Fantasy I Was Supposed To Become a Hero but Got Stuck in a Deadend Job Instead [Reboot] (Modern High Fantasy)

[TanteRegenbogen]

This is a reboot of a past roleplay that lasted pretty long last time.

Setting: A modern era with motor vehicles and the like but with magic and multiple sentient species (humans, elves, dwarves, goblins). Melee weapons are still common but they are slowly being replaced by guns that run on magically charged crystals to enable use by people who have little to no mana ability. Strip malls and roadside stores all exist, even smaller malls aren't unheard of. The locality where the roleplay mostly takes place is called Quarrytown. It is named that way because it is built in a former quarry. The layout of the town is suburban and the road and houses go all the way down to the bottom of the quarry. While the poorer inhabitants aren't too poor, they usually live in "The Rim" which is basically a hilly wooded area outside of the quarry. The poorest of quarrytown usually live in longhouses that are partially underground just above the river in The Rim. There are usually ten to fourty people living in the longhouses with shared living quarters for up to eight people per room on futon type beds. People who live in the quarry however usually can afford their own homes with the richest living at the southern part of the quarry, furthest away from The Rim. Quarrytown has an upscale mall in it's southern part and a larger strip mall in the north between The Rim and the Quarry. Running past Quarrytown on an West-East axis is an expressway with the capital being about five hours to the west and the coast being an hour east. Quarrytown itself has about 120,000 inhabitants, the majority being humans and dwarves, with significant goblin and elf minorities. Most humans and elves live in the Quarry while most of the dwarves and goblins live in The Rim. Usually goblins don't get along well with elves but rather well with dwarves and humans get along best with dwarves and then elves, however aren't on too bad terms with goblins.

Plot: All of your life you aspired to become something great. You trained hard or went to an university and upon graduation you applied for a job as a monster hunter, a scholar of arcane arts or even for a position as an elite in the military, only to be turned down, because you are too young, too inexperienced or simply not needed. So instead you get stuck in a deadend job as a store clerk in Quarrytown paying off your student loans and drinking in the parking lot with your friends from work after the shift is over. You still aspire to something greater despite being in this stupid situation. Maybe you will find some action as a vigilante or have built a lab in a shack behind your home. There have been stories of wyverns not far from the Rim or unexplored ruins near Quarrytown. Or maybe you have found another way to make a side income.

Roleplay is mostly character driven and can go anywhere.

Species:

Humans: Humans are the dominant species in the east and the second most common in the country. They are known to be involved in bureaucracy and trade.

Elves: Elves are dominant in the west and are the third most common species in the country. Many of the other species don't have a high opinion of elves because they are said to be snobbish and smug. Elves are mosly found in arcane occupations and the arts. Physically they tend to be weaker than humans and about as tall, if not slightly taller. They have pointed ears and longer faces.

Dwarves: Dwarves are the most common species in the country and most dominant in the north. They are known to be humble and sympathetic. Their most common fields of work are craftsmanship and local politics as it is rather common to find a dwarven mayor, even in a town with a small number of dwarves. They tend to be only half as tall as humans and no more than two thirds the size of humans. However they have a stronger build.

Goblins: Goblins are mostly found in the south and are the least common species in the country. Their appearance is a bit friendlier than people claim them to be. They are greenish in skin, about as tall as dwarves and rather slim in build. They have pointed ears and lower fangs that are not always visible. Goblins are mostly found in jobs involving books or education and are rumored to be on average more intelligent than humans or dwarves, yet rather on par with elves. However goblins tend to be more down to earth than elves.

Items or words unique to the universe:

Crystal magic: A drug often sold on the streets of the Rim at night. A mildly addictive stimulant said to raise productivity, creativity and mana output. Overdoses are possible and lethal. Usually leading to either a heart attack or soul rot (deterioration of mental ability and the senses). Is said to be found mostly in powdered form and many police officers can be bribed with it.

Auto: Local slang for a car/automobile.

Commu: Local slang for a mobile phone (a communicator).

Mana charge: A crystal that can be charged with mana to power autos/cars, commus, home appliances, arcane devices and even weapons.

Quarrier Ale: The local ale brand. In Quarrytown it is dirt cheap and of average quality. More upscale brands are Dwarven Red, Highmills and Lloranfell.

Fiordanfeller salamander curry: The local delicacy named after the region.

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

Quarrytown, Early Summer, Morning

On the streets of Quarrytown in the Fiordanfell province of the Empire, a old auto of Kharaantaristan origin rattled down the road between the Rim and the commercial district. In it sat a blond woman wearing a mid-blue tunic that had black accents, black leggings, sandals and a black choker. The woman gazed over the road with her emerald green eyes. Traffic was moving slower that she wanted it to. She picked up her long smoking pipe with the hand that wasn't on the steering wheel and stuck it in her mouth. She opened a tiny drawer in the dashboard and took out a pinch of the ribbon cut manaherb that was in the drawer. The woman stuffed the bowl of the pipe with the manaherb and lit it using a simple flame spell with the tip of her finger. After taking a drag, the woman felt energy flow through her body as not only did her mana slightly grow, but she felt more awake and attentive.

"We're almost at work, Yashi." The woman said to herself, mentioning her name, well, her nickname. She didn't take the bus, because the bus was usually packed in the morning and she didn't walk, because around this time of year, it could great pretty warm in the afternoon. It was best to just drive ten minutes with her prized auto, she had bought back in her home country years ago and spent a bit of money to have refurbished. It was a Aygir D190. It may be a "classic auto" but it was the best auto she could afford. It was also the deluxe model with the more efficient and faster engine. The anandrite mana injectors and the vitrite crystal casings were her modifications. Thanks to the casings, she could put in two larger crystal charges instead of one, which would give the auto a larger range and better acceleration. Compared to more modern autos it was still rather slow, but it wasn't like she couldn't modify it more. It would just take time and resources.

Soon Yashi made it to work. She parked her auto in the parking lot of a large strip mall with a department store and a cinema nearby. As she got out of her auto, she noticed a large SUV parked over two spaces. "That woman needs to learn how to park." Yashi said, meaning the driver of the SUV, who was a young woman who worked over in some health food store nearby named Druid Jim's. Yashi's workplace was three stores over. It was called Happy Faces Toystore. While the toy store mostly sold manufactored toys, it offered it's own "living toys" of which Yashi was mainly responsible for making. It was just a reinvention of the crafted minions mages of old used. They were like miniature golems. Since they were marketed towards children and children can be irresponsible, Yashi made sure not to make the toys sentient, but rather act programmed. It would be bad if a toy felt emotions and was neglected by a child who lost interest in it after some time.

