***
I take a sip from my tea cup.
I'm sitting at an outside table in one of the nicer tea shops in the merchant district. I watch the hustle and bustle around me - this city is always moving. In London you can feel the squeeze, especially if you go to one of the more touristy places. But in the City of Doors, everywhere is a squeeze. Far too many people and not enough space. You wouldn't think that would be the case, considering the City floats in a void of Aether. But that's the problem, the Aether moves. The outskirts of the city has a little less of the squeeze, but it's also less stable out there. The currents can pull whole districts apart. Earthquakes. Aetherquakes? Something like that.
No classes today, because Voidays are the best. It's still bullshit that I lost my two day weekend. Why do we still work five days a week? Surely we should work four days and keep two off. Anyway, I decided to enjoy my new found freedom and spend a bit of time by myself - to think about things.
I think that I have been working under a false impression. Magic school. Academy. Cop Maria that looks after me. Friendly Classmates. Communication services via brain slug.
I thought I was living through Harry Potter, but I'm not, this is Peaky Blinders.
Maria isn't the Dean. She's the Don.
Two days ago - depending on how you look at it - I was either bold or reckless. Maria felt I was bold. Instead of telling me off, she gave me a helpful tool, a pat on the back, and told me to "keep at it champ."
I'm honestly a little embarrassed how long it took me to put it together, she is married to an arms dealer. They gave me a gun the first week I was here, I really should have put two and two together. Maria has never lied to me, I just got so caught up in the loving auntie Maria, that I down played all the other things she did and said. Like the fact I was forced into the Academy. The fact she was happy to take advantage of the ghost situation to keep a valuable asset in her pocket. The fact she straight up bisected a train. Do I really think she cares about me and wants to help me? Yes. But she also wants to use me, and see no problems with doing so.
I thought the City was Victorian London. The shining - slightly stinky - Jewel sitting at the center of a vast Empire. But I was wrong. It's Port Royal. A pirate city, with a constant flow of immigration and emigration. Lorded over by walking, talking tactical nukes.
I used to think that the Academy would divvy up jobs. You are good at healing, go be a healer. You are good at cop work, go be a cop. But there are only two jobs at the Academy. Asset or Handler.
Yesterday Maria gave me the nod of the head, and implied to me she felt I had potential to be a handler. There is only one other person in my class that I think received the same nod, Daisy.
With this new lens, Daisy might be the scariest person in the class. Followed - unfortunately - by Bronson. Rupert is too wet. Lillian is too headstrong. Shiv is too goblin. The Elves are too lazy. Ria is too soft. The Construct doesn't have enough… anything, and Vincent is too sparkly.
As much as I loathe to think it, Sophia is the biggest asset of all. Trained from birth to only think about how she can be of service to others. So much so that she will willing give up her own womb - just because some noble fuck wants rift walker babies.
But that does not mean Sophia does not have any assets of her own. Heh boobs. Objectively speaking, her biggest asset is me. I'm not stupid, I understand how lost I am. If Sophia told me that the only way to be together, is if I give up everything and become a nun. I would do it. I would probably even give up my womb for some noble fucks baby - as long as we got to stay together.
I understand that this is not healthy. At all. But I would still do it.
But I really don't want to be a nun. That shit sounds awful, and worse, it sounds boring.
I want to be a player at the table. I want to be a handler.
That gives me goals. There are paths already closing off to me, I'm probably never going to be a great spell mage. My core shreds mana of its colour, and I lack the control. But runes and artifacts are very much my jam, which means I need money, and a lot of it. I'm also good at making friends, so I need to make friends that can source me the artifacts I need.
So my goals are :
Make money.
Make friends.
Make Sophia leave the church before she makes me join it.
???
Make Profit. (Get artifacts.)
Speaking of which - one of my goals has just arrived. The mugger from two days ago has come to visit, which isn't surprising, as I told a street kid that I would be waiting for him at this tea shop.
"You are very confident." was the first thing he said to me, with the tone implying 'overly so.'
"Would you like some tea? You paid for it." I grinned.
A flash of anger is quickly smothered by a look of indifference. He sat, and poured himself a cup. "So, how can I help you, miss?"
"Tangerine. Tangerine Stone. I need money."
"Well if you are planning to rob me again, then I'm afraid I didn't bring any cash."
"That's okay. I brought your cash." I smirked at him.
"You are very brave. You do know what I do."
"And you are very reasonable. Which is why I'm here. I need money, and currently, I'm a little too busy to get a job. Mister?"
"Belvedere. Busy doing what?" He asked.
"I'm a student at the Academy."
