Spell Weaver-Chapter 8: Recruiter

Come on, just a little more.

The edges of the mana blob wavered. Alex pushed past the slight throb behind his eyes, doing his best to maintain total concentration on his attempt at a cube. It would be easier if he could actually see the mana he was moving over his hand, but instead, he was left to just “feel around” and direct it as best he could with his own mental images.

I wonder if there is a mana sight skill or something.

He finished messing with the shape and let it go. He had made great progress and could now make some vague shapes with his mana. He would extend a tendril of the mana and do his best to mentally mold it into a shape by twisting, changing, and expanding the end of the tendril. He was surprised at the difficulty of the task.

After gaining the skill the night before, he’d noticed an interesting change in his ability to grasp and manipulate the mana. If he didn’t consciously keep it active and instead used his own will and focus to try and direct it like he’d been doing before he gained the skill, things were significantly harder. On the other hand, if he did activate the skill and then used his concentration to shape the mana, it was a lot easier as if he’d been training for many more hours.

Even with the System’s aid, though, the task was difficult. It was comparable to grabbing something semisolid that moved and wriggled from his grasp like an eel. What made it even more difficult was that rather than his actual hands and physical coordination, he was forced to use his mental focus and his intent. He had to will the mana to move and actively focus on what he was doing, and if he lost focus, the small structure would crumble, and the mana would be wasted.

This reminds me of like some mages in stories. I could totally see how this would require tons of practice. Is there a Hogwarts for Awakened?

He closed his hand into a fist and used his knuckles to massage his forehead. The headache was terrible, something he wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to.

Three days of constant practice will do that. I guess I don’t have to push my mana so low every time I practice, but then it just feels like I’m being inefficient.

Eh, who needs sleep when you can make magical shapes with your mind? Yer a wizard, Alex!

Alex did his best to hold in a chuckle, realizing it might seem out of place in the office.

Seriously, though, this is insane.

He snuck a glance at the time on his computer screen. 11:47 am. Almost lunchtime, which meant Mr. Henderson would likely be doing his rounds through the office.

I swear, that man has a sixth sense for when I’m even remotely slacking off.

Well, not that I’m actually working right now. So, I guess he’s in the right.

Uhm, let’s ignore that and check out the Status Window.

Status

Name: Alex Moore - Level 1

Class: None

HP: 50/50

MP: 18/60

Traits: (1/3)

{Primordial Will}

Physical Stats:

Strength: 4

Agility: 5

Constitution: 5

Vitality: 6

Magical Stats:

Intellect: 6

Willpower: 3

Mana: 6

Wisdom: 6

Active Skills:

[Mana Shaping] (Novice - Level 3)

Passive Skills:

(None)

Just looking at the jump in levels to [Mana Shaping] made Alex beam with pride.

Why is it so satisfying to see the number go up? Is it going to feel this way from now on?

His eyes traveled up to his current mana level. It was about where he’d expected it to be. The headache had set in, and he’d pushed just a bit past that. If he had stopped just a few points sooner, he could have avoided this dreadful migraine.

Over the last few days, he had repeatedly dropped his mana to around 20 before letting it regenerate. The regeneration rate seemed consistent, taking about 30 minutes to get back 40 points of mana. That meant he was getting a bit more than one point of mana back every minute.

It had been hard to keep up with at times. At the apartment, Alex had started setting a timer to go off after 35 minutes. That way, he could practice until he got down to the last 30% of his mana, start the timer, and then go about doing whatever else he needed to do while it regenerated.

It’s almost like working out a muscle—except that muscle is my brain instead of my body. Where my arms or legs might get sore and need a rest, I feel mentally drained and kind of spacey if I push too far.

On Saturday, he had pushed pretty hard, getting down to his last five mana before passing out.

Won’t be doing that again. Once is enough to learn my lesson, thank you very much.

"Hey, you in there?" Jenny from accounting waved her hand in front of Alex's face. "You've been staring at the computer screen for like five minutes now."

Alex jerked back, hastily dismissing the Status Window. "Sorry, just lost in thought."

"Must be some pretty deep thoughts." Jenny took a sip of her afternoon coffee. "Did you hear about the new software rollout? Total disaster and I hear Henderson is on the chopping block for the mistake."