Yashi walked into the store. She was a couple minutes late. Her boss, the old elf stood there with his hands on his hips. "Can't you be here a bit earlier? We could have had customers waiting at the door before opening." The elf said. Yashi looked at the clock. It was 21 minutes before actual opening. Yashi sighed and put on an accent: "Boss, traffic slow. I can't help. That's why late." "Don't start with the accent again. I am not dumb." The elf said. Yashi then answered normally: "Then don't give me shit for things that are beyond my control. Plus I am still here before opening time. You need me to be in a good mood to do a good job. So chill a little bit. It is not like you want to risk firing me or me quitting over petty crap. You need a good enchanter for the house made toys and I am one of the best in Quarrytown. Business has been good and we should think about expanding, or at least get an apprentice that I can teach. Cuz I don't think I'd work here forever."

The elf sighed. "Fine. But you better keep up the good work. I will give the apprentice thing some more thought. Though honestly, I wished you'd just continue to work here for the next couple decades." Yashi shuddered at the idea of working in a toy store until 70.

Soon, the store opened and the first customers walked in. While some went to browse or immediately went to buy toys their children has seen in the morning commercial breaks on the telly, one woman with a child approached Yashi. "Are you in charge of living toys?" The woman said in a rather gruff manner. Yashi smiled and replied: "Why yes. I can make many things a child desires." The large female customer looked annoyed by Yashi's smile and said: "My daughter, she likes mages. She wants to study at the arcane university when she is older. Make her something good."

Yashi bent over to the young girl and said: "So you want to go to the arcane university when you are older? You know, I studied there." Yashi heard the customer snicker. The customer then rudely said: "If you went to the arcane university, then why do you work at a toy store? You must have been pretty subpar, if you couldn't find employment elsewhere." While the customer was irritating, Yashi wasn't going to let the rude customer get to her. "Subpar you say? Why don't you go to another store that sells autonomous toys. Oh that's right, there aren't any others in the province. Listen, I work here, because I make the toys. To make such complex toys you need skill and you need knowledge. I work here, because I am one of the best enchanters in town and it requires special arcane skill to make the toys so lifelike. I could theoretically make the toys sentient. So if you want to gift your daughter something amazing, you should think about changing your tone. Otherwise, you might find the toy coming into your bedroom at night to give you sleepless nights." Yashi said in a more serious tone while looking the customer straight in the eyes.

Something about Yashi, scared the customer. Looking into Yashi's eyes, the customer understood that Yashi wasn't joking and probably do worse than just make a toy that stalks around at night when people are sleeping. The customer then forced a smile and said: "Excuse me for my rudeness. Can you please make my daughter a great living mage doll?" "With that tone, I'd gladly make one!" Yashi said with a smile. She looked back to the child and asked: "So what kind of mages do you like? And should I make it look like you?" The child then said: "Yes, make me as a light mage!" "A light mage? How wonderful. Just give me some time." Yashi said. She then turned towards the mother. "That will cost 800. 200 up front and the rest when you pick up the doll. It should be done in about two hours." "800? Isn't that a bit pricey?" The customer said. Yashi then replied: "You said you wanted something amazing. Quality costs something. 800 should still be affordable. In the capital, you'd be spending five times more for the same thing."

The customer nodded, went to the cashier to deal with the payment and left. Yashi put on her work overalls and gloves and got to work. With special precision and skill, she modeled a doll after the appearance of the child and give it a little more of a "chibi" look. Making the vessel was the easy part. The crystal that was the center part of the doll that made it come to life was the hard part. She focused on the crystal to give the doll a specific programmed personality and do certain tricks. Additionally, it would have to use mana efficiently so it wouldn't have to be recharged too often.

Two hours later, the customer came back and Yashi had just finished. Yashi presented the doll. It was big enough for the child to hold it like a baby and looked almost like a small version of the child wearing a robe and carrying a staff. Both the customer and her daughter were impressed by it's appearance. "So what does it do?" The customer asked.

"Light!" Yashi commanded. The doll then stood up and waved it's staff, then holding the staff up. A bright light shined from the tip of the staff.

"Glitter!" Yashi then commanded. The doll then waved it's staff and a glitter of light sparkled above the doll.

"You can give the doll a name and ask it to bring you things. Of course, it can only bring things it can carry. You can talk to it and it will listen. It can only answer with gestures if you try to have a conversation with it. It will however only remain active as long as you interact with it." Yashi explained.

"I really didn't expect this to be that good, but I guess it is worth the money." The customer said. "I really apologize for earlier. I shouldn't have been so quick to judge you." Yashi nodded in acknowledgement of the apology and the customer went to pay the rest while Yashi packed up the doll. "If the doll seems low on energy or if the light isn't working right, just bring it here and I should be able to breath new life into it."

 

[ThAtGuY101]

~Rakkis BellBuster Gorolac...~

Steam in the air filling the room. Fogging the mirror and becoming abundant as time continued. A slightly off pitch dwarven voice could be heard humming to himself.

"Hm hmmm hmmm hm hmm hmm hm hmm hmm..." He mused while scrubbing his arm clean. A nice hot shower was just what he needed before heading to work. By the time he finished, he was fully dressed and ready to go. Smelling good, looking good and feeling like a million bucks.

He ate breakfast using an axe in place of a knife. His spoon and fork resembled the shape of a shovel and pitchfork. Rakkis found humor in every day utensils resembling tools. He ate on a stone plate and drank from a brass mug. He smacked his belly after eating a warm hearty protein packed breakfast.

It was going to be a good day. His job was a few mile jog away from home. Teeth brushed, hair combed ,and beard tidy. He had on a skin tight green shirt, loose gray shorts, long black socks and dark brown steel toed boots. They weren't an average person's ideal running shoes, but Rakkis wasn't your average person.

He arrived at the gym at nearly the exact same time as three other dudes. It wasn't coincidental because anyone who knew Rakkis knew Rakkis arrived at the gym at nearly the exact same time he always did. Two elves and a human showed up. Elves came in the morning and goblins after lunch. It wasn't a written rule, but a mostly unspoken one. Though if Rakkis had to choose between the two, he preferred the company of goblins. Though he got along with elves mostly fine too.

Rakkis: Mornin'.
Human: Good day to you!
Slim elf: Greetings.
Muscular elf: Salutations.
Rakkis: Come on in.

After that brief greeting, the morning was fairly quiet. A few more elves and occasional human or dwarf would show up to get a good exercise in. Rakkis helped spot a few people while lifting weights. Provided water and made sure everyone's workouts ran smoothly. All was well. A few hours passed and it would eventually be lunch break time. He'd use this lunch break to go down to his favorite diner. It was cheap and offered good food. He ordered a steak sandwich and a tall glass of pomegranate juice. He sat there with his meal at one of the tables. His feet slightly dangled off the ground.

