to be good followers and do as the local church says!!" She hissed.
"Oh my GOD Mum you don't need to say 'ThE gLaDe Of SuHaRlIdEn' every time! It's a stupid tiny elf village and it's boring and phones don't even work there cos of stupid magic!"
Her gaze turned thunderous. Her arms returned to their folded positions. She stared down at Miera.
"You better lower your tone, young lady. It is your birthday, and I am trying to be patient, but you are being ridiculous. Go to your room, and calm down."
Miera swallowed, and stomped off as loudly as she felt she could get away with.
"I can't believe her!!" She yelled, suddenly regaining her courage once in her room. "Who does she even think she is?? She makes me wanna!…" Miera started punching the air. It proved… unsatisfactory.
A few minutes later, Miera's ears started to droop. She gently fluffed her pillow, replaced it on her bed, and jumped from the top bunk.
Miera's room was…. Girly, to say the least. Pink walls, pink carpet, lacy pink bunk bed made out of some pink wood from some magic forest somewhere and a veritable collection of Beanie Buddies, Squashmelons, and other such brand name plushies. Her favourites (and the ones she was feeling bad for) got to sleep in bed with her! The rest got to rot in the bottom bunk. Carefully tucked in.
That being said, Miera felt no comfort or connection to her room at the moment. No, Miera felt an itch. An itch in her soul.
She needed to play some system-be-damned pinball. She grabbed her old fashioned coin purse, a little leather satchel that was perfect for storing quarters.
—
The local arcade was a scabby little place. That squiggly carpet they have to make stains blend in, a near perpetual BO + vomit smell and a shoddy prize counter to boot.
But it had pinball machines. Miera wasn't so sure what was so enrapturing about them. The sounds, the sights, the flipper noises, the fun little gimmicks and secrets people have to learn by playing them, the high skill ceiling?
There was a lot to love in Miera's eyes as she fished out her first quarter, and slid it into the "Kappa Flappa" machine.
As evidenced by the dancing kappas in furs and short dresses, the machine was themed after one of the neighbouring Cities, Nueve Carnation.
Miera lost herself to the thrum of the machine, letting her worries drift away in a sea of bumpers, flashing lights and flippers.
Until her mother stormed into the building.
"Miera Sundew. Young lady."
Miera was slightly too locked in to be respectful. "Mum Sundew. Old-" No, Miera wasn't thatstupid. "Normal aged woman."
"Might I ask you why you're here?"
"…I needed to calm down."
"That's…. Okay." Miera could feel her mother's frown. It didn't necessarily mean disapproval, it could just as easily be a frown of deep thought. "I would have… appreciated some warning before you went galavanting down the street. It's dangerous out there."
It really wasn't.
"Mh. Sorry. But if we talked, we'd just fight again, and I'd end up coming here anyway."
"That-that….is true…." She sighed again. "Sweetie, I… I'm sorry. I'm just… I made a mistake when I was your age. And…. I don't want you making the same one. I want you to succeed, but… I don't want you to succeed at the cost of your happiness, okay?"
Miera blinked in shock, the ball slipping between the flippers of the machine in her stupefaction. "Wait you're!?-"
Miera swallowed, this was a make or break moment. She turned around and embraced her mother in a hug.
"Miera… do you… understand what I'm saying?"
"Of course, I do! I…. I'm sorry, too, I didn't mean all that stuff, I just-I love you, and… and…"
"Shhh shhh… it's okay, baby, it's okay…" Finniera relaxed, combing a hand through her daughter's hair. Her heart swelling with pride. Her daughter was so much more mature than she was at her age… "Let's just… go home and eat cake and unwrap your presents, alright?"
"Mh. Shoundsh good…" she mumbled, slowly peeling away from her mother. They didn't understand each other, but she was glad they had found an accord on this. Machine abandoned, the three digit name code still flashing 'AAA'.
Of course, once they got home, a lot of cake was consumed, a lot of presents were unwrapped, a lot of thank you cards were forced to be written, and Miera finally managed to retreat to her room.
Miera was happy her mother had finally given in. She understood what Miera wanted, to be happy! And… there was only one class she really wanted, anyway.
She squeezed her eyes shut and thought of trumpets. In a fanfare, and a glow of light, a small text box appeared in the air.
Congratulations! Please select your Class:
[ ]
Warning! This cannot be changed after confirmation.
[Ok] [Cancel]
Trepidation filling her heart, she touched the little empty box. A small jumble of letters appeared below it, in a seemingly random order, It was just like the books and shows described it! Slowly, nervously, she began to type it out.
Congratulations! Please select your Class:
[ Pinball Player ]
Warning! This cannot be changed after confirmation.
[Ok] [Cancel]
Hm… no. No, that wouldn't do. She didn't want to be satisfied with playing pinball. She wanted to be the best at pinball.
She sighed. What was a class? A class was… the church always called it the highest calling. But… her dad had a different opinion.
—
3 years earlier.
"Hm? Whats a class? Its a thing you pick that makes you special, sweetheart. When you're tw-"
Finniera coughed dangerously before walking back upstairs.
"Sixteen… when you're sixteen, you'll get to pick one. One that you love."
The younger Miera was excited. But not stupid. "But Daaad, if you're a Tax Mage, why aren't you a [Tax Mage]?"
"Ahh, thats an interesting question, cupcake."
He stroked his chin, taking an altogether unreasonable amount of time to think by Miera's count. "I know your mother likes to think of Classes as… an opportunity to get a job easily, but for me they're different. Yes I muck around with numbers and mana but thats just a job, its not who I am. You can't just put people in a box, they're more than their jobs."
Miera frowned, internalising this. Cadigan Sundew didn't realise how deeply Miera would remember this conversation. To him it was a Tuesday, but to her it was the world.
"What is your class, Dad?"
He smiled fondly, visibly reminiscing on something. "[Outplay Strategist]."
"Eh? Whats that mean?"
He chuckles warmly. "It means I was a little know-it-all who wanted to beat my big brother in chess. Mimi… I don't regret picking what I did. But at least give your mum something to work with. She's just worried for you, love."
—
Her Mum saw Classes as a marketing opportunity. The church saw Classes as an absolute calling. Dad saw Classes as something less. To Dad a Class was a statement. A snapshot of who you were when you chose it, your greatest aspirations and dreams laid bare.
Congratulations! Please select your Class:
[ Pinball Wizard ]
Warning! This cannot be changed after confirmation.
[Ok] [Cancel]
And as she slowly lowered her finger onto the OK button a swell of triumphant trumpets filled the air around her.
New Class acquired! Pinball Wizard!
Starting Skill Acquired: [Basic Tome Comprehension]
Starting Skill Acquired: [Basic Mana Metabolisation]
Starting Spell Acquired: [Summon Lesser Money]
What.
And then, a yell, from downstairs.
"Miera Sundew, did I just hear a triumphant swell of trumpets?!"
What.
Starting Gear Unlocked: Baby's First Staff.
Starting Gear Unlocked: Novice Cone Hat.
Starting Gear Unlocked: Slightly-Deeper-Than-It-Looks Coinpurse.
Starting Gear Unlocked: Robe of Glitter
And then, she was buried under a small pile of junk, just in time for her mother to calmly open her door.
She took one look at the heap her daughter was in… and sighed, pulling the sparkly robe away and nearly folding it. It was nice to have a garment that she didn't get glitter on.
"We are going to have a big talk later." Her mother promised, as she gently folded and set down all of her new belongings.
"But for now, you seem confused and overwhelmed. I'm putting the kettle on."
What.
"It's not fair!!" She wailed. She cried. She pounded her indignant fists against the dining room table.
"Now, sweetie, you knew this! You knew you were going to have to wait another four years to-" Miera threw a balloon at her father in impotent 12 year old rage.
"You didn't have to wait! Mum didn't have to wait! Why should I?!"
"Because this is a very important decision, Mimi, and we don't want you to make a decision you will end up regretting." Her mother rubbed her on the shoulder, soothingly. Absently, Miera dusted her shoulders free of glitter.
Miera's Mother was a case study in picking the right class. At the age of 12, Finniera Brambles had really, really wanted to be a cheerleader. At the age of 39, the [Level 7 Cheerleader] had no Skills which were applicable to her job as a clerk. Just the tendency to shed an absurd amount of body glitter in her day-to-day life.
"But Muuuuuuuummmmm-uh! I'm not like you, I'm not gonna realise I didn't want this for myself six years down the line!! I'm trustworthy!" She squeaked indignantly, hands on her hips. Her mother immediately countered the power pose with arms folded. The residual glitter didn't dampen the effect.
A thoroughly cowed Miera deflated under her mother's sharp gaze.
"Miera. Hun. Trust us. It will be better if you wait! You'll wake up in ten, maybe fifteen years and realise we were right for wanting you to pick a valuable Class, something that really helps you out in today's job market! Like… an architect! Or a builder, or or or a bricklayer! Or-"
A lot of Finniera's knowledge of what constituted a valuable job was acquired through work hubbub. See, Finniera worked as a clerk, but a clerk down at city hall. Meaning a lot of chitchat was about what was good for the city at the time. The city of Orange Logos was currently undergoing a very robust expansion program, meaning they were calling for all sorts of high level builders, loggers, architects, brick-layers, even the one on record [Cement-Mixer] to come to their city.
She had been, in her mind, subtly pitching the concept to her daughter, and felt like she was making real headway.
"For the one billionth time, I'm not becoming a builder!!! I'm not gonna get fat, and smelly and grow hair on my knuckles and wear a silly hat!! Why can't I pick something fun?!"
"Well, why bother thinking about the future?!" Her mother threw her hands up in the air. "Why not just pick the thing that interests you most right now and in 3 years time realise you got over it and it was just a phase! Like that-that… parlour game you play in the arcade! What's it called… Pinned balls!?"
Miera went quiet, puffing out her cheeks. She looked to one side, she looked at her dad, looking for support. He had eloped off to the kitchen. She looked back at her mother. Her expression had changed, all that concerned fury had given way to dread. She saw her mother's pointed ears droop in characteristic elf-sadness.
"No. Nonono, don't tell me-a pinball player?! You want to waste your one chance to really make it in this world on a child's game??"
"I-well, maybe!! Maybe I do! Maybe I DO want to, is that so bad?!"
Finniera took a deep breath. She stood up, she placed her hands primly over her stomach, and her ears slowly worked themselves back into the typical long, thin pointed pride that elves have. "…If you still want to in four years, that is fine… But irrelevant of if you want to now or not, you still cannot, young lady. You know what the New Great Holy Systemic Church says."
Miera made a face like someone farted. The religion angle. Ugh. "We don't even go to church!"
"That doesn't mean I'm letting you commit heresy, young lady! We may not be… devout! And the local chapter may be different to what your father and I were taught in the Glade of Suharliden, but that doesn't mean we aren't going to be good followers and do as the local church says!!" She hissed.
"Oh my GOD Mum you don't need to say 'ThE gLaDe Of SuHaRlIdEn' every time! It's a stupid tiny elf village and it's boring and phones don't even work there cos of stupid magic!"
Her gaze turned thunderous. Her arms returned to their folded positions. She stared down at Miera.
"You better lower your tone, young lady. It is your birthday, and I am trying to be patient, but you are being ridiculous. Go to your room, and calm down."
Miera swallowed, and stomped off as loudly as she felt she could get away with.
"I can't believe her!!" She yelled, suddenly regaining her courage once in her room. "Who does she even think she is?? She makes me wanna!…" Miera started punching the air. It proved… unsatisfactory.
A few minutes later, Miera's ears started to droop. She gently fluffed her pillow, replaced it on her bed, and jumped from the top bunk.
Miera's room was…. Girly, to say the least. Pink walls, pink carpet, lacy pink bunk bed made out of some pink wood from some magic forest somewhere and a veritable collection of Beanie Buddies, Squashmelons, and other such brand name plushies. Her favourites (and the ones she was feeling bad for) got to sleep in bed with her! The rest got to rot in the bottom bunk. Carefully tucked in.
That being said, Miera felt no comfort or connection to her room at the moment. No, Miera felt an itch. An itch in her soul.
She needed to play some system-be-damned pinball. She grabbed her old fashioned coin purse, a little leather satchel that was perfect for storing quarters.
—
The local arcade was a scabby little place. That squiggly carpet they have to make stains blend in, a near perpetual BO + vomit smell and a shoddy prize counter to boot.
But it had pinball machines. Miera wasn't so sure what was so enrapturing about them. The sounds, the sights, the flipper noises, the fun little gimmicks and secrets people have to learn by playing them, the high skill ceiling?
There was a lot to love in Miera's eyes as she fished out her first quarter, and slid it into the "Kappa Flappa" machine.
As evidenced by the dancing kappas in furs and short dresses, the machine was themed after one of the neighbouring Cities, Nueve Carnation.
Miera lost herself to the thrum of the machine, letting her worries drift away in a sea of bumpers, flashing lights and flippers.
Until her mother stormed into the building.
"Miera Sundew. Young lady."
Miera was slightly too locked in to be respectful. "Mum Sundew. Old-" No, Miera wasn't thatstupid. "Normal aged woman."
"Might I ask you why you're here?"
"…I needed to calm down."
"That's…. Okay." Miera could feel her mother's frown. It didn't necessarily mean disapproval, it could just as easily be a frown of deep thought. "I would have… appreciated some warning before you went galavanting down the street. It's dangerous out there."
It really wasn't.
"Mh. Sorry. But if we talked, we'd just fight again, and I'd end up coming here anyway."
"That-that….is true…." She sighed again. "Sweetie, I… I'm sorry. I'm just… I made a mistake when I was your age. And…. I don't want you making the same one. I want you to succeed, but… I don't want you to succeed at the cost of your happiness, okay?"
Miera blinked in shock, the ball slipping between the flippers of the machine in her stupefaction. "Wait you're!?-"
Miera swallowed, this was a make or break moment. She turned around and embraced her mother in a hug.
"Miera… do you… understand what I'm saying?"
"Of course, I do! I…. I'm sorry, too, I didn't mean all that stuff, I just-I love you, and… and…"
"Shhh shhh… it's okay, baby, it's okay…" Finniera relaxed, combing a hand through her daughter's hair. Her heart swelling with pride. Her daughter was so much more mature than she was at her age… "Let's just… go home and eat cake and unwrap your presents, alright?"
"Mh. Shoundsh good…" she mumbled, slowly peeling away from her mother. They didn't understand each other, but she was glad they had found an accord on this. Machine abandoned, the three digit name code still flashing 'AAA'.
Of course, once they got home, a lot of cake was consumed, a lot of presents were unwrapped, a lot of thank you cards were forced to be written, and Miera finally managed to retreat to her room.
Miera was happy her mother had finally given in. She understood what Miera wanted, to be happy! And… there was only one class she really wanted, anyway.
She squeezed her eyes shut and thought of trumpets. In a fanfare, and a glow of light, a small text box appeared in the air.
Congratulations! Please select your Class:
[ ]
Warning! This cannot be changed after confirmation.
[Ok] [Cancel]
Trepidation filling her heart, she touched the little empty box. A small jumble of letters appeared below it, in a seemingly random order, It was just like the books and shows described it! Slowly, nervously, she began to type it out.
Congratulations! Please select your Class:
[ Pinball Player ]
Warning! This cannot be changed after confirmation.
[Ok] [Cancel]
Hm… no. No, that wouldn't do. She didn't want to be satisfied with playing pinball. She wanted to be the best at pinball.
She sighed. What was a class? A class was… the church always called it the highest calling. But… her dad had a different opinion.
—
3 years earlier.
"Hm? Whats a class? Its a thing you pick that makes you special, sweetheart. When you're tw-"
Finniera coughed dangerously before walking back upstairs.
"Sixteen… when you're sixteen, you'll get to pick one. One that you love."
The younger Miera was excited. But not stupid. "But Daaad, if you're a Tax Mage, why aren't you a [Tax Mage]?"
"Ahh, thats an interesting question, cupcake."
He stroked his chin, taking an altogether unreasonable amount of time to think by Miera's count. "I know your mother likes to think of Classes as… an opportunity to get a job easily, but for me they're different. Yes I muck around with numbers and mana but thats just a job, its not who I am. You can't just put people in a box, they're more than their jobs."
Miera frowned, internalising this. Cadigan Sundew didn't realise how deeply Miera would remember this conversation. To him it was a Tuesday, but to her it was the world.
"What is your class, Dad?"
He smiled fondly, visibly reminiscing on something. "[Outplay Strategist]."
"Eh? Whats that mean?"
He chuckles warmly. "It means I was a little know-it-all who wanted to beat my big brother in chess. Mimi… I don't regret picking what I did. But at least give your mum something to work with. She's just worried for you, love."
—
Her Mum saw Classes as a marketing opportunity. The church saw Classes as an absolute calling. Dad saw Classes as something less. To Dad a Class was a statement. A snapshot of who you were when you chose it, your greatest aspirations and dreams laid bare.
Congratulations! Please select your Class:
[ Pinball Wizard ]
Warning! This cannot be changed after confirmation.
[Ok] [Cancel]
And as she slowly lowered her finger onto the OK button a swell of triumphant trumpets filled the air around her.
New Class acquired! Pinball Wizard!
Starting Skill Acquired: [Basic Tome Comprehension]
Starting Skill Acquired: [Basic Mana Metabolisation]
Starting Spell Acquired: [Summon Lesser Money]
What.
And then, a yell, from downstairs.
"Miera Sundew, did I just hear a triumphant swell of trumpets?!"
What.
Starting Gear Unlocked: Baby's First Staff.
Starting Gear Unlocked: Novice Cone Hat.
Starting Gear Unlocked: Slightly-Deeper-Than-It-Looks Coinpurse.
Starting Gear Unlocked: Robe of Glitter
And then, she was buried under a small pile of junk, just in time for her mother to calmly open her door.
She took one look at the heap her daughter was in… and sighed, pulling the sparkly robe away and nearly folding it. It was nice to have a garment that she didn't get glitter on.
"We are going to have a big talk later." Her mother promised, as she gently folded and set down all of her new belongings.
"But for now, you seem confused and overwhelmed. I'm putting the kettle on."
What.
Chapter 2: Multiball Round
New
NotTheBaptist
Getting out there.
- Joined
- May 25, 2026
- Messages
- 10
- Likes received
- 52
Robe of Glitter: Thousands of years ago, ancient [Astromancers] forged stars out of stone, and weaved them into robes of light. Commemorating the birth of the Wizard, these 50% cotton 50% polyester blend robes shine like a beacon into the beyond.
[+1 Mana Metabolisation]
[+1 Magic Defence]
Elves are pretentious. This is a known fact of life, the older Elves get, the more pretentious they act. Dwarves get more meticulous, humans get…wrinklier, Gnomes get more cunning.
But elves? Ooooh Elves get pretentious. Suddenly, their grandmothers dinner plate is "Fliddlewynnn, the finest piece of pottery ever sculpted" or some such.
This being understood, it is no wonder that tea took no less than 40 minutes of preparation, then a 20 minute steep, and then when it was done, Miera thought it was an awful lot of fuss for very little reward, relatively speaking.
Miera sipped the quite-delicious-but-not-one-hour-of-preparation-delicious-tea with no small amount of dread.
"So." Her mother delicately placed Galienbrun, The Teacup of Everlasting Eternity, Third of its name, the Deepest Everflowing Chalice of House Brambles on Tarienfwyn, the-she put her teacup on her tea saucer. "You've chosen your class." She spoke matter-of-factly.
Miera fidgeted, groping her own mug. "Yeah. Yeah I have."
"Well… I certainly hope you have a good reason as to why, when we discussed this and I thought we came to an agreement."
"Well I did too! You said you understood how I was feeling and you wanted me to be happy!!" Miera's face scrunched up.
"Yes and I recall you saying you understood why I had to do what I did."
"I-well, I thought that was in the past-tense! Like 'yes I see why you DID that but now you're cool Mum and you're letting me commit heresy!' Y'know, that kinda thing!"
"I see. Well… it appears we both heard what we wanted to hear, rather than what we were actually saying, doesn't it?"
"Yeah. Uh… sure seems that way, haha…" Miera weakly laughed, trailing off.
"All that being said." Her face slowly began to grow into a smile. A genuine one, a proud one. "What Class did you end up picking? I got a peek at your equipment, very interesting. Decided to pick a spellcaster, I see?" She had a knowing glint in her eye.
Wait…? No, she couldn't possibly-
"Wh-Mum no! No! I absolutely did not!"
"I'm just saying, a money pouch, and wizard gear…?" She smirked. "Only really one option, dear."
"I'm not a [Tax Mage]!! Ew, gross gross gross!"
Miera stuck her tongue out in disgust. Her father frowned, hurt, adjusting his spectacles.
"Well why not? Your father makes a very good salary as a Tax Mage! It's safe, it's productive, it's-"
"Not what I picked!"
"Oh, then what was it?" Her mother questioned with an 'I don't believe you' smirk.
"….I-it's-it was…. Puhbull wisherd…" Miera whispered to the carpet, with her lips closed.
"Mhm."
"I!-"
Wait. There was an opportunity here.
"Ugh! You're, like, sooooo the worst, Mum!" She scoffed and rolled her eyes, as big and angry as she could. Her Mum cooed and gave her a big kiss and a hug. Hook, line and sinker.
"Awwww, hunnie, I know, I know! I'm just… happy you made a responsible, safe choice. It… it says a lot about your character, I'm really really proud of you."
The glitter on her face turned to ash in a moment.
"Yeah. Thanks, Mum, uhm…. Can I…?" She gestured to the front door.
Finniera smiled, nodded and let her go.
—
The moment Miera turned the corner, Finni's smile dropped. See, Finni had caught onto Miera's little scheme throughout the years. A sudden defeat was proof that Miera was lying.
"Oh, Mimi… what Class did you take that you can't tell us…?"
She drained her cup, and then the rest of Miera's quickly after that. Too quickly, for an elf's standards. But nobody was looking. She didn't need to be so above it all, anymore.
"…Whatever she chose it better not be about that stupid fucking game."
—
'Casting spells is about three things. Expectation, Channeling and acting really cool.'
'Expectation meant intent, shaping the spell in your mind, really really wanting it to happen, and what sort of thing you thought of when you thought of magic. It meant lazy casters could cast quicker than extravagant ones but usually at a cost in spell quality. This relates to the second point, channeling.'
'Channeling was about as far from Expectation as possible. They were opposites, that you had to balance. If Expectation was governed by whimsy, and Chaos, then Channeling was governed by an elected body. Channeling is all the checks and balances, the logic, giving the spell wheels, so to speak. Pushing metabolised magic into a shape and then making it your enemies problem.'
'Acting really cool was actually an important step. It actually helps with pushing metabolising mana and like confidence and-okay it's all Aura Farming. There's no third rule about being cool. It's simply the fact that Wizards are often nerds who suffer from a lifelong anxiety disorder. At least, until they learn how to cast fireball and grow a cool beard. But acting is a genuine part of it. Unless you feel cool you can't really cast a spell at full power because of how it messes with your Expectation.'
'Of course, some wizards are so adept at Channeling that the Channeling process FUELS their Expectation. A wizard who knows the exact shape of every spell in their tome no longer needs Expectation. They simply have Knowledge.'
'Knowledge is not part of the Expectation/Channeling equation. It is a natural conclusion of the Wizard, and all other Channeling heavy spellcasters.'
'So get out there, fire some balls and find the right stick for you, young apprentices!'
"Huh." Miera hummed, sat in a public library reading a [Novice Tome of Minor Wizardry: Level 1] "So that's how magic works."
She closed her eyes, thinking of trumpets.
[Bio] [Skills] [Journal]
Miera Sundew
[Level 1 Pinball Wizard]
Elf
M.STR: 12
M.DEF: 10
INT: 8
LCK: 6
DEX: 5
STR: 3
DEF: 2
WIS: 1
Quest: To Level 2
That was her status screen. She had moved some stuff around, tidied up a li'l bit in there, moved her unimpressive stat spread around a smidge, and shuffled her shameful list of Skills to a cascading tab.
"Okay, Miera… your first spell!~ oooh, I can't wait!"
She was wrong. She could wait. Not in a bathroom. Not in a public library bathroom. Not without her staff. She returned her book, and scurried home.
An hour later she was at in her room, crooked staff in hand. She tapped it against her carpet, straightening her back, amplifying her voice and sterning her tone.
Then, she felt it. It started in her stomach, and bloomed outwards in tendrils. It crept through her body. She felt-she felt hot and sick, her body starting to cramp-and she let go of the mana, gasping. It exited her body over the course of ten minutes. An agonising full body cramp throughout.
There was nothing she could liken it to. Shr hadn't ever experienced anything like it! It was like the migraine she got a year ago. One minute, she was scrapbooking, the next? She couldn't do anything but lie there and focus on breathing.
Until the heat seceded her body, at which point she felt her body snap back into place.
"Hasah… hoo…" she slowly sat up and stretched. That was… AWFUL! She was neeeever doing that again!
What the hell magic, you SCAMMED me! I was supposed to get a coin not a cramp!
Miera took a deep breath in and out. Her Expectation was… strong. She was expecting it! So it must've been. So… it was the Channeling that was shoddy.
She was… supposed to shape it, right. She stood up, grabbed her staff and despite her earlier words, tried again. She took her magic and let it bloom, the little flower in her stomach spitting out wht was undoubtedly magic, but this time she caught it. It was how she imagined cotton candy int he machine. Whispy, individual and in need of… compressing.
She did what came naturally. She worked her core muscles around the whisps of mana and felt it starting to condense! Yes! Her muscles were shapijg it into a ball but… she wanted ot to be a coin. So she tried to slowly squash it into a coin. It wasn't working. She hummed in thought.
If the mana could move… she cut off the flow. She felt like the mana was enough now. She… squeezed her muscles, pushing the ball around her insides like toothpaste in a tube up her arm until it was sitting warm in her hand. And then she started flattening it into a coin shape between her hands. Eventually it was a large flat disc with a slight lip on the edge.
It reminded her of a coin, which was a good thing. She was fairly confident this would work.
She picked up her staff and awkwardly tried to shovel her mana coin into it. It wasn't working. It wasn't being repelled or anything it just… wasn't going in.
The coin was starting to wobble in her hand, it felt like she was loosing her comtrol so she just threw it into the room and, unbidden, an old voice spat through her mouth.
"Blooming herb, heed my call, grow forth a sprig of iron!"
And it was so.
There was no glow, no boom, no flash of light, the incomplete magic hung in the air for a moment and then-plink! A single, tarnished quarter slowly fell onto her carpet, from head height.
Meanwhile, in a nearby gutter, the rainy season had just started. The gutters weren't quite clogged yet, but the cleaners were certainly going to be working overtime to make sure the drainage didn't back up.
Amongst the leaf litter and detritivores sat a single, slime coated, tarnished copper quartercoin. As if by magic, the leaf litter shifted, fully hiding the barely shining coin.
And if you can't see something, does it even matter that it's there? This coin had a purpose greater than sitting in the gutter. And like it was never there to begin with, it appeared in a young girls lap, a few streets away.
Staff left forgotten on the floor, she cradled the coin, staring dumbfounded… before a big stupid grin began to creep up her lips.
"Haha… Hahahahaa!!! Yes!!! I win! I cast magic! I cast magic and it's… really grohohooss…" She grimaced, pinching the slimy quarter. Gently depositing it into her handkerchief.
"Bleck, I'll polish that later… hah. Polish. Jeez, what am I, some kinda old lady with a teacup?" she said, and then immediately and eagerly started drying it of slime, and that was all!… that was all she was gonna do.
"Muuuuum! Where's the nail polish remover??" He was her first spell! He needed some time, love and care. He deserved it.
—
After giving her quarter a spa treatment, she flopped back, holding the gleaming orange coin up proudly.
The quarter held on one side the image of a horse, and on the other a hammer. It was the spitting image of a real Orange Logos quartercoin.
"Hehehe… eeeeee!~ I can cast spells!!~" she squee-ed, not for the first time, rolling left and right, cradling the coin tight to her chest. This was a milestone. She didn't think it would be, she always thought magic was something for dorks with no social skills.
Not her! Not Miera, with her 2 friends, and cute blonde hair and… and…
Oh god, her one hobby was pinball.
Oh god she was a loser.
Needless to say, she was born to be a caster, which was a good thing and definitely not a bad thing.
She was a talented wizard and can triumphantly say that she was cool now and that wizards are cool and not a lame loser class for losers as previous data would suggest.
She opened her status screen.
[Bio] [Skills] [Journal]
Miera Sundew
[Level 1 Pinball Wizard]
Elf
MM: 1/3
M.STR: 12
M.DEF: 10
INT: 8
LCK: 6
DEX: 5
STR: 3
DEF: 2
WIS: 1
Quest: To Level 2
Okay! Thats two down-wait hold on new stat. MM? Huh? She leans in, frowning and furrowing her brow.
"What are YOU doing here." She pointed at it, accusatorially.
The stoic statistic stalwartly stared back.
"Are you mocking me?…"
[+1 Mana Metabolisation]
[+1 Magic Defence]
Elves are pretentious. This is a known fact of life, the older Elves get, the more pretentious they act. Dwarves get more meticulous, humans get…wrinklier, Gnomes get more cunning.
But elves? Ooooh Elves get pretentious. Suddenly, their grandmothers dinner plate is "Fliddlewynnn, the finest piece of pottery ever sculpted" or some such.
This being understood, it is no wonder that tea took no less than 40 minutes of preparation, then a 20 minute steep, and then when it was done, Miera thought it was an awful lot of fuss for very little reward, relatively speaking.
Miera sipped the quite-delicious-but-not-one-hour-of-preparation-delicious-tea with no small amount of dread.
"So." Her mother delicately placed Galienbrun, The Teacup of Everlasting Eternity, Third of its name, the Deepest Everflowing Chalice of House Brambles on Tarienfwyn, the-she put her teacup on her tea saucer. "You've chosen your class." She spoke matter-of-factly.
Miera fidgeted, groping her own mug. "Yeah. Yeah I have."
"Well… I certainly hope you have a good reason as to why, when we discussed this and I thought we came to an agreement."
"Well I did too! You said you understood how I was feeling and you wanted me to be happy!!" Miera's face scrunched up.
"Yes and I recall you saying you understood why I had to do what I did."
"I-well, I thought that was in the past-tense! Like 'yes I see why you DID that but now you're cool Mum and you're letting me commit heresy!' Y'know, that kinda thing!"
"I see. Well… it appears we both heard what we wanted to hear, rather than what we were actually saying, doesn't it?"
"Yeah. Uh… sure seems that way, haha…" Miera weakly laughed, trailing off.
"All that being said." Her face slowly began to grow into a smile. A genuine one, a proud one. "What Class did you end up picking? I got a peek at your equipment, very interesting. Decided to pick a spellcaster, I see?" She had a knowing glint in her eye.
Wait…? No, she couldn't possibly-
"Wh-Mum no! No! I absolutely did not!"
"I'm just saying, a money pouch, and wizard gear…?" She smirked. "Only really one option, dear."
"I'm not a [Tax Mage]!! Ew, gross gross gross!"
Miera stuck her tongue out in disgust. Her father frowned, hurt, adjusting his spectacles.
"Well why not? Your father makes a very good salary as a Tax Mage! It's safe, it's productive, it's-"
"Not what I picked!"
"Oh, then what was it?" Her mother questioned with an 'I don't believe you' smirk.
"….I-it's-it was…. Puhbull wisherd…" Miera whispered to the carpet, with her lips closed.
"Mhm."
"I!-"
Wait. There was an opportunity here.
"Ugh! You're, like, sooooo the worst, Mum!" She scoffed and rolled her eyes, as big and angry as she could. Her Mum cooed and gave her a big kiss and a hug. Hook, line and sinker.
"Awwww, hunnie, I know, I know! I'm just… happy you made a responsible, safe choice. It… it says a lot about your character, I'm really really proud of you."
The glitter on her face turned to ash in a moment.
"Yeah. Thanks, Mum, uhm…. Can I…?" She gestured to the front door.
Finniera smiled, nodded and let her go.
—
The moment Miera turned the corner, Finni's smile dropped. See, Finni had caught onto Miera's little scheme throughout the years. A sudden defeat was proof that Miera was lying.
"Oh, Mimi… what Class did you take that you can't tell us…?"
She drained her cup, and then the rest of Miera's quickly after that. Too quickly, for an elf's standards. But nobody was looking. She didn't need to be so above it all, anymore.
"…Whatever she chose it better not be about that stupid fucking game."
—
'Casting spells is about three things. Expectation, Channeling and acting really cool.'
'Expectation meant intent, shaping the spell in your mind, really really wanting it to happen, and what sort of thing you thought of when you thought of magic. It meant lazy casters could cast quicker than extravagant ones but usually at a cost in spell quality. This relates to the second point, channeling.'
'Channeling was about as far from Expectation as possible. They were opposites, that you had to balance. If Expectation was governed by whimsy, and Chaos, then Channeling was governed by an elected body. Channeling is all the checks and balances, the logic, giving the spell wheels, so to speak. Pushing metabolised magic into a shape and then making it your enemies problem.'
'Acting really cool was actually an important step. It actually helps with pushing metabolising mana and like confidence and-okay it's all Aura Farming. There's no third rule about being cool. It's simply the fact that Wizards are often nerds who suffer from a lifelong anxiety disorder. At least, until they learn how to cast fireball and grow a cool beard. But acting is a genuine part of it. Unless you feel cool you can't really cast a spell at full power because of how it messes with your Expectation.'
'Of course, some wizards are so adept at Channeling that the Channeling process FUELS their Expectation. A wizard who knows the exact shape of every spell in their tome no longer needs Expectation. They simply have Knowledge.'
'Knowledge is not part of the Expectation/Channeling equation. It is a natural conclusion of the Wizard, and all other Channeling heavy spellcasters.'
