Mob Sorcery 2 - Ch4

Chapter 4

“If you’re up for something fancy, there are some nice restaurants below us,” Fia suggested.

“Up for a candlelit lunch?” Vince asked, recalling how they’d been mistaken for a couple earlier.

They walked past the suited enforcers as he said that and one shot Fia a thumbs up, causing her to growl in response.

“That’s a no, then?” he asked.

“Oh, shove it.” Her tail whapped him in the back of his legs. “I mentioned them because they’re close.”

“I think I’ve had my fill of bougie food for the time being. We can head somewhere else and get some simpler stuff.”

“Nah, there are some nice places nearby. I know the area. Office workers need to eat as well, so there are always some cheap eats,” she said.

They descended in the elevator and spilled out onto the marble plaza outside the Sommet. Fewer workers trundled about, but Vince still saw that police birdfolk following him.

“This way,” Fia said, walking away and waving him in her direction.

The place she had in mind turned out to be a quaint little Greek joint a couple of blocks away, with faded lettering outside that read “Gino’s”. The décor clashed heavily with the wealth of the nearby towers, but half the cheap plastic tables were occupied by customers. Some birdfolk workers busied themselves behind a long counter, and rotisserie meat cooked in the background. The atmosphere felt cheap, yet comfortable.

“Gyros?” Vince asked.

“Not a fan?” she asked. Her raised eyebrow suggested she’d judge him harshly if he refused.

“I took you as a fan of fancier food.”

She snorted. “You eat a lot of cheap shit when you’re up at awful hours. What Michelin restaurants are open at 3AM for a bunch of rowdy wolves covered in bloodstains? Local joints like these often open late, don’t give us shit, and they’re way better than the mass-produced garbage in the chains.”

He shrugged. “I don’t mind the chain stuff. A cheeseburger always tastes like a cheeseburger.”

“No, it tastes like the brand. As awful as this stuff is”—Fia nodded her head at the menu full of gyros bursting with meat—“it at least tastes like something you can make yourself.”

“You’re a girl with strong opinions on food, aren’t you?”

“I’m a girl with strong opinions. Maybe you should have some yourself.” She nudged him in the side hard enough to nearly throw him off balance. “So, up for a gyro? I usually get pork, but their chicken is probably good.”

“Grab me whatever you think is good.”

She rolled her eyes. “Real strong opinion there. Good to see you take my advice.”

Despite her harsh words, she wandered up to the counter and ordered two gyros, plus a couple of sodas. His was the no sugar kind, but she went all in.

“What kind of guy do you take me for?” he asked, looking between their drinks.

“The bland sort. I’m questioning how you cast that damn dragon, when you’re so wishy-washy. I thought magic affinities told us something about the caster,” she said, a touch acidly.

He snorted. “Ah, yes, because my lack of passion for food means I can’t use fire magic. There’s a reason Nina cooks, you know. It’s not because I suck. It’s because I’d make the same boring, repetitive, simple things over and over. Also, because I suck at cooking.”

“She said you made some nice waffles this morning.”

“Are the two of you gossiping about everything I do?” he asked.

“Nah. We just set up a message group between us and Nicki to talk shit, and you’re a fun topic.” Fia grinned at him.

By now, their gyros were ready, so Fia grabbed them. Rather than sit and eat inside, they left and found a bench under a tree.

Fia’s tail wagged as she bit into her wrap and some sauce dripped down her chin. Vince pointed it out and she lapped it up.

“You should eat. We can talk once you’ve actually tried it,” she said, before digging in.

The gyro proved to be as meaty, saucy, and unhealthy as Vince expected from a hole-in-the-wall joint like they’d been to. Given how cheap the restaurant appeared to be, he guessed it was a cultural institution. A place everyone knew of and came back to out of a mixture of nostalgia, price, and quality.

Gyros, like kebabs, burgers, and all manner of fast food, could be bought anywhere. Finding good gyros at a decent price was another matter, especially among all the upmarket places selling overpriced ones that were mostly salad and bread. Hence why Vince liked the reliability of a fast food burger.

If they sold it as having a quarter pound of meat, it usually had a quarter pound of meat, whatever else might be in it.

