Silverite observed her domain and was unhappy. That’s what Erick felt, anyway. She glared at Xemal. She glared at Jane. She glared at the footless incani girl. After lingering on the girl, she nodded to Hera who had been waiting for a signal. Hera took her truth crystal out from her bag and stood there with the crystal in the palm of her hand, for all to see.

Two of the three teenagers gulped. Xemal almost spoke up, but both Hera and Felair slowly shook their heads at her. She held her tongue.

Silverite asked the footless teenager, “What’s your name?”

The girl spoke up from her seat, “Zimmy Saker, Mayor.”

The truthstone glowed green in Hera’s hand.

Silverite said, “Before we begin, let me remind everyone that these sorts of shenanigans end in exile, all the time. A little fight now and then is not a problem. The Quiet War in my streets is a problem. It is a major problem, and you already know this.” She turned her glare on the child. “Relay to us now the order of events as you recall them, starting with the minutes before you received your first wounds.”

Zimmy tried to speak, “Uh. We were… We saw them and we— we…” tears rolled down her face as she whispered about how she had no one outside of the city, and she couldn’t get exiled.

The male teenager yelled, “We said words at them and they said words at us and we left!”

Silverite’s eyes glanced at the green stone. She returned her eyes to the people in front of her. She spoke, “The problem with the Quiet War is that the loss of life and property it creates, ripples across generations, either to spark into an inferno right then, or to lie dormant until something stirs the flames in some other far corner of the world. I won’t have that spark stir to life in my town, but I also won’t cause unneeded loss, adding to the tinder myself. Zimmy.”

Zimmy looked up.

“I know your family. I know your history. The Sakers have been a part of Spur for a hundred and fifty years. Your father behind you is a valued member of the community. He does some of the best metal work in the city.”

The bystander of the muggings stood up. “Please forgi—”

“Silence,” Silverite’s voice was hard as steel. And then it softened, “To all three children and Mister Saker: you will not be exiled today, but you came close. We will assign the blame for today’s activities due to misplaced fear, and the childrens’ fresh Matriculation clouding their judgment. Please leave the courtroom—”

The kids and the father sagged in relief.

“—and prepare to report for civic duty in the coming weeks, after we deal with these shadowolves. Mister Saker, you too. Don’t think I haven’t heard the stories about you skirting the line of public decency. You will all be restoring parts of the Human District at my leisure. I hope you know [Mend], or it’s hard labor until I decide you’ve had enough.”

The boy almost whined, but Mister Saker clipped him in the back of the head. They all bowed as best they could, then left as fast as they could, Mister Saker carrying his daughter away in his arms. Zimmy curled up against his chest, softly crying. Of all the incani who had shown up to the courthouse, only Xemal and the unnamed incani remained. Xemal sat facing forward, perfectly still, like she was waiting for execution.

Silverite watched the father and the kids leave the room, and the door shut behind them.

She turned to Xemal,

“Stand.”

Xemal stood, and stiffened.

Silverite said, “You’re too good at your job, Xemal. You make this town run better in every possible way, except when it comes to humans, then you’d throw your career, your life, your morals out the window. You should never have been allowed anywhere near two humans looking for property in their district, but you wormed your way into a position of power over them. You knew you should not have done this. I know what happened to you; it was a tragedy. I’m sorry for that. I’d love to exile you for this stunt, but I’m not going to. Not this time.”

Part of Xemal’s perfectly statuesque demeanor cracked with relief. She smiled, but the smile was gone as fast as it had appeared.

“Report on what you saw, Xemal.”

She did.

She reported on the entire fight.

The ENTIRE. FIGHT. She had been watching, invisible, from the sidelines, the whole time. Unable or unwilling to help, she did not say, probably because to do so would out her as a liar, or negligent in her duties as an agent of the city. She spoke with eloquence and poise, in a clear voice that held no room for disagreement. Erick found that every word she said was true compared to what he remembered, and some of her words painted Jane in a good light, but that was likely on purpose. Over the course of Xemal’s report, Erick realized that he had missed a lot of details. Like how Jane had saved his life at least seven times while he wasn’t looking in the right direction. As Xemal’s rendition of events came to a conclusion, Erick concluded that he was a fricken terrible combatant and that he should stay as far away from all fights as humanly possible, from now on.

Erick also concluded that Jane was awesome. But he already knew that.

