Bog Standard Isekai

“I want to stay here,” Brin said. “I'm not afraid of assassins. I think I've proved that I can protect myself at least as well as anyone else in this Tower.”

Hogg and Lumina shared a knowing look. He loved that they were close enough to have non-verbal conversations like that, but he didn't enjoy the experience of it now when he was the one being left out of it like that.

“It isn't a matter of strength,” Lumina said carefully. “An [Illusionist] is like a [Witch] in that you can take the blame for any bad thing that happens. How can we know that you aren't responsible for any and every crime, unless an Eveladis was deployed at the scene?”

Brin slumped. “I'm out now, huh? I'm an open [Illusionist].”

“Valentin did his best to cover for you, but you lost illusions when Fowler hit you with that Eveladis, and a lot of people saw it. We're going to do the same thing we did after the Battle of Hammon's Bog and try to keep it contained, but honestly at this point anyone who wants to know will know. The best thing for you at this point will be if you're out of sight. Out of sight, out of mind,” said Hogg.

Lumina added, “You may finish the semester, which ends in three weeks anyhow. It will take at least that long for the ripples of His Majesty's actions to make their way through society. And we can reassess at that point, but I think it would be best if you skipped the fall semester and returned in the spring.”

Hogg said, “I understand you didn't really enjoy your time with the Monastery, but–”

“I'm not going back to the Monastery.” Some part of Brin must've been expecting this conversation, because he already knew what he was going to say. “I'll go to New Edelor. Or I'll go to Hammon's Bog.”

Lumina gave Hogg a questioning look. “Hammon's Bog should be workable, should it not?”

Hogg frowned, but nodded. “We could make it work.”

“Wait, really? That was easier than I thought,” said Brin.

“Well what did you expect? You said you didn't like it at the Monastery, didn't you?” Hogg sighed. “You have to understand our perspective here. None of the people who hate you would dare touch you there. Not the Great Ones of Arcaena, not Cobol or Grimwalt, or even that [Archer Illusionist] you met back in Canibri.”

“I honestly forgot about that guy,” said Brin.

“Well, I didn't!” said Hogg.

“We mustn't decide right away!” Lumina cut in. She could be bold to strangers, but apparently among people she knew well, she was as sensitive to conflict as Marksi. “Don't you have something else you'd like to show us?”

“You’re right. Brin, I’ve been plannin g something pretty big,” said Hogg. “It involves Cecildis.”

“I haven’t seen her yet today. Is she ok?” asked Brin.

“She’s fine. Let's walk.” Hogg strode towards the elevators. “Tell Sancha and Ares they can meet us in my office if they want. They're a part of this.”

Before Brin could ask what they were a part of, Lumina said, “Oh, but let us discuss your Skill selection in the meantime. Hogg filled me in on the options. Don't feel discouraged that there wasn't anything truly life changing. Not every Skill selection can be the biggest and best, and sometimes, choices that seem small can have the largest consequences.”

“I thought you were going to tell me that [Merge] was the clear winner,” said Brin.

There was a line for the elevator, but Hogg quickly took control of the sounds they were admitting to change their conversation to simple chatter about the weather to anyone eavesdropping.

“Oh, I do think it is, but it doesn't do as much for you as I'd like. The best we can say about it is that it will turn Fire, your weakest element, into a match for your second-strongest one.” At Hogg's raised eyebrow, Lumina rushed forward. “In terms of sheer utility, of course Light is your best element. But in terms of combat potential, glass outmatches it. Regardless, the [Merge] is excellent in terms of increasing your overall power, but it isn't the merge you need. If you could merge [Summon Flame through Glass] with [Shape Glass], I would insist you take it immediately. That would give you the ability to assume control of other mages' fire. Right now, you have a strong but slow defense with glass, a strong but slow attack with glass, and a quick attack with lasers. You lack a quick defense, and that leaves you vulnerable to [Fire Mages].”

Brin rubbed his chin, thinking. “Vitor's sand is a quick defense.”

“An idea that definitely deserves consideration, but not pertinent to our discussion,” said Lumina.

