Buff McGoo remained stoic as he walked toward me, drumming up the drama, and well, this would surely be a duel between two hotblooded men. Blue light, I guess one would call it aura, poured off him a little, like tiny sparkles. Seeing this wasn’t my first rodeo, folks, given that every anime and action fighting superhero story was like this. So, for the first time, I analyzed a living person. Despite coming here to never fight, to hide these powers from the people, trouble surfed to me anyway, like a hungry shark.
[Enemy analysis.]
Mathis, Court Magician.
Magician rank: 3rd realm of the Beginnings.
The awesome music I drummed up in my head, as if I prepared to defend these people with my life, cutout like the annoyed wrath of a nightclub DJ. I… nearly fell forward. This guy’s magician rank… why the hell was it so low!? What the hell was going on? My thoughts repeatedly asked these questions again and again. After all, this was a court magician. Someone who worked directly under this so-called Lord Ruler.
[Skill obtained: Supreme Magic Bolt.]
Even the system wanted me to kill this guy. What? You were expecting an epic showdown between two hotblooded men? A struggle, a stand to the last breath until some Deus ex Machina gave me the miracle abilities to stomp the living shit out of my foe? Reality was often disappointing. The fact was, somehow, some guy’s apprentice ended up bullying the government officials to give him a ride back to the capital city. At least, that was my guess. But even a scrub like the cloaked guy could turn a normal human into paste.
“I’ll give you one chance to kowtow and surrender the mutt,” Buff Paper Tiger said.
I laughed. “Listen to yourself,” I said. “You sound like a schoolyard bully with a small boy between his legs.”
The universal insult struck home because a fist came flying in my direction. Before I could respond, hopefully not accidentally kill the guy, a white blur tackled the gorilla to the ground. Wolverine leapt back to my side, growling. And lo and behold, blue light poured off him.
Even the baby wolf was stronger than him.
He got back up, snarling. “Where did that come from? If you want to do this the hard way, so be it.”
Wolverine barked at me a few times.
“What? You want to have a go at it? Hey, be my guest little buddy,” I said. Seriously, the dog… wolf… was stronger than this guy.
Wolverine growled at the pathetic pup of a magician that dared to waste his master’s time. He couldn’t allow him to sully his owner by splattering the human over the walls of the town he promised his servants that he’d restore. He was a rare king, who lived humbly, whose people loved him, and the weird fact of the matter was that they said he hadn’t lived in the area for that long. Only a true legend could become king so fast—in fact, he was a secret king, which made the situation that more interesting.
Wolverine would not allow a pathetic pup-magician pretending to be great, using his fleshy muscles as intimidation, disturb the peace. The guy carried no honor, no shame, no grace, no care for the land, and no respect for his betters. He didn’t so much as have the ability to sense the power of others, which only angered the sunlight wolf further.
Wolverine darted forward, a blur, easily dodging the enemy magician’s clumsy physical attacks. He got behind him, opened his mouth, and allowed the taste of magic to dance around his tongue. The glow quickly grew intense until one could make out not even a fang. That was when he unleashed it, striking the enemy in the back, knocking him over. To his credit, he rolled over, though surprised.
Wolverine internally reprimanded himself for not training his Sunlight Flash more, a thousand times more. He vowed to meditate further, ponder on what made the attack strike its foes with the intensity of a sword, and when he obtained that new insight, he’d defend his new homeland, that which the master took him in and fed him, with everything he had.
Master Nate still seemed incredibly happy with his attack, cheering. Wolverine couldn’t stop his tail wagging. That praise… It felt too heavenly. He needed to focus, show the master that he was worthy of being at his side.
“A sunlight wolf, here of all places,” the magician said, his voice tense. He looked at Wolverine’s master and then back at the pup.
Wolverine prepared to attack but sensing his master’s approaching words with ears that could decipher even the mana in the air, he held his next attack.
“Listen, just leave with your people and we both can forget this day ever happened,” Master Nate said. “I won’t spread this across the kingdom, won’t ruin your reputation. I just want to be left alone.”
Wolverine blurred, landing on the enemy magician’s chest before he could try to cast a surprise ball of magic at his master. He… may have cracked a bone or two, as the human’s howling commenced. He’d be fine. A magician healed faster than mortals, and usually had plenty of resources in their clans or academies. Even Wolverine knew this much. He gave the imbecile who dared challenged the greatest being ever a warning growl. If he could speak the human tongue, his words would be, “Watch it, pup. You are in the presence of my benevolent master. If you sully his honor, I will slay you.”
