[Sig – 13 years] → begins during Chapter 172.

"So?" Aunt Rachel asks when I enter the house. "How'd it go?"

"Pretty good," I shrug and walk over to her for a quick hug, setting the box of muffins down on the coffee table as I do. "We might have to start doing rope climbing. Coach realized that there were climbing rope things on the ceiling."

"How do you feel about that?"

Aunt Rachel knows about my thing with heights, and how it's only short ones in certain circumstances I'm okay with. Just thinking about climbing up a rope makes me feel a little shaky.

"I mean… I can try?" I answer. "If I don't look down, I'll probably be fine. But Coach also reassured us that we won't have to if it really makes us uncomfortable."

That was mostly for Xander's sake, but I know Coach won't make me do it if I don't want to.

"Alright," she says. "And how'd it go with Xander's case worker being there?"

"Good, I guess?" I shrug again. "I mean, as good as I can tell, anyway? She was watching both of us, for some reason. But I mean, I don't know what she's looking for, either. Just that she was there to make sure Xander was being educated. Oh! But Mr. Caldwell stayed home from work today. Probably because of her being there. He was watching us, too. Well, he was mostly watching Xander, but I'm pretty sure he was judging my skill level, too. It was kind of unnerving."

"Judging your skill level?" Aunt Rachel seems confused by that.

"It's martial arts day," I explain. "And he runs a security company. He's probably even better than Coach in close quarters combat. And Xander's mentioned that his dad's trained with the guards at the house a few times."

"Ah," she says. "So how did you feel, having them watching you?"

"It was weird," I admit. "The only audience we've had before was Trenton. Actual people is a big difference. But it didn't feel creepy or anything, if that's what you're wondering."

"That's good to hear," she says. "You normally pull off your hoodie and shirt by now. Planning on heading out?"

"Yeah!" I answer. "I'm still gonna practice magic a little, but I figured, since I've already got my stuff on, why not head out now?"

"To where?" She asks.

"The store," I answer. "Wanna get some snacks, and some stuff for crafts, too! I dunno what yet, will see once I'm at the store for those."

"Alright," she chuckles and stands up. "I'll be in my office. Let me know when you're back, alright?"

"Will do!" I give her another hug. "See ya!"

I grab a backpack from the closet. This one's mostly empty, unlike my usual play backpack. It still has a few snacks, a bottle of water, a change of clothes, and a first-aid kit in it, but that's all that I keep in it normally. This one's for when I make a trip to the store like now and am planning on going to more than one place.

A dedicated backpack for that means more space without needing to remove things. With it, I can put the stuff from the first store in before going to the second store, so the second store can't say I was slipping things into my shopping bags.

With that acquired, I grab my helmet and pull it on, then head out back to retrieve my bike. Five minutes later, I'm at the grocery store. Xander's muffins are going to be great and all, but there are only so many I can eat at once or throughout a day.

Chips, pretzels, snack cakes are added to my basket first. Barbecue chips, mini pretzel sticks, and chocolate tree-shaped treats with a peppermint frosting filling. I also grab a container of cheese dip for the pretzels, and a jug of soda. Then I make my way to the freezer section and grab a container of peppermint bark ice cream. It's mostly just peppermint-flavored ice cream with chunks of peppermint and more sparse, smaller chunks of chocolate.

Ice cream isn't complete without toppings and I know I'm low at home, so I grab bottles of chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, and strawberry syrup, along with a small jar of maraschino cherries and a can of whipped cream.

After I pay, I stick the ice cream in my pouch. I wear it pretty much everywhere now as it's pretty convenient. There's no telling when I might want to buy something which needs to be kept cold or frozen, or when I'll want a snack.

Though I can probably casually afford a superior version of the pouch now. Or at least, once I get paid. My final sub count for November was over 33,000. And I'm a Tier 8 content creator with exclusivity, or a 90% earnings rate for subs. If they were all Tier 1 subs, that's nearly $30,000 for the payment this month. Not including merch sales, advertising revenue, and donations.