 

[Megilagor]

Viole's day began quite early for even the sun hadn't fully risen yet when he was already up and about.
Being the first one awake from the group of live-in workers of the diner Viole had a few things to do and at the same time had the privilege of taking a long shower and not being interrupted by others.
So he did just that, he picked himself up from his bed and went to take his long cold shower, after exiting it he wrapped himself in a towel and went to his room, on his way there he looked at himself in the mirror.
"I might need to up the training I'm beginning to thin out." Said Viole to himself as his muscled body did appear to be smaller than usual probably since he didn't have as much time to train as usual since he was preparing for a new escort job in two weeks.

Soon after he walked to his wardrobe containing his clothes, mostly multiple of the same clothes with some different ones for special occasions.
He wore his usual hanfu getup, a deep blue paofu robe, a tight white sash and cloth pants of the same color, light grey tabi boots along with socks of the same color, he then tied his hair behind his back into a long ponytail with a black ribbon.

Now wearing his regular clothes, Viole made his way downstairs towards the diner's kitchen, but being a bit lazy today he just chose to vault jump the railing and drop to the floor below rather than walk down the stairs, and while it look spectacular for Viole it was just another day, he braced for the fall and he nailed the landing with a little aid of wind magic on the landing to soften the impact.

Being in the kitchen Viole started pre-heating every kitchen appliance and made himself some coffee before making stir-fried veggies with rice for himself and the rest of the workers.
As he was done with that he pulled on a piece of string that run to a bell on the upper floor to wake people up and signal them that food is ready.

While the other slowly scrambled down fully clothed to eat, Viole already gulped down the last spoonful of his food. Then he went on to clean and prepare the place for the opening, after doing so he came back to his ragtag group of workers who are under him, he gave them a quick look over and gave them commands in quick succession.
"John, Suzzy I need both of you to man the counter and the drinks," Viole said while gesturing to a pair of elves, both of the simply nodded and went to work.

"Sally, Jill you are with me in the kitchen, it's already bad that the main chief is out for the count for the rest of the month, so it's just as three in the kitchen." As he spoke a cute pair of dwarvish and human ladies nodded in unison, it was a common fact for all the workers and most regulars that they were lovers.
"Tina, Thea both of you are on waiter duty ok." As he said that he looked at the goblin Tina, at her shortness and all and realizing something he corrected himself, especially since Tina was smaller than Thea and she was a dwarvish beauty I tell ya.... Or at least that's what dwarven regulars call her.

"Scratch that Tina you go replace John at the counter, John you will be on waiter duty. Ok, that should be good, now if anyone makes trouble call me I will kick them out. Got that?"
"Yes, chef."
"Good now move out."
From that hectic moment, some time passed it was already lunchtime and Viole saw from a corner of his vision one of his regulars walked in. After a closer inspection, it was Rakkis, truthfully Viole would prefer Yashi, mainly because he preferred her looks but beggars can't be choosers.

Viole personally made Rakkis's order, and handed it to Thea to hand it to him, after about fifteen minutes Viole told both of his helpers "Ok break people." Then he raised his voice so the clientele could hear "No new orders for half an hour." After saying so Viole threw a towel over his shoulder and walked out into the other part of the diner carrying a plate for himself, and walked up to Rakkis's table where he sat down and spoke before eating." You don't mind if I join ya for a bit Rakkis? Of course you don't so how's work and other stuff?"

 

[ThAtGuY101]

~Rakkis BellBuster Gorolac...~

Rakkis sat there casually listening to the conversation going on between the workers. It was none of his business so he wasn't fully listening nor planning on hopping in. So he continued looking out the window. Looking at the people walk by and the occasional automobile drive by. Eventually Rakkis got his meal. He looked down at his food and drink. It was just like he expected it to be. A brief smile passed across his face. He heard someone come over, but didn't look, and instead went to take a bite of his sandwich. He heard Viole's voice and turned to see him.

"Nope. Make yourself comfy" Rakkis said before clearing his throat. He looked out the window for a few moments before answering Viole's second question.

"Ehh... I have nothing to complain about, so I guess today is a pretty good day. Today like any other work day. Some elves this morning. few humans. Goblins when I get back to work. Same ol', same ol'. It's good day" Rakkis said before taking a big drink from his glass.

"How about you? And this diner?" Rakkis asked, putting his mug down and turning to look at Viole.

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Gunhild
Location: Quarrytown - residential district

A van slowly whipped its engine through a relatively rich neighborhood as it looks for a particular address. The van was colored bright blue and there's a simple logo of a yellow umbrella with eye-catching 'Raindew Co.' painted over it. After going back and forth through the same road for five times the van finally stopped in front of a fenced two story house. The rear door of the van opened wide and an elf wearing a thick blue protective suit came out. On her left hand was a plain large steel box with no holes on it, its lids was also designed similar to a vault door hinting at its function to securely contain rather than just simple transportation.

"Is this the right one?" Gunhild eyed the dwarf on the driver seat, neither of them ever come here before so both of them were not sure. The dwarf simply shrugged and urged her to try. The elf gulped nervously as she entered the front yard and knocked on the door. Not long after the door was opened revealing a rather muscular and tall male elf.

"What do you need?"

"M-morning sir, I'm f-from Raindew co. aassigned to handle your request." Gunhild could feel her heart rate rising as she tried to talk like a normal person. She didn't have problem talking with people she already know but with strangers she always had to put an active effort not to stumble through her own words. Moreover, the client was an elf. Due to the combination of her race, profession and social ineptitude she's regarded as an outcast by almost every other social group. Most people thinks she's awkward, goblins avoid her because she's an elf while elfs look down on her because she's a field worker. This client was no different, as soon as he realized that she could see a glint of disgust on his eyes. She's already used to that though so she tried to ignore it as her client guided her to the reason she was here. A loud creak echoed through the house as he opened the door to the basement, a dark and brooding atmosphere rushed out as if the place was filled with miasma and Gunhild could identify a familiar smell.

"T-there's a lot of roaches down there." She commented.

"Damn right. The greedy asshole sold me an infested house. Even though I said I want to make a wine cellar. Tch."

A small cockroach crawled out of the basement and the male elf let out the most unmanly scream Gunhild ever heard before blasting the insect with a fireball, evaporating it out of existence and burned a large hole on the carpet.

"My lovely Dardeyan rug. Nooo!" As her client mourned the carpet Gunhild took the initiative and entered the basement.

