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Chapter 91 - Strange, but Alive

  Levi had not missed his dad in a while… this much. His dad had spent a lot of time teaching Levi some handyman things. He learned how to attach shingles, dry wood, strip wires, and other woodworking things. Most of that wasn’t entirely relevant right now as electricity wasn’t a thing in his new world. It was the simple fact that he was doing things with his hand. It was doing handyman things once again.

  However, Levi didn’t feel sadness but gratitude. He felt grateful for having a dad who would willingly teach him these things, unsure if it would be helpful but hoping that it would. He felt grateful that he got to know his father intimately and didn’t actually see his death, which was not the case for most of the villagers here. They were eyewitnesses to the slaughter of their families. It was brutal, yet they kept moving forward. They kept pushing on.

  Levi admired the villagers' tenacity, working hard day after day to build their village finally. It was inspiring. It made him want to be better, to continue to push forward day by day. This was why he had thrown himself into helping rebuild the village. It had been a few days since they gave Serenia, Wyatt, and Sunny their magic essence. It was also a few days since he figured out what the League of Order was doing and trying to summon.

  Levi recalled the moment he told Anna and Tycen.

  “Come with me,” Levi said. He had quickened his pace to leave the village in a somewhat jog. On the outskirts, he stopped and began pacing.

  “What is it?” Tycen asked.

  “I think I figured out what he is going to summon…” Levi said.

  “And?” Anna asked.

  “Tranquility,” Levi said.

  “Who?” Tycen asked. He looked at Anna, whose face went pale.

  “The goddess?” Anna asked.

  “It fits,” Levi said. He recounted everything he had learned, from the history of order magic and meeting Tranquility… kind of. From the weird vision power from Louis to the letters from Veluvius, they all pointed to Axel Arbors seeking powerful order magic items for a ritual. Levi had read that there was a ritual to bring the goddess back in her book. It didn’t say what the ritual was. “ Is what the book said.”

  “That’s not good,” Tycen said.

  “She is not a good god,” Anna said. “She is vengeful and nasty. Her order is her own subjective balance. We need to find those letters. We need to find Axel.”

  “I agree,” Levi said. “The League is not great because now he can split his attention. It means he could likely take less time to get his needed items.”

  “Well shoot,” Anna said.

  Levi took a deep breath, “ as if the stakes weren’t high enough…”

  “We can’t do anything about it now. Besides get stronger. We are stuck in this village for a bit longer, we might as well make the most of it. This whole village is against order, which is good,” Anna said. “I am sure they are not the only ones. Our mission does not change, we just must act with a bit more urgency.”

  Levi agreed heartedly with Anna's words. As he was bringing wood in to rebuild a wall, he felt something in his aura. With excitement, he dropped the wood and sprinted toward the building he was sleeping in. Inside, sitting on the edge of the bed, was Piper, awake.

  Piper did not remember the blast that had knocked her out cold—not entirely, that is. She remembered the sheer power of the attack, the magic swelling underneath her feet. It felt like shifting ground before a lava eruption. She had been too slow. She had tried to conjure shadow tendrils to cover not just herself but the two others. She failed. Piper was then engulfed in searing hot pain as golden light covered her body. That was the last thing she remembered: the pain.

  She looked at her arms, and they were fully healed. New skin had replaced her undoubtedly burnt skin. She felt the top of her head, and her hair was coming back slowly. Piper thanked the gods that she wasn’t bald but was sad that her long locks were no longer present. She would never openly admit it, but Piper really liked her hair, often thinking it was her best feature.

  Piper felt okay, but she knew she wasn’t. She could feel the raw healing power flowing through her mana streams. Which were also not fully healed. They were damaged significantly as well. She was in an unfamiliar bed, which, of course, was not surprising. She was wearing clothes that, thankfully, were familiar. She pulled the oversized shirt over her nose and inhaled deeply. The smell of her boyfriend, her lover, filled her nostrils.

  Knowing that her body was physically strong but magically was not, she pushed herself to the edge of the bed and sat on it. It was weird not having her magical senses, even though she had had them for many years. The lack of auras, manas, or really anything was hauntingly still. Being from a family of assassins, she was always taught that stillness meant it was the right moment to strike.

  That was when a horrifying thought crossed her mind. What if they had lost? Was the team enough to beat a 4-star magic user? She had hoped so, but that single attack was a lot. She heard someone sprinting toward her location. Once again, she was saddened by not being able to sense who or what was approaching. Bracing herself for an attacker, she was shocked and excited to see an out-of-breath Levi.

  “PIPER!” Levi cried. He rushed over to her and gently kissed her forehead before sitting next to her and wrapping her in a gentle embrace.

  “Hi, Levi,” Piper said. She inhaled and basked in his scent and warmth.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Strange, but alive,” she replied.

  “Strange how?”

  “My magical senses haven’t recovered yet.”

  “I didn’t know that was a thing,” Levi said, scratching his head.

  “It isn’t very common only under extreme circumstances. Something to do with how extreme healing is so potent that it disrupts your mana streams.”

