Ironically, that was also the day of her first major hiccup in school.
Things had actually calmed down by that point. After the first few days of questions about her memory loss and the pre-awakening, most of her classmates lost interest and no longer stared at her for abnormally long times while whispering behind hands. Well, most except Veronica. The girl was still weirdly nice to her, even though Lexie got the impression she didn’t like her all that much.
Veronica's pleasant facade was more than likely because of the pre-awakening thing. It must have been more of a big deal than Lexie thought because Veronica brought it up in every conversation, and she also brought up her famous [Hero] relatives often. Her aunt Stella was one of the most powerful unbound users ever, one of the youngest to achieve the rank of Super-Hero. She was amongst something called the Famous Five, who were the elite heroes of Earth 9. Her uncle was a [Hero] too and her cousin had just recently saved a bunch of people from a building (Lexie put two and two together and figured out she was talking about Theo Firebringer). Her other cousin was some kind of fire genius. Interestingly though, Veronica barely ever mentioned her parents except to say that her father was the Governor and her mother sometimes did charity work. She never spoke about her dad's time as a [Hero], quite possibly because she was ashamed of it.
Eventually, since Lexie barely ever engaged in the conversation by asking questions and frequently refused offers for extra lessons, Veronica finally resolved to ignore her, returning to conversations with her friend Diane who had switched seats with another girl behind them.
Lexie was happy for the reprieve.
And whenever Lexie got a spare moment, she worked on her cards, or her mana shaping. She'd gotten so attuned to her mana that it didn't tax her too much even if she did her shaping for two hours straight without stopping. Lexie simply held the card in her hand during class, practicing the push-pull method while the teacher droned on. And she continued to do the mana shaping exercises too, until she was pretty sure she could shift her mana cloud without too much strain, nearly effortlessly.
Everything was going well.
Until one fateful recess when she returned from lunch.
She walked into the half-empty classroom and found the three musketeers–the handstand boy and his friends–having a loud fight.
"The two of you must be out of your minds, okay?” The loud declaration met Lexie at the door. “You must be smoking something truly lethal for you to think that anyone can beat Brayden Rock in a full-on battle. He's the adult champ!"
It wasn’t so much the exuberance behind the statement that gave Lexie pause. It was who was saying it. It came from the bespectacled one–she thought his name was Abernathy. He was typically more subdued than his friends but today his face was red, and he looked livid.
“And you must be stupider than Brayden dumb-as-Rocks if you think he's going to win this battle,” his friend commented with a smug look.
"He’s not dumb."
"He walked right into Refract’s forcefield the other time."
"It was a super-clear forcefield. Anyone would have made that mistake!"
Lexie knew what they were talking about. She’d heard them arguing over it yesterday. Top Dog had an upcoming exhibition match, not part of the major tournament, with Brayden Rock. Brayden was currently number 2 in the adult division, and he would probably be number one soon after Mr. Amazing retired. Top Dog would also be graduating out of the under-18 division soon, and so this was a match that would essentially set the tone and prove where he belonged in the adult league.
“Brayden has magic," Abernathy pointed out. "Not the pathetic kind like TD uses, but he’s an actual A-Rank weaponist. He doesn't need spells or anything. That’s real magic.”
"Top Dog doesn’t need magic," the handstand boy–Boyle– sniffed. "He can beat Brayden with his eyes closed."
Abernathy was starting to look even more infuriated and exasperated. "Top Dog is a speed-based fighter, but Brayden has him beat on both speed and endurance. Plus, let me repeat, he’s only a spell user. Brayden can punch him in the throat before he can even spit out a word.”
"It won’t matter," Lexie said before she could help herself. "Brayden Rock doesn't stand a chance against Top Dog."
Both boys paused their argument, looking at her dumbfounded.
"You watch the AFC?" Boyle asked.
Lexie nodded. "Yeah. Which is how I know Top Dog is going to win this match."
