I squinted slightly as I walked into the sunlight, my eyes adjusting to the brightness. Midsummer, we had a ton of time before the sun set, but not so much before Nora’s was closed. Beside me, Lily looked around with wide eyes as she took in the city. In the distance, skyscrapers reached for space, metal fingers stabbing into the bottom of the blue sky. Cars drove past, sharing space with bicycles and motorcycles, the constant rumble of the city assaulting our ears. As I moved to step forward, Lily grabbed my arm, holding me back as she continued to take in the changed world.
“Sorry. Just a lot to take in,” Lily muttered, and I nodded.
The same for me as well. I realized the world had changed a little since I had last come outside. A small apartment building glowed with arcane runes, and farther down the road, gargoyles that were once decorative moved as they looked at us. As a pedestrian strode pass me, my jaw dropped when I realized she was a lizardwoman, scales running along her face and along her wide body. Down the street, a humanoid dog creature scurried down the street followed by its larger, fur-covered handler. “What is all this?”
“The hidden world,” Lily said. “Your sight is letting you see what was there before, hidden by glamours and spells.”
“How do I turn it off?” I muttered, shaking my head. “I mean, how do I know what they’re trying to show me?”
“Let your eyes unfocus a bit, look slightly away from them. Use your peripheral vision,” Lily coached, and I focused on the dog creature and his handler. I struggled for a few seconds before I learned the trick, unfocusing my eyes to see the glamour. For a second, I saw what they were showing the world—a child and his father—rather than what they were.
“Huh,” I said. I turned to Lily, but the raven-haired jinn looked the same no matter how I squinted, unfocused my eyes, or looked away. I only stopped when I realized that passersby were giving me strange looks and starting to walk wide around us.
“Don’t bother. You can’t break through my glamor yet, though you’ll get better with practice and higher levels,” Lily explained.
I turned away from her then to practice further. Lily nudged me, and I turned away from the eight-foot-tall giant I had been staring at and started the thirty-minute walk to Nora’s, my bag slung over my shoulder.
***
The walk to Nora’s took longer than normal, and I had to switch the bag in my hand a couple of times. Both Lily and I stared about us as we walked, the jinn asking questions about the modern world and I about the hidden. Smartphones, elves, earbuds, and alchemical potions—all were queried and explained. At the end of the walk, I wasn’t sure who was more awe-filled.
I stood outside the used consignment shop and noticed a series of runic carvings along the door, glowing with the light blue that I’d come to recognize as an active enchantment, that curled around the simple sign saying “Nora’s.” I unfocused my eyes for a moment and saw the plain old store I had visited dozens of times. For a moment, I hesitated, but in the end, I stepped in. I needed the money.
“El?” I called as I stepped in, the bell ringing as the door swung open.
“Hey, Henry…” El’s voice trailed off as a person looked at me, her eyes wide.
A second later, as Lily stepped into the store and passed the runes, the entire room glowed red. The shop woman’s eyes narrowed, focused on the raven-haired jinn.
“Who are you?” I stared at the person who had El’s voice. Gone was the friendly five-foot, black-haired, and slightly dumpy shopkeeper, and instead, a slim, flame-red-haired beauty with long, pointed ears stood in her place. As I unfocused my eyes, I realized that this was El, as she truly was. “El…?”
“You became a wizard,” El said, her tone disappointed. “Did you use her to do it? Did you make a deal with one of them?”
“What are you?” I said, shaking my head and ignoring her questions.
“Pixie. She’s a pixie,” Lily said, sauntering to the counter and leaning on it. The jinn let her gaze wander around the shop, eyeing the runic enchantments that lined the walls and the glowing glass cases that were always locked. “And this is not just a used clothing store.”
“What do you want, demon?” El’s hand came out from under the counter, carrying a wand. Even inexperienced as I was, I could guess it wasn’t for turning pumpkins into coaches. Though she might try turning Lily into a rat.
“Nothing. I’m just along for the ride,” Lily said, and El growled as she lifted the wand.
“Not that kind of ride!” I hastily added and stepped forward. “And Lily’s no demon. She’s a jinn. And I didn’t make a deal. I made a wish.”
“Toe-may-toe, toh-mah-toh,” El said. Still, the words I’d said seemed to calm El down slightly, her gaze straying to my hand, where the ring rested. “Wishes with a jinn never go well.”
“El, all I’m looking for is to sell some clothes. I didn’t expect…” I waved my hands to encompass everything.
“Henry, you’re a nice boy. So, here’s a piece of advice. If you’ve got a wish left, wish for things to go back to the way they were before,” El said.
“Actually, that’s a horrible wish,” Lily cut in, shaking her head. “Altering time is impossible, so I’d have to take away your gifts without taking away all the knowledge you have.”
