“You’re all back… and sweaty.” Kristen said, standing in the doorway of the backdoor of the house after seeing them through the glass.

“Hey Mom.” Darith smiled. As she stepped out of the way, everyone moved back into the living room and Gabriel noticed the broken chair still in pieces on the floor.

“Sorry about the chair, ma’am.” He said politely as he began to clean it up. Darith took note that the room was almost exactly as it had been left.

“I-it’s fine, I was going to clean it up. So how did it go, in the magical place?” She motioned to the backyard.

“We learned a lot… I found a library and was able to learn a bit of how the crafting works. I’m going to go back and read everything I can but we’re taking a break… how are you guys doing?” Darith asked.

“The Life Magic, I learned the mastery and it taught me new versions of my healing spells from the Sphere mastery. Once I learned how the mastery works it got easier, but… Darith, the NPCs that were fully recovering us, they won’t do it anymore. They said once we’ve joined their world for more than 7 days, it’s no longer possible.”

“Damn… really?” Darith asked, and she nodded. “No more infinite training. I thought it was too good to be true. Now it makes sense why everyone wasn’t ridiculously high leveled.” He turned to the others. “The instructors in the Training Hall, they’ve been able to restore your energy when you run out until now?” Darith asked, and they all nodded.

“Makes training skills way easier.” Jaese replied.

“It looks like they’ll only do that for the first 7 days, so you guys should try and train as much as you can in that time.” Darith said, and they nodded.

“Before we go back, there’s some things I need to take care of. You mind callin’ off the police?” Gabriel asked, turning to Jaese.

“Right… I can try, but it might take some time.”

“I don’t got time, I need them gone by tomorrow.” Gabriel replied.

“I… I don’t think it’s gonna be that easy.” Jaese hesitated.

“Why not, you saw the same shit I did, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, but… I can’t exactly tell them that.”

“Then make up some shit and tell them the truth, Tai’s the criminal, he’s the one that killed those people.” Gabriel snapped back.

“If he tells them that and they go after Tai..” Liana replied.

“She’s right.” Darith joined in.

“I’ll figure it out, I promise, but it might take some time to get their attention completely off you…”

“My brother’s funeral is tomorrow, I aint got that time. They’ll be sittin’ around waiting for me. You tryin’ to tell me I can’t attend it?” Gabriel shouted at him, and everyone went silent.

“I need to tell Miranda where I am, she’ll be worried. After that I’ll come straight back and keep training with you guys, I promise.” Elise said, breaking the silence.

“We’ll see you later.” Liana smiled and waved, and Elise smiled back at her.

“Walk home safe.” Kristen added.

“I’ll go to the station and see what I can do. I can’t promise anything but I’ll try my best.” Jaese said, then followed Elise out.

“Shit.” Gabriel said to himself, sucking his teeth as the door shut behind Jaese. “I haven’t even been home to my Mom since all this happened, she must be destroyed right now.” Gabriel clenched his fists tight.

“Why not go like you are?” Kristen suggested, and this prompted Liana and Darith to eye him up and down.

“Y-yeah, that could work! You look kind of like a normal person. Just a really big one. All we’d have to do is hide your tusks, right?” Darith asked. “As long as you don’t reveal yourself and no city guards see you, it should be okay.” Gabriel looked down at his large body, then to the others in the room.

“I can’t wear this armor, and I doubt any of ya’ll got somethin’ in this house that’ll fit me.” Gabriel said.

“What time is the Funeral? We could rent you a suit that fits from the Big ‘n Small shop downtown.” Kristen suggested.

“Noon last I heard.”

“That works!” Liana

“I appreciate it but, why ya’ll so tryin’ to help someone like me out?” Gabriel asked as he looked at them, none of them anywhere close to the usual company he held.

“We’re a team now.” Darith shrugged.

“Yeah.” Liana joined in. He looked at the two, not quite satisfied with their answer, but eventually shook it off.

“Aite, shit, let’s try it. It’s that or I go there and get arrested.” Gabriel shrugged.

[Elise][Home]

Elise knocked on the door of Miranda’s apartment, now in her normal body. She glanced at her phone to see it was 9:15. The apartment hallway she stood in was in poor condition. The carpet had stains, the lights flickered, and on the far end was a group of guys in baggy clothes smoking cigarettes in front of the stairwell. She could hear the sound of Miranda approaching from the other side of the door before it swung open.

“Elise? There you are, come inside.” Miranda ushered her in, closing the door behind her. Contrasting heavily to the hallway, her apartment was spotless and very organized, not a single thing looked out of place. “Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick. I talked to the other maids at your house thinking maybe you went home, but none of them had seen you.”