'So get out there, fire some balls and find the right stick for you, young apprentices!'
"Huh." Miera hummed, sat in a public library reading a [Novice Tome of Minor Wizardry: Level 1] "So that's how magic works."
She closed her eyes, thinking of trumpets.
[Bio] [Skills] [Journal]
Miera Sundew
[Level 1 Pinball Wizard]
Elf
M.STR: 12
M.DEF: 10
INT: 8
LCK: 6
DEX: 5
STR: 3
DEF: 2
WIS: 1
Quest: To Level 2
- Learn 1 thing from a Tome
- Play Pinball for 20 minutes
- Cast your first spell
That was her status screen. She had moved some stuff around, tidied up a li'l bit in there, moved her unimpressive stat spread around a smidge, and shuffled her shameful list of Skills to a cascading tab.
"Okay, Miera… your first spell!~ oooh, I can't wait!"
She was wrong. She could wait. Not in a bathroom. Not in a public library bathroom. Not without her staff. She returned her book, and scurried home.
An hour later she was at in her room, crooked staff in hand. She tapped it against her carpet, straightening her back, amplifying her voice and sterning her tone.
Then, she felt it. It started in her stomach, and bloomed outwards in tendrils. It crept through her body. She felt-she felt hot and sick, her body starting to cramp-and she let go of the mana, gasping. It exited her body over the course of ten minutes. An agonising full body cramp throughout.
There was nothing she could liken it to. Shr hadn't ever experienced anything like it! It was like the migraine she got a year ago. One minute, she was scrapbooking, the next? She couldn't do anything but lie there and focus on breathing.
Until the heat seceded her body, at which point she felt her body snap back into place.
"Hasah… hoo…" she slowly sat up and stretched. That was… AWFUL! She was neeeever doing that again!
What the hell magic, you SCAMMED me! I was supposed to get a coin not a cramp!
Miera took a deep breath in and out. Her Expectation was… strong. She was expecting it! So it must've been. So… it was the Channeling that was shoddy.
She was… supposed to shape it, right. She stood up, grabbed her staff and despite her earlier words, tried again. She took her magic and let it bloom, the little flower in her stomach spitting out wht was undoubtedly magic, but this time she caught it. It was how she imagined cotton candy int he machine. Whispy, individual and in need of… compressing.
She did what came naturally. She worked her core muscles around the whisps of mana and felt it starting to condense! Yes! Her muscles were shapijg it into a ball but… she wanted ot to be a coin. So she tried to slowly squash it into a coin. It wasn't working. She hummed in thought.
If the mana could move… she cut off the flow. She felt like the mana was enough now. She… squeezed her muscles, pushing the ball around her insides like toothpaste in a tube up her arm until it was sitting warm in her hand. And then she started flattening it into a coin shape between her hands. Eventually it was a large flat disc with a slight lip on the edge.
It reminded her of a coin, which was a good thing. She was fairly confident this would work.
She picked up her staff and awkwardly tried to shovel her mana coin into it. It wasn't working. It wasn't being repelled or anything it just… wasn't going in.
The coin was starting to wobble in her hand, it felt like she was loosing her comtrol so she just threw it into the room and, unbidden, an old voice spat through her mouth.
"Blooming herb, heed my call, grow forth a sprig of iron!"
And it was so.
There was no glow, no boom, no flash of light, the incomplete magic hung in the air for a moment and then-plink! A single, tarnished quarter slowly fell onto her carpet, from head height.
Meanwhile, in a nearby gutter, the rainy season had just started. The gutters weren't quite clogged yet, but the cleaners were certainly going to be working overtime to make sure the drainage didn't back up.
Amongst the leaf litter and detritivores sat a single, slime coated, tarnished copper quartercoin. As if by magic, the leaf litter shifted, fully hiding the barely shining coin.
And if you can't see something, does it even matter that it's there? This coin had a purpose greater than sitting in the gutter. And like it was never there to begin with, it appeared in a young girls lap, a few streets away.
Staff left forgotten on the floor, she cradled the coin, staring dumbfounded… before a big stupid grin began to creep up her lips.
"Haha… Hahahahaa!!! Yes!!! I win! I cast magic! I cast magic and it's… really grohohooss…" She grimaced, pinching the slimy quarter. Gently depositing it into her handkerchief.
"Bleck, I'll polish that later… hah. Polish. Jeez, what am I, some kinda old lady with a teacup?" she said, and then immediately and eagerly started drying it of slime, and that was all!… that was all she was gonna do.
"Muuuuum! Where's the nail polish remover??" He was her first spell! He needed some time, love and care. He deserved it.
—
After giving her quarter a spa treatment, she flopped back, holding the gleaming orange coin up proudly.
The quarter held on one side the image of a horse, and on the other a hammer. It was the spitting image of a real Orange Logos quartercoin.
"Hehehe… eeeeee!~ I can cast spells!!~" she squee-ed, not for the first time, rolling left and right, cradling the coin tight to her chest. This was a milestone. She didn't think it would be, she always thought magic was something for dorks with no social skills.
Not her! Not Miera, with her 2 friends, and cute blonde hair and… and…
Oh god, her one hobby was pinball.
Oh god she was a loser.
Needless to say, she was born to be a caster, which was a good thing and definitely not a bad thing.
She was a talented wizard and can triumphantly say that she was cool now and that wizards are cool and not a lame loser class for losers as previous data would suggest.
She opened her status screen.
[Bio] [Skills] [Journal]
Miera Sundew
[Level 1 Pinball Wizard]
Elf
MM: 1/3
M.STR: 12
M.DEF: 10
INT: 8
LCK: 6
DEX: 5
STR: 3
DEF: 2
WIS: 1
Quest: To Level 2
- Learn 1 thing from a Tome
- Play Pinball for 20 minutes
- Cast your first spell
Okay! Thats two down-wait hold on new stat. MM? Huh? She leans in, frowning and furrowing her brow.
"What are YOU doing here." She pointed at it, accusatorially.
The stoic statistic stalwartly stared back.
"Are you mocking me?…"
Chapter 3: Oh My God Girl, Can You Get Along With SOMEONE?
New
NotTheBaptist
Getting out there.
- Joined
- May 25, 2026
- Messages
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[Novice Cone Hat]: The hat of a wizard is divided into 3 segments.
The brim, which represents mystique, secrecy, the wizardly tendency to code all their notes and then die, leaving generations floundering to decode a note that turns out to have said "get milk + 3 apples on Friday." A particularly wide brim being ascribed to the most crotchety paranoid old bastards.
The cone, which represents the depth of a wizards knowledge. The origin of this interpretation is from an old children's tale, of a wizard who never took off his hat, giving flowery and silly reasons as to why, until his Party snapped and pulled his hat off, and all his smarts flew away on a breeze.
The Inner-Space of a wizards hat represents that a wizard is never truly out of tricks. That the greatest wizards hide things even under their hat. Eventually, wizards took to enchanting the insides of their hat in the same manner of endless satchels and bags of holding, to store more tricks.
As a novice's garment, this hat possesses no ceremonial brim. The wizard who settles for this hat is a wizard laid bare.
[+1 Intelligence]
[Single-Object Trick Space]
On second thought, Miera really should've kept reading past the first page of that tome. Maybe she'd know what "MM" was. Maybe she'd know how to channel magic into her staff. Needless to say, many mistakes were made.
However! Miera only needed one more challenge to level up, and that would surely change everything. Besides, it was a simple challenge.
—
There was nothing quite like pinball. The game was enticing, the sounds were perfect, the actions were heavy and satisfying, the lights were bright, the atmosphere was atmospheric. And best of all? It was cheap. Miera had two quarters ready to pop in and play, not including her new shiny one. She was working on finding a custom case for her first ever spell and would never ever spend it!
Unfortunately, she had kinda tuned out a little bit, and wasn't really thinking, when suddenly-
[Level Up!]
[You are now a: Level 2 Pinball Wizard!]
[New Skill Acquired: Inorganic Mana Conduction: Pinball Flippers]
[New Skill Acquired: Magnetic Offset]
A blast of trumpets filled the air. A wall of fanfare and music that rung through the people of the New Orville Arcade, filling them with a swell of pride in their community, nostalgia and an urge to find the lucky duck and congratulate them on their level up.
Miera was a cornered rat, she needed to get away, she needed to go to the bathroom!
"Woah, did you level up, kid?" A nearby teen on the Beat Fighter machine asked.
"No way that was her, she's way too young!" Someone else chimed in.
"I mean she's an elf! Maybe she's five hundred or somethin'!"
"Are you…stupid?"
"Well, why don't we ask 'er?!"
But she couldn't, the patrons of the arcade were swarming over her. She was being overrun!-A hand clamped down on her shoulder. The 12 year old looked up, doe-eyed, and her gaze met a towering man.
He had a short, dark crop of hair, and several scars creeping over his face, and a tight expression. His clothes looked a size too small, a toned body choked by a thin athletic shirt. But… Miera noticed other things about him. A scraggly beard, complimented by an ugly moustache. And he actually wasn't that tall compared to everyone else in the arcade, he was just closer.
He looked down at her, and winked. Putting on a smirk, taking a deep breath in.
"Aw fuck yeah, ya cunts! Guess who just levelled up, hey?" He roared, with a wide grin and a flex of his bicep. "You're lookin' at a Level 8 [Bodybuilder]!" It was a fierce expression, one that dared the crowd of mild mannered Logosians to take a good long look.
They chose not to. The crowd disbanding, and muttering about "the nerve" and other such haughty regalements. Miera smiled faintly. Her cover was intact. She wasn't a heretic in the eyes of the unwashed masses just yet…
"A'right there, love?" He lost the smirk, toning down into a small, calm, soft smile. The kind you'd use to lure a rabbit out of a hole with some lettuce.
Miera's smile instantly twisted into a sour grimace. She wasn't fragile!! She needed to say something tough, and mature. "Yes! And I was fine before you came along."
The man-boy-thing just laughed, if Miera was a foot taller, he'd have probably clapped her on the back like a construction worker.
"Haha! Well that's to be seen, you were a sitting duck out there!"
"I was NOT! I was just-I was… practicing my victory speech." She turned her head away, as if seeing him was how he was winning the argument.
"Victory speech, hey? For a level up like that?"
"Wh-yeah! It was a very important level up."
"Yeah, it was ya first one, right? A fanfare that weak, 's gotta be."
Miera scuffed her foot into the dirt. "…Well, I… well, you… you… uh…"
She paused and blinked. A weak one?
"That was a weak fanfare? It was so loud!"
His uproarious laughter was answer enough, but he continued anyway. "Yeah, that was a wimpy fanfare! Level 2. Maybe 3 if you picked a baby class, like… [salaryman], or [tax mage]."
He arched a brow at her. "What. Never seen a level up before?"
Miera sighed.
"No. You're not meant to have a class before you're sixteen."
"What?? Then why do ya get them at twelve?"
"Thats what I'M saying! The church says some stupid stuff that you gotta be sixteen or whatever."
The boy seemed not only upset by this but fundamentally repulsed. Like the notion was offensive to his worldview.
"Seriously? Fuckin' local branches are so weird…"
The confusion in his voice… could he be?
"Hey, mister… are you…"
He grinned, slyly, he was waiting for this. The kid seemed smart, he knew his gut was right, he opened his mouth in turn.
"An adventurer?-"
"Homeless?-"
The two spoke in unison. Then paused, before surging once more.
"HOMELESS?!"
"An adventurer?! You?!"
At this point, the conversation was a stand off.
"…you go first." Miera acquiesced.
"Homeless?? What about me screams homeless?"
Miera rubbed her chin, in the way her Dad does when he's thinking. "Well… your clothes look a little… tight. And your beard is scraggly. And don't adventurers wear armour, and like… a sword?"
"Hah! Maybe if they need one. You're lookin' at a Level 7 [Punch-Knight] kid."
"Woooow, only level 7, huh?" She raised her eyebrow, hands on her hips. "How old are you? Also aren't knights famous for wearing armour?"
"Fifteen. Yeeesh. They raise 'em sassy down here huh? Well either way, thanks for the quest tick, deuces, kid." He stuck his tongue out, pulled down his eyelid and walked away.
As he ran off, she only had one reaponse. "WAIT YOU'RE ONLY FIFTEEN?!"
God, what a jerk! She huffed and thought of trumpets.
[Bio] [Skills] [Journal]
Miera Sundew
[Level 2 Pinball Wizard]
Elf
MM: 2/3
M.STR: 13
M.DEF: 10
INT: 9
LCK: 7
DEX: 5
STR: 3
DEF: 2
WIS: 1
Quest to Level 3:
Keep a single pinball "alive" for a full minute.
Learn a second spell.
Perform a mana exercise intentionally, and detect the mana you draw into your body.
3 extra points. That was… good? It felt measly and unrewarding but it was only level 2. Still, it felt so piecemeal! She wanted… something more concrete, she supposed. A real marker of progress. The one silver lining was that her level up conditions were just as easy as last time. They always say the road to level 5 is basically free, unless you screw up in class selection.
…She really should've kept that book on her. What the hell was a mana exercise?
Miera looked at the top and poked the incomprehensibly coloured screen in front of her.
[Bio] [Skills] [Journal]
Miera Sundew
[Level 2 Pinball Wizard]
Elf
[Basic Mana Metabolisation]
To cast a spell, one must have mana within their body. One may get this mana from "mana exercises." Also known as breathing exercises, drinking water, exercising or eating mana-rich foods, like bananas, lettuce, peas, green beans and carrots.
This skill compensates for how much mages hate doing all of the above. Gain increased dividends from performing mana exercises and passively absorb mana from the air.
[Basic Tome Comprehension]
Every sapient being has a cap on what they can learn. That point where your eyes start glazing over the words and you've read 3 pages without taking anything in. This simply ups that cap.
[Inorganic Mana Conduction: Pinball Flippers]
Mana conducts best through living and dead foci. A staff of gnarled wood, dice of bone, tea leaves. So long as it is or once was alive, mana flows through it.
However it takes very specific inorganic materials to conduct mana. Certain metals like mythril, certain rocks like coal or graphite. Only a select few conduct mana.
This skill lets you bypass that limit. You may conduct mana through anything of any material… so long as it fits the skills specifications.
[Magnetic Offset]
By channeling mana through an object you may cause a weak magnetic attraction, or repulsion. Enough to shift grains of ferromagnetic sand or roll a ball bearing.
All of this was… actually very useful to have, wow. Only problem. She still doesn't know how to conduct mana through an object! She TRIED with her staff, that didn't work, and now she could push mana into pinball flippers? What, was she gonna summon a fireball and use it during a multiball round?!
…Actually…
Nope nevermind, saving that for another time.
At least she knew what a mana exercise was. It was just… normal exercise, apparently.
—
Murk Darway was having another fantastic day!
He closed his eyes, and thought of glory.
[Bio] [Skills] [Journal]
Murk Darway
[Level 7 Fairytale Knight]
HP: 30/30
MM: 0/1
Faith: 0/0
STR (Strength): 20
DEF (Defence): 15
CON (Construction): 12
LCK (Luck): 2
M.DEF (Magical Defence): 9
WHM (Whimsy): 5
DEX (Dexterity): 2
AFF (Affinity): 8
Quest to Level 8:
The System was kind of a dick sometimes. At least, the thing was stupid, really stupid. The thought was technically blasphemy but whatever. It was true. The system was stupid, he was just happy the menu was editable and contained a litany of different options that were an objective improvement to the base system menu and really ought to be on by default.
The system knew everything. But it was stupid. Like… the take no reward thing. What the system really meant was "take no reward offered before the errand." Because a sweet old grandma gave him a pie for cleaning her gutters and didn't take no for an answer when he tried to refuse.
That still counted, apparently. It was useful. It meant the kind of margins he could work in were a lot less tight. But it was infinitely frustrating when he figured that out eight tasks deep! He could be 3… sigh. 3 fullcoins up.
God he hated this shithole of a city, just for its monetary terminology alone. Quartercoin? Halfcoin? Fullcoin?? Fucking Orange Logos.
Bah. This was meant to be a good day. That brat in the arcade really saved his bacon! Where else was he gonna find a damsel in distress to save?
—
She was back in the building again. The public library. The Orange Logos Public Community Library was a tall bare stone building. It was clearly a refurbished old church from the shape of it. The council had done a remarkable job at disguising its shape through a series of renovations but if you knew what to look for it was very clear.
Miera came here with two goals in mind. One? To figure out mana exercises and how to channel through her staff. Two? To find and learn a new spell. Two goals, four steps. She stepped into the building.
The library was very dusty, the public access areas were not well ventilated at all and it was kinda hard to stay here for long periods of time. Of course, Miera chose to study here of all places for one reason. It wasn't the free computer access, it wasn't the Tome section, no. It was cos her friend Penny DEFINITELY has a crush on the assistant librarian and she wants more intel on that skinny, probably gay dweeb.
"Hey Marcus." She called out as she walked by. The boy turned to her and blinked. He was like… sixteen maybe? Definitely too old for Penny, but Miera supported her friend's interests.
"Oh, hey Miera." He adjusted his glasses. "Still doing that project?"
"Myep." Miera should've never said hi. She stopped moving to continue the conversation, reluctantly. "You know how school is."
"Ha, I hear that, wait till ya reach high school, kid, it gets even better." He smiled earnestly. He actually honestly believed his words. It made Miera kinda hate him.
Marcus was an outlier. Smart but not lumped in with the nerds, athletic, but not a jock, he had never experienced social or academic hardship, and spent his free time tutoring his classmates.
How did Miera know this? Because she got intel on that skinny dweeb.
"Yeah, cool, so the tome sections clear right?" Miera was trying her best not to fidget or yell or anything but this guy was capital B boring to her.
"Hah. Yeah, don't worry kiddo, you won't get found out by the school project police."
"Cool great thanks." Miera sighed internally. "Hey Marcus?"
"Hm?"
"You're gay right?"
"…What?" Marcus blinked. "No? I have a girlfriend…"
"Wh…really? Huh. Okay, thanks anyway, see ya." And Miera walked by, putting the confused Marcus out of mind.
—
In the tome section, Miera found the [Novice Tome of Minor Wizardry: Level 1] again. She opened it to the contents page. Ah! Chapter 2, foci.
'Channeling mana through a focus is simple.'
Well screw you too book!
'To channel mana through a focus, it is as simple as pushing raw, unrefined mana into it.'
Also not helpful! She sighed and flipped through the chapter, until she reached the section for staffs.
'Extend mana through your hand and out of your body, feel it flow through the channels and pores of the staff. With a staff, much like the wand, it is about controlling output to properly shape your spells. When strings of mana fill your staff, you must extrude them through the top, quicker in places and slower in others. This is the basis of staff channeling.
This was…confusingly worded. Using a focus seemed harder than using your body. With her hands, she managed to shape her mana into a spell, with a staff the only way she seemed to be able to control it was through output. Kinda like squeezing icing out of a piping bag, it was about squeezing out the right amount to make a smooth shape.
But… that seemed a lot harder than just using your hands, right? Why bother using a focus?
'Mana is contained within the body. However Mana must be mastered, it cannot be allowed to run rampant through the body, especially not in a concentrated form, lest disastrous consequences occur.'
'This is the greatest advantage a focus holds when compared to dry casting. With a foci you are letting natural "unspun" mana flow through your body and into your staff, rather than pushing, shaping and holding concentrated spells.'
'By doing the former, a mage tires out slower, their body cramps less quickly, and they can achieve the same level of mastery as barehand casters.'
"But using a staff seems so haaaaarrrrrd…." Miera closed the book and flopped down on the table.
"Magic is stuuuupid…" she whined. What Miera was expecting was for the universe to bend around her, give her a little kiss on the forehead and solve her problems for her. Y'know, like it should!
Unfortunately the universe is a cruel bastard, and when it bends around someone, its usually to get a better grip before tossing them head first into another problem.
For Miera, that came in the form of a gloomy girl in a hoodie creeping up to her table.
"wh…what did you say?…" The girl croaked. Her voice was a little wheezy, like she'd been here for so long she was as dusty as some of the books.
Miera looked at the human girl. She was gloomy looking. Miera's age, maybe a year older? She was in a hoodie and jeans with square, thick framed glasses. The one bit of colour on her was an admittedly cute pink hair clip with a flower on it.
Now… Normally Miera is socially aware enough not to bother when they're clearly getting involved in your business. She's been trained to be polite and amicable. However, she currently had a headache.
"I said magic's stupid." She repeated. "Why?"
"Its not stupid! Magic is so cool!" The girl yelped back, looking like the process of confronting someone else was making her physically ill.
"Uh-huh." Miera sighed. She really wasn't in the mood to argue. "Look I'm kind of busy right now?" She gestured at the tome.
"But… I can tell you didn't mean it." The gloombug frowned.
"…Whats your name, anyway?"
"Ivy."
"Ivy, okay, girl. I'm gonna keep it a buck with you? I don't care about magic. I don't want to be here. I don't want to be studying this lame nerd crap, I want to be playing pinball." Miera was gradually getting closer to Ivy.
"But I fucked up. Okay? I fucked up big time in the way everyone warns you not to and now I'm in a hole. And the only way out of the hole is to learn magic. So yeah. I hate magic. I hate studying. I don't want to be here, but I am."
"…Why? Why not… just be upset, if you chose a bad class-"
"-never said I did that, but okay." Miera grumbled, backing away, realising she was almost nose to nose with the other girl.
"-why are you here if you hate it? Whats keeping you from just not levelling up?"
"…Because if I do that then I'm a screw-up. A screw-up who was stupid, and not someone who made a mistake but persevered. Besides… I love pinball. Maybe half my level ups will be useless wizard crap, but the other half won't be."
Ivy rubbed her chin. She was thinking. She was really weirding Miera out. And then she snapped her fingers and smiled. "…What if I help tutor you?"
"You? Tutor me? Ha." Miera snorted, derisively. "Isn't that kinda wishful thinking?"
"Well… not really. Basic deduction tells me that A. You're new to your class." She taps the tome. "It clearly says level 1, so you're… below level 3."
"B. You're twelve. Which means you have poor impulse control since you couldn't last very long before selecting your class, and its not your parents being cool or you being anti-authority, because your parents aren't here, and your clothes look nice. But not casually nice, carefully nice, like 'Mum will kill me if I rip this skirt' nice, which means your parents care about you but you're not rich."
Miera was bubbling with anger at this point. What the hell, girl??
"And C. You like magic more than you think you do. You just don't like it when things are outside of your wheelhouse and you don't understand them yet."
None of that was true except for the objective facts!!!
Miera frowned at Ivy's smile. It was weak, a little sheepish. The smile when someone's revealing the selfish little side benefit.
"And… maybe I'll teach you to enjoy more than just the finished result of magic, y'know?"
Miera was stunned. Ivy was totally off base, and she opened her mouth to tell her as much, but before she could, Ivy leapt out of her seat, looking at her watch.
"Ah-sorry, I gotta jet! Just think about it! I'm a great tutor! I'm here Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 3-9, but I gotta go! Look just take a break and come back at it in a while, that helps me!" And Ivy sprinted away.
Miera sighed and slightly raised her voice. "Marcus? I'm checking books out." And she grabbed the Novice Tome, as well as a second book.
A [Novice Spell Tome: A Catalogue of Cantrips and Household Spells]
The brim, which represents mystique, secrecy, the wizardly tendency to code all their notes and then die, leaving generations floundering to decode a note that turns out to have said "get milk + 3 apples on Friday." A particularly wide brim being ascribed to the most crotchety paranoid old bastards.
The cone, which represents the depth of a wizards knowledge. The origin of this interpretation is from an old children's tale, of a wizard who never took off his hat, giving flowery and silly reasons as to why, until his Party snapped and pulled his hat off, and all his smarts flew away on a breeze.
The Inner-Space of a wizards hat represents that a wizard is never truly out of tricks. That the greatest wizards hide things even under their hat. Eventually, wizards took to enchanting the insides of their hat in the same manner of endless satchels and bags of holding, to store more tricks.
As a novice's garment, this hat possesses no ceremonial brim. The wizard who settles for this hat is a wizard laid bare.
[+1 Intelligence]
[Single-Object Trick Space]
On second thought, Miera really should've kept reading past the first page of that tome. Maybe she'd know what "MM" was. Maybe she'd know how to channel magic into her staff. Needless to say, many mistakes were made.
However! Miera only needed one more challenge to level up, and that would surely change everything. Besides, it was a simple challenge.
—
There was nothing quite like pinball. The game was enticing, the sounds were perfect, the actions were heavy and satisfying, the lights were bright, the atmosphere was atmospheric. And best of all? It was cheap. Miera had two quarters ready to pop in and play, not including her new shiny one. She was working on finding a custom case for her first ever spell and would never ever spend it!
Unfortunately, she had kinda tuned out a little bit, and wasn't really thinking, when suddenly-
[Level Up!]
[You are now a: Level 2 Pinball Wizard!]
[New Skill Acquired: Inorganic Mana Conduction: Pinball Flippers]
[New Skill Acquired: Magnetic Offset]
A blast of trumpets filled the air. A wall of fanfare and music that rung through the people of the New Orville Arcade, filling them with a swell of pride in their community, nostalgia and an urge to find the lucky duck and congratulate them on their level up.
Miera was a cornered rat, she needed to get away, she needed to go to the bathroom!
"Woah, did you level up, kid?" A nearby teen on the Beat Fighter machine asked.
"No way that was her, she's way too young!" Someone else chimed in.
"I mean she's an elf! Maybe she's five hundred or somethin'!"
"Are you…stupid?"
"Well, why don't we ask 'er?!"
But she couldn't, the patrons of the arcade were swarming over her. She was being overrun!-A hand clamped down on her shoulder. The 12 year old looked up, doe-eyed, and her gaze met a towering man.
He had a short, dark crop of hair, and several scars creeping over his face, and a tight expression. His clothes looked a size too small, a toned body choked by a thin athletic shirt. But… Miera noticed other things about him. A scraggly beard, complimented by an ugly moustache. And he actually wasn't that tall compared to everyone else in the arcade, he was just closer.
He looked down at her, and winked. Putting on a smirk, taking a deep breath in.
"Aw fuck yeah, ya cunts! Guess who just levelled up, hey?" He roared, with a wide grin and a flex of his bicep. "You're lookin' at a Level 8 [Bodybuilder]!" It was a fierce expression, one that dared the crowd of mild mannered Logosians to take a good long look.
They chose not to. The crowd disbanding, and muttering about "the nerve" and other such haughty regalements. Miera smiled faintly. Her cover was intact. She wasn't a heretic in the eyes of the unwashed masses just yet…
"A'right there, love?" He lost the smirk, toning down into a small, calm, soft smile. The kind you'd use to lure a rabbit out of a hole with some lettuce.
Miera's smile instantly twisted into a sour grimace. She wasn't fragile!! She needed to say something tough, and mature. "Yes! And I was fine before you came along."
The man-boy-thing just laughed, if Miera was a foot taller, he'd have probably clapped her on the back like a construction worker.
"Haha! Well that's to be seen, you were a sitting duck out there!"
"I was NOT! I was just-I was… practicing my victory speech." She turned her head away, as if seeing him was how he was winning the argument.
"Victory speech, hey? For a level up like that?"
"Wh-yeah! It was a very important level up."
"Yeah, it was ya first one, right? A fanfare that weak, 's gotta be."
Miera scuffed her foot into the dirt. "…Well, I… well, you… you… uh…"
She paused and blinked. A weak one?
"That was a weak fanfare? It was so loud!"
His uproarious laughter was answer enough, but he continued anyway. "Yeah, that was a wimpy fanfare! Level 2. Maybe 3 if you picked a baby class, like… [salaryman], or [tax mage]."
He arched a brow at her. "What. Never seen a level up before?"
Miera sighed.
"No. You're not meant to have a class before you're sixteen."
"What?? Then why do ya get them at twelve?"
"Thats what I'M saying! The church says some stupid stuff that you gotta be sixteen or whatever."
The boy seemed not only upset by this but fundamentally repulsed. Like the notion was offensive to his worldview.
"Seriously? Fuckin' local branches are so weird…"
The confusion in his voice… could he be?
"Hey, mister… are you…"
He grinned, slyly, he was waiting for this. The kid seemed smart, he knew his gut was right, he opened his mouth in turn.
"An adventurer?-"
"Homeless?-"
The two spoke in unison. Then paused, before surging once more.
"HOMELESS?!"
"An adventurer?! You?!"
At this point, the conversation was a stand off.
"…you go first." Miera acquiesced.
"Homeless?? What about me screams homeless?"
Miera rubbed her chin, in the way her Dad does when he's thinking. "Well… your clothes look a little… tight. And your beard is scraggly. And don't adventurers wear armour, and like… a sword?"
"Hah! Maybe if they need one. You're lookin' at a Level 7 [Punch-Knight] kid."
"Woooow, only level 7, huh?" She raised her eyebrow, hands on her hips. "How old are you? Also aren't knights famous for wearing armour?"
"Fifteen. Yeeesh. They raise 'em sassy down here huh? Well either way, thanks for the quest tick, deuces, kid." He stuck his tongue out, pulled down his eyelid and walked away.
As he ran off, she only had one reaponse. "WAIT YOU'RE ONLY FIFTEEN?!"
God, what a jerk! She huffed and thought of trumpets.
[Bio] [Skills] [Journal]
Miera Sundew
[Level 2 Pinball Wizard]
Elf
MM: 2/3
M.STR: 13
M.DEF: 10
INT: 9
LCK: 7
DEX: 5
STR: 3
DEF: 2
WIS: 1
Quest to Level 3:
Keep a single pinball "alive" for a full minute.
Learn a second spell.
Perform a mana exercise intentionally, and detect the mana you draw into your body.
3 extra points. That was… good? It felt measly and unrewarding but it was only level 2. Still, it felt so piecemeal! She wanted… something more concrete, she supposed. A real marker of progress. The one silver lining was that her level up conditions were just as easy as last time. They always say the road to level 5 is basically free, unless you screw up in class selection.
…She really should've kept that book on her. What the hell was a mana exercise?
Miera looked at the top and poked the incomprehensibly coloured screen in front of her.
[Bio] [Skills] [Journal]
Miera Sundew
[Level 2 Pinball Wizard]
Elf
[Basic Mana Metabolisation]
To cast a spell, one must have mana within their body. One may get this mana from "mana exercises." Also known as breathing exercises, drinking water, exercising or eating mana-rich foods, like bananas, lettuce, peas, green beans and carrots.
This skill compensates for how much mages hate doing all of the above. Gain increased dividends from performing mana exercises and passively absorb mana from the air.
[Basic Tome Comprehension]
Every sapient being has a cap on what they can learn. That point where your eyes start glazing over the words and you've read 3 pages without taking anything in. This simply ups that cap.
[Inorganic Mana Conduction: Pinball Flippers]
Mana conducts best through living and dead foci. A staff of gnarled wood, dice of bone, tea leaves. So long as it is or once was alive, mana flows through it.
However it takes very specific inorganic materials to conduct mana. Certain metals like mythril, certain rocks like coal or graphite. Only a select few conduct mana.
This skill lets you bypass that limit. You may conduct mana through anything of any material… so long as it fits the skills specifications.
[Magnetic Offset]
By channeling mana through an object you may cause a weak magnetic attraction, or repulsion. Enough to shift grains of ferromagnetic sand or roll a ball bearing.
All of this was… actually very useful to have, wow. Only problem. She still doesn't know how to conduct mana through an object! She TRIED with her staff, that didn't work, and now she could push mana into pinball flippers? What, was she gonna summon a fireball and use it during a multiball round?!
…Actually…
Nope nevermind, saving that for another time.
At least she knew what a mana exercise was. It was just… normal exercise, apparently.
—
Murk Darway was having another fantastic day!
He closed his eyes, and thought of glory.
[Bio] [Skills] [Journal]
Murk Darway
[Level 7 Fairytale Knight]
HP: 30/30
MM: 0/1
Faith: 0/0
STR (Strength): 20
DEF (Defence): 15
CON (Construction): 12
LCK (Luck): 2
M.DEF (Magical Defence): 9
WHM (Whimsy): 5
DEX (Dexterity): 2
AFF (Affinity): 8
Quest to Level 8:
- Save a Damsel in Distress [Complete]
- Form a Party [1/4 Members]
- Complete 10 errands and take no reward [10/10]
The System was kind of a dick sometimes. At least, the thing was stupid, really stupid. The thought was technically blasphemy but whatever. It was true. The system was stupid, he was just happy the menu was editable and contained a litany of different options that were an objective improvement to the base system menu and really ought to be on by default.
The system knew everything. But it was stupid. Like… the take no reward thing. What the system really meant was "take no reward offered before the errand." Because a sweet old grandma gave him a pie for cleaning her gutters and didn't take no for an answer when he tried to refuse.
That still counted, apparently. It was useful. It meant the kind of margins he could work in were a lot less tight. But it was infinitely frustrating when he figured that out eight tasks deep! He could be 3… sigh. 3 fullcoins up.
God he hated this shithole of a city, just for its monetary terminology alone. Quartercoin? Halfcoin? Fullcoin?? Fucking Orange Logos.
Bah. This was meant to be a good day. That brat in the arcade really saved his bacon! Where else was he gonna find a damsel in distress to save?
—
She was back in the building again. The public library. The Orange Logos Public Community Library was a tall bare stone building. It was clearly a refurbished old church from the shape of it. The council had done a remarkable job at disguising its shape through a series of renovations but if you knew what to look for it was very clear.
Miera came here with two goals in mind. One? To figure out mana exercises and how to channel through her staff. Two? To find and learn a new spell. Two goals, four steps. She stepped into the building.
