Chương 9: Omnimancer 9: Serendipitous

As Jax skulked through the dim corridors of the smugglers' hideout, he regretted, now more than ever, that he lacked a School that let him move around stealthily. Alas, he'd already entered all four Tier I Elemental schools the teddies had preloaded into his Gift, and the only Tier II school he'd yet to enter was the School of Force. He somehow doubted that one would be of much help in that department, which mostly had spells that blasted people and things away. No help from the Utility section either.

Those were more geared towards smaller, helpful magic rather than anything grand. The exact opposite was true for the large and impressive Tier III Time and Space schools, barring [Voidstep]. His short-range teleport spell, however, required a full chant to activate. The incantation wasn't even short, and muttering it under his breath took time. He had tried whispering it, too, but for some reason, that never worked, failing to properly trigger the magical pathways that formed the spell.

Which meant if he was ever caught by surprise, he'd be in deep trouble. He kept moving, staying hidden to the best of his ability, which was admittedly almost nonexistent. He envied the rats that seemed to be everywhere in this place, darting from holes Jax hadn't noticed until they crawled out of them. Still, his goal wasn't to explore the whole compound or find an exit—he just needed some damned clothes. Out of all the boxes stacked floor to ceiling, there had to be some somewhere, right?

Of course, he wasn't about to take any crazy risks to do it. If any guards did show up—and he'd know if any were around thanks to [Threat Radar] —he'd hightail it out of there. Most of the rooms he checked were filled with crates of drugs, weapons, armor, and all sorts of odds and ends. It was like someone had raided homes, businesses, and everything in between without a care for what they stole. Which, when Jax thought about it, was likely exactly what they'd done.

He considered grabbing a weapon or a piece of armor, but he didn't even know how to use half that stuff. Worse, if any of it was enchanted or trapped, he could have an entire cartel after him. Or, smuggling ring, as he was beginning to understand. Peeking through another keyhole, Jax spoke the long incantation as quietly as possible, wondering each second if he'd be discovered. Space finally bubbled around him and he teleported through without a sound. That ability alone had saved him more than once already.

Sure, he could've just blasted the doors open with magic—but that would've drawn attention he didn't want. It wasn't until the third room that he finally found something promising. He pressed his ear against the door, hearing only silence. From the keyhole, he saw what looked like an office. Importantly, it was empty. But just as he began to mutter the incantation, he froze, hearing the clear sound of voices. They came from both sides of the corridor. He was trapped.

"Shit," he hissed. He started chanting faster, trying to rush the words, his heart hammering in his chest. But before he could finish, two men rounded the corner, casually chatting. One, an unbelievably built gray haired guy who couldn't be any younger than sixty despite his perfect skin, was carrying a massive crate that made Jax do a double take. He carried it with such ease, but even empty, it had to have weighed a hundred pounds. And something told Jax it wasn't empty.

It was all Jax could make out before the world shifted around him. He reappeared inside the office, exhaling a sigh of relief. But then the voices grew louder, and he remembered that this was the only door in the corridor. Which meant it had to be their destination. With an analytical calm born of countless near-death experiences, Jax scanned the room before crouching under the desk. Lavish though it was, Jax had to contort himself to fit. Seconds later, he heard the telltale click of a key sliding into the lock.

His threat radar showed two figures, glowing yellow through the wall. Not dangerous. Not harmless either. The door opened and the two men entered, chatting in a language Jax didn't recognize. From his position under the desk, he saw their boots cross the floor. The boots stopped, and the man set the crate down with a thud so hard it rattled Jax. Not the least of which because he'd set it down right in front of him, crouching just a few feet away.

Jax's heart hammered so hard in his head he was absolutely convinced they'd hear it. This guy was strong in a way Jax could only dream about. If he had the kind of strength to haul that crate—a full crate, no less—with ease, Jax doubted he'd survive a single punch. As he'd half-guessed, he wasn't some demigod, lording over a bunch of mere mortals. Given how soon he'd spotted someone with this level of power, it meant Wakanya was filled with people Earthers would call 'demigods'.

He got ready to chant the spell for [Arc], mentally preparing to overcharge it 50x. Just in case. If he turned to the right, he'd spot Jax. In that case, he'd have to strike first. [Arc] would drop one of them easily… but then what? If the other got away, the whole compound would be on alert. Could he get him before he called for help? Jax held his breath, the conveniently short incantation ready at the tip of his tongue. He could only pray it had an impact.