Of course, I won't actually receive all of the earnings from the subs, since only verified payments will go through. But it'll be close since there will be the rest of the payments from October included. That's true even after the cut my friends get for the video they were in.

I might ask Xander about a new pouch after the party's over, once I know how much I have for this paycheck.

That's something for next weekend, though. With the ice cream in my pouch and the rest stuck into my backpack, I make my way to a nearby crafts store.

As I browse the shelves, looking for something to play with, I spot a set for building a bottle rocket. I've made these before, but without the kit. A bottle, some baking soda, some vinegar, a stopper, and tape is basically all that's needed. Also something to act as a stabilizer so it can stand while upside-down.

Well, that's what I need if not using a stand and a bike pump.

What if I used air magic to pressurize it?

I pull out my phone and look up some information online. There's no good references online for what I want, but I'm able to figure out what I want with a little bit of math. Maybe.

A simple reinforcement enchantment doesn't cost too much mana, as long as the reinforce itself isn't meant to be that high. I can buy a mana crystal or two and do some practice with that. Use it to reinforce the bottle, after doing a little bit more research in how to do that for a half-gallon plastic bottle.

That's not really necessary, but if I add in an additional enchantment to the stopper, I can make it resist pushing out, allowing pressure to build up further. The soda bottle might not withstand that too well and simply explode.

They don't have a section for magic crafts stuff here, but they do have stoppers which fit into half-gallon soda bottles. I buy a couple of packages of those along with some packing tape and dowel rods. Three packages of ¼" thick, 10" long ones. Those will be the "stand" for the bottles.

I bike back home and drop my stuff off in the kitchen (and put the ice cream in the freezer), then dig through our recycling to pull out all of the half-gallon soda bottles. A lot of luck is at play, because I thought of this today and recycling day is Wednesday.

Which means there are a lot of half-gallon soda bottles in the bin, and we don't crush them so they're all intact.

"Sig?" Aunt Rachel asks as she steps out onto the back deck. "Why are you pulling the bottles out of there?"

"Science!" I answer. "Well, actually, magic experiments! A modified version of a science experiment! But I might end up destroying the bottles by accident, so I need several!"

"You are not doing anything destructive in the back yard!"

"I know!" I tell her. "It's not big enough for that! So the plan is to go to Nine Springs and do it there! Plenty of space and open fields where no one'll get hurt!"

"And what is this experiment?" She asks.

"Bottle rockets!" I tell her. "Normally, you'd used a bike pump or a mixture of baking soda and vinegar to pressurize the inside! But what if I use my magic instead? I'm able to conjure air directly inside of objects now, as long as it's not too thick. So if I stick a stopper in and flip it upside down, with some dowel rods taped to it to let it stand, I can probably use my air magic to do the pressurization!"

Aunt Rachel doesn't seem to comfortable with that idea, but doesn't tell me to stop pulling out the bottles. My friends and I usually go through one or two bottles a day, and that's just on after-school days. It doesn't include weekends, and this past weekend was my turn to host the sleepover so there are even more.

Luck really worked for me on this.

"When were you planning on doing that?" She finally asks.

"Today!"

"When?" She asks. "You've got a stream in a few hours, and then hangout with your friends after. After that is dinner, then not much time until bowling. Not enough for going to Nine Springs, doing that, and returning. And I don't want you going out there so late, either. It'll be dark and it's fairly wild."

That's not stopped me before. Nine Springs itself is pretty safe. I've actually gone camping there overnight a time or two… just never told the dads. Those were some of the rare times I went there by myself.

"I was thinking of doing it Friday," I tell her. "Since Xander's doing a crafting stream then. He mentioned it yesterday, but he's planning on making the glasses for the party on stream, so that his viewers can see them getting made rather than only from pictures of the part.

"But then Lexi texted me a little bit ago," I tell her. "There was an outage which knocked out the servers for Duty of Loyalty. The devs' official statement is that they'll likely be down all day. She's planning on playing her singleplayer world instead, since she hasn't really been on it since the server started. I was thinking of doing a speedrun or something, but this works, too!"

