Cat With a Raygun

Joe was rather shocked by this turn of events. His Toughness was nearly 900 so he had thought his skin would have been too tough to pierce with a nonmagical blade. Luckily between his high Toughness and higher Vitality, this wound to his heart wasn't remotely fatal. He reached up to the blade and cast Transmute Materials turning it into a knife-shaped scrap of cloth.

The would-be assassin's eyes widened in fear when he realized Joe wasn't dead or dying. He let go of the cloth and cast a spell, fading from view again.

In Plain Sight (Level 1). This spell allows the caster to remove themselves from the memories of any observers as soon as the caster is seen. The caster must remain in place to maintain this benefit. Physical interaction removes the effect from the interacting creature. Any hostile actions end the spell immediately, otherwise it lasts for 1 minute per spell level.

Stamina cost: 500 stamina

Quickly reading the spell's description Joe waved his hands through the area the man was last seen, but he encountered nothing. He activated Regeneration to stop the bleeding and repair his heart and flesh.

“Joe, are you going to be okay?” Otto asked.

“Yeah, so long as he leaves I'll be fine in a minute. He had an interesting spell. I'm guessing it's level 5 or even 10 because the basic description doesn't allow him to move and it also doesn't stop us from hearing him. Our brains were telling us something was wrong because we would see him, then the spell immediately made us forget, so we could stare at him and not even know it. It's stronger than invisibility.”

“Wait a minute, I know him!” Otto exclaimed. “He was in the group that kidnapped me and that poor gnome Mage. Joe, if they're here, that's bad for the town.”

Belstak came rushing over. “I smelled blood in the air, and not from an animal. Joe, are you okay?”

“Yes, I'll be fine. Think you can help me track down the man who stabbed me, though? Otto, go to Ferric, tell him what happened, who this man is, then get Barney involved to make sure everyone is safe.”

Otto nodded at the instructions and ran off towards The Rusty Cup. Joe cast Invisibility on himself and Belstak, who had shifted into his wolf form. Joe ended the Transmute Material spell on the knife and the dragon got the assassin's scent from it. Despite the man moving towards the mines when he disappeared from view, Belstak led them to the southern exit of town, then beyond.

Near the area where Joe first chose his Mage class they found a camp of men and women of different races. The man in black must have just got there himself and he was being quietly but sternly lectured by another man, who seemed to be the leader. Using his Listening skill Joe caught the conversation.

“You were supposed to kill him. I thought you said you had a high level in that spell, is that the kind of result that comes from a high level?” The leader asked rhetorically.

“He must have higher statistics than we assumed, very unlike what a Mage is supposed to have. He didn't even respond to the paralyzing poison I had on my knife,” the assassin replied.

Joe hadn't even been aware of any poison. He certainly never cured it, but just in case he cast Healing Burst on himself to cure anything that might be waiting to affect him at an inopportune moment.

“I don't want your excuses! You were chosen for this job because the boss said you had a good record. Clearly that record was exaggerated.” He gestured to a pair of women sitting together, one a dwarf, the other a crocodillian. “What about you two? Any ideas on how to take this guy out?”

The two exchanged a glance before the dwarf responded, “If the assassin couldn't take him out in one go, I doubt our spells would be able to do the job. The damaging ones aren't very high level.”

Joe tried to split his focus between listening in on the bandit camp and using his Party CGS interface to communicate with Belstak silently.

Can you hear what they're saying? Joe asked of the dragon.

No, my ears won't be that good until I'm a little older. At least I can see them just fine. Belstak replied.

That's good enough for now. I'm going to go back to get my armor and check in with Ferric and Barney.

With that Joe cast Backtrack and appeared in his home next to the wardrobe containing his armor. He used Levitation to get it on in moments, then Backtracked again to The Rusty Cup. Ferric and Otto were there along with most of the townspeople.

“Joe, you're okay! When Otto told me what happened I was worried. Did you take care of that guy?” Ferric asked.

