Three figures sat behind a desk, their faces wrapped in shadow. One of them spoke.
"We are here today to discuss what we have learned about the new recruit, Turlough."
Another one leaned forward, towards the visible figures on the other side of the table. Their words imdiately broke the sense of mystery. "What happened to our lights here?"
The third figure interjected, "Actually, that would be related to the subject at question."
"Oh. The Shockwave incident, right?"
"Right," said the first figure. "Which is one of the things on the docket for today. Now if I might continue uninterrupted?" A few monts passed. "Good. First is the question of origin, of which we know nothing. Except he is extradinsional and from sowhere where magic is normal."
ztli was on the side with lights, but with less comfortable chairs. "We wouldn't have hired him to begin with if there were any suspicions of sothing wrong. As far as can be determined, he really just ca through a portal not knowing where it led."
"Yes, it is just a bit concerning. He was embroiled in trouble there, and imdiately ca upon further trouble. He handled it adequately though. That leads us to the shockwave incident."
"Inconvenient, to be sure," said the second figure. "But hardly concerning on a large scale. Turlough didn't seem to have any ill intentions, and it's Shockwave who should have known better."
"For the record," ztli said. "I don't believe he even knew what a sonic boom was before the incident."
"That brings us to another matter," said the third figure. "Being ignorant of our world yet speaking English perfectly."
The final figure in the room who had so far been silent comnted there. "That's a pretty common type of magic," Great Girl said from where she stood leaning against the wall. "He's from a type F world, right? So of my friends talk about a ga that has magic similar to his."
"And he just suddenly learned it upon being here?" the second figure asked.
Great Girl shrugged.
"He was quite clear about his ability to more or less spontaneously learn things," ztli said. "Even that speed magic was a spur of the mont decision, I believe."
"Haste," Great Girl supplied helpfully.
"Yes, I believe he called it that," ztli nodded. "From what I learned after the Shockwave incident, Turlough was running at a normal pace until Shockwave lapped him a few tis while talking. That seed to spark so competitive drive, and he suddenly used the spell on himself, passing everyone but Shockwave in a short ti. Though also exhausting himself quickly. The two of them talked on the bench after that, which is where Turlough revealed he could use it on Shockwave. Then the incident, of course."
The first hidden figure shook their head, "A speedster can hardly resist the draw to beco faster. The strange thing was how much. Shockwave estimated double speed, correct?"
ztli nodded, "Double, but the sound barrier threshold might have been a factor limiting that. Shockwave estimated Turlough himself went three tis as fast."
"The absolute increase in speed is significantly different there," the second figure comnted, "But that is the nature of powers. Effects that enhance others are usually quite rare, however. But that brings up the recent matter of concern."
"His limited capacity," the first figure said. "He ran out of mana after two short fights, incapacitating himself."
"Mana?" Great Girl raised an eyebrow.
"That's what he called it," ztli shrugged.
"Oh. It's just that… when my friends talk about gas, usually mana isn't related to the sa one that has similar spells to Turlough's."
"Regardless," ztli said, "Turlough spoke confidently that his capacity would grow given ti. He also ntioned that his recovery rate would be constant, though I intend to have him explore that area to see if he can beco more efficient. Before his collapse, he used Force Armor on himself and the other participants, plus refreshed one. That particular barrier is strong enough to stop a shot or two from a handgun, and can be the difference between death and getting away from sothing uninjured. Then he used his other abilities along with Haste, which seems particularly draining."
"It's higher level," Great Girl offered helpfully.
"That reminds ," ztli said. "The reports from Extra said he ntioned having a level."
"Spell levels and character levels are different," Great Girl said.
"Are you sure?" ztli said.
"... that's just what I heard. He might not be exactly the sa."
"Regardless," ztli continued, "He stopped making references to level after joining us. He said he was level 11, but seed to think it was low."
"11?" Great Girl couldn't help but comnt. "That's low? No, it has to be on a different scale. There's no way I could fight a level 11 wizard."
"Could you elaborate?" said the first figure behind the desk, clearly trying to get a bit of light on them.
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"Wizards at that level should be throwing around Chain Lightnings and Disintegrate. Or Cloudkill. At least, my friends talk about that all the ti."
"You will forgive us if those nas, while descriptive, don't tell us what you an exactly," said the second figure.
"Well, one can zap everyone in a room with like… two lightning bolt's worth of damage. Disintegrate can take out a ten foot cube of stuff, or lt a person. Cloudkill is just a bunch of deadly gas. At least that's what-"
"Your friends told you, yes," the third figure said. "It doesn't appear Turlough has those abilities. ztli, do you think he is hiding abilities on that sort of level?"
She shook her head, "I don't think so. He's been pretty straightforward, and if his powers make any sense in terms of effort required, then he probably couldn't do those. Doctor Martinez' scans made it quite clear that he was fully passed out after the second spar."