Luck works in mysterious ways. It's a shame about the servers, but so many things lined up to make it so that I can do this project today, when it's fresh in my mind. If I wait until Friday, I'll probably want to do research and some experiments beforehand, to prepare.

Which I don't think will be as fun as talking with chat as I do them.

"What sort of speedrun?" She asks.

"The Lord of the Phantasm Chasm!" I answer. "Doing it naked's become an official speedrun now, so I was thinking of joining in on it! It's on the same seed as the server you and I have, but you can't use any weapons or armor. You can grab the spell from the nearby shipwreck and some food, but that's it! Only one person's succeeded so far, and it takes them about an hour and a half. Figured that since I started the thing, I can join it!"

"But you want to do this instead?"

"Aunt Rachel," I look her directly in the eye. "I'm a boy. There's not a boy in this world who doesn't enjoy a science experiment with a risk of blowing things up."

"I'm fairly certain Xander doesn't."

"You don't include outliers in data."

"So you're saying he doesn't count?"

"The typical mana level in the Greater Dragon Falls Area is 10," I tell her. "That's based on the mode, the most common number. It's over seventy percent of all people in the area. If you include even the dozen or so with over 1,500 mana in the area, the average is around 25 per person, but only if you exclude Xander. It might be a little bit higher, I can't remember the exact number for the average vs. typical."

Even if most of the mage families are under 1,000 mana, there are enough of them, and enough magic farmers over 100 by a decent amount, that the average is raised quite a lot.

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"But if you include Xander?" I ask. "The average multiplies. In fact, if everyone else in the area had zero mana, the average would probably be around 50-75 or so, because he just has that much mana. He at least doubles the average by himself! So nope! I ain't gonna include Xander!"

Besides, I think his main issue is mostly the sound from explosions. He tends to be rather calm after they happen, even if a little shaky. And he's extremely fast at putting up barriers to stop damage, almost as if he's anticipating them.

"Alright," Aunt Rachel says. "So you're planning on doing it as a stream?"

"Yeah!" I answer. "I think it'd be fun to show chat me figuring it out!"

"Alright," she sighs. "When do you plan on leaving?"

"Was gonna pack a lunch, then head out!" I tell her. "Want to pick out a good spot for it! And I've gotta get things set up! I need to attach a wagon to my bike, get a folding table and chair put on it, all of my supplies, then head to the mage district! I need a proper enchanting pen."

"You don't have one from the parties?"

"We don't get to keep those," I tell her. "They're part of the kits Xander supplies for it, and we just keep the final product."

"Are you planning on starting stream once you're set up?" She asks.

"Yup!" I answer. "But since that'd cut too much into your work, I was thinking I could set it to emote-only and allow only donos to talk. That way, you don't have to worry about moderating as much, and can hear what's being said."

"Okay," she says. "Let's do that, then, and I'll switch chat back at noon. I'll set it to a $10 dono for the TTS, rather than usual. That'll drop the amount of them, which should make it easier to multitask. I'll switch it back after lunch."

"Thanks!" I give her a hug, then pull the last of the bottles out. "Okay, lemme get the wagon now!"

Once I've got everything I think I need, I bike to the mage district and head into the magitech store. The regular art store won't have enchanting supplies, I don't think.

"We both do," Mr. Ben tells me when I explain why I'm here. "The guidebooks we have differ, but we each have basic beginner enchanting kits as well. Mine is mostly magitech with some magic items, while hers are more of beginner enchantments for regular crafts."

"Oh!" I say. "Okay! Just figured I'd come here since it's magitech. I want to enchant plastic half-gallon soda bottles and some stoppers for them. Making bottle rockets, but with magic!"

"Are you looking for just an enchanting pen?"

"And the ink for it, yeah!" I say. "I was looking up the enchantments online, so I think I've got what I need for those. Just need to make sure I do the formulas correctly and I'll be good! Want to do some experiments to see what kind of bottle rocket I can do using my own air magic! The enchantment for the stopper will make it so that it fits more snugly, so that it doesn't push out as fast, while the one for the bottle is to increase its durability so that it won't break from the increased pressure. So I need enough enchanting ink for that. Uh… but under a budget? Let's say a grand."