“I take it you like it,” Fia said, halfway through her wrap. She took a swig of her soda and her ears twitched as she looked at him.

“It’s good,” he said after he swallowed his current mouthful. “Not that I imagine I’ll be around here often.”

“You never know where life takes you.”

He shrugged in response.

After a few more bites, Fia slowed down. Given her ravenous appetite, Vince knew she’d finish her gyro, but evidently chatter was on her mind.

“You should have pushed Alessia harder,” she said, her eyes staring up at the towers of the Sommet.

“I got a bonus out of it,” he said.

“Ah, yes. An undefined bonus, that’s not in writing, for doing work that’s not even part of your job.” Fia scowled. “You had us over the barrel and you just let Alessia play hard ball.”

“If she kept playing hard ball, do you think I’d be the sort of guy to negotiate my pay when she calls me up while Lionetti Tower is under attack?” he asked.

Fia’s lips thinned and she leaned back against the bench. Her fingers plucked a cigarette from her coat. She offered another to Vince, who waved it off, before deftly lighting it with a flame from a finger.

“I think I understand why you’ve been going nowhere as an enforcer,” she said, tone somewhere between annoyed and exasperated.

“Oi,” he muttered.

“You are. Fucking Juliet Forest took a swing at you and failed. Your dragon made the damn news and scares the police. And while Nina talked you down a bit, I don’t buy that you can’t defeat Pola. Despite all that power, you do small jobs for Immanuel. You should be out there, treating the conglomerates like clients with everything to lose if they don’t pay you properly.”

“Are you saying that I should tell Alessia to pay up when her life’s in danger?” he asked, incredulous.

“As a capo, no. As a friend?” Fia took a long drag of her cigarette. “You know how airlines charge obscene amounts when you try to book flights on short notice? It’s like that. And they do that to everyone. Businesses gouge everyone, no matter their cause. You shouldn’t feel guilty doing the same in reverse, no matter how much they squeal.”

“We’re talking about Alessia, not some faceless corporation bribing judges and politicians to get their way.”

She shrugged. “And we went at you hard when we offered you the job. Alessia knew she was offering a hell of a lot more money than you usually got paid, even if I didn’t know you apparently struggled with your damn rent.”

He winced and she smirked at him.

“If I’d known that, she might have lowballed you even harder,” Fia added. “You really need to understand just how much money companies throw around. That fancy lunch up there is a real show of wealth. You should have thrown it in Alessia’s face. Instead you’re relying on goodwill, while she still wants to convince you to marry Pola.”

Again with the marriage idea.

“Don’t make that face. My bet is that Alessia doesn’t want you to be too comfortable money-wise. If you do finally give in and fuck our lovely sottocapo, you won’t have much of an excuse to refuse marriage. That neatly handles one of Alessia’s biggest problems as the family head.”

“What do you mean, not much of an excuse?” Vince protested. “Do you think I’m marrying Nina just because I’m sleeping with her?”

“I think she’d be a very happy lioness,” Fia said drily. “And you’re going to need to handle the dispute between her and Pola when the two eventually fight over you. I don’t think Pola is getting over her crush anytime soon.”

Rather than answer, Vince bit into what was left of his food. The wolfgirl gulped down her soda with a huge grin, her tail rubbing against his back and side in amusement.

A motorcade of black SUVs rumbled past on the nearby street. Over a dozen police enforcers escorted it on motorcycles or by flying alongside. Each of them carried their focuses in the open, resulting in an assortment of swords, batons, gauntlets, shields, wands, staffs, and other tools to be brandished in public.

The nearby public watched in fascination. Many pulled out their phones to record video or snap pictures.

In the rear of the motorcade traveled someone Vince recognized, and hadn’t bumped into for months now. He traveled on a foaming disc of water, which somehow left no traces behind it on the road as it moved. His figure remained resolute in a cross-legged position atop the disc while wearing a ceremonial police uniform and white cap. Shoulder-length snow-white hair swayed behind his muscular figure as he stared forward.

Vince didn’t recall the man’s name, but knew who he was. The water elemental that ran the police precinct around the city center and Ronin’s boss.