“Moore!”

Alex tensed as he immediately recognized the voice.

Speak of the devil…

“Mr. Henderson,” he said, forcing a smile as he turned to face his boss, who was walking toward his work station. Jenny made herself look a bit busy by riffling through the folders in her harms, but didn’t leave.

Henderson walked up a bit too close for comfort, standing over Alex while he sat at the desk. Hands on his hips, Henderson looked down at Alex with a red face.

“Care to explain why you left in the middle of the day on Friday without informing anyone? Even more importantly, you missed your deadline on Friday. It was a big one for the contract.”

Even though Alex knew this was coming when he decided to ignore the deadline, he was still caught off guard by Henderson’s direct approach.

“I, uh… I apologize, Mr. Henderson. I was feeling really under the weather. I’ll make sure the proposal is sent in before the end of the day today.”

Henderson stared at Alex for a few long heartbeats before glancing the others sitting nearby. “See that you do. If you pull another stunt like this, you’ll be out a job.”

Such an asshole.

“Yes, sir,” Alex said, maintaining the forced smile as Henderson turned and walked toward the breakroom.

Jenny stood up, gathering the folders to her chest and raising the coffee cup up along with her eyebrows and and wide eyes. "Yeah... I'm just gonna..." She gestured vaguely toward her own desk and backed away. "Good luck with that proposal."

Alex slumped back in his chair and rubbed his temples.

Just gotta make it through the rest of the day. Damn, I wish Mark was here this week.

The rest of the afternoon crawled by and Alex did his best to keep his head down. He focused on finishing the proposal, which was nearly completed anyway. By the time five rolled around, his shoulders ached and he gave them a stretch still feeling some lingering muscle soreness from his Rift adventure.

I guess I should just be thankful that my leg is almost completely healed.

He reached down and idly itched the healing skin on his leg.

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Hitting submit on the proposal, he grabbed his jacket and headed for the elevator while thinking about grabbing dinner on his way home. The lobby was nearly empty as he pushed through the rotating doors and into the cool evening air.

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“Alex Moore?”

A tall man in an expensive charcoal colored suit stepped away from one of the building’s columns. He had the build of someone who spent hours in the gym, but his smile was warm and friendly.

“That’s me,” Alex said while shifting his weight uncertainly.

“Andrew Matthews.” He extended his hand. “I appreciate you taking a moment to chat. I’m a recruiter for The Guild, and we’ve had our eye on you.”

Alex shook his hand and looked at the man in a new light.

The Guild? This is the group of Awakened that John belongs to and that was mentioned in the advice from my Nexus Hub post.

“Ah, I can see the look on your face. You know who we are, eh? I see you’ve done your research.” Andrew’s smile widened. “Mind if we step over here?” He gestured to a near by bench against the office building that would get them a bit away from the steady stream of people leaving the building.

Alex followed him over to the bench, allowing his curiosity to win out. “How exactly did you find me?”

“Straight to the point. I like that.” Andrew leaned against he wall. “Your post on Nexus Hub caught our attention. You had a few pretty detailed questions about spells and magic. Those kind of questions come from firsthand experience.”

The post, that makes sense.

“So you monitor the site for… what? People to recruit who are newly awakened? Like me?”

“The Nexus Hub is our site, actually.” Andrew’s casual admission made Alex blink. “We created it as a resource for the public to keep track of news, but the forums aspect of it is something that’s hard for us to manage. And yes, we keep an eye out for those who might benefit from joining the Adventurers Guild.”

“The Adventurers Guild?”

“That’s our full name. Most just call us The Guild. We’re the first and largest of the many guilds popping up.” Andrew straightened in his seat. “We offer a lot more than just information, too. First notifications on Rifts, mentorship programs, trading networks for materials… basically everything we can do to help you grow.”

“And what’s the catch?”

“You’re a smart man,” Andrew chuckled while nudging Alex’s shoulder. “Being a Recruit is free, but you only get limited access to materials and an FAQ. There’s a membership fee for full access. That’s where you’ll get our real-time Rift notifications, ability to reserve slots, and our complete knowledge database.”

