Carmen Alvarez POV

  Carmen Alvarez pulled up to the church with a glance towards her house.

  She let out a sigh.

  “Mama? Are you ok?” Lucas’ eyes were wide as he leaned forwards towards the driver's seat. Carmen couldn’t help but break into a smile at the sight of her darling boy.

  She knew that the Veilsurge had taken a toll on him. No child should have to experience what it was like being thrown into hell, to fend for themselves. Yet Lucas had done so. Successfully hiding until help came, filling Carmen’s chest with pride and relief, when she had seen that he had made it out.

  Yet, if there was one thing she took the most pride in about her son, it was his honesty. Lucas had told her that Evantra had tried to dissuade him from “going out at night”, and he had tried to put into practice what the girl had suggested.

  When Carmen had caught him crying softly in the office, she had initially been worried, but she realised that the girl’s words to him had allowed him to process his emotions of the experience for the very first time.

  Now, it would be great if Eva followed her own advice.

  It looked like a huge weight had been lifted off the young boy’s shoulders, and he was already acting more of himself.

  For that, Carmen was exceedingly grateful to Evantra.

  “That girl… worrying me constantly. Texting me in the middle of the night that she’s run off into another Veilsurge, with Caliburn no less,” she muttered under her breath, as she exited her beat-up hatchback.

  She had considered asking Evantra to watch Lucas, but it seemed like Juno had practically begged her to bring her son along, after he heard about their experience with the Veilsurge. As greedy as he was, Carmen could see in him a man who longed for his family.

  She shook her head as she ascended the stairs, holding Lucas’ hand.

  “Evantra must be out gallivanting. Go shower mijo.”

  Lucas nodded, padding into Evantra’s bedroom to use the adjoining shower.

  “Mama.”

  “Yes?”

  “What’s that?”

  Carmen frowned as she turned, walking briskly into the bedroom to find an unfamiliar grandfather clock positioned right up against the wall.

  The little boy stared at the clock wide-eyed, shaking his head. Carmen gently guided him towards the shower, instructing him to change, before coming to stand before the clock herself. Taco seemed to be rubbing up against the foot of the clock, purring loudly.

  “Puta madre, she’s truly lost her last remaining braincells. What has that idiot girl done now—”

  The grandfather clock turned into Evantra.

  Carmen stared at the girl, her eyes wide as Evantra’s lips turned into a shit-eating grin.

  “Language, Car— wait, wait, DON’T HIT ME!”

  “COME HERE YOU LITTLE SHIT!”

  Evantra shrieked as she narrowly evaded Carmen’s grasp, as the woman yelled at her as she ran out of her room.

  “Are you trying to give me a premature heart attack? Because at the rate you’re going, mine was due yesterday. Let me send you down to hell myself you—”

  Evantra’s laughter rang out as she nimbly escaped Carmen’s grip, eventually relenting and allowing the woman to catch up to her, lightly hitting her with the folder in her hands.

  “Evantra what was that?” Carmen said under her breath, with wide eyes.

  “I told you, didn’t I? This is real, Carmen.”

  Carmen stared at her, gently shaking her head.

  “This is insane.”

  “Evantra!”

  Lucas padded out of the shower, hearing the commotion and having hastily thrown on his clothes. He ran up to Evantra to give her a hug.

  “Mama, where did the clock go? Did you throw it out already? I liked it!”

  Evantra stared at Carmen, before bursting into laughter at the expression on her face.

  ---

  “So, what did you want to show me?” Carmen crossed her legs where she was seated in the church’s basement. Evantra had moved the mirror from Noelle's room down into the basement. Lucas was upstairs, kept busy playing some of Evantra’s games

  It was time to test the limits of her abilities.

  “Push me.”

  Carmen frowned at her as Evantra activated [stonerooted]. Carmen gave her a light push, and she lurched in alarm when Evantra seemed to tumble backwards, like a statue pushed off-balance. She immediately released the skill and scrambled to catch herself before she fell to the ground.

  “Pendejo! What do you think you’re doing?”

  “Hmm… So, it doesn’t give me some sort of stoneskin. All it does is lock up my movement. Too good to be true, but also kind of unnecessary, if I can keep my body still enough so that the illusion doesn’t disappear. Now to test the duration on it. Ready?”

  Carmen nodded uncertainly, but started the stopwatch on her phone.

  Evantra activated her skills.

  [Conceal]

  [Object mimicry]

  [Stonerooted]

  Taking on the familiar visage of the grandfather clock, she realised that her field of vision was locked in place, and she was unable to swivel her eyes to examine her environment.

  Before locking myself into place, I need to make sure that I position myself correctly.

