Magic Breaker Ch 4-6

Chapter 4: Parents

[Level up! 1 > 2]

Lv. 2

Heart: 2

Power: 1

Vessel: 7

I look at my stats. Vessel went up by one without me putting a stat in. I placed one in heart, since it seemed important not to be exhausted by all the walking we were doing. Two more into vessel should have left it at 6, but it sat at 7.

The air tingles against my skin. The itch from the acidic blood is almost negligible now, which I’m grateful for. I reach out to the tingling air, feeling it abuzz. I try to [Select] it, but that fails. Instead, I focus on what is going on inside me.

Vessel. It was my highest stat by far, even though it was not particularly high yet. I felt a buzzing source in my chest, which feeds into my skills when I activate them. It feels about half full right around now.

We’re almost at Inu’s house. Her forehead is beaded with sweat, and I can feel twinges of pain from her, but she handles them. We’ve gotten her a level, too. She was scared of attacking the goblins, but she did it despite that. 

I smile. ‘My friend is really rather brave, isn’t she?’

Inu grunts, jumping over another bit of rubble. The streets are now empty, most people having filtered into their houses after the emergency alert. We’re decked out in goblin weapons. I tied five daggers to my belt, and Inu has two strapped against her backpack.

We also keep three of their bone-axes. Those seem a little rarer, and are rather sturdy, though my first one broke just a bit ago.

“That’s the house, right?” I ask, pointing my axe at an apartment building. It’s about four stories high, the paint outside just a bit chipped. It looked old without being too run down, the kind that seemed like someone might murder you inside, but was actually rather homely.

“Yeah,” Inu nods. “That’s where I live.” 

We hadn’t met there too often, but I was going to sleep over there today. Until the world ended. I gave the house a long look, then the dimming sky. Might still sleep there, I amend.

Inu walks to the door. It takes a little more time, and we have to hop over some more rubble, but nothing too bad. I take the time to look around, trying to see if any humans are around, but none show themselves.

My friend eventually manages to get the key into the lock, swinging open the door to the stairwell. It’s cold inside, colder than outside, and I feel the hair on my skin stand up. Something feels messed up. The tingling against my skin is stronger. 

I give Inu a long look and she nods. We make our way further up, quietly. To the first floor, then the second. White walls with fading paint and worn stone steps. Then, there’s a deafening crack, and we’re showered with stone shards, ducking instantly. 

A gun.

“Hands above your head!” a voice demands, loud and angry, echoing through the empty stairwell. I stretch my arms up slowly, making sure to appear as harmless as I can. Just some kid, right? 

The person holding it is much older than me, in his forties. He sports a gruff beard, terrified eyes, and unkempt hair. In one word, I would describe him as panicked. “Who are you?” he barked. “You here to loot? Steal our shit, huh? Want me to blow your brains out?!”

My eyes remain set on the gun. Inu starts talking, but I have full faith in her ability to manage this. Instead, I [Select] the gun. It’s funny, feeling how it works. I get a sense for all its mechanisms, the way a little movement is used to unleash so much force.

I restrain my desire to tilt my head. Can I mess with the weapon? All I need to do is prevent the hammer from striking… but as I think about it, the man lowers the gun.

Looking up, I feel that Inu has used [Empathy] on him. The man shares some of her fear, but it’s a softer one, directed at himself. He looks at his own hands. “What… was I about to do?” he says, half sobbing. “Shooting at… some kids! How old even are you??”

“Twenty-two,” I reply without hesitation.

He laughs, though it sounds desperate. “I think that was rhetoric,” Inu tells me.

“Right, sorry,” I nod. 

“Ugh…” the man says, still caught up with himself. “I… sorry.” The gun lowers some more, and he puts it aside fully. Putting the safety back on and all. I deselect it.

“Do you… wanna come in?” he asks.

Inu shakes her head. “My parents live on the next floor,” she says

The man just nods, and waves a hand, closing his door again. I was tempted to get the gun, but they never last long in an apocalypse. I don’t think that we’ll be facing just goblins for much longer.