I really distrust people when they’re this overtly friendly and trying to give me complements.

Alex had to hold himself back from rolling his eyes. “Okay, how much is the fee?”

“Just a single Mana Stone. Quality information comes at a price. But, I notice you’re not asking about The System, Rifts, or skills.” Andrew gave a quick thumbs up. “Those answers are all in our knowledge database. Along with training guides and everything else you’ll need to understand what it means to be an awakened.”

“And if I’m interested?”

“Then I’ll send you the registration details.” Andrew pulled out a business card and handed it to Alex. “Take some time to think it over. If I were you, I wouldn’t take too long, though. The government’s getting better at tracking new Awakened, and trust me- you don’t want them finding you first.”

“That sounds ominous. I’ll think about it.” Alex took the card in his hand and turned it over. He let out a sigh and leaned his head back against the stone building behind his bench. “What’s this?” Alex asked, pointing at the QR code on the back of the business card.

“That’s all I ask.” Andrew pushed himself up from the bench and gave a short wave. “That’s how you can download the Guild’s app and register. Great talking with you, Alex. Hope to hear from you soon.”

“Well, that’s one way to end a Monday at the office,” He mumbled to himself as he stood to make his way home.

“… the people are calling for justice. This comes after the events that transpired here last night when a Rift opened on the top of a parking deck. The fight that ensued, between two people who are now being referred to as ‘Awakened,’ caused the death of a family of three in the adjoining apartment building.”

The reporter on the TV spoke animatedly, gesturing behind her toward the large screen in the studio, which showed a picture of the parking deck with obvious damage and scorch marks on the cement. “Now, passing it off to Cynthia Walters, who is on location, for more details. What do you have for us, Cynthia?”

The camera cut to a slightly more chaotic scene, with emergency vehicles and a close-up shot of the neighboring apartment building, where a large hole was visible in the side.

Man, I’m so glad that the one I went to wasn’t like this.

He sighed and rubbed his temples.

Maybe Andrew was right.

Idly, Alex opened his System Status Window to check his mana. Even though he knew it wasn’t filled back up yet—otherwise, his phone’s timer would have gone off—he still found it hard not to check.

Not for the first time, he noticed how easy it was to just flick the screen up, check his status, and let it disappear again. His mind wandered to the scary thought of social media networks getting their hands on this sort of technology. The ease with which he could pull up videos and swipe would be terrifying. Not to mention the absolute horror that ads would be with something like this.

The screen is even visible when I close my eyes. We’d never be able to escape the ads. God, I’d probably have to help with ad campaigns that no one could escape…

What, System? No notification about unlocking a new nightmare?

The screen changed away from the reporter, bringing Alex’s attention back to the TV and away from his one-sided conversation with The System.

“Join us! You can be part of the solution, not the problem. The Hunter’s Association: your partner in safety and security in uncertain times.”

The cheesy slogan blasted from the TV with bright colors with someone dressed in something that looked uncomfortably close to superhero tights.

Alex chuckled.

Subtle.

They were definitely laying it on a bit thick. He didn’t doubt that their ad was intentionally placed after such a horrific story was reported, either. They swooped in, promised order, and insinuated that anyone not a part of their group was untrained or a threat to the public.

A short montage of training even played as the music continued. It looked similar to some of the Navy or Army commercials Alex had seen in the past, promising leadership and strength. As someone who did ad-work for a living, the message they were pushing was clear: The government can protect you. The government has this under control. Any chaos is not due to them, but it is their goal to stop it.

Damn, am I starting to sound like my dad?

He switched channels, wanting to avoid letting his thoughts slip to work and propaganda. The temptation to start practicing his mana shaping again grew, as he sought to avoid thinking about opening the most recently downloaded app on his phone.

His phone vibrated, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Sarah: Hey stranger! We need to hang out soon, it’s been ages. Let’s catch up, maybe grab dinner?

The text had a few emojis at the end, which made Alex smile. Sarah was the kind of person who used at least one emoji with almost every text she sent. She once told him it was to make sure people knew the tone she was sending the text in and that there were fewer misunderstandings because of it.