The library was very dusty, the public access areas were not well ventilated at all and it was kinda hard to stay here for long periods of time. Of course, Miera chose to study here of all places for one reason. It wasn't the free computer access, it wasn't the Tome section, no. It was cos her friend Penny DEFINITELY has a crush on the assistant librarian and she wants more intel on that skinny, probably gay dweeb.
"Hey Marcus." She called out as she walked by. The boy turned to her and blinked. He was like… sixteen maybe? Definitely too old for Penny, but Miera supported her friend's interests.
"Oh, hey Miera." He adjusted his glasses. "Still doing that project?"
"Myep." Miera should've never said hi. She stopped moving to continue the conversation, reluctantly. "You know how school is."
"Ha, I hear that, wait till ya reach high school, kid, it gets even better." He smiled earnestly. He actually honestly believed his words. It made Miera kinda hate him.
Marcus was an outlier. Smart but not lumped in with the nerds, athletic, but not a jock, he had never experienced social or academic hardship, and spent his free time tutoring his classmates.
How did Miera know this? Because she got intel on that skinny dweeb.
"Yeah, cool, so the tome sections clear right?" Miera was trying her best not to fidget or yell or anything but this guy was capital B boring to her.
"Hah. Yeah, don't worry kiddo, you won't get found out by the school project police."
"Cool great thanks." Miera sighed internally. "Hey Marcus?"
"Hm?"
"You're gay right?"
"…What?" Marcus blinked. "No? I have a girlfriend…"
"Wh…really? Huh. Okay, thanks anyway, see ya." And Miera walked by, putting the confused Marcus out of mind.
—
In the tome section, Miera found the [Novice Tome of Minor Wizardry: Level 1] again. She opened it to the contents page. Ah! Chapter 2, foci.
'Channeling mana through a focus is simple.'
Well screw you too book!
'To channel mana through a focus, it is as simple as pushing raw, unrefined mana into it.'
Also not helpful! She sighed and flipped through the chapter, until she reached the section for staffs.
'Extend mana through your hand and out of your body, feel it flow through the channels and pores of the staff. With a staff, much like the wand, it is about controlling output to properly shape your spells. When strings of mana fill your staff, you must extrude them through the top, quicker in places and slower in others. This is the basis of staff channeling.
This was…confusingly worded. Using a focus seemed harder than using your body. With her hands, she managed to shape her mana into a spell, with a staff the only way she seemed to be able to control it was through output. Kinda like squeezing icing out of a piping bag, it was about squeezing out the right amount to make a smooth shape.
But… that seemed a lot harder than just using your hands, right? Why bother using a focus?
'Mana is contained within the body. However Mana must be mastered, it cannot be allowed to run rampant through the body, especially not in a concentrated form, lest disastrous consequences occur.'
'This is the greatest advantage a focus holds when compared to dry casting. With a foci you are letting natural "unspun" mana flow through your body and into your staff, rather than pushing, shaping and holding concentrated spells.'
'By doing the former, a mage tires out slower, their body cramps less quickly, and they can achieve the same level of mastery as barehand casters.'
"But using a staff seems so haaaaarrrrrd…." Miera closed the book and flopped down on the table.
"Magic is stuuuupid…" she whined. What Miera was expecting was for the universe to bend around her, give her a little kiss on the forehead and solve her problems for her. Y'know, like it should!
Unfortunately the universe is a cruel bastard, and when it bends around someone, its usually to get a better grip before tossing them head first into another problem.
For Miera, that came in the form of a gloomy girl in a hoodie creeping up to her table.
"wh…what did you say?…" The girl croaked. Her voice was a little wheezy, like she'd been here for so long she was as dusty as some of the books.
Miera looked at the human girl. She was gloomy looking. Miera's age, maybe a year older? She was in a hoodie and jeans with square, thick framed glasses. The one bit of colour on her was an admittedly cute pink hair clip with a flower on it.
Now… Normally Miera is socially aware enough not to bother when they're clearly getting involved in your business. She's been trained to be polite and amicable. However, she currently had a headache.
"I said magic's stupid." She repeated. "Why?"
"Its not stupid! Magic is so cool!" The girl yelped back, looking like the process of confronting someone else was making her physically ill.
"Uh-huh." Miera sighed. She really wasn't in the mood to argue. "Look I'm kind of busy right now?" She gestured at the tome.
"But… I can tell you didn't mean it." The gloombug frowned.
"…Whats your name, anyway?"
"Ivy."
"Ivy, okay, girl. I'm gonna keep it a buck with you? I don't care about magic. I don't want to be here. I don't want to be studying this lame nerd crap, I want to be playing pinball." Miera was gradually getting closer to Ivy.
"But I fucked up. Okay? I fucked up big time in the way everyone warns you not to and now I'm in a hole. And the only way out of the hole is to learn magic. So yeah. I hate magic. I hate studying. I don't want to be here, but I am."
"…Why? Why not… just be upset, if you chose a bad class-"
"-never said I did that, but okay." Miera grumbled, backing away, realising she was almost nose to nose with the other girl.
"-why are you here if you hate it? Whats keeping you from just not levelling up?"
"…Because if I do that then I'm a screw-up. A screw-up who was stupid, and not someone who made a mistake but persevered. Besides… I love pinball. Maybe half my level ups will be useless wizard crap, but the other half won't be."
Ivy rubbed her chin. She was thinking. She was really weirding Miera out. And then she snapped her fingers and smiled. "…What if I help tutor you?"
"You? Tutor me? Ha." Miera snorted, derisively. "Isn't that kinda wishful thinking?"
"Well… not really. Basic deduction tells me that A. You're new to your class." She taps the tome. "It clearly says level 1, so you're… below level 3."
"B. You're twelve. Which means you have poor impulse control since you couldn't last very long before selecting your class, and its not your parents being cool or you being anti-authority, because your parents aren't here, and your clothes look nice. But not casually nice, carefully nice, like 'Mum will kill me if I rip this skirt' nice, which means your parents care about you but you're not rich."
Miera was bubbling with anger at this point. What the hell, girl??
"And C. You like magic more than you think you do. You just don't like it when things are outside of your wheelhouse and you don't understand them yet."
None of that was true except for the objective facts!!!
Miera frowned at Ivy's smile. It was weak, a little sheepish. The smile when someone's revealing the selfish little side benefit.
"And… maybe I'll teach you to enjoy more than just the finished result of magic, y'know?"
Miera was stunned. Ivy was totally off base, and she opened her mouth to tell her as much, but before she could, Ivy leapt out of her seat, looking at her watch.
"Ah-sorry, I gotta jet! Just think about it! I'm a great tutor! I'm here Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 3-9, but I gotta go! Look just take a break and come back at it in a while, that helps me!" And Ivy sprinted away.
Miera sighed and slightly raised her voice. "Marcus? I'm checking books out." And she grabbed the Novice Tome, as well as a second book.
A [Novice Spell Tome: A Catalogue of Cantrips and Household Spells]
Chapter 4: In Which Miera Gets Called Cute. A Lot.
New
NotTheBaptist
Getting out there.
- Joined
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'It is utterly ridiculous. The system accepts anything. Absolutely anything! From [Mech-Pilot] to [Jpcfrid] to [magical-arsonist], the system does not stupulate. Well… except in one case.'
'The Telli Federation was losing their petty empirical bid. And in their haste, they attempted something that would become the one case of the system denying someone a class.'
[Class Thief]
'The poor boy was dust by the end of the fanfare.'
Miera was really mad at Ivy. Who the hell did she think she was?! Oh sure you know EEEEEEEVERYTHING about me, like HECK you do!
Yes, Miera was positively steaming at the thought of the gloomy and tall girl. But… Miera had to admit. Ivy… would be really nice to have right about now.
See, it was the day after her birthday, so Saturday, and she had been reading and rereading this tome over and over again and it just didn't make sense! This thing was meant to be level 1?!
She had already kept a single pinball alive for a minute with her second quartercoin just on the walk back from the library. It was annoying how much easier it was to do the pinball challenges than it was to do the wizard ones.
The entire book operated on completely different principles, it made tons of assumptions, the terminology it used was alien to Miera and it was just so… confusing.
Miera had tried her best, flipping straight to the "Wizard" section of the tome but it was head poundingly and maddeningly frustrating. Miera closed the book, massaged her temples and took a breath.
With the benefit of a good night's sleep, and hindsight, it was obvious. Miera needed Ivy. If she was gonna get anywhere, that nerd was a requirement. Trouble was… Ivy was inaccessible. She didn't know Ivy's schedule, didn't know where she lived, didn't get to ask for her number or anything. This meant that she'd need to get creative with her approach.
She pulled out her phone and called Penny. Penny too was a child who had selected her class the moment she could, but Penny had done it with parental approval, a ten step plan and outside the judicial space of Orange Logos.
Penny was going on 13 and was an impressive for her age Level 5 [Private Eye]. Penny had been her friend since both girls were in diapers and the pair were thick as thieves. Penny answered the phone.
"Hey Pens-"
"What did ya do?"
"Nothin'!"
"Girl, be so for real."
Miera sighed. Why did every single person she met have to think they were smarter than she was?? Worst of all, in the case of Penny and Ivy, they were probably right.
"I need help finding someone."
"Ha. Alrighty, lets see here, who do you need help finding and how fast?"
"…as fast as possible? Like… ten minutes would be best. And uh… her names Ivy?"
Penny audibly sighed. "You know I don't work for free babes. I'd love to do you a favour here, but my Class-"
"I have pertinent information regarding to Marcus."
"…Any other helpful identifiers for this Ivy girl?"
"Uh. Tall, gloomy, glasses, hangs out in the library from 3-9 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Wears a hoodie? Maybe a year older than us?"
"Ah geez. I'll see what I can do."
And the line went dead. She smiled and started typing out her "report" to Penny.
"Definitely… gay… has a girlfriend… poor girl…"
Then, there was a knock on the door. "I've got it!!" Miera yelled, to forestall her mother's wrothful grumblings. God forbid someone knock before midday, that was a death sentence at their house. She rushed down the steps and opened the door.
"Penny!"
Miera smiled at the short halfling girl in front of her. Penny glared back and adjusted her glasses. Granted, halfling height didn't really mean anything until puberty when everyone else started growing. But Penny was short for a halfling her age.
Penny was a 13 year old trying to be very professional, which means a lot of people thought it was adorable. Especially with her big round cheeks, warm halfling features and adorably round glasses.
Not Miera. Miera knew Penny's looks were deceiving, and the girl would mercilessly abuse that fact if you let your guard down.
"Mimi. I have your information. Shall we talk in your room?" Penny smiled.
"Sounds good!" Miera stepped to the side and let Penny in.
"Also, if you're going to answer the door, don't do it in pyjamas. I could've been a solicitor."
"I don't need to be a [Genius] in order to figure out that it was you, you knock the same way every time girl. Three sharp raps. And its a Saturday and I don't need to go out so I didn't wanna bother changing!"
"Your laziness could move mountains."
"Your wit could cut rivers."
"…How long did it take you to think of that one?"
"I… actually, honestly, like I came up with it on the spot."
Penny paused for a second, looking at Miera strangely. Her gaze sharpened. "Miera… you have a class, don't you?"
Miera's breath caught. How did she know that? Its not like it mattered. She had planned to tell Penny anyway, the girl was smart and her friend, it was just shocking that she caught on so quick.
"Yeah. Yeah I do. It was… a little silly of me, but I do, yeah. I was gonna tell you, just privately, how did you work it out?"
Penny hesitated and frowned, "It… If I told you it would sound really mean."
"Don't worry, I can handle it." Miera scoffed lightly.
"You weren't that witty at school yesterday."
Oh that was like a gutpunch to Miera. She frowned and looked away. "I so was."
"Nono, see this is what I mean. You literally weren't! You took a class, the system gave you stats."
"Oh." In hindsight it was obvious that those would've done something, but she kinda vaguely assigned them as useless numbers that exist to motivate the number cruncher monkey in everyones brain. "So like… those… do stuff?…"
Penny nodded. It was always VERY easy to get her talking about classes.
"Current literature assumes that these stats act as either augments or multipliers on your existing parameters. You're as smart as you were, but with an increase based on your capital-I Intelligence stat. Which must have been quite the boost, considering how you kept up with me, and I'm an Intelligence based Class." Penny nodded in a show of… respect? Penny was kinda hard to read. "With that stellar display of intelligence, I do have to ask, who else knows?"
"My parents know!"
Penny stared at Miera on the steps witheringly.
"You selected your class at home and your mother heard, didn't she?"
"I woulda told her anyway!"
Penny stared at Mimi flatly before turning and starting to walk into Mimi's room.
"No you wouldn't have."
Miera sighed and the two girls entered her room.
"Alright well! Me first, cos I'm paying in info." Miera bowed mockingly as Penny sat down on the bottom bunk of Miera's bed.
"Yes. Go on." Penny leaned in.
"Marcus says he has a girlfriend. But… I think he's gay."
Penny flinched, frowned and wrote some stuff down, seriously. "Of course he does… I'm adjusting my rates. Information on his girlfriend is worth double."
Miera preened for a second before she blinked. "Wait you have rates?"
"Yes. You keep vastly overpaying me."
"What the hey, Penny, shouldn't you warn me if we're friends?!"
"I mean… I vastly undercharge you because you're my friend and you're paying with gossip about a boy. I think I'm being very reasonable but since you're so cute, the next ones free." Penny winked.
Mimi huffed, a little pink-eared. She was a little embarrassed. "Thanks Pens but I hate feeling like I owe ya, I'm not actually mad, I just like getting upset."
Penny quirked a smile. "My turn then?"
"Ah! Yes!" Miera sat up sharply.
"Okay, your girl; Ivy Stocklin. 13 years old, 14 in September. Fits your description, has a part time gig at the library where she does tutoring, definitely has a Class but I can't read it. Currently she's working in her Mothers tea shop as a server. Like, right now. Her shift ends at 2."
"Hm. Hm! Okay thanks Pens! Wanna come with me?"
"To the tea shop? Hm. Tempting. But first, what Class did you end up choosing?"
"Oh! I'm a Pinball Wizard."
There was a pause in the air. Penny was staring at Miera. This usually meant Mimi put her foot in her mouth. But she couldn't have! Mimi just said her class!
"…Mimi. When I told you about class construction theory, did you at all listen?"
"Ah…. No. No I didn't. I'm sorry Pens, I just-" It's hard to say 'I got distracted because when you start really getting into a topic you take over the room and its entrancing to watch.' So instead, she says. "You talk quickly and I think I was having a day, I promise I'll listen if we redo the lecture later?"
"Hah. Fine. Only when I have a whiteboard. And there'll be a test." She stood up. "Anyway. The core concept of the theory is that the system doesn't actually make a unique class for each person, but instead distributes skills and stats based on the individual words within the Class. I made my class as a contribution to the study of this theory."
"Right, right, I remember now. I still think you're insane for that, by the way. We're twelve."
"Thirteen. The terms 'Private' and 'Eye' on their own both have separate connotations of stealth, observation and understanding. However, when used as an adjective, Private also gives connotations of being a fiscal hireling."
Penny was pacing like a drill sergeant, with her arms behind her back. She was starting to get into it.
"However. A private eye is also a slang term for a private detective. I wanted to see which one the system prioritised, that way I could draw a line."
She stopped her marching, and pointed at Mimi.
"The system prioritises occupation. Then descriptive words. It never cares about slang."
Basically, Pinball Wizard was a dumb thing to pick, especially if you had gotten a lecture about how Classes work.
"I get it, I get it, I fucked up. I already knew this." Mimi sighed.
"No, you don't, Mimi-"
"Okay so i fucked up worse! Do I need to know? Would it change anything? Could it possibly change anything?"
"Well…no, but-"
"Then why do I need to know? Why do I need to know if it'll just make me sad?"
Penny was quiet for a minute. Miera knew that Pens knew she was right, but she needed to calm down before she said it. She opened her mouth and spoke in a diplomatic tone. "…That is true. I am sorry, Mimi. This is very important to me, and I am upset on your behalf. I would still like to go to that tea shop, if you are willing."
"I'd love to!" Mimi smiles.
"You're lucky you're so cute."
—
The tea house was a nice place, an unnoticable addition to the high street. The building was older and hadn't been refurbished like the other shops around it, so the one story, bare brick tea shop was slightly sunken in compared to the line of other shops around it.
It made your eyes kinda glaze past it, like you just assumed it was out of business, not because it looked dingy or delapidated but because it was… unassuming, I guess?
Either way, Miera and Penny entered the tea house. The door opened with a quiet chime, and there Ivy was.
She smiled and bowed politely. "Hello! Welcome to-Miera? And someone else?" Ivy blinked, adjusting her glasses. She was wearing a cute flower print dress with a little name tag on it.
"Thats Penny! She's my bestie. Ivy, I need so much help."
The rest of the tea shop was nice, the lights were soft and atmospheric, there was a fragrant earthy aroma in the air. It was warm, rich, inviting and nicer than its outside would have you believe.
—
Mimi was a damn fool. Introducing Pens and Ivy to eachother was possibly the stupidest thing she had ever done. This was meant to be about studying!
Okay well it still was, but Mimi was feeling left out and stupid compared to the two super geniuses.
At least they were talking about her?
"Ah, but you see, by choosing the name Pinball Wizard, the System has focused on the Wizard part, with Pinball as a descriptive element! This means she'll be getting 2 wizard skills for every 1 pinball related skill!" Penny argued, showing off a hastily doodled diagram.
"That ratio, while technically true, ignores the fact that the system prefers to grant skills that benefit both aspects of the class!" Ivy said, showing off a counter-diagram.
"But the two are so disparate that you can't reasonably assume it will be able to accomodate for Mimi!"
"If she chose Pinball Player, she'd have purely gotten skills for pinball! As a Wizard, she gets access to spells! Any spell so long as she learns it!"
"But Mimi HATES learning!"
At this point, Ivy's mother walked by. She was a chubby, tan human woman wearing a flower print apron. She cleared her throat and shot them a look and both girls dropped their tone.
"Sorry, Ma…"
"Sorry, Ivy's mother…"
Ivy turned to Miera.
"See, the barrier to entry for wizardry is not the Class. Its not the Skills. Its not even intelligence. It's training. Wizardry is its own field of study, with its own terminology and with how you are now, you're just a talented amateur. A really talented amateur, frankly." Ivy smiled at Miera sheepishly. She felt condescended to.
Miera glared at Ivy. Ivy threw her hands up.
"I'm sorry, Miera, but thats just how it is! Wizard magic is harder than other kinds, just stick to the general 'mage' category at the front, you can't just learn wizard spells. Most wizards don't bother until they're level 10. Now I gotta go, or Ma'll have me doing dishes next shift." Ivy said flippantly, before walking away to serve a different table.
Miera grumbled to herself as Ivy walked away and opened the book to page 1. She blinked. "Oh, this is way easier, hold on."
The way the tome worked was through diagram and instruction. The instructions were a taught chant, what the spell would do and sometimes, a more spiritual reading of the spell. Take the spell Miera had opened to, Aardvark Mark. (The book's alphabetical, jeez!) The spell would create a mark on an object that attracts Aardvarks. The chant was simply "Aardvark Mark, Aardvark Mark, A Dark and Stark Lark through the Park."
Whoever wrote the spell was clearly having fun, annoyingly. The little blurb of flavour text was 'I like Aardvarks.
- Misty Ander, [Zoo Witch]'
And on the other page was a piece of isometric grid paper, with a channeling image overlaid on top of it. This was the shape you were supposed to push your mana into. For Aardvark Mark, it was, obviously, a 2d outline of an Aardvark.
"This chick DIGS Aardvarks, huh." Miera mumbled. She mentally dismissed the spell. Her second spell was gonna be cooler than this. She sipped the mint tea at her side. It was nice but Mum made better.
"Okay… here! This one! 'Undo Minor Mistake'. Seems a little complex, but its easier than the easiest Wizard spell!"
The spell was in fact complex. And worse than complex, it was modular. The spells shape changed based on what was being undone, and worse than that, it needed the caster to juggle two differently shaped mana charges. One shaped like the object being undone, and another shaped like a backwards pointing arrow.
Luckily, the spell didn't have a chant.
"Y'know, Mimi, you're taking this a lot better than I thought you would." Penny said, leaning on Miera and reading the tome over her shoulder.
"Hmm? Oh, what, being a Wizard?" Mimi was quietly gathering mana in her stomach.
"Yeah, that exactly. You're like… really chill about this. I thought-I guess I thought you'd be more angry."
"Ah." Mimi shook her head, gently dropping a droplet of tea onto the tablecloth. "Yeah, I screwed up, but I wanna make the most of this class. I told Ivy the same."
Penny pursed her lips. "Hm. How did you two meet anywayyyy?" She said, in the most casual way she could think of.
"Oh, she approached me at the library cos I called magic stupid. She was upset, offered to tutor me, read my soul and made me feel dumb." The arrow was easiest, just… a long swoopy. She squirmed around, wringing her hands around an invisible curved U-Turn arrow.
"Bitch is stealing my gig…" Penny mumbled. It was clear she had come to a decision, she nods. "Okay. I don't like her."
"Eh? You two were getting on famously!" Miera said, shaping the mental tablecloth with her hands. Doing it whilst keeping hold of the other object was… tricky…
"No, we were arguing angrily in an embarrassing way in public." Penny shook her head.
There was something familiar about this. Oh. Oh!! It was like when Penny and Marcus met for the first time. Same reaction! That must mean!-Mimi lost concentration over her mana, as she outburst. "You have a crush on Ivy!"
All the resentment Miera was festering in her heart for Ivy faded. She needed to support Penny's interests! Pens was clearly so surprised that Miera caught on that she just stared at Mimi for a moment. She shook her head and spoke up.
"Wh-no! Where'd you pull that one from?!"
"You dooooo!~ oooooh, you moved on fast after learning Marcus was unavailable, huh? Good news is, Ivy's more attainable! She's a nerd and wears a hoodie and has glasses! Especially when compared to Marcus, I mean whoof! He actually works out and stuff. Also he's way too old for you. Oh! I've got this. I know exactly what I could do!"
"Don't do a stupid, hare brained and embarrassing scheme please-"
Miera quickly pushed the mana constructs out of her body as she walked over to Ivy.
"Ivy! Sleepover! Tomorrow!"
"…Wh-where?"
Miera stumbled. "Uh… not mine… Penny?-"
"No." She folded her arms, back at the table shooting Mimi her most withering glare.
"…yours?" Mimi asked, turning to Ivy.
Ivy blinks and grins. "O-okay! I'll ask my ma?"
"Great!"
Penny sighed, deeply frustrated. God was Mimi lucky she was cute. But then her eyes caught the cloth.
Miera walked back. "We're all good for tomorrow! Good news right? Ah crap, I need to redo that whole thing, now."
"I wouldn't be so sure." She tapped the cloth with a nail.
And it was pristine.
"Huh. How about that?" She grinned. That was two challenges done. Just one more to level three.
'The Telli Federation was losing their petty empirical bid. And in their haste, they attempted something that would become the one case of the system denying someone a class.'
[Class Thief]
'The poor boy was dust by the end of the fanfare.'
- An exerpt from Class Selection and its Propriety: A Treatise on the ethical application of systemic magic.
Miera was really mad at Ivy. Who the hell did she think she was?! Oh sure you know EEEEEEEVERYTHING about me, like HECK you do!
Yes, Miera was positively steaming at the thought of the gloomy and tall girl. But… Miera had to admit. Ivy… would be really nice to have right about now.
See, it was the day after her birthday, so Saturday, and she had been reading and rereading this tome over and over again and it just didn't make sense! This thing was meant to be level 1?!
She had already kept a single pinball alive for a minute with her second quartercoin just on the walk back from the library. It was annoying how much easier it was to do the pinball challenges than it was to do the wizard ones.
The entire book operated on completely different principles, it made tons of assumptions, the terminology it used was alien to Miera and it was just so… confusing.
Miera had tried her best, flipping straight to the "Wizard" section of the tome but it was head poundingly and maddeningly frustrating. Miera closed the book, massaged her temples and took a breath.
With the benefit of a good night's sleep, and hindsight, it was obvious. Miera needed Ivy. If she was gonna get anywhere, that nerd was a requirement. Trouble was… Ivy was inaccessible. She didn't know Ivy's schedule, didn't know where she lived, didn't get to ask for her number or anything. This meant that she'd need to get creative with her approach.
She pulled out her phone and called Penny. Penny too was a child who had selected her class the moment she could, but Penny had done it with parental approval, a ten step plan and outside the judicial space of Orange Logos.
Penny was going on 13 and was an impressive for her age Level 5 [Private Eye]. Penny had been her friend since both girls were in diapers and the pair were thick as thieves. Penny answered the phone.
"Hey Pens-"
"What did ya do?"
"Nothin'!"
"Girl, be so for real."
Miera sighed. Why did every single person she met have to think they were smarter than she was?? Worst of all, in the case of Penny and Ivy, they were probably right.
"I need help finding someone."
"Ha. Alrighty, lets see here, who do you need help finding and how fast?"
"…as fast as possible? Like… ten minutes would be best. And uh… her names Ivy?"
Penny audibly sighed. "You know I don't work for free babes. I'd love to do you a favour here, but my Class-"
"I have pertinent information regarding to Marcus."
"…Any other helpful identifiers for this Ivy girl?"
"Uh. Tall, gloomy, glasses, hangs out in the library from 3-9 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Wears a hoodie? Maybe a year older than us?"
"Ah geez. I'll see what I can do."
And the line went dead. She smiled and started typing out her "report" to Penny.
"Definitely… gay… has a girlfriend… poor girl…"
Then, there was a knock on the door. "I've got it!!" Miera yelled, to forestall her mother's wrothful grumblings. God forbid someone knock before midday, that was a death sentence at their house. She rushed down the steps and opened the door.
"Penny!"
Miera smiled at the short halfling girl in front of her. Penny glared back and adjusted her glasses. Granted, halfling height didn't really mean anything until puberty when everyone else started growing. But Penny was short for a halfling her age.
Penny was a 13 year old trying to be very professional, which means a lot of people thought it was adorable. Especially with her big round cheeks, warm halfling features and adorably round glasses.
Not Miera. Miera knew Penny's looks were deceiving, and the girl would mercilessly abuse that fact if you let your guard down.
"Mimi. I have your information. Shall we talk in your room?" Penny smiled.
"Sounds good!" Miera stepped to the side and let Penny in.
"Also, if you're going to answer the door, don't do it in pyjamas. I could've been a solicitor."
"I don't need to be a [Genius] in order to figure out that it was you, you knock the same way every time girl. Three sharp raps. And its a Saturday and I don't need to go out so I didn't wanna bother changing!"
"Your laziness could move mountains."
"Your wit could cut rivers."
"…How long did it take you to think of that one?"
"I… actually, honestly, like I came up with it on the spot."
Penny paused for a second, looking at Miera strangely. Her gaze sharpened. "Miera… you have a class, don't you?"
Miera's breath caught. How did she know that? Its not like it mattered. She had planned to tell Penny anyway, the girl was smart and her friend, it was just shocking that she caught on so quick.
"Yeah. Yeah I do. It was… a little silly of me, but I do, yeah. I was gonna tell you, just privately, how did you work it out?"
Penny hesitated and frowned, "It… If I told you it would sound really mean."
"Don't worry, I can handle it." Miera scoffed lightly.
"You weren't that witty at school yesterday."
Oh that was like a gutpunch to Miera. She frowned and looked away. "I so was."
"Nono, see this is what I mean. You literally weren't! You took a class, the system gave you stats."
"Oh." In hindsight it was obvious that those would've done something, but she kinda vaguely assigned them as useless numbers that exist to motivate the number cruncher monkey in everyones brain. "So like… those… do stuff?…"
Penny nodded. It was always VERY easy to get her talking about classes.
"Current literature assumes that these stats act as either augments or multipliers on your existing parameters. You're as smart as you were, but with an increase based on your capital-I Intelligence stat. Which must have been quite the boost, considering how you kept up with me, and I'm an Intelligence based Class." Penny nodded in a show of… respect? Penny was kinda hard to read. "With that stellar display of intelligence, I do have to ask, who else knows?"
"My parents know!"
Penny stared at Miera on the steps witheringly.
"You selected your class at home and your mother heard, didn't she?"
"I woulda told her anyway!"
Penny stared at Mimi flatly before turning and starting to walk into Mimi's room.
"No you wouldn't have."
Miera sighed and the two girls entered her room.
"Alright well! Me first, cos I'm paying in info." Miera bowed mockingly as Penny sat down on the bottom bunk of Miera's bed.
"Yes. Go on." Penny leaned in.
"Marcus says he has a girlfriend. But… I think he's gay."
Penny flinched, frowned and wrote some stuff down, seriously. "Of course he does… I'm adjusting my rates. Information on his girlfriend is worth double."
Miera preened for a second before she blinked. "Wait you have rates?"
"Yes. You keep vastly overpaying me."
"What the hey, Penny, shouldn't you warn me if we're friends?!"
"I mean… I vastly undercharge you because you're my friend and you're paying with gossip about a boy. I think I'm being very reasonable but since you're so cute, the next ones free." Penny winked.
Mimi huffed, a little pink-eared. She was a little embarrassed. "Thanks Pens but I hate feeling like I owe ya, I'm not actually mad, I just like getting upset."
Penny quirked a smile. "My turn then?"
"Ah! Yes!" Miera sat up sharply.
"Okay, your girl; Ivy Stocklin. 13 years old, 14 in September. Fits your description, has a part time gig at the library where she does tutoring, definitely has a Class but I can't read it. Currently she's working in her Mothers tea shop as a server. Like, right now. Her shift ends at 2."
"Hm. Hm! Okay thanks Pens! Wanna come with me?"
"To the tea shop? Hm. Tempting. But first, what Class did you end up choosing?"
"Oh! I'm a Pinball Wizard."
There was a pause in the air. Penny was staring at Miera. This usually meant Mimi put her foot in her mouth. But she couldn't have! Mimi just said her class!
"…Mimi. When I told you about class construction theory, did you at all listen?"
"Ah…. No. No I didn't. I'm sorry Pens, I just-" It's hard to say 'I got distracted because when you start really getting into a topic you take over the room and its entrancing to watch.' So instead, she says. "You talk quickly and I think I was having a day, I promise I'll listen if we redo the lecture later?"
"Hah. Fine. Only when I have a whiteboard. And there'll be a test." She stood up. "Anyway. The core concept of the theory is that the system doesn't actually make a unique class for each person, but instead distributes skills and stats based on the individual words within the Class. I made my class as a contribution to the study of this theory."
"Right, right, I remember now. I still think you're insane for that, by the way. We're twelve."
"Thirteen. The terms 'Private' and 'Eye' on their own both have separate connotations of stealth, observation and understanding. However, when used as an adjective, Private also gives connotations of being a fiscal hireling."
Penny was pacing like a drill sergeant, with her arms behind her back. She was starting to get into it.
"However. A private eye is also a slang term for a private detective. I wanted to see which one the system prioritised, that way I could draw a line."
She stopped her marching, and pointed at Mimi.
"The system prioritises occupation. Then descriptive words. It never cares about slang."
Basically, Pinball Wizard was a dumb thing to pick, especially if you had gotten a lecture about how Classes work.
"I get it, I get it, I fucked up. I already knew this." Mimi sighed.
"No, you don't, Mimi-"
"Okay so i fucked up worse! Do I need to know? Would it change anything? Could it possibly change anything?"
"Well…no, but-"
"Then why do I need to know? Why do I need to know if it'll just make me sad?"
Penny was quiet for a minute. Miera knew that Pens knew she was right, but she needed to calm down before she said it. She opened her mouth and spoke in a diplomatic tone. "…That is true. I am sorry, Mimi. This is very important to me, and I am upset on your behalf. I would still like to go to that tea shop, if you are willing."
"I'd love to!" Mimi smiles.
"You're lucky you're so cute."
—
The tea house was a nice place, an unnoticable addition to the high street. The building was older and hadn't been refurbished like the other shops around it, so the one story, bare brick tea shop was slightly sunken in compared to the line of other shops around it.
It made your eyes kinda glaze past it, like you just assumed it was out of business, not because it looked dingy or delapidated but because it was… unassuming, I guess?
Either way, Miera and Penny entered the tea house. The door opened with a quiet chime, and there Ivy was.
She smiled and bowed politely. "Hello! Welcome to-Miera? And someone else?" Ivy blinked, adjusting her glasses. She was wearing a cute flower print dress with a little name tag on it.
"Thats Penny! She's my bestie. Ivy, I need so much help."
The rest of the tea shop was nice, the lights were soft and atmospheric, there was a fragrant earthy aroma in the air. It was warm, rich, inviting and nicer than its outside would have you believe.
—
Mimi was a damn fool. Introducing Pens and Ivy to eachother was possibly the stupidest thing she had ever done. This was meant to be about studying!
Okay well it still was, but Mimi was feeling left out and stupid compared to the two super geniuses.
At least they were talking about her?
"Ah, but you see, by choosing the name Pinball Wizard, the System has focused on the Wizard part, with Pinball as a descriptive element! This means she'll be getting 2 wizard skills for every 1 pinball related skill!" Penny argued, showing off a hastily doodled diagram.
"That ratio, while technically true, ignores the fact that the system prefers to grant skills that benefit both aspects of the class!" Ivy said, showing off a counter-diagram.
"But the two are so disparate that you can't reasonably assume it will be able to accomodate for Mimi!"
"If she chose Pinball Player, she'd have purely gotten skills for pinball! As a Wizard, she gets access to spells! Any spell so long as she learns it!"
"But Mimi HATES learning!"
At this point, Ivy's mother walked by. She was a chubby, tan human woman wearing a flower print apron. She cleared her throat and shot them a look and both girls dropped their tone.
"Sorry, Ma…"
"Sorry, Ivy's mother…"
Ivy turned to Miera.
