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73 - Mission Accomplished...With a Twist
🕑 Added 2025-03-22 22:14:13 +0000 UTCGetting escorted to the Genius Bar by the very same guys who had tried to kidnap her the first time she was here, wasn’t on Lexie’s bingo card.
Neither was the fact that they all seemed to be fanboying over her Uncle Max.
Dungeon Delvers weren’t really popular in the same way that [heroes] were, not even when they were Dungeon Masters who led their own guilds like Max. Historically, Dungeon delving had been seen as grunt work for strong miners and [Heroes] who weren't assigned to the far more important task of saving people.
Then it evolved and modern Delvers came from a class of physically powerful [Mercenaries] who simply saw it as a way to make lots of money quickly by doing something dangerous a few times a year. Even as the career of delving grew in popularity, it was never given an official class and was seen as this dark seedy thing that was only done by insane greedy people, low-class criminals, and third-rate warriors who couldn't quite cut it as heroes.
A lot of people, particularly the more paranoid faction, also felt that Delvers were behind the proliferation of unstable dungeons which could cause vast damage to the environment. People who lived near dungeon zones also didn't like delvers because they associated them with the calamity that sometimes befell them as a result of improperly handled dungeons.
There was also the fact that, while Heroess got a lot of publicity and sponsorship opportunities, and were crafted to be the idols of society, delving happened mostly in the shadows. Some Delvers did give interviews, but as they were not media trained, those interviews were either cut for being filled with too much vulgarity and gory detail, or they were simply too boring to air. Conversely, there were also those like Max who hated the media circus and never did any interviews. Therefore, the fame Delvers got was relatively minuscule in comparison to what even a mid-rate Fighter would get.
So Lexie was fairly surprised at how much the guys seemed to look up to Max. But as it turned out, it wasn't just dungeon delving necessarily. Apparently, Max's name had made its circles in the Undernet (which at least one of the boys was connected to) and had come up in relation to one or two petty crimes, the most recent one being blowing up his neighbor's land to reveal an unstable dungeon sitting underneath it.
“Man, that video blew up in the Undernet Video Alley, no pun intended,” Freckles said. “It was the craziest thing I’d ever seen. And then when those heroes showed up and you called them primary colors…that was hilarious.”
“Yeah, that was fun.” Max smiled at the memory. “Although you probably have my goddaughter to thank. She was the one who took the video. Plus she discovered the dungeon in the first place.”
“You did?” Suddenly they all turned their wide-eyed admiring gaze to her.
Lexie blushed and nodded.
“How?” Shaved Head asked but Max answered before Lexie could.
“She’s a genius,” he said simply.
"Ah," they responded, nodding in unison.
“Yeah, and I bet she has really powerful magic too," Shaved Head said. "Did I tell you how she escaped us last time, jumping around like a spider monkey, canceling out our magnetic pull?”
Lexie didn't like or agree with the spider monkey description but she understood he meant it as a compliment so stayed quiet.
“Let me guess,” he said. “You’re an S-Rank User.”
She shook her head. “C-Rank.”
He chuckled. “That’s funny. No for real.”
Lexie flinched internally. Their disbelieving reaction stung a little, and it must have shown because Uncle Max glared at Shaved Head.
Who then rushed to add, “I mean, no that’s cool. That’s definitely cool, it’s just that I’ve never met a young C-Rank who was that skilled before. Typically it’s the S-Ranks. I’m guessing you poured all your free points into speed and reflex right?”
Lexie frowned and then understood. “Oh no. I don’t have a physical rank. I’m a C-Rank Mage.” The way physical ranking worked was slightly different from how mana and mental rankings worked. Physically ranked individuals got assigned points on System Day distributed through their physical stats like endurance, strength, etc. In addition, they also received free points based on their level. These free points could be distributed however they wanted across their stats and it would immediately reflect on their build. They could then train that to its max, level up, and receive more free points.
Another thing she’d heard some physical types do was transfer their mana points into physical points. This would only work if the individual had dual mana and physical rankings and typically it was done for those who had a high physical ranking and a significantly lower mana ranking like a C. They also usually did not have any mana affixation or affinity. So this left their mana untethered and they could somehow transfer that free mana into physical points that they would then distribute between their different specs.