Alex: Hey! Yea, definitely down for that. Mark and I are hanging out at his place on Friday when he gets back from his trip. You should join us!

Her response was almost instant.

Sarah: Yes, can’t wait! Mark’s the worst at responding to my texts. I’ll call him and see if I can’t bring some food. I have some crazy stuff to tell you guys about.

Yea, I’ve got some crazy stuff to tell you guys too, Alex thought, his gut twisting a bit as he knew that he likely wouldn’t tell them yet. There was still so much to figure out and he wasn’t sure he wanted them both trying to talk him out of it.

Fuck.

Thinking about everything that happened last Friday, an unexpected person popped into his head. He got up from the couch and walked through his bedroom to his closet.

Maybe he could give me some advice.

As he was searching, he heard the timer going off on his phone from the other room.

It took him a few minutes of rummaging around, but he finally found what he was looking for.

‘John Riley | (201)-555-9820’

Alex had tossed the card out of his pocket when he was in a rush to remove his clothes after the Rift and hadn’t thought of it since. Returning to the living room, he turned off his timer and sent a text to John, introducing himself again and letting him know it was his number. He then asked if John and his group enjoyed be apart of the Guild and if they thought it was worth it.

After sending the text, Alex was happy to kill some time practicing with his [Mana Shaping] skill. He was surprised when his phone buzzed after only a few minutes, breaking his concentration.

Glancing at the screen, he saw that John had responded.

John R: Hey Alex! Glad you reached out.”

The next message popped up before he even finished the first one.

John R: YES! My group and I are all AG members. Best decision we’ve made so far, man. You should definitely join! The app is incredible and the forums have a ton of information. We’re already full members, too. We actually got the last two Mana Stones that we needed for our memberships from the Rift that we met you in. It’s expensive, but totally worth the cost.

Alex’s eyebrows shot up.

Alex: Expensive? I thought the price was just a Mana Stone?

John R: Well yea, but a single Mana Stone if somewhere between $500 - $1000… I wouldn’t give them out to just anyone that asks, but the benefits for the membership to The Guild has already been worth it for our group.

That’s quite the endorsement.

A cynical part of him wondered if John got any sort of kickback for pushing him toward the Adventurers Guild.

You reached out to him, dumbass. He didn’t try to push you anywhere; he’s just being nice and answering your question.

He sent a response, thanking John for the information and letting him know that he would be signing up tonight.

Excited at the possibility of really finding some more information, Alex swiped up from his messages and navigated to the most recently downloaded apps.

There, he saw the icon labeled as The Adventurers Guild. A simple golden sword pointing down in front of a brown shield. Behind them both was a blue vertical oval, which clearly represented a Rift. It all fit together well, and the simplistic icons were easy to make out.

Cool.

It was the first time he opened the app, and it took him to a simple login page, with a username and password input and a register button under those. No slogan or pitch.

I guess the people downloading the app are already interested if they scanned the code from the recruiter. No need for them to oversell.

Alex spent the next few minutes filling out the registration form and was slightly surprised to find that they wanted a good bit more information than just his name and email address.

Though maybe I shouldn’t be. They’re trying to put together a group of people who have recently obtained superpowers and were only able to do so after killing something. It might be smart to have some additional information on people.

They wanted him to put things like his birthday, class, subclass, level, and even skills and traits, though they didn’t ask for their levels.

He hesitated a bit, not really wanting to give them information on his skills—

Skill. You’re a noob. You’ve only got one skill.

In the end, that was the driving force for him to just give them the information. They weren’t asking for a description of the skill or traits, just the names. Even then, Alex was woefully uninformed, and that was the main driving force for him to join The Guild.

I need information. Who cares if they know about my crappy trait’s name and the fact that I don’t even have a class yet. Hell, I didn’t even know you could have a subclass! That’s not on my Status Window.

I want some magical spells, damn it. I’d probably give them access to my bank account for that information at this point. I can’t see any amount of money compared to being able to actually cast magical spells.

Thank you for registering! A local recruiter will be in touch soon to verify your information and grant you full access. Welcome to The Adventurers Guild!

Alex tossed his phone back onto the coffee table.

Yay, more waiting.

He closed his eyes and began to pull on his mana.