Chương 30: Mage Privilege

Enzo disappeared into the workshop for the next few days. That it doubled as his bedroom was convenient. Other than occasionally weighing in on hunting, watch policy, or who to put in charge of the new communal food storage, he threw himself entirely into his work. Because no matter how much he accomplished, there was always another problem to be solved. That might have annoyed most people. It gave him purpose. He completed his next three adaptations by the end of the first day.

They were simple things compared to the first, but each one was practical. And knowing they could deconstruct them when it was time for something new meant there was no reason to delay the advancements. Mana Control was second. He and Sumi had easily identified its relationship with spell range. The formula was obvious, too. They'd done some testing, and were certain that spell range determined the distance in which they could invoke spells using the Guide and manifest structured mana from their reservoirs.

Though they were less certain about it, they were also confident it correlated to how far their spells could travel. And though he had considered far more complex options, in the end Enzo went with increasing his spell range. While the idea of being able to manipulate two threads at once was tempting, especially because it might allow him to cast faster and reduce his reliance on Simplified Invocation, it was also daunting. He didn't know where to begin.

And being able to cast spells and have them travel further had obvious benefits. Including an increased chance of survival. Mana Absorption came next, and again he went with something straightforward. Increasing the rate at which he absorbed, either actively or passively, weighed on his mind at first. But in the end, a simple increase to capacity had the additional benefit of increasing the Guide's secondary mana pool granted as a reward for killing Eaters.

Again, he couldn't help but feel that having more mana increased one's chance of survival. Spell Forms came last. And he settled for something derivative. Copy and paste. Sort of. It allowed him to mimic any existing shape during spell formation when drawing out another thread. All he needed was a way to store the shapes in memory somehow, rather than requiring an existing thread to copy, and it would be perfect. It might even be a path to casting without relying on Simplified Invocation.

It didn't help with maintaining the threads. Or focusing intent or concepts into them. But it was faster and marginally safer. More importantly, when he was done, Sumi confirmed that his adaptations were the first to appear on those lists. They weren't alone for long, though. The very next day, others appeared. Including Sumi's. Then Val's. And finally Kenzo's. Which meant the race was on to reach the second wall. And it felt very, very far away.

Sumi took copious notes about everyone's experiences, which were stored in a heavy safe alongside copies of the rest of the information they'd collected on magic and mana. After that, Enzo split his attention across multiple projects. Sumi's idea about mana conversion via enchantment refused to be silent, and he returned to it every chance he had. Because he was increasingly convinced, after reviewing all the previous Guide entries, that it was possible.

He'd overlooked it at the time, something he attributed to sleep deprivation and the mild inconvenience of Kenzo's possible death, but the entry on Mana Storage and Mediums clearly mentioned typed mana. That might not be a certainty, but it had given him hope. And hope kept him awake at night, it turned out. Every time he ran into another frustrating dead end in the pursuit, he pivoted to crafting more barrier rings and bands for the watch.

At the rate he was going, everyone in the community would have one within a few months. He'd completed the shower enchantment, as well. Creating the design for the mana layering, including concepts, even without the ability to convert the mana, had worked. Sumi had to try multiple times to cast it, but the experiment had been a success in the end. They set up half a dozen communal showers. Which were basically buckets hanging from trees, with awkward plastic privacy curtains.

Then they set up three private ones in the bathrooms of their home. Mage privilege. The next day Val told him that people were very grateful, but they were also hoping the mages might figure out a way to heat the water, too. Preferably before summer ended. He hoped that would not become a pattern. Enzo leaned back in his chair and pulled up his status.

— Status | Name: Lorenzo Locke | Class: Wizard (Tier 1) | Mana Perception: 22 meters | Spell Range: 13 meters | Mana Capacity: 475 (295 | 180) units Skills | Mana Sense (Level 12) [Mana Information Translation and Display] | Mana Control (Level 11) [Increased Range] | Mana Absorption (Level 13) [Increased Capacity] | Spell Forms (Level 11) [Geometric Replication] | Attunement (Level 9) If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

| Enchanting (Level 6) Spells | Lock (Level 8) | Shield (Level 6) | Bolt (Level 11) | Spear (Level 5) | Telekinesis (Level 8) | Pulse (Level 6) | Analyze (Level 5) Techniques | None Schema | Barrier | Gather Mana — Designing the enchantment for the showers hadn't rewarded him a schema. Sumi hadn't received one either, which was curious. They weren't quite sure what to make of it, but he'd suggested she study the physical design when she had time. They already knew that knowledge mattered.

Maybe that meant the Guide only recognized complete creation as something to be codified. Movement from the bed drew his attention. Murph lifted her head and stared at the window. Enzo turned.

"What is it, girl?" She'd outgrown the size of a German Shepherd already. Besides growing noticeably more muscular, she now carried herself with a predatory grace and silence that looked decidedly feline. Murph growled, then slipped off the bed and moved to the door. Then she stood on her hind legs, gently took the doorknob in her teeth, and rotated it. Enzo watched her go with a frown. Every day she grew further from the little border collie pup she'd been before the rain.

The changes didn't bother him so much as the worry that she was becoming something he didn't understand. He didn't know what he should do. Other than to trust that she would be okay. He stood and hobbled to the bedroom window. The view outside revealed nothing unusual. But he trusted Murph's instincts. Or her hearing. Whichever had set her off. Enzo grabbed his cane and made his way downstairs. He heard the front door open, followed by another bark as Murph took off into the street.

He followed, and once outside, began hearing raised voices in the distance. As he made his way up the street, squinting against the afternoon sun, he made out a group of figures moving toward him from the southern end of what had officially become their territory. Murph was racing circles around them, barking. As they drew closer, the picture sharpened. Two members of the Watch had a man by the arms, dragging him along the road between them.

