"I feel there's something poetic to be said here but the words elude me."
I pointed at the distinctly human bones piled near the dusty wall. They looked chafed, and shattered like some large creature had bitten into them.
It had to be the work of some creature, because there was running water all but five steps over and anyone with a thought process not that of a toddler's would definitely dump those in there, to hide traces and whatnot.
The ominous door just hid a stairway that led down to the district's old sewer system (as pointed out by the rude waitress) and the government had never really gotten around to repairing or blocking it off for some reason. Said reason was probably magi and their obsession with old things, something about mystery and whatnot.
Admittedly, the cavernous sewer stretching out to either side was incredibly mysterious, even if only for the old brick walls and the fact that I couldn't see my own hand if I stretched it out with my aviators on as well as the grating noise of running water.
Strangely enough, it didn't really stink at all, just smelled musty and old, like some decrepit attic in an elderly person's home.
"Huh," Luviagelita curiously cocked her head. "I thought you'd be far less receptive to... human bones."
"Actually, I thought you'd be the one to squeal and jump into my arms like a maiden." I chuckled, ducking down to poke at the bones. They didn't seem all that old, but then again I had no real way of knowing past what I'd read in passing when bored. Programming didn't really have a lot of venues for live exposure to such things.
All she gave me for my provocation was a smirk, "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
I took my loss like a man.
"Anyway, if you think this is creepy, you definitely have no idea what gets passed around online by the cartels."
She didn't deign to answer, just held out her hand. I raised a bone questioningly, confused. Did she want me to hand it over? What was wrong with this chick? I slowly brought a bone closer to her.
"Ew! No! What would a lady do with that? I'm telling you to get up. We need to investigate this now. Loathsome as it is, the Clock Tower usually turns a blind eye to these things but it's not going to happen when the incident is this close. If a magus is involved, we need to find out."
Lady?
I raised a brow, "By find out you mean report it to the concerned authorities?"
"Something tells me you aren't all too interested in doing that." She correctly guessed, looking around with her arms crossed.
"How'd yo-"
"Simpletons are rather easy to understand."
I wasn't a simpleton though... Being naturally curious about the world was a good thing, and I wasn't the one who suplexed people for pissing me off. Why was she so good at wrestling anyway? She insisted on being a refined lady.
"Fortunately for you, I happen to be fond of simpletons," She interrupted my musings with a faint smile. "Now get up, I do still have other things to do."
As I'd found out in the prior few days, there was no real way to convince Luviagelita against something that didn't involve grievous bodily harm for me or her. With how genuine she typically was, I wasn't so sure about the latter anymore so I quietly relented and rose to my feet.
Before she could be smug about her victory however, my phone started ringing. It was one of those expensive ones, courtesy of those wannabe gangsters that had shanked Henry. It was an unknown number... but it had to be someone I knew considering the sim card was my own.
A swipe later, Waver's tired voice came through and I put him on speaker.
"I was worried so I had Caules look into the area. If you went in alone, leave immediately and if you aren't you need to be extremely careful. There's been a string of disappearances and murders around there and if magecraft is involved then you might be-... no, you are in a lot of danger."
That explained the bones at least. And the residual traces of that same electrifying mana all over the place, even on the ceiling. I cast a discrete glance at the bones and... found something else entirely standing in their place.
"...You couldn't be more right, professor."
The sound of the phone probably even drew it to us... or it was the electrical signal or something. Regardless, I cut the call instantly.
A monstrous bipedal creature with blood-red eyes towered over the both of us. It had two massive fangs protruding from its gaping maw and electricity coursing through its white fur. Saliva dripped from its mouth. It had a strange mane on its chest on top of the thick fur. A closer look told me that it wasn't bipedal, just momentarily balancing itself on two short hind legs... shorter than even its... ears?
"Isn't that just a big rabbit?"
"The rabbit has lightning on it." Luviagelita added.
"Thanks, Sherlock. I couldn't tell."
It pressed down on the bones with its foot, easily grounding them into dust.
I inhaled deeply, reinforced myself and deeply contemplated my extremely fine knowledge of magecraft and its working thus far before... spinning on my heel and bolting off. Luviagelita was smart enough to follow suit moments before the lumbering creature set off after us at a pace that defied both biology and physics. Bolts of lightning shot off its massive form, blowing through the walls and kicking up clouds of dust.
How had it even snuck up on us?
"I thought you said these things didn't exist anymore!" I shouted over its screeching and clicking, as I tried to pick up the pace.
"They do not! Not here at least! That has to be a familiar of some sort!"
I ducked under a bolt of lightning, hands over my head, "Familiars are supposed to be weak!"
"Since when?! This thing probably belongs to some old-...!" Luviagelita halted abruptly, skidding to a stop. "Why are we even running? It's just a familiar."
Naturally, I stopped too. "Because that thing wants to make rough love-"
Luviagelita spun and smashed her heel into the creature's eye, tossing it into a wall with nothing but raw, reinforced strength. I took the time to parse the creature's lightning mechanism (since that also seemed to work on mana somehow) while she retrieved a glittering sapphire from her sleeve and flipped it into the air.