This elemental had also been the one that had responded to the ruckus Vince had made on main street several months back. The only reason Vince hadn’t been utterly crushed by the police then had been because the elemental hadn’t felt like it.

“Damn, don’t see the blackshirt brass out and about often,” Fia said, glaring at the police as they drove off. “Ronin seems like a nice guy. Can’t believe he’s mixed up with those assholes.”

Despite himself, Vince laughed. The statement was just too ridiculous.

“What?” she asked, annoyed.

“I’m sorry, but that’s what somebody might say about you getting involved with the mafia,” he said, grinning.

“Nah, I’m a bad girl.” She waved her cigarette in his face to prove it. “Nobody would think of me like that. Plus, the Lionettis aren’t assholes.”

“I’m sure that’s a widely held opinion.”

She clicked her tongue and finished off her gyro instead of answering. Seems he’d managed to redirect the conversation with the help of a distraction.

“Speaking of the Lionettis, why weren’t you in that branch family meeting? Seems like you’d have been welcome,” he said. “Vanna was there.”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know,” she muttered. Her cigarette reached the end of its life, but she chose not to light another. Instead she incinerated this one with a flick of her wrist. “I don’t go near the branch family politics. I told you that my parents have become involved, right? Showing up as an enforcer in a meeting where your papa might be schmoozing with other high fliers is embarrassing as hell. He rumbled me once while I was with a few girls gambling and I think my face burned off.”

“Looks fine to me.”

“It didn’t at the time. I’m just glad Vanna wasn’t there.” Fia bared her teeth. “Can’t believe she came out up there. She knew damn well what was happening.”

“Stefano has a crush on Alessia and Arnulfo disapproves?” Vince guessed.

“Nah. From what I understand, the bad blood is because Alessia refused to marry Stefano when the branch families tried to arrange the marriage. She’s already 27. They want her pumping out kids to protect the Lionetti family line. Especially with only Pola left over, and nobody willing to risk their dick being bitten off by her.”

Vince waited a few seconds to see if Fia would smirk or laugh at her own joke. She appeared deathly serious.

“You mean they’ve actually given up on Pola? I thought you said she was a princess?”

“She is and has her fair share of admirers. But after everything went down and she became the sottocapo, they’ve struggled to do more than admire her,” Fia said. “She’s not as aggressive with the guys in the branch families as those outside, but everyone wants to marry Alessia, not Pola. And Alessia has zero interest in putting aside her ambitions to become a mother right now.”

He recalled the conversation in her office about expectations of children and her comments. Fortunately, he’d been sufficiently sympathetic to the pressure she appeared to be under, even if he hadn’t entirely realized she was the one being pressured.

Fia abruptly stood and stretched. “Anyway, let’s head back to that park of yours. There’s plenty of daylight left to get some magic practice in.”

They found her car after a short walk and began the somewhat faster drive back out to the park she’d picked him up from. On the way back, they made small talk. Primarily about their misadventures in high school, of which both of them had plenty to commiserate on.

Once back in his little spot in the park, Fia rolled her shoulders and squared him with a look.

He’d only just sat down yet but felt a lecture coming on. “Are you about to turn into Professor Fia?”

“No. I’m not dumb enough to try to talk down to someone who can cast a meister-tier spell,” she said. “But I’ve gotten the feeling you’re not used to CQC.”

He blinked.

“Close quarters combat,” she elaborated. “Your spells are all about blowing stuff up. You have an absurdly strong barrier, but it’s vulnerable to grappling attacks. Your dragon is all about large-scale area control and denial. I reckon I can give you some tips on where you can focus, as wolves are all about brawling.”

“I saw you fight against Juliet. You had a few neat spells. That explosion one, plus the flame swords. I’ll bow down and accept your teachings if you promise to give me your spells.”

“Wow. Can I get you to bow down and do other things for me if I help you with other stuff?” Fia asked.

“No. I have a hard cap of bowing down to each person once per lifetime.”

“Damn. And here I’m wasting it on advising you.” She flicked his nose, causing him to recoil. “I’m not giving you my spells. Not because they’re anything special, but because I don’t want to spend all of my own time teaching you and because I don’t think they’ll help you.”

“Really? Because those arm blades looked awesome.”

