Extra clothing. That was what I’d forgotten to bring with me. That was clear as I sat in my own smelly sphere on the ride back. I kept my face down in embarrassment as other passengers threw disgusted looks at me, even those from the hidden world. By the time I made my way back, that lesson had been deeply ingrained into my soul. Always bring extra clothing.
Lily was crouched in front of my laptop when I came back, clicking away and killing virtual monsters the entire time I had been dealing with real ones. Rather than speak with my titular GM, I stalked into the bathroom to shower and clean up as best I could. Leaden silence carried through the air as I walked out in a fresh set of clothing and began to cook dinner.
It was only when dinner was served that I spoke, my voice tight and controlled. “So, I killed some Devil Rats.”
“I’d hope so,” Lily said, taking the plate of pork chop, gravy, mashed potatoes, and brussels sprouts from me. “Did you kill the ten rats?”
“No,” I said as I stabbed my pork chop and sawed at the piece. “There was a mother rat, about the size of a medium-sized dog, in there.”
“Ugly little creature, isn’t she?” Lily said, already having walked back to the laptop.
“She nearly killed me. They nearly killed me!” I shouted and then drew a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down. Last night, the orc had been scary, but it had just been a mugging. I’d been mugged before, and while it was never fun, muggers were never really there to kill you. Rough you up a bit, maybe hurt you, but not kill. Not unless things got out of hand. At least, the ones who weren’t on drugs. The rats though, the rats didn’t care about legal consequences or moral imperatives to not kill. To them, I was just food.
“Of course. You were trying to kill them, weren’t you?” Lily sighed and put her cutlery down before she stared at me, my shaking fingers, and my shallow breathing. For a moment, I saw a flash of sympathy before Lily continued. “This is what questing and combat is. High-stress situations that require you to learn and explore your abilities.”
I gulped as I stared at my hands that wouldn’t stop shaking, at my body that refused to stop shivering. I could not stop thinking about the fact that I had nearly been eaten alive. Of the pain of being bitten and the sharp needlelike teeth.
“It’s your choice, Henry. We can continue doing quests like this, or you can stay home, casting spells and learning slowly. You can level up however you want,” Lily said softly, but I could barely hear her as I contemplated my mortality.
For the first time, I had an inkling that perhaps learning and wielding magic wasn’t just about having a cool trick. There were real consequences here.
***
When I woke the next morning, my wounds had miraculously healed, and there was new, lightly-scarred skin where they had been. I exhaled a sigh of relief, glad we’d managed to get that sorted. Of course, the healing had left me ravenously hungry since all it did was speed the healing process, but I’d take a higher grocery bill over limping for days.
Surprisingly, I found that Lily was not at the laptop when I woke. A very brief check showed the jinn was not in the apartment, which left me staring at the ring. Of course, she could have left the flat entirely. I briefly contemplated rubbing the ring to bring her to me before I shook my head and discarded the idea. Instead, I reveled in the fact that I had my apartment back to myself.
Living as a bachelor for years now, I had forgotten what it was like to have a roommate, the constant presence that intruded on my daily routines. I could lounge about in my underwear. I could watch schlocky TV or just play on my computer. And I did all that, a bowl of instant noodles in hand.
Yet, every few minutes, I found my gaze traveling back to the rubber boots I had so carefully cleaned off last night. Distractions that used to carry me away from my life for hours, even days, on end barely held my attention for minutes now. Even casting a spell felt hollow, an exercise that had no point.
No point… that was the thing, wasn’t it? There was no point to this, to my life. It was a malaise I had felt before, that had left me fired from retail jobs when I simply stopped caring. There was no point to this, to TV shows that had no end, computer games that had no challenge, and jobs that had no future. But magic and that quest? At least there I was doing something. I was progressing, making myself better. I had dreamed of having magic all my life, and now I had it. Even if all I was doing was questing and killing monsters, I was progressing.
I stared at my rubber boots sitting accusingly by the door, and finally, I sighed and stood up.
“Fine. Let’s do this.”
***
Of course, it wasn’t that easy. First, I had to find more disposable clothing. At this rate, I’d become a customer of Nora’s. A sealed plastic bag contained a second set of clothing while sandwiches and water, a crowbar, a hammer, and an old hunting knife ended up in my bag for later. An extra flashlight and some light sticks were added along with a new roll of bandages. I frowned, trying to decide if I had missed anything, and realized I was just killing time, avoiding the next step.
As I was about to walk out the door, my phone rang. I frowned, fishing it out and staring at the glowing caller ID. I drew a deep breath, feeling my stomach clench even as I answered it.
“Mommy,” I greeted.
“When were you going to call?” immediately on the attack, my mother’s familiar voice resounded through the phone. I felt my shoulders hunch, my entire body shrinking down slightly at the accusation. Justified. I hadn’t spoken with her or my dad in months.
“Soon. Sorry, things have been busy,” I answered apologetically.
“You found a new job?” Hope was in her voice even after all these years.
“No. Yes. Sort of,” I said, unsure of how and whether to explain things. Actually, no. I knew better than to explain.
“Oh.” Disappointment now. I wince, knowing once again, I’ve let her down. As usual—the black sheep of the family, the useless one, especially compared to my doctor sister and accountant brother.
“It’s a part-time thing,” I clarified, figuring that was true enough at least. “Anyway... I was just about to head out…”
“I wanted to ask, are you coming back for your father’s birthday? You know he’d like it.”