If not, he'd have to buy the precious seconds needed to fire [Plasma Surge], his most potent dual elemental spell. Ironically, [Timeshift] —his School of Time spell capable of slowing the flow of time—had an incantation that took almost fifteen seconds to cast. And that was if he rushed it. Jax braced for the inevitable… when the man straightened, chatting with his partner, oblivious at how close he'd come to death.

They walked back around the table, and a few moments later, they were gone, locking the door behind them. Jax exhaled slowly, waiting until their footsteps faded into the distance before crawling out from under the desk.

"Too close." While [Threat Radar] and [Vitality Meter] were the only reason he hadn't been caught yet, their range was severely limited. In corridors like this with no easy exit, he'd need to be even more careful. Taking a moment to survey the room properly, Jax's eyes landed on a wooden chest in the corner, and when he opened it, he couldn't help the grin that crept onto his face. Because the chest was full of neatly folded clothes.

The faded pants were leather and well made, and the brown shirt was soft and surprisingly clean. More importantly, they were devoid of any markings that might trace the clothes back to its original owner. Exactly the kind of thing a smuggling ring exec might want to keep around.

"Don't mind if I do," Jax muttered, slipping them on over his base layers. It was surprisingly chilly underground, and the extra fabric felt good against his skin. Even better, a pair of sturdy leather boots sat by the desk. He undid the ratchets on his bright yellow 8000-meter boots that went all the way up to his knees and tossed them into his inventory before pulling the new ones on. The fit was a little cramped, but he'd manage. One of the perks of being completely average-sized.

Catching his reflection in a warped bronze mirror, he nodded to himself. Black hair. Black eyes. Longish, wavy hair. For the first time since he'd landed in this city, he actually looked like he belonged. Assuming he acted like a local, of course. And spoke the language. Jax began rifling through drawers and chests, careful not to disturb anything enough that someone would notice later. Most of what he found was junk.

Busted tools and odds and ends, but then, at the bottom of a chest that looked like it hadn't been touched in ages, he found what he was looking for. Stacks of ancient parchment. Probably business records or ledgers of some kind. He considered swiping it all, but aside from being of questionable usefulness, he'd rather not make it obvious he'd ever been here to begin with. He took a sheet from the middle that was less likely to be missed and slipped it into his pack. No coin in the room, which made sense.

People don't just leave piles of cash around in his experience. Satisfied at his productive little haul, Jax decided he'd lingered long enough. Closing the chest, he checked the corridor and slipped the door shut behind him, pausing at every corner, eyes -pegged on the minimap that hovered at the edge of his vision. The map didn't show a handy path back to the surface, but it did show the nearby tunnels and rooms.

That gave him more confidence than he rightly ought to have had, given his unfamiliarity with the place. Halfway toward the hidden wall, his minimap lit up with red dots approaching from the opposite direction. He was so close, too! Cursing under his breath, Jax ducked into a hallway he hadn't explored before. It was long, straight, and offered no places to hide. So, pretty much exactly the sort of corridor he'd hoped to avoid. Luckily, Jax wasn't some powerless Earther.

Muttering an incantation, he teleported to the far end. Space warped around him, and the distance of a hundred yards became nothing more than a single step. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. He froze, eyes glued to his minimap, which had lit up like a constellation the moment he reappeared. More than a dozen life forms crowded in the next room. White icons, thankfully. Not hostile. Not comforting either. Jax couldn't move on blind.

What if they suddenly turned hostile when he was past? He couldn't afford that. Crouching low, he put his eye up to the keyhole… and what he saw made his stomach drop. People. Crammed into a single large cage. Jax's first thought was that they were criminals, but considering the locale, and how criminals were more likely to be running the place, that seemed unlikely. Especially since it was full of ordinary men and women. People who looked afraid and lost.

But the most damning moment was when a guard inside unlocked the cage and shoved a petite woman in, threatening her with a knife, and Jax didn't need to understand the language to know the words he spoke were threats. She yelped and pleaded with him, but to no avail. At least they looked well fed, and none of them had any marks on them…

While Jax wasn't the type to jump to conclusions, between the rooms full of contraband, the drugs, and the guards he'd seen, it wasn't hard to guess that they'd been unjustly imprisoned. Jax straightened and tore his eyes away from the keyhole, forcing himself to walk away before the guard inside left. Best case, he got to the surface, found decent clothes, learned a language, and came back with a plan, and hopefully with heavy support from the authorities. That was the safe thing to do.