"See, the barrier to entry for wizardry is not the Class. Its not the Skills. Its not even intelligence. It's training. Wizardry is its own field of study, with its own terminology and with how you are now, you're just a talented amateur. A really talented amateur, frankly." Ivy smiled at Miera sheepishly. She felt condescended to.
Miera glared at Ivy. Ivy threw her hands up.
"I'm sorry, Miera, but thats just how it is! Wizard magic is harder than other kinds, just stick to the general 'mage' category at the front, you can't just learn wizard spells. Most wizards don't bother until they're level 10. Now I gotta go, or Ma'll have me doing dishes next shift." Ivy said flippantly, before walking away to serve a different table.
Miera grumbled to herself as Ivy walked away and opened the book to page 1. She blinked. "Oh, this is way easier, hold on."
The way the tome worked was through diagram and instruction. The instructions were a taught chant, what the spell would do and sometimes, a more spiritual reading of the spell. Take the spell Miera had opened to, Aardvark Mark. (The book's alphabetical, jeez!) The spell would create a mark on an object that attracts Aardvarks. The chant was simply "Aardvark Mark, Aardvark Mark, A Dark and Stark Lark through the Park."
Whoever wrote the spell was clearly having fun, annoyingly. The little blurb of flavour text was 'I like Aardvarks.
- Misty Ander, [Zoo Witch]'And on the other page was a piece of isometric grid paper, with a channeling image overlaid on top of it. This was the shape you were supposed to push your mana into. For Aardvark Mark, it was, obviously, a 2d outline of an Aardvark.
"This chick DIGS Aardvarks, huh." Miera mumbled. She mentally dismissed the spell. Her second spell was gonna be cooler than this. She sipped the mint tea at her side. It was nice but Mum made better.
"Okay… here! This one! 'Undo Minor Mistake'. Seems a little complex, but its easier than the easiest Wizard spell!"
The spell was in fact complex. And worse than complex, it was modular. The spells shape changed based on what was being undone, and worse than that, it needed the caster to juggle two differently shaped mana charges. One shaped like the object being undone, and another shaped like a backwards pointing arrow.
Luckily, the spell didn't have a chant.
"Y'know, Mimi, you're taking this a lot better than I thought you would." Penny said, leaning on Miera and reading the tome over her shoulder.
"Hmm? Oh, what, being a Wizard?" Mimi was quietly gathering mana in her stomach.
"Yeah, that exactly. You're like… really chill about this. I thought-I guess I thought you'd be more angry."
"Ah." Mimi shook her head, gently dropping a droplet of tea onto the tablecloth. "Yeah, I screwed up, but I wanna make the most of this class. I told Ivy the same."
Penny pursed her lips. "Hm. How did you two meet anywayyyy?" She said, in the most casual way she could think of.
"Oh, she approached me at the library cos I called magic stupid. She was upset, offered to tutor me, read my soul and made me feel dumb." The arrow was easiest, just… a long swoopy. She squirmed around, wringing her hands around an invisible curved U-Turn arrow.
"Bitch is stealing my gig…" Penny mumbled. It was clear she had come to a decision, she nods. "Okay. I don't like her."
"Eh? You two were getting on famously!" Miera said, shaping the mental tablecloth with her hands. Doing it whilst keeping hold of the other object was… tricky…
"No, we were arguing angrily in an embarrassing way in public." Penny shook her head.
There was something familiar about this. Oh. Oh!! It was like when Penny and Marcus met for the first time. Same reaction! That must mean!-Mimi lost concentration over her mana, as she outburst. "You have a crush on Ivy!"
All the resentment Miera was festering in her heart for Ivy faded. She needed to support Penny's interests! Pens was clearly so surprised that Miera caught on that she just stared at Mimi for a moment. She shook her head and spoke up.
"Wh-no! Where'd you pull that one from?!"
"You dooooo!~ oooooh, you moved on fast after learning Marcus was unavailable, huh? Good news is, Ivy's more attainable! She's a nerd and wears a hoodie and has glasses! Especially when compared to Marcus, I mean whoof! He actually works out and stuff. Also he's way too old for you. Oh! I've got this. I know exactly what I could do!"
"Don't do a stupid, hare brained and embarrassing scheme please-"
Miera quickly pushed the mana constructs out of her body as she walked over to Ivy.
"Ivy! Sleepover! Tomorrow!"
"…Wh-where?"
Miera stumbled. "Uh… not mine… Penny?-"
"No." She folded her arms, back at the table shooting Mimi her most withering glare.
"…yours?" Mimi asked, turning to Ivy.
Ivy blinks and grins. "O-okay! I'll ask my ma?"
"Great!"
Penny sighed, deeply frustrated. God was Mimi lucky she was cute. But then her eyes caught the cloth.
Miera walked back. "We're all good for tomorrow! Good news right? Ah crap, I need to redo that whole thing, now."
"I wouldn't be so sure." She tapped the cloth with a nail.
And it was pristine.
"Huh. How about that?" She grinned. That was two challenges done. Just one more to level three.
Chapter 5: The Church LOVES Money!
New
NotTheBaptist
Getting out there.
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Liber Dominicus was one of the first Systemophilisophical works written and many of its findings are still considered relevant today. However with the advent of modern science and the many discoveries made by the Blue Clarity Institute, we have made massive strides in the study of the system, and Classes. Liber Dominicus opines that 12 is the most theologically significant number. By applying Statistic Theory, this book attempts to challenge this notion, instead believing that the number 4 is the base theological number.
There are 12 potential statistics the System can grant. 8 are granted in total. 4 base statistics, and 4 auxiliary ones. The 4 base statistics being Strength, Defence, Dexterity and Magical Defence. These are considered inherent of anybody and are present even within non-systemic animals.
The remaining 8 statistics are auxiliary, and are typically informed by class selection.
Whimsy
Intelligence
Wisdom
Construction
Magical Strength
Luck
Affinity
Cunning
Of course, the 8 auxiliary statistics do not mean that someone who does not have them cannot be them. Someone without Intelligence is not necessarily unintelligent. It simply means that their current intelligence will never grow through systemic means.
-Statistic Theory and it's Theological Application
Cadigan was having a good day. He was brewing some tea. Not in the way his wife did. This was a different ritual. Finni took an hour making tea because it soothed her, and reminded her of her culture. Cadigan spent an hour making tea because he couldn't make this type of tea any faster. He set two mugs down in his office, both on coasters of course, one to the right of his big comfy chair, and the other to the right of the less comfy guest chair, where Miera sat.
"And this'll count as a mana exercise?"
"Sure will, kiddo." Cadigan smiled.
"So… is that why you keep Minty?" She gestured to the cat on the windowsill.
The cat was a deep earthy brown, although you couldn't tell that by looking at her.
See, Minty was a dirtcat. A breed of cat that was crossbred with dirt ages ago. Dirtcats were even lazier than normal cats, shed fur that crumbled into dirt-like particles and grew flora on their bodies. Dirtcats were playful, lazy, didn't need feeding, didn't expel waste and were considered better for plants than plant pots. Overall, if you didn't mind the worse shedding, they were lovely low maintenance exotic pets.
Not to mention the agricultural benefits.
You see, seeds sown on dirtcats thrive. Some sort of mysterious nature magic inherent to their construction means that they grow fast, healthy and typically pest free. This leads to most domestic dirtcats being almost like pet chickens. Loved absolutely, but also had the habit of partially subsidising their own cost.
Not in the case of Minty.
Trouble came when Minty as a kitten rolled around in a patch of mint. And mint did what mint does best when presented with perfect soil conditions.
Cadigan had adopted the thing as a kitten, presumably some weeks after the event, and had kept the patch of mint from overgrowing the cat ever since.
"Oh? No, I keep Minty around cos she's a cutie." He smiled affectionately, rubbing the cat under the chin.
Minty affectionately nuzzled into his hand, but moved no further, as if removing herself from her sunbeam would physically hurt her.
Miera shrugged and gently blew on the mana-rich mint tea.
"Okay, Mimi, when you take a sip, I want you to close your eyes and focus on that warmth. Feel it travel down your throat… pool in your stomach, and then… suck it inside you!"
Miera nodded, sipping the tea. She closed her eyes…. She felt it. The warmth. It was travelling down her throat… pooling in her stomach…
Wait.
Wait, suck it inside how? She felt that warmth, that heat growing inside her. It was starting to turn into a burn. She was panicking. She opened her mouth to talk. "Blrbl."
And a single oil slick rainbow coloured bubble slipped out of her mouth.
Cadigan startled a laugh. "M-Mimi??"
"What the heck was that?!" She was rubbing her throat. It stung a little.
"Um… I think you failed to integrate the mana into yourself."
"Yeah, I was trying to ask! How do I do that??"
Cadigan blinked. "How?" Cadigan… didn't know how to answer her, you just suck it in. "Um-well…you just kinda do it? I'm sorry baby, but this isn't the kinda thing I figured people have trouble with!" He laughed awkwardly, before turning to the shitty desktop computer precariously balanced on the right side of his desk.
The cream coloured CRT behemoth and big clacky keyboard hissed at him as he slowly whirred it to life with a proud smile.
Miera groaned. He loved that stupid thing. "Daaaad, you know the intranet here sucks…"
"Well. It was very good in Grey Dominion dear. Plus the computers were quicker… thinner… better built… why did I move again?" He chuckled, softly, waiting for the webpage to load. Verrrrry slowly.
"Cos a fortune teller told you you'd find happiness here…" Miera rolled her eyes. It was a sweet story. Though it was one she'd heard a million times beforel
Cadigan adjusted his glasses and leaned into the computer screen. "And she was right! Alright, lets see here… Having trouble with-nope. Nope. Not that…" every webpage took maybe a minute to load, and another minute to load back to the search result menu.
Miera snapped. "Oh my god Dad just use your phone!!"
"No, it'd still be slow." Cadigan said, sloooooowly dragging the ball mouse over to page two.
"It would be quicker! Why do we even HAVE this piece of garbage computer, we have phones that are better and smaller than it!"
"Now dear, we couldn't always afford to import from Dominion. We should remember to be grateful for what we have."
"We should be grateful by using the better stuff." she mumbled sullenly.
"Hmm… okay, I think I see whats wrong here!"
"Ahem!" He cleared his throat and started reading off the webpage. "So, you've been casting spells. How."
"I…. Move the mana into my hands and… shape it."
He clicked onto that box, and read the next question.
"Do you use your hands to shape it?"
"Yes? What else would you use?"
"Well, this says most people just move the mana inside them itself. As opposed to using their bodies to move it around like you are. Its… a developmental delay that means intentionally doing mana exercises is gonna be hard for you, kiddo. No easy tea for you, you're gonna have to do exercises!"
Miera groaned.
—
Miera was having a horrible day.
"Lift! Lift!!! You got this!!" Cadigan cheered to Miera.
Miera was trying to do sit-ups. She thought it would be easy! She sits up all the time. Apparently, the right way to sit up was the wrong way to do an exercise called the sit up, who knew? After 6 of the infernal things, she felt… like she was gonna throw up. But-not throw up, like how people normally do, like… throw up with magic. Like that little… flower in her stomach that she opened to cast spells was gonna burst.
She finished the 10th sit up and flopped limp on their garage floor.
Cadigan clapped energetically on the exercise bike. "Woo!! Great job sweetie! Okay, next step is to try and open your mana reserves."
It wasn't hard actually. The thing was actually half undone already, and as it bloomed in her stomach mana rushed through her body. It was like the exercise was building pressure in that organ and this was the release.
It was… relaxing. She still wasn't moving it on her own, but the thin strands were working through her body and slowly dissolving. It was… meditative. Relaxing. You could get lost in the natural flow and curl of mana…
And then came the fanfare.
[Level Up!]
[You are now a: Level 3 Pinball Wizard!]
[New Skill: Conjure Bumper]
—
Finniera was having a great day! Mimi was taking her new class seriously, their returns had come in and she had actually finally managed to schedule an evening off work and best of all, Miera was having a sleepover with her new friend, meaning Finni was going to have a lovely meal with her husband.
Yes indeed, Finny was having a wonderful day! She had a delightful cup of tea and -quite scandalously- four biscuits. Yes! Yes she truly was spoiling herself!~
She carefully dipped the biscuit in the tea… slowly raised it to her lips, and-Of course, it was precisely at that moment when someone knocked on the door.
"Confounding-who calls at this hour?!" Notably, it was 11 AM. "Ruddy blasted door-to-door salesmen, I ought to give them a piece of my mind…"
She set the biscuit down, calmly stood up, dusted herself free of crumbs, lightly dusted herself in glitter in the process and very slowly and spitefully walked to the door. She cracked the door open.
Oh. Oh it was worse than she thought!
She swung the door wide with a polite smile on her face.
"Brother Micah! Sister Elise!" It was the church. "What a pleasure, AND a surprise!" The fake smile plastered on her face probably didn't fool the two churchpeople but she was doing it for herself. [Show No Weakness: Social] was carrying all the weight right now.
As is, it simply seemed like she was pretending not to know anything out of politeness. Unfortunately, she really didn't know why they were here!
"Hello!~" Micah smiled. He was a gray haired, bearded Gnome with spectacles, robes and a little staff.
Elise was a much younger orcish woman, barely 17. But was similarly clad, even with tiny spectacles. The only difference in equipment was that she had a scepter and book, instead of a staff. Elise nodded politely.
"Mrs. Sundew."
"Come on in, may I offer you some tea?" She stepped to the side politely. Yes. Enter my domain. Accept my hospitality and I will crush you under the weight of ruining my morning….
"Oh that would be lovely, thank you!" Micah smiled.
YES!
—
5 minutes later, the three were sat down, teacups in hand with small plates of decadent confectionary.
"Oh my, that was quite fast!" Micah said, happily.
It took all the willpower Finniera had not to smirk in won confidence. "Yes it was awfully fast, wasn't it?" Ohohoho~ Finni you sly devil, you~
"This tea is delicious." Elise complimented her with a small smile.
Ha! False compliments. The suckers gambit. That tea is understeeped garbage! And the snacks… oh they seemed decadent, fit for a prince! But they were childrens snacks. This was an old power play, The Elvish Snub.
By taking the biscuits you admit your lack of sophistication, by resorting to a childs snack! But not taking the confectionary too was a mistake! Its impolite. The correct move was to grab the carefully hidden, austere wafers as effortlessly as you can and eat those.
Naturally, this move played out flawlessly. Both Micah and Elise greedily grabbing for the snacks they kept for Miera's baby cousins. What fools!
"Thank you, Elise! And how are you settling into the church?"
"Its been a good year. Level 13 now."
"Oh thats so fast! My, you must be positively delighted!" She clapped her hands together.
"Yes, I'm thrilled." Elise said, expression not changing. "However it seems the System has thrown me a new test."
"Oh?"
"Myeah." She sighed. "To level up next, its makin' me go on an adventure."
"Ahh. I understand, that must be such trouble! I understand that the church struggles to send its children on pilgrimage?" She turned to Micah, oozing with faux-concern.
"Oh yes!" Micah nods, still smiling. "Poor Elise will most likely have to join an adventuring party and follow wheresoever they go, the poor dear is just terrified, weren't you, Elise?"
"Yes. I was so frightened that I screamed." Elise said, flatly.
Micah sighed and rubbed her arm. "Poor dear. Well she'll hopefully work uo the nerve to go on her way. But for now, I must confess, this isn't just a social call." He shook his head.
Yeah, no shit.
"Oh, truly? What could you want with us?"
"Well… unfortunately, we have received credible reports that your daughter has… well… chosen her class."
"Ah. So you're here to?…"
"Simply confirm the report! Elise here has been granted the [Administrator: Check] skill! And with that, well, Elise can check up on if she has a class or not."
"And what if she does?"
"Well… thats sort of tricky, I'm afraid. We can't just let you go, that sets an awful precedent! But… we try to work out reasonable fines that don't make you destitute, but we need to be clear that this is a very bad thing indeed! So… how much are you able to pay? The legal maximum fine is 500 fullcoins."
Now… this was a genuine, nice gesture. This was the church making a compromise between principle and people. It was them attempting to be fair to both the parents and the child.
But to Finniera Sundew this didn't feel like a conversation.
To Finniera Sundew, this felt like pity. Unearned pity. Was she NOT a woman of means?! Did they not see her house, her finery, her clothes?? She wanted to growl. She wanted to gnash her teeth and curse their names. She calmly sipped from her tea. She needed to make a statement.
"500 fullcoins is acceptable." She said calmly.
"Well lets not get hasty, here! We still need to do the test!"
"Ah, of course." She chuckled. "Yes, I'll get her down, shouldn't be a minute."
—
Miera was pacing in her room. She held a pointer stick in hand behind her back.
"Alright troops… we have a mission today. We're going to Ivy's house. For a sleepover! This is recon! A scouting mission, ladies! We need to get DIRT on her! And learn a second spell."
Also, she maybe wanted Ivy and Penny to kiss but that was neither here nor there!!
The ensemble of soft toys said nothing back.
"However! This is not just any sleepover. This is Ivy's first sleepover. This means we need someone inoffensive. Cute. Soft. Cuddly." She turned on her heel and, in a flash, thrust the pointer stick out at a round cat plush with pokey ears and a little :3 face.
"Can YOU keep your cool behind enemy lines?!"
It :3'd back impassively.
"I thought not. Well theres nothing for it. Time to get Miss Hoppy outta retirement."
The plushies sat there, lined up. She turned to face one with a gimlet eye. A small pocket sized green dragon with a felt gout of flame belching from its cloth mouth. Clearly, it said something in whatever vapid imaginings she was performing.
"Oh? Suicide mission? You make me laugh. For you maybe. For any of you louts! But Hoppy's the best we got. And maybe she'll finally get that farm…" She squinted off into the distance.
Miera clambered onto the top bunk, grabbed a certain brown furred bunny plush sat atop her pillow and packed her into her overnight bag with a cheerful grin, dispelling the make-believe war prep.
"Thats that then! Alright, we need to make this the best sleepover/study session there's ever been, there's so much riding on this!!"
"Who're you talking to?" Finniera stared at the carnival before her.
"AH! Oh, heyyyy Muuuummmm…. Whats up, whats the haps, how ya doiiiin'?"
"The church wants to see you."
Really, climbing up that tree was just the smartest thing she could do.
—
"Young lady, come down from that tree." Finniera said in her sternest voice.
"No! I'm a criminal! The fuzz won't take me alive!"
"They just want to talk, Mimi-"
"Thats what they always say!"
Finniera was having a day. "Young lady… fine."
She turned to Elise.
"Can you do it from here?"
"I should be able to. The tree really doesn't help her at all."
"[Administrator: Check]"
A smell of dust filled the air, screeching, high pitched beeps and squeaks as a piece of paper slowly jettisoned out of a glowing, golden port in the air.
"What did you do?" Miera patted herself down, quietly, nervously. The Skill didn't feel good, it felt like someone was painlessly extruding her through a thin metal slit.
"How… long does that take?" Finniera pointed at it slowly ejecting from the air.
"A while." Elise sighed, both people seemingly ignoring Miera. "It's really loud. I'm sorry."
"Hey! Hey!! Whatever you're doing, QUIT IT!" Miera yelled, starting to climb down the tree.
And eventually, the long reel of punched paper slowly drifted down into Elise's hands. She carefully handled it, squinting at the words the printed dots formed.
"Hm. Well, she has a class alright. But, I gotta say, thats a new one."
Miera's eyes widened. She wasn't ready. She wanted to work hard, and show how much she really cared about this before she told her parents what it was. "Do we have to reveal it??"
Elise blinked. "Um… legally your mother has a right to know what your class is."
Miera turned to Finniera, the most droopy eared begging expression on her face. Finni's heart melted slightly, but she held strong.
"Mimi… whatever Class you chose that you're so embarrassed about… you've been working very hard. You've been trying to learn and I've never seen you so passionate! Well, about anything but that silly game." She chuckled, not noticing as Miera tensed up. "But you're better than that now! So I'm sure you can-"
And Miera ran away. Not away away, just… she ran into the house, and into her room.
Finniera sighed. "I hope she's alright. Well then, whats the damage?"
"I wouldn't say damage." Elise hums. "Your kids been busy! Level 3 'Pinball Wizard.'"
"…Oh fuck me. Okay just go away." Finniera waved her hand. "We'll pay it, just go. I need to apologise to my daughter."
And that she did.
There are 12 potential statistics the System can grant. 8 are granted in total. 4 base statistics, and 4 auxiliary ones. The 4 base statistics being Strength, Defence, Dexterity and Magical Defence. These are considered inherent of anybody and are present even within non-systemic animals.
The remaining 8 statistics are auxiliary, and are typically informed by class selection.
Whimsy
Intelligence
Wisdom
Construction
Magical Strength
Luck
Affinity
Cunning
Of course, the 8 auxiliary statistics do not mean that someone who does not have them cannot be them. Someone without Intelligence is not necessarily unintelligent. It simply means that their current intelligence will never grow through systemic means.
-Statistic Theory and it's Theological Application
Cadigan was having a good day. He was brewing some tea. Not in the way his wife did. This was a different ritual. Finni took an hour making tea because it soothed her, and reminded her of her culture. Cadigan spent an hour making tea because he couldn't make this type of tea any faster. He set two mugs down in his office, both on coasters of course, one to the right of his big comfy chair, and the other to the right of the less comfy guest chair, where Miera sat.
"And this'll count as a mana exercise?"
"Sure will, kiddo." Cadigan smiled.
"So… is that why you keep Minty?" She gestured to the cat on the windowsill.
The cat was a deep earthy brown, although you couldn't tell that by looking at her.
See, Minty was a dirtcat. A breed of cat that was crossbred with dirt ages ago. Dirtcats were even lazier than normal cats, shed fur that crumbled into dirt-like particles and grew flora on their bodies. Dirtcats were playful, lazy, didn't need feeding, didn't expel waste and were considered better for plants than plant pots. Overall, if you didn't mind the worse shedding, they were lovely low maintenance exotic pets.
Not to mention the agricultural benefits.
You see, seeds sown on dirtcats thrive. Some sort of mysterious nature magic inherent to their construction means that they grow fast, healthy and typically pest free. This leads to most domestic dirtcats being almost like pet chickens. Loved absolutely, but also had the habit of partially subsidising their own cost.
Not in the case of Minty.
Trouble came when Minty as a kitten rolled around in a patch of mint. And mint did what mint does best when presented with perfect soil conditions.
Cadigan had adopted the thing as a kitten, presumably some weeks after the event, and had kept the patch of mint from overgrowing the cat ever since.
"Oh? No, I keep Minty around cos she's a cutie." He smiled affectionately, rubbing the cat under the chin.
Minty affectionately nuzzled into his hand, but moved no further, as if removing herself from her sunbeam would physically hurt her.
Miera shrugged and gently blew on the mana-rich mint tea.
"Okay, Mimi, when you take a sip, I want you to close your eyes and focus on that warmth. Feel it travel down your throat… pool in your stomach, and then… suck it inside you!"
Miera nodded, sipping the tea. She closed her eyes…. She felt it. The warmth. It was travelling down her throat… pooling in her stomach…
Wait.
Wait, suck it inside how? She felt that warmth, that heat growing inside her. It was starting to turn into a burn. She was panicking. She opened her mouth to talk. "Blrbl."
And a single oil slick rainbow coloured bubble slipped out of her mouth.
Cadigan startled a laugh. "M-Mimi??"
"What the heck was that?!" She was rubbing her throat. It stung a little.
"Um… I think you failed to integrate the mana into yourself."
"Yeah, I was trying to ask! How do I do that??"
Cadigan blinked. "How?" Cadigan… didn't know how to answer her, you just suck it in. "Um-well…you just kinda do it? I'm sorry baby, but this isn't the kinda thing I figured people have trouble with!" He laughed awkwardly, before turning to the shitty desktop computer precariously balanced on the right side of his desk.
The cream coloured CRT behemoth and big clacky keyboard hissed at him as he slowly whirred it to life with a proud smile.
Miera groaned. He loved that stupid thing. "Daaaad, you know the intranet here sucks…"
"Well. It was very good in Grey Dominion dear. Plus the computers were quicker… thinner… better built… why did I move again?" He chuckled, softly, waiting for the webpage to load. Verrrrry slowly.
"Cos a fortune teller told you you'd find happiness here…" Miera rolled her eyes. It was a sweet story. Though it was one she'd heard a million times beforel
Cadigan adjusted his glasses and leaned into the computer screen. "And she was right! Alright, lets see here… Having trouble with-nope. Nope. Not that…" every webpage took maybe a minute to load, and another minute to load back to the search result menu.
Miera snapped. "Oh my god Dad just use your phone!!"
"No, it'd still be slow." Cadigan said, sloooooowly dragging the ball mouse over to page two.
"It would be quicker! Why do we even HAVE this piece of garbage computer, we have phones that are better and smaller than it!"
"Now dear, we couldn't always afford to import from Dominion. We should remember to be grateful for what we have."
"We should be grateful by using the better stuff." she mumbled sullenly.
"Hmm… okay, I think I see whats wrong here!"
"Ahem!" He cleared his throat and started reading off the webpage. "So, you've been casting spells. How."
"I…. Move the mana into my hands and… shape it."
He clicked onto that box, and read the next question.
"Do you use your hands to shape it?"
"Yes? What else would you use?"
"Well, this says most people just move the mana inside them itself. As opposed to using their bodies to move it around like you are. Its… a developmental delay that means intentionally doing mana exercises is gonna be hard for you, kiddo. No easy tea for you, you're gonna have to do exercises!"
Miera groaned.
—
Miera was having a horrible day.
"Lift! Lift!!! You got this!!" Cadigan cheered to Miera.
Miera was trying to do sit-ups. She thought it would be easy! She sits up all the time. Apparently, the right way to sit up was the wrong way to do an exercise called the sit up, who knew? After 6 of the infernal things, she felt… like she was gonna throw up. But-not throw up, like how people normally do, like… throw up with magic. Like that little… flower in her stomach that she opened to cast spells was gonna burst.
She finished the 10th sit up and flopped limp on their garage floor.
Cadigan clapped energetically on the exercise bike. "Woo!! Great job sweetie! Okay, next step is to try and open your mana reserves."
It wasn't hard actually. The thing was actually half undone already, and as it bloomed in her stomach mana rushed through her body. It was like the exercise was building pressure in that organ and this was the release.
It was… relaxing. She still wasn't moving it on her own, but the thin strands were working through her body and slowly dissolving. It was… meditative. Relaxing. You could get lost in the natural flow and curl of mana…
And then came the fanfare.
[Level Up!]
[You are now a: Level 3 Pinball Wizard!]
[New Skill: Conjure Bumper]
—
Finniera was having a great day! Mimi was taking her new class seriously, their returns had come in and she had actually finally managed to schedule an evening off work and best of all, Miera was having a sleepover with her new friend, meaning Finni was going to have a lovely meal with her husband.
Yes indeed, Finny was having a wonderful day! She had a delightful cup of tea and -quite scandalously- four biscuits. Yes! Yes she truly was spoiling herself!~
She carefully dipped the biscuit in the tea… slowly raised it to her lips, and-Of course, it was precisely at that moment when someone knocked on the door.
"Confounding-who calls at this hour?!" Notably, it was 11 AM. "Ruddy blasted door-to-door salesmen, I ought to give them a piece of my mind…"
She set the biscuit down, calmly stood up, dusted herself free of crumbs, lightly dusted herself in glitter in the process and very slowly and spitefully walked to the door. She cracked the door open.
Oh. Oh it was worse than she thought!
She swung the door wide with a polite smile on her face.
"Brother Micah! Sister Elise!" It was the church. "What a pleasure, AND a surprise!" The fake smile plastered on her face probably didn't fool the two churchpeople but she was doing it for herself. [Show No Weakness: Social] was carrying all the weight right now.
As is, it simply seemed like she was pretending not to know anything out of politeness. Unfortunately, she really didn't know why they were here!
"Hello!~" Micah smiled. He was a gray haired, bearded Gnome with spectacles, robes and a little staff.
Elise was a much younger orcish woman, barely 17. But was similarly clad, even with tiny spectacles. The only difference in equipment was that she had a scepter and book, instead of a staff. Elise nodded politely.
"Mrs. Sundew."
"Come on in, may I offer you some tea?" She stepped to the side politely. Yes. Enter my domain. Accept my hospitality and I will crush you under the weight of ruining my morning….
"Oh that would be lovely, thank you!" Micah smiled.
YES!
—
5 minutes later, the three were sat down, teacups in hand with small plates of decadent confectionary.
"Oh my, that was quite fast!" Micah said, happily.
It took all the willpower Finniera had not to smirk in won confidence. "Yes it was awfully fast, wasn't it?" Ohohoho~ Finni you sly devil, you~
"This tea is delicious." Elise complimented her with a small smile.
Ha! False compliments. The suckers gambit. That tea is understeeped garbage! And the snacks… oh they seemed decadent, fit for a prince! But they were childrens snacks. This was an old power play, The Elvish Snub.
By taking the biscuits you admit your lack of sophistication, by resorting to a childs snack! But not taking the confectionary too was a mistake! Its impolite. The correct move was to grab the carefully hidden, austere wafers as effortlessly as you can and eat those.
Naturally, this move played out flawlessly. Both Micah and Elise greedily grabbing for the snacks they kept for Miera's baby cousins. What fools!
"Thank you, Elise! And how are you settling into the church?"
"Its been a good year. Level 13 now."
"Oh thats so fast! My, you must be positively delighted!" She clapped her hands together.
"Yes, I'm thrilled." Elise said, expression not changing. "However it seems the System has thrown me a new test."
"Oh?"
"Myeah." She sighed. "To level up next, its makin' me go on an adventure."
"Ahh. I understand, that must be such trouble! I understand that the church struggles to send its children on pilgrimage?" She turned to Micah, oozing with faux-concern.
"Oh yes!" Micah nods, still smiling. "Poor Elise will most likely have to join an adventuring party and follow wheresoever they go, the poor dear is just terrified, weren't you, Elise?"
"Yes. I was so frightened that I screamed." Elise said, flatly.
Micah sighed and rubbed her arm. "Poor dear. Well she'll hopefully work uo the nerve to go on her way. But for now, I must confess, this isn't just a social call." He shook his head.
Yeah, no shit.
"Oh, truly? What could you want with us?"
"Well… unfortunately, we have received credible reports that your daughter has… well… chosen her class."
"Ah. So you're here to?…"
"Simply confirm the report! Elise here has been granted the [Administrator: Check] skill! And with that, well, Elise can check up on if she has a class or not."
"And what if she does?"
"Well… thats sort of tricky, I'm afraid. We can't just let you go, that sets an awful precedent! But… we try to work out reasonable fines that don't make you destitute, but we need to be clear that this is a very bad thing indeed! So… how much are you able to pay? The legal maximum fine is 500 fullcoins."
Now… this was a genuine, nice gesture. This was the church making a compromise between principle and people. It was them attempting to be fair to both the parents and the child.
But to Finniera Sundew this didn't feel like a conversation.
To Finniera Sundew, this felt like pity. Unearned pity. Was she NOT a woman of means?! Did they not see her house, her finery, her clothes?? She wanted to growl. She wanted to gnash her teeth and curse their names. She calmly sipped from her tea. She needed to make a statement.
"500 fullcoins is acceptable." She said calmly.
"Well lets not get hasty, here! We still need to do the test!"
"Ah, of course." She chuckled. "Yes, I'll get her down, shouldn't be a minute."
—
Miera was pacing in her room. She held a pointer stick in hand behind her back.
"Alright troops… we have a mission today. We're going to Ivy's house. For a sleepover! This is recon! A scouting mission, ladies! We need to get DIRT on her! And learn a second spell."
Also, she maybe wanted Ivy and Penny to kiss but that was neither here nor there!!
The ensemble of soft toys said nothing back.
"However! This is not just any sleepover. This is Ivy's first sleepover. This means we need someone inoffensive. Cute. Soft. Cuddly." She turned on her heel and, in a flash, thrust the pointer stick out at a round cat plush with pokey ears and a little :3 face.
"Can YOU keep your cool behind enemy lines?!"
It :3'd back impassively.
"I thought not. Well theres nothing for it. Time to get Miss Hoppy outta retirement."
The plushies sat there, lined up. She turned to face one with a gimlet eye. A small pocket sized green dragon with a felt gout of flame belching from its cloth mouth. Clearly, it said something in whatever vapid imaginings she was performing.
"Oh? Suicide mission? You make me laugh. For you maybe. For any of you louts! But Hoppy's the best we got. And maybe she'll finally get that farm…" She squinted off into the distance.
Miera clambered onto the top bunk, grabbed a certain brown furred bunny plush sat atop her pillow and packed her into her overnight bag with a cheerful grin, dispelling the make-believe war prep.
"Thats that then! Alright, we need to make this the best sleepover/study session there's ever been, there's so much riding on this!!"
"Who're you talking to?" Finniera stared at the carnival before her.
"AH! Oh, heyyyy Muuuummmm…. Whats up, whats the haps, how ya doiiiin'?"
"The church wants to see you."
Really, climbing up that tree was just the smartest thing she could do.
—
"Young lady, come down from that tree." Finniera said in her sternest voice.
"No! I'm a criminal! The fuzz won't take me alive!"
"They just want to talk, Mimi-"
"Thats what they always say!"
Finniera was having a day. "Young lady… fine."
She turned to Elise.
"Can you do it from here?"
"I should be able to. The tree really doesn't help her at all."
"[Administrator: Check]"
A smell of dust filled the air, screeching, high pitched beeps and squeaks as a piece of paper slowly jettisoned out of a glowing, golden port in the air.
"What did you do?" Miera patted herself down, quietly, nervously. The Skill didn't feel good, it felt like someone was painlessly extruding her through a thin metal slit.
"How… long does that take?" Finniera pointed at it slowly ejecting from the air.