I watch him stiffen for just a moment. Then tilt his head. "If you are a mage at the Academy, why are you slumming it with me? Those warlords operate at scales I can only dream of. Just borrow from them."
I take my Rift walker student pin out of my pocket and place it on the table where he can see.
His eyes go wide. "You're a fucking Rift Walker?" He slumps a little in his chair. "Fuck." he said.
"I'm new here. But I'm starting to get a feel for the place. I'm slumming it with you, because you impressed me." I'm channeling every gangster movie I have seen. "I want my own money. Fracs without strings. So I want you to point me in the direction of a wealthy place - that you want to go away."
He pauses, thinks, I can practically see the calculations in his eyes - I am Tommy, I am Scarface, I am fucking Corleone, because I fucking got him.
"I have somewhere for you." Belvedere said, we finished our tea and he led me through the narrow streets of the market. Of course, his boys were following. But I feel confident nobody is going to fuck with me - nobody here anyway.
We walk through the nice side of the market, past the bad side, and down into the crawl. The streets and lanes that run inside the city, the places that never see the Aether light. As we pass a dingy little shop with yellow lanterns outside, Belvedere gives me a little nod, "There." He said, "Corpse smoke den. Run by a nasty piece of work, Necromancer. We haven't touched the place, because we don't want to get into it with the Vampires, he's one of their little pets. They feel safe so they keep their Fracs there longer than they should."
I nod at him. We keep walking past, back towards the market. "Thank you for your help." I said, I reached into my pocket and took out what was left of his money.
He looks at me. "Nah, don't worry. You deal with that Necromancer and we are even."
I just nodded my head and went my separate way.
***
I'm back at the Academy, of course I checked in with my Sophia, because I'm co-dependent like that. But I didn't stay because I had plans. I grabbed my mistral bracers and headed off to runes and artifacts class.
Cid's here, it's a Voiday. Is he just here all the time? Well whatever, works for me.
"But why though?" Cid said, when I showed him the rune set up that I wanted to engrave onto the bracers.
"It will work right?" I asked.
"But it's awful. Why would anyone make something like this? You would be draining all your mana to cast a spell. Are you making cursed items?" Cid asked.
"No, these are for me. I have some issues with my mana flow, these bracers are a temporary solution until I can get it under control."
"This has to be the stupidest solution that anyone has ever come up with."
"But it will work right?"
Cid just sighs. "Yeah it will work. I will help you, but never tell anyone that I was involved in making this - cursed - thing."
Cid introduces me to a Rune cutter for working with metals. It's a magical plasma pen, it fucking rules. I do some test work on some practice blocks of metal until I feel comfortable enough to work on my bracers.
Cid explained to me that this isn't the best way to make an artifact. You want to add the runes during the creation of the item for the best results. But while it's not as effective, a rune cutter still gets the job done.
It was pushing into the evening by the time I was finished. Cid had left a while ago, off down the pub. Sophia brought me a plate of food, I might have lost track of time and worked though both lunch and dinner. But I got them finished.
I slipped them on, and did up the buckles on the undersides. I flash Sophia a grin, "Ready?" I asked her.
"Good luck." she said, sticking her middle finger up at me. Wait, has Bronson been spreading that around? Do I explain to her what that really means?
Fuck it. I don't have time for that now, I have magic to do!
I spin my core and suck in the ambient mana of the room, I raise my hand and force my mana out into a light spell.
It works!
A small light orb floats up from the palm of my hand. FUCK YES!
The bracers might be glowing a little, with the amount of waste mana they are ejecting. But it works! I'm doing magic! Actual fucking Magic!
I drop the spell, pick Sophia up and spin her around!
Okay, that's a lie, she's eight inches taller than me, and I am not strong, or fit. I tried to pick her up, and when that didn't work I just pretend I always meant to hug her.
I'm sure she didn't notice.
"I did magic!" I said.
"You did." She said, smiling at me from within my arms. I'm too happy to even get weird about it.
Next I try the barrier enchantment. We had to pull from one of the school's white mana rifts - an extremely small and stable rift that is only just big enough to suck mana through - to manage it. Sophia helped me walk through it, she has gotten very good at the spell. It took me forever to finally get the barrier stable enough, it was pitch black outside by the time we were finished. But the bracers actually helped a little here. Because I had absolute control over the mana flow, the barrier was dense and even. No weaker or stronger points that could crack or shatter under pressure.
Yes we did waste an insane amount of mana to create the thing - so much so, that one of the over worked fourth years came to the classroom to make sure that we were alright. Man, fourth years really were the biggest assets of them all. I made a silent vow never to be one.
I took Sophia by the hand. "Come on, let's go to bed."
***
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