  “Puta madre. This is unnatural,” Carmen whispered under her breath as her eyes widened once more, seeing Evantra turn into the clock.

  “Five minutes.”

  Evantra felt her heart thump with exertion, and with every minute that passed, she felt it strain as if under stress. The longer she kept her skills active, the more strain that it seemed to put on her heart – especially when she activated them concurrently.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  If I’m not under a Ghostslayer’s scrutiny, or that of a Veilcreature that relies on sensing my heartbeat or heat signature, or scent there’s little point to using [conceal]. Similarly with [stonerooted], if I can practice keeping myself utterly still, I can extend the duration of the illusion.

  “Nine minutes.”

  Evantra felt her heart begin to stutter, and she gasped as she finally released her skills. She panted at the exertion, feeling drained for her efforts.

  “Darn… I’m going to have to start running. It would be really ironic if my fancy magical powers are tied to my cardiovascular fitness,” Evantra grimaced.

  “Again.”

  “Eva—”

  After waiting for precisely a minute to recover, Evantra reactivated her skills. After retaining them for another two minutes she gasped, feeling her heart stutter again.

  Damn. There doesn’t seem to be any sort of cooldown mechanism that I can abuse.

  Evantra repeated the process with only [object mimicry] active, asking Carmen to wave to her whenever her illusion broke. She was able to last about fifteen minutes before her heart stuttered. Carmen had raised her hand many more times than she would have liked.

  I can mitigate my movement by bracing myself against a surface like a wall, or the floor. Still, it seems to detect even minute movements, like If I adjust my gaze. Maybe with enough practice… I’ll have to use [stonerooted] with [object mimicry] for the time being.

  “You’re really a magical girl, huh? I thought they had… pets?”

  Evantra raised an eyebrow at Carmen, whose fingers were placed on her temples, trying to reconcile with the fact that Evantra had gained the ability to cast illusion on herself on a whim, and grow claws resembling that of a Veilcreatures.

  “No pets for me. No point. Wouldn’t trust them anyway,” Evantra smirked, and Carmen shot her a look of disgust.

  Too soon.

  Evantra turned her mind to her next point of experimentation.

  The nature of objects she could turn into.

  It seemed like different forms were available to her depending on how she contorted her body.

  The first thing that she attempted was to turn into Carmen.

  “Darn.”

  Carmen raised an eyebrow at her in inquiry.

  “I tried to turn into you. Didn’t work.”

  “My beauty can’t be captured so easily, pendejo,” Carmen said with a look that implied she was convinced that Evantra was slowly going insane. Evantra just dignified her with a grin.

  Evantra activated [stonerooted] and [object mimicry] while facing the mirror, and turned into a step ladder. Crouching down, curling her body into a ball, she turned into a fire hydrant.

  “If I can take note of the furnishings in a room, I can try to match the décor, I won’t stand out,” Evantra mumbled under her breath.

  “Evantra Blair. If you go around turning into furnishings trying to spy on people, I will skin you and use you for a doormat,” Carmen said levelly.

  Noted.

  “There’s just one more thing I’d like to try, Carmen.”

  The woman seemed to pale, and Evantra felt a pang of guilt at making her endure the tests. She was the only one she could rely on.

  “I want you to tell me if you notice anything different about me.”

  Evantra triggered the ritual.

  [Ritual of concealment]

  Veilsouls remaining: 15

  So, it costs 10 veilsouls, just like it did for the [ritual of Veilsight].

  Evantra’s heart thumped heavily with anticipation.

  Nothing changed. Unlike the [ritual of Veilsight], there was no change in any of her senses or perception.

  “Have I turned invisible?”

  Carmen just shook her head.

  “I still see the pain in my culo right in front of me.”

  “Huh.”

  ---

  Cupid: Officer Foster, it’s me. Reporting for duty.

  Moustache: Evantra… you aren’t a soldier. Or a police officer. What are these names?

  Cupid: I have some information that might be of interest to you…

  Moustache: Please don’t make it sound so suspicious. The auditors would have a field day.

  Cupid: So… I may have accompanied some of Caliburn’s Ghostslayers to clear a Veilsurge last night, and I noticed that there are caverns beneath Juno’s Junkyard… I think Veilsurges are appearing in the cave system and getting into the sewers somehow. That must explain the salamanders and the teethlings I encountered before.

  Moustache: You, WHAT?

  Cupid: Come now, focus on the objective. Oh, oh – side objective, how much do I owe you for the treatment?

  Evantra placed her phone down with a sigh, chuckling to herself. Then her mirth and good mood had yet to fade, and she let out a small sigh.

  How long has it been since I’ve laughed like that? That was nice.

  I finally feel like I’m getting somewhere… like I’m no longer powerless.