“… and then the shadowcat made itself known on the sidelines. I cannot attest to why it chose to stay out of the fight, but it is my understanding that they are cowardly masterminds. That might have something to do with how it chose to act.”

The truthstone had been green the whole time.

Silverite said, “I could call you a cowardly mastermind, too, but you were prepared to step in if necessary, right? Hera, cover the stone.”

Hera covered the truth stone.

Xemal said, “Yes. Of course I was.”

“Thank you, Xemal. I’m thankful for your report. Uncover the stone, Hera.”

Hera revealed the green truthstone again.

Silverite turned toward Jane and Erick. “You two have been well behaved so far. One of you even got a Silver Star, almost as soon as you arrived out of the Crystal Forest. Why do you think that is, Mister Flatt? I think it’s because you’re an other-worlder and you have never heard of the Quiet War before you arrived on Veird.”

Xemal gasped, poise broken, shame writ upon her face as her eyes dashed back and forth. Hera could not school away her smile. Neither could Felair, but his smile came with a laugh.

The man in the audience behind Xemal cursed, quietly.

Erick was missing something important. Why was Xemal acting like that? Was it an act? Irogh made ‘outsiders’ seem like a common enough occurrence that no one would really care about his origins. Erick never even tried to hide the fact that he wasn’t born on Veird. Al knew. Savral and Bacci knew. Silverite and her people obviously knew, but that information didn’t get around the office? Was Xemal an outcast among her officemates?

Odd.

Silverite spoke again, this time to Xemal. “You didn’t know that, did you? You went off into battle without your sword. Remember this feeling, the next time the Quiet War clouds your judgment.”

Ah. Maybe she heard a rumor and thought it false.

Xemal turned toward Erick and Jane, bowing deeply, saying, “I’m truly sorry for how I acted! I thought you were human. I had no idea you were truly planar.”

The stone stayed green.

Erick was stunned. Not human?

Jane said, “Planar? Uh? It says ‘human’ on the status.”

Silverite said, “You’re not from Veird. A Deep Scan has proven this to both Irogh and Rozeta—

Xemal retook her seat, more stunned than Erick at being called ‘not human’. The incani behind her cursed again, louder this time.

“—You have no racial history in the Quiet War, and that racial history is what matters to most of the human and incani leadership. Boots on the ground, though… That’s a different story. They’ll see your face and call you human. Don’t go thinking anything has been solved by the actions of today.” She turned her eyes on Xemal. “But there’s a lot of problems that might go away, now that the incani in charge know that you’re not a trueborn Veird-human.”

Xemal said nothing.

“Now for the meat of the meal.” Silverite said, “Jane Flatt. Please describe the shadowcat.”

Jane stood. “It was smaller than a shadowolf, but larger than a common house cat. Maybe. I couldn’t tell exactly. It was covered in living shadow that was thicker than a shadowolf’s shadows. Maybe 20 kilos. Sharp yellow eyes. An echoing growl. The shadows all around it were deeper than normal, out to a space of ten or so meters. Maybe larger? Uh… I think it had multiple tails? Not sure on that last one.”

The green stone stayed green.

Silverite nodded. “Two truth-verified reports are enough for me.” She spoke up, “Guildmaster Mog, consider the kill quest issued. Standard reward unless the situation changes. There will be no more authorized incursions into Ar’Kendrithyst until the shadowcat has been slain and its body shown to me, or you, or to someone else that can verify its death. You know the relevant people.”

She turned to Erick and Jane. “Do you two like it here in Spur?”

Erick didn’t have to think long. He stood, and words came to him. “I do, Mayor. I’d prefer less excitement, but the ease of cleaning and fixing broken things is amazing. And everything is within walking distance! And magic! I’ve never done magic before I came here. But… It’s all very new. I think I could learn to love Spur quite a lot, especially if Jane chooses to stay.”

The truthstone stayed green.

Silverite let a small smile grace her visage. She turned to Jane.

Jane’s answer was different. “Since this world has [Teleport] options I would love for my father to live somewhere safe. Anywhere, really, because I can visit him at any time. But Spur is not safe.”