“Thanks. They’re actually flame tonfas that I can expand and contract by clenching my fists, and they wrap around my forearms.” She preened. “But I’m still not teaching you them. Tell me, how much martial arts training do you have?”

He winced. “Nina’s taught me a lot of the basics. I think she uses one of the ancient lion arts.”

“So, basically nothing, given she can compress you into a ball and you probably can’t beat her in an arm-wrestling match by standing on her hand.”

“I don’t think that counts as arm-wrestling.”

“My point,” Fia said, eyes flashing, “is that you barely know how to brawl beyond throwing punches and keeping your guard up. Those tonfas will add a huge sword in front of your arms. Do you think that’s simple to use?”

Vince nodded slowly. “Okay. I think I get it. But that’s where I’m lost. With only a few days, I’m not going to be able to get the spell down to an instant cast. It’ll take seconds. And if it’s going to take three to five seconds to cast, I want a wizard-tier spell that will last a while.”

“Well, let’s talk about that. I can’t necessarily teach you my spells, but maybe I can give you some ideas. Does that count enough to make you bow down?”

He tried to stand up, but she physically held him down.

“I don’t want you to actually bow down,” she growled. “I’ve half a mind to light up, given how terrible you’re being, but it’ll get in the way. No wonder Pola likes you.”

“I don’t mind if you smoke.”

She shrugged. Standing, she fiddled with a pack of cigarettes and wandered a little into the clearing they sat in. A brisk wind blew through, rustling the trees shrouding them and causing her long blonde hair to flutter around her. No death sticks escaped the pack in her hand and she slid it back in her coat.

“I think I know a few more spells than you,” she said once the wind died down. “Especially in CQC. I have three in particular.”

“That’s three more than I have,” he admitted.

“Oh? What happened to that ‘hot hands’ spell?” Her eyes glittered, proving she knew he’d lied all along about that being a real spell. “My first spell is a twist on the old torch spell, used for providing light using flames. Torca.”

Fia held her coffee in one hand while pointing one palm toward the sky. A flare of flame burst forth, before immediately dissipating.

“That’s initiate-tier,” Vince said.

“Yup. Unlike you, I suck at incantation-less magic. This is one of the few I can use without speaking, so it’s useful in emergencies.” She sipped her coffee. “My next one is that wizard-tier explosion spell I showed off against Juliet’s crew. I’m not casting that one here. It’s a panic spell to chase people away.”

“That really does sound useful.” He narrowed his eyes. “But not right now. If it takes me five seconds to cast, I’ll be an exploding corpse by the time I cast it.”

“Exactly. Plus, it’s a bitch to keep from burning stuff down. You’re good at that, but you’ll find it hard to find a place to practice.”

He nodded, but waited to hear about the third spell.

“My third is the tonfa spell we just talked about.” She tilted her head back and chugged down the remainder of her coffee, then tossed the empty cup to Vince. “Bastum.”

Flames surged around Fia’s forearms, covering the sleeves of her coat in a thick barrier of fire. She moved her arms around to show that the spell hugged her body closely.

“Yeah, that’s the spell you used against Juliet,” he said.

White-hot swords of flame jetted out from the front, as if projected from her hands. They remained in place, causing the air to shimmer from the raw heat. Then she placed her hands on her hips. The arm blades vanished the moment she unclenched her fists, but the fire around her body left her clothes unharmed.

“This is a flame tonfa spell. I know how to brawl, and don’t really have the time to learn how to fence or properly swing around proper arm blades. The idea is that I can basically fight normally, throwing punches and grappling, but with the added benefit of scorching hot fire.”

He opened his mouth to protest, then closed it. “Alright, I see the advantage there. Also why that won’t help me too much. I’m not trying to punch my opponent, as much as just get them away from me if they’re in my face.”

“Which is why I’m thinking you’ll benefit from the focus on the emergency spells more than a weapon spell,” Fia said. “You’re not a brawler.”

“You just said—”

“Just because you can’t steal my spells, doesn’t mean I can’t help you,” she chided. “You’re at least smart enough to realize the explosion spell was the most useful idea. The problem is that it’s difficult for you to learn right now and by the time you think you’ll need it, it’s too late.”

