The guard continued up a circular stair with Liam following closely behind, years of sneaking past his tormentors to avoid confrontation was paying off.

Above in a small square shaped room the guard walked through a door into an office, hearing him inform a captain about the missing prisoner, Liam quickly moved to the other side of the room. Everything is styled in the traditional government design for his city, smooth dark stone floors and a lighter colour for the walls. He spots an archway which leads into hallway, moving as fast as he could without making noise and down past the hallway towards the first sunlight he has seen in almost a week.

Out on the street now and naked as the day he was born, Liam briefly closes his eyes and enjoys the feeling of the sun on his skin. Looking down at his hand he now realises that his stealth is not as perfect as he thought. In the bright morning light, he is leaving a faint outline. Ducking down a side alley and closing his eyes Liam pictures his status again.

Name

Liam Terlock

Body

3

Mana

5/7

Spirit

Light

Condition

Malnourished (minor)

One mana for the light and one so far for cloaking he thinks to himself, the drain he felt while inside seems to be lessened now that he is outside in sunlight.

Starting to put a plan together as he moves past the government quarter, he enters the merchant district, the stalls he saw being set up earlier in the week are looking sparse now. As a tailor is busy haggling with a couple of locals, standing in front of his stall and showing the quality of his wares.

Briefly he considers robbing the tailor but decides against it, the merchant had been kind to him in the past, it was also too risky given his imperfect stealth.

Continuing westward past the merchant area, just one quick stop before the docks he thinks to himself. In the farming area within the city’s walls, Liam spots his friend Oak. His large frame is perfectly still as he sits in a strange grass oasis in the otherwise concrete jungle, he meditates under an apple tree. The grass is a relief on Liam’s feet, walking barefoot on stone is not the most pleasant thing.

Approaching his friend slowly Liam says, “Don’t panic”, he keeps his voice low as there are other Chloromancers nearby, maintaining the grounds or meditating. Oak opens his eyes and says in a panicked voice “what the hell, who said that?” A good half of the apples fall to the ground. Liam hears a few others glance over and snigger to themselves, clearly assuming that his friend had screwed up the growth exercise.

“Shhh, keep your voice down, it’s me Liam, I finally did it! I can control light, I’m using it to be invisible right now” Liam whispers, excitement creeping into his voice.

Squinting, Oak spots the faint shimmer and outline in front of him, he reaches his hand out and touches the invisible teen standing before him, quickly he pulls his hand back.

“Bro are you fucking naked right now?” he whispers back, moving his mouth as little as possible.

“Err, yeah sort of, had to ditch my clothes for a distraction, made it easier to cloak myself too”

Continuing on before Oak could get a word in “Listen man, I have to get out of here, they are going to kill me tomorrow weird light powers or not” he keeps speaking without taking a pause “I’m going to sneak on a ship and see where it takes me, I just wanted to say goodbye before I left, you were always good to me”

“Wait wait, slow down a minute, what about your trial?” Oak asks. “From what I could tell, they are just skipping that part, besides…. they definitely want my head now that I escaped” he replies. Oak nods in agreement.

“Alright, well.. what are you going to do about clothes? I can head home and grab some things”

“They would never fit me, besides… I need to get myself safe on a ship before they head off, it’s a perfect chance to make it far away from here as I can, start a new life somewhere else” Liam countered. Oak shakes his head, “No, have a few hours still, father is at the docks now helping load some of his more delicate spirit fruit” his friend retorted. He stands up, stretches and starts walking out back into the city with Liam following behind.

Bending low he grabs hold of his larger friend’s hand and quickly shakes it. Walking away while he still has the nerve to go ahead with his plan, Liam leaves the garden. Oak stares at the footprints being made in the grass with wonder. Several minutes later in Oak’s bedroom he hands a pile of clothes to his friend, “these are some of my things from a few years ago, should fit you alright”. Liam quickly gets dressed, a floating set of clothes is a rather strange sight, the bigger teen looks amazed.

“That shit is so cool, how do you do it?” He asks with wonder. “Honestly, I don’t fully know, I was desperate and needed to escape, I just sort of thought about it, picturing the mana and it sorta happened..” replied Liam.

With a thought he cancels the cloak. “Got any food? I’ve had nothing but bloody bread, cheese and water for a week”.

Oak nods and returns a few minutes later with a large platter of ripe looking fruit, a few slices of ham and a tall glass of orange juice. Liam rapidly cleans the platter while answering his friend’s questions between mouthfuls. “That was great, why do we normally eat the plain apples and weird looking bananas? “he questions. “Well… the apples and bananas I can grow myself, those.. he motions to the now empty plate of food, I just stole from my father’s private garden” Oak replies with a wince. “The dragon fruit should improve your health, stronger heart, that sort of thing. The pear should slightly help your spirit grow, I don’t know too much about it to be honest”

“What about the ham? Will it give me stronger skin or something?” Liam questions. “Nah man, the ham is just ham, it’s delicious “replies his friend, leaning forward and giving a light shove. They laugh together, forgetting Liam’s troubles for a moment.

“There’s something else too” With a thought he opens his eyes and the room takes on a blue glow from his status page. Oak stares at his full status with wonder, taking in all the information. His face turns serious as he turns to his friend. “Tell no one about this, I’m serious. If word got out that you have this kind of ability, you’re going to be locked up and dissected so the upper class can learn it” taking a breath he continues “it’s just too valuable, you will be able to clearly track your growth, see what works and what doesn’t without all the trial and error everybody else goes through”. Liam nods in agreement, promising his friend that he won’t tell anybody. There are some fates worse than death.

Noting that his mana is almost gone and feeling a strange emptiness inside of him Liam asks Oak about it. His friend gives a brief overview of how it works for him, there are some similarities but too many differences for the information to prove useful. Oak gains energy from being in nature, forming a connection with the living things around him and creating a symbiotic circuit from what Liam could understand of his explanation.

To the side of Oak’s bedroom is his personal garden, a circular room with large glass windows, allowing it to fill with light and heat, it has several strange looking plants and bushes, a small tree with odd looking iron plates grow’s in the centre. He sits in the centre, feeling the suns energy both in real life and within his spirit Liam once again feels his body start to fill with energy and life.

Half an hour later and with his eyes closed, he brings up his status.

Name

Liam Terlock

Body

3+

Mana

6/10

Spirit

Light

Condition

Malnourished (minor)

Liam notices that his malnourished condition is starting to take on a grey appearance, as if it is fading and that there is a small plus sign next to his Body stat. Perhaps all the new energy contained in his body is helping it grow.

Cancelling his status and slowly opening his eyes Liam sees his friend waiting for him. “Will your mirror thingy still work while you are dressed? “Liam hadn’t considered this. With a thought his body because a faint outline in the air, leaving the clothing hanging in the air. Focusing further he thought about the cloak extending past his skin and onto the clothing, this seemed to work until he tried walking around. “Yeah that won’t do, some bits of the jacket are poking out when you move” his friend informs him.

Trying again he imagines the cloak as an oval shape, it extends slightly past his clothing, it’s harder to maintain compared to his naked form and he is a bit more visible but it’s a good compromise.

“We are low on time here buddy, not long left until your chance is gone”. Nodding in agreement, they leave, walking together, perhaps for the last time.