Earthen Mages

John squared his shoulders.

“How do you plan on doing that?”

“By kicking your ass!”

Apparently, they had scripted this and that was their cue to all run at John as an instant dungeon appeared around them. He cast observe on them.

Guild-Earthen Mages

Earth Mage gang for students that go to Firesmith. Earth creature Summoners welcome. Ten members.

Well, there’s only eight of them here. Let’s see if they brought any summoners.

They did. Two, to be exact. They stopped halfway between John and where they had started running and began chanting. The other six kept running at John. He waited for them. His calm unnerved them. The first two to get within ten feet of him stopped and did weird hand motions. The sidewalk began to crumble under him, so he jumped into the street. The next two clapped their hands together, and earthen gauntlets materialized on their hands. They got closer than the first two and started punching at John. He was dodging all their blows, though. The last two came up behind John with baseball bats made out of concrete they had pulled out of the sidewalk.

Shit’s getting serious.

He cast flames out of his feet and flew twelve feet into the air. Then he threw a fireball at the summoners, who were still chanting, to break their concentration. It worked, they panicked and stopped chanting to run away from the flames. Then he shot a lightning bolt at one of the gang members’ gauntlets, shattering it. He made sure not to actually hit them, knowing that he would probably be punished by the administration if he did. He landed where they had started talking to him, fireballs in hand.

They were a mess. The summoners had left the barrier, the gauntlet guys were arguing, and the last four were staring at John with disbelief. John dispelled the fireballs.

“Are we cool now?”

“Ye-yeah… We cool.”

The rest of the guys looked at the one who spoke. It was the one John had shot the gauntlet off of. He left the barrier. The remaining guys looked like they might try to run at him again. John raised an eyebrow at them.

“I can summon something for you to fight if you want.”

Their eyes widened and they shook their heads.

“Nah, nah. We good.”

They left the barrier.

Encounter Complete.

+400 Exp.

Exit Instant Dungeon?

Yes No

John sighed and hit yes. The greenish hue shattered, and he was standing on the sidewalk a few feet from Firesmith’s gates. All the students were gone.

“This is going to get really annoying really fast.”

And I’m not just going to let them beat me up, either.

He walked to his car and got in, his sour mood dissipating as the engine roared to life. He smiled, then set his mind’s destination as his house.

“Idiot.”

John jumped.

“Holy shit! Sera, you gotta stop doing that!”

She laughed at him.

“Oh, the look on your face!”

Her laughter died down as John pulled out of the parking space and started driving home.

“No, but really. Stop being an idiot. Get to your dorm, not your house. I put your bags in the trunk. There’s no reason for you to go back.”

John rolled his eyes.

“Well if you would have told me that, I might have actually known.”

“Well I’m telling you now. Take a right.”

His Driving skill did as he was told. Sera gave him directions to his new apartment, and John tried to make conversation on the way.

“So, why didn’t you intervene? When I was getting jumped, you were nowhere to be found.”

She looked at him like he was an idiot.

“You weren’t in any danger. You could take them all easily, and more if you had to. Why would I intervene if you didn’t really need me? And even if you couldn’t take them on your own, you have two summons that specialize in fighting. You could have summoned one of them and you would have definitely beaten them.”

John shook his head.

“So when you think I’m in trouble, that’s when you show up?”

“Yeah pretty much. It’s not that hard to understand, even if you are an idiot.”

“Then why are you here now?”

They were at a stoplight, and it was red. They sat in silence for a while, and then the light turned green. John started to cross the intersection. Then a redhead girl on a motorcycle ran the red light. John slammed the brakes, but it was too late. His car crashed into the custom black and silver Harley, launching the girl into the air.

“That’s why. That girl you just hit is the Warden of the Golden Rose Order, an ancient paladin guild that isn’t too friendly to mages. If you don’t save her life, they will hunt you down and you.”

John’s eyes widened as Sera talked. She used a perfectly calm voice, as if she were talking about the weather, not some girl’s life. He threw open the door to his car and summoned Calista.

“Sera, make a barrier and make sure to pull the girl into it.”

John looked around. The streets were empty. Most people were still at work around this time in this neighborhood. Then the world took on a golden hue as Sera made the barrier.

“Master Newman, what’s wrong?”

Calista was still wearing the Firesmith uniform.