  Evantra heard steps padding up the church staircase, and she was met with a fatigued Noelle, returning from her job at Archaic Adventures.

  Upon seeing Evantra looking at her, she averted her eyes for a moment, and her expression grew clouded, before she seemed to steel her resolve, meeting her gaze once more. She hefted a bag in her grip, which Evantra knew to contain a pair of virtual reality headsets – purchased with their earnings from their first night dive in the junkyard.

  Noelle had insisted on them, swearing that they would be a worthy investment that they would eventually look to upgrade with a full dive kit which would allow Evantra to practice against creatures in the game.

  Evantra nodded in response.

  It was time to set up their chatroom.

  ---

  “This… is actually pretty nice. Very mysterious. Spacious, too.”

  The “private chatroom” that Noelle had set up appeared to be a long conference table situated between towering grey pillars that surrounded them on either side. It looked very conspiratorial, with the area beyond the pillars being cloaked by darkness, and with a gleaming golden ball of light hanging above the table, illuminating her immediate surroundings.

  Noelle had taken the appearance of… a Veilcreature. Her avatar was the figure of a woman, made entirely of wood. She looked like she had walked straight out of a tree trunk, her skin covered by moss, with tiny plant growths ranging from mushrooms to small flowers growing at odd intervals.

  “So that’s how you found a buyer for Carmen’s house so quickly.”

  “Huh?”

  “You’ve got a fetish for the Veil too, don’t you?”

  The dryad collapsed into the chair next to her, where she stood at the foot of the table, burying her head in her arms.

  “Hmm…”

  Evantra turned to regard her options, flicking through page upon page of potential avatars. Noelle had insisted that they both pick forms which gave none of their features away. Mangekyou, in their efforts to squeeze as much data out of their customers, made biometric scans compulsory before using their products - even if it was for use of a private server. Still, Noelle had insisted that the private chatrooms were secure, it was why Second World was so pervasively used for private, anonymous dealings. The thought of corpos conducting shady backroom deals with adorable avatars was certainly quite the image.

  “I’ll take this one. How do I look? Any different?”

  Noelle’s head was still buried in her arms.

  “Hm. Guess I’ll find out.”

  Evantra took a seat at the head of the table and crossed one leg over the other, trying to look menacing. She looked up as the sound of bells began to wash over them, signifying someone attempting to join the server.

  Noelle let out a sigh, finally withdrawing her head buried within her arms, only to stare at the form she had chosen, mouth agape, as the bell continued to ring on.

  “You gonna answer that?’

  Noelle continued to stare from where she was seated as she accepted the join request.

  They watched as a man stepped through the portal, walking forwards with soft steps, finally coming to a halt right before Evantra.

  “Amitabha Buddha. I am grateful for your hospitality.”

  They stared at the monk, dressed in light orange robes, who had appeared in their server. He appeared to be about their age, in his early twenties, of East Asian descent, with a bald, shaved head. He had dark eyes, a lean build and something that reminded her of Lucas’ innocent, child-like joy in his expression, as he examined the room around them in fascination.

  An otherwise utterly ordinary, if peculiarly optimistic young man, if it weren’t for the fact that one of his limbs had been replaced by a robotic arm.

  “Woah,” Evantra whispered, “some people really go hard on the roleplay.” She turned to the man, nodding in appreciation. “I have to give it to you, I’m a fan of the cybernetic monk aesthetic.”

  “Roleplay?” he tilted his head in inquiry. “The wonders of this world never cease. I never thought I would chance upon a ghost and a dryad, in this land of mystical wonder.”

  Evantra bit down a laugh as Noelle buried her head into her arms once more, whispering into the crook of her arm.

  He turned to Evantra with a serene smile.

  “I’ve never heard of a talking ghost before, Amitabha. Though my ancestors have whispered tales of them, of the ghosts that lurk among us.”

  He extended his arms out, in welcoming supplication, before they flashed.

  The monk casually hefted the gun that had flashed into his hands, the serene smile on his expression wavering not a touch. Noelle shot out of her chair, rapidly interspersing herself between the pair of them.

  “Woah, woah woah. Steady on, my guy. This isn’t a PvP server, damnit, I thought I turned off weapon permissions…” Noelle muttered under her breath as she began tinkering with the server settings in the interface that had appeared before her.

  “Embrace not violence, but eternal rest. I am a pacifist, Amitabha.”

  Evantra and Noelle stared at the Wraithkiller Sniper Weapons System held in the “monk’s” hands, covered in a matte black finish, with harsh red lights which bore a menacing gleam.

  The monk greeted them with a smile that endowed the warmth of the sun.

  “May I interest you in the teachings of peace?”

  Patreon.