That was the smart, rational thing to do. But what if he came back, only to find empty cages? Like a summit weather window slipping away never to return. Each step down that long corridor felt heavier and heavier, like his boots were sinking into sand. He told himself to move faster. He told himself that it wasn't his business. That he'd just get himself killed. Then a voice in the back of his head spoke up, and the moment he did, Jax's steps ground to a halt. Just four little words. What was the point?

He might've daydreamed about making a difference back on Earth, but he was just a cog in the machine there. A drop in an ocean. But here? He had power now. He had the spells. He could free those people in a heartbeat. [Farcaster] could easily pull that off. He hadn't yet bought the portal-warpgate ability, but in theory it could open a hole through spacetime to any place he'd chanted the spell to place an Anchor. He could hurry back to the sewer entrance, place one, and he'd be set.

He might not be able to house and feed them, but he could at least give them a fighting chance at freedom. He could be reckless today and save them right now o r he could be smart and live to save more people tomorrow. The logical part of his brain began listing a whole litany of dangers. A full compound of guards on high alert, his attempt at protecting the people back at the village, the promise he'd made only hours ago to be more careful… But a single image weighed heavier than anything logic could throw at him.

The faces of all those people he'd seen. What would become of them? He would never know. And he would regret it forever. How could he close his eyes and not see their faces? How could he enjoy that peaceful rest he'd been chasing if he walked away now? Fuck it. Would you like to purchase the Tier VI Spatiotemporal [Farcaster] spell for 2, 000, 000 Aurum? Current Account Balance: 16, 866, 590. He didn't even hesitate a second before he mentally mashed the 'Confirm' button. Congratulations!

You have reached Level 1, 299. Previous Level: 1, 099. 200 Levels gained. Jax suppressed his grin at that rather satisfying level bump, refocusing on the task at hand. Having already turned back the way he'd come through a parallel empty corridor, he made his way through to the sewer entrance, where he chanted the spell to place a [Farcaster] anchor. The anchor spell was thankfully much shorter and simpler than actually creating the Gate, which he'd have to contend with soon enough.

The deed done, he retraced his steps. The corridor seemed even longer this time, but sure of his safety thanks to [Threat Radar], he sprinted the distance in less time than it would have taken to chant. As he did, he summoned his black balaclava from his inventory, pulling it over his face. No reason he couldn't at least take a few precautions in case the guards thought to make life difficult for him later. When he reached the door again, he looked through the keyhole, fully ready to take down the guard.

Luckily, he'd left, leaving the woman to weep inside the cage with the others. Jax mumbled the incantation for [Voidstep] and materialized on the other side. Alright, you're in. Now what? The prisoners were all cloistered into a massive cage that occupied half the room. It was a testament to how far gone they were that not one blinked at his sudden appearance. Or, more like no one had even noticed, clearly not expecting someone to enter without first opening the only door.

The question was, should he just go for it and free them? Or should he try to mime what he was gonna do, first? Seeing how Jax had all of absolutely no experience in the miming department, he quickly abandoned that course of action. Jax began chanting the spell when he saw a red dot appear on his minimap. A second later, he heard the sound of a key being inserted into the door behind him. Of course it would have to be now… He aborted the chant midway.

A sharp spike of pain coursed through his veins as the Lux went haywire within his body, but he gritted through it and forced himself to chant the words for [Arc]. He fired before the guard had even stepped through. Blinding white light flashed through the room, followed by the crack of thunder. The man's eyes widened for half a heartbeat before he crumpled to the ground. Whether unconscious or dead, Jax didn't know, and frankly, he didn't really care.

It did, however, get the people in the massive cage to finally react, with several shouting gibberish in a language Jax didn't understand. Not that he especially needed to. It didn't take a genius to guess what the commotion was about. Jax raised a hand, pointed to his ears, and shook his head in the universal gesture for 'I can't understand you.' The commotion slowly died down, but so too did the hope that had briefly lit up their faces. That hit Jax harder than he expected, but he forced the feeling aside.

If all went right, they'd have more hope than they'd ever have in this sorry place. Now came the hard part… actually getting them out. Forcing his way through the cage was unnecessary. They were all crammed into one massive pen that took up half the room, which made it trivial to [Voidstep] inside. He began muttering the chant for his personal short-range teleport spell. Spa'tem navaa rek'vaan, voth'kro te'lem ko'zholen!" Space folded around him, dropping him among the prisoners.

Unfortunately, their thus-far sedate reaction to his presence seemed to have run its course, because the moment he appeared, half the prisoners screamed and jumped back in terror, while the other half froze, their expressions making it seem like they'd just seen the devil. He raised his hands again in a calming gesture, but needn't have bothered for all the good it did. In fact, it seemed to do just the opposite. They became even more panicked and hysterical.