“No, but Belstak and I tracked him to a camp south of town. I saw eight people. Belstak is keeping an eye on them for me. Is Barney out gathering the others, making sure they're safe?”

“Yes, that's right,” Ferric confirmed.

“Okay, Ferric, you and Melanie come with me, I can get us back there without needing a portal, so if I turn us invisible first we'll be undetected.”

Kerras began to empty his satchel of many different rocks of varying sizes and moved them around the room. Ferric nodded at the Mage's actions.

“Good thinking, Kerras, make the environment yours.” Ferric called out for Eleanor, Slivka, and Kleo, next.

“Ladies, fly up to the roof and keep an eye out for trouble. I hope we can keep them all occupied outside of town, but in case there are others, we need you here.”

The three women nodded and slipped out the door quietly, weapons in hand.

As the rest of the citizens pulled out their own weapons, Joe invited Ferric and Melanie to his party with Belstak and sent a message telling him to expect them back in a moment. After turning them all invisible, Joe took them back to where he left Belstak who had confirmed no changes at camp, just more arguments.

We don't know what they can do, so maybe I go in under several different protective spells and see what they throw at me, then you guys can join when you've assessed the situation better?

After receiving confirmation from the three others, Joe cast Elemental Shield, Prevent Attack, and Force Field on himself, then rushed into the camp.

“I hear you're looking to kill me? Good luck with that,” Joe said as he cast Compress Time. He cast Hidden Blade to bring up one of his Spell Knives and cast Transmute Material into it, then did it again on a second one. He Launched one at the leader of the camp, but used Levitation on the second one, aiming for the assassin.

Before moving to his next target Joe saw his first knife hit the camp leader right in the chest. The spell activated and Joe watched the man's leather armor turn into oak wood. His armor wasn't one solid piece so it didn't completely jam up his ability to move, but it would certainly hamper it to a large degree. Joe aimed his raygun at the dwarf woman fired off a beam of lightning. Another spell knife came out and he charged it with Cold Snap and fired it at the crocodillian woman.

The pocket of time ended when another member of the camp, a felinoid woman, rushed towards him with a two-handed sword. Her attack fell short thanks to his protective magics. Seeing the opportunity, he quickly transferred 2000 stamina to his mana to recover from the Transmute Materials spells and grabbed her wrist and cast Siphon Energy.

As expected he took Stamina from her, giving himself a partial refill. Prevent Attack went up again before anyone had a chance to catch him flatfooted, again. Joe cast Boost Strength and squeezed the Fighter's wrist, breaking it before pushing her into the next bandit approaching. Joe turned to face the assassin, who turned white at seeing the Mage look his way.

“No way, you shouldn't know I'm here. My spell is up, and there is no counter to it,” he whimpered.

“Sure there is,” Joe said. “It's ended if I physically interact with you. That dagger sticking out of your wooden armor is technically being held by me, according to the spell I'm using on it.”

Just then a wolf jumped on the back of another bandit trying to creep up behind Joe. The eighth bandit was charging forward with an axe when he suddenly tripped and nearly sliced his head in two as he fell. The felinoid woman had untangled herself from the other bandit and was coming back with her sword in one hand when Melanie rushed out from the woods and stabbed her through the chest using Speed Boost.

“Ah, good, everyone is here now. Let's keep it that way,” Joe announced as he cast Force Field barriers over the area.

A yell was heard from off to his right, “This isn't enough people for a party, let's bring in more,” the dwarf woman said as she cast a spell of her own.

Smoke and Mirrors (Level 1). This spell allows the caster to create a visual illusion that fits in 1 meter cubed per spell level. This illusion can be of anything, real or imagined, although it appears as real as the caster can envision it.

Mana cost: 10 mana per minute

Suddenly around the campsite multiple portals opened that looked exactly like the ones Joe can make with Backtrack, with three or four additional bandits coming through each one.

Ignore the newcomers, it's just an illusion spell. I was offered that spell when I first became a Mage but never saw a reason to pick it. I believe the dwarf may be a Mage herself.

This whole situation just got more interesting.