Thad massaged his temples, his eyes closed, as he barely caught snippets of conversation.

  His body ached despite the healing that both he and Neil had applied post-sparring with Phoebe. However, most of the discomfort was just an underlying hum.

  A pain right below the surface, that only grew worse the more auras he was around.

  The bar was so crowded.

  Everything was too loud, too intense.

  “Thad?”

  His eyes opened as he felt Neil evaluating his aura.

  The entire table was staring at him, concern evident on their faces. It made him feel worse.

  “Are you ok?” Neil asked again, greenstone-colored eyes assessing him.

  “I’m fine,” Thad lied, standing up from the table, with a slight laugh. The elf’s eyebrows furrowed.

  “Are you?” Neil asked, watching Thad slide his chair under the table. “Where are you going?”

  “Just getting some air,” Thad said, his hand resting on Neil’s shoulder as the elf went to stand as well. “Alone.”

  “Every time we leave you alone, someone jumps you,” Dustin said, taking a drink.

  “Then I promise not to go looking for trouble.”

  “Trouble tends to find you,” Phoebe pointed out, leaning against Dustin, who nodded in agreement.

  Thad felt the elf’s aura again.

  “I can tell you’re worried, Neil, but I’ll be good, promise.”

  Thad didn’t wait for the elf to reply, spinning on his heels and walking at a clipped pace out of ‘The Adventure’s End’.

  The cooler evening air a balm for his senses.

  He continued to put distance between himself and further auras, finding himself in the empty Adventure Society campus.

  -You should’ve brought Neil. -

  Not you to…

  -What, Phoebe’s right, you attract trouble. -

  I do not! I’m just having a string of bad luck, is all… Hey, Clippy…. Do you see that?

  -The ominous ritual magic coating that alleyway, that has the word ‘trouble’ written all over it, yeah, I see it. -

  We should probably go check it out and dispel it… a non-essence user could get hurt.

  -You told the team you’d be good. -

  How is helping civilians not good?

  -Well, it’s definitely not avoiding trouble. In your past life, did you piss off the god of Luck or something? –

  I pissed off a cult… but not a god to my knowledge, though who knows. I mean, astral beings exist in my world enough to pull me here. Maybe there’s some secret world of magic I wasn’t aware of.

  -That sounds dumb. How could magic go unnoticed? -

  Special effects and good PR, I’m guessing. Probably government involvement. The military would love it.

  Thad stopped outside the alley and stared at the potent magic ritual that’d been established with salt and chalk.

  It was a bold move to do so on the Adventure Society campus.

  Further examination proved the ritual to be a nasty trap, mixed with a spell to divert one's gaze from the alley entirely. The only problem was that Thad’s magic perception was literally drawing his eyes to the magic discrepancy.

  How had the person who’d designed this not factor in magic perception? It was a fundamental flaw in the design… though the work appeared to be a mixture of genius and weird experimentation, which he both acknowledged and found concerning.

  God, is this what Clive sees when he looks at my ritual work?

  -Probably not, these integrations are far more complex than anything I’ve seen you develop. –

  …Clippy, do you ever think about my feelings before you say shit like that?

  -If you can’t handle the truth get out of the dining room.-

  It’s if you can't handle the heat, get out of the kitchen.

  -Potato, Tomato. -

  You’re doing this on purpose.

  -Maybe.-

  Ugggghhhh, Clippy toggle Testament of the Typhoon to 1% output.

  -Done, but you need to angle it at this line here. -

  Thad glanced up at his new image display widget, which showed the ritual diagram with an indicator pointing between two sets of runes.

  Got it, any chance of blowback?

  -Not if you follow my instructions. So don’t Redacted it up. –

  Thad rolled his eyes as he adjusted his stance and aimed his intention at the array, uttering his spell in a controlled whisper.

  “Bow before the Typhoon’s Roar.”

  A tiny cyclone whipped out in front of him, dashing the salt and clearing the chalk lines before disappearing altogether, the magic dispelled smoothly.

  Thad let out a small breath of relief, glad Clippy’s assessment of potential backlash had been correct. Now free to check the alley, he sensed a young woman who held no essences.

  Thank god he’d dispelled the magic; The girl could’ve been hurt if she’d walked further down the alley. The thought caused a small knot to form in his stomach… what if more rituals had been laid throughout the alley?

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  For his own peace of mind, he would check to make sure. Then, after investigating the incident, he could report it to the adventure society.

  He would spare Neil and Dustin the details, of course… no harm, no foul. He definitely hadn’t gotten himself into trouble… he was, in fact, negating it from happening in the first place.

