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  MAGEBLOOD

  Book One of the MEPHISTO’S MAGIC ONLINE Series

  Written by Christopher Johns

  © 2020 Christopher Johns. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by US copyright law.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Newsletter

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Afterword

  About Christopher Johns

  About Mountaindale Press

  Mountaindale Press Titles

  GameLit and LitRPG

  Appendix

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to my friends and family, my lovely fiancée and everyone out there who supported me as I tried to find myself in this wonderful, mysterious, and fulfilling craft.

  Thank you.

  Newsletter

  Don’t miss out on future releases! Sign up for the Mountaindale Press newsletter to stay up to date. And as always, thank you for your support! You are the reason we’re able to bring these stories to life.

  Chapter One

  There’s a lot to be said for those who can create something from a simple idea. Something like a ground-breaking game with all kinds of new features to wow people in a technologically advanced game saturated society. That’s saying a lot. And it’s a great deal of work, blood, sweat, and tears to accomplish even a modicum of what most construe as success.

  Almost enough that one would contemplate selling his soul to the devil in order to make his dream come true. What’s one infinitesimal, abstract idea of being when compared to seeing the look of joy in your daughter’s eyes when she sees the characters she helped make up in three dimensions? Her best friend’s grin when he talks about sorcery and magic as if it’s more real to him than the ground beneath his feet?

  Would you do it? Sell your soul to some cosmic force to create your wildest fantasy? Wouldn’t you?

  Sounds like a decent deal to some, of course, no one ever really reads the fine print. Always read the fine print.

  I implore you to always doubt the honeyed words thrown your way.

  Because the devil is in the details, kids.

  ***

  I logged out of the game that my friends and I had been streaming, smiling because the night was still young and my best friend was coming over for movie night. I had the nicer stuff and the most space, so she usually came here. My streaming equipment glimmered in the dim moonlight, shiny despite my attempts to wear it down slightly. Streaming could be lucrative at times, but it was money from the family that had helped finance this home and all the accouterments inside.

  Some smart investing on my dad’s part when I was a baby had seen the family become wealthy. Astronomically so. Dad still worked, mom did too—because they were workaholics and needed something to do to “help the world.” So, off on their mysterious adventures to far off lands ‘round the globe they went. I helped them where I could, but that was about it. This was a way for me to do something I loved and give back. Everything I made through streaming, I either donated or put into savings.

  I walked into the bathroom for a shower, the black and white tile in the room lending it a more serious tone than my normal tastes.

  Ma had been insistent that a colorful bathroom looked tacky, and with all the modern amenities in it, it looked slick. The toilet was the latest model, and it had a heated gel seat, so it was a throne. The shower blasted water from all angles, so a shower was an interesting time. The waterproof monitor in the thing was pretty expensive as well, but with some of the settings it had, you needed to be able to see them at all times to correct them to your pleasure. Or that was what the salesperson had said, at least. I mainly used it to check security at the door and to watch the news.

  The lights in the bathroom dimmed and brightened via a dial on the counter display screen. The sink was black granite; cold, but a very classy touch. Made me miss having my folks around after I had remodeled, but their work was important, and I couldn’t begrudge them their right to follow their hearts.

  I tossed my sweaty, shoulder-length hair from my face. It was hot work, gaming. As I looked into the mirror, I wasn’t surprised to see my hair, exactly like my dad’s telltale dark hair. Except that I had portions of it striped and dyed crazy colors. Not to be rebellious—I just liked colorful things. There were purples, reds, pinks, grays, blues, and my favorite neon green.

  Beneath the unruly mop of color was my face. I had green eyes that people liked. Dark eyebrows and angular cheeks with five o’clock shadow. Luckily for me, the streams didn’t show my face unless I wanted to be seen, too. I would wave at my fans from my avatar’s point of view in the game.

  I decided to shave before hopping under the hot water. As much as the stubble would make me appear more masculine with my strong jawline, I wasn’t the kind to go out all that often, and I hadn’t yet found a lady who treated me with any kind of dignity. Was that what women wanted? Masculine? Eh, I didn’t care for now. Didn’t have the thought for it right now after the last breakup, and with how most people viewed me when they found out what I liked to do in my free time, dates didn’t come much.

  Much less so with my streaming schedule. Thus, the single life for me, for now.

  I lathered the shaving cream over my cheeks and chin, then over my neck. Pulling the razor from my medicine cabinet, I noted once again that except for some headache meds and deodorant, it was rather empty.

  I pulled the razor across my cheeks and scraped away both the cream and stubble, leaving naturally tanned skin beneath. I could thank my mother and her Hispanic heritage for that. Had to love my ma’s side of the family though, man. They were wild. They could party.

  I smiled at the thought of my grandmother chasing the grandkids at the last family reunion we had. She was so spritely.

  A pang of sadness crept into my heart, as the memory triggered another of her passing.