When we reach the third floor, Inu is shaking. I feel her reach out for some calm again and readily accept. She shares in the solemn silence within me. The girl takes a few deep breaths, then flashes me a brief smile, before unlocking the door, and opening it. “Mom? Dad? It’s me,” she calls.

I’m hit with the smell of… soup. Tomato soup. 

“Inu!” a woman calls, rushing at her and giving her a hug. She winces as they put pressure on her injured shoulder. “Oh, Inu, I’m so glad you’re back home. Where were you?” She holds onto her daughter with both arms.

A little later, I see her father lumber around the corner, too. He is a tall, thin man, with a frown set on his face and wiry, brown hair. He pushes up his thin glasses, then eyes me. “Is this your friend? Snow, you said?”

The daughter nods for me. “Yes. That’s Snow.”

He eyes me once more. “Right, I see,” he says. “Come in, you two. I’m sure you’re hungry.”

I look at Inu, then follow them inside. Her mother shares Inu’s dark skin and black hair, though the older woman’s is much longer. She’s tall, too, a little taller than me, and wears a stretchy woolen sweater.

They guide me to the dinner table, then put stew in front of us. Inu digs in like a rabid dog. My own appreciation for the food is much more measured. “It’s very good, thank you,” I tell them, and my friend’s parents soften a little.

“You look… hurt,” the mom comments. Inu told me her name, but I forgot.

“I’m okay,” I say. The few bruises and scratches won’t kill me. Well, unless I get hit by some kind of mutant virus, but in that case, I’ll figure out some way to kill it. “Your daughter took an arrow through the shoulder. We didn’t have disinfectant wi-”

“What?!” her father interrupts me. The displeased man now looks downright furious. I find myself not caring very much. Maybe if I’d been scared, I’d have flinched, but with the knives around my waist, I feel safe. Instead, I just blankly stare at him. “How?!” he demands.

Inu holds out a hand to explain herself, so I let her. Instead, I focus on the soup, and the tingling in the air. The hairs on my arm are still standing on end, and I can feel that the world has changed. My vessel is filling. Would this be called mana? I’ll call it mana.

I eye my skills again. [Selection] and [Suppression], both still at level one. I haven’t had much reason to train them yet. Our encounters had been fast and brutal. Having something to heal myself would be good. My eye drifts to Inu. No, something to heal my friends.

“Snow? Is that right?” Inu’s mother asks me.

“Yes,” I confirm. “That’s how it happened.” I wasn’t listening, but I’m sure Inu came up with a believable story.

“Oh, you poor things,” she says in a motherly tone. 

Inu pokes me, and I give an awkward smile and a nod. “We… managed.”

“Right, right. I’m glad you’re safe now. Don’t worry Snow, you can stay here until the government deals with this,” she says, eyes flicking to Norman. Her smile is thin.

No way. I have absolutely no faith in our world to mop this up. This is just what my status considers floor zero. And the tingling… I’m pretty sure it’s getting stronger. “I don’t think that’s a smart decision,” I say.

Inu’s eyes flicker to me. I nod, faintly, letting her know I mean it. Her dad gives me a hard look. “You wanna go out there and die?”

I shake my head. “I don’t plan on it. But I doubt our government will mop this up. Could you try saying ‘Status’, please? It might make things easier to explain.”

“Honey, I’m not sure…” Inu’s mom starts, but her dad is much more relentless.

“Status,” the older man calls, then his eyes go wide. “Name… Norman Kelly. How does it know my name?” 

So he’s called Norman, then. I try to remember it.

“What does this mean? Heart? Vessel? Skills?”

“What are your skills, dad?” Inu asks, gently.

He gives her a long look, then swallows heavily. “[Unassuming] and [Protection].”

Those sound useful. I could see myself working with him.

Inu’s mom, on the other hand just seems more confused. “Love… what are you talking about? Skills? A status?” A moment later she yelps, staring wide-eyed at the air. 

I bite back a sigh of impatience at the antics. “Heart is your lifeforce. Power is your capability for physical exertion. Vessel is your capacity for magic,” I explain. “Everyone seems to get two skills assigned. They work as you think they would, with some leeway.”