“If I took the summon merge, wouldn't there be a chance that the System adds elements, like air? Air is quick,” said Brin.

“It's the same problem. You want a Skill like [Shape Air]. [Summon Air] is for mining and underwater boating,” said Hogg.

“Alright, what if I take [Merge] now, and then wait for another merge to [Shape Glass]? All my magic in one Skill,” asked Brin.

“Yes, and that's what I would advise you to do,” said Lumina.

“That's the kind of power that would let me keep up with people at level 60,” said Brin.

“Your strength is in your flexibility. You'll beat [Fire Mages] by throwing glass at them. You'll be [Earth Mages] with your fire. But you're never going to beat a pure [Fire Mage] at your same level with your fire magic alone,” said Hogg.

“Are you going to suggest [Multithreading]?” asked Brin.

Hogg and Lumina shared a laugh. “He's got us pegged! Well, yeah, I was. Normally, I'd side with Lumina here and say you need that spell power to get to level 60, but knowing you, you'll get there somehow. From 60 to 70, you'll be fine; all you need for that is creativity and research. But after that?”

“Scaling,” Brin finished.

“Exactly,” said Hogg. They'd arrived at his office, and Jeeves and Bedelia were already waiting for them there, with Hogg's big back luggage case on the desk. “And on that note, I have some stuff on that front that you should know before your friends get here. I've been... doing a little work on how I'd like to scale my magic.”

Brin snapped his eyes to Bedelia's grinning face, suddenly seeing her in an entirely new light. “No way. No way. I knew it! Ok, I didn't know it, but I should have guessed! There's no way you should've been able to control all those Shadow Elementals. I can believe that the Grand Focus supplied loads of magical power, but increasing your ability to manage all those copies should've been impossible. No [Split Mind] is capable of that!”

“You're on the right track. I recently took a Skill to let me create a permanent Mirror Image. The System still calls them Mirror Images even if I cast them with [Hard Light], by the way. It takes ritual, which I've already streamlined, and a large initial investment of Mana and a good dose of intent, but the result is a nearly self-sufficient Bedelia that isn't taking up space in my brain. They run on my Mana, though, and their range is still my actual range, which is less than it was but still pretty damn far,” said Hogg.

“No way! Then... wait.” Brin turned to Bedelia. “Does that mean you're sort of a person? If you die, do you die for real?”

“Eh,” said Bedelia, making the so-so hand gesture.

“Our lives are dedicated to your service, above all else,” said Jeeves.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“How many levels did you get for defending the Tower? I wanted to ask, but I didn't think you'd actually answer,” said Brin.

“Not a single one,” said Hogg. “But the System was generous in other ways.”

“Then you're somewhere between 60 and 70, right? That's the gap where you don't get combat experience. Sancta Solia, Hogg! How did you do all the things you've done if you weren't even level 70?” asked Brin.

“Knowledge, experience, Achievements, Titles, and talent,” Hogg said smugly.

“Not to mention putting nearly every upgrade into a massively unfair magical element that he received from a System Quest,” said Lumina.

“It might have been a little bit of that,” said Hogg. “Pure [Illusionist] is hard to level. I feel like a kid again.”

“Pure [Illusionist] is easy to level if you're lacking in moral fiber,” Lumina said fondly.

“I don't know about that,” said Hogg, suddenly a bit awkward.

“And what's your real name?” asked Brin.

“Heh. Keep trying,” Hogg answered.

“I was born Jaqueline Arruda Neusi,” admitted Lumina.

Brin felt like his eyes were going to pop out.

“What? It's not like it's a secret. I simply didn't much like it.”

Hogg must've already known, because he didn't seem stunned by the revelation at all. “Your friends are almost here, so let's cut the talk of my Skills and levels. The main thing I wanted you to know was that this is a possible path for you, too. If this is the way you want to expand your power, then I might be able to work out some of the snags before you get here.”