Xemal said, “I’m so sorry, Ja—”

“Had they killed my father, I would have killed those kids and then you, Xemal. Your deaths would have been a righteous crusade, for you would have been served exactly what you were dealing.” She stared at Xemal. “That is my line in the sand and it is eminently reasonable. Someone kills my dad, I kill them. But since nothing happened, nothing has to happen. I would prefer to keep it this way. I would prefer to not be a part of this Quiet War at all, but I’m not like my father. I’m not above going for the neck when someone comes for mine.”

The stone stayed green the whole time. Erick felt a pit open up in his stomach.

Silverite sighed, saying, “And this is why you did not qualify for a Silver Star.”

“I never expected to receive one. I know what I’m about.”

“You are making this harder on everyone with that attitude.”

“I’d argue that if I didn’t have this attitude, my father would already be dead.”

That was a sobering thought. Erick stared at the green stone, not sure how he felt.

Silverite said, “Very well. That is your line on the ground; let no man cross it, or you.” She breathed in and out, thinking. She said, “You two have proven yourself competent and useful and Al seems to like you. Mog has withheld judgment, but she might have just changed her mind—”

Erick turned to look behind him. Mog was smiling at Jane, then she nodded at him, still smiling. Damn, but orcols are beautiful. He turned back toward Silverite.

“—I want humans back in Spur. I want the Quiet War to go away. But I’m also a realist.” She turned to Xemal. “After the threat of the shadowcat is gone you will issue Erick and Jane a house in the Human District, free of charge. Their choice. Make it easy on them.” Silverite spoke over Xemal’s ‘Yes, Mayor.’ turning to Erick and Jane. “Whatever house you chose will prove if you’re a good match for Spur, or not. If you’re a detriment to my city, you will be removed.” She stood, and the rest of the courtroom stood with her. “Guildmaster Mog. I want to know your plans before you implement them. Meet me in my office by tonight. The Human District is officially under quarantine until the cat and the wolves have been eliminated. You’re all dismissed.”

Silverite left the room through a door behind the judge’s podium.

- - - -

In the afternoon sun, on the giant steps of the white stone courthouse, a flustered Xemal quickly apologized to Erick and Jane, before running off back into the courthouse. What did she say? Erick didn’t know. Neither did Jane.

Mog laughed loud, as she walked toward the Adventurer's District, tears streaming down her face as she laughed again and again. Erick watched her get twenty feet down the road and laugh again.

For their own retreat from the events of the day, Erick and Jane followed Al back to the sewerhouse.

They did not walk through the incani neighborhood.

- - - -

There was a third floor to the gold-colored sewerhouse, that was not gold at all. Above the holographic sewer pipes and gold slimes of the first floor, the second floor was a patchwork of gold wall and grey-brown stone, stretching upward into a pure grey-brown.

“Even if you don’t use it, I’m redoing the whole Sewerhouse, anyway. Two of the Resting rooms are on the third floor.” Al said, “Come and see!”

Erick stared up at the third floor. It looked really nice from the outside. Lots of windows. A little balcony.

“How did you even do this?”

“[Stoneshape] and Aurify. Takes a lot of mental concentration, but if you can do it, you can make most anything you want out of stone.” He added, “Don’t go digging down until you know what you’re doing; get a certification from the Mage Guild. Too many people have died testing out non-existent architecture skills.” Al walked to the door and unlocked it. “Let’s go see!”

The front room had not changed. It was still full of opulence, with the glass case for rads center stage and everything colored gold. The stairway leading up to the second floor was the same. The rushing sound of the river was still there, downstairs, but as they reached the third floor, the constant thrum was considerably less.

Al led them on to the third floor. This new kind of Resting room looked almost exactly the same as Al and Savral’s apartment on the second floor. There was the kitchen, there were the two rooms on the side, there was the living room that wasn’t separate from the kitchen. The pillows and two of the couches from the downstairs Rest rooms were in the living room. Through the open door to a bedroom, Erick saw more pillows, and a couch. The couches were as big as beds, anyway, so that was all good.

Erick smiled. “It looks really nice, Al. I accept. For now.” He added, “Jane does too.”

Jane walked forward through the space, saying, “Of course I do. Thank you, Al.”

Al’s smile beamed wide. “Ah ha! Very good!” He stepped backward. “Explore the space at your leisure. I won’t put up the alarm ward until much later in the day, so— Ah… hmm.” He turned to Erick. “Do you have [Blink], or anything like that? You both can come and go as you wish. I made a landing out there for you for that. But I do put up the alarm [Ward] at night.”