"Continual light." A small sphere of light emerged from her fingertip and floated next to her, allowing her to see the entire room. Roach infestation was an understatement for the condition of the room. She could see roaches everywhere its actually surprising they didn't infest the entire house instead. On the floor, on the wall, on the ceiling. It all looks brown because almost the entire surfaces were covered in them. Some of them started to fly all over the room when she casted her light but they completely avoid the light coming from the door.

"Extraordinary sensitivity to light, numbers that exceed available spaces and foods, ability to coordinate..." Gunhild dragged her feet through the sea of roaches while carefuly scanned the room, seemingly unbothered by the roaches trying to surround her. Some of them tried to climb her legs but as soon as they got near the light orb they immediately dropped onto the floor.

"There you are!" Suddenly leaping forward, Gunhild landed on one particularly large cockroach and repeatedly stomped on it until it was no more than a white mess on the floor. That was a roach queen, it's condered a monster rather than an animal. This one was just started but if not stopped a roach queen can possibly grows as big as a truck and rallies the roaches of an entire city under her command. As soon as the queen died the roaches in the room started buzzing loudly and the room became hectic as they aimlessly attack each other. A loud whistle pierced through the chaos and suddenly the roaches stopped, their little bug eyes watching attentively at the figure in the middle of the room. It's an animal charm spells that she calls city critters command, or CCC. She was sure her mother would freak out if she knew her daughter had been using the spell at mostly rats and roaches.

"Everyone please line up and enter this box, allright?" Opening the steel box she had been carrying, Gunhild put it on the floor and watched silently as the roaches did just that, they neatly lined up and walked into the box.

"What is happening?!" The client yelled from behind the door but when he saw the roaches were being herded into the box his eyes immediately turned white and collapsed onto the floor from sheer disgust. Gunhild let out a muffled chuckle at the sight of it. After all the roaches were contained inside the box, she continued her task by cleaning the entire room from roach wastes then scrubs the surfaces with special soaps. The client might need to renovate the room if he wants to use it as a comfortable wine cellar but that's not her job. She's simply there to clean things. When everything was done she came up the stairs and put the bill next to the still unconscious client.

"Thank you for using the service of Raindew Co., payment and complaints can be send to the listed accounts. Have a good day, sir." She dragged back the now full steel box and loaded it into the van.

"You smells terrible. I will drive you home, you are done for the day." The dwarf driver said.

"Thank you, supervisor!" Gunhild was happy with it. Normally she would spend until noon rotating between several easier tasks but special order like this not only give her more money but also allows her to finish early.

"What are you going to do with all those roaches anyway?"

"Feast for my pets."

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

Soon it was midday and Yashi had taken the afternoon off since it was the start of the weekend. "Remember, if any customers ask for me, just write down their wishes and I will work on it next week. And have them leave their commu number so that I can call them if their wishes are unclear or too complex for dolls." Yashi said to her coworkers. She then went to the back to take off her work overalls and wash up a little.

When she was done, she left the build and spotted the woman who had the SUV together with a dwarf and an elf in the alleyway drinking beer and smoking. "Hey! Don't leave broken bottles in the alleyway like you did last time. It is a pain to clean it up." Yashi called over to the three. The woman smiled and gave her a thumbs up, while the female elf flipped Yashi off. "That bunch." Yashi said and let out a sigh. She got in her auto and decided to drive to a diner down the road. A guy who worked there named Viole probably would appreciate a mana flow attunement and some chitchat.

Yashi drove down the road, blasting Kharaantaristani pop out of her sound system and driving slightly over the speed limit. The Quarrytown roads were narrow compared to her the city's roads in her home region, but compared to her hometown the Quarrytown roads were in a better shape. She remembered last time she travelled home. It was a 32 hour drive through six nations with each country's highway in a worse shape than the last. And she finally had known she was in Kharaantaristan when the highway was just blocks of concrete laid behind each other with a crease every 50 meters causing the drive sound like "clack, clack, clack".

Luckily, the diner she had to go to was only a 10 minute drive from her work, five of which went through residential areas. Soon, she reached the diner. Yashi got out of the auto and locked it with a magic touch. The way the old thing locked was probably the oldest non-mechanical locking function on an auto. Modern autos would lock with a button on a remote and use the power of the auto's mana crystal. Whereas on old autos, there was a small crystal that was attuned to certain mana signatures and only locked and unlocked if fed with those mana signatures. It was pretty secure, but the limited amounts of attunements made it impractical for use by more than two drivers.

Yashi came through the diner entrance and shouted: "Szia! Good noon, everybody! Hello, Viole my friend!" She approached Viole and Rakkis. "Ah. Rakkis is here too. How are you, friends? I am hungry for some salamander sausage with fries and some of the good wyvernfruit sodapop! And when I am fed, I can give Viole this weeks mana flow attunement. Maybe it will work a little better this week." Yashi then sat down at the table and crossed her legs. She looked to Rakkis and said: "I hope you don't mind. Anyways, work was okay. Had a rude customer, but she apologized when I showed her what I can do and told her that impolite customers might find an unpleasant surprise as a feature in their child's toy. But I don't have to worry about work anymore today. I have the afternoon off."

 

[Megilagor]

Viole nodded at Rakkis'es words, as to indicate he was listening without having to reply to him since well he was currently eating his meal.
At an opportune time, Viole finished eating his meal as Rakkis asked his question so he simply answered him.
"I might need to hit up your gym, I'm beginning to thin out which isn't good, otherwise I'm good slowly getting better thanks to Yashi. And the diner is doing pretty darn well, considering that the main chef aka the owner decided to go out there into the world to catch some exotic meat for the diner and he hasn't been back for like two weeks now. At this point I expect him to bring back a wyvern or something else big or I might not let him back into the diner. Ah speak of the devil, it's Yashi."

"Nihao Yashi!" Viole greeted his friend and a benefactor.
"I'm doing good Yashi, come sit down I'm gonna get you your food, although I am sad to say that we are out of salamander sausages, I think salamander roast meat should be a nice substitute for it I dare say. So do give me a second and I will get back to you."
As Viole got up from his seat he went towards the kitchen by jumping over the counter and through the window separating the diner and the kitchen.

While in the kitchen itself, Viole opened up one of the ovens revealing a salamander tail which was encased in ice shell while it was heavily showered by flames.
It was one of Viole's specialities using his limited magic to cook, after extinguishing the flames he took the meat out and laid it down on the counter, then he prepared the rest of Yashi's order, finally plating the whole thing and carrying it out to her.
Viole then put it down in front of her, the meat still encased in ice but everything else how she ordered it.
Then he took out a knife and with a few quick taps of it he broke out the meat out of its icy shell bombarding the room with the scent of a marvellously done whole roast salamander meat.
"Here you go Yashi eat up. It's one of my specials, the meat that is. And about that mana flow attunement then meet me in the kitchen after you eat we will do it there. I don't want too many people to see the state of my mana flow."

