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6 - Bound Vs Unbound Magic
🕑 Added 2025-02-12 10:39:17 +0000 UTCLexie woke up the next morning to the scent of freshly baked bread.
Who’s baking? Neither of her parents cooked. Her father attempted sometimes, but her mother had a famous hatred for cooking ever since she worked as a fry cook at a fastfood restaurant to put herself through college.
Maybe it was Logan experimenting in the kitchen again but usually her brother’s food experiments didn’t smell that good. Or maybe Mom had catered from that bakery on 5th Avenue. But if she was catering then it meant she was about to entertain visitors, and high academia strangers would be in Lexie's house soon.
Ugh. Lexie groaned. I need to get lost before they get here.
She opened her eyes, to do just that but then she found that she didn't recognize her room. And then it all came rushing back.
She wasn’t home.
She was in a video game world with [Heroes], and [Villains] and dungeons and a system and also a ghoul that had definitely tried to eat her last night even though it was reportedly vegetarian.
It all sounded absurd, but not as absurd as it sounded yesterday.
Especially since she’d woken up in the middle of the night, and continued reading the welcome manual until she fell asleep again. Most of it was getting her acclimated to her new earth, teaching her how to use her System Interface and even showing her exact location on a map.
It also showed her how to work the TV–though the manual noted that TVs were archaic because you could just project any video you wanted from the NET onto a flat surface or visual pad.
Oh and the NET was Earth 9's internet, but more cohesive and streamlined. Unlike the internet there weren’t different websites that kind of all did the same thing. With the NET, there was a place for everything, but everything also had its place. They had a video section called Video Alley, an article section which collated all the news of the day, and a search section she could use to search for anything she wanted. Like a fantasy Google. It was very helpful.
But also highly restrictive. They were certain things she didn’t get a lot of information for. For example, when she wanted to look more into the ISTS and how it worked, she was asked for a Scholar ID before she could proceed. She tried just looking at inter-dimensional travel and what to do when you had your soul stolen from your body and thrown into another person’s but there would only be brief mentionings in articles that, whenever she tried to open up, would always ask for her Scholar ID. That was a lesson in frustration. She would have to ask Aiden what a Scholar ID was and how she could get one.
Overall, Lexie was more relaxed but slightly resentful. In most of the isekai she’d watched, it always seemed so easy. The system automatically bestowed the main characters with all the knowledge they needed and what they were supposed to do. Or most often, they were isekai-d into a book they’d read or a game they’d played and it was all a grand adventure.
But no. She literally had no clue about this game except that her brother apparently played the beta version.
She’d also read through her brother’s text about Heroes Online again. It listed out the names of the major players and their classes but little else. But he seemed really excited about playing it and it reminded Lexie of all the times he would hang out in her room, playing MMORPGs games on his phone while she studied. They’d mutually ignore each other, but he’d yell out, “Hell yeah” when he cleared a level, and she would roll her eyes and tell him to keep it down. The memory of it had threatened to overwhelm her.
She'd had to stop reading his texts at that point or she would have ended up crying again.
Now, she got out of bed and padded toward the door to the bathroom. Helpfully, the welcome manual also showed her how to work the sink and the shower. It wasn’t too complicated, except there were more dials she needed to adjust to get perfect temperature hot water.
It took her about thirty minutes of fiddling to get it right and then when she was done, she went to her closet and skimmed through the clothes. There were a lot of pants and tops but none of the material was denim. Instead, her pants were made of wool, leather, and a coarse woven material that was kind of like denim but softer.
She pulled on that one and a cotton T-shirt and went downstairs.
Aiden was in the kitchen, watching a projection on a pad screen that was propped on the counter. As she approached him, she could hear a disembodied woman’s voice saying, “...whisk whisk whisk ladies! Keep mixing up all those ingredients until they’re uniform. And when you're done, you can add another cup of flour and a pinch of dragon dust–”
“A pinch?” Aiden grumbled in response. “Really, Nancy. I told you last week in the comments; it’s exactly those types of imprecise measurements that make things more difficult for your viewers.” He kept muttering as he measured out a cup of flour, from a plastic container full of it. "Your pinch and my pinch are very different madam…”
Today he was wearing a t-shirt and some sweatpants. On top of that, he'd tied an apron with flowers that looked like they were hand-drawn by a kid. The apron was now dusted in flour.