"A while." Elise sighed, both people seemingly ignoring Miera. "It's really loud. I'm sorry."
"Hey! Hey!! Whatever you're doing, QUIT IT!" Miera yelled, starting to climb down the tree.
And eventually, the long reel of punched paper slowly drifted down into Elise's hands. She carefully handled it, squinting at the words the printed dots formed.
"Hm. Well, she has a class alright. But, I gotta say, thats a new one."
Miera's eyes widened. She wasn't ready. She wanted to work hard, and show how much she really cared about this before she told her parents what it was. "Do we have to reveal it??"
Elise blinked. "Um… legally your mother has a right to know what your class is."
Miera turned to Finniera, the most droopy eared begging expression on her face. Finni's heart melted slightly, but she held strong.
"Mimi… whatever Class you chose that you're so embarrassed about… you've been working very hard. You've been trying to learn and I've never seen you so passionate! Well, about anything but that silly game." She chuckled, not noticing as Miera tensed up. "But you're better than that now! So I'm sure you can-"
And Miera ran away. Not away away, just… she ran into the house, and into her room.
Finniera sighed. "I hope she's alright. Well then, whats the damage?"
"I wouldn't say damage." Elise hums. "Your kids been busy! Level 3 'Pinball Wizard.'"
"…Oh fuck me. Okay just go away." Finniera waved her hand. "We'll pay it, just go. I need to apologise to my daughter."
And that she did.
Chapter 6: Double Date! (and Ivy) Part 1
New
NotTheBaptist
Getting out there.
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The Seven Colour Sages were a group of craftsmen, tricksters, conmen and bastards. Despite this being how they chose to be remembered, their impact on the world cannot be understated. By bringing Logic into being, they paved the road for true industry and civilisation.
Each Sage founded their own place of power, 4 of which remain definitively standing to this day.
The Rumbling Red (Destroyed)
Orange Logos (Intact)
Dancing in this Beautiful Yellow Field, I Weep at the Banality of it All (Intact)
Green's Pragmatism (Presumed Destroyed)
The Blue Clarity Institute (Intact)
Forgotten Indigo (No Contact)
Violet Malevolence (Intact)
To this day, being named after a colour is the greatest display of hubris or pride a city can muster.
- Why Logic is superior to Chaos, a treatise
—
Finniera was a flawed woman. She could admit that to herself easily enough. If anyone else dared to suggest it, she'd be affronted, but she was of herself. She could be honest. She had flaws.
The one that was rearing its ugly head now was that she really fucking hated arcade games. The places smelled, they were filled with unwashed creeps, and the games were… sort of sticky, sometimes? She had no idea how her daughter, HER daughter, could stand them.
But she could. And she had to accept that fact. She took a deep breath in, and knocked on Mimi's door.
"Mimi, sweetie… I think we need to talk."
—
On the other end of the door, Miera was cuddled up in a blanket, her overnight bag upturned. She wasn't cuddling the bunny, but she was… holding it in her lap. Thumbs ritually combing over the bald patch on its head. Her mother hated her. She must do.
In her head, Miera needed to be level 5 before she told Finniera her class. That way she'd see that she's taking it seriously, that she's not a screw up, that she's trying her hardest!
And then Finniera knocked a second time, breaking her from her stupor.
"Mimi, darling? Please open the door. I'll ask you once more but then I have to come in anyway."
"Its not locked." Miera mumbled.
Finniera quietly entered. She knelt down, next to the curled up blanket pile on the floor. Finniera pulled the girl into her lap.
"So… Pinball Wizard?" She smiles a little, confused, sad, soft.
Something twisted inside of Miera, then burst out in a blubber.
"'M sorry! I'm-I'm sorry Mum!" Miera burst out of the blanket, crying. "I'm sorry, I was being stupid and I'm sorry and I know you wanted me to pick a serious class and I messed up like a big dumb screw-up!-"
Finniera hugged her daughter. It was tight, sudden, and out of character for Finniera. She tried her best but Finniera was never any good at the action itself, or initiating it at the right time.
"I'm sorry. Miera… my darling baby girl, I never wanted you to feel like this. I was just worried. This…. This is what I had hoped to avoid." She laughs, at the irony of it. "I'm sorry. I never wanted you to be ashamed of what you picked. I just didn't want you to regret it like me. I've been too terrible for too long to you." Finniera whispered to the bundled and tear stricken Mimi on her lap.
Finniera leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.
Mimi sniffed. "I'm sorry…"
"You have nothing to apologise for. Mimi, you've gained 2 levels in as many days! Thats incredible progress. I was worried about you picking something fanciful and then dropping it after a week. I trust you, sweetheart. You have nothing to prove to me, as long as you're happy and healthy and kind… I will always support you."
Finniera just held her after that. Minutes crept to hours. It took Finniera too long to realise that Miera was asleep in her lap. And that she should start getting ready for her date.
"Mimi, darling. Mimi?" She shook the girl in her lap. She stirred but didn't wake up. Finniera laughed a little and sighed.
"Miera Sundew." She said in The Mum Voice.
And like magic, Miera shot to uprightness.
"Snrk-whuh?-Mum…?" She groaned, rubbing her eyes.
"Hello, Mimi. I need to get ready for my date with your father. Are you packed?"
"Uh… I was…" She turned a groggy head to the pile of things and upturned bag on the floor. She sighed and started re-packing. Finniera laughed mirthfully.
"Good girl. I'll be in the shower, I'll drop you off at this… Ivy's house once I'm ready. Make sure you're prepared! And-Mimi?"
Miera sighed. "Yes mum?"
Finniera leaned down, kissed Miera on top of the head, stood up and started leaving the room. "I love you."
"…Oh." Miera blinked. Then smiled.
—
Miera had been dropped off and Finniera was driving back home. Her grip on the wheel was tense. To Finniera, driving was therapeutic. If she had to choose a class today, she would have chosen [Driver] without a doubt.
She didn't even mind having a class that wasn't applicable to her job. She hated that it was just a waste. A waste facilitated by childhood fancy.
Certainly, it had perks. Her hair was always tangle free, she could modulate her metabolism a little, burning off fat quicker, and building it slower, and she could always act totally in the know.
"But fuck me, the ability to run red lights for free would be so awesome…" She groaned to herself, drumming her fingers on the wheel.
She pulled up outside the house, locked the door, and stepped back inside. Now that Mimi was gone… Finni flopped down on the couch.
Cadigan worked from home as a tax mage. It was good work, paid well, and could be done digitally from home with a fax machine and a spreadsheet.
Cadigan had 20 minutes of work left, which meant he had better have enchanted his pen to auto-tally and was getting dressed if he knew what was good for him.
Finniera blew a raspberry through her lips and fumbled for the remote, turning the television on. She was rumpling her dress by being sat like this. She didn't care.
The television was tuned to some garbage cooking show. 'Cooking Done Right' by Elias Dirk.
"Psh. More like Elias Dork…" Finniera mumbled. She was exhausted, bitter, in a lousy mood and even though they could still afford to go out to this dinner, 500 fullcoins was not a small sum. That was about as much as it cost to import a phone from Grey Dominion.
She was spiralling about it now that she had a minute and Miera was out of the room. She could quietly admit that to herself. She wasn't even sure if she should go on this date, she'd just ruin it with her-
"Hoo, Finni, work was such a pain, I am so ready for this date!" Cadigan smiled warmly at her, his expression slowly turning to concern. He was wearing his nice blazer and dress shirt.
"Finni? Whats wrong, sweetie?" He sat down next to her, frowning.
"Don't look at me, Cadigan, I'm a mess." Finniera said, but leaned against his side anyway.
"I know that look. Miera do something daft again?"
"No. This time it was me. The church came over, you were out at the time. They came to confirm Mieras class. We owe them 500 fullcoins." She sighed.
Ah. Thats… fine." Cadigan frowned, clearly thinking of the economics. He brightened, smiling. "We can afford that, don't worry!"
"Thats not all." She shakes her head, handing him the wilted piece of dot matrix printer paper.
Cadigan flipped down the reel. "Ah."
"She was terrified, Cadigan. She thought-she-" Finniera shook her head and sighed.
"Finni, darling…" Cadigan adjusted himself, letting her flop her head on his lap. His hand was rubbing her scalp softly, twining little circles into it.
"I made her feel like a screw up. Like she was useless. That was my fault. I hurt her. I hurt our darling girl and…God-I'm just like my mother." She whispered bitterly.
"Finni. No you're not. You're nothing like that bog witch of a woman. Finniera, your mother would never do this. Never act so upset for hurting you. You are better than her." This was an old song and dance by now.
Finniera would hurt someone, apologise, do her best to make it up to them, then spiral about it in the privacy of her own home. Luckily she had Cadigan. Cadigan was her rock. When she was spiralling over something, he listened to her, he soothed her, and in the end, she felt better.
Cadigan and Finny just sat there for a minute. Finniera sat up, brushing down the tight red dress she wore, divesting it of creases.
"Ahem… thank you, Cadigan."
"Always, Finni. How's she doing now, over at that sleepover?" He stood up, walking Finniera to the car. He wasn't dumb enough to let her drive. The mad woman was a fiend behind the wheel.
"She's good, she's calm. We talked, I apologised, made sure she knew I wasn't upset and was proud of the progress she was making." Finniera smiled, too weary to really question the fact she wasn't driving.
"Thats good. Alls well that ends well, we can pay the fine and get on with things." Cadigan smiled, eyes on the road.
Finni felt a prickle on her neck. Oh. Right. "Oh. Miera doesn't know about the fine. It didn't come up."
"Ah. Well we'll have to have a talk with her after school tomorrow."
"I… I don't want to, I admit." Finniera sighed.
"Finni…" He frowned, giving her a look,
"I know! I know, but, damn it, you should've seen her face, she was terrified! I can't hurt her like that again, and I just KNOW she'll blame herself if she hears of it."
"I know, Finni, but we have to tell her. Maybe she'll take it badly, but maybe she'll learn something about responsibility!"
She sighs. "I don't want everything to be a lesson. She deserves to just relax."
Cadigan turned to Finni with a frown as they pulled into the car park of the restaurant.
"Finniera, I know you don't like being hard on her, but she cost us 500 fullcoins. We aren't going to punish her, just let her know and sort out her feelings on it."
Finniera sighed and shook her head. Mimi took after her mother, that'd just make her feel worse, she knew it. She unbuckled her seatbelt and the pair started to walk into the restaurant.
—
It had been… a half hour of small talk. Clearly both were still thinking about it. Eventually Cadigan broke first. "Okay, fine, structured debate?"
Finniera smiled. It was a concept the pair had picked up from a television show. Vocalising that need to talk about a topic helped prepare the other. She sighed. "I imagine you wish to start?"
The drinks arrived, both players smiled. The mental games had begun and Finniera sipped her wine.
In this battlefield they weren't loving husband and wife anymore. They were combatants. Duelists.
The winner won the all important prize. The knowledge of victory.
By gamifying it, they helped keep things light. It stopped them from devolving into arguments and tangents and personal attacks, which was a struggle both partners had had previously.
"We should tell her because it is her fault. Not to instil guilt or upset into her, but because we want her to become a well rounded individual. Trying to protect her from this is only going to hurt her."
"I disagree completely. Miera is a precocious girl and I think that's telling her, but not punishing her will hurt her more. We should either not tell her, or punish her mildly."
And… the debate was suddenly broken. Finniera almost laughed at Cadigan's startle.
"I…why did you dig your feet in if you had that in the chamber the whole time?" Cadigan grinned sheepishly.
"To be honest, I hadn't thought of it at the time. Perhaps a week of no phone time?"
And then the food arrived. Both partners were familiar with the restaurant, it was a spot they had come to many times over the years.
Finniera always ordered the sea bass, and Cadigan always ordered something new and ended up wishing he'd ordered the chicken salad.
"Hm… Maybe? I dunno, maybe we could take her arcade privileges away?"
"No. Thats a part of her class now, its crucial we don't discourage her."
"Good point. Hm…. Make her help clean the house?"
"Oh, maybe? It'd be a nice excuse to finally get the shed cleaned out whilst we're at it."
"Wait, damn. You're right, the shed! We can't let her help clean without tipping off that there's something in the shed."
"Hm. We could say one of us is doing it?"
"Please. Finni, the only reason we haven't cleaned that thing out is because none of us want to and we haven't found the time."
"Ugh, you're right." She cut into her fish and bit into it. She frowned. "…Hm. This wasn't made by Vineri."
"Oh yeah?" He bit into his burger. Not noticing a difference, mostly because he hadn't ordered this thing before.
Finniera nods, flagging their server over. "Definitely. Ah, Pamela, darling! Is Vineri unwell?"
"Ah, noticed the change, have you? Sorry. He's found an apprentice." Pamela chuckles.
"An… apprentice, you say? I assume this is cooked by them?" Finniera steeped her hands in front of her.
"Yes, sorry, I can have it brought back if there's something wrong-"
"No. Nothing's wrong, I just couldn't taste Vineri's Skills on it. The meal itself is palatable. Thank you darling."
Pamela smiled and walked away.
"Well, that's something, huh? A new chef made something to your standard?"
"Yes. He must be pretty talented. But enough of that. I had a brilliant idea." She smiled. Not the small, demure smile she puts on for others, it's a grin, full of lively wit. The kind of smile that precludes an idea.
"Oh?" Cadigan smiled back, curious.
"He has an apprentice, dear. Who's to say we can't find something similar for Mimi? She hates learning, so a tutor would punish her, whilst also making sure she's doing something productive with the time."
Cadigan drummed his fingers on his chin. "Hm. That… is aninteresting concept. We'd have to find wizardry tutors, make sure we can afford them, make sure they're not scamming us."
Finniera smiled. Cadigan was getting excited, it was adorable.
—
The bill came, 42 fullcoins and a halfcoin.
"Oh, thats cheaper than normal." Cadigan hummed, reviewing it. "Ah. 20% apprentice discount! You can always count on Vineri, huh?" He smiled appreciatively. He pulled out a golden coin with a 50 on one side of it. He squeezed it and two silver coins popped out. The 50 had been reduced to 49. He kept squeezing it, and instead of silvers, individual gold coins poured out until the number on the original coin read 42. He placed it in the middle of the table, along with a single silver coin.
The remaining coins on the table slowly started shaking and wobbling, moving towards eachother until there sat a single gold coin with a 7 on it. He replaced them in his coinpurse with the spare halfcoin.
Cadigan cleared his throat as the pair left the restaurant.
Finniera was more than a little tipsy and was cuddling into Cadigan who was very carefully running damage control so she wouldn't be embarrassed in the morning.
"Caddy. Cadigan-Caddyyyy~ I loooove you. You're sooo smart and pretttyyyyyy~ mwah, mwah, mwah." She made the kissy noises but didn't actually kiss him, barely hanging off of his arm.
"Finniera, honey, lets get you to the car." Cadigan smiled as the pair walked to the car, Cadigan gently ushering her into the passenger seat.
"When we get home, you know Miera isn't hoooome~" she sing-songed, grinning.
Cadigan blinked. She must be VERY drunk to be suggesting… that. He swallowed nervously.
"Sweetie, are you sure you want to? You're only offering cos you're drunk." Sure they were married, but the discomfort was present whilst she was sober. It wouldn't be proper to just say yes.
She smiles, its a vaguely self-sobering gesture. "Babyyy… I love you. Its a special occasion. I was always going to offer, just… keep it a secret until I did. This isn't the alcohol talking."
"Okay…"
—
"Checkmate." Cadigan smiled sheepishly.
"Yahtzee." He chuckled, softly.
"That's 2000 M, I think that's bankrupts you?"
"I attack you directly with Neos, and that's game?"
"And laboratory maniac triggers, I have no cards in my library, I win?"
"Oh wait, I get longest road here, I win!"
"Are you sure you want to keep playing?" Cadigan smiled awkwardly at the weepy Finniera.
"If you loved me you'd let me win oooone…"
"Sorry baby. That's emotional blackmail. Anyway, thats my fox quest done, 5 points and game?"
"Waaaaah…"
This continued for hours, Finniera kept losing and losing and losing.
And then they went upstairs and had sex.
—
[The Slightly-Deeper-Than-It-Looks Coinpurse]
A tool of smugglers and thieves in ages past, this item may seem like it's just a worse version of a bag of holding.
And you'd be right. That was exactly what the makers of this were trying to achieve when they built it.
A bag with no end sticks out, after all. Bags of holding are three times as likely to be studied in baggage checks when compared to normal pouches.
This bag is enchanted to the same degree of mastery as a bag of holding, but its all weaved into the subtlety of the enchantment. It can carry much much less than the standard bag of holding and yet it appears barely enchanted.
Better for smuggling.
However, its subtlety was its downfall, ironically. The ability to detect barely any enchantment made savvy shoppers think it was a scam. These never took off, the enchantments died, and legitimate or System-Created versions are worth a large sum to interested parties.
Each Sage founded their own place of power, 4 of which remain definitively standing to this day.
The Rumbling Red (Destroyed)
Orange Logos (Intact)
Dancing in this Beautiful Yellow Field, I Weep at the Banality of it All (Intact)
Green's Pragmatism (Presumed Destroyed)
The Blue Clarity Institute (Intact)
Forgotten Indigo (No Contact)
Violet Malevolence (Intact)
To this day, being named after a colour is the greatest display of hubris or pride a city can muster.
- Why Logic is superior to Chaos, a treatise
—
Finniera was a flawed woman. She could admit that to herself easily enough. If anyone else dared to suggest it, she'd be affronted, but she was of herself. She could be honest. She had flaws.
The one that was rearing its ugly head now was that she really fucking hated arcade games. The places smelled, they were filled with unwashed creeps, and the games were… sort of sticky, sometimes? She had no idea how her daughter, HER daughter, could stand them.
But she could. And she had to accept that fact. She took a deep breath in, and knocked on Mimi's door.
"Mimi, sweetie… I think we need to talk."
—
On the other end of the door, Miera was cuddled up in a blanket, her overnight bag upturned. She wasn't cuddling the bunny, but she was… holding it in her lap. Thumbs ritually combing over the bald patch on its head. Her mother hated her. She must do.
In her head, Miera needed to be level 5 before she told Finniera her class. That way she'd see that she's taking it seriously, that she's not a screw up, that she's trying her hardest!
And then Finniera knocked a second time, breaking her from her stupor.
"Mimi, darling? Please open the door. I'll ask you once more but then I have to come in anyway."
"Its not locked." Miera mumbled.
Finniera quietly entered. She knelt down, next to the curled up blanket pile on the floor. Finniera pulled the girl into her lap.
"So… Pinball Wizard?" She smiles a little, confused, sad, soft.
Something twisted inside of Miera, then burst out in a blubber.
"'M sorry! I'm-I'm sorry Mum!" Miera burst out of the blanket, crying. "I'm sorry, I was being stupid and I'm sorry and I know you wanted me to pick a serious class and I messed up like a big dumb screw-up!-"
Finniera hugged her daughter. It was tight, sudden, and out of character for Finniera. She tried her best but Finniera was never any good at the action itself, or initiating it at the right time.
"I'm sorry. Miera… my darling baby girl, I never wanted you to feel like this. I was just worried. This…. This is what I had hoped to avoid." She laughs, at the irony of it. "I'm sorry. I never wanted you to be ashamed of what you picked. I just didn't want you to regret it like me. I've been too terrible for too long to you." Finniera whispered to the bundled and tear stricken Mimi on her lap.
Finniera leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.
Mimi sniffed. "I'm sorry…"
"You have nothing to apologise for. Mimi, you've gained 2 levels in as many days! Thats incredible progress. I was worried about you picking something fanciful and then dropping it after a week. I trust you, sweetheart. You have nothing to prove to me, as long as you're happy and healthy and kind… I will always support you."
Finniera just held her after that. Minutes crept to hours. It took Finniera too long to realise that Miera was asleep in her lap. And that she should start getting ready for her date.
"Mimi, darling. Mimi?" She shook the girl in her lap. She stirred but didn't wake up. Finniera laughed a little and sighed.
"Miera Sundew." She said in The Mum Voice.
And like magic, Miera shot to uprightness.
"Snrk-whuh?-Mum…?" She groaned, rubbing her eyes.
"Hello, Mimi. I need to get ready for my date with your father. Are you packed?"
"Uh… I was…" She turned a groggy head to the pile of things and upturned bag on the floor. She sighed and started re-packing. Finniera laughed mirthfully.
"Good girl. I'll be in the shower, I'll drop you off at this… Ivy's house once I'm ready. Make sure you're prepared! And-Mimi?"
Miera sighed. "Yes mum?"
Finniera leaned down, kissed Miera on top of the head, stood up and started leaving the room. "I love you."
"…Oh." Miera blinked. Then smiled.
—
Miera had been dropped off and Finniera was driving back home. Her grip on the wheel was tense. To Finniera, driving was therapeutic. If she had to choose a class today, she would have chosen [Driver] without a doubt.
She didn't even mind having a class that wasn't applicable to her job. She hated that it was just a waste. A waste facilitated by childhood fancy.
Certainly, it had perks. Her hair was always tangle free, she could modulate her metabolism a little, burning off fat quicker, and building it slower, and she could always act totally in the know.
"But fuck me, the ability to run red lights for free would be so awesome…" She groaned to herself, drumming her fingers on the wheel.
She pulled up outside the house, locked the door, and stepped back inside. Now that Mimi was gone… Finni flopped down on the couch.
Cadigan worked from home as a tax mage. It was good work, paid well, and could be done digitally from home with a fax machine and a spreadsheet.
Cadigan had 20 minutes of work left, which meant he had better have enchanted his pen to auto-tally and was getting dressed if he knew what was good for him.
Finniera blew a raspberry through her lips and fumbled for the remote, turning the television on. She was rumpling her dress by being sat like this. She didn't care.
The television was tuned to some garbage cooking show. 'Cooking Done Right' by Elias Dirk.
"Psh. More like Elias Dork…" Finniera mumbled. She was exhausted, bitter, in a lousy mood and even though they could still afford to go out to this dinner, 500 fullcoins was not a small sum. That was about as much as it cost to import a phone from Grey Dominion.
She was spiralling about it now that she had a minute and Miera was out of the room. She could quietly admit that to herself. She wasn't even sure if she should go on this date, she'd just ruin it with her-
"Hoo, Finni, work was such a pain, I am so ready for this date!" Cadigan smiled warmly at her, his expression slowly turning to concern. He was wearing his nice blazer and dress shirt.
"Finni? Whats wrong, sweetie?" He sat down next to her, frowning.
"Don't look at me, Cadigan, I'm a mess." Finniera said, but leaned against his side anyway.
"I know that look. Miera do something daft again?"
"No. This time it was me. The church came over, you were out at the time. They came to confirm Mieras class. We owe them 500 fullcoins." She sighed.
Ah. Thats… fine." Cadigan frowned, clearly thinking of the economics. He brightened, smiling. "We can afford that, don't worry!"
"Thats not all." She shakes her head, handing him the wilted piece of dot matrix printer paper.
Cadigan flipped down the reel. "Ah."
"She was terrified, Cadigan. She thought-she-" Finniera shook her head and sighed.
"Finni, darling…" Cadigan adjusted himself, letting her flop her head on his lap. His hand was rubbing her scalp softly, twining little circles into it.
"I made her feel like a screw up. Like she was useless. That was my fault. I hurt her. I hurt our darling girl and…God-I'm just like my mother." She whispered bitterly.
"Finni. No you're not. You're nothing like that bog witch of a woman. Finniera, your mother would never do this. Never act so upset for hurting you. You are better than her." This was an old song and dance by now.
Finniera would hurt someone, apologise, do her best to make it up to them, then spiral about it in the privacy of her own home. Luckily she had Cadigan. Cadigan was her rock. When she was spiralling over something, he listened to her, he soothed her, and in the end, she felt better.
Cadigan and Finny just sat there for a minute. Finniera sat up, brushing down the tight red dress she wore, divesting it of creases.
"Ahem… thank you, Cadigan."
"Always, Finni. How's she doing now, over at that sleepover?" He stood up, walking Finniera to the car. He wasn't dumb enough to let her drive. The mad woman was a fiend behind the wheel.
"She's good, she's calm. We talked, I apologised, made sure she knew I wasn't upset and was proud of the progress she was making." Finniera smiled, too weary to really question the fact she wasn't driving.
"Thats good. Alls well that ends well, we can pay the fine and get on with things." Cadigan smiled, eyes on the road.
Finni felt a prickle on her neck. Oh. Right. "Oh. Miera doesn't know about the fine. It didn't come up."
"Ah. Well we'll have to have a talk with her after school tomorrow."
"I… I don't want to, I admit." Finniera sighed.
"Finni…" He frowned, giving her a look,
"I know! I know, but, damn it, you should've seen her face, she was terrified! I can't hurt her like that again, and I just KNOW she'll blame herself if she hears of it."
"I know, Finni, but we have to tell her. Maybe she'll take it badly, but maybe she'll learn something about responsibility!"
She sighs. "I don't want everything to be a lesson. She deserves to just relax."
Cadigan turned to Finni with a frown as they pulled into the car park of the restaurant.
"Finniera, I know you don't like being hard on her, but she cost us 500 fullcoins. We aren't going to punish her, just let her know and sort out her feelings on it."
Finniera sighed and shook her head. Mimi took after her mother, that'd just make her feel worse, she knew it. She unbuckled her seatbelt and the pair started to walk into the restaurant.
—
It had been… a half hour of small talk. Clearly both were still thinking about it. Eventually Cadigan broke first. "Okay, fine, structured debate?"
Finniera smiled. It was a concept the pair had picked up from a television show. Vocalising that need to talk about a topic helped prepare the other. She sighed. "I imagine you wish to start?"
The drinks arrived, both players smiled. The mental games had begun and Finniera sipped her wine.
In this battlefield they weren't loving husband and wife anymore. They were combatants. Duelists.
The winner won the all important prize. The knowledge of victory.
By gamifying it, they helped keep things light. It stopped them from devolving into arguments and tangents and personal attacks, which was a struggle both partners had had previously.
"We should tell her because it is her fault. Not to instil guilt or upset into her, but because we want her to become a well rounded individual. Trying to protect her from this is only going to hurt her."
"I disagree completely. Miera is a precocious girl and I think that's telling her, but not punishing her will hurt her more. We should either not tell her, or punish her mildly."
And… the debate was suddenly broken. Finniera almost laughed at Cadigan's startle.
"I…why did you dig your feet in if you had that in the chamber the whole time?" Cadigan grinned sheepishly.
"To be honest, I hadn't thought of it at the time. Perhaps a week of no phone time?"
And then the food arrived. Both partners were familiar with the restaurant, it was a spot they had come to many times over the years.
Finniera always ordered the sea bass, and Cadigan always ordered something new and ended up wishing he'd ordered the chicken salad.
"Hm… Maybe? I dunno, maybe we could take her arcade privileges away?"
"No. Thats a part of her class now, its crucial we don't discourage her."
"Good point. Hm…. Make her help clean the house?"
"Oh, maybe? It'd be a nice excuse to finally get the shed cleaned out whilst we're at it."
"Wait, damn. You're right, the shed! We can't let her help clean without tipping off that there's something in the shed."
"Hm. We could say one of us is doing it?"
"Please. Finni, the only reason we haven't cleaned that thing out is because none of us want to and we haven't found the time."
"Ugh, you're right." She cut into her fish and bit into it. She frowned. "…Hm. This wasn't made by Vineri."
"Oh yeah?" He bit into his burger. Not noticing a difference, mostly because he hadn't ordered this thing before.
Finniera nods, flagging their server over. "Definitely. Ah, Pamela, darling! Is Vineri unwell?"
"Ah, noticed the change, have you? Sorry. He's found an apprentice." Pamela chuckles.
"An… apprentice, you say? I assume this is cooked by them?" Finniera steeped her hands in front of her.
"Yes, sorry, I can have it brought back if there's something wrong-"
"No. Nothing's wrong, I just couldn't taste Vineri's Skills on it. The meal itself is palatable. Thank you darling."
Pamela smiled and walked away.
"Well, that's something, huh? A new chef made something to your standard?"
"Yes. He must be pretty talented. But enough of that. I had a brilliant idea." She smiled. Not the small, demure smile she puts on for others, it's a grin, full of lively wit. The kind of smile that precludes an idea.
"Oh?" Cadigan smiled back, curious.
"He has an apprentice, dear. Who's to say we can't find something similar for Mimi? She hates learning, so a tutor would punish her, whilst also making sure she's doing something productive with the time."
Cadigan drummed his fingers on his chin. "Hm. That… is aninteresting concept. We'd have to find wizardry tutors, make sure we can afford them, make sure they're not scamming us."
Finniera smiled. Cadigan was getting excited, it was adorable.
—
The bill came, 42 fullcoins and a halfcoin.
"Oh, thats cheaper than normal." Cadigan hummed, reviewing it. "Ah. 20% apprentice discount! You can always count on Vineri, huh?" He smiled appreciatively. He pulled out a golden coin with a 50 on one side of it. He squeezed it and two silver coins popped out. The 50 had been reduced to 49. He kept squeezing it, and instead of silvers, individual gold coins poured out until the number on the original coin read 42. He placed it in the middle of the table, along with a single silver coin.
The remaining coins on the table slowly started shaking and wobbling, moving towards eachother until there sat a single gold coin with a 7 on it. He replaced them in his coinpurse with the spare halfcoin.
Cadigan cleared his throat as the pair left the restaurant.
Finniera was more than a little tipsy and was cuddling into Cadigan who was very carefully running damage control so she wouldn't be embarrassed in the morning.
"Caddy. Cadigan-Caddyyyy~ I loooove you. You're sooo smart and pretttyyyyyy~ mwah, mwah, mwah." She made the kissy noises but didn't actually kiss him, barely hanging off of his arm.
"Finniera, honey, lets get you to the car." Cadigan smiled as the pair walked to the car, Cadigan gently ushering her into the passenger seat.
"When we get home, you know Miera isn't hoooome~" she sing-songed, grinning.
Cadigan blinked. She must be VERY drunk to be suggesting… that. He swallowed nervously.
"Sweetie, are you sure you want to? You're only offering cos you're drunk." Sure they were married, but the discomfort was present whilst she was sober. It wouldn't be proper to just say yes.
She smiles, its a vaguely self-sobering gesture. "Babyyy… I love you. Its a special occasion. I was always going to offer, just… keep it a secret until I did. This isn't the alcohol talking."
"Okay…"
—
"Checkmate." Cadigan smiled sheepishly.
"Yahtzee." He chuckled, softly.
"That's 2000 M, I think that's bankrupts you?"
"I attack you directly with Neos, and that's game?"
"And laboratory maniac triggers, I have no cards in my library, I win?"
"Oh wait, I get longest road here, I win!"
"Are you sure you want to keep playing?" Cadigan smiled awkwardly at the weepy Finniera.
"If you loved me you'd let me win oooone…"
"Sorry baby. That's emotional blackmail. Anyway, thats my fox quest done, 5 points and game?"
"Waaaaah…"
This continued for hours, Finniera kept losing and losing and losing.
And then they went upstairs and had sex.
—
[The Slightly-Deeper-Than-It-Looks Coinpurse]
A tool of smugglers and thieves in ages past, this item may seem like it's just a worse version of a bag of holding.
And you'd be right. That was exactly what the makers of this were trying to achieve when they built it.
A bag with no end sticks out, after all. Bags of holding are three times as likely to be studied in baggage checks when compared to normal pouches.
This bag is enchanted to the same degree of mastery as a bag of holding, but its all weaved into the subtlety of the enchantment. It can carry much much less than the standard bag of holding and yet it appears barely enchanted.
Better for smuggling.
However, its subtlety was its downfall, ironically. The ability to detect barely any enchantment made savvy shoppers think it was a scam. These never took off, the enchantments died, and legitimate or System-Created versions are worth a large sum to interested parties.
Double Date Night! (And Ivy) Part 2
New
NotTheBaptist
Getting out there.
- Joined
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[Baby's First Staff]
This staff looks like a simple stick on first appearance. However, it is not. Technically, this staff is a breed of tree.
A seed is produced, planted in the earth, and 12 weeks later a staff sized tree grows out of the ground. Simply saw off its roots and et voila. You have successfully armed a wizard.
These trees are grown en masse by adventuring academies, the Blue Clarity Institute, and anywhere else that needs to produce wizardry gear and cannot rely on class granted equipment or fickle artisans.
These trees were originally a creation of the Level 100 [Druid-Learner of Wilds] Violet Blushbloom. (Also known by her stage name, Violent Crushboom).
Ivy kinda hated herself. This was a confirmed 100% true fact. The reason she could say so was because of her class. [Know-It-All].
She was a feeble level 1, sure, but with a class like that? Her skills were very powerful indeed.
For example, [Uncomfortable Truths].
Her class would feed her information about whatever it directed itself to, but only if it disturbed her. Disquieted the soul. Made her upset. And every time she woke up, and looked in the mirror, in flowing, precise cursive above her head, the words would be written.
The Person in the Mirror Hates You.
So yes. She knew for a fact that she hated herself. Her Skill was an incredible ability, one that had shaped her entire life since she got it.
You Would be Happier as a Girl.
Most People are either Defined by their Class, or Despise it.
The Mad King Sees All with Eyes of Yellow. Even This. Hello
Inexplicably, The World Revolves Around Miera Sundew.
It was that last one that lead her down this dark path (Sleepovers). Something about Miera Sundew meant that she was capital-I Important. That was bad news. It meant she was going to kill a dragon, or something, or she was the only one who could stop the end of the world or she was from the future, brought here to stop the apocalypse.
Whatever Miera Sundew was here for, Ivy intended to facilitate it as much as she could. It could be a matter of life or death.