  I closed my eyes and chased the thought from my head. She wouldn’t want me to mope—especially since this had been a few years ago.

  I finished shaving quickly and then hopped into the shower. The warm water soon came to a much needed scalding-hot temperature that I adored. I loved a hot shower. Washing all the grossness away and melting the tension in my body.

  The doorbell rang, and the display in the shower went from water settings and nozzle rotations to a view of my best friend standing at the doorway.

  I smiled and pressed a button on the screen. “Hey, Mo.” Mona Hart, my best friend since birth—literally because our parents had been friends since before either of us had been conceived—waved at the fisheye camera in front of her. Her hilariously distorted features squinting as if she could see me. “You know you can always just walk in, right?”

  “And not ruin your normally ridiculously long shower time?” She arched a perfectly done eyebrow at me. “I think not.”

  “Come on in; I’m almost done.” I grinned back. I dismissed the screen after unlocking the door. She could easily get in with her key code. But I wa
nted her to come in; otherwise, she would keep pestering me.

  I finished rinsing myself, then dried off quickly. My back adjusted as I leaned down to dry my legs, and it felt magical. I walked from the bathroom into my room and threw some PJs on. Fluffy pants and a t-shirt then walked down the small hallway to my living room. This area was much more my speed.

  There were large bean bags covered in thick cloth, almost like flannel in the center of the room, with a small coffee table between them. They were gray, and the least colorful things in the room. The two couches in the rear of the room were splotched with paint of all colors and then treated to stay that way, but not feel too rough.

  I had a few friends with artistic talents much greater than my own who had come in and painted murals of battles and bosses from games I enjoyed. One wall was taken by a large dragon’s body that led to the wall with its head facing us. The others were various others that had come from several other games.

  I pressed a button on the wall, and the dragon’s mouth slid down, revealing a large television.

  “That is still so delightfully tacky.” Mona chuckled from her customary perch on the left-most beanbag chair.

  She looked like she was ready to go to bed as well. Her pajamas matched; the little shorts were light blue with little unicorns all over them. They matched the top she wore with a much larger version of the fluffy unicorn on the shirt front. The two of us were a pair at twenty-five years old.

  Her toned, athletic build made the clothes a little loose, but I mean—PJs do that. Right? Her angular face reminded me of traditional elves from the old Tolkien-inspired movies. She was just missing the long ears, sadly. Her fiery red hair and emerald eyes completed her features, though the mirth in her eyes was what made me smile at her.

  She saw me staring for a moment and flashed me a toothy grin. “See something you like, ‘big boy’?”

  I laughed out loud at that one. “You know you aren’t my type, Mo.”

  She faked being sad, but she knew. It was what had kept us both so close over the years. The fact that we were well and truly best friends—almost siblings—was something that would never change.

  “Oh, I know your type, alright.” She grinned wolfishly. “Now, throw that classic in, and let’s chat.”

  I knew better than to go against what she wanted when she was as excited about something like this as she was. I panned over to the image of a masked man and a woman who could’ve been a princess on it and selected ‘play’ before sitting down. It was a classic love story with bits of intrigue, some action, and all kinds of humor. This had been our favorite movie as kids.

  “Excellent choice, Mr. Ethelbart,” she teased me.

  “Thank you, Miss Hart.” I bowed grandly, knowing she was eating it up.

  “Spill, how do you feel about MMO?” She skipped the preamble completely, and that threw me a bit.

  “I mean, I’m excited?” I replied lamely. Her perfect eyebrows shot straight up. “Yeah, the system looks like nothing we’ve ever seen before, I get that. The inherent magic-system in the game is unrivaled. Of course, you know that means I’m going to be losing my mind trying to know all of the best things to do. The best way to play with the magic I get.”

  “Unrivaled is a vast understatement, Seth.” She sighed. “More like unheard of. Who would have thought that the game would use biometrics and an algorithm to assign magic to each player? And not just a base kind of magic—individualized,”—she whispered that last bit for effect— “magic. Each different player with a different level of magical ability.”

  “You do know that they will still have to have some kind of basis for the magic system, right? Like, the elements, maybe summoning and some other crazy stuff.” I almost rolled my eyes at her enthusiasm. “There has to be a base!”

  “There is!” She cried with her hands in the air. “There are the basic elements, as well as some unknown ones! Listen, I know that you have to try and rule the magic-user classes, since that’s your thing, but the unknown is exciting!”

  “Okay, and how about the story?” I asked her. Mona’s favorite thing about a lot of games was that there had to be a damned good story.

  “Mephisto’s Magic Online will have a fully immersive storyline that is supposed to encourage the players to think outside the box, as well as to defeat the villains of the campaign.” Mona recited as if she had committed the pitch of the game to memory.

  “Yeah, and that’s cool and all—but who?” I insisted.

