《Chocolate Obsessed Genius Mage》Chapter 4. My common sense seems to be lacking...
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Right, about those thugs that I took care of, maybe Leo and his family will do something about them. It's their party after all and not my concern. I'm only a guest, invited only thanks to my reputation in my home kingdom, Saghara. Though I doubt they're actually aware of what I'm known for, just that I am a celebrity there. Prestige is all that matters.
Loud cheers and clapping of the still remaining guests interrupt my thoughts. C'mon people, any one of you could've done it. If you weren't so stupid that is and realized the simple truth about what's disrupting your power.
I signed... Even my wife didn't get it. It's easy! All you have to do is think logically and realize where exactly is the problem and adjust to these new circumstances.
But maybe it's better they don't get it? Who knows what would've happened if all of these wizards released their empowered spells in a confined space? A total chaos. And loooots of blood. I mean just my one weak spell strengthened 3 times as normal injured some people and they weren't even that close to this particular swan figure.
All of a sudden slender arms wrapped themselves around me and Lucy hugged me from behind, crying loudly and laughing simultaneously. What's her problem? Not like we were in any danger even for a moment. Oh right, I guess she didn't know that. Maybe I should consider sharing my thoughts with her more often? Nah, too bothersome.
Yeah, and to act like my wife just went through a traumatizing experience? That's too much. Seriously, calm down woman. Everyone's safe, so no reason to cry. Like at all. That's one of her disadvantages - always too emotional. Freaking out over simple things when I see no reason to even frown. But I rather wouldn't trade her for anyone else, she's far too useful for that.
Wow, she's crying a lot. I pat her head lightly. Time will calm her, not much I can do for her right now.
So... I do the only thing I can at the moment. I take her head in my hands and pull her closer, opening my lips. Lucilia does the same. Perfect. We move closer to each other and my breath reaches her. Then she immediately falls down, eyes closed and I readily catch her. A fast sleeping spell through my breath works wonders in situations like these. Better sleep and think it through with a clear mind, maybe until tomorrow afternoon. Best to skip the hangover part in the morning, good for both of us.
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I see the king with his family frozen in place with weird expressions on their faces. Weren't they coming here a moment ago? The clapping also stopped and people simply looked at me silently, clearly confused.
Fu*k. Quickly, before they misunderstand!
-It's alright! She's ok! She only fainted, drank too much earlier! - I shout a little panicked. They won't start treating me like a freak again, will they? Is this the same kind of situation that Lucy tried to explain to me that's a no-no from others point of view?
Leo's expression relaxes and he rushes to my side.
-Is she ok?
-Yeah, she just needs to sleep. - I sigh in relief. They bought it! I concentrate and summon a nice, comfortable bed from my personal pocket dimension and the king subconsciously steps away from the black crack in space that leaves behind a big piece of furniture in the middle of the huge hall. Dimensional magic used to be known as the most dangerous and hardest to learn kind of magic but when you know what you are doing it's completely safe. Even if one single mistake or slip in control could suck you and all around you inside of nowhere for all eternity... That's the only reason I prefer to make sure everything's properly handled before I use the spell, even if I'm completely confident in my abilities. In my opinion, it's something quite easy to learn and practice, though I admit only few should be allowed to deal with such dangerous possible consequences. It takes fine control to not make a mistake during the process.
Oh, if you're worried about my loss of control because of the device, no need to panic - my mana ropes already found and turned it off, hidden under a table in the middle of the room, no effort to hide it properly found. It actually had red and green buttons for the stupidest future users of this metal cube covered with wires everywhere and because of the big interference with the surroundings, it was quite easy to sense.
-You scared me! Why did you open a dimension pocket here?! That's dangerous and irresponsible! You could have doomed us all! - Leo started freaking out more than when the bandits' leader threatened him with murder! The whole hall was in an uproar, some screaming and hiding. What the heck is wrong with these people? Is there another attack?
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I looked around - nothing's there... Huh? Oh wait, I know! My space magic must have scared them. Seriously? In this day and age? When someone like ME did it?
-It's just a simple spell. - I shrugged nonchalantly in response to Leo's shouting. -I use it every day, what's the big deal?
Some mages gasped unbelievably, visibly shaken, the rest a mix of shock, envy, terror and doubt. I guess it's normal to assume this Blackhill kingdom doesn't have any real wizards with talent or had some bad experiences with this field of magic. Or they are just biased without actual knowledge on the topic.