I should've looked up how much this stuff costs before coming here, but that should be enough for a handful of tests, unless this sort of magic supplies is a lot more expensive than I'm thinking.

"Do you have a sketchbook and regular pencils?" He asks. "If you're experimenting with it, you'll be doing it several times, yes?"

"Oh!" I exclaim. "No! I forgot about that! Then I'll go to the art store to get those. But I'll get the pen and ink from you, since I"m already here."

It'd be rude to ask him if he has stuff, then go to another store on the street to buy the same things.

"We both have beginner guides for enchanting," he tells me as he walks to one of the shelves behind his counter. "The booklet for durability enchantments costs $15. And for pens, this one should do you well. It's simple and easy to use."

The box he's picked up isn't too large, so it's probably only got one pen in it.

"That logo looks similar to the XansonTech logo…"

"It's new," he smiles. "From XansonEnchants. A simple, easy-to-use enchanting pen which works with enchanting inks from any company. Only basic ones, but you can use it like a regular pen. Officially released yesterday."

The pen Xander made for us to use during the crafts activity during his parties is now on the market. I should have seen that coming.

"For enchanting plastic… this ink should do fine," he taps another box. "It includes enough to refill the pen three times. Now, with the bottles and table I can see in that wagon out there, am I correct in assuming you're planning on doing this outside?"

"At Nine Springs," I tell him. "I know the temperature's not the best for it, but this feels like something which needs the outdoors."

"Hm…" he muses, then walks over to his register.

He presses a button on the register and some of the receipt tape comes out, then he tears it off and writes something down.

"Here," he hands it to me.

"What's this?"

"Directions to a magic supply store," he explains. "The ink I've got won't freeze, but your hands might. Thicker gloves like those won't do very well, but it's cold enough that if you're wearing the thinner style, your fingers will end up freezing. Unless you've got something which'll keep your hands warm, you'll not last long. Thinner gloves are better, and they have ones good for enchanting in the cold."

"Oh," I say. "I'll look into that. Thanks!"

"No problem," he smiles. "So for the ink and pen, would these do?"

"Yeah!" I nod. "How much are they?"

"The pen is $100," he tells me. "The ink is $300 a box."

"Damn," I say. "Didn't think it'd be that expensive."

"It used to be more," he tells me. "But the price of mana crystals has dropped thanks to the centers for people to earn a little extra money making them. They used to cost $500 a box due the amount of mana crystals which goes into making the ink."

"The price have dropped that much?"

There's already that big of a difference?

"It's suspected that several people with a lot of mana have been producing extra mana crystals regularly since the creation to provide more," Mr. Ben tells me. "And are using the centers as a cover for how to increase supply. But yes, the price has dropped significantly."

Xander probably isn't one of them as I'm sure he'd have mentioned it, especially since he doesn't want to be low on mana ever again. Greyson also wouldn't. Would that mean it's Adrian King doing it? I can see him fudging numbers so that people don't know while allowing the supply to increase a little bit faster.

Hearing that the supply has increased from people doing that might act as an incentive for others to. After all, if a lot of others are earning money off of it, then they're missing out on earning money, too.

"Huh," I say. "Okay. Um… one pen and two of the ink. And the booklet, please!"

I pay for those, then head over to Ms. Lisa's shop to buy a sketchbook and some pencils so I can take notes and make practice sketches. Then, I start making my way to the store Mr. Ben directed me to.

On my way there, I stop my bike and stare. The big daddy of all dogs is just sitting on the sidewalk, watching the street. And he's. Freaking. Awesome!

Despite sitting down, the dog is almost five feet in height. He's mostly white with some gold, orange, and red spots on him. That indicates he's more than likely a magical breed of some sort. Maybe fire?

"Hi!" I stop my bike in front of him. "Can I pet you?"