El frowned as she stared at Lily while I dropped the clothing bag on the counter. I coughed and drew her attention back to me. “Look, El, I really need your help. Ms. Never-Ending Stomach here ate through all my food and blew my budget. She even found my three-year-old cans of Spam.”
“How long have you been living with her?” El said, her head tilted to the side.
“Ummm… a day and a half?” I sighed. “Come on, El, you know I don’t bring junk.”
“Henry,” El sighed and waved at the clothes. “Have you ever looked at the prices I sell the clothes you bring me?”
“Noooo.”
“I barely make any money on the clothing I sell. The entire used clothing side is a sham, a front,” El said and waved a hand to the glass cases. “That’s where I make my money.”
“Okay. That’s fine, but…” I pointed to the clothing. “Can’t you take it as usual?”
“No. Because you’re in my world now,” El insisted, and I grunted, deflating.
“Fine.” I started packing the bag again. Second Chance was a bus ride away and would probably only take a third of my inventory, but at least we’d have enough for dinner. “What do you sell anyway?”
“Spell and runic components,” El said.
I choked, staring at the diminutive pixie. As casually as I could, I added, “And do you buy those too?”
El laughed, nodding her head. “Of course. But the careful sorting and care for spell components is a skill. Capturing the first breath of sunlight, containing the sap of a necrotic beetle, it’s not something you can just do.”
Lily beside me just grinned, and I finished stuffing the clothes away.
“Right. Right. Thank you, El. See you soon.”
Outside the door, I turned to Lily, who chuckled quietly beside me. After a few yards, Lily asked, “Isn’t the basement the other way?”
“Yes. But I’ve still got a bag of clothing to get rid of,” I replied, hefting it.
“You do know that a single spell component is worth more than ten of those bags of used clothing?” Lily said.
“How would you know?” I shot back. “You’ve been stuck in a ring.”
“I was looking at the clothing,” Lily said. “And even at full price, a spell component is worth ten bags. At least.”
“Whatever. I still have to get rid of this.” I hefted the bag. “Waste not, want not.”
***
It was nearly late evening before we found ourselves back at El’s door. The titular Nora was, of course, not around, but El was still inside, finishing up for the day. I frowned—tempted to not knock—but decided to do so anyway. It had been a long, long day already, and I just wanted this done. Beside me, Lily was eating a shawarma, her foot tapping on the ground impatiently.
“We really should be home,” Lily said. “You’re not really ready for nighttime yet.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered and knocked again.
El finally opened the door, glaring at the pair of us. “What do you want?”
“I might have something you want,” I said.
“Henry—”
I shook my head. “Not clothes,” I replied immediately. I quickly glanced around, then reached into my jacket and pulled out one of the rune-covered boxes. “A spell component.”
“Where did you—?” El clamped her mouth shut. “Fine. Come in.”
A few minutes later, we were hunched over a table in the back of the shop, in a room I had never seen before. In the center of the table, the opened enchanted box dominated our conversation, El lifting and placing aside small green crystals with a tweezer, inspecting each piece as it came out.
“Where did you get this?” El muttered, shaking her head. “I haven’t seen quality like this in years.”
“So, you can give us a good price?” I said, almost bouncing with anticipation.
“Definitely,” El said and then clamped her lips shut, a look of frustration flickering on her face. “Damn it, Henry. I’ve been buying clothing from you too much.”
I chuckled and sat back while she carefully stored them away in a glass container of her own. Once she had finished, she weighed the container before turning back to me. “Would you sell the box too?”
Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Lily shake her head no, but I did not require her advice on that. I had no intention of selling the boxes and told El as much. The pixie ran a hand through her red hair before she pushed the pad forward, showing me her offer.
“Whoa…” My jaw dropped a bit, staring at the price. Ten times what I had earned this was not. Obviously, Lily’s time in the ring had seen more changes than the jinn had expected.
“I take it this is agreeable,” El said with a smirk, and I could only nod dumbly.
***
Outside Nora’s, lighter one spell component and a newly counted wad of cash stuffed in my pocket, I turned and started the walk back to my basement apartment. Lily fell in beside me, eyeing shops with interest and muttering about supper. It was no surprise I never saw the hand that reached out of the alleyway and yanked me in, dazed by the new hidden world and my newfound wealth.
A large, green, and rough hand gripped me and dragged me deep into the alleyway, holding me by my jacket as I scrabbled at it, trying to make it release me. In the dark, my attacker slammed me into the wall once and then again, sending stars dancing in my eyes while a second hand pinned my right hand to the wall.
“Give me what you bought, Wizard,” snarled the green, tusked face inches from mine. To punctuate his words, the orc squeezed my neck, making me choke.
I slapped at his hand ineffectually with my left hand, stars still dancing in my eyes. The repeated blows and lack of oxygen made my eyes unfocus, and for a moment, I saw the hulking skinhead that he showed the rest of the world.
“You know, he can’t answer you if he can’t breathe,” Lily said.
