I’m smiling like an idiot.

Kissing Lucinda was good.

She had reciprocated, and we had stayed like that for a minute or two. After that, she got all flustered and left in a hurry after another quick kiss.

Hehe.

It was as if my heart had been floating on clouds, gently hovering above whatever mortal worry could affect a human. I was untouched by any thought, unfettered, impossible to move. I was the very definition of ‘happily ever after’ even before anything had gone down. I had gotten my right-before-the-credits kiss, and that was already all-encompassing.

Lucinda is to me what Daphne had been to Apollo. However, if Daphne ran from Apollo in the myth and ultimately turned into a tree to avoid him, Lucinda did the opposite. She leaned into my chasing arms and, instead of turning into a tree, she gave me a kiss sweeter than honey, grander than an entire forest of goddamn laurels.

The most surprising thing is that we don’t even know where this comes from. We don’t know each other that much. We have bits and pieces of the other, at most. But she had a fire in her eyes that I had not expected, a glorious love fit for a heroic tale.

She almost made me wish I was a hero, slayer of monsters, rescuer of those whom life has brought low. But I was none of those things, nor I wanted to be. In fact, I was simply going for a walk among the empty streets toward the gates of Amorium. I need some targets to hit with my [Light] spells to let all this excitement out before I blow myself up.

But to be honest, it feels like I am the one who’s been hit by something.

Love? A crush? A simple charm spell?

Who knows?

I’m one of those guys who firmly believes in love at first sight.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

People say it’s dumb, unrealistic, unbefitting of a man my age.

But what can I say? It’s just a natural thought on my behalf. I think that love exists, and it’s not bound by time. Intimacy certainly helps, and it will make such a bond lost a long time, but the spark of true love has to be there. And it’s metaphysical. It’s a brief stare, one move, a glint of something.

Love is no more than a reflection of God in a dirty puddle.

It bewitches you, but you can only catch a quick glance, and you will never know if what you saw was the true embodiment of perfection or another speckle of dirt gallivanting in the waters.

And when I kissed Lucinda, it felt like a genuine [Thunderbolt], so much it hurts even more than getting zapped. And then it hurts even more when I can’t see her again, tearing me to shreds.

I can’t believe how lucky I am.

I mean, I just kissed my dreamy Elf crush.

Sure, I also betrayed my own beliefs about Elves being vile creatures. But who am I really to stand in the way of love?

Look at me.

I’m not walking, I swear.

I’m floating.

It’s all too good to be true.

I don’t even care that I have seemingly lost myself in some alley in Amorium. I could stumble inside the sewer system and still emerge victorious from the liquid waste, a prince covered in sewage.

Now, am I not the luckiest son of a…

“You are the flat-eared filthy Human bastard.”

Well, that does sound about right, doesn’t it?

Lady-goddamn-Luck.

“Hello?” I turn to my back and look at five tall and stocky Elves with a very mean look on their faces. “Ahem, hello there, gentlemen, how can I help?”

I know that being a smartass during a mugging is not the best, but it’s like a knee-jerk response for me. I can’t help it.

“We want to take a closer look at the idiot who’s so hot even the Watch posted a guard on him,” the shortest Elf in the group, clearly the boss, takes a step closer to me. And he’s obviously wielding a dagger in his hand.

Am I getting shivved today right after kissing the love of my life?

Shoot, where are Lucillus and Antoninus when I need them? I thought they would be useless, and I would just waste their time. Oh, right, Day of Ancestors. My temporary and personal guards are probably spending the days with their families or something like that.

“You know, if you let me go, I might be able to round up some money for you guys. I’m very broke right now. I mean, you could even search me. I have really no money on me. But I’m willing to make a donation to your cause, huh. How does that sound?” I try with a neutral smile.

“The Human,” the word is pointed with profound contempt, “is not lying, boss. My skill tells me he’s got nothing of worth on him.”

The boss doesn’t look happy about that.

Am I getting shivved in the guts just because I’m broke?

I’m starting to sweat heavily.

I really don’t want to escalate this thing. Having lived in NYC for most of my life, I know what it’s like to get mugged. You hand out the money, no sudden movements, and just go on about your day. That’s how it works. If you have no money, though… well, that’s a problem, isn’t it?

I see how the universe is balancing me kissing my huge crush with me getting shivved.

“Filthy Humans shouldn’t be allowed in the city, you know, little rat?” the boss smiles toward me. “And I think that it would be a good idea to teach you a lesson, wouldn’t it?”

I mean, if I have a say in this, I’d rather not take the lesson. There’s a reason why I never went back to college. So, can we just drop it?

But at the moment, I’m frozen. I really don’t know what to say.

I’m afraid that if I tried to hit them with my spell, they would get really, really angry. And angry [Thugs] probably don’t play well at keeping people alive after they assault them.

The defiant part in me doesn’t like this one bit.

Like a fire licking out of slow magma, my anger tries to rise above the tide and to engulf my whole body. It wants me to act, to harm.

It tells me that these people are worthless wastes of society, and I’d better off them. It’s as if my blood is boiling for a second, aching for me to give in to my most animalistic instincts.

And it would feel so good to lash out. It’s like freeing a part of yourself you never knew existed. But, from my experience, it just ends up hurting people in a way you actually did not want to hurt them.

