Kylie stared into Gram’s eye, holding it open with her thumb and index finger. The eye itself looked fine, and it didn’t look like Gram was going to have any bruising around the eye. She slapped him lightly on his cheek twice.

“You’ll be fine. Stop being a baby.” Kylie said, taking a step back.

Gram still on the ground, kneeling had made it easier for his grandmother to examine his eye. He clutched the bracelet in his right hand. The odd chain looked strange. It looked to be made out of iron, the dark metal was the same color as the band that had previously held the heart of the city. His grandmother watched him impatiently, gesturing with her hands. Gram relented. He was still hesitant about wearing the bracelet. He hadn’t had any classes unlocked. Any attempt that he made to identify the bracelet would be an automatic failure. The reason he had handed the bracelet to his grandmother was because she had access to multiple skills that could identify an object, as well as any enchantments or curses that it bore. If she said it was fine, he didn’t have to worry about it.

The chain had been easy enough to understand. He slid the loose end of the chain into the clasp and with a barely audible click it snapped into place. Something happened to Gram. Things were different. He couldn’t put a finger on what exactly happened, but there was a change. He felt the cool iron balls on the chain tighten around his wrist, with the gem hanging on the underside. It wasn’t tight. It was a comfortable fit. He prodded under the chain and it easily gave.

“I didn’t expect that to happen,” an unknown voice remarked.

Gram jumped at the surprise and he glanced around the room nervously. Kylie’s eyebrow raised as she watched Gram looking around. There hadn’t been anyone else in the room and it sounded like the man had been right next to Gram.

“What is he looking for?” The voice asked.

“Who’s there?” Gram shouted.

The question sounded more like a command. Kylie reached out to touch Gram out of concern, but she stopped short. She hadn’t heard the voice that Gram had. There might have been a curse she didn’t initially see with any of her passive abilities. She was quite familiar with cursed equipment. Gram had stood up and was looking around the cellar.

“Come here and hold out your wrist.” She demanded.

Gram complied, although he still scanned the room warily. The heart of the city had been pulling in all the external mana and what it released was re-purposed for who knows what. Breaking the mana being released from its’ predetermined path would be quite difficult. The way it had been handing mana was quite heavy handed. There hadn’t been any of the free floating wisps of the substance that would be readily available for Kylie to cast a spell so she was forced to tap into her own reserves. It hadn’t been a big deal for her considering the pool of mana she had to work with. She pulled the mana out twisting it into a spell as she directed its flow with her hands. Her in depth spell casting hadn’t revealed anything further about the bracelet.

“Either you have a curse that far surpasses my spells, or that bracelet is just a bracelet.”

—

On seeing Gram react to his unspoken questions, Benjamin shut down his more vocal sounding thoughts. They certainly sounded different in his own head. He had a flashing notification in the corner of his vision. It hadn’t been anything different than what he had experienced before.

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Benjamin was confused. He had clearly interacted with the world and assumed that the quest would have granted the title and class to Gram when completed. There was some strange rule bending going on here. Could it mean that there were circumstances that allowed a heart of the city to ignore established rules? Benjamin selected yes on the notification pop-up and then confirmed the appointment notification that followed. Gram could feel something get pulled from his heart. It was a deep icy feeling, but just as soon as Benjamin felt a void something rushed in to replace it. It hadn’t been as great as what had been taken, but there was a small pin prick of warmth in what had been taken. The world swam, and Benjamin found himself standing in his own living room, next to a startled Gram.

The two stared at each other for some time. They were both at a loss for words. Gram was scared, but put on a brave face, waiting for Benjamin to make a move. Benjamin was at a loss for what to do from a simple lack of experience. Despite this Benjamin made the first move.

“Hello, Gram is it?” Benjamin asked.

“You’re that voice.” Gram stated, he eyed Benjamin warily.

“I’m not really sure what’s going on here”

Benjamin found his recliner and sat. He motioned Benjamin to the couch. The room wasn’t all that spacious, calling it cramped would have been an overstatement. It still had enough room for the basic furniture and a modest TV. It had been set upon a flimsy entertainment center. Each of the cabinets were filled with DVDs and game boxes. Unlike before, the titles he spent the most time with were clearly marked. The console that sat to the side of his TV hadn’t been like any of the consoles he remembered playing with, but some weird hybrid of them all. Gram walked to the couch and sat. Gram found the couch quite comfortable. He was a little impressed with the room. It had been slightly smaller than his own cottage, but with the additional rooms the building seemed to be at least two to three times the size.

“So… my name is Benjamin,” Benjamin said.

“My name is Gram,” He paused, “Where are we?”

Benjamin shrugged. He willed a bag of chips and a bowl into existence. He frowned as he started to open the bag, and it vanished. The bowl filled with chips despite the bag’s disappearance. He manifested a small bowl of dip and placed the two bowls onto the coffee table.

“This is my home.”