Erick eyed his Status. There were some points left, but there were changes and messages waiting for some downtime, so he quickly bought [Blink] and exited the Script before it all overwhelmed.

“I do now.”

“Good man!” Al turned away, stepping down the stairs. “Good show in the courtroom, today. I’ll make dinner later!”

And then he was gone.

Jane went to a couch and collapsed, exhausted.

Erick went to the nearest room and did the same.

- - - -

He woke to the smell of food. Something spicy and probably meaty. The sun was still high in the sky, outside of the windows of his room. When he stumbled out into the rest of the apartment, he saw Jane cooking in the kitchen with two bags of groceries behind her.

“Nice nap?”

Erick said, “Wonderful nap. What are you cooking?”

“I opened a bank account at the mage guild then went down to the market and found some stuff.” She pushed around some sliced meat in a pot, with green not-chives and some sort of sauce. “Got some sausage; not sure what kind of meat but the samples were delicious. Some onion-like things, bread, some maybe-tomatoes. This and that.” She pointed to the bags behind her and Erick went to investigate. “I also had a nice chat with some farmers about the produce.”

Erick pulled out a bulbous two-foot long white root-thing. There was an unidentifiable fruit, as well as a sweet smelling fruit. And lots of bread. Jane loved bread, so that was no surprise. As he was pulling out stuff, he asked, “What about the produce?”

“[Grow] is a generalized accelerated growing spell, but it can also be used to cultivate a specific outcome. If you do it right, you can create a new kind of real living plant. Like accelerated selective breeding.” Jane smiled. “Like turning this—” she held up a not-chive. “—into a sweet onion. Only without the generations that it took humans on Earth. You could have a viable product in a few months.”

Erick eyed the not-chive. “Really?”

“Yeah. There’s a catch, though. If you do it really wrong and make, like, killer kudzu, you’ll get a god-quest on your head to hunt you down and all of your plants.” She waved her stirring spoon at him, careful not to drip the sauce. “Don’t go making killer-kudzu.” She returned to stirring the pot. “What’s your status like now, anyway?”

Erick ignored the blue boxes at the edge of his sight. “I’ve been ignoring it.”

“Pffpt! Dad!” Jane pointed at the couch in front of her. “Don’t ignore the problem.”

“Jane, but—”

She glared at him.

Erick walked over to the couch and pulled up all the boxes he had been ignoring.

Status.

Erick Flatt

Human, age 48

Level 10, Class: None

Exp: 2297/8900

Class: -/-

Points: 5

HP

90/90

150 per day

MP

554/554

554 per day

Strength

9

+0

[9]

Vitality

15

+0

[15]

Willpower

20

+0

[20]

Focus

20

+0

[20]

Favored Spell waiting!

Spoiler: Spoiler

Concentration 8

Multiply your base MP regen by 2.77

Requirements: 20 Focus

Exp: 1855/3400

Discipline 8

Multiply your base MP by 2.77

Requirements: 20 Willpower

Exp: 586/3400

Clarity 4

Reduces spell costs by 20%

Exp: 200/500

Mana Shaping 5

Alter spell AOE in better, subtle ways, 10 MP + spellcost

Alter spell AOE in better, moderate ways, 30 MP + spellcost

Aurify Unlocked

Requirements: 10 Willpower

Exp: 140/800

Aurify 1

Transform an AOE spell into a semi-permanent effect surrounding yourself, based upon the parameters of the Aurified spell. Increase an instantaneous spell to a 1 second duration in order to create an aura.

Able to support 1 aura at a time.

Exp: 0/10000

Mana Altering 1

Bludgeoning, Slashing, or Piercing Damage

Exp: 0/100

Meditation 7

You are at Rest while Meditating.

Afflicted ailments: Normal movement, small actions/spells.

Requirements: 10 Willpower

Exp: 1726/2100

Cleanse 5, instant, short range, 10 mana.

Purge an area equal to the level of the spell in meters of all Toxins, Disease, Filth, and Corruption.

Exp: 470/800

Mend 4, instant, touch, 10 mana

Touch a non-magical medium sized object, or small complicated, and restore it to its prime.