  “So no more potions?” Levi asked.

  “No more healing potions, it’s time for my body to do it on its own.”

  Levi pulled out a small potion that glowed a gentle blue. He handed it to Piper, who took it from him. “I assume this would help heal your mana streams.”

  “Maybe,” Piper said, taking the bottle and drinking the contents. She enjoyed the sensation of potions; the warm feeling that flowed through her body was nice. She could feel the potion enter her mana streams and have minimal effect in her recovery. She shook her head. “It kind of worked. Not enough for me to blow through our mana potion supply. I’ll be fine, Levi,” she leaned in and kissed him gently. “I can’t say I missed you since I was unconscious but it is good to see you.”

  Levi shook his head with a chuckle. “I missed you. It’s good to see you too, love.” He ran his hand through her short hair, and Piper sighed while he did it.

  “It’s going to take forever to grow my hair back to what it was,” she complained.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  “There isn’t some magic growing hair cream or something?”

  “Actually, there might be, now that you say it. How are the others?” Piper asked.

  “Anna and Tycen are out fetching clay or mud or something, they should be back soon. Bradley and Izzy are still knocked out. They are a lower rank than you so I am expecting them to take some more time. They are stable but I think they’ll run into the same problem you are facing. Which means we won’t be leaving this village until you all recover your magical senses.”

  “I hope they pull through,” Piper said. “If only I could-”

  “None of that, Piper,” Levi chided. “None of that. What happened happened and we aren’t going to get anywhere with you throwing yourself a pity party, instead of recovering.” She didn’t look happy, but she nodded nonetheless. “Good, come on, there are people who want to meet you.”

  “Who?” she found her clothes on the side of the room and changed, not wanting to walk out in Levi’s shirt and nothing else on. Levi waited patiently, eyes lingering over her body. She blushed at the attention but reveled in it. The two walked out of the room, and Piper found herself in the midst of a busy village that was in the process of rebuilding. Mostly women were putting mud on walls or putting wood up, there were children helping out by carrying a brick or two.

  “Where are we?” Piper asked.

  “Remember those people locked up in cages,” Levi said. “This is them. We freed them and are giving them a fair chance at a life that was taken from them.”

  “By rebuilding the village for them?”

  “Most aren’t from here, so building,” Levi said. “There are three new magic users in this town as well.”

  “Oh really? And I assume that is all your doing Mr. Winters,” Piper said.

  “It is indeed,” Levi said with a goofy smile. Two women spotted Levi, dropped what they were doing, and made their way over to the couple, who were holding hands. The first woman was older, around Levi’s age, if not a bit older. The second was younger, maybe late teens or early twenties, to Piper’s sensibilities. She couldn’t feel their auras, which she had disappointedly remembered.

  “Mr. Winters,” Serenia said. “I see one of your teammates has woken up.”

  “Hello,” Piper said, forestalling Levi’s rant about being called Mr. Winters. “I’m Piper,” she greeted. “What are your names?”

  “I’m Serenia,” the older one said.

  “I’m Sunny,” the younger one said.

  “Your…” Serenia said, looking at the interlocked fingers. “Boyfriend here saved our lives, and so did you. Thank you for that, I am glad I can say thank you in person. Have you fully recovered?”

  “You’re welcome, although I didn’t do much,” Piper said. She shook her head, “no, my magical senses are still recovering so I can’t perform spells or use anything mana related, OR perceive anything magical. It’s quite frustrating if I am being honest… Levi tells me you are two new magic users? Welcome to the world.”

  “We are,” Sunny said. “So far we haven’t done anything more than the basic foundational stuff, but I am excited to get started soon.”

  “How long was I out for?” Piper asked.

  “A week,” Levi said. “I have taught them the basics of feeling their mana and the importance of understanding what low stamina and low mana feel like.”

  “That’s a good start, what classes are you all thinking about?”

  “Summoner,” they said at the same time without hesitation. After an appraising look, Serenia kept talking, “We are appreciative of the help that Mr. Winters provided. We felt that since we are a small village with little to no experience in fighting, having summon guards guard and fight for us would be the smart decision.”

  “It certainly is,” Piper said. “I wasn’t questioning your reasoning. I am simply shocked to see another person choose summoner because of Levi.”

  “He makes it seem quite useful,” Serenia said.

  “You’ve seen him fight,” Piper said. “They are pretty useful; summons have helped us more than once.”

  “Exactly, and maybe we can get a familiar out of it, which would be even better,” Sunny said. “A swarm type, like Mr. Winters’, would be perfect to protect this village. As it stands, there are three of us who all want to be summoners, and that should provide us with more than enough protection.”

  “You have it all thought out,” Piper said, nodding approvingly. “But why not have summons to help you build the houses?”

  “A couple reasons,” Levi said. “Firstly, the villagers just got freed from magic users… so might not be the best to you know, have a magic user completely dominate the rebuilding process. Secondly, community. They suffered tragedy together, now they get to rebuild their own life from that.”