-What do we do now, sir Alexander? - asked me the king. Really? You're asking me?
-You're the king, think of something. - I answered forgetting about formalities. Whatever, I just saved his a*s, he should be grateful. Don't know if I would've bothered doing anything if the thug leader didn't destroy my heavenly treasure, my dearest friend, my soft, sweet chocolate... Cough, cough. Yes... What was I thinking about again? Right. I still feel angry thinking about murdering HIM right in front of my eyes. I need to properly bury the remains later.
Now that I think about it, there is still some of the cake left! YES!! Thank gods!
Ignoring the crowd around me, the royal family and my wife now sleeping calmly, or rather snoring lightly on the bed where everybody can hear her, I turn around and head for the twenty-ninth piece of godly chocolate that I deserved after saving the day. My dear friend, waited patiently for me to finish his killer off so I can continue eating it. Now, this is what I call a good party.
Meanwhile, Leonard Strongline stood in place dumbfounded by all that happened. But being the ruler of a country, he quickly issued some orders:
-Put the attackers...unmoving and sticky figures in the prison, then heal them and EVERYONE, you can calm down now, everything is over already. Please go back home safely, we will deal with the rest. I assure you that with the help of sir Alexander Thorn'rose we will be prepared if anything like this was to happen again.
Not like I agreed to help him yet. Yeah, this time I tried to pay attention to my surroundings. Wouldn't want to lose another cake again. NEVER again. Leo continued:
-The rest of the guards! Come!
The men in black and white military uniforms swiftly assembled in 2 lines before the king.
-You will now have a very important job to do! Spread all over this hall and look for any abnormality you can find - we need to know where is the 'device' that stops wizards!
-Nuom mweed. - I said, forgetting that my mouth is full.
All of the guards saluted to Leo and shouted:
-Yes, sir!
Didn't they hear me? Right, I wasn't speaking clearly. I swallowed the rest of my precious chocolate treasure and magnified my voice with magic, to make sure they heard me this time and repeated:
- NO NEED!!!!!!
Everyone who heard it winced with unpleasant frowns on their faces. What? It's your fault for not listening earlier. You should be grateful for having less work to do thanks to this kind me.
- I already got the magic compressor in my pocket dimension. - I explained, this time normally (though I never stopped chewing). I took care of it right after I dealt with Lucy. Well, right when I remembered I should do that instead of THESE idiotic people. Who knows what would they do with it?
-You have what? - asked the king, confused.
Come on people! You talked about it a moment ago!
-I have this 'device' you talked about earlier hidden safely in one of my rooms in another dimension. - I repeated slowly, so he can understand. Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to children instead of adults. They all lack intelligence and it's hard to find one that could at least understand what I'm saying.
-That's not safe at all! - shouted one of the remaining guests, a chubby man with an actual long staff by his side. Who still has such things these days?!
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NOVA INTERIT.US
It's 2063, and the town along with much of the nation are in disarray. The decay started years before the Great Event. Our town still had hope thanks to the five families, who'd created a blockchain based water distribution system for the locals, a valuable secret hidden from the Global Water Commission and their network of mercenaries. Earlier in the mid-2040's, right after the state secessions of Idaho, Montana, and Texas, the Global Council of Water Commissioners made their deals and moved into towns throughout the country. They called it "the integration." The Commission and their contractors integrated with municipal water departments, using their organized network to invade like parasites on local services. It all coincided with the 29th Amendment to the United States Constitution, later referred to as the Regional Trident Plan. Nova is a story about survival, power structures, the turning of relationships, and the networking between people and the systems to which they belong. It’s about A.I. blockchain possibility, and its potential for human betterment versus our detriment. It’s about the question of whether or not we need to be saved from ourselves, and by who or what? The Great Event at the end of the first chapter might just be what actually saves us. The epilogue will take place in 2517. This scene is fully sketched and the full arc of the novel is set. I expect to finish Nova Interitus by summer of 2023. This is realist hard-sci-fi dystopian fiction. I hope you find Nova to be a challenging and consuming story. This is not something I planned to write. It all came to me in a dream and I haven't been able to stop writing it. This Royal Road posting is basically a beta test with chapters and drafts to get some feedback and see if there's any readership for this narrative. For the full experience read Nova on Substack. I will be narrating a podcast version later this year there. https://novainteritus.substack.com/
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