 

[ThAtGuY101]

Rakkis turned to look at Yashi as she came in. Very cheerful. Must be in a good mood.

"hmph" He muttered before turning to take another sip from his drink. He turned to look at her again.

"Same ol' same ol'. Another good day, I suppose. And yourself?" He said. He gave a slight chuckle, hearing her order.

"Get those from time to time to. Is what it is, but good that it seemed to get resolved none the less" Rakkis commented on the poor customer story. He then turned to Viole who mentioned giving the gym a visit.

"Gym doors are open as soon as lunch is over. Course there'll be goblins there, but I doubt they'll bother you. Though you'll probably be heading back to work. Not that it matters, cause I'm sure you know the gym hours" Rakkis said. He took another bite from his sandwich and continued eating while Viole went to go get Yashi's food, eventually coming back.

"Either of you got plans for this afternoon?" Rakkis asked, clearing his throat. He took another bite of his sandwich then went for another drink of his mug.

 

[Anakisuto]

Amy walked out of the store, running her hand through the long side of her hair. She had a few poor-quality customers herself. The first was an angry father of a child wondering why a certain book was out of stock when the ad in last week's paper said it wasn't, and the second was a small child who took out sets of dice, dumped them on the floor, and refused to pick them up when she asked him nicely to do so. Luckily, the diner was only a block or two away from where she worked, so she could make it in time to have a quick chat with Yashi.

Amy walked into the restaurant bearing an expression of lax excitement. She scoped out the table where Yashi and her friends were sitting and began to walk toward it. "Hey there!" she said, her smile growing wider when she saw them. As she sat down, she introduced herself. "I don't know if you've met me or not, but I'm Amy, a student of hers," she explained to Rakkis and Viole, quickly gesturing toward Yashi. Amy took in both of their appearances and sat by, waiting for a response from either of the three.

 

[Darkbloom]

Thomas was counting inventory in the back of the store. One thing or another would go wrong or break, and it would give him the ability to use his learned elements to fix the problem. Floods anywhere, he would manipulate the water to clean it, simultaneously cast an air spell to dry everything up. Something explodes into flames, he would direct the flames outside into the open air to become harmless. Annoying customers? He takes over for his subordinates and uses his charming elven speech classes to appease customers and turn it into a sale, or many sales if the customer happened to be rich.

"Ugh. That's finally finished." The count was accurate, everything was where it should be. Thomas returns to the shop floor and watches his team perform daily things around the store. When the day was over, Thomas either goes straight home or meets others for dinner. Tonight felt like a go straight home night, so he left after cleaning everything up and starts walking to his humble abode, built similar to the style of the elves in their vast cities.

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Gunhild
Location: Quarrytown - Gunhild's lair -> outside

The dim yellow light coming from an old bulb, stale air trapped by concrete walls and windowless rooms built deep into the earth without proper circulation system. To most people, Gunhild's house would be quite suffocating and maybe claustrophibic. After feeding her pets and taking a long shower, the elf was sitting in he middle of her exercise room with her legs folded. An old rag depicting a cute yellow chick mascot was sprawled beneath her and a rusty radio was struggling to play what was supposedly a soothing music that evokes the wonder of nature. Her meditation was cut short when the radio started coughing static noises and then just stopped entirely. This wasn't the first time the radio acts out like this so she did the usual routine like checking the battery, giving it a few smacks and check its wiring. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to works. The radio had finally reached the end of its life. The thing was almost as old as herself so at this point it would be cheaper for her to buy a new one rather than trying to find a suitable spare parts.

"Farewell, friend. Thank you for all your hard work." Gunhild said somberly to the radio. She lost any desire for meditation for the day so she changed her clothes into a yellow tracksuit and headed out.

Despite having driving licenses for several type of vehicle, Gunhild didn't have any vehicle herself. She fears most thing that requires her to pay tax. Also, she loves walking. It gave her the opportunity to know the city in a more personal way. She knew where she could find store that sell niche items, she knew which alley frequently visited by shady traders, she knew which manhole leads to the worst part of the city sewage system and many more.

"Ah," Gunhild steps were halted when she noticed several figures that she knew inside a building. Viole, Yashi, Rakki... Gunhild wasn't sure if she should come in and say hi or something so she instead hide behind a nearby bush while staring into the restaurant. She knew Viole and Yashi oftenly meet for some attunement. Rakki was probably there by coincidence...? Or maybe not, maybe they have a plan between themself? Yeah, that's the most likely. It's not like they have any obligation to invite her to their event or something silly like that. She's just some-

"Eeeekkkkkk!!!" Gunhild let out a yelp when she felts someone touched her shoulder. She glared at the one who startled her and saw one of the restaurant's employee. Gunhild had been in the diner several times before so they probably had met but she had a hard time to remember much when it comes to people's face.

"Excuse me, miss. If you want to order something please come inside." The employee politely pointed at the door and Gunhild only replied with some unintelligible grunts before she nods frantically and rushed inside. She only brought a few spare coins so she was only able to order one thing, a large size crimsonbulb soda. She approached the table where the other were sitting just in time to hear Amy introducing herself as Yashi's student.

"I didn't know you have an apprentice, Yashi." Gunhild chimed in while taking one of the vacant seat, she already knew the people there so she wasn't nerous around them as she was with the employee from before. She gave Amy a warm smile as she introduced herself. "I'm Gunhild. Y-you can call me if you need something to be fixed... or cleaned."

TanteRegenbogen Megilagor ThAtGuY101 Anakisuto

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

Yashi was greeted by Rakkis, who asked if they has plans for the afternoon. "Well since the weekend starts soon. I was thinking about getting out of Quarrytown a little bit and see the country side, see the boffaloos, maybe pick a fight with marauders. I heard they had great yoghurt down towards the mountains in the north of the province. But we may have to be careful. It is said that the place is infested with wyverns who may attack tourists if they are hungry enough." Yashi replied.

Yashi grinned as Viole brought her some salamander roast. "I know you make great food regardless of it is. With your great cooking, I can offer you more than mana attunement. I can make sure that you have a life after death. Then I can enjoy your cooking for an eternity." Yashi said before she scarfed down the food. While it may sound like a joke to most, Yashi was serious about it. But usually, anyone who didn't understand that she was serious, would just say her sense of humor was strange and probably just a cultural difference in humor.