She heard someone snort and when she turned, Xena was looking straight at her with a mocking smile.
“Oh, do you have something to say?” Lexie challenged.
She expected Xena to ignore her but she only stuck her nose higher in the air, giving an air of superiority. “Just wondering when you plan to get off Top Dog’s nuts and stop being such a fangirl.”
Lexie narrowed his eyes. “I’m just saying things how I see it. I’m not on his nuts."
“I am.” Boyle stuck his hand in the air with pride. “And that’s how I know that Top Dog has large nuts, possibly the largest in existence and he is definitely going to use at least one of them to pound Brayden Rock into a pebble.”
Lexie winced at the visual, but she nodded to agree with the general sentiment as she walked to them.
Abernathy crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head at Lexie in disappointment. "And here I thought you were sensible.”
“I am. That’s how I know Brayden’s going to lose.”
“How is he going to lose when he literally has everything to his advantage? He’s bigger. Faster. Better.”
“Top Dog holds back in most of his matches,” Lexie pointed out. “He never spends more than he has to. That’s why it might look like he’s weaker. But he's not."
“You don’t know that.”
“Yeah, I do. It’s obvious. He was faster during the Conrad Grace match than he was during his prior match with Ghost. And every time, Conrad matched his speed, he would give himself a boost and get even faster. Top Dog might look like he goes all out but he conserves as much energy as he can in all his fights. And that's how he tricks people into thinking he's not as fast as he is."
Abernathy looked like he wasn't sure whether to look impressed by her insight, upset that she was disagreeing with him or doubtful of her conclusion.
"Well you don't know that," Abernathy said. "And it doesn't even matter if he's faster. Brayden stats are higher in everything."
"Presumed stats.” The stats online found about each player were only presumed. Each player had to give their starting stat information while joining the circuit but they didn't need to keep updating it after each level up. So it was anyone's guess how Top Dog distributed his leveling points.
"And I do know Top Dog is faster than he seems," Lexie said. "I ran the maths."
"You...ran the maths?" Abernathy looked confused.
Lexie nodded. A few days ago, while practicing speed equations (which were slightly different from the ones on Earth 2 since you had to also take into account the mana coefficient which affected aerodynamic drag and friction) she decided to do a few work sets measuring Top Dog's speed. She watched him do that forward leap in a bunch of matches, and calculated the distance covered over time. To do so, she had to search up schematics for the colosseum and pull up a 3D holographic image of its field, so she could properly gauge the distance Top Dog cleared. She also timed his attacks, estimated the speed of his combo kicks, and noticed that they weren't similar across each match. Which meant he greatly varied his speed based on his opponent.
“Based on my calculations, I believe Top Dog has more than what it takes to win this match,” Lexie said. “Every other advantage Brayden has at his disposal, Top Dog can use it against him, the same way he used Conrad's Berserker traits against him. And Conrad was a better hand-to-hand fighter than Brayden, who is a lancer.”
"Conrad’s a noob," Abernathy said and Lexie nearly chortled when Xena made a choking sound at that. "He lost because of lack of experience, not because he wasn't better than Top Dog."
Lexie shrugged. "Whatever it was. A loss is a loss."
"She sounds like she knows her stuff," Boyle said. "You should just admit you're wrong Abernathy."
But that only made Abernathy dig in his heels more. "Yeah right. She's just saying a bunch of words to sound smart. I doubt a girl who wants to be a [Researcher] knows more about AFC than I do."
Lexie cocked an eyebrow. So it's like that huh?
"Didn't you want to be a [Researcher] too?" Boyle pointed out and Abernathy blushed.
"That's not the point."
“It kind of is.”
“Ladies and Losers.” The chubby one–Chris–spoke and his voice projected over the din as he laced his fingers together like an evil mastermind. “No need for further contentious discourse and nut measuring. Are we willing to put a wager on it?”