—
Ivy's house was small. Miera wasn't supposed to say it but it totally was. She didn't know what to do with this information, but she was gonna hold onto it.
So instead she just knocked. Miera steeled her resolve. She was here for a reason. She was here to get dirt on Ivy! She was here to gather information! She was here to get Penny a DATE!
—
Miera was two minutes early, which was definitely fine, and certainly not upsetting to Ivy.
"Welcome!" Ivy smiled at the grinning girl before her.
"Hey Ivyyyy!"
"Come on in! My Ma's not home so we have it to ourselves!"
"Woah, your Mum lets you stay home alone? Luckyyyyyy, I get lumped with the neighbours if they're ever out."
Ivy smiled. It was a brittle thing. "How far out is Penny?"
Miera perked up. "Ooh, why ya wanna know?"
"…Because she's the third component of this sleepover?" Ivy frowned, she didn't like Miera's tone. It was… gossipy.
"Ah. Makes sense!" She grinned.
Ivy stared at Miera expectantly.
"Huh? Oh!" Miera fumbled for her phone. Holy shit, thats a fancy phone. "She's 5 minutes away."
That Phone Costs the Equivalent of Three Months Rent. Your Mother Could Break her Back Serving Tea and Bowing and Scraping and Never Build Enough Disposable Income to Own Anything as Nice as that Phone. Let Alone Treat it How Miera Does.
Ivy felt her stomach twist. Miera was a rich brat who didn't know what kinda money she had. The conversation stalled for a few awkward minutes where Ivy was trying her best to not care about this fact.
"So, uh… what's your opinion on Pens?" Miera asked Ivy, with false-casuality
"Oh. I don't like her. She keeps trying to push this agenda that classes are superior to magic and it's really uncomfortable for me."
"Oh. Wait, then why did you agree to this?!" Miera yelped, she had a panicked expression, as if she was worried the sleepover would be a failure.
Miera is Banking on this Sleepover Being Successful.
"…I like arguing with her." Ivy admits sheepishly. "Why do you care so much anyway?"
Ivy didn't get why her Class told her this. She… didn't feel bad about this. Well. Not immediately. What that usually meant was that her class was carefully placing a trap and later, it would snare her with some additional information that recontextualised it.
And then, Penny walked through the door. "Greetings all."
Ugh. So pretentious.
—
20 failed minutes of studying later had Ivy reconsidering her promise to help Miera. At least Penny was absorbing the information provided.
Miera was leaning back in her chair, pencil balanced between her top lip and nose.
"Okay, so… what DOES MM stand for?" The slacker in the room spoke.
"…Are you serious? You haven't like… clocked that?"
"Yeah! Seriously, help me out here!"
Ivy sighed. "Metabolised Mana. How many Spell Units of Mana you have metabolised."
"Oh, okay!" She paused, then tilted her head. "Whats a Spell Unit?"
"The minimum requirement of mana for a spell to be considered a spell and not a cantrip."
Miera is Legitimately Trying her Best Here.
Her Class was right, that did distress her.
"Oh. That… sounds like it could get really messy. What if a spell costs like 1.1 mana unit but you have 2 mana units metabolised? Can you cast it twice but the second ones a little worse, or just once?"
She is Better at Lateral Thinking than You.
That wasn't even lateral thinking, Class.
my previous statement remains true.
Oh yeah. Her Class was chatty too. It didn't HAVE to capitalise the starts of important words, but it usually did unless it was feeling lazy.
"Ivy?"
"Hm? Oh. Sorry. Uhm. Usually the spell fails to form, but some spell structures have built in failsafes. Like ones made by the System, or really good mages."
"Oh! So like… I could make a crummier and cheaper version of my quartercoin spell?"
"Actually, that begs the question. Mimi, why haven't you been using that like… all the time?" Penny asked.
Miera shrugged. "Didn't wanna waste my M&Ms."
"Girl you have 2 spells, make money and undo spillage." Penny glared, flatly.
"Yeah but I have to do stuff to get those back! Like exercise and healthy eating."
"Well-not quite? You're a wizard, you probably have Basic Mana Metabolisation by now. That should just let you get it back naturally through the air. When'd you last check your system screen?"
She Forgot About it.
Ivy did her best not to cry.
"Uh. Just after I reached level 2 I think?…"
She Isn't Just level 2.
She blinked. "…Please tell me you're just level 3."
"Oh, yeah! How'd you guess?"
Miera Thinks she's Moving Slowly, Despite the Fact that she's Much More Impressive than You.
"Jesus fucking Christ… Level 3." Penny whistles.
"What? The quests aren't that hard! It took me, what, an hour to learn a second spell? That was the hardest one!"
"Which was also some freak shit, by the way." Ivy addends, frowning. "Shoulda taken you like… at least a few hours. Three to four, minimum."
Miera's Lack of Understanding Fuels her Affinity. Any Attempts to Teach her True Wizardry Would Result in a Sudden, Sharp Decline in her Magical Ability.
Ivy takes a deep breath in. Yes. Yes that may be true, but… she was a wizard, not a damn sorcerer, she had to learn how to be a wizard! Maybe she'll get worse, but after it she'll get better.
"…Maybe we should stop studying for now! You both must be hungry, why don't we hit Gazpici's?" Ivy smiles.
—
The two tweens and teenager entered the pizza parlour. It was clean, it was nice, had actual wood fired pizza ovens, and despite all of that, the place was CHEAP. It meant Ivy and her Ma could go there weekly.
It was also the place she went for her birthday. You'd think she'd get sick of it, but I mean, at a halfcoin a slice could ya really complain?
Ivy approached the front counter, leaning against it with tired familiarity. "Hey Marcus. Long day?"
Marcus smiled. "Its never a long day here! I've just been training up the newest member of our family!"
"Its really messed up that your boss makes you speak like that." Penny frowned. She didn't like the guy but she hated the kind of gross corporate subservience culture that Grey Dominion pioneered.
He blinked once, still keeping the customer service smile up. "Speak like what?"
There was a pause. Penny blinked. "Oh, thats-wow." Penny sighed and shook her head.
"Yeeesh." Miera snickered.
"I know right? I'm gonna go pee, get me half a cheese, Mimi?" She flicked a gold coin at Miera and walked away.
"Sure thing, Pens. Ooh, its cheaper per slice to get a full pizza! I'll split a full pizza with her and give her change back, nyehehehehe. She's gonna be sooooo pleased." Miera grinned, her ears swooping up and down. Ivy squinted at her.
She has a Crush on Penny. She Does Not Conceptually Understand How Someone Could NOT Love Penny. Miera Does Not Know This Love is Romantic. She Is Projecting her Romantic Feelings for Penny onto You.
She Will Gradually Come to Despise You as a Result of Her Own Stupidity.
It was fascinating how her class worked. Some of the information isolated wouldn't have distressed her. But it was another domino in a chain that sent her SPIRALLING.
"Hey. I'm gonna go pee, get me two slices of pepperoni?" She smiled, ran into the bathroom and threw up in the empty stall.
Miera needed the sleepover to succeed. She wanted to set her up with Penny, which would eventually collapse their budding friendship as a whole. Ivy wanted to laugh. Ivy wanted to cry. Ivy wanted to scream herself hoarse.
This was bullshit. A self-inflicted circus of misery from Miera that would grow to hurt her and Penny because she was so… stupid!
And then someone cleared their throat.
"Uh… You alright in there, Ives?" It was Penny.
Ah. In her haste she forgot to shut the stall door. How… silly of her. She wiped the vomit from her mouth and stood up.
She smiled. Ready to say something that would put her mind at ease. Instead, she burst into snotty tears.
"Miera has a crush on you and is projecting onto others cos she has ZERO emotional capability and she's gonna HATE me because she thinks I have a crush on you!"
Penny blinked for a second. She smirked, recomposed herself and sat down next to Ivy. "Join the club, sister, the feelings fuckin' mutual."
"…You have a crush on Miera?" Ivy frowned, baffled. "…why?"
"…Cos she cares about her friends. She talks big, she acts loud but her friends and her family… mean a lot to her. She's admirable in that way. If she ever hurts you… she'll crawl over broken glass to fix it. And hell have mercy on someone who hurts her friends."
Ivy frowned. No. That didn't sound right. Her other skill, [Well, Actually…] was itching and buzzing in her head. Whatever was at the core of this wouldn't disquiet her, [Uncomfortable Truths] would have gleefully shown her it already so it was something more.
"No. No its more than that, Penny. You have an ulterior motive. Some… other reason to love her."
"Eh? Reason to love-buddy. I told you something very personal, and you're poking further? Bold move, Ives."
Ivy blushed. She hadn't actually HAD friends before, she didn't know the rules. "Oh. Sorry. I didn't realise that was frowned upon."
Penny gave Ivy a constipated expression before she shook her head and smiled.
"Lets just… stop being bitches to each other, okay?" Penny clapped her hands once.
Penny is Throwing You a Bone because she Pities You.
Ivy smiled back, weakly. "That sounds good. Instead of tearing down eachothers fields of study lets just be friends."
"…Yeah, alright."
—
"I gotta say Marcus…" Miera sighed, already eating a slice of pizza. Marcus was cleaning the table next to theirs. "I do feel like a freakin' genius sometimes."
"How so?" He smiled.
"My friends are totes making out in the bathroom."
"I see. And how does that make you feel?" Marcus said, his tongue on auto-pilot. Miera didn't seem to notice.
"Lonely. And happy! And vindicated."
"Oh my. Quite the combination, why those three?"
"Lonely cos they're gonna go on dates and stuff, happy cos they're happy and vindicated cos I knew my gut was right."
"Well, you weren't right about one thing. I'm definitely not gay."
"Uh-huh. Sure buddy."
"I'm serious. I've had-I've kissed girls before."
"So have I, you ain't special!"
"Look. How can I be gay? I don't feel repulsed at the prospect of dating women!"
"Yeeeesh, dude."
Then Miera watched Penny and Ivy walk out of the bathroom, smiling like they were friends.
"Huh." Miera blinked.
"What?" Marcus hummed.
"I dunno just…" she sighed, disappointed. "guess I expected Ivy to be covered in cartoon lipstick marks."
Ivy slid on the other side of the booth, and Penny sat next to Miera.
"Oooh, you get a large to share, Mimi?" Penny grinned, grabbing a slice.
"Mhm! Three slices each, was a halfcoin cheaper each too!" Miera slides over a halfcoin to Penny.
She snatches it up with a grin. "Good girl. We'll make a wizard outta you yet!" Penny laughed, leaning into Miera's side.
Ivy had no idea how Miera hadn't clocked it.
"So, Mimi-" Ivy started.
"Woah woah woah woah! Pullin' out the Mimi?" Penny raised a brow, archly.
"Is… there something wrong with me doing that?"
"Yeah! Thats not your word! I call her Mimi, her parents call her Mimi, everyone else gets 'Miera' or 'Hey, you!'"
"…Can I call you Pens?"
Penny opens her mouth to say yes when Miera pipes up with a glare. "No."
Properly cowed, Ivy frowns and looks down. "But Pens and Mimi are such cute names…"
Comversation stalled for a few minutes. Miera pulled up her status for herself.
[Bio] [Skills] [Journal]
Miera Sundew
[Level 3 Pinball Wizard]
Elf
M.STR: 13
M.DEF: 10
INT: 10
LCK: 8
DEX: 7
STR: 5
DEF: 2
WIS: 1
Quest to Level 4:
"Y'know its funny to imagine that someone else saw my level 3 stuff before me." Miera chuckled, eyeing her new stat increases proudly.
Ivy froze. "What? How?"
"Oh, well the church came over, and they printed this thing off to tell if I had a class or not?"
"You… okay, you had the church come to your house." Penny rubbed the bridge of her nose with both hands.
"Yes."
"…Whoof. I'm sorry." Penny shook her head.
"What? Why? They didn't do anything."
"Well... if they found out you have a class then they're fining your family."
"What?! For how much?!"
"Knowing your family's wealth? Ehh… probably 500fc."
"FIVE HUNDRED FULLCOINS?!"
Marcus cleared his throat from yhe counter, shooting Miera a look.
"Thats-thats absurd. Thats so-there's no way!"
"Sorry, Mimi, but its true. Its why I got my class on vacation in Violet Malevolence. Local Church makes it heresy. Local laws make it illegal cos its heresy, church gets to fine you upwards of 500fc."
"But thats… thats…"
"Eh. It makes sense, really. Church gets extra money, city gets extra clout with the church, and the church works with the family to make sure its never a crippling fine." Penny shrugs.
Ivy was silent. She didn't know about this. The only reason she hadn't been given this fine was because she hadn't really done anything as brazen as Miera.
And yet her Class didn't tell her about it. That fucking bastard latched onto her mind, whispered things to her and then when she had something VERY crucial to know, something her family COULD NOT AFFORD, it suddenly went silent? What the fuck was that?
"…I have to fix this." Miera stood up. 500 fullcoins was 2000 plays on a pinball machine. And she didn't deserve to play pinball ever again, let alone the next 2000 times she wanted to. She'd just… use her money spell, over and over again and…
"Hey Pens, get me a calculator?"
She handed one over. For the next… 666 days she'd spend her M&Ms on making money and pay back her parents! That was only… almost two years of no pinball. She could live for two years without pinball.
Yeah. Yeah she'd be just fine. Then Penny cleared her throat, clearing Miera from her stupor.
"Hey, uh… Mimi. Why don't you ever wear your class stuff? Y'know it gives you bonuses right?"
"…They look really stupid. Is it worth like… +1 intelligence?"
"No, but some level ups grant better gear too… If you're a caster, more Mana Metabolisation is always good."
Ivy wasn't thinking of the current conversation. But she knew enough about wizardry to contribute. "Also, Wizard hats tend to have hidden object spaces. It's convenient for smuggling snacks, even if you just carry it around."
"Look-guys, none of this matters. My level-ups are gonna hard stall cos I'm-I'm…" Miera swallowed. "I'm gonna spend all my Mana making money, and I'm gonna pay my parents back. So… No more pinball for me, okay? I'm just…okay?"
Ivy and Penny shared a look. Neither of them wanted that for their friend.
"Mimi… your parents wouldn't-"
"They wouldn't, you're right. But I want to. I need to do this. I'm quitting pinball." She was shaking and biting her lip.
"If you're gonna do something stupid you deserve to send pinball off with a bang." Penny glared, pitching a fullcoin to Miera. "You're gonna get a new high score, or something. We're all gonna celebrate and THEN you're gonna quit."
Miera looked at the coin. Her ears were drooping, she was tearing up.
"…Yeah." Ivy added, more out of solidarity, she didn't really care about pinball except in its context as a level up vector for Miera. "Just one more, okay?"
"…Fine. I'll stall out at level 4, instead of 3." She sighed. "Just one more high score. Then no more pinball."
This staff looks like a simple stick on first appearance. However, it is not. Technically, this staff is a breed of tree.
A seed is produced, planted in the earth, and 12 weeks later a staff sized tree grows out of the ground. Simply saw off its roots and et voila. You have successfully armed a wizard.
These trees are grown en masse by adventuring academies, the Blue Clarity Institute, and anywhere else that needs to produce wizardry gear and cannot rely on class granted equipment or fickle artisans.
These trees were originally a creation of the Level 100 [Druid-Learner of Wilds] Violet Blushbloom. (Also known by her stage name, Violent Crushboom).
Ivy kinda hated herself. This was a confirmed 100% true fact. The reason she could say so was because of her class. [Know-It-All].
She was a feeble level 1, sure, but with a class like that? Her skills were very powerful indeed.
For example, [Uncomfortable Truths].
Her class would feed her information about whatever it directed itself to, but only if it disturbed her. Disquieted the soul. Made her upset. And every time she woke up, and looked in the mirror, in flowing, precise cursive above her head, the words would be written.
The Person in the Mirror Hates You.
So yes. She knew for a fact that she hated herself. Her Skill was an incredible ability, one that had shaped her entire life since she got it.
You Would be Happier as a Girl.
Most People are either Defined by their Class, or Despise it.
The Mad King Sees All with Eyes of Yellow. Even This. Hello
Inexplicably, The World Revolves Around Miera Sundew.
It was that last one that lead her down this dark path (Sleepovers). Something about Miera Sundew meant that she was capital-I Important. That was bad news. It meant she was going to kill a dragon, or something, or she was the only one who could stop the end of the world or she was from the future, brought here to stop the apocalypse.
Whatever Miera Sundew was here for, Ivy intended to facilitate it as much as she could. It could be a matter of life or death.
—
Ivy's house was small. Miera wasn't supposed to say it but it totally was. She didn't know what to do with this information, but she was gonna hold onto it.
So instead she just knocked. Miera steeled her resolve. She was here for a reason. She was here to get dirt on Ivy! She was here to gather information! She was here to get Penny a DATE!
—
Miera was two minutes early, which was definitely fine, and certainly not upsetting to Ivy.
"Welcome!" Ivy smiled at the grinning girl before her.
"Hey Ivyyyy!"
"Come on in! My Ma's not home so we have it to ourselves!"
"Woah, your Mum lets you stay home alone? Luckyyyyyy, I get lumped with the neighbours if they're ever out."
Ivy smiled. It was a brittle thing. "How far out is Penny?"
Miera perked up. "Ooh, why ya wanna know?"
"…Because she's the third component of this sleepover?" Ivy frowned, she didn't like Miera's tone. It was… gossipy.
"Ah. Makes sense!" She grinned.
Ivy stared at Miera expectantly.
"Huh? Oh!" Miera fumbled for her phone. Holy shit, thats a fancy phone. "She's 5 minutes away."
That Phone Costs the Equivalent of Three Months Rent. Your Mother Could Break her Back Serving Tea and Bowing and Scraping and Never Build Enough Disposable Income to Own Anything as Nice as that Phone. Let Alone Treat it How Miera Does.
Ivy felt her stomach twist. Miera was a rich brat who didn't know what kinda money she had. The conversation stalled for a few awkward minutes where Ivy was trying her best to not care about this fact.
"So, uh… what's your opinion on Pens?" Miera asked Ivy, with false-casuality
"Oh. I don't like her. She keeps trying to push this agenda that classes are superior to magic and it's really uncomfortable for me."
"Oh. Wait, then why did you agree to this?!" Miera yelped, she had a panicked expression, as if she was worried the sleepover would be a failure.
Miera is Banking on this Sleepover Being Successful.
"…I like arguing with her." Ivy admits sheepishly. "Why do you care so much anyway?"
Ivy didn't get why her Class told her this. She… didn't feel bad about this. Well. Not immediately. What that usually meant was that her class was carefully placing a trap and later, it would snare her with some additional information that recontextualised it.
And then, Penny walked through the door. "Greetings all."
Ugh. So pretentious.
—
20 failed minutes of studying later had Ivy reconsidering her promise to help Miera. At least Penny was absorbing the information provided.
Miera was leaning back in her chair, pencil balanced between her top lip and nose.
"Okay, so… what DOES MM stand for?" The slacker in the room spoke.
"…Are you serious? You haven't like… clocked that?"
"Yeah! Seriously, help me out here!"
Ivy sighed. "Metabolised Mana. How many Spell Units of Mana you have metabolised."
"Oh, okay!" She paused, then tilted her head. "Whats a Spell Unit?"
"The minimum requirement of mana for a spell to be considered a spell and not a cantrip."
Miera is Legitimately Trying her Best Here.
Her Class was right, that did distress her.
"Oh. That… sounds like it could get really messy. What if a spell costs like 1.1 mana unit but you have 2 mana units metabolised? Can you cast it twice but the second ones a little worse, or just once?"
She is Better at Lateral Thinking than You.
That wasn't even lateral thinking, Class.
my previous statement remains true.
Oh yeah. Her Class was chatty too. It didn't HAVE to capitalise the starts of important words, but it usually did unless it was feeling lazy.
"Ivy?"
"Hm? Oh. Sorry. Uhm. Usually the spell fails to form, but some spell structures have built in failsafes. Like ones made by the System, or really good mages."
"Oh! So like… I could make a crummier and cheaper version of my quartercoin spell?"
"Actually, that begs the question. Mimi, why haven't you been using that like… all the time?" Penny asked.
Miera shrugged. "Didn't wanna waste my M&Ms."
"Girl you have 2 spells, make money and undo spillage." Penny glared, flatly.
"Yeah but I have to do stuff to get those back! Like exercise and healthy eating."
"Well-not quite? You're a wizard, you probably have Basic Mana Metabolisation by now. That should just let you get it back naturally through the air. When'd you last check your system screen?"
She Forgot About it.
Ivy did her best not to cry.
"Uh. Just after I reached level 2 I think?…"
She Isn't Just level 2.
She blinked. "…Please tell me you're just level 3."
"Oh, yeah! How'd you guess?"
Miera Thinks she's Moving Slowly, Despite the Fact that she's Much More Impressive than You.
"Jesus fucking Christ… Level 3." Penny whistles.
"What? The quests aren't that hard! It took me, what, an hour to learn a second spell? That was the hardest one!"
"Which was also some freak shit, by the way." Ivy addends, frowning. "Shoulda taken you like… at least a few hours. Three to four, minimum."
Miera's Lack of Understanding Fuels her Affinity. Any Attempts to Teach her True Wizardry Would Result in a Sudden, Sharp Decline in her Magical Ability.
Ivy takes a deep breath in. Yes. Yes that may be true, but… she was a wizard, not a damn sorcerer, she had to learn how to be a wizard! Maybe she'll get worse, but after it she'll get better.
"…Maybe we should stop studying for now! You both must be hungry, why don't we hit Gazpici's?" Ivy smiles.
—
The two tweens and teenager entered the pizza parlour. It was clean, it was nice, had actual wood fired pizza ovens, and despite all of that, the place was CHEAP. It meant Ivy and her Ma could go there weekly.
It was also the place she went for her birthday. You'd think she'd get sick of it, but I mean, at a halfcoin a slice could ya really complain?
Ivy approached the front counter, leaning against it with tired familiarity. "Hey Marcus. Long day?"
Marcus smiled. "Its never a long day here! I've just been training up the newest member of our family!"
"Its really messed up that your boss makes you speak like that." Penny frowned. She didn't like the guy but she hated the kind of gross corporate subservience culture that Grey Dominion pioneered.
He blinked once, still keeping the customer service smile up. "Speak like what?"
There was a pause. Penny blinked. "Oh, thats-wow." Penny sighed and shook her head.
"Yeeesh." Miera snickered.
"I know right? I'm gonna go pee, get me half a cheese, Mimi?" She flicked a gold coin at Miera and walked away.
"Sure thing, Pens. Ooh, its cheaper per slice to get a full pizza! I'll split a full pizza with her and give her change back, nyehehehehe. She's gonna be sooooo pleased." Miera grinned, her ears swooping up and down. Ivy squinted at her.
She has a Crush on Penny. She Does Not Conceptually Understand How Someone Could NOT Love Penny. Miera Does Not Know This Love is Romantic. She Is Projecting her Romantic Feelings for Penny onto You.
She Will Gradually Come to Despise You as a Result of Her Own Stupidity.
It was fascinating how her class worked. Some of the information isolated wouldn't have distressed her. But it was another domino in a chain that sent her SPIRALLING.
"Hey. I'm gonna go pee, get me two slices of pepperoni?" She smiled, ran into the bathroom and threw up in the empty stall.
Miera needed the sleepover to succeed. She wanted to set her up with Penny, which would eventually collapse their budding friendship as a whole. Ivy wanted to laugh. Ivy wanted to cry. Ivy wanted to scream herself hoarse.
This was bullshit. A self-inflicted circus of misery from Miera that would grow to hurt her and Penny because she was so… stupid!
And then someone cleared their throat.
"Uh… You alright in there, Ives?" It was Penny.
Ah. In her haste she forgot to shut the stall door. How… silly of her. She wiped the vomit from her mouth and stood up.
She smiled. Ready to say something that would put her mind at ease. Instead, she burst into snotty tears.
"Miera has a crush on you and is projecting onto others cos she has ZERO emotional capability and she's gonna HATE me because she thinks I have a crush on you!"
Penny blinked for a second. She smirked, recomposed herself and sat down next to Ivy. "Join the club, sister, the feelings fuckin' mutual."
"…You have a crush on Miera?" Ivy frowned, baffled. "…why?"
"…Cos she cares about her friends. She talks big, she acts loud but her friends and her family… mean a lot to her. She's admirable in that way. If she ever hurts you… she'll crawl over broken glass to fix it. And hell have mercy on someone who hurts her friends."
Ivy frowned. No. That didn't sound right. Her other skill, [Well, Actually…] was itching and buzzing in her head. Whatever was at the core of this wouldn't disquiet her, [Uncomfortable Truths] would have gleefully shown her it already so it was something more.
"No. No its more than that, Penny. You have an ulterior motive. Some… other reason to love her."
"Eh? Reason to love-buddy. I told you something very personal, and you're poking further? Bold move, Ives."
Ivy blushed. She hadn't actually HAD friends before, she didn't know the rules. "Oh. Sorry. I didn't realise that was frowned upon."
Penny gave Ivy a constipated expression before she shook her head and smiled.
"Lets just… stop being bitches to each other, okay?" Penny clapped her hands once.
Penny is Throwing You a Bone because she Pities You.
Ivy smiled back, weakly. "That sounds good. Instead of tearing down eachothers fields of study lets just be friends."
"…Yeah, alright."
—
"I gotta say Marcus…" Miera sighed, already eating a slice of pizza. Marcus was cleaning the table next to theirs. "I do feel like a freakin' genius sometimes."
"How so?" He smiled.
"My friends are totes making out in the bathroom."
"I see. And how does that make you feel?" Marcus said, his tongue on auto-pilot. Miera didn't seem to notice.
"Lonely. And happy! And vindicated."
"Oh my. Quite the combination, why those three?"
"Lonely cos they're gonna go on dates and stuff, happy cos they're happy and vindicated cos I knew my gut was right."
"Well, you weren't right about one thing. I'm definitely not gay."
"Uh-huh. Sure buddy."
"I'm serious. I've had-I've kissed girls before."
"So have I, you ain't special!"
"Look. How can I be gay? I don't feel repulsed at the prospect of dating women!"
"Yeeeesh, dude."
Then Miera watched Penny and Ivy walk out of the bathroom, smiling like they were friends.
"Huh." Miera blinked.
"What?" Marcus hummed.
"I dunno just…" she sighed, disappointed. "guess I expected Ivy to be covered in cartoon lipstick marks."
Ivy slid on the other side of the booth, and Penny sat next to Miera.
"Oooh, you get a large to share, Mimi?" Penny grinned, grabbing a slice.
"Mhm! Three slices each, was a halfcoin cheaper each too!" Miera slides over a halfcoin to Penny.
She snatches it up with a grin. "Good girl. We'll make a wizard outta you yet!" Penny laughed, leaning into Miera's side.
Ivy had no idea how Miera hadn't clocked it.
"So, Mimi-" Ivy started.
"Woah woah woah woah! Pullin' out the Mimi?" Penny raised a brow, archly.
"Is… there something wrong with me doing that?"
"Yeah! Thats not your word! I call her Mimi, her parents call her Mimi, everyone else gets 'Miera' or 'Hey, you!'"
"…Can I call you Pens?"
Penny opens her mouth to say yes when Miera pipes up with a glare. "No."
Properly cowed, Ivy frowns and looks down. "But Pens and Mimi are such cute names…"
Comversation stalled for a few minutes. Miera pulled up her status for herself.
[Bio] [Skills] [Journal]
Miera Sundew
[Level 3 Pinball Wizard]
Elf
M.STR: 13
M.DEF: 10
INT: 10
LCK: 8
DEX: 7
STR: 5
DEF: 2
WIS: 1
Quest to Level 4:
- Get a new high score
- Cast 10 spells
- Purchase or otherwise acquire a tome
"Y'know its funny to imagine that someone else saw my level 3 stuff before me." Miera chuckled, eyeing her new stat increases proudly.
Ivy froze. "What? How?"
"Oh, well the church came over, and they printed this thing off to tell if I had a class or not?"
"You… okay, you had the church come to your house." Penny rubbed the bridge of her nose with both hands.
"Yes."
"…Whoof. I'm sorry." Penny shook her head.
"What? Why? They didn't do anything."
"Well... if they found out you have a class then they're fining your family."
"What?! For how much?!"
"Knowing your family's wealth? Ehh… probably 500fc."
"FIVE HUNDRED FULLCOINS?!"
Marcus cleared his throat from yhe counter, shooting Miera a look.
"Thats-thats absurd. Thats so-there's no way!"
"Sorry, Mimi, but its true. Its why I got my class on vacation in Violet Malevolence. Local Church makes it heresy. Local laws make it illegal cos its heresy, church gets to fine you upwards of 500fc."
"But thats… thats…"
"Eh. It makes sense, really. Church gets extra money, city gets extra clout with the church, and the church works with the family to make sure its never a crippling fine." Penny shrugs.
Ivy was silent. She didn't know about this. The only reason she hadn't been given this fine was because she hadn't really done anything as brazen as Miera.
And yet her Class didn't tell her about it. That fucking bastard latched onto her mind, whispered things to her and then when she had something VERY crucial to know, something her family COULD NOT AFFORD, it suddenly went silent? What the fuck was that?
"…I have to fix this." Miera stood up. 500 fullcoins was 2000 plays on a pinball machine. And she didn't deserve to play pinball ever again, let alone the next 2000 times she wanted to. She'd just… use her money spell, over and over again and…
"Hey Pens, get me a calculator?"
She handed one over. For the next… 666 days she'd spend her M&Ms on making money and pay back her parents! That was only… almost two years of no pinball. She could live for two years without pinball.
Yeah. Yeah she'd be just fine. Then Penny cleared her throat, clearing Miera from her stupor.
"Hey, uh… Mimi. Why don't you ever wear your class stuff? Y'know it gives you bonuses right?"
"…They look really stupid. Is it worth like… +1 intelligence?"
"No, but some level ups grant better gear too… If you're a caster, more Mana Metabolisation is always good."
Ivy wasn't thinking of the current conversation. But she knew enough about wizardry to contribute. "Also, Wizard hats tend to have hidden object spaces. It's convenient for smuggling snacks, even if you just carry it around."
"Look-guys, none of this matters. My level-ups are gonna hard stall cos I'm-I'm…" Miera swallowed. "I'm gonna spend all my Mana making money, and I'm gonna pay my parents back. So… No more pinball for me, okay? I'm just…okay?"
Ivy and Penny shared a look. Neither of them wanted that for their friend.
"Mimi… your parents wouldn't-"
"They wouldn't, you're right. But I want to. I need to do this. I'm quitting pinball." She was shaking and biting her lip.
"If you're gonna do something stupid you deserve to send pinball off with a bang." Penny glared, pitching a fullcoin to Miera. "You're gonna get a new high score, or something. We're all gonna celebrate and THEN you're gonna quit."
Miera looked at the coin. Her ears were drooping, she was tearing up.
"…Yeah." Ivy added, more out of solidarity, she didn't really care about pinball except in its context as a level up vector for Miera. "Just one more, okay?"
"…Fine. I'll stall out at level 4, instead of 3." She sighed. "Just one more high score. Then no more pinball."
Chapter 8: call them the graphing calculator the way they’re plotting
New
NotTheBaptist
Getting out there.
- Joined
- May 25, 2026
- Messages
- 10
- Likes received
- 52
Where you are from is very important.
If you are from the Rumbling Red, you are a Grinder.
If you are from Orange Logos, you are a Logosian.
If you are from Yellowfield, you are a Dancer.
If you are from Forgotten Indigo, you are Indigosi
And, if you are from Violet Malevolence, you are a bastard.
~ An old joke from before the Rumbling Red closed.
The arcade was packed. Actually, no. That wasn't quite true. The arcade wasn't packed, the pinball machines were packed.
This was rather a large wrench in the plans of Miera Sundew, Ivy Stocklin and Penny Lastname.
Not even Miera knew Penny's last name, and Penny had made no effort to tell her. She must've thought it was funny.
"Why's it so busy?" Penny frowned, arms folded.
Miera rubbed her chin for a second, before brightening up. "Oh, yeah, its the on season."
"For… pinball." Ivy asked, with an incredulous eyebrow.
"Yeah, the Derring-Do Adventurer Company sponsors a small pinball tournament over here." Miera smiled, watching the people crowd around her favourite machine.
"Huh. How come you've never joined in?" Ivy blinked
"And why the hell would an adventuring company sponsor a pinball tournament?" Penny snorts.
"You need a class, apparently. Also the things totally rigged." Miera answered Ivy.
"Oh yeah?" Ivy said.
"Oh yeah. Big time! The same dudes placed first every time the tournament runs."
"Huh. …Why?" Ivy frowned.
"No idea!-"
"Grind Scheme."
Miera was interrupted by Penny, who was looking at a sign up sheet.
"If the same guy keeps placing first, its a clear Grind Scheme. Y'know those online courses from Trainers and the like? 5 level ups in a month or your money back? A Grind Scheme is like that but… weaponised. You create a fake tournament with non-existent competition for someone who needs 'win in a tournament' as a level up requirement. It… falls under the same umbrella as fixing sports bets."
"But… thats not whats happening here." Ivy tapped the sign-up sheet. "People are actually participating. And I see why! I mean-whoof. Small tournament? 600 fullcoins is NOT small-"
"HOW MUCH?!-"Miera yelped.
Ivy flinched, glaring at Miera. Was she always this LOUD? Stupid question. Yes she was.
Penny intercepted, rubbing Miera's back. "Easy! Easy! So-Judging by your reaction, thats… peculiar?"
"Yes! Normally it's like 50 and a gift voucher for the prize counter worth 2000 tickets."
"…thats kinda sketchy then, right?" Ivy looked between Penny and Miera, recieving nods.
"Maybe whoever's doing this has hit a soft cap? Levelling up by baby squishing isn't doing it anymore." Penny opined.