Aiden didn’t seem to hear Lexie as she walked into the room. He was still bent over, muttering and scowling at a black pad in front of him as Nancy continued talking.
“Oh and guys! Someone mentioned in the comments the other day about how they didn’t know what a pinch was. A pinch in this case is essentially about half a teaspoon.”
“Now that’s more like it.” Aiden's scowl disappeared into a self-satisfied smile, as picked up a tiny measuring spoon, dipping it into what looked like a tupperware full of grey powder. “This is why you’re the baking queen, Nancy. You read our comments and incorporate feedback better than any of those other V-Bakers. Especially that Edna fraud–don’t know what I was thinking listening to her after that croquembouche fiasco. Anyway, I’m glad I learned my lesson. I’ll never again stray from what we have.”
They have croquembouche here? Lexie thought, immediately followed by, Wait, did that lady say to put dragon dust in the dough?
Aiden spoke to the video like the woman was there in the flesh, but her voice continued speaking while he ranted, proving that this was only a prerecorded video. As she got closer, she saw that he was watching a Video from Video Alley, and it was projected onto the pad in extreme high definition. Lexie knew, from reading the manual, that he could also adjust settings to make the video 3D or 4D. But for now, he settled with boring old 2-D.
Lexie watched as Aiden dedicatedly measured out the powder, sliding one finger over the tiny grey mountain so it was flat on the spoon.
After adding the pinch of the grey powder, Aiden turned to reach for the jug of water on the table behind him and finally spotted Lexie.
“Hey busy bee," he smiled. "You’re awake early. Did you sleep well? Have any good dreams?”
Lexie shrugged as she walked in. She felt like she did have a dream but she couldn’t remember it. That was pretty normal for her. She always forgot her dreams in the morning, but she was pretty sure that was because most of them were about as boring as her life. She probably just studied in her dreams too.
On the bright side, she wasn't having any nightmares about being shot. She barely remembered the sensation beyond a brief pain and disbelief. Probably the adrenaline numbed her to most of the worst parts of the experience.
That's good. I don't know if I could deal with PTSD on top of all this.
Although some might say that her distinct lack of emotionality and strange resignation to her situation might be a form of PTSD.
She slipped into the same seat she sat in last night. “What are you making?”
“Pumpkin Bread,” Aiden said happily. "With a twist."
“Another of my favorites?”
“You remember?” His eyes glinted with hope that fell a little when she shook her head.
“I just assumed, because everything you’ve made so far has been my favorite food.”
He gave a cough-laugh. “I guess I may be overcompensating a little.”
A little is an understatement. She cocked her head. “Overcompensating for what?”
He poured a little bit of water into the mixture as Nancy directed.“For not being around enough when you were younger. Always working. Missing a bunch of your important childhood moments, because I assumed I would have time to make up for it later.” He paused on that thought. “Although I guess I was somewhat right. Being a convicted Villain gives tons more free time than being a hero ever did. Funny how that works out huh?”
"Yeah, but I’m sure there are better ways to get time off."
Aiden chuckled but he still looked a little sad. Lexie didn't know what else to say. Her parents had barely been around either when she was growing up, but she didn't think she minded much. When they were around all they wanted to talk about was school and her 'plans for the future’ anyway.
But Aiden seemed torn up about it so she offered him a boon. "It's okay that you weren't around. I mean, I understand your work is important."
His expression fell and the guilt on his face only grew.
“My work shouldn’t have been more important than your needs.” He sighed and returned to his bowl. “And it wasn't just work. After your mother's death, I was...I couldn't stop searching for answers. It consumed me. I let it take me down some very dark places and I left you behind in the process."
"Answers?" That part piqued her curiosity and that was easier to address than the emotional landmine of the rest of his statement. "You were looking for answers on how my mother died?"