“I don’t know,” I answered truthfully. I really didn’t want to go back, to travel hundreds of miles to be subjected to passive-aggressive stares and the constant looks of disappointment. It was why I had left Vancouver after all.
“Do you need money? I can send you some.”
“I can pay for it. It’s just a new job…” I explained hurriedly and then glanced at the door again. “I really need to get going…”
“Fine. Just remember to call and tell us.”
“I will. It’s not for months yet!” I said. “Bye!” I hurriedly finished the exchange of pleasantries before I finally ended the call, my stomach aching with phantom pain. Stupid family. Pushing aside the never-ending drama, I left the apartment.
A train and bus ride later, I was back at the suburb. I checked my phone and its GPS tracking of where I’d been—which, by the way, was sort of creepy—and I was at the manhole cover I had crawled out of the previous day. Unlike the first one I’d entered, this manhole cover was in the middle of the street, but at this point, I was more than done with being circumspect. A crowbar and an almost-strained back later, I was back in the nightmare-inducing darkness.
“Light,” I muttered as I cast my spell. A vocal component was not required, but one aspect that I knew of this magic was that “required” did not equal “not important.” I wasn’t entirely sure if it was the addition of a vocal rhythm or the addition of a vocal aspect itself, but the results certainly showed up.
Light Ball Cast
93% Synchronicity
As an added precaution, I popped a glow stick and zip-tied it to the ladder. Nose scrunched from the smell, I stood at the ladder and listened, trying to discern if I had a greeting party. Hearing nothing, I slowly approached the corridor that I had exited so ignobly a day ago.
As I walked, I wiped sweaty palms against my sweatpants and swallowed around the copper taste of adrenaline in my mouth. In my left hand, I hefted my crowbar, ready to ward off a Devil Rat while my right readied itself to cast a Force Bolt. At the mouth of the corridor, I raised my hand and cast another Light Ball, this time in silence, and directed it to the edges of my current illuminated area. Again and again, I did so, lighting the entire corridor till the excited squeals of Devil Rats alerted to my presence reached my ears.
The first adult Devil Rat exploded from the shadows and rushed me, closely followed by another. Right behind, the pups raced to catch their larger, faster brethren. From my hand, a Force Bolt flew out to strike the lead Devil Rat. The Force Bolt crushed the monster’s front legs, causing it to fall and mewl pitifully. No longer a threat, I turned to the next adult rat.
Seconds had passed, and the monster was already halfway to me, the pups only a short distance behind. I snarled as my second Force Bolt passed by uselessly, the third injuring but not killing the monster. Too close for a follow-up spell, I instead swung the crowbar and battered the attacker away, blood and brain matter spattering around me at my successful strike.
And then it was the rats’ turn as the pups swarmed me. The next few seconds were a blur as I swung, punched, kicked, and stomped at the tiny monsters that crawled, bit, and tore at me. I had no time for spells, no time but the dance for survival. But monsters or not, they were only the size of normal rats. One after another, the monsters fell before my weapon and stomping feet before a searing pain ripped into my calf.
I fell to the ground, the mother rat clamped onto my ankle and refusing to let go. Each movement tore the wound open wider. In pain, I raised my crowbar to swing at it, but a last pup bit into the edges of my triceps. My hand spasmed open, and I screamed again.
The mother rat twisted its head one last time and tore my calf open before it backed off and lunged toward my torso. Its teeth clamped onto my hip, sharp teeth tearing into the tender flesh. I thrashed on the ground, a wild swing batting away the last pup and driving the mom aside.
“Die!” I scowled as I tried to scurry away and twisted, my injured foot swinging at the monster.
Teeth clamped onto my boot, sharp teeth unable to penetrate the rubber immediately. My hand twisted and pointed, and a Force Bolt flew forward at the enraged monster.
“Aaarggh!” I screamed, the spell tearing the mother Devil Rat away as the bolt impacted my foot and the rat. Bones cracked under the impact of the spell, pain making my eyes widen. The mother rat, its teeth missing from when it was ripped away and its mouth bloody, rushed me once more. I shoved my hand forward, fingers dancing faster than ever, and I sent the spell into its open mouth as it lunged for my neck.
The Force Bolt tore down its throat and tore it apart as it threw her back. Blood sprayed and aerosoled as the creature fell to the ground, dead but still twitching. I coughed, throat sore and dry from screaming as blood dripped from my wounds.
Blood, so much blood. I grunted, struggling to pull my bag out from under me. Its contents were soaked by sewer water, but thankfully, the first aid bag was waterproof. As my fingers shook, I slowly pulled my first aid gear from my bag and began the long and painful process of cleaning my wounds.
***
The trip back this time was less of a social issue as wet wipes and a new set of clothing made me look and smell less like a hobo. It didn’t hide the way I moved or the pain that flashed across my face, but no one bothered me at least. The lack of public embarrassment unfortunately left me more time to consider the waves of pain that rose and fell with each bump and step on the journey home.
Two blocks from the train station to my house, and for some reason, I was drawing looks again. I smiled and nodded, too tired to answer queries about my health as the world begin to shimmer before my eyes.
“I see you. And I got a Force Bolt for you if needed,” I said to the gargoyle who shifted to stare at me when I walked past its perch.
Descending the stairs, each step forced me to draw a deep breath as I squelched down. I pushed on the handle, opening the door, and I stumbled in and waved my hand triumphantly into the empty space. “The conquering hero returns!”
The bed, a bare five feet from the door greeted me as I flopped onto it, darkness finally claiming me.