Just in that moment, Amy joined in and introduced herself as her student. "I am tutoring her. She wants to hone her magic, but doesn't have the prerequisites to visit an official school. But maybe a one on one tutoring may be better than some course." Gunhild had come in the moment Amy had introduced herself to which Gunhild had expressed surprise over Yashi having a student. "Well it is rather a recent occurrence. I had an ad up for offering people tutoring for light and dark magics, but had nearly forgotten I still had the ad up. It is however of some importance that I can pass on my skill and eventually my work. Even though I have a number of safeguards for my future, an apprentice would be good too."

 

[606]

Fionnghan "Finn" Loganach
Location: His apartment

Up with the morning sun, Finn was awake and had decided that today, he could settle with just a run then come back and do some yoga. While many at first might see yoga as a hobby or self-care, his years of training have immensely helped him become more grounded and aware as a way of meditation and as a way to stay flexible. So with the sun, Finn got dressed quietly and left to go on a quick 30-minute run, taking in the calmness of the morning, saying a few hellos to other morning runners before returning home to go into yoga for another 30 minutes then to take a shower. It was a simple morning but a workout morning either way before the rest of the town would wake up fully alongside his roommate, Gizmo. By this point, the sound of the shower would turn on and minutes later would turn off. There were sounds of bottles falling and soft grumbles of annoyance before the bathroom door would open with a fully dressed Finn stepping out with wet hair he moved to the tiny kitchen the two shared and pulled out some bacon and eggs, the smell of food filling the air as he would begin to prepare breakfast. He hummed softly to himself, and what was going as a smooth morning soon started to turn as the bacon would begin to burn. As skilled as Finn was, somehow his cooking skill was one that he lacked.

“Oh shit-fuck oh fuck, shit!” He shouted, running to open the small windows, the once beautiful smell of bacon sizzling in a pan turned quickly to the smell of a disaster as the burnt smell would fill the apartment. “Oh god fucking piece of shit!” The fire alarms would go off, and Finn ran back to the stove, the eggs now too beginning to burn he turned off the heat and opened the door to their apartment as well the clean air was now slightly foggy as he pulled a chair up alongside some random book and would begin to try and fan the smoke away from the smoke alarm.

“Giz! I burnt breakfast! Help me clear out the smoke here!” He shouted, knowing both were too short to try and manually turn off the alarm, the neighbors around them would wake up and come and check on the now very noisy apartment. "Sorry to interrupt but, is everything okay here?" One would ask, speaking up loud enough over the sound of the blaring alarm. “It’s alright, I just messed up some breakfast again!” He would call out to their neighbors who were beginning to gather at the open door. “Everything is completely and totally under control. So sorry about the smell! Now where is she…GIZMO!” The unfortunate thing about this situation, this was for sure not the first time, let alone this week. It has to be twice now. Typically Finn would give them candles but last incident he had given away his previous stockpile, meaning he would have to buy more again, or something else. I don’t know if I have the money for more ‘sorry I fucked up’ gifts…maybe I can get plants at a discount later at work. Maybe…

He sighed as the thought crossed his mind as he desperately was trying to clear the smoke and the burnt smell out now. Never in his earlier years would he think that his life would have come to this, standing on a chair after having burnt breakfast, again. This was not where he wanted to be at all in fact but, he had to be grateful to have a job even and even own a small apartment and not shared with 8 other people. It was luck but, not the luck he needed. It did feel like years of hard work and his younger years were thrown out the window when he came back home, and it was a struggle he fought every day. Yet, that wasn't what he wanted to focus on right now. Right now, he had brunt eggs and bacon and needed to clear out the smoke, and somehow get breakfast in his stomach. That is what Finn can do and can control right now. Just focus on fixing this, I still have the rest of my life to fix...well my life.

"Speech"
Thoughts

---

Mentions: kodex

 

[Megilagor]

"To be perfectly honest with you Rakkis, I don't have any plans for the afternoon, albeit I have to start the preparations for my side job since it's on Monday night. And at this point, I think the people who request me like to see me suffer since it's another request where I have to dress as a girl. So Yashi if you could help me choose some clothes for that it would be great."
Viole simply responded and asked for a bit of help with a dejected look on his face.

"Yashi first fix my mana issue then we can talk about eternal servitude, although do promise me that if we do, do it you won't make me wear girl clothes at this point I'm sick of it. Even though they sometimes do look good on me." While Viole did crack a little smile on his face from Yashi's comment about the food, he did try to give her a bit of a verbal jab, by mistake he even said some of his thoughts aloud albeit it was a bit of a quiet slip up, personally he hoped no one heard that.

After hearing from both Amy and Yashi, Viole had to ask her about it since well curiosity did kill the cat after all.
"Yashi... why didn't you tell me you have a student? Also hi Gunhild!" As he said those words he stood there for a bit his eyes widened a bit before he tilted his head towards the new arriving friend. "Wait Gunhild."

Viole looked at his friend for a bit before speaking about his little request to her.
"You are a godsend Gunhild, we will have a party tomorrow morning at the diner so there will be a lot of cleaning to do so If you could come here around noon to help us clean up it would be great, of course, free meal and pay will be given after all, I won't cheat a friend, especially a dear one."
While saying so he looked a bit like a lost puppy for he clearly knew that the amount of cleaning tomorrow will be too much for just his staff to do alone, and he could also use this chance to help his friend out a bit.

"Anyway back on topic. Yashi, you have an apprentice and you didn't tell me. With you teaching her magic, she needs to find balance with her body, although with my trained eye I can tell she has some skill and is probably proficient with what she knows but being proficient is not enough sometimes."
After a few moments passed he moved his head back in the direction of Yashi and Amy, first speaking directly towards Yashi before slowly moving the speech towards Amy and giving her a careful glance, and finally adding a bit of information concerning both him and Rakkis as he felt it would be needed.
"So what I'm saying is simple if you feel that you hit a wall with your martial skills come to find me and I will help you, and Rakkis over here would probably gladly help you train your muscles albeit try to keep the muscles compressed rather than bulking out, it's easier to hide your strength that way."

 

[Darkbloom]

Thomas walks into the diner, on his (way back from work or lunch break), and gives a slight wave. "Hello everyone. I see we have a merry gathering here!" He takes a seat nearby, asking for a coffee and a donut. He often came here on lunch breaks and after work to talk to the locals, giving free advice and some help with their magic items when it was brought up.

 

[ThAtGuY101]

Rakkis looked over and say Amy, who appeared to be one of Yashi's friends. She announced herself to be learning from Yashi. Rakkis nodded his head and gave a short grunt, as he acknowledged her comment.

