Mage Among Superheroes

Once we had Zeb’s words properly translating, she sounded a lot more like normal.

“So you can heal Fluffy’s teeth, right? He’s barely been able to chew on anything!”

Ceira nodded, approaching Fluffy, who sniffed at her with interest. “Wow, you’re pretty big, huh?” He nuzzled her hand as it got close. “I’m gonna heal you, okay? Just show me your teeth.” Fluffy didn’t seem to get that he was supposed to open his mouth, so Zeb relayed the message.

I still didn’t know how healing magic worked, and Regenerate was a different sort of thing. But I saw the little nubs in Fluffy’s mouth turn into sharp incisors. I hadn’t actually looked that closely, but I realized that his teeth were more plentiful than I had initially imagined. I was thinking of teeth like a rodent, after all, but while he had something like their incisors- maybe a bit smaller- there were also more small and pointy teeth throughout his mouth. I was fairly certain that wasn’t the normal arrangement, but maybe the needs of chewing through metal and also chomping their more normal food resulted in the odd combination.

“That’s so cool! When can I do that?” Zeb asked, nearly sticking her face into Fluffy’s mouth in her efforts to look at his teeth.

“I’m pretty sure you can’t,” I answered. “I could be wrong though. I don’t know all of the abilities beastmaster has.”

“But I thought we were the same thing?” Zeb asked. “You said she has companions too!”

Ceira shook her head. “I’m not a beastmaster though, but a druid. It’s the more magicy version, I think.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Zeb nodded. “So where is your companion?”

“Well, they are… not here right now,” Ceira said. “I didn’t want to worry about them meeting an unknown kind of animal.”

“Plus she thought it would be awkward,” Midnight said. “Since they’re a cat and dog.” Ceira made a face at that.

“Oh!” Zeb looked excited. “Dogs look like Bunvorixians, right? I haven’t met any! I only got to see pictures. But maybe when I’m allowed to go out I’ll meet some!”

“... You can’t go out?” Ceira asked.

“I’m technically an alien invader!” Zeb explained enthusiastically. “The Martians were like, super angry about some things we were ordered to do. But most of us didn’t know that everyone here is super nice and there are squirrels. I think everyone would change their mind if they knew.” She lowered her head to rest on a paw thoughtfully. “Except maybe the leaders did know that? They hid a lot of things. I’m pretty sure they’re bad. And Spot isn’t nice. But us working caste and most of the warrior caste are good, I promise!” Zeb paused for just a moment. “Wait you have two companions? Maybe that’s why my ability selection is weird.”

“I do,” Ceira said. “But they’re kind of splitting the boost, I think? It’s not entirely clear,” she admitted. “What do you mean by weird?”

“Well, I don’t actually know what it’s supposed to look like, but I know chosen abilities are supposed to go away!” Zeb explained with her standard enthusiasm. “Tur- Mage said that. But I have Companion Bond. But its still sitting there in the things I can select! Maybe I can have more.” Zeb let out a whining noise. “Do you think I could get a squirrel? I want a squirrel!”

“It’s not difficult to get one,” I said. “Nor are they dangerous, so you could probably get one as a pet regardless of class abilities. But you have the option to select it?”

“Yep! I don’t have enough points, though. Fluffy got me a lot of experience but it’s suuuuper expensive! I’m level 5 but it costs a whole 19 points! That’s crazy because the first one was free.”

“You might have learned it naturally,” I pointed out. “Also…” I frowned. “It seems like it would be difficult to gain levels. Though I suppose your class would have simple methods. Like… interacting with animals?”

“Maybe!” Zeb said. “My experience goes up sometimes. And a lot when Fluffy was fighting. Not that I was looking while he was fighting but it was real big after! 80 is a lot of experience, right?”

“... It’s a good thing that you chose an exceptional companion,” I said. “Perhaps that is what would make a further Companion Bond expensive? We still need to tell if you can actually have multiple.”

“I’d need like, a whole other level,” Zeb said. “I think. Points go up by level every time, right?”

“Right. But you can learn things naturally.”

“So points are like cheating!”

“Well… they’re kind of the normal way,” I said. “The learning thing isn’t part of the default? Or at least not without traveling to other planes.”

“Oh, I traveled to other planes! I went to your world.”

“Well, that’s the normal one,” I pointed out. “It doesn’t count as an other.”

“Then how do I have Companion Bond without putting points in it? Did I start with extra?”

“You’ve been to both Earth and Mars,” I pointed out. “Both of those are different planes. Or on the same different plane, I guess. Your stuff was still a bit weird, though. You almost had a bond with Fluffy before you got your class and it just seemed to work from there.” I tilted my head. “I guess it’s not crazy to assume that training from before someone has a class might count. It’s just nobody here has class abilities, nobody from my world could improve with training nor would they ever not have a class except as a little kid.”

“How come I don’t have a bunch of levels in cool scientist stuff?” Zeb asked. “Am I not any good at that?”

“It’s not part of Beastmaster,” I pointed out. “And maybe it only counted because of the proximity of the events. We literally went from you wrestling Fluffy into annoyed submission to my world.”

“Okay. So about that squirrel thing…”

“We’ll go look for some as soon as you’re officially allowed to roam about,” I said.

Zeb nodded enthusiastically. “Good. Also, I want to meet your buddies!” she said to Ceira.

“Sure,” Ceira said. “We’ll do that sometime.”

-----

I had all sorts of plans for the future. All of those were tossed aside all at once after I messaged Sir Kalman for one of our regular check-ins, but another opportunity opened up.

Instead of a message indicating everything was going well, I got a proper response- limited by what he was allowed to reply in a Sending.