Somehow, that conversation helped Brin decide his own Class choices. [Transmute to Glass] was attractive because it was unknown, but that was also the problem. It was the table saw that he’d bought and then kept in his garage for five years without using it a single time. It was a great tool if he ever used it, and he’d found a good use for it against Fowler, but it wasn’t vital. The other two choices improved things he used every day. Once he framed it in that light, the attraction fell away. He’d advance it if he actually found an indispensable use for it.

[Multithreading] was also ruled out after hearing Hogg’s ideas. Being able to imbue a Directed Thread into an external object would be the Skill that gave him immortality. Better Directed Threads was just an efficiency improvement. And honestly, he wasn’t sure that he really wanted his Directed Threads to be smarter. Faster, certainly, but he kind of liked the fact that they were dumb. He liked how he had to be creative and precise to get them to do what he wanted, and he didn't feel bad giving them really boring or mundane work, because he knew they didn't care. He didn't want to risk that.

He’d take [Merge], probably the moment they were done here. He still didn’t know exactly what they were doing, but Hogg seemed pretty excited about it.

A knock on the door announced Ares and Sancha, and Bedelia moved to let them in.

“Oh, Bedelia! How grand it is to see thee well! I knewest that thou wert recovered, but seeing and knowing--” Sancha cut off when she saw Lumina in the room and lowered herself into a deep curtsy. Ares by her side bowed deeply as well.

“How nice to see you two again. Brin speaks of you so fondly,” said Lumina.

“D-doth he truly?” asked Sancha, while Ares simply nodded and kept his mouth shut. Even after their lessons, they were still nervous around Lumina.

Hogg spared them further awkwardness by opening the latch on his case. “Alright, gather round. You've all seen this little thing before.”

Inside the case, Hogg revealed the little golem made of black metal that he'd shown off to the three of them back in the city house.

“Hey, it's Tolo!” said Ares.

It looked the same as it did back at the house, just metal rods connected to spheres in the general shape of a human. Hogg carefully picked it up, and placed it on his desk. There was also a black box in the case. He removed that as well, and placed it on the desk above Tolo's head.

“You should recognize this one as well,” said Hogg. He opened the box.

A black shape darted out, and then zipped around the room at top speed, curious and excited. It was their little ghost girl, Cecildis.

“You were keeping her in a box?” Brin asked.

“She likes it in there,” said Hogg.

“Once you discovered her nature and how she was connected to us, capturing her became simple,” said Lumina.

Cecildis didn't seem to mind her erstwhile captivity, or if she did it was already forgotten. Right now she was just excited to see Sancha, Ares, Brin, and Marksi again. Mostly Marksi. She kept trying to get his attention by darting towards him and spinning around in the air, but Marksi's focus was entirely on the orb.

“Hey, pay attention to this or I'm taking that thing away,” said Hogg.

Marksi moved his face up to look at Cecildis, but he didn't let go of the orb he'd wrapped his body around. Brin's arms were beginning to cramp from holding Marksi so long and let him down on the floor. Marksi rolled over a bit, but wouldn't let go of the orb enough even to stabilize himself.

“So, first about the golem. I was explaining to Brin before you came in that the Shadow Elementals are convenient in a lot of ways, but while they're present in this realm they cost me a constant drain on my Mana,” said Hogg. It was good to hear the official explanation that Hogg would be going with.

“And we're so grateful!” said Bedelia, while Jeeves nodded.

“Right. To mitigate this, I wondered if I'd be able to bind them to a magical device of some sort,” said Hogg.

“A golem. Tolo,” said Ares.

“Exactly,” said Hogg. “I developed Tolo for this purpose. This material should synergize well with the Shadow element that activates Bedelia and Jeeves, but that means it should also synergize well with our little ghost here,” said Hogg. Did that mean that black metal synergized well with Light magic? If so, Brin wanted to get some for himself. Or maybe it only synergized well with hard light.

Bedelia tapped Tolo with a nail. “So this is everything I've ever hoped for or dreamed of? Sure! Give it to the little ghost monster.”

Cecildis had given up on Marksi and floated over towards Brin. She'd put one of his hands in her mouth and when he pulled it out, it was completely devoid of color. There was a strange tingly feeling, and it took a few moments for the color to return.

“Is this at all safe for her?” asked Sancha.