There were a few seconds of silence, like a momentous gauntlet had just been thrown. It was broken by Xena shrugging and saying, “Nope. Not interested.”
"Of course not," Lexie smirked. "Because your precious Conrad's not involved."
Xena gave her the finger as she turned back to her pad.
Lexie's smile widened. Nice to see that still means the same thing on Earth 9.
“Conrad would wipe the floor with both of them," Xena muttered under her breath.
"No, he wouldn't," Lexie responded.
“A hundred credits say Top Dog wins this fight," Boyle declared.
Abernathy gaped. “You dick. That’s my allowance for the whole month.”
"Ha! You know you'll lose. So just admit you're wrong."
"I'm not wrong," Abernathy insisted.
“It's okay to be wrong every once in a while genius,” Boyle said. “You just have to say the words, 'I'm wrong.' And wager rules say, for being wrong, you’ll have to switch socks with me for a whole month.”
“Never. You don’t wash your socks.
“Exactly.”
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Abernathy bristled for a second then spat out. “Fine. A hundred.”
“Ha. Baited.” Boyle turned to Lexie and said in an overly formal voice. “And you madam? A hundred on the books for you too?”
Lexie hesitated. That was all she had for the month too. And was it worth it to waste Aiden's money on a stupid bet?
Then again, she was fairly certain that Top Dog would win. She’d watched one of Bradyen's fights a few weeks ago, and while he was good, he was also fairly predictable. Top Dog would read him in a second.
Plus with every second that passed, Xena was looking even smugger and Lexie didn’t want to give the other girl the satisfaction of backing out now.
“Sure why not?” she said. “A hundred.”
“Whoop!” Boyle called and then bumped his shoulders with hers. “Welcome to the winning team, Ditch-Girl.”
“Lexie,” she corrected.
“Sure. Lexie. Oh and by the way, if you back out at any point, you’ll have to pay the wager penalty,” he said.
"I'm not exchanging socks with anyone."
"Of course not, we're on the same side." Boyle slung his hands over her shoulder, and Lexie tried not to rear back from his armpit scent, reminiscent of a loiter-infected Evan.
"Welcome to the wager-guild Lexie Sparrowfoot," Chris said while Abernathy narrowed his eyes in protest.
“What are you guys yapping about?” Veronica said in a bored voice as she walked in with Diane and another girl called Desmodella. “I could hear you from across the hall.”
“They’re talking about large nuts and dirty socks." This came from Veronica's brother Dewitt, who everyone called Dewie. He was at the desk in front of Abernathy and co, and had silently listened to the whole conversation.
Boyle had been struck silent by the fact that Veronica was talking to him, and struggled to recover in time to cooly say, "Oh nothing. Just talking about the AFC you know. Boy stuff."
“Ew. You guys watch that?” Her lip upturned. “It’s so gross and vapid and shallow, watching a bunch of people beat each other bloody for no reason.”
“Isn’t that kinda what your family does too?” Xena challenged, throwing Veronica a look of dislike.
Veronica’s eyes narrowed, ice in her voice. “My family are [Heroes]. They have a code. They don’t mindlessly attack their opponents. They have respect for themselves, and the citizens they are saving.”
“Huh. Must be why they respectfully levelled a building last week.”
“That was a mistake!” Veronica’s voice was heated. “And they didn’t level it.”
“From what I saw on the news it was pretty levelled.’
“Well, they're rebuilding right now. And it wasn't their fault. It was a terrorist attack and the [Heroes] were preoccupied with catching the bad guys and making sure everyone got evacuated safely."
"A couple of people were left behind," Xena said quietly. "And they got caught in the fire that your cousin Theo started."
“It was the rescue team who messed up! Those people were not supposed to be there. They were reporters who snuck in to get an exclusive. And Theo did the best he could to stop the fire once he realized there were people in there, and he even risked his life to save one of them, but then they got orders to..." Veronica seemed to realize what she was doing, and then she scoffed. "You know what? Why am I even explaining it to you anyway? You're too dumb to understand."