“Linduel under assault by strange weapons. Suspect influence from Earth. Requesting information and other aid if possible, Scry my location for potential destination.”

Most of the time my messages were just a formality. But this sounded like something we had to actually pay attention to. Linduel was one of the primarily elven nations near Graotan.

I brought it directly to the attention of Calculator, and his response was swift, immediately initiating a video call. “Ask them how much they can pay.”

“Shouldn’t this be Extra’s thing?”

“You’re right,” he replied. “I’ll ask them how much they can pay. You’re still at your apartment?”

“I mean, I did just wake up,” I pointed out. “I was just doing my regular contact and I got that reply.”

“See if you can get more information on the strange weapons, and whatever else he thinks ties this to Earth. Extra will be eager to know. Obviously, you and Midnight will likely be coordinating with agents from Extra.”

“I’m going to need to Scry Sir Kalman,” I said. “So we’ll be going into HQ.”

Midnight stepped into the apartment. He had his own key, and only the hallway separated us. “Something going on?” he asked. “You’re a bit different. Agitated?”

“A little,” I agreed. “Something weird’s going on in my old world. Maybe lasers.”

“Uh… lasers would be bad, right?” Midnight prompted.

“I’m just guessing. They would be bad, but there are ways to protect against them with magic. It’ll take at least twenty minutes to confirm a response,” I said. I had to think about how to word the message as well. Finally, I settled for this: “Please describe strange weapons and reasons for other suspicions. Projectile guns, like you saw before? Or more like magic, but not? Coordinating response will take time.”

Ultimately, we went back and forth a few times. Sir Kalman indicated they weren’t in a true rush, except perhaps for the information. He confirmed projectile guns, and indeed something like lasers. I mostly told him what he already knew- only magic armor would protect against modern guns, and spells could resist the lasers. I specifically mentioned Energy Ward, and how they were light that caused damage with heat.

By that point, I was at HQ, prepared to Scry him. I was lucky I could get a persistent image of his location, because otherwise picturing it well enough to Gate there would be difficult. Especially since what I saw was basically the inside of a tent on top of bare dirt. It did have a symbol of the Order of the Lion, though, so that would help. I was lucky Sir Kalman was waiting for me to Scry him, because he almost subconsciously broke the spell, only stopping himself at the last instant. I gathered what information I could, but it wasn’t that much.

Needless to say, Extra was more than concerned about potential influence from Earth on this parallel realm. That was in part because of how they might respond in turn, though keeping people from invading other planets or dimensions in both directions was part of their general mission statement.

From Scrying at HQ, Midnight and I were directly carted off to Extra. There, they had prepared a few squads- humans, and those who would generally seem fitting in my old world. They were equipped with their usual gear, however. Just no Martians or people like Jim. They still needed to be effective, after all.

Malaliel was at the head of the thirty or so people. “You can bring this many through, correct?”

“Absolutely, as long as people don’t dawdle. It isn’t a matter of numbers, but time.”

“Good,” she nodded. “And how would people react to an angel?”

“Well, I hadn’t actually seen one when I was there. But we knew they existed. So uh, surprised. Respectful. Maybe a bit afraid.”

“That is within normal expectations,” Malaliel said. “Just to be clear, our goal will be the removal of inappropriate weaponry from the realm, and of course any foreign actors. We will seek the most efficient method to do so, but we’re not planning to fight a war. The squads are just for safety. We’ll begin with information gathering.”

“Sure thing,” I said. “Ready when you are.”

“Stand ready!” she gave the order. Not that the squads were particularly disorganized before that, but they were now anticipating. “I will go through first. I can recognize Sir Kalman, and I might be less surprising than the rest of you.”

“Midnight,” I said. “Even split.” I could technically cast a whole Gate myself, but I’d been using a lot of spells and it was better to share regeneration. Assistive Familiar Casting was high enough rank to maximize Gate’s output anyway, so it was just better to do it that way.

Everything was going great until the second person tried to get through and… smacked into a solid wall. Rather, the whole front rank. They staggered back, and fortunately everyone else stopped their movement immediately instead of causing a horrible mess.

“What’s going on?” Malaliel demanded.

I peeked around. “I’m not sure. The Gate is clearly still open.” I walked forward, where one agent was pressing his hands against nothing. I stuck my arm through without trouble.

“Perhaps it’s rejecting technological gear?” she asked.

I pointed to the gun hanging from her waist. “Sure doesn’t seem to be it.”

Midnight ran through seamlessly. “What about… mana?”

“Could it be rejecting those without mana?” Malaliel asked. “How? Why?”

I frowned. “Some of the other planes were sealing their borders. Maybe the material plane did something similar. Also, if these guys can’t go through, you need to come back.”

Midnight scurried over.

“You will be able to retrieve me, correct?” Malaliel asked, stepping back through the Gate just in case. I gestured for her to make sure her wings were through. Sir Kalman was beyond, watching with interest.

“It still feels stable. I don’t know why more wouldn’t work but… it’s all weird,” I said.

Malaliel nodded, then hurried back through. “Coordinate with Zorphax,” she said. “I will begin to do what I can here. Make sure to send me those messages regularly.”

“We can do something like every hour,” I agreed. “Probably through Midnight sometimes.” Not that it would make a serious difference to her. “Gate’s got about ten seconds left.”

“I will be fine here,” she said. “I suggest testing with others who have mana before committing to anything else.”

“Do you have a lot of people like that at Extra?”

“They are usually very busy. But I do believe the Brigade has more than a few.”

With that, the edges of the Gate began to pull in, and the tent beyond disappeared from vision, leaving behind only the typical background for the portal hall of Extra’s New Bay branch.

Zorphax was probably going to be annoyed. Calculator would probably be ecstatic.