  -Yeah, keep telling yourself that. -

  Clippy! I did not ask for your opinion.

  -Nope. However, I wanted to let you know that I’m not currently supporting your actions. –

  Noted. As always, thank you for your input.

  -You're welcome!-

  Thad waved his hand through the screen, causing the paperclip to angrily jump out of the way as he walked forward into the alley.

  The woman hadn’t sensed his approach, her focus solely on the door in front of her. She was petite and curvy, with short dark curls tucked into a workman’s cap that matched her uniform, designating her as a magic artisan of some sort.

  Thad looked towards the door, expecting to see a repair array… only to notice that the door's lock was being magically picked by a ritual drawn in chalk. Someone must’ve gotten locked out.

  Glancing around the alleyway, he noticed no other harmful rituals, so he leaned in, studying the lockpicking ritual closer. It was incredibly intricate, employing a raking technique, which was fascinating. He stayed quiet so as not to bother the young woman at work.

  -User, that color chalk… I think it’s the same as…-

  Clippy, do you see this? Get a picture of this for the gallery.

  -Done, but I think you need to leave. Like right now. –

  Why?

  -This woman is…-

  “Oi! How the fuck did you get here?” The woman yelled as she spotted Thad watching her work. Her hands came up to block the view of the door as shock and confusion played across her face.

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to frighten you while you're working… Does that ritual really use a raking technique for the lock?”

  “What?”

  “I mean, it’s not nearly as sophisticated as regular lock picking, but the idea’s brilliant. Did you develop it, or were you just trained on how to use it?”

  “What?!”

  “Sorry, I got excited. My name’s—”

  “Oh, I know who you are, Thadwick Mercer… fancy seeing you here… destiny, I bet.”

  Thad looked at the woman staring up at him, her expression cold, her eyes narrowed.

  “I actually go by Thad, but… Um, have we met before?” Thad asked with dread… god, he hoped she wasn’t someone Thadwick had slept with in the past.

  “No,” The woman said as a blade slid from her shirt sleeve into her hand and she dove towards Thad, dagger aimed for his chest.

  Thad instinctively activated between the raindrops, feeling time slow as his hand shot forward, catching the woman’s wrist, turning it with a sudden, audible snap.

  The dagger fell to the ground, the young woman grunting as she bit her lip, barely containing the scream of pain and rage that came as time caught back up to Thad.

  “Sorry… oh god, I think I broke your wrist,” Thad said, both shocked at the woman’s action but also at his response. Regret peppered his words as he magically assessed the injury and winced, sensing the broken bones.

  -She just tried to kill you, don’t Redacted apologize to her! -

  “You bastard, I’ll—”

  “Oh no, you don’t, I’m taking that,” Thad said, tapping the dagger with his foot as the woman lunged through the pain in her wrist towards the ground with her free hand, a look of dismay coming across her face as the knife disappeared without a trace into golden static.

  “Oi, give that back!”

  “You just tried to stab me, and I promised my friends I wouldn’t get in trouble. So, no.”

  “Funny thing about that. I think trouble found you.” Thad turned as another voice entered the alley, and he saw a woman with dark skin and silver hair approach him, one essence clear on her aura. “Now, let go of my friend, you prick.”

  Thad felt a headache coming on.

  “Sophie, I swear to god, if you attack me again, I’ll actually fight you… and I’ve been training… so like you don’t want none of this.”

  “Yeah, you’re very convincing, do what I said.”

  Thad looked from Sophie to the young woman whose wrist he still held, his eyes going wide with realization.

  “You’re Belinda… wait, oh god, y’all are robbing the adventure society!”

  “Why do you know me, too?!” Belinda cried in dismay, trying to pull her wrist out of his grasp, only to wince at the pain it caused.

  “… It’s, it’s complicated. Sophie, don’t!” Thad said, pointing at the woman who’d stopped just out of range of attacking him. “How about we just forget that we saw each other, and I heal Lindy here, and we all go about our business like nothing happened.”

  “Don’t call her Lindy like you know her!” Sophie snarled, but stayed perfectly still, her eyes flitting between him and Belinda’s wrist.

  “I didn’t… fuck please, I don’t want Neil to yell at me, I need everyone just to calm down,” Thad said, motioning his hand in a downward movement. “Belinda, I can sense you reaching for another knife. I would advise against it.”

  Belinda’s other hand came up, with a rude gesture, but thankfully empty.

  Thad looked between both women before glancing back down to Belinda’s wrist. If he wanted to de-escalate the situation, he would need to offer the first concession.

  -Are you gonna heal her?! User, you don’t heal the enemy! –

  Not true, you definitely take care of captured enemy combatants. Besides, she’s like a main character, I can’t leave her injured like this!