"What's dumb is you defending them because they're your family."
"Yeah, and so what? If you had family you would defend them too. But you don't so you make it everyone else's problem." Her eyebrows went up with as she concluded in a cruel innocent tone. "It's not my fault you're an orphan."
Xena shot up to her feet, eyes blazing like she was about to attack Veronica. Lexie wouldn’t blame her if she did. Lexie didn’t entirely agree with Xena’s telling of events but Veronica crossed the line. Lexie was outraged on Xena's behalf especially as Veronica smirked.
“That’s a messed up thing to say to someone,” Lexie told her.
Xena turned on her. “You stay out of this.”
Lexie reared back, shocked by the animosity. “I’m trying to help you.”
“I don't need your help. I don’t need anyone’s help!”
And with that Xena glared at everyone in class, then stormed out, bumping into Bennie on her way. Bennie didn’t even flinch and seemed used to it.
“Again with the dramatic exit,” he said. “Who annoyed her this time?”
“Lexie and I did,” Veronica said and Lexie glared at her because she didn’t like being put in the same category.
“You should go apologize,” Lexie told Veronica.
“For what? She’s the one who came at me first.”
“She made a legitimate point and you brought up her dead parents.”
Veronica rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I would worry more about your parent if I were you. Diane and I went to the coffee shop across the street yesterday, and I saw your dad cleaning up the gutters. Is that for community service or something?”
Lexie found herself grinding her teeth. “Yeah. So?"
Veronica snorted. “It’s just kinda sad, isn’t it? He used to be this bigshot [Hero] and now he cleans gutters for a living.”
Anger spiked and before she knew it, Lexie shot back, “Well, not everyone can organize boring parties with horrible color schemes for a living, like your mom does. Or be a lame ass [Hero] like your dad.”
Lexie didn't know where that came from. It was odd and completely opposite to her initial plan to keep her head down.
But she couldn’t help it anymore. She was sick of Veronica’s barbs.
The shot hit deep because Veronica's face reddened. “Excuse me?”
Lexie didn't back down. “Not so fun when it’s your parents being mocked, is it?”
“I was trying to be nice to you, you amnesiac freak!" Veronica’s voice was so loud it echoed out the hallway. “And this is the thanks I get?”
“I didn’t ask you to be nice to me! I asked you to stop throwing jabs at my dad. And if you mention my dad one more time, I'm going to do something you're not going to like very much."
The words hung in the tense silence following the statement, as everyone in the classroom gaped at Lexie. She stood her ground, staring down at Veronica. Outwardly, she was composed and assured. Internally though Lexie was reeling. Did I just threaten her? Why did I say that? What was even the plan there? What did I mean by that?
Veronica retaliated by going to pick up Lexie's bag from the desk beside hers and throwing it at the doorway. A clatter sounded as her pad hit the ground.
"Consider yourself evicted," she said.
Rage swelled within her, but Lexie just said, "Whatever."
She stormed over to pick up her bag. But when she grabbed the handle and tugged, it wouldn't move. Lexie frowned. She tried pulling but there was no give.
And then suddenly, her body betrayed her.
Her legs turning into noodles and she fell straight to the floor.
"Ow!" she exclaimed as her knee hit the ground and she fell forward. A few people laughed, while some gasped as Lexie's face burned.
"Way to be a clutz, Lexie," Diane chortled and Lexie glared at her.
She glared at Veronica’s smug face too, knowing exactly what the other girl had done, despite the fact that she’d probably uttered the spell under her breath.
“Oops,” Veronica said with a tiny evil smile. "You should be more careful. next time."
Lexie was boiling with rage, but she didn't retaliate. She had to sit on the ground until the effect wore off, and she’d never felt so much like punching someone in the face.
