Legend of the Spellthief

The night was old, a storm raging outside setting a dreary backdrop for the workers in overtime or night shifts. A soundscape of pitter-patter rain combined with pencil scribbles and keyboard strokes. Sitting at his desk way after his normal leaving time was Logan Hall, his computer screen lighting his tired-looking face as he typed away. The overworked man was inputting some final information into a database. Some people would have called this old night, early morning.

With such a long night, Logan had become quite dishevelled. His brunette medium-length hair was messy, with some parts of his fringe sticking to his face. The top 2 buttons of his white undershirt had been undone, his tie hanging loosely on his chest. Light from his screen lit up his jade green eyes that had deep dark bags underneath.

Slightly hunched, Logan looked over to the corner of his desktop to see that the day had already passed into the next, a yellow-hued “3:24” shone on his toolbar. Pushing on his desk he leaned back into his chair, stretching out his arms and fingers, clicking and clacking emanating from his chair as well as his bones.

Thinking back on how he got into this position, he remembered the conversation with his boss.

“Logan, we've got a new client signing up today, a newcomer in the entertainment industry. They sell mostly peripheral devices and offer some repair services, though they have a big backing, so a lot of money is riding on their employ”, Logan's boss had a quickness to his speech, a bead of sweat from his brow showing that the older, slightly portly gentleman had jogged to Logan's desk. Dressed in a more suitable higher-up suit, his suit was more of a greyish colour than the black of Logan's. The short grey hair of Logan's boss betrayed his age against his youthful workers.

“Another new client? Plenty of those have come in this week. Porter had to stay back till 2 last night, well I guess it'd be morning”, Logan sassed, an instinct kicking in the back of his mind “He's going to ask me to stay late”, he thought.

“I know I asked you to do overtime 2 weeks back, but this is big, you mind staying back tonight to get their data sorted out? We'll be using the 2.3 software for this and you're more knowledgeable on that”, Logan's boss carried on, probably to continue the same corporate spiel about togetherness and being a cog, but Logan had heard it enough times before.

“Overtime pay, as usual, right Mr Burston?” Logan cut his boss off, knowing if he didn't bring it up then his boss may “forget” to put it into the system.

“Yes, of course, half over your normal rate. Now, this may go later than 1am, so if it does make sure you make notes of times and data, I'll sort some vacation time for you if you go over”, Logan's boss visibly had a disheartening response to Logan, confirming the doubt that the man would try to cheat Logan out of his overtime pay.

Logan pressed a few keys on his keyboard, a window popping up stating “Video File saved”, a common practice in the company that Logan worked for. A camera at the top of his monitor had recorded the conversation, creating a safety net for Logan if his boss happened to go back on his word.

With the pay sorted, Logan and his boss started to get the details down with folders exchanging hands along with plans of how to work the new database.

Logan brushed over his face with his hands, “At least this is going to end up with extra vacation time”, he thought to himself. Time slowly ticked on as Logan finished inputting all the new info into the database, a final linked cell of a table marked the end of his overtime. Saving his work for the last time, he sent the files off to the main server of Helping Hand PAs, the personal assistant company that Logan had worked under for the past 3 years.

Flicking the power button on his screen and computer case Logan stood up from his desk, his 6'2" height towering over his workstation, turning his head to look out the window to the city. While not as fierce as earlier, the storm outside was still raging on, the windows getting a good cleaning. “At least the lightning stopped”, Logan thought, counting his blessings he wouldn't have to worry about Raiden anytime soon.

Moving away from his desk Logan slipped on his black jacket, zipping it up over his formal business attire. He passed by several empty offices before finally reaching the elevator, grabbing the ID at his belt he pulled it on the extension cord to the elevator's reader, a “ding” sounded and the elevator whirred into life.

A calming tone played for every floor the elevator rose, almost putting Logan to sleep until it arrived at floor 29, a louder “bong” playing as the doors slid open. Stepping inside, Logan hit a button with his index middle-knuckle as the elevator accepted his request to go to the ground floor. A few seconds passed before the elevator jumped a bit upwards before its long descent.