  “I don’t know!” She turned toward the tv, and we watched as the dread pirate climbed a rather dangerous-looking cliffside in pursuit of the lady. “It’s going to be a wild ride, though, and I’m sure the story is there.”

  I reached out and took her hand. “That does put a damper on our relationship.” I mimicked the line that Cary Elwes had just spoken on screen, and we both laughed at our ridiculousness.

  It was a game, the newest, cutting edge one—but a game, nonetheless. We would figure it out like we always have.

  We continued to watch the movie in amicable silence after that.

  “I wonder what type of magic I’ll get,” Mona voiced her thoughts, breaking the silence.

  “Probably fire,” I teased her. “Oh! Or you could have something to do with soul-stealing!” I laughed with my eyes closed too long.

  A fist landed on my shoulder, then another on my stomach. Then the tickling came. We wrestled and tortured each other until we were sore about our ribs, and our faces hurt from laughing so much.

  “You know that I’m most looking forward to playing this game with you guys, right?” I looked at Mona, who still shared my beanbag with me after all that playing.

  “Yeah, we know.” She kissed my cheek. “You’re a great friend. And a good person. I can’t wait to see what kind of magic we get. And thanks again for the equipment, though I could’ve gotten it myself next month.”

  “Yeah, but then we wouldn’t have been playing together—and you know that the party hunts together.” My finger waggled at her in reproach. “But seriously—my money is your money, Mo. You know that I will always take care of you and Ma. How’s her back doing?”

  “A lot better, actually. They’ve got an appointment scheduled and got it pretty quickly, so she goes in Friday.” She patted my arm, though she seemed a little tense about it. “She said if you don’t come over soon, she’s going to beat your ass. She’s been dying to feed you.”

  That made me smile. Emma, Mona’s mom, was one of the best people I knew. And she was a damned fine cook. She had been feeling a little under the weather lately, but I was happy to know the doctors would be seeing her sooner rather than later.

  “You bet, I’ll pop over on Sunday, how about that?” Usually, Sundays were days that I took for myself, so that I could recuperate after being so vocal and streaming all week. That didn’t mean I didn’t want to see my other family.

  “She will be ecstatic.” Mona smiled at me.

  “Of course, she will; she likes me best.” I ducked the fist that she sent my way half-heartedly. “You ready to get some sleep?”

  “After beating you up all night? Yeah, c’mon.” She stood and helped me to my feet with a grunt of effort. I was taller than her by about a foot, but she was strong. The grunt was more for show than anything. “You’ve gained some weight.”

  “Why, thank you.” I grinned. I had been trying to overcome this sickly-looking body of mine with a strict diet of good food and lifting. Lots of lifting. I flexed my biceps, and they just barely peeked out from the sleeves of the shirt. “Nice, right?”

  “With that kind of gun show—who needs an army?” Mona poked one, and it deflated as I lost the flexion of it. “Time for bed, mister man.”

  “Yeah, yeah, mom,” I grumbled and stifled a yawn. We meandered back down the hallway into my room once more. This room was painted dark; it was meant to be my blackout room. Where I come to unwind and relax. Escape.

  I pulled a rollout bed out from bene
ath mine and plopped onto it, the heavy blanket fending the chill off the room. Both Mona and I loved sleeping in the cold, so I tried to keep it somewhat cool in my room. Especially on nights that she came over. Could she have had her own room? Sure. But we had enjoyed sleeping together since we were kids, no reason to change things now.

  Sharing a bed hadn’t been an issue at all years and years ago. As adults, the first time one of us had rolled over and accidentally grabbed the other; the rollout bed had become a necessity.

  “We get to do some magic tomorrow, man.” Mona sighed. “It’s going to happen. Good night, Seth.”

  “Night, Mona.” I closed my eyes and drifted to sleep shortly after her snoring reached my ears.

  Chapter Two

  Mona left later in the morning after breakfast to take care of her mom, I warned her about the set up at 2 p.m., where they would come and set up the grossly expensive system that needed installation.

  Mona and her mother lived together, kind of. She took the guest house out back and converted it into a studio apartment so she could take care of her mom. Poor lady hadn’t really been the same since Mona’s father left them a few years back with no word. No note. Nothing.

  The weirdest part had been that he had been working on some kind of project—he’d been a game designer. He had been the reason Mona and I had gotten into gaming in the first place. Then, poof, he was gone in the wind with nothing to anyone.

  It had hit Mona kind of hard too, but by then, she was an adult and had been able to sort of muddle through the loss. Her strength and force of character had been something that kept her mother sane some days. Though Emma was very protective of her little girl—and me; she mothered anyone and everyone.

  Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if she fed the workers coming to set up Mona’s dive system today. I’d be more surprised if she didn’t.

  Wasn’t hard to see where Mona got it at all. Though, to Mona, a good offense was her way of being protective. She preferred the proactive approach to defending her friends, and I had seen many a boss in Blood and Gore fall because they had come at us. Were they supposed to die? Absolutely.