Mike stood there stunned, staring at the older wizard with his mouth agape.

  “Quickly now. What caused you to heal from such a devastating wound so fast?”

  “Master, these monsters are familiar to me.” Mike’s mind was spinning as fast as it could as he tried to come up with an excuse. “They are called critters, as I have told Master Aric.”

  “Fascinating.” Eric had an excellent deadpan. “Does this have to do with how you healed?”

  “Somewhat, master. I am hoping to demonstrate familiarity because what they do… is rare and difficult to explain.” Mike paused, buying himself time to think as he pretended to consider something. “At least, it is in my world, master. Have you ever seen them before?”

  Eric sighed and Aric rolled his eyes. “Get to the point.”

  “Yes master, apologies.” Mike took a deep breath and dove into his nonsensical explanation. “They use probability magic.”

  “That is not a magic I am familiar with, continue.”

  “Yes master.” Mike was scrambling to remember pop science articles he had read about chaos theory as he prayed to whoever was listening. “If a coin flips, it can land on either heads or tails. One side is sometimes more likely than the other. What probability magic does, is it influences that. It can take the less likely side and change the chance that it comes up.”

  Both wizards were nodding along. It didn’t help Mike that the concepts he was trying to explain were in a different language. The innate understanding he had of the language struggled to adapt the phrase “heads or tails” as he didn’t know what the sides of a coin were here, or even if they used coinage. Still, he pushed on.

  “What critters do is magnify the chance of something happening. However, if it isn’t what was supposed to happen, it sometimes backfires.”

  “You are speaking of changing fate, correct?” Aric asked. Mike smiled as he realized they were following along with him.

  “Exactly master. They attempt to make reality match what it isn’t. It is a potent power, but it has one drawback. If they are interrupted in their attempt…” Here Mike pretended to stab one with his spear. “…The conflict between the fate they are pushing for and the one intended crash together, wiping out some of the changes they did.”

  Mike looked back and forth between the two wizards, both of whom had quizzical looks on their face. They’re buying it! I can’t believe this is working!

  “So, there was a chance I became distracted when Master Eric walked in, giving it a chance to attack me. That wasn’t fated, though, so when I fought back, reality reasserted itself.”

  “Partly,” Eric said, gesturing to the bloodstained hole in Mike’s pants.

  “Yes master, exactly. My fate was restored to the correct path, but my pants… Well, their fate was not as powerful as mine, as they are not alive.”

  Mike smiled at the two as he wrapped up his explanation. He was careful to keep his eyes on their chests, not looking them in the face. After several seconds, Eric turned towards his son.

  “As interesting as this area of magic might be, this is not important enough to pull me away from my meeting.”

  Swaying for a moment as relief passed through him, Mike took a deep breath. They had bought the lie and were willing to move on. Not only that, but Mike had a window open in his vision.

  Fellowship Upgraded!

  Aura range increased!

  That is the one that governed lying and convincing others, isn’t it? Mike didn’t think he had been working that as hard as he had his Stamina or other stats but had to reconsider. If I am working on keeping what I can do a secret, Fellowship is getting a constant workout.

  Without any Auras yet, Mike couldn’t see a material change beside the increase on his Stats page. He needed to find out what those were and see how they worked. He checked the small tab on the side that displayed Haliard as his party, but there were no changes there.

  “No father, that wasn’t it. This is.” Aric turned Mike’s grimoire towards his father and tapped the first page as Mike closed the windows he had opened. “Please cast this spell on the chest there. It will have a visual component, do not worry.

  The older wizard glanced at the page for just a moment before laying his hand on the chest. “Identify.”

  It had taken Aric several minutes to learn the spell, to internalize how it functioned, but it seemed his father could do it in a few heartbeats. Mike shook his head, unbelieving.

  The older wizard didn’t react to the screen as much as his son had. Eric’s eyes widened a bit and he raised a hand. He dropped it quickly, then pulled a large staff seemingly out of nowhere with a gesture.

  “Identify.” A pause as he held a hand out, showing off several rings on his finger. “Identify. Identify. Identify.”

  The repeated English word was making it hard for Mike to keep a straight face. Between the attack of the critter and the threat of his lie being exposed, Mike’s body was pumped full of adrenaline. His hands were shaking, so he leaned on the spear. Clutching it tightly helped him focus.

