"What's it do?" I asked, looking at my new tattoo.
"It-." Master began. "Does nothing. Yer the one that does somethin with it. Yer and alchemist, ye need te remember that nothin happens without you to do it." I understood. As an alchemist, we aren't casters; their magic can be wild, overly powerful. It can even escape them if they aren't careful. Alchemists are different; we're involved in every facet of any magic that we use. From the ingredients to the intent, everything needs to be controlled.
Once she made sure I understood that she continued. "It's actually in that book of yers. I told ye that electric alchemy could be dangerous. But ye've proven te me that ye have the discipline and insight to use it properly. Keep studyin that book, though. I want to see what other inventions that brain of yers can cook up." For the first time, my Master gave me a genuine smile.
"This is the weakest of those combat circles. It won't be effective if it doesn't directly touch something when it's being used. It will create a small electronic current that can travel through stuff like metal. Or enemies."
"So, it's like a stun gun?" Grace asked. Master looked at her, confused, then back at me.
"What does she mean? You said a gun is something that fires projectiles; this is the farthest thing from it." I apologized for the confusion and told her that in our world, it's a turn of phrase for a device that can have a similar effect. "Yer world has so many interesting things, and te think ye do it all without magic from what I've been told." I completely agreed. Now that I was in a world with magic, it was truly amazing to think about all of the things that humans have been able to accomplish without it.
Master taught me the chant for my new tattoo then told me that it was time for her to get some rest and that I should as well. It was time to end the lessons for the week and go back to our regular schedule. Money needed to be made, and we were already behind because of the week-long break that we were required to take. 'It was worth it though.' I thought about all of the things that I'd learned in the past week and all the things I'd been able to accomplish.
We were on our way back when we came across the tavern that we had arrived at a little over a month ago.
"Hey, would either of you like a drink?" Tim asked us. We were the only two in the group that was already legally allowed to drink before we came here. "I have some money, and it'd be nice to have a beer." Grace shook her head, no.
"Nah, man, I'd love to, but I should get back and let the others know that we're all safe. You guys have fun, though!" That's what I loved about Grace; she knew that we were behind on money, but also understood the need to let loose now and then. Tim looked at me, raising his eyebrows expectantly. I gave in, and we decided to split off from our leader and take a look in the tavern.
It was pretty busy late at night. 'But then again, I guess that's when people are off work.' We walked through the crowd and arrived at the bar. There was the welcome party man. This time he was wearing some green-tinted glasses, a mesh tee-shirt, and maroon leather pants.
"Oh, hey!" He greeted us with a smile. "It's the alchemy boy and the seriously gwumpy cleric from the last batch of travelers." I smiled back at him before responding sarcastically.
"Oh, hey! It's the guy that neglected to let us know about the Guild, causing us to almost starve to death!" The bartender gave me a playful pout.
"Awe, you're not mad at wittle old me, are you?" He batted his eyelashes at me flirtatiously. "You learned about it eventually, and it looks like you're doing perfectly good to me." He smiled, looking Tim up and down like a piece of meat. This caused me to laugh, looking at Tims face flush immediately. "Now, what can I do for two strapping young lads such as yourself?" Tim was in no shape to answer as his flushed face was quickly turning into a bright red one.
'I think his brain is malfunctioning.' It was everything I could do not to laugh. "Two beers. On the house for our troubles." It was me that winked at him this time. The bartender placed a hand on his chest and looked at me as if to say. "Ok then!" Tim was looking at me in shock still when we got our beers. The bartender had already walked away.
"How did you do that?" Tim asked me. I couldn't help myself from laughing at the look he was giving me. A little beer came out my nose, though, stopping me.
"I worked as a line cook, remember? It was a restaurant by day, but it was a club at night. One of the bartenders was like that, so I know a little bit about how to handle myself." I said all this proudly; it was always cool whenever you were able to get free drinks for yourself or your friends. Tim nodded and smiled at me.
"Well, then I'm glad you're here with me." He clapped me on the back, and I smiled back at him. 'Things sure are good right now.' I thought. I didn't notice the bartender talking to a big buff man on the other side of the bar. The big man got up and came over to us.
"Well, well. If it isn't two of the weak party!" He exclaimed and laughed. We turned around looked at the big man.
"Excuse me?" I said some bile was rising into my voice. 'Who is this guy?'