“Mine are [Empathy] and [Resistance],” Inu adds. “The first lets me share emotions between people. The second… well. It’s why my arm doesn’t hurt too bad.” Her smile is a little crooked, but I find myself almost smiling as well. Silly girl.

“Oh dear,” her mother says.

“Mom? What did you get?” Inu asks.

The older woman takes a long breath. The words come out calmly. “[Dissect] and [Freeze].”

Now those sound useful. I lean forward a little. “Until now, we’ve found that the skills seem to be inherently supernatural. They don’t just mean you can do something well with mundane means, they mean you can do it better than possible with mundane means,” I say.

Before I can continue, the tingling intensifies. I stand up without hesitation and walk to the window. When I open it, a howling wind crashes into me, almost sending me back a step, but I keep looking. The air is thick with… something. A moment later, a tiny green thing comes flying at my face.

Chapter 5: City

The goblin stabs its knife at me, crashing through the window and sending us sprawling in a tangle of limbs. Without hesitation, I [Suppress] it’s movements, my mind clamping down on it, turning the little beast sluggish.

My own knife slices open its throat just as it digs into my leg with its fingers. It hurts and breaks skin, but probably isn’t too deep. The caustic blood spills on me, and I close my eyes before they can get irritated. 

[You have killed a lv. 1 Goblin]

While the others are still stunned, I spit on the floor. “Inu, could you point me to the bathroom? I’d like to wash this off.”

Her mom stops screaming to listen to me talk. Inu… nods, I think, though I don’t see it, and grabs my hand, pulling me along. Then, there’s the sound of running water, and she guides my hand into the stream.

I wash my face thoroughly, feeling the tingling of the blood abate a little. My skin feels raw, but after a minute, I can open my eyes again. Inu seems to be in a rapid conversation with her parents, trying to convince them that staying is dangerous.

I take another moment to wash my face, staring into my own dark eyes. Then, I wash the blood out of my long, white hair. Some of the dye has faded, but it looks like the acid is bleaching it, making a similar colour. I turn to listen to their conversation instead.

“If only the damn window had stayed closed,” Norman complained. 

“Then we’d have been surprised,” I tell him calmly. “Something threw the goblin up. Something big.”

“Already?” Inu whispers. “What are we thinking? Hobgoblin? Troll?”

I shrug. “Dunno. But we need to move. Right now, safety means more people. Do you own a gun?” 

Her parents shake their heads and I nod slowly. “Fine. Take whatever you can use, then. Knives, baseball bats, food rations. We’ll go grab the others.”

“The others?” Inu’s mom asks. 

“Thatch, Opal, Sylves,” I say. “My friends.”

“Can’t we… stay? Hide?” Norman asks. There is some of that [Unassuming] nature. My lips twitch at the suggestion. 

“Yes,” I say. “Feel free to. I’ll be off, then.”

Inu grabs my sleeve. “I’ll come with you, Snow,” she says, decidedly. Her dad’s eyes widen.

“No, you are not!” Norman yells. He even snatches her arm, grabbing onto her. 

Without hesitation, I [Select] him. The skill clicks into place, marking him as my target. I draw upon my vessel, feeling that tingling within me, willing my mana to fuel [Suppression]. Gently, I step up, and remove his hand. He doesn’t have the strength to resist.

“Norman, with all due respect,” I say. “The world is ending. You can hide here until you die, and that is your decision. I plan on living.”

The words are calm, collected and quiet, not loud over the strange wind blowing in through the shattered window. The drapes flutter, as does my hair, and the old man’s eyes shake a little as he looks at me.

His hand drops. “Fine,” he says. “Fine, yes, we’re coming along to your friends. It…” he places his face in his hands. “I’m sorry, Inu.”

“It’s okay, dad,” the girl forgives him.

I do not. I look at her mom. “Do you have a first aid kit? You can pack while I see to our wounds.”

Her eyes drift to the chunks of flesh missing from my legs. “Alright,” she says, calmer than I would have thought. “Yeah.” 