The man was struggling, though it looked more like protest than any attempt to fight back.

"I told you, my name is Matt! I'm friends with the two Enzo-idiots!" Enzo stopped. A chuckle escaped him at the old insult. He hadn't heard that one since high school.

"It's okay, guys!" he called out.

"He's pretty ugly, but he's one of ours." The Watch members came to a halt and released Matt, who pulled his shirt back down from where it had ridden up during the scuffle. He was breathing hard, and his hair was a mess, but he only looked annoyed, not hurt. One guard turned to Enzo.

"Sorry, Mr. Locke. We didn't know. He tried to force his way in." Enzo's expression went flat.

"Oh, hell no. It's Enzo. Or Lorenzo.

'Mr. Locke' is my pops." The guard glanced at his partner.

"Shit, sorry, boss. Miss Valentina said to call you that."

"Yeah." Enzo pinched the bridge of his nose.

"That tracks. Anyway, you can leave Matt with me." They nodded and headed back toward the barricade, offering Matt a few more apologies as they went. Matt watched them go, then turned to Enzo.

"Sorry, man," Enzo said.

"You never came by, and I guess we forgot to tell the perimeter guards to keep an eye out for you." Matt strode toward him.

"It doesn't matter. We have a really big fucking problem." He stopped in front of Enzo.

"It's Signe. She arrived in town yesterday morning and ran into the Steel Soul Riders."

The kitchen table had been cleared of everything except the maps. Matt's hand-drawn layout of the Safeway supermarket and its surroundings covered most of the surface. Patrol routes in red marker, guard positions in black, with times and shift changes scrawled in the margins. The interior was rougher, but the important details were there. Stockroom. Loading dock. Manager's office. A small circle near the back labeled 'S.'

Beside it, the larger map of Mill Valley that Matt had been using since the early days of the club's operations sat weighted down at the corners with coffee mugs. The highway. The disputed territory to the east. The supermarket and surrounding blocks the Steel Soul Riders claimed as theirs. Enzo stood at the head of the table, leaning on his cane. Val was across from him, arms crossed, jaw tight. Kenzo had taken up position near the back door, one shoulder against the frame, expression unreadable.

Sumi sat in the corner, mostly just listening. Matt stood closest to the maps, fingers smudged with ink. Their father occupied the chair at the far end, arms folded, watching. Nobody had spoken for a while. Not since Matt had explained how many people the motorcycle club had recruited in the past two weeks.

"Why are we still standing around?" Val growled.

"We should be halfway there by now. It doesn't matter how many we have to go through." Kenzo crossed over to her in two strides and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"You're not the only one worried here, sis." He jerked his chin toward Enzo.

"We only have one chance. So we gotta do it right." Val's glare softened.

"Sorry." Enzo glanced up.

"It's fine. But Kenzo's right. I just don't see how we get to her without alerting the entire place." He shook his head.

"And we can't trade with the guy because we all know what he wants. More mages."

"It gets worse, Enzo." Matt sighed.

"Signe's a wizard, too. I overheard the bikers talking about it. She was running down the main street when they stopped her. Then they got into a fight, and she did some weird shit then kneecapped one of them." Everyone listened.

"When they were, uh…" Matt trailed off.

"Describing her. I realized who it was, so I made an excuse to pass by and looked through the window to make sure, then came right here. She looked pretty messed up." Enzo's fingers clenched hard around the handle of the cane. Matt glanced at him and paled.

"Uh. I mean, she's still Signe, right? So she looked good." He froze.

"Shit. I mean, you know. Like, even though she'd been in a fight, she'd come out better than the other guy." Kenzo chuckled.

"He knows what you meant, bro. He ain't mad at you."

"Right. Yeah. This shit is just so stressful, man." Matt rubbed his face with both hands.

"First it rains blood, then the power goes out, and then we have bloody zombies and magic. Then, just when I think things are reaching whatever new normal is, something like this happens." Pops let out a heavy breath.

"You kids understand what this is going to take if this Gus fella won't give up little Siggy, right?" He looked around the room at everyone.

"I know you've been through a lot this past couple of weeks. And I know the three of you left out things about what you had to do to get home, but these aren't Eaters. Not beasties either." He paused for a few heartbeats.

"Killing people is a whole other thing." No one answered him.

"It's something I wish my children never had to contemplate," Pops continued. Then he nodded to Kenzo, Sumi, and Matt.

"Nor you three. And I hate that I'm not saying we shouldn't. But if we're heading into town to bring her home, everyone has to be ready for what that might mean." Enzo turned to his father.

"Anything we didn't share was only because we didn't want Mom to hear. Most of the Eaters we've killed…" He closed his eyes and sighed.

"They all looked every bit human afterwards. I can't speak for the others, but I've just pushed it aside and focused on everything else." Then his voice hardened.

"And if Gus doesn't want to give up Signe, this won't be any different." Val nodded.

"Damn right."

"Yeah," Kenzo said. Pops nodded.

"Alright. So long as you understand." He stood up.

"Now then, what's the plan?" Enzo tapped the map.

"We can't get to her without a fight, but what about you?" He turned to Matt.

"Can you convince the guys inside that you need to move her? Maybe say that Gus wants to talk to her?" Matt studied the map with a thoughtful look.

"Yeah… yeah. I think so. They think I left to check on a few of our scouts that hadn't returned, which has happened before. They have no reason to mistrust me." He frowned.

"I won't be able to get her out of the building though. The best way out is through the loading area, but it's guarded. I can't manage it alone." Enzo met his gaze.

"Good thing you're not alone."