“Pretty much, yeah. It’s a spell I won’t start casting until somebody’s in my face.”

“What if you learn an emergency spell like it, but that works from a longer distance? Something you can use the moment you think somebody like Pola is coming for you?”

Frowning, he drummed his fingers against the bench he sat on.

“Unconvinced?” Fia asked.

“I’d need a firmer idea,” he admitted. “I get my inspiration from seeing others use spells.”

“Where’d you get inspired for that dragon?”

“Domain spells. Powerful sorcerers can effectively convert their home or atelier into an extension of their own magic, allowing them to cast spells anywhere. I wanted something like that, but mobile.”

She let out a whistle. “Alright. You aimed high for your meister-tier spell. Trying to give yourself a summonable magical lair. Um, inspiration… What about your flame cage? The one Pola whined about because she nearly burned down the club when she blew it up?”

“I mean, there’s lots of examples of—”

“I mean, can you use that as inspiration? An emergency spell that restrains an attacker.”

“Huh. Like some sort of cage I shoot at attackers.”

“That’s called a net, Vince.” Fia tilted her head and her tail wagged rapidly. “Maybe try a fire net? It’d be long range, an effective weapon, and it would last a while. Plus, once you find more time to practice, you could even learn how to control its size and how hot it burns.”

“And probably turn the flames off and on,” he mused. “I’ll look some up.”

She nodded.

Unfortunately, while he found some footage taken from circuses and various entertainment acts of flaming nets being shot across stages, nobody seemed to provide any public demonstrations of fire nets, let alone assistance on learning one.

“Don’t you have some spell references?” Fia asked, leaning over his shoulder. Her hot breath washed over his ears, cheeks, and neck.

“One. It’s terrible, though.”

Case in point, it lacked any fire nets. Evidently their idea wasn’t part of the classical fire mage repertoire.

Fia pulled out her own phone and began checking it. After several long, quiet minutes, she let out a noise.

“Found one,” she said. “Hopefully the description and image of it, plus the guide on the channeling elements speeds things up.”

The real reason they wanted a reference or guide was because it provided a clearer mental image. Right now, all Vince had in mind was a flaming net. He could probably cast that relatively quickly, but it might not be what he needed.

More problematically, wizard-tier spells often had elements that made them much harder to cast than expected. Vince could probably shoot a flaming net, but would it act as a net?

The problem sounded simpler than it was. Flames burned people, but weren’t physical impediments. A net wrapped around people and knocked them down, as it had weight and a specific structure. Converting raw fire into something with physical presence, like with his fire cage, required him to cast the spell in a specific way.

A guide helped him along the way, by giving tips on how to bind magic to the spell or how he might envisage it. Vince still needed to do the hard yards and actually construct his own version of the spell to accomplish everything.

So that’s what he did. As no stranger to putting in hard work, he buckled down with Fia and got to learning a new spell.

Vince spent close to an hour simply trying to get the basic version of the fire net down. Each cast took a good minute, and he sometimes took five or six minutes between each one, thinking about what had gone wrong or consulting the reference or Fia.

She provided advice or tips, and let him grouse about a minor problem he had with the net not wrapping around the target near the end of the hour. They used one of the empty soda bottles from earlier, tossing it into the air with each cast to see if the net would behave like a real net. His control over fire enabled him to prevent the bottle from incinerating instantly.

Nothing drastic had gone wrong. He hadn’t burned down the park or accidentally fired a net the size of a skyscraper.

Afterward came the tweaking. While Fia had suggested making the spell better later, he pushed and tried to fix it now. He needed some way to adjust the size of the net, plus the velocity and how far he wanted it to travel. Complex stuff that took hours.

While he focused on his spell, she took up residence in another corner of the secluded clearing and practiced casting spells. Unlike when she usually used them in fights, she refused to use incantations. This proved difficult for her, as she often stared red-faced for extended periods of time, accomplishing nothing.

But little was accomplished without practice. If Fia wanted to use incantationless magic, she needed to put in the effort.

They took a break as the sun began to set and the cold of late fall set in. Fia had vanished and returned with a couple of energy drinks.

“Thanks,” he said. “I forgot to bring any.”