Before we leave, I grab a few more things from the bathroom, and then we’re off.

- - -

My boot presses down on a goblin. I have it locked down, squeezing it to the ground as it lets out pitiful grunts. 

[Suppression 1 > 2]

“Kill it,” I tell Inu.

The girl nods, stepping forward and driving a knife into the goblin’s eye. 

“Levelled,” she tells me. I smile and nod at her. “Two in heart, one in power,” she confirms, and I nod again. I can see her placing the points. The change is clear. Her heart is beating more strongly - almost enough for me to hear it. I can see her get dizzy for a moment as her body catches up, and she clenches her fist.

It’s a big difference. Those first few points are world changing. She touches her shoulder and winces. “It’s so itchy now,” she complains.

I smile. That means she’s healing. We continue stalking through the concrete jungle.

- - -

The wind’s picking up. It’s howling, now, powerful gusts spreading the dust and rubble, making it harder to see. I feel my heart beat in my chest as I look around, staying alert for danger. It feels almost exciting, even though it’s scary.

I feel like I’m being chased by something I cannot see. We haven’t found a sign of the monster that threw the goblin through the window, but I don’t mind. It’ll show up eventually. And then I’ll kill it. The thought of that makes me grin.

A pound of flesh for a pound of flesh. I scratch the wound on my leg a little. 

Then I stop. Inu and her parents do so a moment later. 

I listen, straining my ears to their utmost. The dust makes it hard to see, but I thought there was a shadow darting around. So, I pay attention. Eventually, I hear it. Breathing.

From beneath me.

Chapter 6: Ink

Without hesitation, my eyes scan the ground. There’s a sewer grate… but that doesn’t feel right. No. I feel my hair stand on end, I feel the tingling burn against my skin. Something is wrong. I look at my own shadow. 

It twitches. Something shifts, and the soles of my feet prickle.

I jump back. My shadow stabs upwards in a bed of spikes. The landing is rough, making me stumble, but Inu catches me. “Thanks.”

“What the hell is that?!” her dad, Norman, yells. 

The speck of darkness is still there, nails slowly sinking into the ground again. It’s just a splotch, like someone spilled a bunch of ink on the floor. Well, not quite, it wasn’t that dark. More like an invisible umbrella hanging in the air, darkening a bit of rubble.

Slowly, it shifts. Then vanishes. It doesn’t sink into the cracks in the ground, just vanishes from my sight. Gone, entirely. 

A pinprick sensation rises from my side, and I instantly cast [Suppression] at it, throwing a knife. It hisses through the air, harmlessly clattering to the ground.There is a cut on me, a shallow one, but it’s filled with a creeping darkness.

I [Select] it, keeping it in view, as it seeps underneath my skin. A tiny, inky block of darkness, sitting just next to my ribcage. 

It hurts. It hurts like all hell, like someone pouring molten metal into my insides as it burrows and writhes. It hurts enough to make my eyes tear up and I grit my teeth. I [Suppress] it. My mind wraps around the dark thing, the piece of shadow, and clamps down on it.

Mercilessly, brutally, I target it with all I have. I don’t care what it is, I don’t care what it will do, I simply force it to cease. Each action of it becomes sluggish, terribly slow, and near impossible. 

A shiver runs down my spine. It hasn’t stopped. Tendrils of darkness lurk beneath my skin, burying through me. But it has slowed, and that is the best I can do now. All I need to do is maintain it like this. [Suppress] it. [Suppress] my pain and function, as always.

I take a deep breath. “Snow, you okay?” Inu asks. My friend. Always so caring.

 “Yeah,” I lie. I know it’s a lie, and I’m almost sure Inu will see through it. Why did I lie? Honesty felt so difficult, sometimes. It just slipped out, before I even knew it.

Her eyes narrow, ever so slightly. She’s caught on, already. I keep my face neutral, placid, as it always is. “Okay,” she says. 

“I’m just glad it’s gone,” Inu’s mother - Jess, as I’ve learnt - says. 