He whisked harder, the metal clattering the corner of the glass bowl. His throat bobbed as he swallowed. "They said it was on a mission gone wrong. A high-level dungeon had opened up, so she and a few more high-level fighters were sent to clear it. None of them made it out." His expression grew haunted. "I don't know what the government was thinking, sending them in. They had no mage with them. No healer."
"Mom wasn't a mage?"
“Your mother?” He snorted. "She didn’t have a mana ranking. She had some mana affinity, but zero capacity and zero interest in learning anything magic-related. She thought thaumaturgy was a kind of soup and she didn’t like mages very much.” His smile turned warm and a little sad. “But she was an amazing fighter, a high-level A-Rank, Soldier Type. But, she wasn't a [Hero] and they had no business sending her in without backup. And no one could tell me why they did." The last sentence was said in an angry tone, a dark shadow passing over his face. "I wasn't around when it happened. The Association had me working off the planet. When I came back she was already..." Once again, he couldn't finish the sentence.
Lexie felt a sudden wave of pity for him. She could picture it now, a hero off saving the world, and coming back to meet a dead wife and a young, probably grieving, daughter. And then later his daughter falls into a coma. Thankfully, she returns but it's not really her.
And every time Aiden smiled warmly or patted her head, Lexie felt even more like an imposter. She felt guilty even though none of this was her fault.
"That's how you became a villain?" Lexie asked quietly. "Searching for answers?"
He nodded and released a heavy breath. "Something like that. But I'd rather not get into my villainous past right now. That conversation will come when you're older."
Aw. That was too bad. Lexie was curious about the "really cool but kinda stupid" thing he'd done, but she understood why he didn't want to talk about it. She supposed he probably didn't want his daughter to know too much about his life of crime.
Maybe he's scared that I'll judge him. Or that I’ll follow in his path. But he needn’t have worried. Lexie had been a rule-follower all her life and planned on remaining one. The [Villain] life was definitely not for her.
On the other hand, she could probably look up his crime later on the NET. She probably should have done that already. Just to make sure that whatever he did really wasn't that bad.
"Does being a convicted [Villain] make it harder to find jobs?” she asked Aiden.
“In a sense. I can’t do anything magic related, or strength-related. There’s also a limit on how much I can earn and all my communication regarding employment must go through my parole officer.” He traded his whisk for a spatula to turn and fold the sticky dough. “Mostly, the system assigns me menial labor whenever there’s a shortage, and I help out in other service roles. Lately, I’ve been working in the Healing House, helping them make their medicinal potions.” He carefully placed the spatula on a cloth on the counter, and began kneading the dough with his hand. “It's nothing compared to my previous work, and making potions without magic is difficult to say the least. But the kind folks at the healing house were willing to overlook my criminal past when they contracted me and so I try my best to make it worth their while.”
What about the rest of the world? Lexie wondered. She didn’t know what Aiden had done but given how Luther treated him yesterday, a lot of people probably hated him.
Lexie didn't voice her questions though. She asked something adjacent to it.
“When you say previous work…” she ventured carefully. “Do you mean villain stuff? You know, planning world domination, meetings with minions and such?”
“Not quite.” He chuckled. “My ‘villainy’ as it were, was relatively recent, short-lived and not really prolific. I made no minions in that time and formulated no plans to take over the world.”
Ok. That was good to know. Assuming she believed him, that is.
“My previous job was as the Professor of Unbound Studies at the Victoire Hero Academy. My alma mater.”
“Unbound Studies? What’s that?”
Done kneading, he covered the bowl with a clean napkin he retrieved from a hook. Then, he washed his hands, carefully cleaning dough from underneath his finger nails. Once he was done, he sauntered over to take the seat opposite her.
“There are, broadly speaking, two different types of magic: bound and unbound. At its simplest definition, bound magic uses artifacts, like wands, spells, weapons or cards to generate a skill. Unbound magic does not. Under the mage class, you will eventually be asked to affix either of the two.”
“Why would someone choose one over the other?”