  Of course they believed me, Mike realized. They still think I am under the Bind Person spell. That would stop me from lying to them.

  Thoughts of how he could benefit from people who assumed he was always telling the truth were cut short as Eric turned towards him and placed his hand on Mike’s forehead.

  “Identify.” Mike expected a tingling from what everyone had described when he cast it on the other gladiators, but there was nothing. Eric had a small grimace as he stepped back and faced his son.

  “The information revealed on the slave is limited, but the rest of it…”

  “Yes father, this spell is why I requested you come. The data we can provide the others is indescribable.”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Eric glanced over his shoulder at Mike. “This spell you have brought to us… If you never fight in a trial for us, you have already paid for your worth. What is his name?”

  “Michael.” Aric said the word as if he wasn’t sure it was correct.

  “Michael. This is a direct order.” Eric turned fully towards Mike. He felt… something. Mike wasn’t sure what it was, but he felt the change in the same he sensed something when meditating. “You are bound to silence on this spell. If anyone other than my son or I attempt to get you to teach it, scribe it, or cast it for them, you are to kill yourself.”

  Whatever it was Mike felt grew tighter, heavier. He had to assume it was the old wizard attempting to manipulate the spell that Mike had resisted when summoned. He felt no change inside himself and knew he could cast the spell at will. Still, Mike dropped his head and glanced to the side, as if frightened.

  “Yes, master. I will not teach it, scribe it, or cast it for anyone other than you or Master Aric.”

  Whatever the sensation was, Mike felt it withdraw as Eric nodded to him. The wizard turned towards his son, dismissing Mike from his notice.

  “We must go to the armory and the treasury, go through every item with this spell.”

  “Then we can contact the other families, rent it out to them,” Aric added, smiling. “They will be slavering over the information we can provide.”

  “Information we control.” This was the first time Mike had heard any emotion close to joy in the old man’s voice. He had known that the family of magical slavers were not good people, but the pure avarice in their voices and expressions proved it.

  “If we see something we don’t like, they don’t have to know,” Eric continued. “And maybe we can… procure some items that might be better than they seem.”

  “Father, we can turn things around finally.”

  “Yes, son, we can.” Eric turned, confident and straight. “This is definitely worth interrupting my meeting. Come, we have much to do. Call someone to escort the slave back to quarters. Training is over for tonight.”

  “Michael , wait here until my familiar comes. We will meet at the normal time tomorrow.” Aric dropped the spears that remained on the table into the chest and gestured to Mike. “Quickly, let me stow that away.”

  Mike walked up and handed his chosen spear over. Aric dropped it in the chest that did not look like it could hold it, then latched it close. The two wizards turned and left the room, deep in conversation. Once they were gone, Mike sagged and let out a sigh.

  “I guess it is good that they don’t really think of me as a person,” he said to the empty room, then gave a chuckle. “Surviving another day, mark that up as a success.”

  He leaned over and touched the scroll, casting Identify silently. With this casting, he had learned the spell entirely. Checking his Stats page, Mike saw he could cast the spell and then knock out three of the upgraded Force Darts.

  That should be enough, right? They are stronger than the basic ones. Mike stood straight and headed back to the empty side of the room. Either I kill it with a spell or something else. I have to get stronger.

  Mike cast the spell, watching the drain from his mana pool as part of it turned dark. It wasn’t a critter that formed where Mike indicated, though. This was more of a centipede, as long as Mike’s arm, but made of soft, pale flesh instead of the insect’s chitin. The thin legs emerging from its body were yellow bones. It hissed and started towards Mike, the rolls of flesh sliding over each other as it twisted and moved.

  “Oh, that is gross as hell,” Mike said as he pointed at the thing. He cast Force Dart, the upgraded one. As he did, he felt something settle over the scuttling enemy, marking it as his target. Power gathered at the tip of his finger before blasting forth. It slammed into the monsters, blowing off half the legs on the left side.

  No blood flew from the ragged, torn flesh of the monster, but the hissing became louder, more intense. It was slowed a touch, and Mike cast the spell again. More legs flew, slowing the beast even further. Mike moved his hand slightly, pointing off to the side. This time as he cast, the spell bent in the air, a distortion around the dart turning it a dark blue. It connected with the thing, rolling it over on its back.