Ivy frowned. "Can we use a different term for that?"
"Puppy-kicking?"
"No."
"Flyswatting?"
"Hm… Acceptable. Continue."
"So-yeah maybe flyswatting isn't working for them anymore, they need an actual tournament with an actual challenge. How long has this been happening?"
"Uh. Four years? Every 6 months."
"Okay if we assume…" And the pair lost Penny for a second. She may as well have been dead to the world. Before she jumped up with a manic grin.
"Okay! 8 tournaments, ya?"
"Yes." Miera nodded definitively. She didn't know where Penny was going with this but wanted to help the magic happen.
"That means, assuming he levelled up at each tournament, our mystery competitor is level 9. This tournament would hit him to level 10." Penny grinned at the two girls, then continued, seeing that neither had clocked on.
"Level 10. A capstone level! The tournament is bigger because capstone levels demand more personal growth from you! Its sick of him flyswatting and wants him to prove his worth." Penny grinned, excitedly.
Miera itched her cheek, awkwardly. "Okay…"
"Oh, cool." Ivy said, still looking at the poster.
Penny frowned and got quiet.
"Seems like a perfect opportunity for ya though, right?" Ivy hummed, eyeing Miera and tapping the flier.
"What? No. No way! I'm not joining that dog and pony show!" Miera fidgeted.
"Why not? You get to pay your parents back and make a cool hundo whilst you're at it. Win/win!"
"Its rigged. If I get in, I'll have an uphill battle from bad judge calls and get the worst bracket seeds and-"
"What, scared?" Ivy challenged, stepping into Miera's space.
She was. But Miera'd be damned thrice to Forgotten Indigo if she'd ever admit it. She set her jaw in a line, matching Ivy's grin with a grimace.
Miera marched over to the front counter. She said something, then the half-elf blinked and handed her a clipboard with a piece of paper on it and a pen. Ivy smiled.
"…Ivy, what the fuck was that?" Penny frowned.
"Oh come on. You know it'll be good for her to be working through this whole 'guilt' thing by playing her game." Ivy waved a hand dismissively.
"Ivy you've known her for a weekend. This is gonna end in tears, and if you're not very careful, they're gonna be yours."
Ivy paused at the threat, before turning to Penny. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a sudden commotion near the door.
A figure swept through the building. Her features were impossible. He smiled with grace. They looked over to Miera at the front desk and began to walk over.
"What the hell?" Penny rubbed her eyes. Even with her skills, she couldn't really see this figure. Every time she looked back at them, they looked like a different, extremely attractive person. He was waiting behind Miera and talking to her as she signed a form.
"Think thats our mystery competitor?" Ivy frowned, arms folded.
"Think it could be. Wanna snoop?" Penny grinned, already slinking away.
"Wh-Hey!" Ivy ran after Penny.
Penny was moving with subtle purpose. Someone tailing somebody, and doing it expertly.
Ivy was following Penny, acting as a giant stringbean lighthouse beacon on her location.
"Are you serious?" Penny sighed. "Y'know what, just… [Follow My Lead, Kid]"
And Ivy felt her body relax. She unwinded. She was no longer tensely staring, just glancing frequently enough. She was now Blending In! It was an odd feeling. She could almost sense where everyone was looking. When it was safe to take a few steps forward, when to pause, when and how to blend in and who to be cautious of.
It was disorienting as hell. Was this how Penny lived all the time? This level of hypervigilance didn't feel healthy to maintain but it certainly was effective. The pair snuck behind a wall and could hear everything.
—
Roughly 1 minute ago.
"So yeah, that girl over there is harassing me and I'd like her to stop please?" Miera asked the teenager at the desk.
The elf girl blinked. "Uh, sure, fill out this complaint form."
Miera smirked. That'd teach Ivy to try and goad her into joining a tournament. Enjoy your 1st warning, sucker.
But then something cut through the din.
"Well well well." A playful and light voice called out to her from behind. Miera blinked and turned around. They were wearing a silk button up shirt and velvety purple trousers that her Dad would cheerfully call "pervert pants" if he were here.
"I recognise you. You must be MRA." They nodded to the pinball machines. "Most impressive, darling."
She was, but… how the hell did this… person know that?
"Huh? Maybe. Whats it to ya?" She blinked.
The person smiled, now in a labcoat with a nose piercing. There was no warmth in it, just… scientific interest.
"This arcade is one I do not frequent, one I have let develop naturally, I have not cultivated competition here, and yet! My [Scope Out the Competition] is marking you as the greatest threat here."
Miera blinked. Their tone and cadence shifted with their body from eloquent and regal to… bubbly, and peppy. Now they were a blonde girl in a lavender coloured cardigan.
So let's call it curiosity, I guess? I'd LOVE to see you play!" They clapped their hands together in front of them with a bowed head, in a traditional Indigosi plea.
His voice dropped again, suddenly grave and serious. "Do me this favour, I beg of you." A featureless knight, bent at the knee, as if swearing fealty.
Miera tilted her head. "Hm… you wanna watch me play, right?"
"More than anything." The devotee smiled.
"You do know I'm… not in the tournament, right? You won't get any info on your competition."
"Ah. You haven't signed up yet. You will though." She smiled and winked, tapping her finger against her lips like 'shhh!'
"Haha. No. No I won't."
They smiled like they didn't believe her. Dressed in their pervert pants again. "Of course darling. Well either way, I would love to watch you! If you're so set on not joining, wheres the harm?"
"…Because there's no point. I know you're just trying to show off. I know you're gonna show up and miraculously beat my high score and…" Miera shook her head. "Its just not worth it, okay?"
"Oh you sweet baby darling…" He set his hands on his hips, now repulsive and overweight, in a stained, off-white tank top. "Ah, excuse me could you blink? I don't like this body very much." They spoke in their normal manner. As if refusing to disappear into the role of someone so physically repulsive.
Miera blinked. He was a twink in a fishnet shirt. Eh. Marginally better.
"Well… I suppose I'll just… have to set a benchmark for you." He smiled sweetly, and ruffled her hair. She hated him.
He walked away and approached the Kappa Flappa machine. And Miera was paralysed.
The crowd parted. The figure, now the cardigan clad girl once again, sashayed through the split path, and then she was leaning over Miera's machine.
The top 10 High Scores. All MRA. She didn't need to be psychic to think that would change.
And then the strange, shifting person laid her hands on the machine. Miera couldn't keep her eyes off it. She already knew she was outmatched. She didn't need to watch.
She did anyway.
The game was going to last an agonisingly long time. Beeps and whirs and the 'ker-chunk!' of the flippers filled the air.
But then, it was like the world was out of focus. Just a black void, her enemy and the line of pinball machines. She felt a burn inside her, her body moving before her mind could catch up. She readied into the machine next to his and started to fiddle for a coin.
"Yes, now you feel it don't you? That rush! That adrenaline! Let it course through you!" He clapped, giggling. Idiot just dropped a ball because he was excited… Miera wouldn't make that mistake.
She reached into her coinpurse and pulled out a shiny quartercoin. Her First Spell. She smiled fondly at it. And began lowering it into the coin slot.
She frowned. Her hand was refusing her. It wouldn't let the small copper coloured coin in. What… what was wrong with her? Why wasn't it…
Her fingers were twitching.
"Whats the holdup, babydoll? Don't you want to fight me?~" They giggled mockingly.
That fire in her heart grew. She did. She did want to. "…But thats my first spell."
"Yes, so what?"
"Its… its the first… spell I cast, it matters to me…"
"Darling, nothing but the thrill of competition should matter to you. Just be a good girl and…" His hand shifted over to hers shaking over the coin slot and-kerchunk.
The game started. The machine was different to Kappa Flappa. This one was filled with deserts, sand dunes, cacti and cowboys. A good enough recreation of the Rumbling Red, before it collapsed.
She swallowed dryly. For some reason, losing that coin… only stoked the heat in her heart. She wanted to win. She launched the ball and began to play.
—
Ivy and Penny were still watching Miera with a chilling awareness that she wasn't all there right now.
Miera's face was flushed with heat. A lazy, creeping redness that brushed all across her long ears and met over the bridge of her nose. Her eyes were half-lidded, her breaths were heavy, but despite that, her fingers pushed the flippers with incredible dexterity.
Despite her dazed expression and the slight swaying she moved with, Miera was playing her best.
Penny hummed, with an eager smile. "Fascinating. They're clearly some kind of competition class. A Skill that forces participation but boosts them? Or-no, makes them more competitive? Makes them play at their best? Will she remember it afterwards? How much is she seeing right now? Are other competitive abilities like strength and speed also boosted, or do they have to be relevant to the forced competition?"
Ivy turned to her with a nauseated expression. "What… what the fuck? Your friend-your BEST friend is being mind controlled and you're just… here like a kid in a candy shop?!"
Penny sneered and rolled her eyes. "Oh relax, toots. It's not like he can make her do anything. It has to be a competition!"
"How are you so sure of that?!"
"I'm not. I'm… working off of other assumptions. She used a different Skill on her earlier, [Scope out the Competition]. Skill names are always either generic, or related to the class. Either [Lesser Strength] or [Get Off My Ship] for a sea captain or some such. You don't get a Skill with such a specific name unless you have some kind of competition Class!"
"Look at you. God-I'm pretty obsessed with my research but your best friend is being mind controlled and you're all peaches and fucking cream."
Penny sighed. "Look, either start cheering or bug out. Why do you want her in this tournament so bad anyway, huh?"
Ivy clammed up, looking away. She missed a bad ball from Miera, the pinball sinking into the bucket.
—
"This is fun, wouldn't you agree, Mimi?" The person smiled, wearing the skin of Pervert Pants again.
Her lips twisted into a frown. It wasn't fun. The ball hit a bad bounce on the giant spinning cactus in the middle of the board. She was on her last ball already.
"You talk a lot." Her words were soft, slow and controlled. She needed all of her mind on this board, new to her as it was. Her body was moving faster than she had ever moved before. But she didn't have the capacity to question it. She needed to win. She needed it so badly that if her best friend was dying on the floor in front of her, she'd nudge them away with her foot so she could keep playing.
"Tsk." Damn. She missed the cowboy head. She just knew something would happen if she knocked out all of its teeth.
"Ohohoho!~ Yes. Yes I do, darling. You're not half bad, I must say. The scores on here must be a little inflated though, don't you think? Did you get someone else to sign on with your name?"
She hit through the toothless maw of the cowboy head. Ah. There it was. The angle.
+100,000!
"Don't worry. I have it now." She smiled.
Miera simply hadn't played this board before.
"Do you know what Pinball is really about?"
The person was suddenly tight-lipped, focused on her own board. Miera's favourite Kappa Flappa. She had almost certainly destroyed Miera's high score. Miera didn't know, she was just as focused on her own board. So she kept talking.
"Its about finding the right angle…and abusing the hell out of it."
+100,000!
+100,000!
+100,000!
+100,000!
Miera had been counting in her head. She had beaten her own high score. She was smiling. But then… he started laughing.
"Dear, dear, dear. You're right. That IS what normal pinball is about, certainly, but… competitive pinball? Especially including classes?" They chuckled and snapped their fingers. "In that, you're still green."
And the competitive focus was ripped away from her. It was disorienting, the sudden awareness of the heat flushing her body, the slight dizziness, and her rapidly beating heart. The fact she didn't WANT to be here.
She fell to a knee in shock, the pinball was falling through the gap. Her eyes widened and she gripped the flipper buttons.
"NO!"
And the flower in her stomach burst open, flooding the machine with mana. Conducted through the metal pinball flippers, her [Magnetic Offset] grasped the ball sluggishly, the balls momentum starting to slow.
MM: 2/3
The ball barely managed to hook itself over the edge of the table and into the ball cup. It was stuck there, hovering an inch over the sensor that would lose her the game. Miera grit her teeth. She had to win this. She pushed more into it. The boy at her side was watching with interest.
MM: 1/3
The ball started to climb the edge of the ball cup, pushing its way back onto the table. It rolled back onto the table…
MM: 0/3
…And fell back into the ball cup. The continuous stream of mana from her reserves cut off with a quickness. She stared at the digit counter. She wanted to laugh. Certainly, it was her new highest score. But it was still less than theirs on the other machine. …by a mere thousand points?
Oh. They must've quit as soon as she lost. She frowned, irked. What self respecting arcade goer would do that?
"Ah, a pity, darling." The enby ruffled her hair. "You didn't beat me, though, I'd love to see you try again!" He grinned and began to walk away.
She remained on the floor with her fists clenched for some time. Penny and Ivy walked over.
"Hey, Mimi, are you okay?…"
"Yeah, that guy was… rough. I'm sorry he did that to you, but Penny wouldn't let me intervene." Ivy passed the buck with ease.
Miera's head was bowed and her shoulders were shaking.
"It was a truly rotten thing he did to you." Penny rubbed Miera's shaking shoulder.
In a quiet voice, she whispered. "They made me spend it…"
"Spend… what?"
"My first spell. I was gonna get it a case, or something. I-I know its stupid but… that first thing I did was… just-it meant a lot to me. And she made me spend it… how could he?"
"Jeez, this pronoun curse thing is confusing, huh?" Penny chuckled as Miera rose to her feet.
"…I'm joining the competition."
"What? Mimi, you lost to them." Penny blinked.
"…I thought I'd be crushed, honestly. Pinball is my thing, my, like, one thing and losing that to some guy… hah. I'm normally a lot less secure than this! I get demotivated SO easily. But… I guess-well… you were right Ivy. This is a win/win situation. Pay off my debt, play pinball, and stick it to that jerk. Besides, I gotta ask her a question now." She smiled, staring at the new Kappa Flappa score and those three digits that plagued it, DDA.
Ivy blinked. Then grinned. "I'll get the sign up sheet."
If you are from the Rumbling Red, you are a Grinder.
If you are from Orange Logos, you are a Logosian.
If you are from Yellowfield, you are a Dancer.
If you are from Forgotten Indigo, you are Indigosi
And, if you are from Violet Malevolence, you are a bastard.
~ An old joke from before the Rumbling Red closed.
The arcade was packed. Actually, no. That wasn't quite true. The arcade wasn't packed, the pinball machines were packed.
This was rather a large wrench in the plans of Miera Sundew, Ivy Stocklin and Penny Lastname.
Not even Miera knew Penny's last name, and Penny had made no effort to tell her. She must've thought it was funny.
"Why's it so busy?" Penny frowned, arms folded.
Miera rubbed her chin for a second, before brightening up. "Oh, yeah, its the on season."
"For… pinball." Ivy asked, with an incredulous eyebrow.
"Yeah, the Derring-Do Adventurer Company sponsors a small pinball tournament over here." Miera smiled, watching the people crowd around her favourite machine.
"Huh. How come you've never joined in?" Ivy blinked
"And why the hell would an adventuring company sponsor a pinball tournament?" Penny snorts.
"You need a class, apparently. Also the things totally rigged." Miera answered Ivy.
"Oh yeah?" Ivy said.
"Oh yeah. Big time! The same dudes placed first every time the tournament runs."
"Huh. …Why?" Ivy frowned.
"No idea!-"
"Grind Scheme."
Miera was interrupted by Penny, who was looking at a sign up sheet.
"If the same guy keeps placing first, its a clear Grind Scheme. Y'know those online courses from Trainers and the like? 5 level ups in a month or your money back? A Grind Scheme is like that but… weaponised. You create a fake tournament with non-existent competition for someone who needs 'win in a tournament' as a level up requirement. It… falls under the same umbrella as fixing sports bets."
"But… thats not whats happening here." Ivy tapped the sign-up sheet. "People are actually participating. And I see why! I mean-whoof. Small tournament? 600 fullcoins is NOT small-"
"HOW MUCH?!-"Miera yelped.
Ivy flinched, glaring at Miera. Was she always this LOUD? Stupid question. Yes she was.
Penny intercepted, rubbing Miera's back. "Easy! Easy! So-Judging by your reaction, thats… peculiar?"
"Yes! Normally it's like 50 and a gift voucher for the prize counter worth 2000 tickets."
"…thats kinda sketchy then, right?" Ivy looked between Penny and Miera, recieving nods.
"Maybe whoever's doing this has hit a soft cap? Levelling up by baby squishing isn't doing it anymore." Penny opined.
Ivy frowned. "Can we use a different term for that?"
"Puppy-kicking?"
"No."
"Flyswatting?"
"Hm… Acceptable. Continue."
"So-yeah maybe flyswatting isn't working for them anymore, they need an actual tournament with an actual challenge. How long has this been happening?"
"Uh. Four years? Every 6 months."
"Okay if we assume…" And the pair lost Penny for a second. She may as well have been dead to the world. Before she jumped up with a manic grin.
"Okay! 8 tournaments, ya?"
"Yes." Miera nodded definitively. She didn't know where Penny was going with this but wanted to help the magic happen.
"That means, assuming he levelled up at each tournament, our mystery competitor is level 9. This tournament would hit him to level 10." Penny grinned at the two girls, then continued, seeing that neither had clocked on.
"Level 10. A capstone level! The tournament is bigger because capstone levels demand more personal growth from you! Its sick of him flyswatting and wants him to prove his worth." Penny grinned, excitedly.
Miera itched her cheek, awkwardly. "Okay…"
"Oh, cool." Ivy said, still looking at the poster.
Penny frowned and got quiet.
"Seems like a perfect opportunity for ya though, right?" Ivy hummed, eyeing Miera and tapping the flier.
"What? No. No way! I'm not joining that dog and pony show!" Miera fidgeted.
"Why not? You get to pay your parents back and make a cool hundo whilst you're at it. Win/win!"
"Its rigged. If I get in, I'll have an uphill battle from bad judge calls and get the worst bracket seeds and-"
"What, scared?" Ivy challenged, stepping into Miera's space.
She was. But Miera'd be damned thrice to Forgotten Indigo if she'd ever admit it. She set her jaw in a line, matching Ivy's grin with a grimace.
Miera marched over to the front counter. She said something, then the half-elf blinked and handed her a clipboard with a piece of paper on it and a pen. Ivy smiled.
"…Ivy, what the fuck was that?" Penny frowned.
"Oh come on. You know it'll be good for her to be working through this whole 'guilt' thing by playing her game." Ivy waved a hand dismissively.
"Ivy you've known her for a weekend. This is gonna end in tears, and if you're not very careful, they're gonna be yours."
Ivy paused at the threat, before turning to Penny. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a sudden commotion near the door.
A figure swept through the building. Her features were impossible. He smiled with grace. They looked over to Miera at the front desk and began to walk over.
"What the hell?" Penny rubbed her eyes. Even with her skills, she couldn't really see this figure. Every time she looked back at them, they looked like a different, extremely attractive person. He was waiting behind Miera and talking to her as she signed a form.
"Think thats our mystery competitor?" Ivy frowned, arms folded.
"Think it could be. Wanna snoop?" Penny grinned, already slinking away.
"Wh-Hey!" Ivy ran after Penny.
Penny was moving with subtle purpose. Someone tailing somebody, and doing it expertly.
Ivy was following Penny, acting as a giant stringbean lighthouse beacon on her location.
"Are you serious?" Penny sighed. "Y'know what, just… [Follow My Lead, Kid]"
And Ivy felt her body relax. She unwinded. She was no longer tensely staring, just glancing frequently enough. She was now Blending In! It was an odd feeling. She could almost sense where everyone was looking. When it was safe to take a few steps forward, when to pause, when and how to blend in and who to be cautious of.
It was disorienting as hell. Was this how Penny lived all the time? This level of hypervigilance didn't feel healthy to maintain but it certainly was effective. The pair snuck behind a wall and could hear everything.
—
Roughly 1 minute ago.
"So yeah, that girl over there is harassing me and I'd like her to stop please?" Miera asked the teenager at the desk.
The elf girl blinked. "Uh, sure, fill out this complaint form."
Miera smirked. That'd teach Ivy to try and goad her into joining a tournament. Enjoy your 1st warning, sucker.
But then something cut through the din.
"Well well well." A playful and light voice called out to her from behind. Miera blinked and turned around. They were wearing a silk button up shirt and velvety purple trousers that her Dad would cheerfully call "pervert pants" if he were here.
"I recognise you. You must be MRA." They nodded to the pinball machines. "Most impressive, darling."
She was, but… how the hell did this… person know that?
"Huh? Maybe. Whats it to ya?" She blinked.
The person smiled, now in a labcoat with a nose piercing. There was no warmth in it, just… scientific interest.
"This arcade is one I do not frequent, one I have let develop naturally, I have not cultivated competition here, and yet! My [Scope Out the Competition] is marking you as the greatest threat here."
Miera blinked. Their tone and cadence shifted with their body from eloquent and regal to… bubbly, and peppy. Now they were a blonde girl in a lavender coloured cardigan.
So let's call it curiosity, I guess? I'd LOVE to see you play!" They clapped their hands together in front of them with a bowed head, in a traditional Indigosi plea.
His voice dropped again, suddenly grave and serious. "Do me this favour, I beg of you." A featureless knight, bent at the knee, as if swearing fealty.
Miera tilted her head. "Hm… you wanna watch me play, right?"
"More than anything." The devotee smiled.
"You do know I'm… not in the tournament, right? You won't get any info on your competition."
"Ah. You haven't signed up yet. You will though." She smiled and winked, tapping her finger against her lips like 'shhh!'
"Haha. No. No I won't."
They smiled like they didn't believe her. Dressed in their pervert pants again. "Of course darling. Well either way, I would love to watch you! If you're so set on not joining, wheres the harm?"
"…Because there's no point. I know you're just trying to show off. I know you're gonna show up and miraculously beat my high score and…" Miera shook her head. "Its just not worth it, okay?"
"Oh you sweet baby darling…" He set his hands on his hips, now repulsive and overweight, in a stained, off-white tank top. "Ah, excuse me could you blink? I don't like this body very much." They spoke in their normal manner. As if refusing to disappear into the role of someone so physically repulsive.
Miera blinked. He was a twink in a fishnet shirt. Eh. Marginally better.
"Well… I suppose I'll just… have to set a benchmark for you." He smiled sweetly, and ruffled her hair. She hated him.
He walked away and approached the Kappa Flappa machine. And Miera was paralysed.
The crowd parted. The figure, now the cardigan clad girl once again, sashayed through the split path, and then she was leaning over Miera's machine.
The top 10 High Scores. All MRA. She didn't need to be psychic to think that would change.
And then the strange, shifting person laid her hands on the machine. Miera couldn't keep her eyes off it. She already knew she was outmatched. She didn't need to watch.
She did anyway.
The game was going to last an agonisingly long time. Beeps and whirs and the 'ker-chunk!' of the flippers filled the air.
But then, it was like the world was out of focus. Just a black void, her enemy and the line of pinball machines. She felt a burn inside her, her body moving before her mind could catch up. She readied into the machine next to his and started to fiddle for a coin.
"Yes, now you feel it don't you? That rush! That adrenaline! Let it course through you!" He clapped, giggling. Idiot just dropped a ball because he was excited… Miera wouldn't make that mistake.
She reached into her coinpurse and pulled out a shiny quartercoin. Her First Spell. She smiled fondly at it. And began lowering it into the coin slot.
She frowned. Her hand was refusing her. It wouldn't let the small copper coloured coin in. What… what was wrong with her? Why wasn't it…
Her fingers were twitching.
"Whats the holdup, babydoll? Don't you want to fight me?~" They giggled mockingly.
That fire in her heart grew. She did. She did want to. "…But thats my first spell."
"Yes, so what?"
"Its… its the first… spell I cast, it matters to me…"
"Darling, nothing but the thrill of competition should matter to you. Just be a good girl and…" His hand shifted over to hers shaking over the coin slot and-kerchunk.
The game started. The machine was different to Kappa Flappa. This one was filled with deserts, sand dunes, cacti and cowboys. A good enough recreation of the Rumbling Red, before it collapsed.
She swallowed dryly. For some reason, losing that coin… only stoked the heat in her heart. She wanted to win. She launched the ball and began to play.
—
Ivy and Penny were still watching Miera with a chilling awareness that she wasn't all there right now.
Miera's face was flushed with heat. A lazy, creeping redness that brushed all across her long ears and met over the bridge of her nose. Her eyes were half-lidded, her breaths were heavy, but despite that, her fingers pushed the flippers with incredible dexterity.
Despite her dazed expression and the slight swaying she moved with, Miera was playing her best.
Penny hummed, with an eager smile. "Fascinating. They're clearly some kind of competition class. A Skill that forces participation but boosts them? Or-no, makes them more competitive? Makes them play at their best? Will she remember it afterwards? How much is she seeing right now? Are other competitive abilities like strength and speed also boosted, or do they have to be relevant to the forced competition?"
Ivy turned to her with a nauseated expression. "What… what the fuck? Your friend-your BEST friend is being mind controlled and you're just… here like a kid in a candy shop?!"
Penny sneered and rolled her eyes. "Oh relax, toots. It's not like he can make her do anything. It has to be a competition!"
"How are you so sure of that?!"
"I'm not. I'm… working off of other assumptions. She used a different Skill on her earlier, [Scope out the Competition]. Skill names are always either generic, or related to the class. Either [Lesser Strength] or [Get Off My Ship] for a sea captain or some such. You don't get a Skill with such a specific name unless you have some kind of competition Class!"
"Look at you. God-I'm pretty obsessed with my research but your best friend is being mind controlled and you're all peaches and fucking cream."
Penny sighed. "Look, either start cheering or bug out. Why do you want her in this tournament so bad anyway, huh?"
Ivy clammed up, looking away. She missed a bad ball from Miera, the pinball sinking into the bucket.
—
"This is fun, wouldn't you agree, Mimi?" The person smiled, wearing the skin of Pervert Pants again.
Her lips twisted into a frown. It wasn't fun. The ball hit a bad bounce on the giant spinning cactus in the middle of the board. She was on her last ball already.
"You talk a lot." Her words were soft, slow and controlled. She needed all of her mind on this board, new to her as it was. Her body was moving faster than she had ever moved before. But she didn't have the capacity to question it. She needed to win. She needed it so badly that if her best friend was dying on the floor in front of her, she'd nudge them away with her foot so she could keep playing.
"Tsk." Damn. She missed the cowboy head. She just knew something would happen if she knocked out all of its teeth.
"Ohohoho!~ Yes. Yes I do, darling. You're not half bad, I must say. The scores on here must be a little inflated though, don't you think? Did you get someone else to sign on with your name?"
She hit through the toothless maw of the cowboy head. Ah. There it was. The angle.
+100,000!
"Don't worry. I have it now." She smiled.
Miera simply hadn't played this board before.
"Do you know what Pinball is really about?"
The person was suddenly tight-lipped, focused on her own board. Miera's favourite Kappa Flappa. She had almost certainly destroyed Miera's high score. Miera didn't know, she was just as focused on her own board. So she kept talking.
"Its about finding the right angle…and abusing the hell out of it."
+100,000!
+100,000!
+100,000!
+100,000!
Miera had been counting in her head. She had beaten her own high score. She was smiling. But then… he started laughing.
"Dear, dear, dear. You're right. That IS what normal pinball is about, certainly, but… competitive pinball? Especially including classes?" They chuckled and snapped their fingers. "In that, you're still green."
And the competitive focus was ripped away from her. It was disorienting, the sudden awareness of the heat flushing her body, the slight dizziness, and her rapidly beating heart. The fact she didn't WANT to be here.
She fell to a knee in shock, the pinball was falling through the gap. Her eyes widened and she gripped the flipper buttons.
"NO!"
And the flower in her stomach burst open, flooding the machine with mana. Conducted through the metal pinball flippers, her [Magnetic Offset] grasped the ball sluggishly, the balls momentum starting to slow.
MM: 2/3
The ball barely managed to hook itself over the edge of the table and into the ball cup. It was stuck there, hovering an inch over the sensor that would lose her the game. Miera grit her teeth. She had to win this. She pushed more into it. The boy at her side was watching with interest.
MM: 1/3
The ball started to climb the edge of the ball cup, pushing its way back onto the table. It rolled back onto the table…
MM: 0/3
…And fell back into the ball cup. The continuous stream of mana from her reserves cut off with a quickness. She stared at the digit counter. She wanted to laugh. Certainly, it was her new highest score. But it was still less than theirs on the other machine. …by a mere thousand points?
Oh. They must've quit as soon as she lost. She frowned, irked. What self respecting arcade goer would do that?
"Ah, a pity, darling." The enby ruffled her hair. "You didn't beat me, though, I'd love to see you try again!" He grinned and began to walk away.
She remained on the floor with her fists clenched for some time. Penny and Ivy walked over.
"Hey, Mimi, are you okay?…"
"Yeah, that guy was… rough. I'm sorry he did that to you, but Penny wouldn't let me intervene." Ivy passed the buck with ease.
Miera's head was bowed and her shoulders were shaking.
"It was a truly rotten thing he did to you." Penny rubbed Miera's shaking shoulder.
In a quiet voice, she whispered. "They made me spend it…"
"Spend… what?"
"My first spell. I was gonna get it a case, or something. I-I know its stupid but… that first thing I did was… just-it meant a lot to me. And she made me spend it… how could he?"
"Jeez, this pronoun curse thing is confusing, huh?" Penny chuckled as Miera rose to her feet.
"…I'm joining the competition."
"What? Mimi, you lost to them." Penny blinked.
"…I thought I'd be crushed, honestly. Pinball is my thing, my, like, one thing and losing that to some guy… hah. I'm normally a lot less secure than this! I get demotivated SO easily. But… I guess-well… you were right Ivy. This is a win/win situation. Pay off my debt, play pinball, and stick it to that jerk. Besides, I gotta ask her a question now." She smiled, staring at the new Kappa Flappa score and those three digits that plagued it, DDA.
Ivy blinked. Then grinned. "I'll get the sign up sheet."
Chapter 9: Major Skill Issue
New
NotTheBaptist
Getting out there.
- Joined
- May 25, 2026
- Messages
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Violet Malevolence works very differently from most other cities. A Class wasn't a goal, or a vocation, or a leg up, or an ideal. No. A class… is what made you a full person. Until you come of age, you are nothing, you are less than dirt. You are a grub wallowing in mud.
A hundred hungry little brats fighting over bones and gristle until the day they turn 12.
Even then, the fight is not over. It merely evolves.
The girls had just eaten pizza. Despite this fact, Miera was STARVING. Whether by coincidence, her lack of mana, or whatever skill had affected her, she demolished two arcade hot dogs and had room for a third, only she had no money left.
Ivy seemed alarmed at this, Penny seemed willing to fund as many hotdogs as she could to see what the limit was.
"Interesting. So his Skill has crazy backlash. Thats good to know. It seems rather strange. Its a forced effect with backlash for the target? Forced effects that control usually pin backlash on the user if there is any."
"Or she's mana drained!" Ivy counterpointed, frowning.
In Miera's humble opinion both girls really needed to branch out from their specialties. Every time anything happened, Ivy assumed it was magic and Penny assumed it was a Class thing.
Usually at least one of the girls was correct but still. The pair of them had an ego, and they needed to balance their ratio of smart:dumb stat.
Miera didn't respond, she was staring at the sign-up sheet. She put her name down, her age, and her class.
Miera smiled at it. And then the piece of paper began to bubble, spit and hiss. Her eyes widened in alarm. The paper started to crunch itself into a ball, and was taking a glossy sheen.
"Ah! Ivy, what do I do?!"
Ivy was stunned, staring at it. "Its… uh, thats probably safe, don't breathe it in. Is that what I think…?" She reached out to touch it and the bubbling orb floted into the air before flopping down, as a small, trim piece of cardboard.
It had Miera's details on one side and an 8 digit code on the other. Miera tentatively reached a hand out to grab it.
It sat on the table.
She gently poked it with her finger…
It didn't do anything.
She picked it up.
It was inert in her hand. The cardboard was corrugated, thick enough you could feel the strutting between them and she blinked.
She looked closely at the card. Sure, it had all the information on it, but looking closer…
Her eyes widened.
At the bottom of the card, there was a statistic that wasn't on the sign up sheet.
High Score
And on that statistic was a figure. A figure so ludicrous that Miera had to read it again.
"…Ivy… Penny… you guys see this too right?"
"High score… no way. Thats a joke, right?" Penny grinned, nervously.
Miera threw down the card on the table, dismissively. Ivy picked it up, studying it. "I guess it must not be retroactive… makes sense."
Ivy grinned. "Still. Seeing 'Miera Sundew' right there with a High Score of '0'? Thats hilarious."
—
"Dane! What gives with this thing?!" Miera waved the piece of cardboard in the day manager's face.
Dane was a dark haired human with a perpetual 5 o' clock shadow and dead eyes. He stank of cigarette smoke and despite being very curious, Miera was always too intimidated by the whole 'walking-corpse' thing to ask about him.
He stared back and languidly grasped the piece of cardboard.
"Oh. It's that sign up thing?" He pulled out a piece of paper, pulled out his reading glasses, sloooooowly put his reading glasses on, squinted at the paper…
"Ahem. Congratulations on signing up to the Derring Do Pinball Adventure. The first step on your journey is to prove your worth. Slay the…" His deadpan reading was cut off.
He quietly mumbled. "…The fuck does that say…? Uh…Slay the… dargon… with the sword of 1,000,000 points."
"…So I need to get a million points." Miera nodded to herself.
"Oh, you got any of that? Wild. I thought it was a riddle. Anyway, the card tracks your points. Play pinball, let it rise, etc." He waved a hand and walked off to go smoke in the break room, or, as Miera suspected, bring a corpse back to life in the basement.
He paused for a second. "Oh, and… sign-ups close at midnight."
Miera checked the time, it was 6 pm. Yeah. Yeah she's got time.
—
The solution to Miera's problems seemed clear. She just had to get a big high score. Well, a moderate high-score. A million wasn't THAT hard to get, she was more than capable of it.