The dog looks at me, then huffs and looks down. I follow his gaze and spot a box on the ground, a sign fixed to its front.

$5 to pat head for 1 minute

$10 to scratch behind ears for 1 minute

$15 to rub belly for 1 minute

$20 for 1 shake

$50 for warmth

NOT CUMULATIVE NO CHANGE

Well, that's unexpected.

"Your owner put you out here to earn money?" I ask and he just looks at the box again before looking back at me. "That's so weird. Lemme see how much cash I have. You're so fluffy, I wanna feel your fur!"

Carrying a lot of cash on me makes me feel more comfortable, even if it's technically not safe. But Aunt Rachel suggested I do it in case I ever want to buy food while I'm out, and that just makes sense. What if my card declines for some reason, or their card readers are down?

But using some of it for getting to pet a fluffy dog is more than worth it. I even have enough for all of that and still have plenty left over.

"They better give you some good treats for this," I tell him. "If at least three-quarters of what you make isn't going to treats and toys and beds and stuff for you, then you should convince them to sit here with the box and sign."

I show him the money.

"That's one hundred," I say. "All twenties. I want all of them! The warmth bit is odd. No time limit? Is it just a quick cuddle? Or a long hug? Well, whatever! Here ya go!"

I fold the cash up and stick it into the slot in the top of the box, then reach up and pet the dog's head. His fur is soooo warm! And it's super soft, too!

After a minute, he lets out a sort of woof-like sound and pulls his head back.

"Oh!" I say. "The minute's up! Okay! Ear scratches!"

When it's time for the belly rub, the dog flops onto his side and lifts his legs up, allowing me to rub his belly to my heart's content for a full minute. His right hind leg starts kicking a little as I do, and I giggle a little at that. It's so funny when dogs do that, and it's cool that even magical breeds do it, too.

At the end of the minute, he stands back up and holds out a paw for me to shake.

"Nice to meet you!" I say as we shake. "I'm S.G.!"

"Nice to meet you, S.G.," he responds. "I'm Dave."

The dog's deep voice startles me enough that I jump back.

"Blood of dragons!" I swear. "You can talk!"

"Just don't ask me to bark," he says. "That's a million."

"Xander might be the only person in the area who can casually afford that," I say. "And he'd never do that. Wait! If you can talk, does that mean you're from a transcended species?"

"Of wolf, yes," he responds. "My wife and I are the first of our kind to transcend. We've got a boy around your age. Maybe a year older. He's in school right now. Attends in Crater Creek."

So Alec and Ryan might know him, just without knowing that he's not human.

"You can shapeshift?" I ask. "Wait. Wolf? You look like a really large dog?"

"Slight shapeshifting," he says. "People are more hesitant to approach if I look too wolfish, so I go with dog instead. We can naturally do slight shapeshifts. My wife and I figured out how to push it further and take on human form some years back. Maybe a hundred or so years ago? Though we only transcended around seventy or so ago."

So he's a fairly old person, then, if he started the process a century ago. How long does his species normally live?

"Doesn't transcending take more than that?" I ask. "I mean, I'm not an expert, but that's my understanding. My boyfriend knows a lot of magic creatures and has asked about it, and that's what they said."

"It does," he nods. "Taking on human form was strange, at first. Our shapeshifting only lets us take on various canine forms and alterations to them. Human is vastly different. The brains are as well. We didn't understand things and it scared us. But we persisted. We began to understand things. And then, we transcended. We left behind our bestial natures and became our own type of people."

"Oh," I say. "That's really neat! So shapeshifting is just a natural thing to you?"

"For other canine forms, yes," he answers. "Turning human still takes a lot of energy. Tobes has it easier, though, likely because shifting back and forth between wolf and human is what led to us eventually transcending."

"Tobes?" I ask.

"Our son," he answers. "He finds this embarrassing and doesn't like when I do it, but it's basically free money. And I don't mind. Little kids like it and I like making them smile and laugh. Well, when their parents pay up, of course. Though I might sometimes let a kid pet me or give me a belly rub if they look particularly down."