Then there was Gunhild. Rakkis didn't know her well, nor did he have any use of her line of work for now. His gym was clean and vermin free. Though if that were to change, he'd let her know in a heartbeat.

Rakkis blinked after listening to Yashi explain her plans.

"Hmph. That sounds like quite the schedule. Happy hunting to ya" rakkis said. Grunting again at the wyvern comment. He was very familiar with the threat they posed. Tutoring was a lot of work. Rakkis didn't envy that duty, but he respected it. He turned and nodded again to Viole.

"Business as usual. Time well spent." He replied. He listened to the others talk and eventually Viole brought up martial fitness.

"Eventually I need to head back to the gym anyways" Rakkis said. Though he still had a few minutes before he needed to go. He heard Thomas's voice. Rakkis didn't speak though since he was just now finishing his drink. He had already finished his meal, and sat his empty glass next to the empty plate. Wiping his face with a napkin.

 

[606]

Fionnghan "Finn" Loganach
Location: His apartment > The Diner

In time, the smoke cleared and the now burnt breakfast was in the trash, Finn found himself out in town, heading towards the diner. When he lived there he used to come by the diner all the time, often spending hours reading and studying since his home was, crowded, to say the least. With a heavy sigh of defeat, he would approach the doors, knowing he should really stop trying to cook, and walked through the door. He would look around the diner seeing faces he has seen around town before cautiously approaching the main bar of the diner and climbing his way onto a stool and waving at Viole, who would be familiar with the defeated look that was on Finn's face. This was not the first time this week alone walking in looking for breakfast or brunch because he has brunt his own.

"Morning," He would say softly, looking at the others at the counter and giving a small nod of some recognition, fully expecting them to not recognize him. After all, he wasn't the most sociable person even when he went through his early education here. "Pardon the interruption but I would just like some eggs that aren't burnt." He said on the quieter side, not wanting to be too rude but would greatly appreciate food, sooner rather than later. Finn rested his face in his hands, carefully listening to the conversations around him, a force of habit at this point. Seems like I'm back to being a new guy again... Mom would force me to talk to people... if only she was here.

"Speech"
Thoughts

---

Mentions: Megilagor TanteRegenbogen ThAtGuY101 Anakisuto Spoiled Bread

 

[Megilagor]

Viole's nose sensed something with his nose. He smelled burned eggs, or rather charred eggs and smoke which reminded him of a younger lad he first met when Viole first started working in the diner.
And as he fell a bit into nostalgia as if he called a wolf out of the forest someone looking like that lad came into his place, but maybe it was that lad....
Hearing his voice and him waving toward Viole he was certain it was that very same lad.

So with a sense of melancholy and nostalgia in his voice, he pardons himself from his company for a bit and jumps the counter towards the kitchen and says to their new arrival.
"Welcome Finn. It's nice seeing you again, although it pains my heart to see that yet again some food was wasted... But really you can just come here for your food, hell if you come here with your groceries I can cook you something with that and at the same time teach you how to make them. After all, weirdly enough you became a part of this place whether you like this or not. Albeit the new people might not recognize you, it is hard to forget that little kid who sat down in one of the corner stalls of the diner reading books all day."
Finn was in fact after all a part of this place after all the owner himself grew fond of the boy, and Viole as the right-hand man of his boss couldn't say he wasn't in the same boat as his boss.

And as Finn wanted eggs he sure got them, soon after Viole came into the kitchen he walked out with a plate of fried eggs with some bacon, grilled tomatoes, fried mushrooms, baked beans and sausages. He then placed it in front of Finn and added a bit of herbs on top of the food before saying.
"Do cheer up, kay? Just let me know when you need something, after all, we are one big family over here. So do tell your big brother from another mother when you need somethin'..... OI Tina if this one wants something put it on my tab kay."
"Ok, dokie chef."
Now with Viole standing in front of Finn, he placed his hand on top of Finn's head and tousled it a bit, as to ascertain the young lad and as if to make him feel appreciated for being there.

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

(We should think about getting some action into the roleplay, like going on a trip the next day or a dragon attacking Quarrytown.)

"Don't worry, I wouldn't force you to do anything you didn't want. Even as a lich or an immortal." Yashi grinned. "Despite the oddly dark skills, I am not a villain." For some, Yashi would be a villain, especially if you asked an arcane university scholar. Yashi would only brush it off and say that morals are subjective and that she couldn't be bad if her work was for the benefit of others.

"Anyways, in regards to apprentices. Well I offer tutoring not only as a sidegig but it is important for a master to pass on their work to future generations so that others can reap the benefits of my research." Yashi explained.

Thomas walked in and soon after him Finn. Both greeted the group in the diner and Yashi greeted them back. Seemed like Finn had failed at making breakfast and came into the diner for something decent instead. "Viole can make you an amazing breakfast. So don't worry about it." Yashi said to Finn.

Yashi turned back to Viole: "Once you are done, we should commence with the mana attunement. Not only is it for your benefit, but it is enjoyable for me as well. Maybe I can find what is blocking your mana usage this time. Worst case scenario, I could still make you an enhancement so you can indirectly tap into your mana for at least physical combat or use magic weapons. I have experience with enhancement and I have already tested them many times before." implying that she tested the modifications on herself.

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Gunhild
Location: The Diner

"Ah, I see. It does sounds good to have an apprentice." Gunhild let out a few gleefull claps at Yashi's answer. She herself wasn't a university-licensed caster so she was happy to see someone else not giving up on magic just because they couldn't get into formal education. She looked at Amy and offered her a sheepish smile before returning her attention to the others.

"Ohh, I would love to." Gunhild's eyes gleamed briefly when Viole mentioned hiring her for cleaning an afterparty and nodded enhusiastly. She rarely got a direct assignment like this, mostly because she had few networking. She would gladly use one of her unused day-offs for something like this.

"I-I can bring Nix along. He likes cleaning sugar." She added. Nix was was one of her situational cleaning pets. A tamed sweet slime who used to lick clean various artificial sweetener drained down the pipes by the people above.

"Good luck with the attunement." She said to Viole. Seemed he would start his treatment soon, the elf didn't want to bother him during that so she just silently slurped her soda. After that she would probably just excuse herself. She still needs to get that new radio and prepare for her gig tomorrow.