“You could test it on one of us first if there's a doubt,” said Bedelia, proving that she knew what Sancha meant by 'safe' even as she summoned a locked vault from hard light and offered it to an uninterested Cecildis.

“It's not safe for her to stay as she is. She's still running off the chaos activating energy. The shadow element, the anti-light element, and her personality each burnt off a lot of that energy. If it goes on like this, she'll fade away the moment she starts to feel like she's real,” said Hogg.

“And binding her to Tolo will preserve her?” asked Sancha.

Lumina answered. “It will. In truth, the ritual is simple, if not easy. We didn't invite you here to discuss our plan. The child will perish without it, and we owe her what efforts we can make for her, as we are somewhat responsible for her existence in the first place. No, we simply thought you deserved to be here as her closest human connections. And to help us decide on a name. We cannot call her Cecildis. That name belongs to another,” said Lumina.

“Cecesi,” Brin said immediately.

A trick of the Frenarian language meant that the name he'd suggested was basically “Cute-cute-cute.” He laughed at his own suggestion even though he really actually did want to call her that.

“No!” said Sancha.

“No,” said Lumina at the same time.

“You're banned from naming things forever,” said Hogg.

“Give the good ghostly girl the golem's guise. Tolo. Cecetola?” suggested Ares.

“I like it,” said Lumina.

“Cecetolsi. Cecetilsi,” said Brin. No one even acknowledged it. “Cecilsi isu Yambul. Cecilsi isi Yamsi.”

That last one sounded like a much more dignified “Cutey-cue McCute-cute,” but even that compromise didn't get any takers.

Sancha gave him one brief glance of pure disgust and then said, “He hath raised a valid concern upon the matter of a family name.”

Hogg and Lumina glanced at each other yet again. Neither of them had a last name, and Chaos didn't even have a first name.

“Simply Cecetola will be fine,” Lumina decided.

The ritual was everything that Brin dreamed of when he became a [Mage], when he joined a cult, and when he realized he was in a new world all at the same time.

Brin, Ares, and Sancha were given words of Language to repeat over and over at a murmur, a solemn backdrop to Lumina's louder and more intense chanting. There were swirling shadows, echoes of voices he couldn't quite hear, and an ominous red glow coming off the still form of the subject of the ritual. There was even a bit of bloodletting as Hogg opened his palm and then Lumina's with a heavily enchanted knife. Brin was a little touched when Hogg took the knife to his palm as well.

The blood was Cecetola's connection to humanity, and through them to life in the world. Brin was a co-parent as much as a brother, and he swore to take this trust seriously.

Cecetola shook and thrashed when Hogg grasped her in hard light, confused and frightened, but she calmed when Lumina's chanting took a soothing tone.

As for the words themselves, Brin bet that Lumina had gotten this one wholesale from a different [Mage], because he was starting to get a grasp on her usual spellwork, and he hardly understood this at all.

“<Connection to the East Meridian. Heart Point. Twist Perpendicular. Seven Great Stones. Expel, Three Degrees...>” There were undoubtedly subtleties to the words that would connect them in meaning in a way that he was completely missing, but it didn't really matter. The Wyrd was a lot more clear to him, and Lumina was wielding it with an artful grace. The arguments were varied, but it all boiled down to the same thing. Come into the world. Become.

Brin added his own voice, adding intention into the Language he chanted. This is real. You are real.

A flash of light. A crack of thunder. Tolo began to grow. The clean lines and geometric shapes bulged and deformed, puffing out like cancerous allergic reactions. With a final shout from Lumina, the strange flesh began to recede again, and lighten.

The deformity took on a human shape. Pale white skin, slate black hair, and eyes so deep a vanta black that they made her hair look light by comparison. Cece closed her eyes and began to cry.

She was young, the size and appearance of a five-year-old girl. Brin took one hand, and it was soft as regular skin and surprisingly warm.

Lumina smoothed her hair and hummed comforting sounds, while Hogg clothed her in hard light with a snap of his fingers, and then took her other hand. “Welcome to the world, Cecetola. Welcome, daughter.”