Robert Meta
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Brockton Bay's Marvelous Mage - Chapter Fifty Four
🕑 Added 2024-10-31 15:56:12 +0000 UTCVisiting the PRT, the Hospital, and doing a bit of shopping only took four hours out of my morning. By the time I had returned to my forest home, it was just about noon. The visit to the PRT took a bit longer than normal since I spent some time discussing the potential for them to pay me with materials rather than money, offering a premium since it was a much safer way for me to get my hands on some of what I needed from them, rather than going shopping.
The problem, it seemed, was that this particular branch of the PRT was struggling financially. They had one of the highest casualty ratings in the country, three tinkers to fund, and two extensive facilities to maintain. If I hadn't offered to decrease my cost to ease Panacea's workload while she was recovering, there was a significant chance that Director Piggot would have restricted the healing to heroes only, as they wouldn't have been able to afford anything else.
When I pointed out how suspicious that was, that one of the most villain-active cities in the country kept on getting its funding cut, Piggot had snorted, said "no shit." and ended the meeting in short order. It seemed like the PRT had more than just a corrupt Ward handler to worry about.
When I arrived back at the forest, Kali greeted me with a warm hug, even if I still couldn't see her, as well as an escort home by the green, grass-covered wolves I had made for her.
On the way through the forest, I apologized to Alya.
"I'm sorry I spent so long not talking to you," I said, guiding Troy through the forest, the wolves walking on either side of us. "Would it make it better if I revealed your existence so you could talk to other people?"
"No, there is no reason for that," She assured me. "I'm not human, William, and while I have the spark of sentience granted to me by bonding with you, I'm still an elemental. Time means… well, it's not nothing anymore, but it means a lot less to me than it does to you. We could go weeks without talking, and I would likely not notice unless you mentioned it. We just don't think the same way or experience time the same way."
"I just feel bad," I admitted with a frown. "I feel like I only ever talk to you when I need something. You're not a tool. You're part of the team."
"I appreciate your concern, William, I really do," She responded, appearing in a partially physical form and floating alongside me. "But I knew what I was signing up for. You have been much kinder than you had any reason to be, and even if you did only treat me as a utility, I would simply be waiting for you to pass on. Elementals are fundamentally immortal. Even if you live for thousands of years, it is still just a blink to me. A fun, interesting, and kind blink, but still just a blink."
I let out a sigh, my lips pursed. Her words did help me feel a bit better, but a small part of me still felt terrible for not talking to her at all since before Lung attacked.
"Would you like a way to interact more with the world?" I asked. "Something more physical? I know I could affect you with a ritual, so...."
"If you could find a way to let me engage with the physical world more and overcome my inherent air elemental weakness, then that would be amenable," She said, a feeling of interest coming through our connection. "But if you are talking about creating some sort of body construct and locking me inside, then no. That is actually one of the very few ways you could cause me actual suffering."
"Ah, okay, I'll keep that in mind," I said with wince.
Not long after our conversation, we finally arrived back at the compound. I hopped off Troy, grabbing some things from inside him before letting the golem walk away to sit or wander. While he did, I carried my stuff to the ritual circle, unpacking all of the stuff that I bought. Once again, I splurged, purchasing anything I found interesting and useful. My goal was to create a good backlog of useful things so that I could if needed, finagle my way through a decent, powerful ritual without having to go shopping. I would have to extend my storage trees soon since I was slowly filling them up.
"Okay, first things first, I want to work on my boots," I said, pulling out a notebook and starting a list. "Then I want to work on my mask. After that, I want to see about adding some passive buffs to some of my other clothes. I'm already close to hitting an overchoice problem with the gear I have. If I give every bit of clothing an ability, I'm not going to be able to keep track of them all."
As I talked, I pulled my magical release necklace over my head, Kali sending a happy feeling as my magic started to leak into the space around me. I could feel the genius loci pulling it away and into herself with a soundless sigh of contentness.