TanteRegenbogen Megilagor ThAtGuY101 Anakisuto 606

 

[606]

Fionnghan "Finn" Loganach
Location: The Diner

He gave a small and shy laugh and nodded his head. "You'll see me for at least 2 meals a day then," he said, meaning it to come out as a joke but knowing fully well that it was going to be more true as the days go on. He watched the familiar man walk into the back then back out with a beautiful plate of food, that was not burnt. He sat up and his eyes lit up. He looked down at the plate of food then followed the sprinkle of herbs back up to Viole and gave a small nod turning to Yasha and nodded. "Y-yeah, the food here is really the best," he responded to Yasha before returning his attention to VIole.

"Thanks and the same to you. If you need anything, extra hands or anything, you let me know and I'll be there," he said, squinting his face a little as Viole tussled his hair around. Finn was quick to try and smooth out his hair but it was already a bit of a mess, and gave up after running his hand through it twice and his hand getting stuck, twice. So he didn't think twice afterward before grabbing a fork and knife, and like a hungry scavenger, went to town on the plate of food.

It was just what he needed to forget about the morning disaster. While buying food out wasn't the easiest on his wallet, the taste of the food from the diner was just too familiar and too good to make Finn really worry about it too much. The usual tensed-up goblin relaxed, his shoulders dropped and his face dropping as he shoveled more food into his mouth. As he ate, he looked to Yasha who began to address Viole, listening in a bit and quickly figuring out they were talking about magic. Finn himself wasn't very good at magic and when he was in the academy really set him back from other students, even in normal school. He was often bullied about this if it wasn't about being a goblin yet it never really bothered him. Sure, he would have loved to have more magical abilities but, now he knows how to use a gun so really, who is winning now?

"Soo, y'all doing things related to magic it sounds like?" he asked after finishing whatever mouthful he was consuming, and quickly followed but another large bite. He looked between the two and slowly chewed. Magic was still a fascinating topic for Finn and loved to hear about it. He used to spend hours reading about magic, history, spell books, ethical arcane, and anything he could get his hands on. It was to try and optimized the little magic he did have at first but the information was truly fascinating. Even today, he might pick up a book about magic.

"Speech"
Thoughts

---

Mentions: Megilagor TanteRegenbogen

 

[Darkbloom]

Thomas finishes eating, and since no one seemed to say hello he stood up and left the meal cost on the table with no tip and went back to the magic item store he works at. Once back, his underlings had made a huge mess and didn't clean up, leaving Thomas to grab a bucket of water and a mop. The underlings will get a very stern talking to later when the shift was over. During his time as an underling he would never have left such a mess to clean up. It's one of the reasons why he gained a prominent position in the store, among other reasons. His mind drifts to the culture book he's been using for nightly reading. It was fairly good, for the type of book. Most races would call it a snooze fest book but not Thomas.

 

[Megilagor]

"Yeah, I know you wouldn't but still I had to make sure." Replies Viole to Yashi's comment, he knew he could trust her but he needed assurance.
"Gunhild do bring Nix tomorrow, the main food for the party will be sweet pastries and spicy bbq for some reason, but that is what the client wanted. Actually, Finn if you could also come tomorrow it will be great, after all, there will be a ton of food at the party and I don't think everything will be eaten, and the amount of cleaning will be .... Well a lot of it so you could get free food and some money on the side out of it, same with you Gunhild" Viole spoke first to Gunhilf as to make sure she knows Nix can be brought along, after a bit of thinking he extended the offer to Finn also, before returning his gaze to where Gunhild stood just a bit ago, it appears she left already, she could have stuck around a bit more but if this is what she decided so be it.
"Yeah Finn, something magic related, you might not know but despite having a big mana reserve I can only use very little of it at once, and Yasha will be trying to fix it one way or another. If you want you can watch after you finish eating. If Yashi doesn't mind that is?" Said Viole upon hearing Finn's question, he knew the young lad well, he knew this topic would spark his interest so he didn't mind him watching the "operation".

"Anyway, come Yashi we gonna do it while the break is still in effect otherwise it will get hectic." Said Viole while waving his hand so that Yashi would follow him.
And so he walked towards the back of the diner, to the kitchen area specifically since not a lot of people would be able to see inside of it.
There Viole uncovered his chest by sliding his arms out of the sleeves of his shirt and letting it hang on the sides of his waistband.
While for Yashi the sight of Viole's bare chest covered with small scars all over might not be much the amount of scars might have scared a regular person, this was normal for him since it came from his household.
Awaiting Yashi's start of augmentation Vile asked a simple question to her.
"Should I sit down or lay down for the procedure this time Yashi? Which would you prefer?"

 

[TanteRegenbogen]

Once Viole was ready, he led Yashi into the kitchen for her to give him the mana attunement. He asked whether he should sit or lay for the treatment. "Any would be fine, but laying down may be more comfortable for you. Usually a blockage would be in the upper body or the head. Blockages in limbs would only affect the limbs themselves." Yashi said.

She then put her hands on Viole's back and said: "Take deep breaths and if anything hurts, just let me know. You should feel a warm, tingling sensation soon." Yashi then concentrated an added a small amount of idle light magic energy to "tap into" Viole's mana system. She felt mana like colors. A sort of synesthesia if you will. Viole's mana currently felt red which was a sign of volatile unused mana. Yashi would need to sap off the excess mana and try to bring it to a purple. Yashi felt a mildly euphoric sensation as she sapped the excess mana off of Viole to which she tried to suppress letting out a moan (as it would be weird and embarassing), ultimately just exhaling deeply.

"You had excess mana which I took from you. You she feel a bit lighter, maybe a little more relaxed. Now to find your blockage." She explained to Viole. Moving her hands across Viole's back and up his shoulders and neck, she seemed to have had some success and found a blockage point at the base of his neck just above Viole's shoulders. "I think we may have a breakthrough. There is a blockage at the base of your neck. That would also explain the total inability to use magic despite having mana. Your spirit may be connected to your mana, but if your brain isn't, you cannot do more than feel the mana flowing through you. Now I just need to examine the nature of the blockage and treat it accordingly."

Yashi then concentrated. It seemed the blockage was similar to an artery that was too narrow. While it wouldn't have a direct effect on health, it was very inconvenient. It would be complicated for Yashi to treat it, but she could do it. Light magic was her best skill. In fact her skill at light magic was terrifying according to scholars as she could not only use it to heal but also use it to harm. Anyways, brute forcing the blockage open could damaged the entire mana system or in worst case kill Viole.

"Viole, bear with me. This might hurt a little, but it will help you." Yashi said to Viole. "You have a chronically constricted main arcanoid artery. I will have to do a type of surgery using light magic. We can do this now or another time. It is your choice. If we do this now, it will take five to ten minutes and I will try to make it as painless as possible. And if all goes well, you will be able to actually use your mana. Then it would only be a matter of teaching you how to use it and how to use it more efficiently."