"If his intentions are genuine, then it is of little concern what he can or can't do, now or later," the first figure declared. "If nothing else, the job of monitoring him has co into our hands, and even the abilities he has displayed so far are quite useful. Unless there is so large deception we uncover, we can make use of him. Which brings us to the other reason we are here. Nas."
"For Turlough and the other two new recruits," the second figure nodded in the shadows. There was a mont of silence. "Ahem."
"Oh, sorry," the third figure said. "Couldn't see you. We have to get these lights replaced. Even the extra etings rooms need so functionality. Regardless, we thought about how to assign nas. With Turlough being so kind of wizard, a na like that fit. What did he call himself? A magician?"
"Mage."
-----
Sophia walked up to the apartnt door and knocked. The handle turned and she threw open the door. "Sup, nerds?"
The nerds in question were a chunky man, a more fit man and his girlfriend, and a final figure half hidden behind a screen on the table. "Welco, Sophia," sud greeted her from his position at the head of the table. "Glad you could make it this week."
"You know how my work is," Sophia shrugged, "I get called in at weird hours. At least it pays well."
The sowhat more chunky fellow known as Run shook his head, "It seems dangerous, being part of the ergency repair team. What if sothing's left behind after the heroes leave?"
"It's fine," Sophia said. "They clear the area of anything too dangerous. And the rest is what I have that structural engineering degree for. The streets need to be repaired asap so I have to figure out whether it just needs a crew or a repair super."
"Oof," Axel shook his head, "Repair supers don't co cheap."
"When you can do a few hundred man-hours of work with the wave of a hand, it probably shouldn't be cheap," Sophia comnted. She set her bag of dice down at her seat.
"Hey, before you sit," Larysa caught her attention. "Can you get the chips from the kitchen?"
"Sure things," Sophia wandered the few steps through the door. The crinkling of a couple large chip bags could be heard. "Where's the bowls?"
"On top of the fridge," Larysa said.
"Oh," Axel began to get up from his seat, "I forgot to get those down."
"It's okay, I got it," Sophia walked back out with large bowls cradled under one arm and chips in her other hand. She stood proudly at her full height of five foot nothing as she walked out. Those who knew her in other contexts might have found the difference in height rather striking. "I'm used to climbing up on things." She set down both bowls and bags in the middle of the table, leaning to make sure they were centrally placed, then sat in her seat. "So what did I miss?" Sophia asked.
"The evil wizard was lured out of his tower into that trap you guys set up," sud summarized.
"Oh! I take his spellbook."
"As you lay your hand on the vile to bound in human leather, you are filled with a sense of dread. Each page is filled with spells more foul than the next," sud handed over a piece of printer paper.
"I'll burn it to destroy all of the evil spells inside. After I take the good ones, of course." Sophia looked at the list in her hand. "Ooh, Enervation."
"You might recall that I house ruled draining spells are evil," sud pointed out.
"Yeah… I know…" Sophia shook her head. "That ans Vampiric Touch too. Oooh, stoneskin. Did he have any components on him?"
"He ca into battle with it cast," Alex comnted. "I hacked through him with my adamantine greataxe."
"We found another set of the materials in his tower," Run offered helpfully.
"Sweet. I assu nobody minds if I take that, right?"
-----
It had been a couple days since I had seen cat buddy around. I kept my eyes out in the sa areas he'd appeared before, but I saw nothing. Unfortunately work was keeping pretty busy, so I couldn't just wander around hoping to see him again.
We had our first job in a couple days, and we actually had details about it now. It was a security gig for so big party. It wasn't just us three trainees who would be there, obviously, but we'd be part of the detail. While all of us knew so things about fighting and controlling our powers, the job was more about standing around looking official. We'd be in our costus, because people apparently liked the idea that supers were watching out for them. Even if we weren't heroes.
I was actually kind of disappointed. It seed like it would be an easy job, and the very fact that there was a large security detail ant there probably wouldn't be fighting. And if there was, the chances that I personally would be involved were slim.
So beyond our normal fitness training and sparring practice, we were to familiarize ourselves with the layout of the location we were going to be guarding. We were given a layout in a format unfamiliar with , but clear enough to puzzle out in a short ti. But the most effective thing was when we had a little training exercise.
When I stepped into the training room, I expected to see a large circular room. Instead, I saw a large ballroom with people dancing around. While it could certainly have fit inside the training room, it wasn't the right shape… nor did I know where so many people ca from. And all without masks or anything.
I was one of the first to arrive so I wandered around for a minute, surprised to find that the stairs at the back were real. The people weren't, though. None of them looked at as I walked past them, but I wasn't sure what they were. Illusions, maybe… but not magical ones. At least not at the level I could detect, but illusions were supposed to leak less magic than other sorts of spells. Otherwise they would only fool warriors.
As I rested my hand on the railing, I felt sothing. It wasn't quite right. It didn't feel like varnished wood, but instead cold concrete. So the structure itself was real, but covered in an illusion to make it look more grand. These training facilities were certainly impressive. And here I'd thought making a large room underground was already a big accomplishnt worthy of the fanciest of dwarves.
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