“Yeah,” I reply. I’m sure it’s following us. “I’m glad, too. Come on, let’s continue.”

My first step is agony. I focus. Breathe. Lock down my mind. 

[Suppression 2 > 3]

The pain ebbs, and I breathe. One step after another, even as the darkness digs its way through my flesh. Trying to not notice the way it writhes underneath my skin.

“Let’s go get Thatch.”

- - -

More goblins attack us, and I help the others kill them. It doesn’t take too long to get Norman and Jess to level one. 

They’ve finally started using their skills, too. Inu’s dad is good at stopping attacks, especially on others. [Protection] manifests as him casting barriers, and [Unassuming] makes him harder to notice. Jess, on the other hand, displays more violent tendencies.

[Freeze] lets her target enemies directly, throwing icy bolts at their legs. I tell her to butcher them with [Dissect], studying their muscles to see if they have weaknesses. 

I’m a little curious if they’re edible, but refrain from giving it a try. Not that desperate yet. Instead, I chew on a granola bar from the ranger store as we walk. We don’t stop, even as we grow exhausted. Higher heart scores help ease the fatigue, but it still builds. 

My vessel feels strained. I barely have any mana left inside me. Still, I need to [Suppress] it. I’m infected. Like in a crappy zombie flick or something. It hurts like hell, and I scrape the bottom of the barrel, each grain of mana left within me, to keep the skill active, to slow down the burrowing.

It’s scraping against my bones. Eating my ribs. 

Are monsters like this supposed to drop so early? How terrifying. 

- - -

We arrive at Thatch’s house. He lives with his mom. His dad abandoned them when he came out as trans. Some of the windows on the apartment building are broken, but I ring the doorbell anyway.

Silence.

I ring it again, then for a third time, before someone picks up. “Who’s this?”

The shaky voice on the other side makes me smile, ever so faintly. “Hey Thatch,” I greet my friend. “It’s Snow. Open up?”

“Ah, yeah!” His tone shifts, now sounding excited. “Yes. Come in.”

With a buzz, the latch on the door releases and I open it. 

The first step on the staircase is the worst. Agony spreads through my side. I grit my teeth, setting my jaw. My eyes go glassy for a moment, but I walk onwards. Thatch lives on the third floor. I need to get to him. I need to.

Inu places a hand on my back, steadying me, making it a little easier to walk. She doesn’t say anything. No accusations, no callouts. I just walk, and she steadies me.

A girl with a hole in her shoulder helps me up the stairs. Eventually, we make it to the second floor. I knock. 

Thatch opens the door. He’s taller than me, too, just a bit. Blonde hair, curly and cut short, framing his face. His eyes are… emerald? They didn’t used to be. I tilt my head. “Thatch?”

“Yeah!” He says, then pulls me into a hug. Miserable pain explodes from my side at the pressure, the creature of ink squirming under my skin. I focus on it, on my tether to it, on keeping it quiet.

[Selection 1 > 2]

It’s worth it. I hug Thatch back.

“Good to see you,” I tell him. “Your eyes are green.”

“Ah! Yeah, my mom said so. It’s a side effect, we think. One of my skills,” he explains.

I nod. Thatch had been into games the most out of all of us. “Which do you have?”

“Just two,” he says. “[Piercing Gaze] and [Rage].”

At that, I blink. “Rage?” I ask.

He turns a little red, blushing. “Ah, well,” he scratches the back of his head. “I can get a little angry. Sometimes.”

Inu gives him a smile and a pat on the shoulder. “Don’t sweat it. Come on. Let’s talk.”

I hold out a hand. “No,” I say. “We talk on the road. Opal and Sylves next.”

At that, everyone gives me a look. Norman scoffs. Thatch takes a long moment, staring at me. His eyes dart to my side, but he ends up nodding. “Okay,” he says. “Let me fetch my mom, and we can go.”

Jess seems afraid to go back out, but it’s necessary. I need to find my friends. I need to. I need to.

“We’re not going anywhere,” Thatch’s mom says.

I stare at her. This might be a problem.