Exp: 200/500

Ward 7, instant, short range, 24 hours,

Create a Small Ward that can have Minor Effects, or prevent Z damage from attackers. 10 MP + Z

Create a Small Ward that can have Small Effects, or prevent Z damage from attackers. 15 MP + Z

Create a Special Ward. Variable Cost

Create a Medium Ward that can have Small Effects, or prevent Z damage from attackers. 20 MP + Z

Create a Medium Ward that can have Medium Effects, or prevent Z damage from attackers. 25 MP + Z

Personal Ward: Any Ward of any type can be made Personal, to move with you. Original Cost x2

Create a Large Ward that can have Medium Effects, or prevent Z damage from attackers. 30 MP + Z

Minor Effects: Bug Ward, Temperature Ward, Alarm Ward

Small Effects: Visual Disruption, Audio Disruption, Weather Ward

Medium Effects: Area Hostile Visual Disruption, Area Hostile Audio Disruption

Special Ward: Eschew all other effects in order to shape, color, and illuminate a ward however you can. Skill at mana manipulation determines final outcome.

Exp: 97/2100

Force Beam 2, instant, medium range, 25 mana

A piercing, slicing beam of hardened mana that deals 25 + ½ WIL damage for 2 seconds

Exp: 175/200

Force Shrapnel 2, instant, short cone, 5 MP

Sharpened forward blast of mana that deals 5 + ½ WIL damage in a cone

Exp: 5/200

Blink 1, instant, 25 MP

Instantly move from your location to another within , max range 10m per level of Blink

Exp: 0/100

Clarity’s experience value looked like it operated off of total spell cost, and not some small percentage of whatever it was reducing; it would be easy to level. All the other spells didn’t seem to care about less mana spent, either. Erick was thankful for that. He didn’t want to deal with a whole bunch of tiny numbers everywhere; it was already bad enough.

[Ward] was getting bigger. It was the easiest to level, though. One 500 point [Ward], and boom! 510 experience. Easy peazy, lemon squeezy. Leveling all those DPS spells, though. Ugh. [Force Beam] leveled in 25 point increments, so that wasn’t so bad. [Force Shrapnel] probably wouldn’t be that bad as soon as he practiced it with Aurify.

Looking at his new level 10, Erick felt dirty. He must have gotten almost 5000 experience from that fight, including the spells he cast. Killing things really was the best way to level base level, wasn’t it?

Erick felt like he needed a bath. A nice hot shower. Maybe a hot tub.

… He could make himself a hot tub.

He had never had a hot tub!

He leapt to his feet.

Jane looked ready for anything. “What happened, Dad?”

He turned at her, and with a deep, solemn voice, said, “I could [Stoneshape] a hot tub and then use a temperature [Ward] to make the water hot. It would require zero maintenance because I have [Cleanse]. I have no idea where I would get the water but I could figure that out later! Ahhaha!”

Jane almost threw the wooden spoon at him. Erick could see it in her eyes, that urge, the tension in her grip. But she went back to stirring dinner, or lunch, whatever it was, a smile creeping up on her face. Ah. It had to be lunch. Al said he would make dinner.

She said, “You knooow, Daad~ There’s a bathhouse in the orcol part of—”

“I cannot do that, Jane.”

She laughed loud and happy.

Erick already knew full well there was a bathhouse in the Orcol District.

But when the Most Beautiful People all go somewhere to enjoy a bath, nude, as a cultural thing? Erick felt out of place before he even got to the front door, no matter that there were also dragonkin and incani in the area. Fleeing that place was not one of his proudest moments, but he ran anyway. He ran very fast, and the less Jane knew about all that, the better.

Jane called out, “Hey, Al! Want a late lunch?”

Al’s voice carried up the stairs, “On my way!”

Jane smirked. Erick paused. She was planning something. Oh no. What was she planning?

Al appeared in the doorway then stepped inside, saying, “Smells good!”

“Before we have lunch~ Dad is embarrassed to be seen at the bathhouse, but he wants to go and enjoy a lot of hot water. Is there some cultural thing preventing him, or…?"

Erick almost died right there.

Al answered, laughing as he did so, but Erick was so deep in the throes of embarrassment he couldn’t hear the words around him even if he wanted to. It was decided, without one iota of Erick’s own choice, that Al would take Erick to the bathhouse tomorrow morning, when the crowds are small. ‘There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, but you’ll likely get more than your fair share of stares. Not many humans in Spur!’

Or at least that’s what Erick thought someone said in the middle of their awkward lunch. Of sausages. A lunch of sausages. Thanks for that joke, too, Jane!