Lexie wasn’t exactly sure how it worked–she’d come up on the information coincidentally and didn’t have time then to read more on it–but she would probably ask her Uncle Max about it later.
That was if he let her ask any questions at all on the return trip.
At Lexie’s answer, Shaved Head was confused again, “Then how did you do it? Escape from us that is. Did you use a spell?”
“Nope. Card Magic,” she answered simply.
They paused for a second as though waiting for an explanation but Lexie didn't elaborate.
“I don’t get it,” he said.
“We’re here,” Uncle Max’s voice broke into the conversation and he gestured to the blue door with the Genius Bar scrawled across the top. “Is this it?”
She nodded and he opened the door, stepping through first and scanning the place before gesturing for Lexie to enter.
“But hey I am sorry for what we did,” Shaved Head leaned in and whispered.
Lexie glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and gave him an honest response.
“You’re just saying that now because of who I am and who I’m with,” she said. “But what if Max hadn't been my godfather? You would have tried to grab me again today. Would you have even cared if I got hurt?”
The boys had the decency to at least look bashful, but again Lexie didn’t know how much of that was simply because she was related to someone they admired.
“We wouldn’t have hurt you,” Lenny said. “We just…” He glanced at the rest of the boys and said. “We needed the money.”
“And this is a stupid way to get it,” Max said. “But we can talk about that after you finish up with what you came here for. Lexie?”
Lexie gave them one look and continued in. She wasn’t sure she wanted to forgive them but she may not have a choice. She hated holding grudges. She was also scared that if she didn't at least pretend to be okay with them, Uncle Max might whip out his gun again and really start blowing out kneecaps for atonement.
Besides that, they might truly have had a good reason for what they were doing even though Lexie didn't intend to ask. She expected them to leave now that they were at their destination.
But to her surprise, they entered the bar with her.
“Isaac, we’ve got a special guest.”
Isaac was at the counter today but once again, it took him a while to look up. He seemed to be working on some kind of x-ray scanner, that probably was used to scan the mana component in a body. Lexie only knew that last bit because he was muttering things like 'stupid mana coefficient' and 'Nah, that magnification is way off.'
He was so focused on it, that he didn’t seem to know anyone had entered his shop. At least not until Curly Top snapped his fingers and said, “Yo Isaac! You in there?”
That got the boy to finally snap his head up looking at him in annoyance. “What do you want?”
“Brought you some special guests.”
His eyes traveled to Max apprehensively and then to Lexie.
“You came back.” He sounded shocked by that.
“Yeah. And in one piece too no thanks to your token.”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
Shaved Head was the one to explain, running his hand over his scalp. “Well, we might have tried to take her the first time she was here, even after she showed us the token.”
“What the hell?” Isaac exploded, looking genuinely angry. “We had an agreement.”
“Yeah, yeah, we already said we were sorry. We weren’t actually going to hurt her, we just figured there was probably some rich, powerful mage who would pay us a lot of money to get her back.”
“Oh yeah? And what if it was a rich powerful mage who would hunt you down and decapitate you for even daring to touch his little girl? What would you have done then?
They all looked at each other sheepishly and Lexie wondered if they’d even thought of that. Isaac pinched the bridge of his nose. “You boneheads could have gotten us all in trouble.”
“She looks like a noble's kid,” Curly Top spoke up. “I can sense it. So I didn’t think anything bad would happen.”
“Might want to check those sensors again,” Max drawled. Throughout the conversation he was glancing around the store, but now with more interest than suspicion. “Her dad’s a [villain].”
They stopped to stare at Lexie.
“Ex-villain,” she amended, which made Max snort.
“Have you ever heard of the Archmage?” he asked.
It was like a muted gasp and a choking sound that seemed to be coming from Isaac. His eyes were nearly bulging out in horror and his shaking hands gathered the tools on his counter as though he planned to flee with them.
His head shook “Nope. Hell no. I’m not doing business with the Archmage’s kid.”
“Your dad’s the Archmage?” She didn’t know if it was fear or awe in Curly Top’s voice. Maybe a bit of both. “And your Uncle’s Mad Eye Max? That’s some crazy luck kid.”