Putting a hand into his trouser pocket Logan pulled out his smartphone, the harsh light hurting his eyes in contrast to the yellow-tinted screen he was working on earlier. Loading into his messages Logan saw the last conversation he had been in.

“He's fast asleep at this point, last time he was up so late he fell asleep at the wheel the next morning. Worrying me sick with all the accidents he's been having”, Logan's thoughts wandered on about his dad, a 61-year-old widower by the name of Tyson Hall. The thought of being his wingman stung a little, but it had been 4 years since Logan's mother, Samantha Hall, had passed away. A sting mixed with happiness, Logan was glad his father was moving on, if a bit sad at the memory of his late mother.

Flipping up on his mobile, Logan passed by several conversations with his friends and other relatives until it landed on his last conversation with his mother. A large blue star plastered on the side of the message header, noting it as important and to not be deleted. He couldn't bring himself to push it to open up a longer conversation, the last message was enough.

A jerk of the elevator pulled Logan out of his daze, the elevator doors sliding open to reveal the entrance hall to the building. Pushing the power button on his mobile he hid it back into his trouser pocket, walking out of the elevator. Nearby wall-TVs filled the hall with the sound of late-night television, another comedy rerun to pass the time for late visitors or guards.

Aside from the TVs, the entrance hall was very modern, with sparkling white floors and an array of paintings adorning the walls. A few signs noted directions to specific departments, the Helping Hand PAs being stationed on floors 27-30.

Making a stop at the front desk, Logan saw the night shift guard on duty, her name tag reading Jan. She looked up to Logan who definitely gave off a “let me sleep” vibe. Logan quickly pressed a few keys on the touchscreen desk, opening up the employee sign-in sheet and moving his ID from his belt cord to the screen. A few seconds of scanning went by and the screen replied with a window stating he had been signed out.

The woman, whose long black hair was tied into a ponytail down her back, wore a formal dark-blue outfit with a nametag and markings that showed her to be security. Sat on her hip belt was a flashlight

“Late night, huh Logan?” Jan asked, hoping to perk the zombie-like man up for his walkout.

“Yeah, droning on like a good bee”, Logan let out a long yawn as he began to take his ID off his belt to put in his pocket. “It's the only time I get to see you”, Logan continued with a half-dead smile on his face. Jan smiled back politely.

“Well, be safe going home, the storm outside is terrible.” Jan stood up, handing Logan a large dark-blue umbrella tied up with a black sash.

“It's only a 5-minute walk, it'll be fine”, Logan responded as he took his umbrella, unfurling the sash from its middle portion.

“Goodnight”, Jan said as Logan began to turn away.

“Night”, replied a passing Logan, as the automatic doors opened up to a torrent of wind, pushing him back a bit.

Walking through the doors to the outside Logan began to open up his umbrella, the dark blue material shining under the lights of the doors. Pitter-patter turned to punches on his umbrella as Logan continued away from the building. Picking him up with each step, the wind seemed to want Logan to hurry his pace which he was all too happy to accept, hoping to get out of the rain.

A crack of lightning erupted up above, lighting his umbrella once more, a roar of thunder shaking Logan's stomach “shit!” a startled Logan thought to himself. Walking turned to a slow jog, Logan didn't want to be in the storm any longer than necessary. “Sun can't come soon enough”, he thought to himself as he started to imagine his trip to the beach with his dad.

Several minutes passed as Logan started to see the apartment building he was staying at, just 5 more buildings to pass before reaching his home. The storm carried him home and it would see him to his doorstep, but not before something else would make his heart jump up to his throat. A loud horn sounded behind Logan, almost jumping several feet into the air he turned around to see a large truck barreling down the street.

Inconsiderate fog lights blinded Logan as the truck raced on down the street, easily going 40 in a 20 mph zone. Splashing of puddles and screeching of tyres the truck came up to Logan as he felt a huge gust of wind push into him, and then it hit him.

A large wave of water from the dipped streets rushed onto Logan, the truck kicking it up with its tyres. Giving him an early treatment of the ocean, Logan was drenched in dirty drain waters. He quickly raised a fist to the truck as it sped on by.