“Well, for starters only S or A Ranked mages can choose Unbound Magic. Since its magic is conjured without any aids, it requires a large mana capacity and mana affinity to master. Occasionally a B Rank might be able to use some types of Unbound magic, but not as well. On the contrary, any rank can use bound magic, but it’s better suited for people with low mana capacity and affinity. It doesn’t require one to have a large mana capacity or affinity because whatever tool you use already contains some mana, and is designed to help you channel it better. Sort of like magical aids. But, after affixing bound magic, you need your chosen tool for your skills to work. So if you were a wand-user for example and you didn’t have a wand with you, you would be essentially powerless.”
Lexie nodded her understanding. “So Bound Magic has more limits.”
“Precisely.”
“And Unbound magic is better.”
He hesitated. “Some people might say that.”
“But you wouldn’t?” Lexie watched him carefully as he drummed his now clean fingers on the table. He appeared to consider his next words carefully.
“It’s easier to see the value of Unbound magic because it’s very straightforward,” he said measuredly. “You have people with lots of internal mana, who can generate powerful skills without needing any conduit. Bound magic often looks like child's play in comparison. But saying one is better than the other is too simplistic.”
Lexie didn’t think so. Unbound magic certainly seemed like the better option from just about every angle. She could only imagine how much it would suck to break your wand or lose your magical weapon in the middle of a ghoul attack and die as a result.
But Aiden grinned as though he could read her thoughts and found them funny. He rose and Lexie turned as he walked to the cabinet she’d opened yesterday, selecting the deck of cards before returning to his seat.
“Bound magic simply serves a different purpose than unbound," he said. "An example is card magic, which is often seen as one of the least powerful types of Bound Magic.” He laid his hand on the back of the card, which had intricate purple swirls tunneling a center gem. He flicked the card on top over, revealing a border with a more elaborate design, and a center of dancing heels. “Cards are heavily misunderstood and as a result, denigrated for not adequately doing something they’re not meant for in the first place. Most people can only point out their flaws. Cards usually deal with low-capacity magic. It’s not an attack-heavy tool and it’s notoriously difficult to activate under pressure, also requiring a cool-off time. Cards lack flexibility too, sacrificing that for complexity. They're fine for an entertainer or educator to use, but horrible for high-stakes situations. It’s why no [Hero], or [Villain] for that matter, has ever been a card-user."
"Wait, never?" Confusion ricocheted through her. "There's never been a [Card User Hero]? Ever?"
He shook his head. "Never. For all the reasons I just mentioned."
Lexie frowned. “So, let’s say hypothetically, someone was preaffixed as a [Card User Hero]. What would that mean?”
Aiden’s lips pursed as he thought about the question. Then he shook his head. “Well, assuming it wasn’t some system error, it would be kind of a tragedy, wouldn’t it? For one thing, I think that individual would be laughed out of any [Hero] program they tried to apply to. I don’t even think they’d make good hero support either. And even if they manage to get in and want to do hero work, they would probably have to endure a fair amount of mockery and would only be given low ranking assignments.”
Great, Lexie thought sarcastically. So it seemed that, without any qualms, the system had rendered her a freak and a failure.
Why on earth had it preaffixed her as a [Card User Hero] then? Was it a mistake? Random?
Or was her class broken just because she came from a different dimension?
She really wanted to ask Aiden more about it, but she didn't want to give away her pre-affixation quite yet. She wanted to gauge him properly first. Perhaps because she didn’t know how a [Villain] would feel about his daughter being a [Hero]. He didn’t seem to hold much animosity toward [Heroes] but she didn't know him well enough to be sure.
And also she didn’t know if her early pre-affixation had something to do with the ISTS. Maybe it was part of the things she wasn’t supposed to disclose.
Either way, she was playing that particular card close to her chest.
"But cards are an excellent teaching tool,” Aiden continued.
“Teaching tool?”
“Yes, especially when it comes to mana pathways.”
“What are those?”
He traced his finger around the cards. “Well, if you become a mage, they’re a topic you study at any mage academy. A mana pathway is the mechanism by which a magical skill is activated, the flow of mana through and out of your body, the movement of magic. Each skill has a different pathway and if you try to activate a skill without the proper pathway, you can get a drastically different result than what you wanted, or worst case scenario, you could harm yourself. So the first thing any mage learns is how to properly activate and navigate many pathways. Most professors use cards as a teaching tool because it’s the most unforgiving when it comes to having strict mana pathways.”