“Take that awesome wolf stomp as a warning, court magician,” Nate said.
“You… how do you know?” the pathetic muscle human hissed.
“You are with government officials,” Nate said. “Now my offer still stands. Just ignore your spoiled mistress. I’m sure you magician types have better things to do than put up with whiny nobles or mortals like us.”
After a good deal of thinking, the enemy magician finally relented. Wolverine honestly didn’t understand why his master wanted to hide his incredible power from the world, but even he knew his place. Never question someone like this. Their reasons would always be beyond mere apprentice understanding. Beyond the very fabric of what made up the land, mana, and even the soft blue skies.
The big oaf stood, seeming to have understanding in his eyes. In fact, Wolverine could detect it. Not even an ant would be able to deceive the sunlight wolf.
“I shall be leaving,” the oaf said. “You have made a point. Why waste my time with mortals. Accept my apologies for disturbing the peace.”
To Wolverine’s surprise, the oaf gave them a bow before leaving. Wolverine followed him in his master’s stead to make sure they left and kept their vows. To the sunlight wolf’s relief, the peacebreakers did.
Wolverine let out a yelp and short howl of victory. Sure, that probably spooked their horses a bit, but they were gone and the sunlight wolf could finally get back to his master, food, and the sweet embrace of the Guardian of the land. Her fondness for Master Nate increased, his for her too. They both were fine with not going out into the world and conquering the lands. Well, if they were fine with it, Wolverine would be too.
You know, there are some things you just got to see to believe. A baby white wolf firing Kamehameha beams out of its mouth was one of those things. The system dubbed it Sunlight Flash. Oh, did I mention I could access a combat log? Apparently this counted as my first battle against a magician. Well, it did before Wolverine stepped in and kicked his ass. Now, tell me that isn’t funny. I would call your bluff. That showing was something I’d pay for. Hell, he even followed Buffy the School Bully, made sure he left and perfectly preserved my secret. While I wasn’t sure if he understood me exactly, the sharp little guy could, at the very least, sense the situation. I was so proud of him.
He ran back, I held out my arms, and he eagerly jumped in them. Sure, it was obvious that a relationship between beast and man took time to develop, but Wolverine and I clicked fast.
He ended up taking me to a small food stand that had benches near it, where Milia and Harmony awaited us.
“The coast is clear,” I said as I joined them. “I know I’m new here and am still practically a stranger. I shouldn’t be asking something like this, so feel free to tell me to fuck off. But did they bring a magician here before that did something…? You know what, don’t tell me. I can guess that much.” The blue-haired woman gave me a skeptical look. “Let’s just say I’m from a far-off place where magicians don’t exist, outside of fairy tales. In this hypothetical, you’ll have to forgive me of my ignorance of them.”
Milia nodded at me.
Harmony sighed. “I understand what you’re getting at. Let’s remove the pretenses. But before that, please… allow me to thank you two for everything you’ve done for the town in the short time you’ve lived here.” She bowed.
“No need for the formality,” I told her. “Please, hold up your head.”
“You’re our friend now… if you’d like to be,” Milia said.
Harmony smiled. “I know your secret, but it’s time you know mine. From the moment I first saw you, I could sense… the endless pool of power within.”
I nodded but kept my expression neutral. She didn’t go around demanding my eviction from town or anything. She treated both Milia and I as if we belonged.
“I… was born with a broken core,” Harmony continued and this time my eyes did widen. Even Milia looked surprised. A core existed within the center of every magician, spirit, and demonic beast’s body. The mystical entity served as the beginning of mana, the regulator, and the creator. Even I knew that much. I’d also read up a little on it while I was in the library the other day. “I’m kind of a joke of a magician. I can sense magic, even emit enough of a spark to surprise any assailants, but beyond that… nothing. I was never bothered by it until one day nobles stopped at the town with a magician. He was practically a bandit and took what he wanted and…” She seemed to shake herself within. “We were so powerless to stop him. I tried to muster up any sense of magic to take him on, but only ended up as his punching bag. The only reason why I survived was due to my father tossing his pride aside, kowtowing, begging for mercy for the child. The magician still kicked him around before leaving at the haste of the nobles.” Harmony wiped away tears, visibly forcing herself to be strong. “As you can tell, I’m uneasy around magicians.”
“But not Nate?” Milia asked.