Benjamin grabbed a chip and used it to scoop out some of the bean dip. He took a bite as he gestured for Gram to do the same. Gram parroted Benjamin’s actions. He ate the chip in one bite. He reached for another and Benjamin nodded.

“I don’t think we’ll run out.”

Between mouthfuls of chips Gram spoke, “These are pretty salty.”

He wiped crumbs off his face with a free hand.

“Use a napkin.” Benjamin said with disdain.

“Oh, sorry.” Gram reached for a napkin from a stack that previously hadn’t been there.

Benjamin watched the crumbs fall onto the couch. Gram swept them onto the floor with his hand, but then switched to using the napkin on noticing Benjamin glaring at him. Benjamin closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, but the expression quickly passed and he passed a drink to Gram. It was a ginger ale. Benjamin couldn’t recall the brand. The golden liquid nearly reached the brim of the glass. Inside ice collided with the sides, and Benjamin had made sure to include a yellow bendy straw.

“Just use the straw,” Benjamin said while pointing.

Gram took a small sip from the drink and nearly threw it. He had only just managed to catch himself. Benjamin laughed. He held an identical glass.

“You’ll learn to like it,” He said with a smile.

Gram went to place the glass down on the table to grab some more chips. Benjamin silently slid a coaster under the drink. He pointed at the coaster while nodding at Gram.

“What am I doing here?” asked Gram.

“I think this happened when I made you king.”

Benjamin described what happened when he pressed yes on the notification that had popped up. Gram had a similar pop up in his own vision. The same thing had occurred when Gram had accepted.

“I guess we’re supposed to talk about the whole city thing now,” Benjamin guessed.

“Well, I learned a little from my grandmother.”

“Oh that’s your grandmother?” Benjamin said, “I thought at most she might have been a mother or something like that.”

“She was the previous —,” Gram shook his head, “I guess it doesn’t matter anymore.”

He looked at his wrist. The bracelet was still fixed to his wrist.

“Is she a wizard, or a mage or something like that?”

“She’s a mage,” Gram answered.

“Are you a mage too?”

“I don’t have the aptitude,” Gram answered with a slight frown.

Benjamin was able to catch something from the brief frown Gram had shown. He pulled up a list of available focuses. Gram used the lull in the conversation to eat a few more chips and sip at his ginger ale. He was careful not to leave any crumbs and to place the glass back onto the coaster.

“What do you know about cities?” asked Benjamin.

“All I know is a city is filled with people.”

“Well, right now my— our city is your house.” Benjamin stated.

“Cities have walls?” Gram said while shrugging.

Benjamin parroted the shrug. He found the magic focus entry. If he were to select this Gram would become some kind of mage king. He focused back on Gram.

“Would you like to be some kind of mage king?”

Gram’s eyes widened. He wanted to match the skills of his grandmother. She was already a mage of some renown. Her name carried weight. He wanted something similar for himself. It wasn’t the fact she had renown, it was more that she had earned every scrap of fame that her name held. He wanted the same opportunity. He had picked his ginger ale and was sipping at it, thinking about what being a king and a mage would mean.

“I think I would like that.”

“Well before we choose a focus, I want you to take a look at something.”

Benjamin pulled a book from nothingness. It was the book of notes that had been left by the heart’s previous occupant. He nudged Gram with it’s edge. Gram took hold of the book, gently placing his ginger ale on the coaster. The book opened with the crack. The book appeared to be brand new. Each page had been filled with the letters that had been incomprehensible for Benjamin. Gram studied it carefully, running his finger down the page. He rubbed his chin quietly mumbling to himself as he progressed through the book. Benjamin watched Gram carefully. When he reached the end of the book he closed it with a snap.

“What does it have to say?” Benjamin asked.

“I don’t know.” Gram answered.

Benjamin heaved the bowl of chips at Gram. Gram warded it off with his arm and the closed book, as the chips flew.

“I thought you were worried about crumbs!” he shouted.

Benjamin growled in frustration. With a wave of his hands the chips were cleared from the ground and the couch.

“If you could do that all along, why were you so worried about the coasters on the table?” Benjamin asked.

“You know what, I can’t deal with this right now.”

Benjamin’s home melted into nothingness, Gram found himself back in the cellar. Little to no time passed. Gram pulled his wrist back from his grandmother.

“You don’t have to worry about it. The voice belongs to the city, and he’s kind of a jerk.”

The mana Kylie had been manipulating around Gram’s wrist dissipated. The leftovers were quickly absorbed by the heart.

“You say he?” asked Kylie.

“Well, he was kind of a jerk.” Gram tried to elaborate by describing the food and drink.

“I’m still here, you know.” Benjamin said.

Gram continued ignoring the voice of Benjamin. If his grandmother couldn’t hear Benjamin there was no need for him to acknowledge Benjamin’s speech. Gram then described the book that Benjamin had handed over. With mention of the book, Kylie perked up. She was tired from the excessive drain on her mana, but at the prospect of learning something new seemed to energize her. Benjamin decided to use this to his advantage and designed a quest for her.

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Kylie quickly accepted the quest.