When the second video finished, the President returned to the stage and stood next to the podium. I doubted most of the audience noticed her slip up from the side, away from the movie screen.

  “How do we know this is all real?” A reporter shouted from the center of the crowd. “It could all be faked. CGI.”

  A black mace landed hard on the podium; the sound sharp enough to cut through the restless noise of the press. P-46 shouldered Vaneski aside. Murmurs and startled voices rose from the area where the two guilds stood.

  “Shit. She’s back in game mode,” I said aloud. “That’s not the President up there. That’s P-46, Level 3 Healer and party leader. He doesn’t know what he’s facing,” I muttered.

  “I don’t know who you are,” she said, her voice iron hard. “Everything you’ve seen here today is real. The individuals in those videos are present right now. Who are you…and what makes you think you can challenge them?”

  People and reporters near him scattered, shoes scuffling on the asphalt parking lot. Cameras and phones wavered between the President and the man in the crowd.

  Now that I could see his face, I recognized him. The reporter who had tried to interview me before. Phil Dierling…or rather Phil Daring, Bard. Without thinking, I cast a PSYCHIC SHIELD on P-46. Her eyes widened, and she shot me a sharp, startled glance.

  [William of Brinsford:] [P-46] [Phil Daring. Bard. Level 1. Has Bard charm ability.]

  I pushed the message as fast as I could. Her answering laugh told me she got it.

  “No army unit is going to let a civilian lead them in a fight. The Secret Service won’t allow you to do that,” Dierling said. His voice shifted unnaturally as he pressed on. “Now tell us the truth. You faked it. This whole trip was staged to make you look better.”

  Her laughter cut off. Her body sagged, face slack, as though strings had been cut.

  “It…was…all…faked. It…was…all…for…publicity.” Her monotone voice echoed hollowly.

  [Urako Sarutobi:] [JOIN PARTY]

  When I accepted, the party filled with Shadow, P-46, and me. Betty joined seconds later.

  [Urako Sarutobi:] [PARTY] [I’m behind him. take him down?]

  [P-46:] [PARTY] [Not yet. I know about your SAP. If I say sap, do it.]

  [Urako Sarutobi:] [PARTY] [roger that]

  On the party map, Betty moved through the audience like a darting shadow. The dark suits of other agents shifted closer too. My fingers twitched, weighing CHARM PERSON against something else…something nonlethal.

  The soldiers behind the President stepped up into a close half-circle arc, camo patterned shields of flesh and armor at her back and sides.

  That was when P-46 shook herself and let out a thunderous belly laugh. The sound boomed across the parking lot, bouncing off the building’s limestone walls. Her whole body shook. Daring’s face flared crimson. She shook her head violently, then locked eyes with him.

  “Poor Phil Daring. Your CHARM PERSON spell didn’t work on me.”

  Laughter erupted from a quarter of the crowd, players who knew exactly what that meant. Gasps rippled through the rest. Uniformed police and state troopers forced their way through the throng. Chief Brown was with them. For once, Dierling had no comeback.

  “My legislative aide told me yesterday that Congress will consider a bill this week or next to make involuntary CHARMing someone a crime. I saw the CHARM RESISTED message when you tried it. You’re still Level 1. I’m Level 3. I can resist your spell. You need to get out and adventure more.”

  She let her gaze sweep the crowded parking lot.

  “All of you do. You can’t depend on others to keep you safe while this game keeps rewriting reality. I got the message. That’s why I’m here. To learn…and to protect. When you elected me, divisions had splintered our country into too many competing directions. I promised to heal our country. We’re out of time. That promise is why I chose the Healing Class.”

  Two city officers closed on Dierling. Chief Brown right behind them, jaw set. I cast three PSYCHIC SHIELDs over them as fast as I could, and finally one over Shadow. Dierling’s voice turned strange again, demanding everyone leave him alone, clearing a path for him in the crowd. Everyone obeyed instinctively, except the four rapidly closing officers.

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  Shadow was faster. She slid behind him and SAPed him with the pommel of her sheathed sword. He dropped him like a sack of grain thrown off a truck. His spell broke as his body hit the pavement. She sheathed her blade in her waist wrap in a clean, practiced sweep, already stepping back as the officers cuffed his hands behind his back.

  “You are under arrest for assault on the President of the United States!” Chief Brown’s voice cracked like a whip across the stunned parking lot. “Make sure to gag him.”

  “I’m sorry he felt he had to do that,” the President said, her voice steady but softer. “I’ll speak with Chief Brown before I leave. As you can see, I’m protected by more than the shield in front of me. Thank you, Shadow, for being where you needed to be…and for teaching our Secret Service how to better use their skills.”

  Her gaze shifted…to me.

  “Most of all, thank you, Eddington, for showing us the way. You were the first in so many things. Not just with your Mana Mage.”

  Applause rose. When it calmed, she continued.

  “Two things before I meet with your governor. First, Vaneski and Airmann…come forward.”