“I can tell you planned ahead,” she said drily.

He shrugged. “It’s not like I couldn’t have bought one. Unlike in the middle of a fight.”

“Fair. What are your plans for the rest of the week? You heard Alessia, after all. I also doubt we’ll be moving the moment the conference starts.”

He cracked open his energy drink and slugged a fair bit of it back. Her ears twitched as she watched, as if shocked.

“This’ll be how things are for a few days,” he said. “Just practicing out here until I can hit the next two sites.”

“Good work ethic. I figure I’ll join in, then,” she said. “I’m stuck with you until this job is done. Might as well keep you company.”

“Stuck with me?” he asked, keeping his tone light. Her ears twitched again at his light accusation.

“Somebody needs to make sure you don’t fall down some stairs and cark it before you can finish the job.” She poked him. “It’s probably easier for me to give you a lift out here, so we should organize a time. And make sure you don’t collapse due to running low on magic.”

“Nina will bitch if I come home each day smelling like you,” he said.

“I’m sure you’ll suffer as she rubs her scent into you to get my stink of your skin.”

“Absolutely. I think your cigarettes linger a little.”

Fia frowned and sniffed her own clothes. “Damn. I’ve probably gotten used to it. A lot of the family enforcers are not so good at the smelling part. Too much time in dingy holes full of crap. Alessia picked up on Nina after all.” Her frown abruptly turned into a deep scowl.

“Something wrong?” He remembered the look of shock on her face when Alessia first questioned him about Nina.

“Do you mind if I lean in and smell you? Not in a weird way.” She paused. “I’m guessing you showered this morning. Your conditioner and bodywash are cheap shit, but I would have definitely smelled sex all over you when I first met you.”

“Thanks.” But he nodded.

Not that he’d mind if Fia smelled him in a weird way.

Dealing with his attraction to other women while being together with Nina would prove difficult. She’d commented something about how he could take multiple partners, but wrapping his head around the idea might take a little while.

At least he wouldn’t get his head ripped off by her for being a little appreciative of Fia, especially when she flirted back.

Speaking of flirting, she leaned in and took some big whiffs of his clothes. Her head stayed well clear of his lower half.

“Okay, yeah, you have a lingering scent of a lion on you,” she said. “It’s not strong, though. But I really should have guessed what race your roommate was. It’s ingrained deep enough that there’s no way you don’t live with her. No wonder Alessia picked up on it.”

“My clothes smell like Nina just from being around her?” he asked, incredulous. “You’re basically saying the air itself stinks of her.”

“That’s what homes are like, yeah. Assuming she’s not rubbing her face in your clothes when you’re not home.”

Vince sipped on his energy drink while staring meaningfully into the distance. Slowly, giggling erupted from Fia, followed by outright laughter.

“You knew she was doing that, but weren’t fucking her?” she asked, holding him with one arm as if she might fall over.

“I’m joking,” he said. “But she did tend to steal my shirts. Given the size difference, they weren’t for sleeping in.”

“No shit. She’d suffocate in her sleep if she tried to wear one.”

“Nah, she just looks like she put on clothes from her childhood.”

“Speaking from experience, huh.”

Both of them finished their energy drinks. Fia tossed both of them in the trash.

They only snuck in another hour or so of practice before it got too dark and cold to bother continuing out here. While he could continue elsewhere, that would annoy Nina and start burning more magic than he really needed. Plus, the time spent mulling over the spell would help cement it in his mind. Sleeping would help his mind piece together the pieces of the spell subconsciously.

Fia dropped him off home, where he’d have to see how Nina fared after a foul day at work. Especially now he was coming home smelling of Fia and Alessia. Maybe Nina really would remove their scent the hard way.

- - - - -

Commentary: Fia flirting and some spell learning. Also, the water elemental from Vince's past shows himself.

This scene ended up being messy to write because I moved it around a few times while writing everything. It's also been a while since I wrote it (I'm currently editing a larger action scene, which is why I keep forgetting to schedule posts), so it's difficult to spot the little continuity errors that might crop up without a proper reread.

Otherwise, this chapter is mostly a treat for those who like the times stories stop to focus on how the MC gets stronger and the magic stuff.