Lexie furrowed her eyebrows. Aiden pulled in a salt shaker to explain. He shook enough of the salt onto the table and began to draw lines through it resembling a series of connecting tunnels. “For example, let’s take this as a pathway for a particular spell. You say the spell, but you don't properly go through the activation protocol, maybe you used too much or too little mana and it twists the pathway instead. You could still get a good result just by saying the spell correctly because the spell pathway is more flexible and will end up adjusting to allow for your skill. And with unbound magic, you can just ignore proper protocol and pump your body with ungodly amounts of mana, and some of that is bound to flow in the right pathway, even if it’s a terrible process that generates a lot of waste.” Aiden’s face showed his disgust for such a method. “But none of that is possible with cards. As I said before, cards sacrifice flexibility for complexity. They are completely unforgiving when it comes to process. The mana pathway and activation protocol have to be completed exactly right, or the card simply won’t activate. This is their strength. They’re the best and safest type of magic to learn pathways with.”
He placed the first card down on the table and flipped the next one. “Unbound might seem like the better option at first glance, but that’s because it prioritizes simple raw power output. So if that’s what you’re looking for then that’s the way to go." He tapped the card. “But cards are a subtler type of magic. It’s also said that they were the first magical tools that the system created, before spells or wands or runes. Eventually, as other magic types became popular, things like cards were seen as outdated, and archaic with a lot of redundancies. But I still believe that it’s the best way to fundamentally understand how magic works in our world. It's the truest form the system gave us."
Lexie glanced down at the card. She didn’t know how to feel about anything she’d just discovered. Finding out that card magic was one of the weakest types didn’t make her feel good, but if it made it easier for her to learn then that was a good thing. She was aiming to be a [Researcher] anyway, and not a [Hero].
There was one thing though that she didn't get. Everything Aiden just said about pathways implied that there was at least some learning curve involved in activating them. But activating that card felt effortless yesterday. She'd barely even noticed the energy that rushed through her.
“That card you used yesterday doesn’t count though,” Aiden said as though he could sense what she was thinking. “Its skill works independently of the user. It doesn’t require the user to have any magic for it to work, so even a mundane could activate it.”
“Oh?” Lexie’s interest peaked. “So there are cards like that?”
“Not usually,” he admitted. “This is the only one I know of still in existence.”
“How come? It seemed like a pretty useful tool. It could help people who don’t have mana to be able to do things like protect themselves from ghouls, and other mildly vegetarian creatures of the night. Why doesn’t the system make more of it?”
Aiden cocked his head, looking pleased. “I love that you ask the right questions."
But for whatever reason, he didn't answer the question. Instead, he held up another card, similar in design to the others, but with twisted legs in the center of it. “You wanna try to activate a card?”
Lexie’s eyes widened. She didn't even take a second to think about it. “Uh, yeah.”
He passed her the card and she took it, apprehension mixed in with a bit of excitement. Maybe this was a stupid idea but she was curious to find out how these cards worked. Besides, what other chance would she ever get to use magical cards?
"Close your eyes," Aiden said.
Lexie obeyed and tried not to fidget.
"Try as much as possible to feel your internal mana. Take deep breaths if you need to. It should feel like a faintly buzzing sensation, similar to a bolt of less intense lightning. Now, it might take you a few minutes to identify, so don’t worry if you–”
“Got it," Lexie said. She heard Aiden make a sputtering sound.
“Are you sure? That fast?”
“Uh-huh.”
It didn't take Lexie that much time at all. Almost as soon as he started speaking she felt it. She probably always felt it but just took notice of it when she turned her attention inward. It was similar to the buzzing in the atmosphere, but different. More her. She could sense pieces of herself in the mana, her fear, her longing for home, her sadness, and even her curiosity.
“What do I do next?” she asked Aiden, who seemed to have been struck silent for a moment.
“Um,” he said “Okay, next thing you need to do is push your….awareness slightly outward towards your hand, and feel the mana in the card.”