"What you don't remember me? I came here at the same time as you." I searched my memory for the other people I could remember in this same room when I first traveled to this world. Something clicked, and I remembered this big guy who had been yelling at the bartender that day.
"Oh yeah, I remember you," I said dryly, having not forgotten his crack about us being part of the weak party. The big man let out a bellowing laugh.
"I remember you too. Stuck to your chair, quivering like a baby. I heard you wound up with some other losers, too, like this guy." He said, gesturing to Tim, who was about to say something when I interrupted him.
"I don't recall asking your opinion about my friends or the strength of my party." The big man leaned in close to me and spoke directly in my ear.
"I'd be cautious who you're mouthing off to, you little pissant." He leaned back and continued. "I heard that you weaklings are still fighting goblins; my party only spent two days wasting our time on those things. How can you even hold your head up high? What's your job, little man?" The man had a nasty grin on his face.
Some other people were starting to gather around us only a few, though; I assumed it was the rest of his party coming to see what the fuss was all about. I gritted my teeth.
"I'm an alchemist." The man gave me a look that said, "you're joking."
"You can't be serious. What do you do mix cocktails for the rest of your party while they're right?" He let out another laugh. "My name is Boro." He pounded his chest with his fist proudly. "I am the leader of the strongest party to come out of that catch of travelers, and I am a Paladin." I looked at this man and thought of Grace. 'You've got to be joking; she has to train with this guy?'
"And what about this twerp by the look of you, you're a healer." Boro sneered at Tim. "Not a very good one, though, heard you almost got your entire party killed by a single goblin." That was a sore spot for Tim, and I saw his head dip in shame. Anger rose in me like nothing I'd ever felt before at the appearance of my friend being berated. Before I knew it, I had climbed out of my chair and was looking Boro dead in the face. Well, not quite in the face, the man was a good foot taller than me.
"You might want to shut your mouth!" I said, poking him in the chest with one finger.
"Todd, it's fine." Tim tried to calm me down.
"No, it isn't! I don't appreciate dumb brutes like this one treating my friends like crap!" The smile fell from Boro's face when I said this.
"What did you say to me, little man?" The already giant man seemed to get significantly bigger. He grabbed me by my collar and started to lift me off the ground. "If you think you're so tough little alchemist, then how about you prove it?" I was about two inches away from his face. I could see a vein clearly popping out of his forehead, but I didn't care. This guy had insulted me, my friends, and my Master's teachings. There was no way I was going to let that slide.
I wasn't dumb, though. I saw his party members gathering closer to us just in case Boro wanted them to join in.
"Cmon Todd, let's just go!" I heard Tim talking, but my anger hadn't subsided yet. I looked back at Boro and responded to his challenge. I grabbed his wrist, making sure that my new tattoo was touching him.
"Fine." I looked at Tim and tried to give him a warning with my eyes. "Trullose." I heard a small little crackle of electricity, and in a second, Boro crumpled to the ground. I grabbed Tim's hand, and we ran out of the tavern. I could hear the man screaming from behind me, having recovered from the small stun I'd given him.
"Come back here, you coward! I'm going to get you for that!" We were already far ahead of him, though, ducking through alleyways to make sure that he and his party couldn't follow us. Tim had started laughing, which made me laugh too; we just kept running with me, pulling him along by his hand until I thought we were safe.
"Whew, that was a close one, wasn't it?" I said to Tim while wiping away tears of laughter.
"Yeah, it was! What got into you back there?" He asked me. "You're usually so cool-headed and quiet. Unless you're helping come up with plans." I nodded my head.
"Yeah, I don't really know. He was just treating you like crap, and his face bugged me." Tim started laughing again.
"I guess we're going to have to be more careful about running into him now!" I agreed and chuckled. Although now that I thought of it, I realized what a pain in the butt that was going to be. "Um, Todd?" I turned to look at him.
"Yeah, what's up?" He looked down at our hands, but it still didn't click in my brain.
"You can let go now." It only clicked right then that I was still holding Tim's hand. I let go immediately and apologized, having not realized that I was still doing it. "No, no, you're fine! I figured you'd just gotten lost in thought." Still, though, I was glad that it was dark. Because if it weren't, Tim would have been able to see the color that had suddenly graced my cheeks.
"Come on. We should be getting back." Tim agreed and we continued along the dimly lit path, headed home. We walked in silence the whole way back. 'It's nice hanging out with Tim.'