“Tosser!” he exclaimed at the truck as it continued on down the road. Quickly moving to wipe his face with his hand, Logan started to shiver all over as the cold winds were worsened by the addition of soaked clothing. “At least I'm almost home” Logan consoled himself, looking up to his apartment building.

Pressing on, Logan moved towards his building, now only 3 houses away from him. Though, as if tonight was the worst of all nights, a final thing impeded his journey. Another flash of light above, a slow roar of thunder from a previous strike shook Logan's entire body. Strangely this bolt was different as if Logan was moving to match it. Time slowed as droplets of water were visible in the air, his hot breath creating a mass of white in front of his face, his legs moving slowly over the pavement for his next step.

His eyes started to wander to his back, slowly turning his head around, instead of the cold he quickly felt a burning heat behind him. A blinding bolt of lightning was making its way straight to Logan, his eyes seeing it for mere milliseconds yet experiencing it in a slowed format. Instinctively blinking to block the bright light, Logan didn't see when the bolt hit him, but he felt it, hot electricity coursing through his body.

Slowly moving from his back to his head and limbs, Logan's final moments were erratic with fear and memories of his last day. If he had the time, he would most likely cry over the emotion, but he was taken too quickly to process it all even in this slowed-down moment. And then, he was gone.

Silence replaced the torrential storm soundscape. Pitter-patter became a void. The blues, blacks, and yellows of the night turned into a white space. Slowly, the void gained a new spec of matter, fading into existence, the body of Logan Hall. Floating in an abyss with no floors, walls, or ceilings. His almost lifeless body suspended in the air started to become surrounded by azure and magenta rings, looping around his limbs, torso, and head.

The rings began to zap lines of yellow light from their inner sections, darting into Logan's body, and each zap piercing his frame would let off green cuboids of data. Filling the soundless void, a voice emanated from all directions, echoing in a combination of male and female tones.

“Subject acquired, scan commencing”. The rings started to speed up as they spun around and zipped up and down Logan's unconscious body.

“Substantial management skills, the assistant of tasks. Not applicable”, lacking any sign of excitement, the voice read off what seemed to be information about Logan.

“Name: Logan Hall. Age: 26. Sex: Male. Physique: Medium. Lithe: Quite”, if Logan were conscious, he would probably feel embarrassed or insulted by the occurrence, having his body detailed so.

“Attribute distribution now underway. Player set to default 10, additional points set to 6. Skill points to assign: 1”. The rings sped up further, expanding out into wider styles to encompass his entire body, they moved up and down as the zapping lines caught any missed areas.

“Final designation: Quick, intelligent, able to use other's rules and regulations against them for self-gain, standard charm, good wit. Logan Hall is assigned the unique hybrid class, Spellthief”, with an authoritative tone, the voice seemingly had ended its evaluation of Logan, from both a bodily observation as well as one of his psyche and personality.

All the rings moved up uniformly to the top of Logan, forming into a single ring at the tip of his head, before disappearing into green cuboids. Amidst the white void, a greyish hand outstretched to the forehead of Logan, a long finger tapping between his eyes. Several arcane circles, squares, and triangles formed over his forehead before fading away once more. Almost as if awakened by a bright light on his closed eyes, Logan's eyelids flickered, but before they could fully open his body was pulled down with a violent force.

Hurtling through the abyss, Logan smashed through a cloud-like substance, his now tattered suit and jacket washing away with the cloud and being replaced with a medieval-like tunic, trousers, and gloves. His body was completely dried, a sheathed dagger on his newly formed leather belt jostled as he began another descent.

Pushed through the clouds, Logan fell through more and more vapour barriers, until his body started to electrify once more, the lightning shifted between yellow and blue hues. A final crack of thunder erupted above as a large stroke of lightning struck into the back of Logan, giving him a forceful push. Everything went dark as the sound of a meteor crashing into dirt shot out for miles.

Shaking the world with his entry, Logan began to stir awake, but it was no longer in the city streets, it was in a grassy plain, it was another world.

--- *** ---