Lexie took deep breaths and pushed the skittering sensation outward toward the card. When she focused on the card, she saw a glowing path radiating in the darkness that looked like a complicated ladder, with rungs laced around each other.
“What do you see, Lexie?” Aiden asked.
"A weird ladder," she answered honestly.
"Really?" Aiden sounded surprised. "You found it already?"
“Yeah. Is this supposed to be hard?”
“Well…yes. Especially since it’s your first time. Frankly, I expected you to struggle a little at the beginning, and then I was going to impress you with the fact that I actually activated my very first card in under a minute. But now it looks like you’re going to beat my time and I won’t get the chance to be the amazingly cool mage dad.” She didn't know if he sounded disappointed or proud.
Lexie didn’t want to lose her focus so she merely smiled. “So the ladder is….”
"It's the activation pathway for the card. Direct your mana through it, to activate the card. Then the card will help you generate a skill.”
"Okay. So I just direct my mana through the path?"
"Yes. Like you're tracing the lines of the ladder."
Lexie steeled herself, took another deep breath, and then started pushing her mana towards the ladder, watching it enter from the bottom left leg and slowly rise winding through the rungs. It was slow and strenuous. Like working a muscle she didn’t know she had, and had never used before. She found herself frowning hard. But she kept going because she was just fascinated by the process. The mana glowed even brighter as it passed each spot in the pathway it touched and she had to remember not to hold her breath.
It was truly beautiful.
As it reached the top, filling the ladder, Lexie asked, “Alright, what now?”
“Now is the harder part. You need to direct the external mana in the atmosphere inside you, using the card as a pathway stabilizer.”
“Huh?” Lexie said and then a knock on the door further broke her concentration.
"Ah, hang on. That’s probably Max," Aiden said. The chair scraped on the floor and Lexie's eyes popped open as he rose from the table. His footsteps thumped on the wooden floorboard as he went to answer the door. In the meantime, Lexie remained seated examining the card she was holding.
It was similar to the dancing feet card, but instead, the feet were twisted around each other.
She focused on it and a blue box popped up.
<Getting Out Of Hand> was the title of the card.
Before she could read more, the door creaked open and Aiden said, “Rose.”
“I’m so sorry to disturb you like this.” The woman’s voice was frantic, pleading. “But I have no one else to turn to. Evan’s condition has gotten worse.”
Lexie turned to see a petite woman standing on the porch, holding the hand of a sandy-haired boy of about three or four years old. She thought the boy looked fine at first, but when she squinted, she could see there was a reddish rash spreading over his neck.
“When did it begin worsening?” Aiden asked in a quiet tone as he squatted in front of the boy, gently holding his chin and turning his head one way then another.
Evan looked like he was used to being manhandled because he simply grinned as Aiden lifted his arms to check underneath it.
“I have stinky pits,” he warned with a giggle.
“I can tell.” Aiden waved his hand in front of his face, a tad dramatically making Evan giggle more. “But I’m getting used to your unique tang of moldy cheese.”
“Sorry,” Rose cringed. “I haven’t been able to shower him for three days. He screams bloody murder whenever I try.”
“That’s probably because the water is reacting with the rash. Also could be the hydrophobia kicking in.”
“Do you think it got worse because of the dungeon opening? I heard an unstable one opened last night and something got out. Do you think that’s what’s causing this? Old Man Lochlan said half his crops shriveled up and died overnight too.”
Aiden was quiet. Lexie couldn't see his face, but she got the impression that he was carefully considering his words.
“I doubt it,” he said. “The creature last night was a possession type, not a pestilence type. It wouldn't have done this.”
That didn’t calm Rose. If anything, it made her more frantic. "What if there was another unstable dungeon then? One that they didn’t catch? They’ve been occurring more frequently than before.”
“The system would have alerted us if a dungeon had completed its spawning. We would have had to evacuate. I don’t think there was another dungeon.”
“Then why did Evan get worse overnight?”
“I’m not sure. You should go to the Healing House. They’ll run tests over there.”
Rose heaved a heavy trembling breath. “I’m tired of going to the healing house.” Her voice was strained. “All they do is run tests and give us potions that don’t work. The rash always comes back. We need a healer, someone with magic.”