“What are you doing here then?” Lenny said. “Anything Isaac can do your dad can probably do it a thousand times better.”
“Yeah but he won’t,” Lexie said and then glanced at Uncle Max before she admitted. “I want access to the Undernet. On my cell phone.”
“Your what?”
Lexie sighed and then pulled it out of her pocket. It wasn’t her usual phone that had her text messages on it. She didn’t want to risk that one, her only last link to her brother and to the character sheets. So she’d rung up Gustav and had him send her a new cell phone that she could use for Undernet activity. And he’d given it to her on credit too, which was really nice of him because she didn’t have any money to pay with right now. She would save up and pay him soon though.
Maybe I need to get back into betting…
“Oh, that thing…” Lenny said when he saw it. “My mother used to have one like that. It was a family heirloom from her great great great great grandfather. But I didn’t know you could get on the Undernet with it.”
“Isaac said he could. ”
“Aren’t you listening?” Isaac said. “I said I am not, and I repeat, I am not connecting the Archmage’s daughter to the Undernet.”
“Why not?” Lexie asked.
“Yeah, why not?” Curly Top said. “Come on man she’s cool. She’s with Mad-Eye Max.” He glanced at Max who had been suspiciously silent during this whole exchange. “Can I call you Max?”
“No,” Max said decisively.
“Not doing it.” Isaac’s lips pressed together.
“Why not?”
“For system’s sake, am I the only one here with a working memory? It's The Archmage we're talking about. And you want me to connect his daughter to the dregs of society? Do you know what that guy did when a dungeon offed his wife?”
“No,” Lexie said. “Do you?”
He opened his mouth and then paleness washed over his features. Lexie noticed out of the corner of her eyes that Max was giving the boy a very hard look, making Isaac drop his gaze back to the tools in his hand.
“Um no...” he coughed a little and attempted a weak shrug. “But I mean, everyone knows that it took like an entire battalion of soldiers and the District’s top [heroes] to take him down. That doesn’t sound like someone I want to mess with.”
Disappointment ricocheted in Lexie’s chest. She'd thought the problem would be convincing Uncle Max to let her get access to the undernet, not convincing Isaac himself. She didn’t know any other technomage who could do what he did. She felt the chance slipping out of her fingers and she couldn't let it go.
“Please,” she said. “I need this. I won’t tell my dad that you helped me and my Uncle won’t tell him either.”
“You think he won’t find out and hurt me?”
“No. He doesn’t have powers anymore, so he probably won’t.”
“Probably?”
“Nothing in life is a hundred percent certain,” Lexie said sagely, making Uncle Max snort again.
Isaac stared at her like she’d said something ridiculous, and Lexie was getting desperate. She was wondering what she could say to change his mind when suddenly her Uncle spoke up.
“If you weren't going to do it for her, you should have said so in the first place,” he said, looking annoyed. Lexie was once again surprised. Wasn't he against her getting on the Undernet? But now he seemed angry at Isaac on her behalf.
“I’m sorry I said I would," Isaac told her. "But I really can’t–”
“You can and you will,” Max interrupted. “Because if you don't, you won't just have to deal with an archmage. You’ll have to deal with me too.”
Isaac looked panicked. Uncle Max was undeterred. Lexie was confused.
“Here’s what’s going to happen.” Uncle Max’s tone made it clear he was laying down the law. “You’re going to take that damn thingie-magig and connect her to the Undernet. But you’re going to do it in such a way that she’s protected and no creeps and lowlives can contact her. You’re also going to keep her away from the real dark bits. Do you get what I’m saying?”
“Wait,” Lexie had to ask. “You’re seriously okay with it, with me accessing the Undernet?”
“Would you agree not to do it if I wasn’t?”
“No, but I thought I would have to convince you. I had a speech memorized and everything.”
“That’s precisely what I’m trying to save myself from,” he said, then looked back up to Isaac. “If there’s one thing I know about my goddaughter it’s that she’s persistent as hell. And annoyingly curious like her dad. And too daring for her own good, but that’s her mother’s fault. If you don’t do this for her, she’ll just go find someone stupid enough to give her full access and then whatever happens to her will be on both our heads. Since I’m pretty sure you have the skill to do what she’s asking while still keeping her out of trouble, then you’re going to do it. Got it?”