I settled down with my notebook and tools and got to work designing two rituals, one for my boots and one for my mask. While I was more or less letting the magic work, it's, well, magic on my boots, I needed a lot more control in order to get exactly what I was looking for on my mask. This would probably mean a much more subdued secondary ability, but that was the cost of trying to control a ritual to the degree that I was looking for.
The process didn't take long, an hour or so for each ritual, as my skill in pulling my knowledge together into coherent rituals got easier the more I used it. Before I got to work on my gear, it was time to upgrade my tools. While my red refined chalk had served me well, I wanted something better than that, especially since I wanted to make something really special when it came time to make my next staff. The original had served me well, so I knew precisely how potent they could be.
I quickly did a refining ritual on another whole box of chalk before using my other chalk supply to copy down another ritual from memory. Just like the refining ritual was included in the topic of ritual design and crafting, the process of upgrading that chalk even further using silver and gold was there, too. It was more complicated than the base refining process, but it was still easily done with what I had and my growing skills.
I quickly drew out the secondary ritual, put a single one-ounce bar of gold and silver on either side of the circle, and then put twenty-four chalk pieces in the center. When the ritual was done, I carefully put the chalk, which was now a swirl of silver and gold, away into its box before carefully storing that in a sealed box in one of the storage trees. The gold for that ritual had been costly, so I didn't want it to get ruined or broken.
With a single piece of my new chalk, I started drawing out the ritual for my boots, pausing after a minute to admire the almost pearlescent look of the new chalk lines. With this ritual, I was specifically looking for something to keep my stride stable and steady while also enhancing my maneuverability. Because I was hoping for something powerful, I only kept minimal control over the ritual, with minimal restriction beyond the basic guidance and ensuring the boots would remain functional.
Once all the sacrificial ingredients were laid out and I had double-checked everything, I quickly completed the ritual and pulled on my boots. As with all clothing that I used my blood for as a sacrificial ingredient, they fit perfectly and were just about the most comfortable shoes I had ever worn. When I put them on, I immediately picked up on a sort of mental counter, similar in nature to the feeling I got from my jacket. After a bit of experimenting, I jumped in the air, jumping higher and higher on a floating platform that formed under my feet, each of them lasting for a few seconds.
I could now double, triple, and quadruple jump, with access to three platforms in total before they needed to recharge. It didn't take long, but my feet did need to hit a normal solid surface before the recharge began. When I did, my boots discharged some sort of backlash, a magical charge that pumped into the ground, clearing the boots for more use.
After some more practice, I found I could also use the platforms as a place to redirect myself, doing a flip, conjuring a platform, and using it to jump downwards. It was an interesting method, and I could definitely see using it to increase my fighting maneuverability once I got more used to it.
The boots also gave me an unparalleled level of traction and surefootedness, stopping me from slipping off even the most unstable challenges I could throw at them around the compound. They had so much grip they even gave me an advantage when climbing up a steep boulder not far from the compound clearing. They also seemed to unconsciously prevent me from tripping on obstacles, even when I challenged Kali and Alya to trip me up while I was running around the compound. I could feel my feet reacting to vines, sticks, and roots that seemed to swell up or blow in from nowhere, all without me even knowing they were there.
While it might only seem like a small thing, anything that gave me a near guarantee that I wouldn't slip or stumble in a fight was worth its weight in gold.
With my boots complete, and after spending some time getting used to them, as well as experimenting with my double jump ability, I got to work on my mask. The ritual I had designed for it was a lot more restrictive since I had a very specific task I needed it to complete. I was a little worried about what that would do to the rest of the ritual, so I simply directed it to try and protect my eyes, nose, and mouth as best as the ritual could and left it at that.
This ritual had quite a few more sacrificial materials, but unfortunately, a lot of them were more modern items, like make-up and clay. This forced me to compensate, making the ritual exceedingly complex and power-hungry. When I eventually started the ritual, it took nearly thirty minutes to completely fill with my magic before the ritual engaged and completed.