  “Three isn’t quite enough.” It was trying to flip over, but its missing limbs and the damage to its torso prevented it. It was easy enough for Mike to stride over and step directly on it, twisting his foot to mash it onto the floor. Once it stopped moving, Mike lifted his foot.

  The remains of the beast didn’t seem to have any internal organs, or even blood. It was just a mass of flesh. He leaned forward and poked it; casting Identify with his remaining mana. The headache of his expanding mana pool was almost a comfort at this point.

  Michael Wilson’s Lesser Monster

  Deceased

  “It’s bad enough that my owners call me Michael , but the damn system in my head too?” he said with a sigh. As he watched, the window blurred before stilling again.

  Mike Wilson’s Lesser Monster

  Deceased

  “Oh, thank you. That is very… kind?” Mike wasn’t sure who he was speaking too, but it didn’t hurt to be polite. He closed that window and canceled the spell. The locked away portion of his mana bar vanished as the remains of the creature did.

  “I’m going to call that one a skinipede, I think.” With no mana, Mike didn’t have anything to do, but he remembered he had learned a new spell at his level up. He flicked open his mental grimoire, finding it quickly. The icon of Wind Blade was a long, curving line with lines coming off it, signifying it traveling forward to Mike. He opened the window to see the details.

  Wind Blade Level 1

  Spell, Variable Mana Cast, 2 Minute Cool down

  Blast forth a potent burst of air, shaped into a blade. The more mana put into the spell, the wider and faster the blade travels. Level up improves mana efficiency and damage of the spell. Minimum input three mana.

  Mike closed the window, seeing it was another attack spell. He sighed, thinking of the wide variety of spells he had absorbed from Eric’s grimoire. There were ones for summoning objects, some for basic utility, others with multiple uses he couldn’t figure out yet. But so far, he had been given Identify, Conjure Ally, and two attack spells. Hopefully it wasn’t a pattern.

  Mike gave a small laugh at this chuckle this thought. There was a bit of hypocrisy considering how excited he was to cast Fireball. He opened up its grayed-out window, checking it.

  Fireball Level 1

  Spell, 30 Mana, 1 minute cool down

  A bead of flame flies in the direction you indicate until it contacts an object. It then explodes into a 1-foot sphere lasting three seconds. Level up improves temperature and explosive force.

  Checking his Stats page, Mike saw he needed one more mana to cast Fireball. He thought of putting one of his Free Points in Intelligence to push him over the edge. Instead, he closed the window and shook his head.

  “It will get more difficult to level them up naturally the higher they get. I’m going to hold onto those.” Mike paused for a second. “I assume this is how you work, right?”

  The system did not answer, leading Mike to chuckle again. He sat down and entered the meditative stance Aric had shown him. It took several minutes, but soon his mana was full once more. He rose, summoned a skinipede, then blasted it with Force Darts. It still wasn’t strong enough to take it out in that volley, so he was reduced to stomping it.

  “Wait, that was ten, right? Did I lose count?” Mike scrolled to his Quest screen and opened up the window displaying his most recent one.

  Defeat Lesser Conjured Monsters (10/10)

  Continuing quest. Your enemies can summon them endlessly. Defeat them.

  Reward: A minor quality magic item WARNING: Reward held in Inventory! Unlock Inventory to receive reward and advance the Quest!

  Mike rolled his eyes as he closed the window. Flipping over to his Learn the Spear quest, he saw that he was only seven percent away from finishing it. He flicked over to his Unarmed quest and saw that it had advanced, Mike assumed from stepping on the monsters.

  If this ends up with the system having a damn foot fetish, I’ll have no one else to blame.

  Once again Mike sat down to meditate, but before he had enough mana to cast again, the drone showed up. The sound of its fan was enough to pull Mike out of his state, though he felt he was improving in it. He checked the skill window for it, seeing that he now had a statement telling him that he was nine percent of the way to improving it.

  “Drone, my good friend, am I glad to see you! Please, lead the way.” Mike felt a smile growing across his face as he left the room.

  He had a plan.