"Ehre Gandr."
Her magic circuits hummed to life, she waved a hand and a literal purple laser shot out of the gem, faster than a bullet, piercing through the creature's head.
A spell I stole instantly.
With a final, defiant groan, the giant rabbit's form crumbled away into wisps of mana that lingered for only a few moments before dispersing.
"That was cool." I admitted.
"Indeed. You are free to shower me with your meaningless praise." She smiled happily, pointing a gloved finger at my face.
I ignored her for her hubris, "The spell itself was weak but you supercharged it using the metaphysical weig-"
Suddenly, her entire demeanour shifted, she pushed me up against the wall, an elbow to my throat as she glared at me. She really needed to stop doing that. I was just about at the end of my patience for her senseless violence, no matter how much I enjoyed her antics.
"Stop doing that, you oaf!"
...What?
"I had my suspicions but you're not like Flat. You don't just make magecraft as it suits you, you understand its fundamentals at a glance! Do you have any idea how much danger you're in if this gets out? Do you? Do you think magi will take kindly to someone who can understand generations of work as easily as breathing? Flat's own family has tried to kill him! Your situation will be much worse." She shouted in my face, pushing harder.
Why was everyone being so weird about this?
These people were strangers. Not even my own family seemed to mind when I took up horse riding and nearly broke my neck, or when I actually did break it with acrobatics. But now, suddenly, everyone seemed to give a shit.
It was very weird.
Why did they even care if I put myself in danger?
"What do you think is going to happen when they realise they'll never be able to recruit you, someone who can steal their patented work right from under their nose and make it better? Explaining the mechanism diminishes the mystery." Luviagelita continued. "There will most certainly be people who will not care for our thoughts, or Lord El-Melloi II's. Despite his merits, he's pitifully unaware and weak compared to his peers."
Poor Waver had shade thrown at him even when he wasn't here.
"You'll get a Sealing Designation, or just die. Don't you see that? You think your mother and sister will be left alone after? I promise you they will not. Be more careful, words matter a lot in our world."
...I couldn't even be annoyed anymore.
"I'm sorry." I raised my hands in surrender, "There's only two of us here. Thought I could trust you. Clearly, your orders matter more."
"My... what?"
"Uhh... Inorai Valualeta's orders?"
That seemed to throw her a loop for some reason, her strength faded away and her pale features flushed as she backed away, almost stepping into the water behind us. I quickly grabbed her hand to stop that unfortunate occurrence.
"Yes... Those... I have a job to do." She said slowly, pulling away her hand. She began fixing her dress. "So don't make me look as simple as you."
Why did she use the word 'simple' so much?
What even were her orders anyway? To look after me? She was my babysitter? It explained a lot.
"Just keep to yourself and work hard as you always have. Stop putting yourself in needless danger just for excitement."
"As I always have?" I murmured, confused. "Ah, you guys ran a background check. Thanks for respecting my privacy so much."
"Shut up." She grumbled, head turned aside. "If we hadn't, I wouldn't be able to keep you s-... It doesn't matter! Keep walking, I can feel we're close to a workshop."
"...What's a workshop?"
Luviagelita did me the courtesy of explaining as we made our way through the pseudo-sewer-tunnel. I felt it was more to distract herself from the sudden awkwardness she'd created than anything else.
A workshop was... exactly what it sounded like. A workshop where a magus conducted most of his or her research except it also doubled back as a veritable fortress in the event of any danger. They were usually fitted with all sorts of defensive measures such as familiars, debilitating effects, magical traps and other tricks and whatnot, typically marked by a Bounded Field.
I, of course, had no idea what a Bounded Field was either so she explained that as well. It was a simple 'space' separated from everything else with a boundary drawn using mana. A variety of effects (depending on the caster's skill) were then applied, ranging from misdirection, memory tampering, weather tampering etc. The only downside was, they couldn't be moved.
It raised a rather interesting possibility for me.
"Could a Bounded Field mess with distance? Make one metre seem like a hundred? Or a centimetre a metre?"
"It should be possible." Luviagelita answered easily, narrowing her gaze at a wall of mana standing out down the tunnel. Something told me she wasn't seeing but rather, 'sensing', its presence. "I've heard of bounded fields that tampered with the laws of physics but I doubt you can easily come across that level of understanding. You'll have to ask... Lord Trambelio." She giggled at the end but I didn't know why just yet.
This seemed like the kind of thing Flat would have some interesting insight about-... Wait... Flat?
"We forgot Flat."
"You did?" Luviagelita looked back at me with her head tilted, "I thought you left that loudmouth ape up there on purpose."
I shrugged, "All's well that ends well I guess."
-
Hope you enjoyed.
Leave like 150 or so powerstones and I'll definitely post another one. Already got it written anyway. Also some reviews.
Join the discord if you wanna yap or beta read, or both;
https://discord.com/invite/MSJgg9DE2M