“I was just out with a friend.” Elise replied.

“A friend, this late?” Miranda asked suspiciously.

“Y-yeah, sorry for coming here so late…” She began saying as the sound of a baby crying came from another room in the apartment.

“Oh great, Joseph is awake again.” Miranda sighed as she rushed off. Elise walked in and looked around, seeing a young boy of maybe 8 years old sitting in front of the TV playing a video game in the living room. Seconds later Miranda came back with a small baby over her shoulder crying as she gently tried to soothe him.

“Johnathan I said turn that game off, brush your teeth and go to bed. It’s a school night.” Miranda snapped at him. The boy in front of the TV sighed and flicked off the TV, standing up and leaving the room.

“I don’t want to be nosy in your business but I would appreciate it if you tried to come back before 9, and let me know where you are okay? I’ll be responsible for you if anything happens when you are staying here.” Miranda said while trying to talk over the baby crying. Elise couldn’t help but notice the trouble she was causing Miranda as the scene unfolded before her.

“Actually, I talked to my father… he got me a place to stay on my own, so I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be okay from now on.” Elise replied with a forced smile.

“Really?” Miranda asked, her attention split between the two.

“Y-yeah. I just wanted to say thanks for looking out for me. I’m going to head over there now.”

“In one day, that’s really fast.”

“Well you know my Dad, he loves problems that he can solve with money.” Elise shrugged nervously.

“Right… okay sweetie. But if you need anything, or even if you just want someone to talk to, I’m here for you, okay?” Miranda replied.

“Thanks.” Elise said as she leaned in and hugged Miranda and the baby. “Good night.”

“Take care, be careful out there, it’s late.” Miranda replied. Elise nodded and walked outside, the door closing helped block the sound of the crying baby. She made her way to the Elevator, and when it arrived empty, she stepped inside, but didn’t press any buttons. Instead she went into her inventory and found the Avistion Key she was given upon entering the city, and used it. After a few seconds, a gate leading back into the city appeared and she stepped through it, leaving the building behind her.

In Avistion, the sky was dimming as the sun began to set. She appeared in Griffin Square this time, and despite the later hour it was just as busy as when they’d last seen it. She took a deep breath and took in the surroundings once more, then walked towards the only familiar place, Tao’s shop.

She pushed the door open to hear the familiar bell jingle as she stepped inside.

“We’re just about to close up - ah, welcome back. Elise, right?” Tao said, he was in the midst of sweeping the floor.

“Hey, sorry to bother you. Do you know a place where I could stay the night?” Elise asked.

“The big building across the plaza, the Dragonhearth Tavern. It’s a bit rowdy but the rooms have soundproof magic on them.” Tao said as he motioned in the direction she should go.

“O-okay… thanks. Does it cost money to stay there?” Elise asked hesitantly. Tao didn’t reply, instead he stopped sweeping and looked her in the eyes.

“It’s a bit rough trying to live here starting out, why not sleep in the real world for now?” Tao replied.

“I don’t have anywhere to sleep.” Elise replied. Tao stared back at her in silence for a moment, then let out a long sigh. “You remind me of myself when I found this place. Didn’t want to go back.” He walked over while pulling 3 gold coins from his inventory. “This’ll cover the cost of one night.” He handed out the gold to her, but at the same time handed her the broom.

“Sweep the shop spotless, and use the bucket of water behind the counter with the sponge to scrub down the counter. I’m not a charity.” Tao said. Elise gladly took the broom and coins.

“Okay.” She replied, and immediately got to work. It took her an hour and a half, but once she had finished cleaning, a notification popped up for her.

You have gained the skill Cleaning and Maintenance(?)

Cleaning and Maintenance - Rank 1

Improves your ability to meticulously clean and maintain various objects and environments using water, soaps and other materials, as well as remove stains and rust. Higher ranks improve your efficiency.

Stain Removal Methods Known: 0

Maintenance Methods Known: 0

“Miranda would love this.” Elise smirked to herself as Tao locked up the shop and she headed out. The sun had set by this time and the streets were lit by lanterns lining the cobblestone roads. She made her way towards the tavern and stepped inside. Within there was loud music playing and creatures of all races shouting, drinking and telling tales to each other. The smell of ale was heavy and hard to take in at first, but Elise did her best to look like she belonged as she approached the bartender.

“I’d like a room for the night please.” Elise asked politely, to see a tall orc with spiky black hair look down at her from the otherside of the bar. He finished filling up a mug with ale, put it down on the bar for another patron, then looked to her.