  “Oh, gentle breeze, ease our pain,” Thad chanted, wind lightly whipping at his and Belinda’s hair.

  “Why didn’t it hurt? Healing magic always hurts a bit,” Belinda asked with a confused expression as she looked down at her wrist in Thad’s grasp, her fingers flexing a bit.

  “My magic’s a bit restrictive, but it makes up for it in other ways. One being pain relief,” Thad explained as he let go of her wrist, his hands coming up in a surrender motion as he took a few steps back from Belinda. “See, all healed. Now, I’m just going to—”

  “You’re gonna stay here and answer some questions first,” Belinda said, a new dagger now pointing at Thad, from a safe distance.

  “We just saw how your last attempt at stabbing me went down. Is this really the route you want to take tonight?”

  “Yeah, but now it’s two on one, and you were dumb enough to let me go.”

  “Why does everyone have to insult me when they first meet me?” Thad lamented, looking up towards the sky as if he were questioning the gods.

  “Probably cause you’re the worst, so go on and answer her questions. That’s the least you could do,” Sophie said, taking up a fighting stance.

  “The least I could do? I legitimately just healed her! Also, you know I can leave, right?”

  “You can’t outrun me.”

  “You have the swift essence, Sophie… but I can teleport, so yeah, I can outrun you.”

  “How do you know my essence?”

  “Your aura, it’s clear as day,” Thad said with exasperation. “Now, I’m leaving, so don’t try—”

  “Why didn’t you turn Sophie in?” Belinda asked, lowering her dagger.

  It caused Thad to pause. He looked between her and Sophie, his mind trying to think of a plausible reason… before he decided to work with the truth.

  “I didn’t want to.”

  “But she tried to rob you. She kicked you in the face.”

  “I mean, I’m fine, and I’m sure you both have your reasons,” Thad said with a slight shrug. “Besides, she’s not the only woman who’s kicked me in the face recently. In fact, she’s kicked me probably the least… well, other than you, but you did try to stab me.”

  “So, you’re not going to turn us in if we let you go?” Belinda asked with disbelief.

  “I won’t interfere, I know you’re only doing what you’re told.”

  “How do you know that?” Sophie asked, taking a step forward, only to take it back as Thad snapped his finger and pointed at her with a frown.

  “Listen, I knew Old City… A bit too well, and I’m trying to put that behind me. Be a better person. So, let’s call it good, and you can rob the adventure society another night when I am far away from here!”

  “Well, I want my knife back,” Belinda demanded as she sheathed her other one.

  “Completely fair,” Thad said as the dagger appeared in his hand, and he lightly placed it on the ground, sliding it towards her, letting out a small laugh. “Huh… you know what’s funny. You robbed me… and I robbed you. Real circle of theft we’ve got going on here.”

  Belinda’s lips quirked into a smirk before she snorted out a laugh, only to get a stern look from Sophie.

  “What? It is actually hilarious when you think of it. I just got robbed by one of the Mercer scions… wait, why do you know lockpicking?” Belinda asked, looking at Thad, who just shrugged.

  “I thought it was a cool trick to have in case I ever needed it,” Thad said, not for a moment about to tell them the real reason he knew. The reasons he empathized with them.

  “You can buy whatever you want. Why would you need to pick a lock?” Sophie asked with her hands on her hips.

  “I mean… what if I got locked out of my house?”

  “You’re guards would let you in,” Belinda pointed out, to which Thad just paused and looked away for a second.

  “… That’s a fair point; you’ve got me there.”

  “You’re so weird,” Sophie said before pointing at Thad. “I'd better not see you again, you get my drift.”

  “Trust me, I’m fine with that arrangement,” Thad said, watching both women back away from him, before taking off running. “Thank you for not successfully attacking me this time.”

  “Fuck you, Thad!” Belinda yelled back at him.

  Thad just stood there, dumbstruck, for a second.

  We’re not going to breathe a word of this to Neil or Dustin.

  -Like I could Redacted tell them. -

  True…Well, hey, at least nothing actually happened! Thad thought as he started walking out of the campus, stepping into a street lined with food stalls, and a person of higher rank immediately took him off his feet.

  “Watch where you're going! What are you, some incompetent— Thadwick?”

  Thad looked up to see an elf woman dressed all in white, assessing him with icy blue eyes, platinum blonde hair falling over a pale shoulder.

  A cold sweat came over him.

  “Anisa?”

  -Personal Assistant Has Disconnected -

  Thad Fanart and Expressions

  SNL Meme the chapter is based off of.