Isaac shook his head. “It’s not going to be that easy. Hooking her up to the Undernet is one thing, but doing it with all those contingencies–”
“Can you do it or not?” Max had little patience for his hedging.
Isaac bit his lip for a few seconds. Then he sighed. “It will take time.”
“How much time?”
“At least a few weeks to a few months.”
“Then we’ll be back,” Uncle Max said. “And if for whatever reason she’s back here without me,” He glanced at the boys. “Then it's up to you guys to make sure nothing happens to her. Understood?”
They nodded and he turned back to Isaac who still looked a little like he wanted to throw up too.
Slowly, he nodded as well.
Lexie felt triumphant but also incredibly guilty. She’d scolded Max about bullying teenagers on the airbus and now she'd practically used him to bully Isaac into getting her way.
“Thank you,” she said even though Isaac avoided her eyes. “I’ll pay you more than what you asked.” She was thinking of giving double his asking price, just for how much trouble she’d been.
“Great,” Max said. “Now the two of you shake on it. Quickly. I got places to be.”
Isaac held his hand out and she went to shake it and then put the phone there. She hesitated for a second, wondering if he would be vindictive enough to destroy it but he met her eyes and then gave her a weak smile as though he could tell what she was thinking.
“Don’t worry,” he said. "Once I accept a job, I’m honor-bound to finish. No return policy.” He pointed to the sign on the wall that basically said the same thing. It read: ‘All jobs once started will be completed. No return policy.’
“Thank you,” she said again, genuinely. And that was that.
The boys escorted them back outside until Uncle Max finally got tired of their chattering and told them to scram.
Lexie left the store feeling accomplished, although she hadn’t gotten quite everything she wanted out of the visit, it was still more than she could hope for. She’d kind of also wanted to ask Isaac about the interdimensional communication but she didn’t want to push her luck and furthermore she didn’t want to discuss it while Uncle Max was here.
“Thanks for coming with me,” she said to him. “And for getting Isaac to do it.”
He grunted a response.
“I mean it. You’re a good Uncle.”
He sent her a suspicious side look. “You're buttering me up for something else, aren’t you?”
She shook her head. “I mean it’s not like I need you to come back with me. With your little friends looking after me, I don’t think I'll have a problem.” Plus she had the teleportation orb with her in case anything went wrong and she needed to get herself out of a sticky situation.
He stared at her for a while. "You remind me so much of your mother sometimes it’s not even funny. And then other times, it’s like you're a copy of your dad.”
Lexie smiled and gave him a brief side hug, while he patted her head awkwardly.
As they walked to the bus stop, Uncle Max suddenly stopped and checked the time. It was still an hour before airbus back arrived so Uncle Max decided they needed to hunt for some food. They got to the bus stop and kept going in the opposite direction from where they just came. The city began to unfold and they saw a few sandwich shops at the end, as well as a conglomerate of hastily put-up foodstands that sold everything from corn on the cob to hot dogs.
Across from that was a vast field with a crowd gathered around, looking to mostly be made up of teenage boys with a few girls sprinkled here and there. They were watching whatever was going on in the field aptly, shouting and cheering at intervals. They would also groan sometimes and Lexie thought she saw money exchanging hands a few times.
It looked like they were betting on something. That was what caught her attention. A little dollar sign dinged in her head because she did need to make money after all.
“I wonder what’s going on over there?” She wondered aloud.
Uncle Max didn’t answer her. He was chewing on his sandwich while doing his usual hawkish surveillance of the area, searching for a danger that had not yet arrived.
“Can I go check it out?” she asked.
“For a second,” he said. And then he handed her the gunlighter before she left.
As she got closer, she realized that there were people on the field. A tall man in the middle with younger teens surrounding him. The man had an easy grin as one of the teens charged at him with a rusty sword which he caught in the elbow without injuring himself. He grabbed the teen by the shirt and tossed him away.
Another girl ran, and she was fast but he was faster, shifting out of the way at the last minute. He also avoided the other two assailants easily.
Lexie instantly recognized him. Even with an overgrown beard, she knew who he was having seen him upclose before.
It was Conrad Grace.