“I was at first, terrified, but in just this short amount of time, I’ve learned that not all magicians are selfish prickle plums that only live for power and immortality,” Harmony said.
Prickle plums. Now that was a new one. I understood this Wanda to be the cliché goddess figure that people worshipped or cursed with. What happened with her butt? Or is it just big or something? The reason probably wouldn’t be found in their religious text.
Wolverine let out a small howl of sympathy. I pet the little guy.
“What if I told you there was a way to become whole again?” Milia proposed, which gained Harmony’s critical gaze.
“But, everyone knows it’s impossible to restore a core,” she said.
“There’s a potion that can be made, but I’m afraid it is not something that will be free,” Milia said. “If you want, we can make you a magician. Or you can choose to live a normal life. Being a magician could bring more hardship but give you the ability to defend yourself. A normal life will mean no fear from your friends, or the townspeople, should the secret get out.”
Harmony thought for a full minute, before responding. “Something like this must have an unimaginable cost, but you wouldn’t have offered it if you believed it was something I could not pay.”
Milia patted me on the shoulder, which gained my skeptical glare. What could the dryad be up to?
“It’s simple. Your debt will be in the hands of your new master magician instructor,” Milia said.
My eyes widened. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, I didn’t agree to this,” I said. “Aside from knowing no spells or whatever they call it, I’m only here to live out my days peacefully while running a potion shop.”
“But—”
“Absolutely not,” I interrupted Milia. “I’m not saying that to be an asshole. Believe me, I’m not. I know nothing about magic.”
Milia’s eyes widened.
“Like I said in the hypothetical, I’m from a place where magicians are but figures in fairy tales,” I explained. “It is only recently I discovered my own powers.”
“But… you’re a master magician,” Harmony said. “I saw you use your powers with the greatest of ease. You’re not even carrying around a spell book to reference, you know, to cast grand tier magic.”
“I’m… sorry, Nate,” Milia said.
“It’s okay, you didn’t know,” I told her. “We’ve only just met, after all.”
“What if… she just works at your shop instead?” Milia suggested. “Any task that you and I aren’t handling, she could.”
“Eh, I’m not so sure it would go that well with asking the mayor’s daughter to sweep and clean up daily,” I said.
“If it means paying off a debt, that’s easy,” Harmony said.
“Then maybe if you feel like teaching her anything, you can do it, any words of wisdom,” Milia said.
Wolverine tilted his head.
“Woofy’s wondering if you’re worthy of his master’s teachings,” Milia said with a giggle.
I sighed. “I’ll think about it, but no promises. The first priority will be the completion of the shop. Although at this rate, it may only take a few more weeks, instead of months.” I turned to my dryad assistant. “So, why is the debt in my hands anyway and not yours?”
“Because you’re my employer,” Milia said. “Second, you’re the only potion maker around here, no?”
“Smart ass,” I deadpanned. Milia laughed. “Anyway, how will this get done?”
“In my forest, there are the ingredients that can start the reformation of Harmony’s core,” Milia replied. “It will be up to you to supply just a tiny bit of mana.” She sighed. “You’ll have to give it all you have with this potion. Without it, we cannot force her core to repair itself. No pressure.”
I laughed. “High intensity potion making. I think I got this.” I turned to Harmony. “I won’t force you to work in my shop, but your debt will be mostly owed to Milia. If she wants it in mundane chores, that’s fine.” I placed a finger on my chin. “We’ll be open just five days a week, subject to change when we travel. I’ll still pay you when we’re pulling in coin and just dock a tiny amount toward whatever Milia’s mystery price is.”
“You’ll be his disciple,” Milia said. “It’d be great.”
Wolverine barked twice.
“Who’d want to be a disciple of a potion maker who knows nothing about magic?” I said, grimacing. Harmony giggled. “Let’s call it a day for now. I’m supposed to meet with the guys at the tavern. I’ll let them know I’m going to prioritize the morning with making the potion.”
“Keep the specifics a secret,” Milia said.
“Of course,” I told her. “I can’t imagine the hell I’d have to put up with should word get out.”
Harmony shuddered. “Our town would be flooded with magicians and cripples begging for a reversal.”
I shook my head. “I hate to sound harsh, but the less magicians, the better.”
Milia laughed, then grabbed my hand, giving it a squeeze. “You’d deal with it somehow.”
“My first big job, cure the mayor’s daughter,” I said, mostly to myself. “Hopefully I don’t fuck it up.” I laughed at Milia’s pout. Harmony sighed.
End of Phase I