  For the first time since he went on stage, Airmann actually lifted his eyes from his camera. A soldier relieved him of it so he could walk next to the President. The soldier kept it trained on the President, reporter, and cameraman.

  “Vaneski and Airmann. Scribe Mage and Air Mage. You both stood with me last night and this morning. There’s something you deserve and didn’t get.”

  From a pouch, she produced two patches marked with 46, scrawled her signature across them with a Sharpie from her vest. She pressed one into each of their hands and quietly said something to them.

  “These patches are for those who stood beside me while I became an adventurer like you. Teachers, companions…even friends. Thank you.”

  The audience clapped again. Vaneski bowed deeply. Airmann flushed crimson and nodded. The pair returned to the edge of the stage and waited.

  Then she turned, pulling a rectangular box from the lectern.

  “There is one more thing I have to do. Yes, one more thing to give out. “William Bannister. Please join me on the stage.”

  My gut dropped.

  “Oh, shit….” I muttered. Too late to bolt. “Damnit.”

  I climbed the steps, Stopping five feet from her, I bowed and took a knee, doing my usual hat sweep, like the cavalier or musketeer that I wasn’t.

  “Rise, William. We don’t make knights here. We’re equals in our freedoms under the Constitution and our laws. But sometimes someone stands out. You’ve fought…on your own time and at your own cost…to protect others. You’ve freely shared your knowledge, your skills, and put your life on the line to protect others.”

  She paused. A frown crossed her face.

  “I heard you call yourself nothing more than a Shield Mage. Because you don’t fight, you shield others. But you do fight. You fight the creatures spawning every few hours. You’re Eddington’s protector, whether or not they know it.You convinced me to do what I never thought possible. To lead.”

  Her eyes swept to the audience.

  “Leading men into battle is something that would have appealed to some of our previous presidents. Some of them did that. President Kennedy was the last president who stood with his sailors in battle. His men relied on his decisions to win and live through the battle, even tho it sank their PT Boat.”

  “I learned what it means to lead when a crotchety old swordsman refused to do my job for me. He released the Kraken on me twice. He forced me to choose, twice. These men behind me could have died if I’d chosen wrong.”

  Waiting, I did my best to keep my face straight.

  “Come on. Get it over with, I thought. Give me the whatever and let me off this stage.

  She peeled the Presidential Seal patch from her shoulder, signed it, and pressed it onto a Velcro patch she stuck to my arm.

  “Gotcha,” she whispered, quiet enough only I heard. “You’re to wear that whenever you’re in a party with me. Understood?”

  Nodding to her, I answered. “Yes, ma’am.”

  She opened the box and drew out a leather folder embossed with the seal of the presidency. She showed me what was inside it. She signed it.

  “This is my personal thank you, and the thanks of the United States government for your actions. This order requires you to wear the seal whenever we are in the same party or group.”

  What else could I do? I thanked her, accepted it, and turned the attention to others. Blaze, Shadow, Ingrid, Bhaarrt. The true heroes of Eddington. The crowd applauded again.

  Hurrying offstage as fast as I could, that ended the formal presentations. I stuck around for a while because the President had whispered she wanted a few last words with me.

  Later, after a motorcade wound down the blocked-off streets, a Secret Service agent led Blaze and me to the black armored SUV waiting at the curb. Morning light glared off its windows. The air smelled of exhaust, hot asphalt, and lots of people.

  This time she was standing by a big, black, armored SUV. The beast they call it.

  “Will, Hanna,” she said, her arms open to embrace both of us. “Thank you one last time. I’ll be in touch. If anything happens to the country I should know about, contact me. Agencies will be sending people here. Eddington will be one of the centers. If the country falls, I want places strong enough to put it back together.”

  “I want both of you, and the guilds, to help them as much as you can. If the country breaks down, I want places that can put it back together again. No Humpty Dumpty USA. We fall down and we get right back up.”

  She hugged us both again, then climbed into the Beast. The motorcade rolled north, engines rumbling low.

  I exhaled. “I’d say she was driving off into the sunset…but it’s still morning, and she’s going north.”

  Blaze smacked me lightly on the arm with the new patch and laughed. “You just can’t stop it, can you?”

  “Nope.”

  First Mana Mage - The Nursery. What do you think of it, the President, and what happened? Let me know in comments. Part of book three is already queued up for release. I'm still editing the rest of it. It's longer than book 2. So lots of things to look forward to.

  In The Dungeon.

  The Nursery on Monday.

  We end this volume at #7 on the Contemporary Rising Stars List and #48 on the GameLit Rising Stars List. The puts us at 109 places away from the regular Rising Stars List.

  I have a channel. (John.Malkin.Writer) if you want to ask questions, make suggestions, or just talk about the story, come join it. You can go directly to the channel. I included the server name in case the link doesn't work. And you can always contact me for a current join request.

  Patreon is now open for anyone who wants to read ahead. $5.00 US for 5 days ahead and $10.00 US for 15 days ahead. That’s each month.