The orc blinked, turning to stare at the jinn who was standing and watching us indifferently. Beside her, a pair of his associates floated in the air, their limbs failing to find purchase.
“You’re a wizard too!” the orc growled, yellow eyes narrowing.
He reached a hand backward but stopped when Lily tsked.
“No, no. I’m not your target. He is,” Lily said, pointing to me. “Now, this is a decent random encounter but not level appropriate with all three of you, so I’m taking your friends out of the equation. You, Henry will have to deal with. Isn’t that right, Henry?”
I didn’t get in fights as a matter of course. That being said, it didn’t mean I hadn’t been in fights before. One of the main rules: don’t get distracted, and if your opponent does, capitalize. A raggedly drawn breath gave me enough clarity to focus and cast my only offensive spell with my free hand. I swirled my hand, fingers dancing, before I jabbed it into his chest, the glowing ball of force smashing into my mugger’s short ribs.
Force Bolt Cast
Synchronicity 41%
Force Bolt does 9 damage to Orc Mugger.
The surprise attack cracked bone and forced the orc to exhale a surprisingly minty breath into my face, and he reflexively released my neck. Now on my knees, I tackled the orc even though he was clearly heavier than me, my shoulder striking his broken ribs and driving the monster back. Reflexive motion made him hunch over, which gave me the perfect setup for an elbow to his chin. I pushed away from him, giving myself space as I shook my arm out, elbow aching from the strike.
“You know, you’re a mage now,” Lily said casually. “No experience for slugging it out.”
I growled in response and then coughed, choking from the newly formed bruises on my neck. The orc stood up, rubbing his chin, a glimmer of respect in his eyes.
“A wizard with some physical skill,” the orc said, his voice a low growl. He flicked a glance to Lily, who waved her hand for him to continue. “This might just be interesting.”
“Yeah… no,” I said, my right hand darting and twisting as I formed another Force Bolt. Before I could finish, the orc charged me, which forced me to dance backward and interrupt the spell. I twisted and turned as my mugger refused to give me time to finish it. Again and again, I would start the spell before I found it interrupted.
“You’re going to have to learn to cast under pressure,” Lily coached from the sidelines. A thrown knife from one of the other orcs hung suspended in midair, stopped the moment it had been released from his hand, its target Lily. “Don’t let his attacks distract you. The spell is the most important thing.”
A fist glanced off my jaw and sent me sprawling to the ground. The orc dashed forward, but I raised my feet high, holding the creature off with my feet. As the monster tried to get to me, I started casting Force Bolt again even as my head throbbed. Two seconds was all the time I would need. Even as the orc finally pushed my legs aside, I finally completed the spell and sent it hammering into the monster.
Force Bolt Cast
Synchronicity 53%
Force Bolt does 10 damage to Orc Mugger.
On my back, feet up in the air, I formed the next spell, which the mugger dodged. Two more spells followed, cast from my back, only one of which hit. My head continued to throb. The pain grew, and I spared a glance upward to note that my mana was nearly gone. All those failed attempts had required mana even if I hadn’t completed them.
The orc, arm clutched where it had taken the blunt of the last spell, growled at me. I had heard the crack of another broken bone, but he was still on his feet. Still, the mugger did not attempt to rush me anymore, and I slowly stood up, keeping a distance from it.
“We done?” I asked, trying to keep my voice confident.
“Wizard, I am disappointed. You have some skill. Why do you refuse to fight honorably?” The orc growled and eyed me warily.
“Got to level up.”
“You speak strangely even for a wizard.”
“Yeah, yeah. We continuing this, or are we done?” I growled, my hand raised as I bluffed the monster.
“We are done if you will have it so, Wizard.”
“Go.”
“I am Ulrik of the Yellow Eyes,” the orc said. “You shall not be as fortunate in our next encounter.”
I waved Ulrik away, and Lily let the pair of orcs drop. The trio scrambled off as they eyed the jinn warily. In moments, Lily and I were alone in the alleyway.
“Thanks for all the help,” I grumbled at her.
“You need to level up. I made sure it was level appropriate,” Lily said unapologetically. “That technique was less than orthodox. Effective though.”
“So, did I get experience for that, or did I need to kill him?” I asked as I leaned against the wall and held my hand to my throbbing head.
“What did I say about experience? It’s about learning and growing your magical strength, not your ability to kill monsters. Look at your sheet.”
Class: Mage
Level 1 (48% Experience)
Known Spells: Light Ball, Force Bolt, Warmth, Chill, Chime, Breeze
“All that from one fight?” I said as I stared at the updated sheet.
“No. You gained some experience while walking around with your arcane sight today. But a lot of it did come from the fight.”
I slowly nodded, somewhat mollified. Although I was bruised, headache or not, the random encounter had been worth it. “Fine.”
“So, I’ve got an important question,” Lily said, smiling as she walked forward. “Is that Ethiopian restaurant any good?”