When it was complete, I sat back for a minute to recover and let my knees stretch, as sitting and leaning over the ritual did a number on them. Then I retrieved the mask, turning it over in my hand and examining how it looked. It was mostly the same, though most of the less-than-perfect mistakes had been smoothed out, leaving the mask with clear human features that deviated enough from my own that it would never lead to me. The copper looked freshly polished, and the edges of the mask, which had been a simple folded edge to keep sharp edges from sticking into my face, had been smoothed and cut clean, looking much more professional than my original amateur job.
I carefully put the mask on, strapping it around my head. It sat comfortably on my face, with no rough pressure points or loose spots. It was such a good fit that I was willing to bet it would stay reasonably secure even if I cut the straps.
A moment after I put the mask on, what little peripheral vision I lost from the tight cover returned as the mask faded from view. I was now wearing an invisible mask.
Now, that alone would make protecting my identity impossible, so a significant portion of the ritual had been about working in a strong perception filter into the copper. While I was wearing my mask, people would not be able to freely connect the identity of William Kalus and Arcanum. It didn't matter that we were identical or that we sounded the same, people would be unable to connect us together.
It wasn't wholly overpowered, meaning if I took it the mask off in front of someone, directly explained who I was, or if they witnessed me putting the mask on, the effect would break, but only on them. Also, if I walked into a room with only one door, changed outfits, and then left, if someone was watching the door, they would likely be able to work their brain through the confusion.
The only reason this was possible in the first place was because I didn't have a whole life here. In terms of this world's essence, I was only a few months old. If I had more history, i.e., if I had been born on this Earth, there was no way I would have been able to achieve such a powerful effect with such a simple ritual. Thankfully, it was possible, and I could now finally look people in the eye and properly communicate without losing access to the freedom my "civilian" identity gave me.
Eventually, the story of Arcanum would likely be too powerful for the ritual effects to bear, and the creation would unravel. However, with any luck, I would be powerful enough by then that it wouldn't matter.
The secondary effect of the mask was something I could feel, and that would undoubtedly be useful, but it wasn't an active effect. The mask would protect my eyes, nose, mouth, and ears from any harmful irritants or mind-altering drugs. No more relying on Alya to keep my air fresh in a fire, now my mask would filter everything out. I tested this by pouring out a pile of cayenne pepper into my hand and throwing it at my face with the mask on. The cloud of red powder hung around my head long enough for me to take several long breaths, my eyes were open the entire time, and I didn't feel a thing. Of course, after that was done, I realized I now had a fine coating of red powder over my whole body.
Thankfully, Kali was nice enough to wave it all away, removing the need for me to shower with my uniform on to wash it all off.
When I was done testing out the mask, I finished my day of rituals by making my pants, shirt, underwear, and socks significantly tougher. They weren't what I would call bulletproof, but they were undoubtedly stabproof, which was more of a precaution with my permanent geomancy enhancement and ablative shield coming from my overcoat. The real reason I ritualized them was because, with my blood as a sacrificial ingredient, they instantly became the most comfortable clothes I had ever owned. It was like they were all perfectly tailored to my body, with the most comfortable material I could imagine.
I literally spent a whole fifteen minutes just sitting in my living space on my chair, just enjoying the feeling of my super comfortable clothes.
"I could probably offer this as a service when people know me a bit better," I said to Alya and Kali, the former who was floating above my bed. "A vial of blood, your wardrobe, and a hundred thousand dollars and you'll never be uncomfortable in your clothes again."
Alya snorted, and Kali seemed amused, but I filed it away for future reference. No doubt there was some rich person out there who would love to spend a good chunk of money on something like that.
For a moment, I sat there, letting the last few days of insanity wash away, enjoying my comfortable chair, my comfortable clothes, and the comfortable silence that surrounded my compound.
Comments
Miguel Garcia
Imagine him selling that service to Max Anders, then revoking the spell when he discovers he’s Kaiser XD
John Layton
If they were self-cleaning and self-repairing I would never need another set of a type of clothing ever again.
Narasan
For the elemental: make a golem. Make a windchime that can control the golem. Carry golem and windchime on you
Narasan
For the elemtak
Mr. Bigglesworth
Sold.
Noob
Tftc
