Kaia had survived exactly one monster attack, acquired a snarky magical system, and unlocked a magic type that sounded like a clock had a nervous breakdown.
She was now, officially, a mage.
Well. A mage who'd nearly died and still didn't own shoes. But progress was progress.
She leaned against a mossy log just outside what remained of the windmill, the damp morning air clinging to her like guilt at a family reunion. The floating cube her "Emergency Survival Package" still hovered in front of her, shimmering faintly like it wanted to be opened again.
"So," she muttered, brushing mud off her arms. "Let's see what kind of weirdness I've signed up for."
She reached inside the now-unfolded cube and pulled out the first item: a crystal vial filled with a suspiciously glowing blue liquid.
The label read:Emergency Mana Shot (Tastes like regret)
Kaia uncorked the vial and sniffed it.
"Why does this smell like betrayal and bubblegum?"
[The flavor profile is complex. It's brewed from mana residue and poor life choices.]
"…And you expect me to drink this?"
[Only if you're on the verge of magical collapse. Or if you hate yourself. Both work.]
Kaia shoved it back in the box. "Pass."
Next, she pulled out the hoodie.
It was enormous. Black with some kind of vaguely magical sigils on the sleeves—and across the front in bold silver letters:"I Paused Time and All I Got Was This Lousy Hoodie."
"…Okay, that's kind of amazing," Kaia admitted, slipping it on. It was soft. Dangerously soft. Warm enough to melt her bones. Also: large enough to make her look like a walking tent.
She checked the tag.
+3 Warmth, -2 Dignity
"I can live with that."
[Most people can. Until someone they like walks by.]
"Good thing I don't like anyone," she muttered.
Finally, Kaia reached for the frayed spell scroll at the bottom of the kit. Unlike the scroll that had activated her magic, this one looked older, darker etched with looping silver runes that shimmered when she breathed on them.
"What's this one do?" she asked.
[Unclear. System logs say 'Test Me' and then six fire emojis.]
"…Six?"
[Yes. One emoji is caution. Three is danger. Six is 'your eyebrows will never recover.']
Kaia clutched the scroll tighter, equal parts terrified and intrigued.
"I'm going to use it anyway."
[Of course you are.]
She didn't want to risk turning the forest into a crater yet so she hiked a little farther away, to a clearing near the river where no one could see her potentially explode. The walk wasn't long. Dallira's outskirts were just trees, mud, and one extremely judgmental crow who watched her like she owed it money.
Kaia pulled the scroll from her hoodie pocket. It pulsed in her palm.
"Alright," she said, cracking her neck, "you want dramatic spellcasting? You got it."
She struck a pose, lifted the scroll above her head, and shouted:
"Temporal Burst: Reverb Shift!"
The scroll ignited in silver fire. Kaia felt her magic pulse outward violently.
The trees around her twitched. Leaves moved in reverse. A rabbit froze mid-hop, rewound three steps, then dashed off again. The air buzzed like a broken harp string.
BOOM.
Kaia flew backward like a ragdoll launched from a slingshot, somersaulted twice, and landed face-first in a shallow puddle. The hoodie saved her from total mud coverage, but her dignity suffered a critical hit.
She groaned into the puddle.
[Congratulations. That was 63% success, 37% chaos. A solid Kaia performance.]
"I think I just turned back time on a frog," she wheezed.
[Yes. It is now un-eaten. Good job, frog savior.]
Kaia rolled onto her back, magic still crackling around her fingers. Her body tingled. She felt alive. Kind of terrified. Slightly electrified. But alive.
Magic was wild.
It made her feel like she could punch the moon.
Which was probably dangerous.
She lay there for a moment, laughing to herself like a lunatic, until a shadow fell over her face.
She blinked up.
It was a goat.
More specifically, Rollo, the town drunk's emotionally damaged goat with a grudge against footwear. Hanging from its mouth were her boots.
"My boots!" Kaia gasped.
Rollo stared down at her like a furry little judge. Then, slowly, he dropped the boots onto her stomach and bleated aggressively.
"Did you just… bring these back to mock me?" she asked, sitting up.
Rollo turned and walked away without breaking eye contact, chewing a twig like a gangster in a noir film.
Kaia sighed, picked up her mud-caked boots, and kissed them. "I forgive you, you spiteful little legend."
[Boots recovered. +10 Morale. -3 Goat-related trauma.]
She tugged them on, winced at the squelch, and stood. Her hoodie was oversized, her hair was frizzed, her boots smelled like goat slobber, and her magic had nearly created a micro-time-warp.
It was her best day in years.
As she made her way back toward town, wind tangling her hair, she caught the sound of voices near the main road.
Two travelers, probably merchants, were passing by with a wagon of supplies. She wasn't close enough to hear everything, but one phrase caught her attention:
"and that's when Fairy Tail showed up and wrecked half the mountain"
Kaia froze.
Fairy Tail?She'd heard the name whispered in taverns, usually followed by a groan or a fine. The infamous guild of maniacs, mages, and walking disasters who claimed to protect Fiore by accidentally destroying it. People either hated them or wanted to be them.
[Emotional spike detected. Do you want to talk about it?]
"I want to be them," Kaia muttered. "I want to be chaos. I want to be someone who burns things and still gets invited to parties."
[Goal set: Join Fairy Tail. Current progress: 0%. Confidence: Irrational.]
Kaia turned toward the road, boots squelching with determination.
Time to ask some very annoying questions.
She caught up with the travelers near the town gate, throwing on her best harmless-orphan smile. "Excuse me," she chirped. "Did you say Fairy Tail?"
The merchant blinked at her. "Uh. Yeah. Why?"
"I'm just a huge fan," she said sweetly, like she hadn't just reversed a frog's existence thirty minutes ago.
The woman beside him chuckled. "They're wild. Heard they helped collapse a bandit fortress last week. Blew up half the ridge doing it."
"That's helping?" Kaia asked.
"That's Fairy Tail," the man said. "They fix the problem. The terrain's just… collateral."
Kaia's heart thumped. "Do you know where I could find them?"
The two exchanged a look.
"Well, they're based in Magnolia," the woman said. "Big town east of here. Days away. Why?"
Kaia smiled like someone about to make very irresponsible choices.
"No reason."
That night, Kaia returned to her half-destroyed windmill, dragging her boots through the mud like a girl with a mission. She lit a tiny fire using a spark of magic (and a lot of shouting), sat under her ridiculous hoodie, and stared at the stars.
"I'm going to join Fairy Tail," she said aloud.
[Bold. I like it. You'll probably die, but you'll look cool doing it.]
"Thanks, Styme."
[I'm uploading a map to Magnolia. Also, three possible side quests for coin, food, and a better weapon. You may want to stop yelling spells at frogs.]
"No promises."