“What was that, miss?” He asked over the loud atmosphere, his voice as deep as possibly imaginable.

“I- a- would like a room for the night please.”

“How many nights?”

“Just one.”

“Three gold.” He replied. She quickly gave him the coins, he reached behind the bar and pulled out a key labeled 207. “Up the stairs on the left.” he said, then went back to his business. Elise took the key and waded through the crowds of drunken patrons to the staircase across the way, making it up to the second floor where the music could still be heard with off tune singing to accompany it, often drowned out by laugher. She found the room labeled 207, put the key in and swung the door open. Once she shut the door behind her though it went dead silent.

It was unnerving at first, but after a moment she let out a big sigh of relief. The room was simple. A single bed with a nightstand, a small desk with a chair, parchment and quill on it with an empty dresser. There was a lantern on the nightstand, but Elise hadn’t the slightest clue how to use it, and instead just flopped down on the bed looking up at the ceiling.

“You can make it by yourself. You don’t need mom, or dad, or anyone. You can do this.” She said to herself, trying to calm her own nerves.

[Jaese][Poking and Prodding]

Jaese entered the police station late at night, but there were still quite a few people walking about in the well lit building. He made his way to the elevator and rode it to the third floor, then walked down the hall to find Richard’s desk. As he suspected, Richard was still working with 2 of his team members, looking at documents and typing at their computers.

“Oh hey, Jaese. Hows the-” Richard asked, pointing to his chest wound.

“It’s fine, just some stitches. How’s the investigation going?” Jaese asked.

“Not good. We’re going on the assumption that what happened at the hospital is somehow related. You know how we were standing around without knowing why?” Richard asked.

“Y-yeah…” Jaese replied.

“It sounded a lot like what you said happened after you were attacked, so we’re looking into similar incidents.” Richard replied.

“You find anything?”

“A few odd cases, but nothing as violent as what happened at the Bank or the Mendez house. Something weird is definitely going on though. Those women at Tai’s place, you shoulda seen it, it was like they were hypnotized or something.” Richard replied.

“You don’t still think Gabriel did this, do you?” Jaese asked.

“Gabriel Estrada? No, I bet he’s just out for revenge. He was on his way to getting off the streets. Has a clean job and the gang unit reported he’d left Mendez’s crew. Arnold still thinks he’s involved though.”

“What? Why? Gabriel didn’t have anything to do with the killings.” Jaese replied defensively.

“I know, but given his track record he’s a much more plausible suspect than that little Tai kid.” Richard replied.

“What sort of track record?” Jaese asked.

“Not convicted, but he’s suspected in a few shootings. He used to run Mendez’ gang and was quite the heavy hitter. Couldn’t ever tie anything directly to him though. He’s no saint.” Richard replied.

“You said he was getting out though?” Jaese asked, deep in thought.

“Yeah. And what about you, what do you think is going on?” Richard asked, eyeing him carefully.

“I…” He hesitated. “I don’t know.”

“I think it’s Tai. Kid or not, we had some witnesses from downtown say they saw someone matching his description pull out a sword the other night and started swinging it. It fits with your theory that people are killing people using strange methods.” Richard replied. “Problem is we can’t find him anywhere, it’s like he’s completely vanished. Him and a few of his close relatives. His older brother who typically runs their gang has been missing for awhile too. We’re staking out their home and place of business now, so I’ll let you know if we find something.” Richard replied.

“D-don’t.” Jaese blurted out.

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t approach him… I mean, if he’s really doing the things we think, then it could end really badly.”

“You mean like he’s bullet proof and shoots ice at us?” Richard asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Y-yeah, something like that.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask. When we talked last time you said you thought people were running around killing and pretending to be Wizards. The officer that found you in the warehouse, he said before you passed out that your last words were ‘not pretending’. What’d you mean by that?” Richard asked.

“I… I can’t say. I mean, I don’t remember. Just promise me if you find Tai you don’t approach him without contacting me first, alright?”

“Jaese, we can handle apprehending a teenage suspect.” Richard replied.

“You don’t know what he’s capable of.” Jaese said in a serious tone, hitting his hand down on the desk so that everyone turned to look at him. Jaese realized he’d overreacted and leaned back. “I just mean, if he’s really involved, you don’t know what sort of weapon he used, it could be extremely dangerous.” Jaese said.

“Alright... We’ll stick to surveillance. I don’t see how you’d be able to make a difference in the arrest though, if he really can do what you think he can.”

“I’ve got some experience with it now. Just trust me.” Jaese replied. Richard paused, looking directly at Jaese while seemingly deep in thought.