After a few seconds, she got up on steady legs again. She took the bag and thankfully it left the floor and she stomped over to sit by Dewie. There was a free seat by Xena too but Lexie didn't dare take it. In the mood they were both in, they would probably kill each other before the day was over.
“Should we have said something?” Lexie heard Boyle mutter behind her.
“No dude," Chris responded. "It’s good we stayed out of it. Girls are scary."
***
Veronica decided to mess with Lexie for the rest of the day.
Tripping her up in the hallway. Making her spill soup all over herself in the cafeteria. Making her legs give out whenever she got up.
Most people couldn’t tell that it was Veronica's doing so it seemed Lexie was just unusually clumsy. Some people blamed it on her concussion and memory problem. Teachers called her aside to ask her if she was okay and if she wanted to go home early.
The whole thing was mortifying.
Lexie wasn't actually physically hurt from any of it. But the embarrassment was just as bad. Even worse was that Veronica hadn't done anything major, just little stuff. Lexie would have almost preferred if the girl came right out and tried to beat her up. Instead, she was just sneakily humiliating her. Death by a thousand insulting cuts.
Lexie was pissed throughout the whole day and also at home. She punched her pillows for what felt like an hour and then when she calmed down a little, she tried to activate the
41 seconds.
She made a sound of frustration and threw herself back on her bed.
Damn it. Why the hell was it so slow? Why did she have to be pre-affixed as a card user? It was such bullshit.
She bet things would be easier if she could use spells like Top Dog or even that damn Veronica witch. Veronica hadn't even looked a little stressed the entire day, nor burned out. Spellwork all seemed effortless for her. She just said the word and Lexie tripped on her own two feet.
“Ugh!” Lexie grabbed a pillow and flung it over her head. She wanted to scream so badly but she knew Aiden was downstairs. She didn’t want to worry him. He’d already been giving her sidelong looks the entire way home like he got a hint of her mood but he knew better than to ask why.
But then when she heard his footsteps on the stairs anyway and the knock on her door, she knew he couldn't hold himself back anymore.
“Lex,” he said as he stuck his head through her door. “I know you probably don’t want to talk about it right now and I’m trying to respect your wishes, but it’s killing me to sit back and listen to you murder our pillows.”
“I’m sorry. I’m just pissed.”
He walked in and sat at the foot of her bed. “What’s wrong?”
Lexie stared at the ceiling contemplatively while the heat seared through her. “I hate school.”
He was silent.
“I hate cards too.”
“You’re not being patient, Lexie.”
“I’m trying to be! I was being patient and I was doing all the exercises and trying to be happy with slow progress. Then Veronica Azure tripped me with a simple spell.”
“Azure...that’s the mayor’s daughter?”
“Yeah. And guess what? She’s pre-awakened too. And she’s a giant pain in the ass who won't shut up about–” Lexie released a breath. “Do you think you could teach my spells instead?”
“Is that what you want?”
Lexie thought about it. She’d chosen cards because the system had assigned it for her and, due to her affinity for it, she’d figured it would be easier to go along with it while trying to change the [Hero] portion instead of overhauling the entire pre-affixation. But now, she was starting to look at the alternative.
“Spells aren’t as easy as they look either,” he said.
“They’re definitely cooler. And more powerful.” Veronica had managed to seal her bag to the ground while making Lexie fall over. That was two things at once. “I bet if I had a spell Veronica wouldn’t have sent me sprawling.”
“Is that what happened?” he asked, alarmed. "It got physical?”
“Only a little,” Lexie said because she didn’t want her father to report anything to the school. In her experience that only made things worse and she was pretty sure she’d already become Veronica’s target. “Mostly, it was just embarrassing.”
Aiden nodded in sympathy, then shifted closer until he was lying beside her on the bed, staring at the roof too.
They were both silently contemplative for minutes.
And then Aiden said, “Did I ever tell you about what led me to create the
“Yeah. A kid was picking on you.”