  “That makes sense… the second reason, the first sounds like you trying not be a hero when you already are one. They all saw you save them, having summons wouldn’t change that.”

  “I guess that’s fair then perhaps it-”

  “PIPER!” Anna called from the clearing. Serenity and Sunny turn to see the princess move the clay that was levitating above their heads on the ground. Then sprinted to where they were standing. She rushed in and hugged Piper in a huge hug. “I missed you so much… I thought I lost you.”

  “I’m alright Anna,” Piper whispered. “I’m alright.”

  Serenia leaned in to whisper to Levi, “We will take our leave. Can we meet later?”

  “I’ll come with you now,” Levi said. “Let’s give these two some time, alone.” Levi walked off and followed the two new magic users. “What’s up?”

  “We are wanting to observe a summon,” Serenia said.

  “I would also like to request a familiar,” Sunny said. “Your class is Familiar Summoner right?”

  “It is,” Levi nodded.

  “Does that mean you can allow others to have familars?”

  “Sadly, no, at least not at the rank I am,” Levi said. “But, I can help you get a familiar. I should warn you though, getting one early on in your journey might evolve you into a familiar summoner as well.”

  “I see no issue with that,” Sunny said.

  “I do not think it would be wise to have all of us be familiar summoners,” Serenia said. “So I will differ to allowing Sunny to be that position.”

  “Why do you want a familiar?” Levi asked.

  “We discussed this the other night, Serenia, Wyatt, and myself,” Sunny explained. “I see Anza, and I can’t help but think how awesome it must be to have a companion who is badass with you all the time. No additional summons are required. Not just Anza you have a freaking dragon, a dragon, who quite literally just chills on your shoulders. That is more than enough convincing for me. And think,” she kept going, not allowing Levi to respond. “What if the next ass-wipe comes around here and there is a familiar just as intimidating as ANY of your familiars? They would think twice about doing anything.”

  “The biggest thing we wanted to know, which led to the familiar talk is, how long do summons last before they have to go home?” Serenity asked.

  “It varies. Different summons last longer; some can stay for minutes, others who can stay for months. The more complex rituals and the higher the rank the better chance that you have the longer-lasting summons,” Levi explained. He typically only wanted temporary summons, so he had never really attempted a long-term summoning ritual. It was definitely something to consider, especially for this village. However, they were correct, at least in their line of thinking. Having a familiar would be great if it could protect the entire village.

  The problem was that they would need a swarm familiar or one that could split, duplicate, or leave multiple bodies all over the place. Otherwise, Sunny would be stuck in the village, reduced to a guard summoner, which would be terrible for progress. The fact of the matter was that a village of one entire class was asking for trouble. Levi appreciated that they wanted to be summoners; it made his heart warm, but he needed his team. He needed the various forms of attacks his team provided.

  He must have been considering too long as Serenia cleared her throat to snap him back into the present. He shook his head, “Sorry. I think it would be best that you diversify your other magic-users as your village grows.”

  “Why?” they asked.

  “Sunny if you want a familiar that’s great, but once you get to a certain rank you’re going to have to leave the village to get stronger,” Levi explained. “That is not an easy thing to do if your familiar is needed at the village AND with you at the same time. That would put both at risk. Having a summoner in your ranks is great, because it means you won’t need as many fighters. It doesn’t mean none, but not as many. Getting a sorcer or some rangers would be great, warriors and rogues would be helpful as well. Of course all but sorcery can be done without magic. This was a long winded way of saying, choose wisely.”

  “Couldn’t we summon a golem and some sort of ranged creatures?” Serenia asked.

  “You could but as I said, temporary,” Levi responded.

  “Should we not all be summoners,” Sunny asked, slightly disappointed.

  “Y’all can be what you want,” Levi said, putting his hands up. “I actually think all three of y’all should be, just for the ability to do rituals; I’m just saying when you get more magic essences, diversify, at least, that’s my advice.”

  “We will consider your words; thank you, Mr. Winters,” Sunny said with a bow. "You have been nothing but a blessing to us; we are extremely grateful.”

  “My pleasure, honestly, y’all have been great,” Levi said.

  “I do have one additional question,” Sunny said.

  “Shoot,” Levi prompted.

  “Is there any benefits to going to a guild?”

  “I honestly have no clue,” Levi said. “My circumstances to becoming a summoner were… unusual. What did you see when you got the magic essence?”

  “Status menus for the most part,” Sunny said.

  “Hmm,” Levi mused. This was actually a good question. He never knew what natives of this world saw when they first got magic. He was forced to be a summoner, but from what he was taught, all classes affected attributes, at least the most basic form. When did someone choose a class? How did they know? Princess Karin, Anna’s youngest sister, said she would choose to be a summoner, even though she had had magic for her whole life. Trixie or Victor didn’t mention having to make a decision right then and there but wanted to have the conversation. Now, these three. They never actually mentioned any formal process for choosing a class.

  It seemed highly unreasonable that everyone on the entire planet would be able to go to a guild, so there had to be some way of choosing, right? As he considered deeper, a thought occurred to him.

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