“Emma has called for a healer.”
“Yes. Three weeks ago, yet no one from the Healer’s Guild or Hero’s Association arrived. They probably don’t think we’re worthy of healing because we’re all lower-middle-class mundanes.” Bitterness dripped from her tone and she reached forward and took Aiden’s hand. “Please, Archmage. Is there nothing you can do?”
“You know I can’t use magic anymore, Rose.”
Her eyebrows furrowed in desperation, voice lowered. “Not even a little bit? I promise I won’t tell anyone if you do.”
Aiden sighed and shook his head. As he straightened, he ruffled Evan’s hair. “I’m sorry.” He said. “Go to the Healing House. I’ll be there shortly, to help Emma with the potions."
Rose eventually assented but she looked slightly dejected, shoulder slouched as she took her son’s hand. “Thanks anyway.”
After she left, Aiden returned to the dining table. The easy smile on his face was gone, and tension coiled in his shoulders.
“You really can’t help that lady?” Lexie asked quietly.
He met her eyes and gave her one of his sadder smiles. “Not with magic. As Max said, part of my punishment is that I can’t use any. These...” He pointed to the bands on his neck and the matching ones on his wrists. “...restrict me.”
“Yes but can’t the system make an exception for when you need to help people? Or can’t you get your sentence reduced for good behavior?”
“That’s not how it works. There is a lot of flexibility with the system, but unfortunately, this is one of the things it’s strict about. Once a [Villain] sentence is accepted, convicted [Villains] must carry it out. My sentence is these bands. For life.”
"What happens if you try to use magic?"
"Pain," he said almost casually. "Excruciating pain and burning. And sometimes you suffer aftershocks that feel like you've been struck by real lightning and it's ripping through your veins."
Lexie shuddered internally at the description.
“That’s inhumane.” Lexie burst out, and then a thought occurred to her. “Is that why your hands were shaking so badly yesterday? Because you tried to use magic?”
He grimaced at being caught. “Yes. It was stupid but instinct is hard to beat. When I saw the ghoul heading back for you, I ran but I wasn't moving fast enough. I was too panicked to think. So I tried to teleport here based on pure muscle memory and I swiftly paid for that mistake.”
And still, he’d come.
He’d ran in here and confronted a ghoul with his bare hands while in excruciating, vein-rending pain.
Despite Lexie’s attempt to stay distant from most of what was happening here, her heart melted. He must really love his daughter if he’s willing to put himself through torture for her.
It’s just sad for him that I’m not the real thing.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“Don't be sorry, bumble bee. It’s not your fault and I don’t regret it for a second. Besides, the shakes don’t hurt that much and they go away after some time.”
“Still, it’s horrible.” And sounded kind of excessive. Although she didn’t know what he did, she really couldn’t imagine someone like Aiden committing murder or attempting to take over the world or something heinous enough to warrant living with painful bands for the rest of one’s life. Max called what he did “really cool but kinda stupid.” Aiden himself said he was searching for information. Maybe he accessed information that he shouldn't have, probably by magically hacking this dimension's equivalent of the CIA. And yeah that was wrong, but Lexie didn’t think it deserved this kind of sentence.
Then again, she didn’t know any of these people and maybe she was simply jumping to conclusions. She pulled herself back to reality. You don’t know him. He could be a mass murderer for all you know.
A ding announced the oven timer was done counting down.
“Oh good, the vanilla bread is done,” Aiden said. “Unfortunately I won’t be able to wait for it to properly cool down, or finish baking the pumpkin bread, but we can have a few slices before I go.”
He donned some oven mitts and bent to retrieve the tray from the oven, placing it on a machine made up of metal tubes. He pushed a button and cool air blew out of the tubes onto the bread.
And then he reached for a bread knife.
Throughout, Lexie still couldn't stop staring at his bands.
“What you did…" she started. "You know, to become a [Villain]. Was it that bad?”
Lexie was somewhat surprised when Aiden paused for a moment, turning to her with a strange expression on his face. Like regret but also anger.
“It was,” Aiden said. He didn’t say anything else, just quickly turned away and began slicing the bread.