Jax considered removing his balaclava but thought better of it.

"Oh well," Jax muttered. Their fear, at least, gave him the space he needed. He began the ridiculously long chant to create the Farcaster Gate. He'd never cast the spell before, but the knowledge was there in his mind, just like all the others. Except, this was by far the longest of any chant he'd used before, taking nearly fifteen seconds of careful focus to chant. Rushing things sounded like a terrible idea, especially on his first try. So he enunciated every syllable, channeling Lux as the spell took form.

The sheer level of complexity the spell demanded was unlike anything before, lighting up parts of his body he didn't even know existed. His entire body became a Lux conduit, draining his vast reservoir at an obscene rate. But Jax had plenty to spare, and he ignored his exhaustion, focusing on the ripple forming before him. The backlash from aborting the spell early on was bad enough as it was. He absolutely did not want to find out what it would be like if he tripped up now. Luckily, the people had gone silent.

Even if it was out of terror at a weird masked man chanting in an alien tongue, Jax appreciated the lack of distraction. Space shimmered all around him, bending in impossible ways in front of him, refracting light until an oval-shaped gate took shape, large enough for even the biggest man here to walk through. The rupture stabilized when he recited the last syllable of the chant, linking the prison cell directly to the sewer entrance he'd just come from. He knew he'd succeeded when the stench hit him.

Knowing what to expect, Jax tightened his stomach and held his breath. The others behind him weren't so fortunate. The retching seemed to replace some of their fear, but that didn't stop several from chanting under their breath. Jax assumed they were prayers, rather than magical spells. Jax gestured toward it, motioning for them to go. None of them moved, of course. He sighed, stepped through the portal himself before turning and beckoned again. Still nothing.

Until they heard the voices and footsteps from the hallway beyond the door. That seemed to do the trick. An emaciated middle-aged man stepped forward and his wife followed right behind him, her eyes wet with tears. They crossed through the portal unharmed, which seemed to break the dam as more and more rushed through. Wasting no time, Jax ran back through to find something to brace against the wooden door. He didn't dare brace it with his own body, in case that strongman decided to blast the door down.

Instead, he found a sturdy wooden broom and jammed it against the door lever… right as it turned. Jax backpedaled away from the door, a quick glance at his minimap showing a half-dozen red dots were gathered on the other side. He'd bet Nimashi's hoard that the bodybuilder dude was among them. The assailants shoved against the door, but it wasn't nearly enough to break the broom.

The second shove, though, was much harder, and Jax began preparing his chant when a large framed man rushed over and threw his weight behind it.

"No!" Jax shouted, but it was too late. The door exploded into a mass of wooden shards, sending the poor guy flying across the room. He would've hit the far wall, but instead, he sailed right through Jax's [Farcaster] gate into the sewers, colliding with someone on the other side. Well, that worked out, Jax thought.

"Go!" he barked at the others, pointing to the gate. The handful of remaining men hesitated, their eyes full of worry as they regarded the guards who'd just broken in. It was the wind spell that came rocketing at them that finally forced them to dive through, and Jax was right behind them. Still, he wasn't about to leave things open for pursuit. Thar'koven sho'rek ai navaa!

The guards were flooding the room now, but all their effort got them was a 5x Lux Compressed [Lesser Fireball] to the face, and damn if Jax didn't love that broken ability. The shorter chants alone made it invaluable in combat. Five times the output might not seem like a lot, but the heat of the blast turned the room into a sauna. Flames engulfed the door, bursting into an inferno in the confined space.

The wood blackened and curled, forcing the smugglers to flee, screaming in terror as the fire ate through their clothing. Jax barely even saw them. He jumped through the portal and collapsed it behind him with a thankfully much shorter chant, landing hard on damp stone. For a moment, there was only darkness and the stench of sewage, and his ears still rang with the sound of the raging fire and the shouts from earlier.

The prisoners' chatter soon replaced the silence, but before panic could spread, Jax summoned an undercharged [Fireball] in his palm. The warm light illuminated frightened faces and slick tunnel walls. He raised his other hand, motioning for silence. He pointed between himself and them before pointing down the tunnel in what he hoped was a universal gesture for ' follow me'. They did, falling in line as he led them out to safety. For now, anyway. Whether they'd stay that way or not, he had no idea.

And somewhere behind them, in the darkness among the small army of rodents that infested the sewers, was a small rat. A rat with eyes that saw far too much, with a mind far too intelligent to belong to any mere animal.