This is not a story where I’m the protagonist, and I can wantonly do whatever I want, is it? I don’t think my puny little magic is enough to take them down. Not now, at least. Maybe after a few months of hard training, I’d be good enough to take them out without being shivved.

The spellbook gave me some power, and I might be talented, but there is no way I can survive five people assaulting me, is there?

“I’m sorry,” I apologize with no real reason apart from being a Human, “can’t I just send you some money as soon as I get my first salary? You would probably incur trouble if you beat me up right in the middle of the street, wouldn’t you? And why would you turn down some money? I can probably rack in a few golds with the baking. I can even provide you and your gang some cakes and pies. Whatever you want, really.”

“What if I want to gut you like a little pig, Human? What, then?”

Five people.

I can multi-cast ten [Lights] like the one that smashed the wall. And I should be able to do that in quick succession. I could run after doing that and try to scream for help. I’m not sure who would actually help me, but it does sound like the most reasonable plan.

“Come on, everyone’s good with some money, right? I can pay your fee, and in turn, I don’t get beaten up. It’s reasonable, it’s convenient for you. I won’t even report it. You just tell me how much money you want, and we’ll make it happen. My mom always says that no feud cannot be reconciled.”

The boss looks at me with a snigger, turns toward his goons, and then back, looking at my face with contempt. However, he does seem interested in taking the money. Or at least I hope so.

“I bet your mom’s a dog who fucked a diseased little rat and then spawned—”

[Advanced Mana Sense]

[Deep Focus]

[Light Manipulation]

Remember the principle of ‘trace the matrix faster, and you get a higher polarity’?

Well, I stretch my mind so hard it immediately gives me a splitting migraine.

When you want to multi-cast more than two spells, the task at hand becomes almost metaphysical. It’s not about principles, physics, or rationality. It’s pure magic. Some may not like that, but it’s the same in our world.

Some people are good at what they do because they feel the right move. They don’t think of it. They shoot an incredible 3-pointer, score a magnificent goal, or serve a ball impossible to catch. And they do that on a feeling.

Humankind can study black holes, but we cannot explain how motivation, instinctual understanding, and feelings affect our performances.

We are a bigger mystery than the universe itself.

So, even though pure anger is taking control, I relax. I let go.

I weave together ten spell matrixes without looking at the individual ones, but at my targets.

Remember, a book cannot be read at once.

So, I focus on the overall picture.

The boss is still talking while my magic spins the threads and takes place.

This is the most potent spell I have ever attempted.

It’s a dangerous spell.

But, oh boy, ten [Lights] instantly shoot at an insane speed, much faster than the one that penetrated my wall.

Those [Thugs] are clearly not high-level since every single one of them gets hit at least once. The first projectiles are aimed at the legs, and they almost all miss. I have no practice whatsoever with aiming, sadly. But the second one, I aimed at the chest. We are reasonably close, and aiming at the bigger part of their body is almost easy since not even one of them moved.

The boss and another guy, the tallest, look like they have sensed something, but the projectiles fly too fast for them to duck.

All the chest-aimed ones hit.

Five people lay down in the alley, three of them out cold, the boss and the tallest fellow writhing in pain.

I think I just cracked more than a dozen ribs just like that. Shoot. I hope I don’t go to jail for this – a passing thought about whatever laws may cover this event. Excess of defense, or whatever.

Without even thinking twice, I shoot at their legs again. This time, I feel my mind tired and miss two out of four shots. This multi-casting business is highly taxing. Only thanks to [Deep Focus], I’m not bleeding my nose out. But the boss and his minion still get one hit each on their knee.

There’s a sickening crunch, and both start screaming in pain.

They shouldn’t be able to chase me, now.

And they got what they deserved.

Listen, if you wonder what’s going on and why I changed my mind so quickly, I have a pretty straightforward answer.

No one, and I say, no fucking one, insults my mother.

Call me a momma's boy or whatever you want, but my Mom is all the family I need in the world and the only one I can’t do without. It might be my Italian roots, but my family’s family. And the family’s sacred. No one insults family and doesn’t pay for it.

It’s immature, and I just made some dangerous enemies. But a man’s got to stand for something.

I feel nauseous.

Multi-casting moving [Light] projectiles is much more complex than creating the stationary [Lights]. It requires a degree of focus and effort that I had sorely underestimated.

I start stumbling away from the downed people. I hope I didn’t seriously injure anyone.

Man, my head is spinning like crazy.

I bend on my knees and puke out the lovely lunch I had with Lucinda.

What comes after is the weirdest sensation I have ever experienced in my whole life.

It’s like a sting, and it doesn’t hurt as much as I thought it would after looking.

In fact, I look down at my side, and I find a dagger sticking out from it.

I start breathing heavily, and a blow rains on my head.

I think one of my teeth got busted, and I feel the metallic taste of blood in the back of my mouth.

I’m on the ground without even knowing what’s happening. I see a couple of figures that weren’t there before. They are now raining kicks on me. One of them bends to pick up the dagger from my side.

The kicks hurt like kicks. Which is a lot.

I don’t even know what’s what.

I’m a simple ball of pain.

When they relent, more pain, delayed, hits me.

My thoughts are jumbled, and I can’t parse out anything from the real world anymore.

I pass out just like that.