"Oh," I say. "Huh. So you started this for money?"

"Just some extra cash," he tells me. "But really, I was doing it in the hopes of encountering a certain boy. I've heard stories about him and how he was steeped in a heavy sadness, but we've never crossed paths. Even with me setting myself up in places where he's known to frequent. Though I heard he no longer needs the cheering up, I still do it because there are other children who do."

"Kind of makes me think of Xander," I say. "Super sad until recently, but he's become more cheerful. And he likes dogs."

"That's him," the wolf nods. "Blaze warned me not to approach directly or I might startle him, so I was just setting up in different places some of the others told me they'd often see him at."

Why am I not surprised that Grandpa Blaze was making recommendations about Xander to the dog? Or, uh, wolf-pretending-to-be-a-dog.

"Magic people seem to really like him," I say.

"Yes," the wolf nods. "I haven't met him, but I've heard he's really sociable and enjoys the company of magic creatures. Some of the spirits like it when he comes and naps with him, too."

"Spirits?" I ask. "Like Fern?"

"They're not as powerful as Fern," he says. "They have a lesser domain. But yes, spirits tend to like him. Earning a like by a spirit when not of a heritage of their land is quite rare, too. At least he's likable, unlike that cousin of his. When talking with a friend about planning to begin this, they warned me to hide my box when Greyson is nearby."

That also doesn't surprise me.

"Yeah," I say. "Greyson is a bit… strange. Well, it was nice talking to ya! I've gotta get to Nine Springs so I can do some experiments with magic! I dunno what the warmth bit is about, but can I give you a hug for it?"

He reaches up with his right paw and bops me on the forehead quickly enough that I stumble back again.

"Warmth is a minor blessing," he tells me. "Over the next half-hour, it'll take root and begin warming your body. Then, it'll stay active for seven hours before fading away."

"That sounds mana-intensive," I say.

"Not as much as you'd think," he says. "Not for me, anyway. And plenty of people could use the warmth for a bit while hanging out outside. Though nobody's ever paid the $50 for that yet. They might pay for other things, even multiple of other things, but never the warmth. Well, I was charging $100 for it last year, but reduced the price for this winter. Figured I might get more takers on that if I did."

"Maybe if it said 'temporary warmth spell'?" I tell him. "With a statement of how long it'll last?"

"The length varies," he tells me. "Based on the person. You were concerned about me when you thought I had an owner and they were making me do this, so I put it to the maximum I can manage as repayment for that kindness. But maybe I'll remake the sign so it says it's a warmth spell. Thanks for the recommendation."

It pays to be nice! Sometimes. And this is definitely one of them!

"You're welcome!" I say. "Do you get very many people paying?"

"Depends on the day and time," he says. "School days, I normally come out during the morning hours. Traffic is lighter, and mostly adults or home-schooled youth. I like being home when Tobes gets home, we do some work together. Been teaching him the trade my wife and I picked up after becoming people. We've developed it a lot, these past seven decades, and Tobes is pretty decent with it."

"That's cool," I say. "Well, I'm gonna head off now! See ya 'round!"

"Good luck," he dips his head. "And thanks."

I bike as hard as I can to Nine Springs and by the time I arrive, I'm sweating up a storm. Exerting myself while wearing a hoodie over a long-sleeve probably wasn't the best of ideas. Not when having a warmth blessing put on me. It's definitely active now, and I pull off my hoodie and shirt to cool off while I set things up.

By the time I'm done setting things up, I've realized something pretty important.

The warmth spell is keeping me warm enough that I don't need a shirt at all in the cold. It feels like a warm summer day to me. If I put my long-sleeve back on, or wear my hoodie like I do when doing the magic progress streams in the back yard on Wednesdays, I'll be sweating my ass off the whole time. Heck, I should probably change my pants to ones which aren't as warm.

Should I just go shirtless? It's not as if that isn't how I stream in my room or how I streamed outside before it got too cool for that.

Well, it'll be free advertising for the old wolf! May he get lots of ear-scratches!

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