“That girl is hurt, I need you to save her.”

Calista looked at the wrecked bike and then at the girl groaning on the asphalt almost 30 feet away.

How fast was she going?

Calista rushed to the girl and began murmuring healing spells. She had a slight golden aura. John walked over and cast observe.

Moira Brighton

Level 17 Paladin

Golden Rose (Guild)

Level 17? She could probably kick my ass. I wonder how she’ll react once she comes to her senses. Will she be mad at me for hitting her? Because that would be the fucking cherry on top of the pile of bullshit reasons people have gotten mad at me for recently. She ran the fucking light.

“Master Newman, I can’t heal her. Her magic blocks mine.”

John’s heart fluttered.

“There’s nothing you can do?”

“No, Master Newman. I am sorry.”

John looked to Sera.

“What now?”

The girl groaned, and tried to get up. Calista pushed her down.

“If you exert yourself, your condition will worsen. Let my magic affect you. I am a healer.”

Calista spoke in soothing tones.

“No, my Order has its own healer.” She coughed up blood.

“Please, you have broken ribs and they punctured your lungs. Your life is counted in minutes, if not seconds.”

“The Lady gives me strength!”

Her aura shone brilliantly for a few seconds and she seemed to feel relieved afterwards.

“Was that a spell?”

She looked at John for the first time, and her eyes narrowed.

“Rogue Mage, you did this to me.”

She tried to get up again, ignoring Calista and managing to sit up.

“I will smite you in the name of the Lady!”

She healed herself again, then got to her feet.

“Please, get your healer,” John was sure that her healing was just band aids on bullet holes, she was clearly still in a lot of pain.

“I don’t want you to die.”

She looked at him quizzically.

“Then why did you hit me with your car?”

John crossed his arms and looked at her.

“Seriously? You ran the fucking light. I had but to hit you.”

She curled her lip in contempt.

“You dare insult my… my…”

She collapsed again.

“How do I contact your healer? You don’t have time to argue. If you won’t let me help you, help me help yourself.”

“My phone. Next to the,” she winced, “Emergency call button there’s a button with an eye. Tap it and she’ll get here.”

“Where’s your phone?”

“I-I don’t know. I was using it when you hit me.”

John almost yelled at her.

Bitch was texting and driving on a fucking motorcycle. And then she blames me for hitting her after she runs the light?

He was fuming as he looked for the stupid phone. He found it and pressed the button. The screen was shattered, but thankfully the phone still worked. He walked back to Moira.

“How long until she gets here?”

“Where are we?”

“In a barrier in the Upper West Side.”

“Upper West? I shouldn’t be here.”

She mumbled a few things, then said:

“Wait. A barrier? My phone doesn’t work in a barrier. Get us out.”

John looked at Sera. She nodded and the barrier shattered. The phone dinged, and Moira relaxed a bit.

“She shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. School’s out for the day.”

John looked around. The street was still eerily empty.

Their healer is a student? How fast can a student get around town?

“I’m here. Let’s get to somewhere secluded where I can assess the damage safely.”

John turned around to look at the owner of the female and emotionally empty voice. She was wearing an Ashcroft Academy uniform and was holding a blue suitcase. Her hair was short and blonde, and she had perky B-cups. John narrowed his eyes at her, and she stared back at him with a blank expression, unfazed. John looked at the paladin, who was now completely .

“Moira’s out cold. Do you have something that’ll help us carry her?”

The healer nodded, and pressed a button on her suitcase. A squadron of drones detached themselves from the sides and flew over to Moira, picking her up and carrying her.

“Okay, where to? Sera can make a barrier if you want.”

“Who?”

John looked around for Sera. She was gone. John sighed.

“Never mind. Do you have a safe place where you can work on Moira?”

“Yes, but you can’t come.”

John shrugged.

“I was just trying to help her. She was texting and driving and then she ran a light. I hit her and she told me to call you.”

The girl nodded.

“Thank you for your assistance. You may rest assured that all responsibility you may have had for her safety are now passed on to me.”

She paused, as if calculating whether or not to say more.

“I suggest you don’t pursue any further interaction with either Moira, her organization, or myself. It would be in your best interests.”

John nodded.

“Thanks for the heads up.”

He walked back to his car and crouched to survey the damage to his front bumper.