“Alright.” Richard finally said. “I’ll trust you, but until we find something, you need to rest. Aren’t you supposed to be on leave?” Richard shrugged, going back to the papers on his desk.

“Y-yeah. I came in to try and talk Arnold out of hunting down Gabriel.” Jaese said, turning and walking down the hall away from Richard’s desk and towards Arnold’s office.

“Good luck with that.” Richard said sarcastically. Jaese reached the door and knocked on it gently.

“Come in.” Arnold called from the other side. Jaese quickly opened the door to see Arnold looking up at him from the other side of his desk. “The hell you doin here?” Arnold asked in an annoyed tone.

“I just came by to report something.” Jaese replied.

“Report what?”

“That Gabriel guy, he’s innocent, he’s got nothing to do with all this.”

“Says who?”

“Well… me, sir?”

“And where’d you get this information? If Gabriel’s got nothing to do with it, then who does? Richard told me the two of you were tracking a crime related to the robbery, and it led you straight to Gabriel.”

“Gabriel’s just another victim, he lost his brother in that gang attack, he’s looking for the same sort of guys we are.”

“Why are you so sure both of those crimes are related?” Arnold asked. Jaese broke eye contact, trying to think of what to say, but Arnold picked up on it immediately. “Is there something you’re not telling me Jaese?”

“Just trust me on this. Gabriel’s not worth catching.”

“Like I should trust you that 5 officers died to a guy shooting ice? No chance. If Gabriel’s really innocent, then we’ll find out when we catch him and bring him in for questioning. Until that time, he’s a solid lead. And I don’t want to see you here for two weeks. You need time to recover your body and your head.”

“Sir, I don’t need two weeks off, I c-”

“It’ll turn into a suspension if you don’t cut that shit out. Take some time off, cool your head, we’ll let you know if we find anything.” Arnold snapped back, then looked back down to the documents on his desk. Jaese stood there for a moment, filled with frustration, then walked out and stormed down the hall back to the elevator, eventually making his way out of the building and back to his car. He got inside, put both hands on his steering wheel and let out a deep breath.

“Fuck!” He shouted out, frustration overflowing from within. Knowing what happened, what was happening, and being unable to affect it in the way he wanted. He put his fingers up to his party interface and clicked on the other’s names.

“I couldn’t convince them to rescind the arrest warrant, they want you for questioning and they’ve got me on paid leave for 2 weeks. My boss won’t listen to anything I say. They all think I’m crazy.” Jaese said. Elise listened silently as she laid in the tavern inn, unable to sleep.

“It’s no problem, we figured something out for Gabriel.” Darith replied.

“It’s worse than that, one of the detectives is onto Tai and staking out his residence. It’s only a matter of time before they go after him. How long until we can take him out of the game?” Jaese asked his party.

“You guys are still level 1… Tai and his group are around level 90… if we go before we get strong enough, we’ll just end up like Jacob. We have to train first if we want to stop them.” Darith replied to all 5 of them.

“Got it.” He started up his engine and drove back to his apartment. Once inside his room he shut the door behind himself, locked it, grabbed a glass of water along with a hastily made sandwich to fill his stomach, then opened the gate into Avistion, finding himself back in Griffin Square. Without any hesitation he made his way back to the Training Hall in the dead of night. It was lit by lanterns, but nothing like what it was during the day. He could make out much fewer people training still, but as he approached the field of target dummies, he recognized two of them.

“What are you guys doing here?” Jaese asked, looking at Elise as she practiced her daggers on the training dummy.

“Couldn’t sleep. You?” Elise asked him.

“Same.” Jaese replied, taking his crossbow out of his inventory. “Sorry Gabriel, I really tried.” Jaese said to him. Gabriel paused his next swing of his two handed sword, but didn’t turn to look at Jaese.

“Doesn’t matter. All that matters is that we take that punk out.” Gabriel replied coldly, then went back to swinging.

Darith, unable to sleep in his bedroom, got out of bed at 10:30pm and used the gate back to Avistion. While walking towards the academy to read more, he noticed the energy bars fluctuating on Elise, Gabriel and Jaese, then spotted Liana’s magic bar moving as well.

“You guys are all awake and training again?” Darith asked.

“Yeah.” Gabriel replied.

“Yep.” Elise said.

“Uh uh.” Liana replied.

“Can’t sit around doing nothing while guys like Tai are running around.” Jaese said.

“Looks like I picked the right people…” He said to himself. “You can eat the steak in your inventory if you get hungry. I’ll be studying more, so let me know if you guys need anything.” Darith replied with a smile. He got 4 acknowledgements as he passed through the walls surrounding the Avistion Magic Academy.