All that being said, it was DEFINITELY familiarity, not cowardice that her returning to Kappa Flappa.
She could only be at her best on her best machine, of course!
Miera slid a (borrowed) quarter into Kappa Flappa. She smiled confidently, her hands running over the machine. Her fingers knew every secret, every groove, every chip and stain in the glass.
She also knew the machine's secret gimmick. When the Kappas start doing the cancan after a Point Fever, if you hit the pocket under the middle kappa, it triggers a multi ball. But it doesn't end there. If you sink all 3 balls into the point flaps beneath the dancing kappas your current point total is tripled. It was a technique she had used many times, over and over again, it was how she had every place on the leaderboard.
Well… all but one.
But something was different this time.
The game almost seemed… harder? Like the balls were moving faster, the flippers didn't feel as responsive. The satisfying game was… fighting her.
She grit her teeth at the machine, fingers digging into the case. "Work with me."
Ker-Chunk. And the first ball dropped between the flippers perfectly before she got even a single point.
She bit her lip. It was no big deal. Just bum luck. She didn't dare speak to Ivy or Penny. Both girls were watching her with bated breath!
She launched her second ball.
It hit a bumper, flew onto a rail, bounced off the 100,000 point slot and then Miera grinned, her shoulders relaxing.
+10,000
+100,000
She had her angle.
If she just kept repeating this motion perfectly, she'd get her point fever. Everything was sliding into place.
And then, she flung the ball too early. Miera watched. The world fell into slow motion, she knew what would happen before it did.
The ball hit the bumper next to the rail. The angle shot it back down with extreme prejudice. It was right on track to-Ker-Chunk!
+10,000
Her second ball fell through the flippers.
She hunched her shoulders.
Penny placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Mimi, don't worry! It's just-"
She gently squeezed Penny's fingers, rubbing her thumb over Penny's knuckles. "Save it, Pens. I'm not in the mood. I… just lemme lock in, 'kay?"
Penny stepped away, with a sigh.
Despite saying she wasn't in the mood, Miera had to admit, she felt calmer with Penny by her side.
She launched her third ball.
It soared through the machine and hit a bumper.
+10,000
Then, it bounced into a second bumper, and lost momentum, the ball falling back down to the flippers.
+10,000
She leaned into the machine. She was ready. She had her line. She flung the ball up, it hit the bumper and… stalled out halfway up the rail, falling back down, hitting the bumper again and landing by the flippers.
+10,000
+10,000
She wasn't making any progress. She wasn't making any progress! It felt like the machine was fighting her, and she couldn't do anything to stop it! She flung the ball up again, it hit a bad angle, and… fell through. Miera hung her head low.
"I… Must be hung up on that person, huh." She rubbed the #1 spot on the digit counter, as if touching it would make it change to Miera's name.
"I can't play right anymore. Girls, I'm going for a walk, I'll… be back in a mo'."
Out of earshot, Penny whispered something to Ivy, and dragged the girl away.
Well, at least her friends would have a good time kissing in a bathroom or something.
She huffed through her nose. "I pressed them at the right time though…"
—
Certainly, signing up was the easy part. What came after was a little harder.
"Look, please-" Miera took a deep breath in. This wasn't going well. "Dane. Buddy. You've watched me at that machine near every day for the past 2 years."
"I have." He said, refilling the vending machine.
"You KNOW those scores are mine. You know anyone could testify that!" She squeaked desperately, on the verge of tears.
Dane looked at Miera through dead eyes and sighed, standing up.
"Sorry, Miera, nothin' I can do. You're just gonna have to do it again." He shrugged, as if it was that easy.
Dane walked away without a second glance. Probably to go kiss a ghoul, or something.
Miera didn't know what she was expecting from him honestly. Getting up to argue with staff because she was apparently an idiot who sucked at pinball now was… low of her. She'd apologise to Dane later. For now she had to win at pinball.
—
Penny Lastname was a smart girl. Her mother always told her so. She was smart. She was special. She was better than everyone else.
Then, at the age of 7, Penny Lastname was rudely awakened to the fact that she was not in fact better than everyone else. That people were special. Multi-faceted. Everyone had something to contribute, even if it was just by virtue of being another pair of hands.
But the one thing that didn't change was that Penny Lastname was a VERY smart girl. Smart enough to know that something must be off. Something must be different. Miera didn't lose focus, she didn't get the yips, she's not having confidence issues. Miera wouldn't do that to her. She leaned in and whispered to Ivy.
"Hey, Ives, cover me for a sec?"
Ivy frowned, being dragged off to a row of chairs. But before she could protest…
[Dream The Past] activated.
And Penny was suddenly fast asleep, snoring on Ivy's shoulders.
—
Within the dream was not strange. It was simply the same arcade she was standing in moments ago. Paradoxically, this made the dream inherently strange.
It was the arcade. A day, nearly 6 years ago. A red haired brat at a pinball machine, and a blonde haired elfin brat behind her.
Penny stepped through the dream with the authority of its herald and stepped next to the girls.
The redhead sniffed. "Ohohoho! 530,000 points!" And she stepped away.
The blondie took a deep breath in. Her gands gripped the machine case for the first time.
"Soooo~ I just have to get more than 530,000 points and you'll apologise to Versy?"
"Mhmmmm~"
"And if you win… I kiss you and promise to be your friend?"
The little snot kicked her legs, already anticipating it. "Yes!"
The blonde elf lost the first game. And the second. And the third. But… by the 15th, having blown through her lunch money…
"I win!!! I win I win I win!!!" She pumped her fist.
"What??" The redhead asked, flummoxed. She had walked off and gotten a cone of ice cream. "No! I didn't get 15 goes! Only the first one counts!"
The blonde panicked. She wasted her entire lunch money on this. And now it wasn't gonna work?!
"W-well-well… we both won, right? How about you say sorry to Vera and I promise to be your friend?"
She folded her arms. "And what about my kiss??"
"Oh. Mum said I shouldn't kiss anyone till I have a class."
"Well… MY Mum says love is beautiful!"
"How about I promise to kiss you as soon as I get a class?"
"Deal!" It almost seemed like she wanted the kiss more than the friendship… she was a very desperate 7 year old, clearly.
"So, whats your name?"
"Penny Lastname! My friends call me Pens." She smiled professionally. Penny had omitted at the time that she had no other friends.
"Oh. I'm Mimi!" Miera grinned. "What the heck kinda last name is Lastname?"
Penny thought it was too funny to correct Mimi. She was too cute.
And the almost-thirteen year old Penny smiled. It was a nice memory, but it had served its purpose. She dismissed it, now floating in blackness.
She had used her [Mental Toolbox: 1/Day] to mentally prepare a stopwatch. The flipper response times, the speeds of the ball, rven the tolerance of the rails, they were way more forgiving than Mieras last real life try! There was DEFINITELY something afoot. Be it mundane sabotage, be it magical in nature… who was she kidding, she knew exactly where her suspicions laid.
A skill, probably. She pulled herself out of the dream space and found that Ivy had left her. Penny frowned, eyes cast downward.
"Hey Penny, brought you a root beer."
Penny jolted upright. "A root beer?" She took it. She wasn't the type to turn down a free drink.
"Yeah, I figured it was a safe bet for drinks you liked." Ivy grinned. The action… flustered Penny.
"…Cos I'm a halfling?" She frowned.
Ivy blinked, with the alarm of someone who realised that 'oh right that's a racial stereotype. Oh GOD, I did racism.' "OH! Fuck-no! No, I just-doesn't everyone like root beer???"
Penny barked a laugh and sipped her drink. Stereotypes be damned, she liked her a good root beer. "Ha!" Ahhh. Nah, just… messing with you, sorry. It… made me feel warm that you got me a drink, even if you did leave a sleeping tween alone in an arcade."
She smiled sheepishly. "I'm… sorry, I shouldn't've."
"Eh. No harm done. We should find Mimi, I've figured it out. And I'm reminding her of that damn kiss."
"…What?…"
—
Miera had scrounged around. She found a mossy, mouldy quartercoin underneath the quarter tipper-pusher things. She set her jaw at the pinball machines, and turned on her heel.
"Waiiit!" Ivy intercepted her. Huffing and puffing behind her was the slightly shorter, and far less athletic Penny.
"You… hoo. Ha… don't…."
She was bent over, hands on her knees.
"Jeez Penny, that was like, a 20 foot walk…" Miera rubbed her on the back.
After a minute, she righted herself and sipped her root beer. "Hoo, okay! I'm with you now! Don't use the Kappa Flappa machine. Theres something wrong with it."
Miera blinked, reviewing her mental replay.
She put the inputs in right. She was sure of that. She had said so… but the fact that they failed made her second guess herself. She could either fight against her muscle memory… or learn a new machine. Or third option… keep learning a new machine. She stepped up to the machine she had fought the figure on. Grinder's Duel.
She looked at the top score.
MRA. Her stomach twisted. But this was with excitement.
Yeah. Yeah she could do Grinder's Duel.
She put her hands on the machine, slid the quarter in and fired her first ball.
She took a breath. She didn't know this machine. She just knew she had to shoot the cowboys teeth out.
"C'mon… work with me here….." she whispered to the machine, as if serenading it into function.
+10,000
+10,000
+10,000
+100,000
And that machine sang for her. Balls flew, bumpers beeped, Miera was a conductor and this machine was her orchestra.
"Hah. She's having fun again." Penny smiled, watching the absolute manic grin on Miera's face widen by the kitschy sound effect.
"Yeeesh. Is that what she looks like when she's having fun?"
"Oh yeah, big time. Cute, right?"
And Miera had the cowboys teeth out.
+100,000
+100,000
+100,000
+100,000
+100,000
And Penny stole a kiss from Miera's cheek.
Ker-Chunk!
"P-PUH!- PENNY?!" Miera yelped, bright red.
Penny grinned impishly. "You owed me a kiss."
The second ball launched behind Miera. She was too busy thinking of her cheek. Of Penny's lips. Of when in the WORLD did she ever owe Penny a kiss.
Ker-Chunk!
Her ears perked up. Shit. She needed to-Ivy put a hand on her shoulder, walking past.
"I'll keep the third ball live, you two go discuss this. …How hard could it be?"
"Wh-I-Penny, I… what about…" Miera nodded at Ivy.
Penny's face soured. "Miera… 5 years ago. When you first played pinball. We made a promise. When you get a class, I get to kiss you. You're lucky I claimed it on the cheek."
Miera snorted in surprise. "You always were trying to kiss people. Very odd thing for a seven year old to do."
Miera was wrong on one count. Penny wasn't trying to kiss people. Just Miera.
"…God Miera, you're lucky you're cute…" Penny swallowed, dryly, stepping forward. "Don't you see Mimi? I… love you."
Miera felt her heart catch. Her ears dropped. Her stomach churned. She took a step back. She felt the world shifting out of focus. Blurring and swimming and…
Miera ran. She sprinted out the front doors and just kept running.
Penny stood there, in quietude. She pulled out her flip phone and texted Miera.
"Hey, Ives? I'm going home. Have the sleepover without me, I've told Mimi already."
Ivy didn't respond. Penny stomped out of the arcade, building a full head of steam. She was usually careful of where she placed her feet. Orange Logos was nice but… it only takes one piece of broken glass to ruin a halflings day.
—
Miera was crying. She didn't know why, she was just-god she was scared. What the hell? Penny loved her? What a joke. That couldn't be true. It had to not be true.
And now Miera wouldn't make that tournament. She wanted to laugh. She pulled out the card, intent on tearing it to pieces… but at the bottom.
High Score: 2,430,000
Miera blinked.
—
Ivy grinned, sweat beading her face. "Miera, Penny! Did you see?-huh. Where'd they both go?"
Chronodevil
Know what you're doing yet?
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2023
- Messages
- 106
- Likes received
- 742
I wonder if that's enough to win the tournament?
Together Through Time Interlude Collection: Life Party. Or: I Was Reincarnated Into Another World But I’m Not Anything Special!
New
NotTheBaptist
Getting out there.
- Joined
- May 25, 2026
- Messages
- 10
- Likes received
- 52
Daniel Smith was an ordinary guy. Tallish, dark skin, big puff of scruffy hair that defied his wishes. Lived a normal life, died an early, if mundane death.
"Danny, I need a plate of mixed greens!"
It was a fine death. Pushed a little girl out of oncoming traffic. That was nice, hope she's okay. Overall it was a death someone could be happy with.
"Runners, I need runners back here! I got three dishes and no fucking runners!"
Of course, his old life and old death were less important than what came after. His new life. Waking up in the middle of what he assumed was a forest. Turns out some very disgruntled employees informed him it was the park of a city called Orange something. Then homelessness and being picked up by Vineri.
"Behind!"
Restaurant service. Hah. Who'd have fucking thought he'd find his way back here? This was another world! He could do anything! Be anything! And yet, his shitbox flat had to get paid off somehow.
"Dishes!"
—
An hour later, Daniel stepped out of the restaurant with a sigh. The night air was crisp, clean and streetlamps bathed the city street in warm yellow light. There was something atmospheric to it. It harkened to a time before the street lamps were replaced with LED bulbs. Sure, they were cheaper, better for the environment and gave off clearer lighting but halogens looked prettier, damn it!!
Another odd thing being that he *clearly* wasn't the first one here, judging by some of the radio tunes and the guns.
This world was… weird. The prevailing technology all looked very 90s, Daniel thought, until he saw a giant mantis man walking around with a modern smartphone. And even stranger than that? Daniel's phone got signal here.
It was apparently valuable enough in this world that he could use it as collateral on a mortgage loan.
Yes, another thing that was awesome. This world, or at least, this city, had cheap bulk housing! The outer rim of the city was a mess of construction and noise at the minute, the workers were shitting out new housing units by the day.
"[Create Wall] [Create Wall] [Create Wall] [Create Wall] [Create Wall] [Create Wall] [Create Wall]" A bored construction worker droned, tapping a wheelbarrow full of bricks with a sledgehammer.
Another worker was throwing bricks into the wheelbarrow at an absurd pace, muttering to himself. "[Restock] [Restock] [Restock]"
That was another thing about this world. Classes. Fucking Classes!! It was like an rpg! Or a webnovel! It was awesome! It was cool! It was… really, really, really tough coming up with a class.
Like, if he was some ambitious super-genius, he'd probably have some crazy awesome class by now but… nobody in this city seemed to care about what was *optimal.*
It was… stark contrast to someone as terminally online as him. If a system like this had showed up in his world, there'd be "optimal class guides" and what build was best, and… that market just wasn't a thing here. Using the proto-internet that existed, he had asked an online forum, there being no real easy way to search for digital information.
Easy Brie Z
>Hello! I'm new to having access to the internet! I was just wondering, what kind of research has been done in regards to classes and optimisation?
Or rather, what is the best class?
The forum posts that followed were shockingly well put and nuanced.
Dexterity is life
>What kinda question is that? I should shoot you for even fucking thinking that. Kill yourself, sincerely.
Haha, he was lying. It was still the internet. He felt warm fuzzies in his tummy at the thought. It wasn't all bad though.
MoneyGetaway
>An interesting hypothetical. Most would say that there is no most powerful class, because stronger classes are harder to level up, but even going by that metric the "Best At Everything" class is objectively the most powerful. This however isn't the case.
To wit, the exponential difficulty in raising such a class makes taking one an expensive endeavour. Some companies try and raise these "Miracle Children." The highest level on record? 12. He died of old age.
There is no "best" class. Each class is good at different things. Just pick one you like.
This was the prevailing 'smart' opinion. Some classes were weaker, some were stronger, usually picking a weaker class was better cos it lead to actual 'in your lifetime' growth.
But… Daniel wanted to minmax!! Daniel wanted to revolutionise something, Daniel wanted to be the protagonist.
And that was how Daniel found himself in contact with the Blue
Clarity Institute.
The phone call was VERY frustrating.
"Look I just want to get some information about your research on classes! Surely-I could-you guys need money! You're a research institute, you could make a killing if you shared your research to people at a nominal fee!" Daniel rubbed the bridge of his nose, pacing the length of his flat.
The snooty elf on the other line sighed, tiredly. "We don't need money. What we need is subjects. You do not have a class yet. And as an adult, you skirt a lot of legal issues for us. You would be perfect and you would be compensated appropriately."
"Yes and I understand that, but can't I pay another way?"
"No. We deal in classes, sir. Good day."
And she hung up.
"Stupid elf… why does every fuckin' elf in this world have a fancy hoity toity British accent?!" Daniel cursed, tugging on his hair.
He took a breath to calm down. It didn't work.
—
The next day he was on with Vineri again. Time was, Vineri cooked every dish in the restaurant, though he was getting too old for it now.
Hence… the apprentice thing.
About a week ago, Vineri had given him and seven others a test. Danny'd been the only one to pass, and as such… was his preliminary apprentice. He tried not to get the old man's hopes up but… Vineri seemed to have this certainty that Danny would stay behind and run the restaurant.
"Danny boy! Get th't Sundews, table 6. They tip big'n Finniera's a fussy bitch, she'll tell you if your fish is shite."
"Ah."
He got to work. He deboned the fish, cooked the fillet and plated it, before sending it off.
It was restaurant work, alright, and before he knew it, it was night time and he was closing up with Vinny.
He was wiping the gas hob over with a cloth. He'd been doing it for… 20 minutes now, lost in thought.
"And so I says to her-Danny-Danny! Oy! If you're not listenin' to't joke you can't pretend fot laugh!" He snapped his fingers.
"Huh? Oh. Sorry, what?"
"I SAID. I says to her-"
"I-actually nevermind, all your jokes are horrible."
Vineri barked out a laugh. Clearly this is what he had in mind all along. "Ahh c'mooon, you're too soft! Be a man!"
Daniel's mouth creased into a line but he didn't say anything. "Whatever dude…"
"You're right mardy tonight! Whats't crack, then?"
"Just…" Danny sighed, shaking his head. "Y'know I don't have no class."
"Ahhh. Thinkin' about that? Well you waited 12 years and an 'omeless stint, whats got your mind on it now?"
Danny's lips twisted into a smirking grimace. If only you knew... "…Dunno. Just thinking of picking, I guess."
"Ah. Well y'want me advice?"
"…I mean you've got a bad track record for advice. You remember Melissa?"
"Ey, y'knew goin in it were a long shot!"
"Whatever, what's the advice now?"
"There's no shame in picking something that does one thing. Everyone, all these young'uns, they're all this and that, but I knew a bloke who's Class were [Shower-Taker] and it just made 'im better at tekkin' showers! So aye, theres no shame in picking sommat small and frivolous."
Danny paused, and went to open his mouth, but Vineri kept steamrolling on. "Mind you, there's no shame in picking sommin' cos you've got fot do. I knew a lad who were right proper ashamed of 'is past, poor bastard were a [prostitute]. 'E's on telly now though! Big time c'lebrity chef! Anyway, point bein'. A class is personal but it i'nt all it's cracked up fot be. You can be the worlds best chef without being a [chef]. B'sides, if you're clever enough y'can make a class into whar it shouldney be."
"Vin… what is your class exactly?"
He grinned. A wide smirk, as if watching the best joke of his fucking life pay off. "[Miner]."
Danny couldn't help it. He laughed.
—
Congratulations! Please select your Class:
[ ]
Warning! This cannot be changed after confirmation.
[Ok] [Cancel]
The prompt appeared in front of him, the same as it did when he woke up in that park. He took a breath in. And out. Forget power. Forget being a protagonist. Forget all of these things. What did he need right now?
A job class could get him hired easy in most fields. Nothing creative, or subjective or hard thinking just… menial work.
He didn't want that. He liked Vineri's. Being that old gnome's apprentice was… fun, actually. Even if the bastard sounded like he was raised by an orc. …Apparently. Danny took Melissa's word for it.
He could be a chef, maybe? But… yeah no. Vin said it best. Be the best chef without being a [chef].
He sighed, shook his head and turned his head back to the forum thread. It had exploded.
IkeLook!UpThere!
>@TitaniumTitan Clearly GROWTH CONDITIONAL classes are the best type of class. If we're talking about pure power at high levels, growth classes have easy level up conditions, get really powerful at high levels AND are the few types of classes that can change!
LageBird49
>growth classes suuuuuuck!! >:/ they're stupid and lame. The Mad King didn't start as a mad prince, that'd be stupid.
Blue Clarity Moderator 01
>We at the Blue Clarity Institute apologise for the inflammatory remarks above. Her computer time has been banned for a week.
Caboodle
>Ah, Hilda got banned again, whats that, new record? She lasted a full 3 comments this time :bonproud:
BigRedThread
>Oh, is she glazing tf outta the Mad King AGAIN?? GIRL WHO GAFFFFFFFFF the mad king is WASHED.
BigRedThreadToo
>11.126.222.91
BigRedThread
>WHAAAT THE FUUUUUUCK
He frowned. That was enough of the internet for today. You read a dozen replies and somebody gets doxxed.
His hand reached out for the socket and he paused. The electrical plugs were weird here. Also distinctly unsafe looking, two big spikes, actual pointed spikes. What this meant was… he couldn't charge his phone. Small, and frivolous, huh…
Congratulations! Please select your Class:
[ ]
Warning! This cannot be changed after confirmation.
[Ok] [Cancel]
He rubbed his chin. If he chose electrician ot something, he could probably make a converter and USB-C cable…
Nah.
Classes are meant for convenience, right?
Congratulations! Please select your Class:
[Charger]
Warning! This cannot be changed after confirmation.
[Ok] [Cancel]
He raised his hand to press OK. Then paused, his finger hovering over the prompt.
Come to think of it, the system is literal right? He grimaced and pulled his hand away as if burned. That… could have gone poorly.
Think literal. Think objective…it was a shame he'd never used AI back home cos this really felt like feeding a prompt into a machine.
He snorted. His friends'd hang him if he found out that picking a class spent 100 gallons of water or however much it was.
Congratulations! Please select your Class:
[Object Recharger]
Warning! This cannot be changed after confirmation.
[Ok] [Cancel]
He paused and double checked. There's… no way of misinterpreting what he wants here, right?
He clicked OK.
New Class Acquired! Object Recharger
Starting Skill Unlocked: [Restore Power: Small Device]
Starting Skill Unlocked: [Wandcarving]
Oh, that was good! He grabbed his phone and-
Starting Equipment Unlocked: [Wood Lathe]
Wood what now.
There was a sudden crash from behind. A behemoth of metal and industry, a flat bed, with two spiky clamps that came around on either side. His new skills, or rather, instincts, burned to life. He knew what this was. Designed to pin and spin a piece of wood, whilst a craftsman held a chisen to it. Usually used for bannister posts, but…. Why the hell would he need one of these?!
At least it was done now.
Starting Equipment Unlocked! [Pre-Charged Wand: Repair]
And then, a wand fell on his head.
Ow.
Well… This might be useful.
—
A/N: 1 of 4 interludes I plan on releasing over the course of my fishin' trip. T
"Danny, I need a plate of mixed greens!"
It was a fine death. Pushed a little girl out of oncoming traffic. That was nice, hope she's okay. Overall it was a death someone could be happy with.
"Runners, I need runners back here! I got three dishes and no fucking runners!"
Of course, his old life and old death were less important than what came after. His new life. Waking up in the middle of what he assumed was a forest. Turns out some very disgruntled employees informed him it was the park of a city called Orange something. Then homelessness and being picked up by Vineri.
"Behind!"
Restaurant service. Hah. Who'd have fucking thought he'd find his way back here? This was another world! He could do anything! Be anything! And yet, his shitbox flat had to get paid off somehow.
"Dishes!"
—
An hour later, Daniel stepped out of the restaurant with a sigh. The night air was crisp, clean and streetlamps bathed the city street in warm yellow light. There was something atmospheric to it. It harkened to a time before the street lamps were replaced with LED bulbs. Sure, they were cheaper, better for the environment and gave off clearer lighting but halogens looked prettier, damn it!!
Another odd thing being that he *clearly* wasn't the first one here, judging by some of the radio tunes and the guns.
This world was… weird. The prevailing technology all looked very 90s, Daniel thought, until he saw a giant mantis man walking around with a modern smartphone. And even stranger than that? Daniel's phone got signal here.
It was apparently valuable enough in this world that he could use it as collateral on a mortgage loan.
Yes, another thing that was awesome. This world, or at least, this city, had cheap bulk housing! The outer rim of the city was a mess of construction and noise at the minute, the workers were shitting out new housing units by the day.
"[Create Wall] [Create Wall] [Create Wall] [Create Wall] [Create Wall] [Create Wall] [Create Wall]" A bored construction worker droned, tapping a wheelbarrow full of bricks with a sledgehammer.
Another worker was throwing bricks into the wheelbarrow at an absurd pace, muttering to himself. "[Restock] [Restock] [Restock]"
That was another thing about this world. Classes. Fucking Classes!! It was like an rpg! Or a webnovel! It was awesome! It was cool! It was… really, really, really tough coming up with a class.
Like, if he was some ambitious super-genius, he'd probably have some crazy awesome class by now but… nobody in this city seemed to care about what was *optimal.*
It was… stark contrast to someone as terminally online as him. If a system like this had showed up in his world, there'd be "optimal class guides" and what build was best, and… that market just wasn't a thing here. Using the proto-internet that existed, he had asked an online forum, there being no real easy way to search for digital information.
Easy Brie Z
>Hello! I'm new to having access to the internet! I was just wondering, what kind of research has been done in regards to classes and optimisation?
Or rather, what is the best class?
The forum posts that followed were shockingly well put and nuanced.
Dexterity is life
>What kinda question is that? I should shoot you for even fucking thinking that. Kill yourself, sincerely.
Haha, he was lying. It was still the internet. He felt warm fuzzies in his tummy at the thought. It wasn't all bad though.
MoneyGetaway
>An interesting hypothetical. Most would say that there is no most powerful class, because stronger classes are harder to level up, but even going by that metric the "Best At Everything" class is objectively the most powerful. This however isn't the case.
To wit, the exponential difficulty in raising such a class makes taking one an expensive endeavour. Some companies try and raise these "Miracle Children." The highest level on record? 12. He died of old age.
There is no "best" class. Each class is good at different things. Just pick one you like.
This was the prevailing 'smart' opinion. Some classes were weaker, some were stronger, usually picking a weaker class was better cos it lead to actual 'in your lifetime' growth.
But… Daniel wanted to minmax!! Daniel wanted to revolutionise something, Daniel wanted to be the protagonist.
And that was how Daniel found himself in contact with the Blue
Clarity Institute.
The phone call was VERY frustrating.
"Look I just want to get some information about your research on classes! Surely-I could-you guys need money! You're a research institute, you could make a killing if you shared your research to people at a nominal fee!" Daniel rubbed the bridge of his nose, pacing the length of his flat.
The snooty elf on the other line sighed, tiredly. "We don't need money. What we need is subjects. You do not have a class yet. And as an adult, you skirt a lot of legal issues for us. You would be perfect and you would be compensated appropriately."
"Yes and I understand that, but can't I pay another way?"
"No. We deal in classes, sir. Good day."
And she hung up.
"Stupid elf… why does every fuckin' elf in this world have a fancy hoity toity British accent?!" Daniel cursed, tugging on his hair.
He took a breath to calm down. It didn't work.
—
The next day he was on with Vineri again. Time was, Vineri cooked every dish in the restaurant, though he was getting too old for it now.
Hence… the apprentice thing.
About a week ago, Vineri had given him and seven others a test. Danny'd been the only one to pass, and as such… was his preliminary apprentice. He tried not to get the old man's hopes up but… Vineri seemed to have this certainty that Danny would stay behind and run the restaurant.
"Danny boy! Get th't Sundews, table 6. They tip big'n Finniera's a fussy bitch, she'll tell you if your fish is shite."
"Ah."
He got to work. He deboned the fish, cooked the fillet and plated it, before sending it off.
It was restaurant work, alright, and before he knew it, it was night time and he was closing up with Vinny.
He was wiping the gas hob over with a cloth. He'd been doing it for… 20 minutes now, lost in thought.
"And so I says to her-Danny-Danny! Oy! If you're not listenin' to't joke you can't pretend fot laugh!" He snapped his fingers.
"Huh? Oh. Sorry, what?"
"I SAID. I says to her-"
"I-actually nevermind, all your jokes are horrible."
Vineri barked out a laugh. Clearly this is what he had in mind all along. "Ahh c'mooon, you're too soft! Be a man!"
Daniel's mouth creased into a line but he didn't say anything. "Whatever dude…"
"You're right mardy tonight! Whats't crack, then?"
"Just…" Danny sighed, shaking his head. "Y'know I don't have no class."
"Ahhh. Thinkin' about that? Well you waited 12 years and an 'omeless stint, whats got your mind on it now?"
Danny's lips twisted into a smirking grimace. If only you knew... "…Dunno. Just thinking of picking, I guess."
"Ah. Well y'want me advice?"
"…I mean you've got a bad track record for advice. You remember Melissa?"
"Ey, y'knew goin in it were a long shot!"
"Whatever, what's the advice now?"
"There's no shame in picking something that does one thing. Everyone, all these young'uns, they're all this and that, but I knew a bloke who's Class were [Shower-Taker] and it just made 'im better at tekkin' showers! So aye, theres no shame in picking sommat small and frivolous."
Danny paused, and went to open his mouth, but Vineri kept steamrolling on. "Mind you, there's no shame in picking sommin' cos you've got fot do. I knew a lad who were right proper ashamed of 'is past, poor bastard were a [prostitute]. 'E's on telly now though! Big time c'lebrity chef! Anyway, point bein'. A class is personal but it i'nt all it's cracked up fot be. You can be the worlds best chef without being a [chef]. B'sides, if you're clever enough y'can make a class into whar it shouldney be."
"Vin… what is your class exactly?"
He grinned. A wide smirk, as if watching the best joke of his fucking life pay off. "[Miner]."
Danny couldn't help it. He laughed.
—
Congratulations! Please select your Class:
[ ]
Warning! This cannot be changed after confirmation.
[Ok] [Cancel]
The prompt appeared in front of him, the same as it did when he woke up in that park. He took a breath in. And out. Forget power. Forget being a protagonist. Forget all of these things. What did he need right now?
A job class could get him hired easy in most fields. Nothing creative, or subjective or hard thinking just… menial work.
He didn't want that. He liked Vineri's. Being that old gnome's apprentice was… fun, actually. Even if the bastard sounded like he was raised by an orc. …Apparently. Danny took Melissa's word for it.
He could be a chef, maybe? But… yeah no. Vin said it best. Be the best chef without being a [chef].
He sighed, shook his head and turned his head back to the forum thread. It had exploded.
IkeLook!UpThere!
>@TitaniumTitan Clearly GROWTH CONDITIONAL classes are the best type of class. If we're talking about pure power at high levels, growth classes have easy level up conditions, get really powerful at high levels AND are the few types of classes that can change!
LageBird49
>growth classes suuuuuuck!! >:/ they're stupid and lame. The Mad King didn't start as a mad prince, that'd be stupid.
Blue Clarity Moderator 01
>We at the Blue Clarity Institute apologise for the inflammatory remarks above. Her computer time has been banned for a week.
Caboodle
>Ah, Hilda got banned again, whats that, new record? She lasted a full 3 comments this time :bonproud:
BigRedThread
>Oh, is she glazing tf outta the Mad King AGAIN?? GIRL WHO GAFFFFFFFFF the mad king is WASHED.
BigRedThreadToo
>11.126.222.91
BigRedThread
>WHAAAT THE FUUUUUUCK
He frowned. That was enough of the internet for today. You read a dozen replies and somebody gets doxxed.
His hand reached out for the socket and he paused. The electrical plugs were weird here. Also distinctly unsafe looking, two big spikes, actual pointed spikes. What this meant was… he couldn't charge his phone. Small, and frivolous, huh…
Congratulations! Please select your Class:
[ ]
Warning! This cannot be changed after confirmation.
[Ok] [Cancel]
He rubbed his chin. If he chose electrician ot something, he could probably make a converter and USB-C cable…
Nah.
Classes are meant for convenience, right?
Congratulations! Please select your Class:
[Charger]
Warning! This cannot be changed after confirmation.
[Ok] [Cancel]
He raised his hand to press OK. Then paused, his finger hovering over the prompt.
Come to think of it, the system is literal right? He grimaced and pulled his hand away as if burned. That… could have gone poorly.
Think literal. Think objective…it was a shame he'd never used AI back home cos this really felt like feeding a prompt into a machine.
He snorted. His friends'd hang him if he found out that picking a class spent 100 gallons of water or however much it was.
Congratulations! Please select your Class:
[Object Recharger]
Warning! This cannot be changed after confirmation.
[Ok] [Cancel]
He paused and double checked. There's… no way of misinterpreting what he wants here, right?
He clicked OK.
New Class Acquired! Object Recharger
Starting Skill Unlocked: [Restore Power: Small Device]
Starting Skill Unlocked: [Wandcarving]
Oh, that was good! He grabbed his phone and-
Starting Equipment Unlocked: [Wood Lathe]
Wood what now.
There was a sudden crash from behind. A behemoth of metal and industry, a flat bed, with two spiky clamps that came around on either side. His new skills, or rather, instincts, burned to life. He knew what this was. Designed to pin and spin a piece of wood, whilst a craftsman held a chisen to it. Usually used for bannister posts, but…. Why the hell would he need one of these?!
At least it was done now.
Starting Equipment Unlocked! [Pre-Charged Wand: Repair]
And then, a wand fell on his head.
Ow.
Well… This might be useful.
—
A/N: 1 of 4 interludes I plan on releasing over the course of my fishin' trip. T
Chronodevil
Know what you're doing yet?
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2023
- Messages
- 106
- Likes received
- 742
Thank you for the chapter, was not expecting another character but find myself pleasantly surprised. I look forward to his personal growth and interatctions with the main cast.