“Yeah, but it wasn’t…I mean that made it sound lighter than what it was.” Lexie glanced at him and his eyes had a pensive look. “It was relentless. Everyday. I couldn’t get away from him. If I skipped school he would find me. We lived next door to each other and his family was powerful enough that he could get away with anything he did to me. Unless I was invisible there was no way to hide from him." Aiden took a breath and seemingly wanted to hold the next part of the story in.
Lexie didn't say anything and continued staring at the ceiling.
“Eventually though, he got sick of it."
Lexie smiled sardonically. “Is this the part where you tell me to ignore her and she’ll eventually get sick of it?”
“No." Aiden let out a humorless chuckle. “Ignoring seldom works. Some bullies only truly get tired after they're done breaking you down. And by the time Chauncey left me alone, the damage was done. I was already...psychologically trapped by him. Even years later, I saw him and everything in me just froze. I would flinch when I heard his voice. It didn’t matter that he hadn't assaulted me in a decade, because the demon was inside me now. He’d managed to make me fear him, so much so that I feared the ghost of him. I had nightmares and would sometimes see him when he wasn't even there. He'd won, forever." Aiden shook his head. "Maybe if I'd stood up to him and fought back, then he wouldn't have."
Sympathy rolled through Lexie. "I'm sorry. That sucks."
Lexie hadn't been bullied in middle school. She hadn't had friends except Mickie but no one had really picked on her. Mostly because she faded into the background, kept her head down, and didn't bother anyone.
But her brother Logan wasn't like that. She knew he got picked on sometimes even though he never mentioned it. And Lexie let him keep the secret, pretending it wasn't happening because she didn't know how to deal with it either.
I'm a horrible sister. And friend. And card mage.
Everything I'm supposed to be good at, I'm failing.
Aiden sighed. “Lexie before I say this, I want you to know exactly why I’m reluctant to teach you how to advance faster with your cards.”
“Because you’re not a specialist.”
“No. That was just a lie."
Lexie's head snapped to him in shock and he gave her a droll look. "I’m the most powerful Archmage in decades Lexie, a generational genius. You think I couldn’t have been your card magic tutor?”
Someone’s humble. She thought about the question again. “Is it because you don't want me to be a [Researcher]?”
"That’s part of it. But that’s a cover too.” He inhaled deeply and sighed. “Lexie, it’s because I don’t want you to become me."
“What?”
“Knowledge is...addictive. It's like an onion with a million gem fragments in a million centers. You keep peeling and peeling and you find more and more and the more you find, the more you realize how much you don’t have. And it gets hard to know when to stop. It’s hard for me to know when to stop and you and me, we're very similar. I'm scared you'll become obsessed with finding out everything there is to know about everything. Even the forbidden." A low howl of wind hit her window, making it clatter against the panes. Aiden wasn't distracted and continued to regard her with an expression devoid of humor. "I let my thirst for forbidden knowledge lead me down a dark path. I don’t want you to do the same and I’m scared that you’re too similar to me for it not to.”
Lexie understood what he was saying. She felt that same draw to knowledge, especially when it came to her cards. She couldn't explain it but maybe that was why she had always been reluctant to abandon card magic for something more practical like spells. Maybe it wasn't just about her affinity.
She felt there was something there, in card magic, something more to discover.
“Before I teach you what I'm about to," Aiden said. "You have to promise me that you’ll know when to stop peeling.”
“I promise,” she said.
She must have answered too quickly because he didn't seem to believe her. He looked at her closely. “I’m serious, Lexie. I can’t...I can’t have you hurt too. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. Please, know when to stop."
Aiden's eyes were honest in his fear and concern for his daughter. His jaw clenched tightly. That sobered Lexie up.
His daughter might already be gone.
“I promise," Lexie said again, a lot more quietly, and carefully.
He sighed, then sat up reluctantly. “Alright then. Let’s begin the real training.”