Chapter 8: Chapter 6: Untethered Soul

Chapter 6: Untethered Soul

 

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"For you, friend, anything." ~ From: “Notes to Darza” by Inielle Ymin, 17 B.P.

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There were villagers milling about, more than he’d expected, but he was still able to move unnoticed. Not knowing where in the village he could practice unseen, and not wanting to burden Huck with more strange occurrences that neither of them understood, he made his way out of the village gates to find a place to explore the powers that Mikey had hinted at.

 

He slipped out of the gate with a wave to the guardsman who recognized him from the day prior and passively returned the gesture. With the village behind him he opened his stride into an easy jog. The boots bit and rubbed at his feet, and soon he returned them to his inventory, allowing himself to relish in the sensation of the soft grass underfoot.

 

Coming from city life he’d become accustomed to the constant noise of cars and motorcycles, loud engines revving, the shouting and screaming of the street’s crazed denizens, angry honking, and sirens that reminded everyone, like a parent punishing their children, of the crimes and violence they unleashed upon each other.

 

Back on Earth, there had been no avoiding the noise for him, but here he ran in silence. Not the silence of strangers passing on the sidewalk, too scared, aloof, or self-important to offer greeting, but the silence of stillness, of serene nature before the day begins, as all of creation wakes and rises together to start a new day.

 

Logan reveled in it: in the smell of clean air untainted by noxious exhaust fumes, oil, and excrement, in the openness that surrounded him, begging him to release his inhibitions and run free, and in the knowledge that here, he could be whatever he wanted to be. He laughed aloud as he ran.

 

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Mikey had picked up on Logan’s mood and started to get excited as well. He awaited the moment that Logan would stop running and look at his menu, he desperately wanted to see how his creation had manifested.

 

It was a strange sensation being trapped inside of Logan like he was. It wasn’t unbearable, usually not even unpleasant. The inability, however, to do what he wanted, unable to move freely of his own volition and barred access to any of his former power, ate at him.

 

He was pleased, though, that Logan seemed as eager as he was to explore this new world. He wondered which planet they’d landed on. There were none sustaining life or magic anywhere close to Earth, and his education on other magical planets was nearly nonexistent. He’d been informed of names, Peratheus, Soldurth, Nustrus; all names he’d heard in passing, names of planets with low magical density that he could’ve been assigned to for his first placement.

 

His superiors had spoken of Yndra, Tiris, and Zandar, worlds they coveted to serve, worlds that produced varied and interesting souls of many intelligent species. He hoped desperately that they’d not arrived on Myra, though he thought that he’d have be able to tell if they had.

 

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Myra, unlike the other planets, he’d heard stories about, and he didn’t think that any advantage he could give to Logan would be enough to protect him there. Mikey’s musings ended abruptly when Logan slowed to a halt, donned his boots, and stepped into the forest.

 

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He only walked a few yards in, fearful of encountering any of the dangerous beasts that Huck had warned him about, and stopped beneath the canopy of a large, spreading tree.

 

“Menu,” he said in a powerful voice, flourishing his arm before him.

 

Nothing happened.

 

"Try it with less melodrama, maybe?" Mikey said.

 

"This is how they do it in anime, I thought it'd be the same here. You're the one who made it, right?" Logan said.

 

"Fair point, flare is an important part of magical abilities after all," he responded.

 

"Master Logan, I assure you that my competence is quite high enough to open your menu with only a mental command," Susie said.

 

“Sorry, I thought it’d be fun to be a little dramatic, no point having magic if you don't look cool while using it, right?"

 

Mikey snorted a laugh as a panel appeared a little below eye level, its edges shining with a soft blue light. Logan selected the “Status” page from the options, and Susie began narrating as he read the top line.

 

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